Editing Rosetta Stone (section)

==From French to British possession==
[[File:RosettaStone-LeftAndRightSides-BritishMuseum-August21-08.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|alt="Combined photo depicting the left and right sides of the Rosetta Stone, which have much-faded inscriptions in English relating to its capture by British forces from the French, and its donation by George III to the British Museum"|Left and right sides of the Rosetta Stone, with inscriptions: (Left) "Captured in Egypt by the British Army in 1801" (Right) "Presented by King George III".]]
After the surrender, a dispute arose over the fate of the French archaeological and scientific discoveries in Egypt, including the artefacts, biological specimens, notes, plans, and drawings collected by the members of the commission. Menou refused to hand them over, claiming that they belonged to the institute. British General [[John Hely-Hutchinson, 2nd Earl of Donoughmore|John Hely-Hutchinson]] refused to end the siege until Menou gave in. Scholars [[Edward Daniel Clarke]] and [[William Richard Hamilton]], newly arrived from England, agreed to examine the collections in Alexandria and said they had found many artefacts that the French had not revealed. In a letter home, Clarke wrote that "we found much more in their possession than was represented or imagined".<ref name="Burleigh212">[[#Burleigh07|Burleigh (2007)]] p.&nbsp;212</ref>

Hutchinson claimed that all materials were property of the [[The Crown|British Crown]], but French scholar [[Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire]] told Clarke and Hamilton that the French would rather burn all their discoveries than turn them over, referring ominously to the destruction of the [[Library of Alexandria]]. Clarke and Hamilton pleaded the French scholars' case to Hutchinson, who finally agreed that items such as natural history specimens would be considered the scholars' private property.<ref name="Cracking21">[[#Parkinson69|Parkinson et al. (1999)]] p.&nbsp;21</ref><ref name="Burleigh241">[[#Burleigh07|Burleigh (2007)]] p.&nbsp;214</ref> Menou quickly claimed the stone, too, as his private property.<ref name="Budge2">[[#Budge69|Budge (1913)]] p.&nbsp;2</ref><ref name="Cracking21"/> Hutchinson was equally aware of the stone's unique value and rejected Menou's claim. Eventually an agreement was reached, and the transfer of the objects was incorporated into the [[Capitulation of Alexandria (1801)|Capitulation of Alexandria]] signed by representatives of the [[British Army|British]], [[French Revolutionary Army|French]], and [[Ottoman Army (15th-19th centuries)|Ottoman]] forces.

It is not clear exactly how the stone was transferred into British hands, as contemporary accounts differ. Colonel [[Tomkyns Hilgrove Turner]], who was to escort it to England, claimed later that he had personally seized it from Menou and carried it away on a [[limbers and caissons|gun-carriage]]. In a much more detailed account, Edward Daniel Clarke stated that a French "officer and member of the Institute" had taken him, his student John Cripps, and Hamilton secretly into the back streets behind Menou's residence and revealed the stone hidden under protective carpets among Menou's baggage. According to Clarke, their informant feared that the stone might be stolen if French soldiers saw it. Hutchinson was informed at once and the stone was taken away—possibly by Turner and his gun-carriage.<ref name="Cracking2122">[[#Parkinson69|Parkinson et al. (1999)]] pp.&nbsp;21–22</ref>

Turner brought the stone to England aboard the captured French frigate [[HMS Egyptienne (1799)|HMS ''Égyptienne'']], landing in [[Portsmouth]] in February 1802.<ref name="Andrews12">[[#Andrews69|Andrews (1985)]] p.&nbsp;12</ref> His orders were to present it and the other antiquities to King [[George III of the United Kingdom|George&nbsp;III]]. The King, represented by [[Secretary of State for War and the Colonies|War Secretary]] [[Robert Hobart, 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire|Lord Hobart]], directed that it should be placed in the [[British Museum]]. According to Turner's narrative, he and Hobart agreed that the stone should be presented to scholars at the [[Society of Antiquaries of London]], of which Turner was a member, before its final deposit in the museum. It was first seen and discussed there at a meeting on {{Nowrap|11 March}} 1802.{{Cref2|B}}{{Cref2|H}}

[[File:Rosetta Stone International Congress of Orientalists ILN 1874.jpg|thumb|alt="Lithograph image depicting a group of scholars (mostly male, with the occasional female also in attendance), dressed in Victorian garb, inspecting the Rosetta Stone in a large room with other antiquities visible in the background"|upright=1.5|Experts inspecting the Rosetta Stone during the [[Second International Congress of Orientalists]], 1874]]
In 1802, the Society created four plaster casts of the inscriptions, which were given to the universities of [[University of Oxford|Oxford]], [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] and [[University of Edinburgh|Edinburgh]] and to [[Trinity College Dublin]]. Soon afterwards, prints of the inscriptions were made and circulated to European scholars.{{Cref2|E}} Before the end of 1802, the stone was transferred to the British Museum, where it is located today.<ref name="Andrews12"/> New inscriptions painted in white on the left and right edges of the slab stated that it was "Captured in Egypt by the [[British Army]] in 1801" and "Presented by King George&nbsp;III".<ref name="Cracking23"/>

The stone has been exhibited almost continuously in the British Museum since June 1802.<ref name="British Museum"/> During the middle of the 19th century, it was given the inventory number "EA 24", "EA" standing for "Egyptian Antiquities". It was part of a collection of ancient Egyptian monuments captured from the French expedition, including a [[sarcophagus]] of [[Nectanebo&nbsp;II]] (EA 10), the statue of a [[High Priests of Amun|high priest of Amun]] (EA 81), and a large granite fist (EA 9).<ref name="focus30-31">[[#Parkinson70|Parkinson (2005)]] pp.&nbsp;30–31</ref> The objects were soon discovered to be too heavy for the floors of [[Montagu House, Bloomsbury|Montagu House]] (the original building of The British Museum), and they were transferred to a new extension that was added to the mansion. The Rosetta Stone was transferred to the sculpture gallery in 1834 shortly after Montagu House was demolished and replaced by the building that now houses the British Museum.<ref name="focus31">[[#Parkinson70|Parkinson (2005)]] p.&nbsp;31</ref> According to the museum's records, the Rosetta Stone is its most-visited single object,<ref name="focus7">[[#Parkinson70|Parkinson (2005)]] p.&nbsp;7</ref> a simple image of it was the museum's best selling postcard for several decades,<ref name="focus47"/> and a wide variety of merchandise bearing the text from the Rosetta Stone (or replicating its distinctive shape) is sold in the museum shops.[[File:Tourist watching Rosetta Stone at British Museum.JPG|thumb|upright=1.5|A crowd of visitors examining the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum in 2014, now behind glass]]
The Rosetta Stone was originally displayed at a slight angle from the horizontal, and rested within a metal cradle that was made for it, which involved shaving off very small portions of its sides to ensure that the cradle fitted securely.<ref name="focus31"/> It originally had no protective covering, and it was found necessary by 1847 to place it in a protective frame, despite the presence of attendants to ensure that it was not touched by visitors.<ref name="focus32">[[#Parkinson70|Parkinson (2005)]] p.&nbsp;32</ref> Since 2004 the conserved stone has been on display in a specially built case in the centre of the Egyptian Sculpture Gallery. A replica of the Rosetta Stone is now available in the [[King's Library]] of the British Museum, without a case and free to touch, as it would have appeared to early 19th-century visitors.<ref name="focus50">[[#Parkinson70|Parkinson (2005)]] p.&nbsp;50</ref>

The museum was concerned about [[German strategic bombing during World War I#1917|heavy bombing in London]] towards the end of the [[First World War]] in 1917, and the Rosetta Stone was moved to safety, along with other portable objects of value. The stone spent the next two years {{Convert|15|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}} below ground level in a station of the [[London Post Office Railway|Postal Tube Railway]] at [[Royal Mail Mount Pleasant Sorting Office|Mount Pleasant]] near [[Holborn]].<ref>"[https://blog.britishmuseum.org/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-the-rosetta-stone/ Everything you ever wanted to know about the Rosetta Stone]" (British Museum, 14 July 2017)</ref> Other than during wartime, the Rosetta Stone has left the British Museum only once: for one month in October 1972, to be displayed alongside Champollion's ''[[Lettre à M. Dacier|Lettre]]'' at the [[Louvre]] in Paris on the 150th anniversary of the letter's publication.<ref name="focus47">[[#Parkinson70|Parkinson (2005)]] p.&nbsp;47</ref> Even when the Rosetta Stone was undergoing conservation measures in 1999, the work was done in the gallery so that it could remain visible to the public.<ref name="focus50-51">[[#Parkinson70|Parkinson (2005)]] pp.&nbsp;50–51</ref>