Ancient Greece Declassified

01 Tomb Raiders, Codebreakers, and the Discovery of Antiquity (Rosetta Stone, Cuneiform, Linear B)

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Sep 24, 2016
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ANECDOTE

Rosetta Stone Soldier Discovery

  • The Rosetta Stone was discovered by a common soldier during Napoleon's Egyptian campaign.
  • Its unique trilingual inscriptions enabled scholars to finally decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs.
INSIGHT

Champollion’s Coptic Key

  • Champollion succeeded by learning Coptic, a direct descendant of ancient Egyptian.
  • This gave him the key to fully decipher hieroglyphics and unlock Egyptian texts.
ANECDOTE

Grotefend's Cuneiform Bet

  • Georg Grotefend cracked the first step in reading cuneiform after a bet at a bar.
  • He identified king names in inscriptions by comparing with known Persian history.
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