Fun with Maps ISSUE 2025-112

By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)

LOVELAND, OH (July 15, 2025) – In today’s edition of Fun with Maps, we trace the history and linguistics of a special stone.

It’s Not All Greek

The Rosetta Stone was rediscovered on July 15, 1799 by a French expeditionary force sent to Egypt by Napoleon to check out what might be  worthwhile there.

The significance of this ca. 4 feet by 2 ½ feet granite like stone bearing a decree by King Ptolemy V Epiphanes from  about 196 B.C. is that it has the said decree in three languages or scripts – Egyptian hieroglyph, and Demotic plus Greek (Ancient Greek to us).

Soon after the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, Egyptian scripts could be understood, using the Greek as the base point for translation.

The stone itself was originally in the Royal Nile delta city of Sais but later it was moved to the nearby city of Rosetta.

The stone changed hands in 1801, as part of the French defeat by the British in Egypt, and it has resided in the British Museum in London since 1802.

Tanner’s map of Egypt is presented here from 1836.

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps.

Visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Steve Kovacs: Fun with Maps here on Loveland Beacon.