How to Decode the "Rosetta Stone"
- 1). Examine the Rosetta stone inscriptions. The inscriptions on the left are in Greek, the middle in Demotic scripts, and those on the right written in Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.
- 2). Translate the Greek characters and meaning into Demotic scripts. The original process was begun by Thomas Young, who noticed that when the word "Ptolomy" in Greek corresponded with the Demotic script -- that Demotic script also corresponded with a certain hieroglyph that appeared deliberately placed. It was because that specific, encircled hieroglyph was the name of the Pharaoh.
- 3). Translate the Demotic scripts to hieroglyphs. Once you have one hieroglyph translated -- you realize that hieroglyphs are spelled phonetically -- you can begin to compare the names of things, and to sound them out. The Coptic language, which was spoken and written by Christians in Egypt, was also used historically to help sound out the ideas and concepts of hieroglyphs -- so they could be translated.
