The British Museum in London is filled with many remarkable antiquities from ancient Egypt, among their treasures are 3,000 year old mummies and colossal statues which honour great pharaohs but there is one item that is more valuable than all the rest. At the entrance to their Egyptian collection is a large stone tablet, one that could be overlooked if not for its prominent position. It’s known as The Rosetta Stone, one of the most important treasures of all time.

What is The Rosetta Stone? and how did this seemingly insignificant rock forever change our believe in mankind’s past?

In this film we come to understand that The Rosetta Stone which was found in 1799 is inscribed with three versions of a decree which was issued at Memphis, Egypt in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty on behalf of King Ptolemy V. The top and middle texts are in Ancient Egyptian using hieroglyphic script and Demotic script, respectively, while the bottom is in Ancient Greek. As the decree has only minor differences between the three versions, the Rosetta Stone proved to be the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs.