Why was the Rosetta Stone so important?

Why was the Rosetta Stone so important? - Franziska Naether

Рет қаралды 427,927

2 ай бұрын

Dig into how scholars decoded the writing on the Rosetta Stone, and how this helped them understand ancient hieroglyphs.
--
For centuries, scholars puzzled over the hieroglyphs they found carved onto ancient Egyptian ruins, tablets, and papyri. But in 1799, a unique discovery would finally help unlock their meaning. It was a stone inscribed with three different texts: Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Demotic Egyptian, and Ancient Greek. Franziska Naether shares how scholars decoded the ancient message of the Rosetta Stone.
Lesson by Franziska Naether, directed by Tim Rauch.
Support Our Non-Profit Mission
----------------------------------------------
Support us on Patreon: bit.ly/TEDEdPatreon
Check out our merch: bit.ly/TEDEDShop
----------------------------------------------
Connect With Us
----------------------------------------------
Sign up for our newsletter: bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletter
Follow us on Facebook: bit.ly/TEDEdFacebook
Find us on Twitter: bit.ly/TEDEdTwitter
Peep us on Instagram: bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram
----------------------------------------------
Keep Learning
----------------------------------------------
View full lesson: ed.ted.com/lessons/why-was-th...
Dig deeper with additional resources: ed.ted.com/lessons/why-was-th...
Animator's website: / tim_rauch
----------------------------------------------
Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Hans Peng, Gaurav Mathur, Erik Biemans, Tony, Michelle, Katie and Josh Pedretti, Hoai Nam Tran, Kack-Kyun Kim, Michael Braun-Boghos, zjweele13, Anna-Pitschna Kunz, Edla Paniguel, Thomas Mungavan, Jaron Blackburn, Venkat Venkatakrishnan, ReuniteKorea, Aaron Henson, Rohan Gupta, Begum Tutuncu, Brian Richards, Jørgen Østerpart, Tyron Jung, Carsten Tobehn, Katie Dean, Ezgi Yersu, Gerald Onyango, alessandra tasso, Doreen Reynolds-Consolati, Manognya Chakrapani, Ayala Ron, Eunsun Kim, Phyllis Dubrow, Ophelia Gibson Best, Paul Schneider, Joichiro Yamada, Henrique Cassús, Karthik Cherala, Clarence E. Harper Jr., Vignan Velivela, Ana Maria, Exal Enrique Cisneros Tuch, Tejas Dc, Khalifa Alhulail, Martin Stephen, Jose Henrique Leopoldo e Silva, Mandeep Singh, Abhijit Kiran Valluri, Morgan Williams, Devin Harris, Pavel Zalevskiy, Karen Goepen-Wee and Filip Dabrowski.

Пікірлер: 437

@kailengray2822 Ай бұрын

How decoders decoding lost language still never cease to amaze me

@captainzork6109 Ай бұрын

Ye, they puzzle gods

@iqweencold3144 24 күн бұрын

@@captainzork6109 fr

@ThePikachufan1 Ай бұрын

This is still one of the coolest historical discoveries. The fact that ancient Egyptians kept just detailed record keeping combined with the fact that they wrote a text in multiple languages helped is learn so much about the history of Egyptian civilizations to the point that we have basically it's entire lineage mapped from start to end.

@BertWithoutErnie Ай бұрын

It will tell us where the last island in the grand line is

@abdulrahmankhalil115 Ай бұрын

Bro the likeness is real

@sfguzmani 11 күн бұрын

You actually need the other 3 stones.

@AshVXmc 2 ай бұрын

The rosetta stone is like that one key item from a video game that unlocks knowledge of an ancient script lost to time

@ommsterlitz1805 2 ай бұрын

Napoleon was the cheat code of history 😉👍

@nasreensumaiya7183 Ай бұрын

@sator6754 Ай бұрын

I ain't gon lie bro this gotta be the weakest comparison of all time. It's like saying "this fast car is like that one car that goes fast in a video game"

@abdulrahmankhalil115 Ай бұрын

@@sator6754lol yeah thats what I was thinking too no offense to anyone

@sator6754 Ай бұрын

@@abdulrahmankhalil115 idk why but it ticks me off when people make comparisons like that

@asdfoifhvjbkaos Ай бұрын

0:12 today i learned the plural of papyrus is papyri

@fajaradi1223 24 күн бұрын

I think they got it wrong Papyri = single Papyrus/Papyrwe = plural

@asdfoifhvjbkaos 24 күн бұрын

@@fajaradi1223 just looked it up, they got it right in the video

@ohNickzta 18 күн бұрын

@@fajaradi1223 Papyrus is singular and papyri is multiple

@fajaradi1223 18 күн бұрын

@@ohNickzta I'm kinda sad, both of you didn't get the joke

@ohNickzta 18 күн бұрын

@@fajaradi1223 oh wow that was hilarious should consider stand up comedy

@TheAdammantium Ай бұрын

I appreciate the stone carving sound effects during the animations :)

@tardlyfe3571 2 ай бұрын

You didn't mention that ancient greek was never forgotten

@G_Kchrst 2 ай бұрын

Ancient Greek is far younger than Ancient Egyptian and it was never stopped being spoken as as the Greek culture remained alive within Rome, Byzantium and the Ottoman Empire.

@kingace6186 Ай бұрын

Why bother? This isn't about the relatively new Ancient Greek.

@tardlyfe3571 Ай бұрын

@@kingace6186 Because if you don't say they knew ancient greek then how did they know how to read the rosetta stone? They knew the words in greek and used that to figure out the egyptian

@Dimor-pl7oy Ай бұрын

@@G_Kchrst Source?

@morgan_dunn_2117 Күн бұрын

1:10 they say they used royal figures from the greek section as a starting point to decode the other 2 languages. Also it was mentioned that each section was a *rough* translation, so even if you know the greek it required work to translate the other languages from that.

@ErdmanVonAlmaty Ай бұрын

So interesting 💡

@andrewreynolds912 2 ай бұрын

Now i know where the name of my language app's from.

@jestes7 Ай бұрын

Fittingly that app is super outdated.

@pointystories582 Ай бұрын

So much so, that they named the Stone after the app. Totally true fact.

@SnowyButterfly1 25 күн бұрын

@@pointystories582wow thats very interesting

@shadabsaleem4005 Ай бұрын

Please make a video on palmistry

@MrsJudithWright 2 ай бұрын

Fascinating. You cover so much in this.

@katherineknapp4370 Ай бұрын

This is so cool

@DAngelChavezM Ай бұрын

Rosetta Stone is the pioneer of translation in Human History. Cleverly!

@lReb Ай бұрын

Fun fact: When the British defeated the French, they took the stone to London under the terms of the Capitulation of Alexandria in 1801. Since 1802, it has been on public display at the British Museum almost continuously and it is the most visited object there.

@alainprostbis Ай бұрын

the Egyptians are not amused though...

@pinkpenzu Ай бұрын

@@alainprostbis too bad

@macmedia1000 2 ай бұрын

Great as always i really hope you continue History vs

@darlinsebastian.3229 Ай бұрын

It was amazing when she said "The troops took the stone to the Britih Museum", what a nice surprise.

@alainprostbis Ай бұрын

also quite funny to say that the French "encountered the Rosetta stone"... well, not really. They litterally discovered it. it was in the ground, below the surface. oh well...

@stillwaterbis2203 22 күн бұрын

@@alainprostbis then the British took it and said it was theirs

@sfguzmani 11 күн бұрын

If they didn't bring that there, it would just be destroyed and scholars across the world can never decipher the hieroplyphs. The Rosetta Stone was found as a building stone on the wall of an Egyptian Fort.

@alainprostbis 11 күн бұрын

@@sfguzmani no. first it was discovered by the French. not the English. and from its discovery it was copied by French scholars and distributed to scholars the world over, so the message was copied and secured. and it was eventually deciphered by Champollion who was working on the copied message and not from the original Rosetta stone in Britsih museum. .And anyway why and how do you destroy this stone?

@sfguzmani 11 күн бұрын

@@alainprostbis Suppose you had thoroughly delved into history and conducted research on this stone. In that case, you’d be aware that the Rosetta Stone tablet is about to serve as construction material for a fortification. Had it not been brought there, it would have faced destruction, leaving scholars worldwide unable to decipher the hieroglyphs.

@popnx Ай бұрын

Nico Robin probably would solve this

@gnoscyde Ай бұрын

When I was a kid we used to pay 25cents for every day we neglect to return the borrowed book from our library. The Rosetta Stone reminds me of a dictionary borrowed from a library.

@arctistarfox Ай бұрын

TIL why the language program I used to (unsuccessfully) learn Spanish in grade school was named after the Rosetta Stone

@markangeloquijano3295 2 ай бұрын

thank you, ted-ed

@directorr9080 2 ай бұрын

I was about to close my eyes but I got notified lol

@matteomocci7948 2 ай бұрын

Finalmente di nuovo un video come ai bei vecchi tempi di TED-Ed!

@UnfriendlyPlacebo 2 ай бұрын

Perfectly timing for bedtime viewing

@TheArtsyAviary. 2 ай бұрын

They know your bedtime!!!!! THEY KNOW

@ShiroTube1206 2 ай бұрын

Good night, have a nice dream!

@Eastern1 2 ай бұрын

But it's morning

@nickdee5764 2 ай бұрын

Or, lunchtime.

@squishypotat0752 2 ай бұрын

Do you live in bejing or something

@kaze987 2 ай бұрын

It is truly an incredible feeling to walk into the British Museum, and this the FIRST thing you see. Incredible

@robynbrowne1277 Ай бұрын

And they should return it

@Mickyway Ай бұрын

@@robynbrowne1277 no they shouldn't. The Egyptians had it for centuries and did nothing, it was British genius to use it and unlock the ancient world, we should keep it for that.

@bobjones1999 17 күн бұрын

@@robynbrowne1277 They were the only ones who took care of the Stone. Previously, the Egyptians just disregarded the stone.

@nachodinos3 2 ай бұрын

Great, great video! DEVUELVAN EL MOAI

@ezg310 2 ай бұрын

ydt 2022 seni unutmadık…

@Newdivide 2 ай бұрын

2:55 and according to accounts, he shouted, “I got it!” & fainted on the floor

@thenovicenovelist 2 ай бұрын

Sounds like a variation of the Archimedes "Eureka" moment or the story about the first person to translate the Gilgamesh story... except with more clothing and more fainting.

@bvillafuerte765 Ай бұрын

Good video.

@xantheyellow 11 күн бұрын

The jab at the british museum at the end... lol

@refigee8752 Ай бұрын

I really want to believe that if the British had the sense of mind to consult the then locals, they could have had a much better chance of deciphering the stone. Entire cultures and customs dont just vanish into thin air, oral history keeps them alive, often in small nuclear families or closely knit communities.

@cru3her608 5 күн бұрын

1:02 french names are just too funny

@anirprasadd Ай бұрын

The stone also had ancient greek. That language was well known among scholars across europe

@grantponciano9386 Ай бұрын

The fact no one knows how the stone got there makes me imagine it as some star trek time traveling shenanigans lol

@westonwadsworth8177 Ай бұрын

That would “intercept” is doing a lot of heavy lifting. Also not found by an officer but by stone masons.

@khi_wick 2 ай бұрын

gracias ted-ed

@yellowstarproductions6743 Ай бұрын

Same here

@AVGNfan01 2 күн бұрын

It would be cool to see Wirtual host a documentary on this

@ayaanamin3339 2 ай бұрын

wow

@saigonmonopoly1105 15 күн бұрын

what scrool used during nostic craayon

@frontman-ij3wv 2 ай бұрын

I thought Rosetta is a emulator from x86 to arm

@Rizzed00 2 ай бұрын

It's crazy how those dudes two centuries ago were able to decode those funky texts without the use of modern tech!

@antoniousai1989 2 ай бұрын

ROFL, modern tech exists because people studied linguistics for millennia.

@WeenkerIV 2 ай бұрын

Lol

@Crisis-xw3wg Күн бұрын

@@antoniousai1989ancient people had twitter , Instagram and videos games too?🤔

@mahlataban686 2 ай бұрын

Love❤❤❤

@pramodsingh7569 2 ай бұрын

Thanks

@electromika 2 ай бұрын

Haven't watched one of these in a while. The illustrations are particularly good in this one. Thank you to your illustrator(s).

@cap9684 Ай бұрын

The English intercepted it loool

@2Teach2Know Ай бұрын

Intercepted = STOLE Please let’s tell the truth.

@caimoychristianjohn8783 Ай бұрын

Now i get Jinkx Monsoon

@starsose5833 2 ай бұрын

Yay i'm early!!! 😂 love your vids as always ted ed ❤

@saigonmonopoly1105 15 күн бұрын

imperial silk fabric that kind if

@Footprints1111 2 ай бұрын

6:16 numbers!!! 🦋🌈✨😊

@itacom2199 2 ай бұрын

There is a missing piece in this story: Champollion was probably the first European to guess that the liturgical language of Coptic is a descendent of Ancient Egyptian, and he took lessons of Coptic from a Coptic priest in Paris, Father John (Abuna Yuhanna).

@antoniousai1989 2 ай бұрын

It's referred to in the video.

@itacom2199 2 ай бұрын

@@antoniousai1989 Yes, it's true.

@vanson7709 2 ай бұрын

oh hi itacom, i saw you a lot on socialist/communist song channel lol

@itacom2199 2 ай бұрын

@@vanson7709 Hi

@Broken_vertebratePrime 2 ай бұрын

Watching TED talks ever since 3 grade has gotten me so far with getting ahead in some classes even now in hight school

@josephquinto5812 2 ай бұрын

If you plan on going to college, keep getting ahead. Doing well will grant scholarships, and passing AP tests will save you thousands of dollars. You can even study for any AP test on your own time and take the exam without being enrolled in the class.

@doriancoreyscloset421 Ай бұрын

"Intercept" It amazes me just how much energy goes into talking about Europeans without saying the word "steal" 😅

@alainprostbis Ай бұрын

the English stole it. not the Europeans. Please be more specific. the video also said the "French encountered the Rosetta stone". while in reality the French discovered it (it was in the ground , below the surface), and brought it to Cairo where they had created a museum dedicated to antiquity. so the Europeans as a whole did not steal this stone.

@doriancoreyscloset421 Ай бұрын

@alainprostbis is "English" not European? Does France not have a history of colonialism? They may not have taken the object in question, but that in no way negates their deplorable history of theft and depravity. Learn history, please.

@alainprostbis Ай бұрын

@@doriancoreyscloset421 having lived years in England i can tell you they do not consider themselves Europeans, so you are in the wrong. if you want to complain about the rosetta stone being stolen, please address yourselves to the "thieves" and be specific. now concerning the history of France being "deplorable", this is an idiotic statement. you are grasping at straws desperately trying to be antifrench . anything goes... there is nothing deplorable in finding an artefact in the ground, unearthing it, sending it to Cairo, and eventually deciphering it, unlocking millenia of written human history. what is your country of origin so i can reproach you something based on some weaponization of history? id like to play too...sounds like fun. but let me warn you. there is not a people on earth that cannot be reproached something at one point. reproaching something about what their ancestors may have done is the level zero of reasonning and of justice. you are only responsible of what you do. reproaching the British museum of still owning the Rosetta stone is obviously different as it is still going on and something can be done. oh well...its easier diverting the matter towards "Europeans " iunderstand...let me guess youre either australian or American. if this is the case there are quite a few massacres and horrible things that happened in the history of these countries...

@alainprostbis 7 күн бұрын

@@doriancoreyscloset421 the English do not consider themselves as europeans, in case you did not know. ,. and what does colonianism have to do with the rosetta stone and France? the Rosetta stone was discovered in Rosettte (Al Rachid) by a french officer and the French brought it to Cairo. stick to the facts please. a french scholar, champollion, eventually deciphered the hieroglyphs. this is not a case of annihilating a local culture but quite the opposite.

@Murdaking1996 2 ай бұрын

These animations are simply divine

@PokhrajRoy. 2 ай бұрын

Imagine if this was a long ploy to get us on the Rosetta Stone App.

@alternateguitar7779 2 ай бұрын

Who immediately remembered that Tool song?

@justinehercthehuman6941 2 ай бұрын

I love that even back then, some instructions are "printed" with translations below them. And it even had multiple copies. It's like reading the label of my medicine haha.

@billvanhausen 2 ай бұрын

Uhhh... 1858 wouldn't be considered the "early eighteen fifties."

@ADDICTb2st Ай бұрын

Imagine english script right now being decoded by future humans or other species.

@saigonmonopoly1105 15 күн бұрын

paaper or cotton scroll?

@kimannepark4709 Ай бұрын

The Rosetta Stone is very important. Credit goes to the French for discovering it in the first place.

@alainprostbis Ай бұрын

yep. that was carefully omitted from the video...strangely...

@auro1986 2 ай бұрын

why? it was thought to be treasure map

@damie9412 2 ай бұрын

Nice

@quadtoe Ай бұрын

human history is so interesting

@bhushanmarathe-nc9em Ай бұрын

They found a poneglyph😂😂😂😂

@theenlightenedone1283 2 ай бұрын

Stone age

@dangg1502 Ай бұрын

Ever the skeptic,so,by comparison to each other they figured it out....🤔,something 5 year olds do everyday on kindergarten,wow ,what a breakthrough

@evanrosman9226 2 ай бұрын

I remember hearing about the Rosetta Stone in high school.

@SamsonSanusi 2 ай бұрын

Please there is this one out your video about chess please I want you to authorize me to use it in my channel.

@karincrane3220 2 күн бұрын

The Rosetta Stone was not “pillaged.” It was rescued. As was a common practice the world over, Egyptian locals in 1799 were using the old stone as part of their new building project. If that French officer had not intervened it would probably be in a hundred pieces by now. And the Egyptians had not been able to read hieroglyphs for over 1,000 years. The Europeans, by saving and translating the Rosetta Stone, gave the Egyptians their history back. Should the British give the stone back? Maybe. Probably. But a little gratitude would be nice.

@pbjmochi8400 Ай бұрын

🙏 Here's hoping we find a Rosetta Stones for Linear A, the Indus Script, and other writing systems lost to time.

@user-eq2dx2jp6v 2 ай бұрын

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ thank you ❤❤❤❤❤

@RichardHannay 2 ай бұрын

I have this stone located in my museum… in Animal Crossing 😬

@dishachhillar719 2 ай бұрын

I am a big fan of egyptian history ❤ from India 🇮🇳 ... And I really wish that I get the chance to visit Egypt some day and explore it by myself 💕

@antoniousai1989 2 ай бұрын

Good luck!

@dishachhillar719 2 ай бұрын

@@antoniousai1989 Thank you so much

@johannabonana5306 2 ай бұрын

Humans are incredible as they are cruel.

@ICT_ID 2 ай бұрын

One Piece's Poneglyph

@luukheidelberg1201 2 ай бұрын

If I see a single TOOL reference I will eat my lateralus vinyl

@SanneBerkhuizen 15 күн бұрын

If the Pyramid were tombs. Why didn't they contain mummies?

@DarkStryder360 2 ай бұрын

Rosetta Stone to me is the language learning tool... Now I am learning there is another one 😂

@RaixsOreh Ай бұрын

Great video. But they remembered to mentioned it was "pillaged" but forgot to mention that the Rosetta Stone was found as a building stone on the wall of an Egyptian Fort. The local people didnt realize what they had, the people who "pillaged" it did. Had it not been "pillaged" it probably wpuld have been destroyed as part of the wall it was put on years ago.

@vengefulbrainiac1395 12 күн бұрын

exactly

@FL-uj7cs 4 күн бұрын

Can I go to your house and take one of the stones in the walls? Thanks!!

@RaixsOreh 4 күн бұрын

@@FL-uj7cs sure, you probably wont find a rosetta stone though

@FL-uj7cs 4 күн бұрын

@@RaixsOreh we'll just have to go through them all to make sure won't we?

@RaixsOreh 4 күн бұрын

@@FL-uj7cs wait you know what cancel that. The french at least conquered parts of egypt before getting the rosetta stone. If you're gonna get some ancient relics from my house, at least bother to conquer parts of my country first.

@aniketmore8236 Ай бұрын

Wish there was a Rosetta stone for Indus valley Civilization Script.

@Pedrosa2541 2 ай бұрын

I would love they found a Rosetta Stone of Rongorongo or Linear A, but I guess the chances are dim, mainly for the second one.

@hanve Ай бұрын

❤❤❤

@palaknain8494 2 ай бұрын

Hey, do one about collesseums

@jhnx2124 2 ай бұрын

I'm about to go to sleep but my intrusive thoughts win

@user-pl5it8yc1o 2 ай бұрын

I like this video

@jackhinoff Ай бұрын

The Rosetta stone wasn't "pillaged", without the British we would hardly know anything about the ancient Egyptians. It was being used as part of a wall in a fort before it was discovered.

@havenless3551 Ай бұрын

Well now that we know, and we know who it belongs to, they should return it to the Egyptians.

@jackhinoff Ай бұрын

You don't even make sense. Why would they feel the need to return an object that was left to ruin by the people in the country? Also, the Pharaohs and the ruling class were more related to Europeans then they are modern day Egyptians, who are mostly Arabs, who came during the Muslim conquests. King Tutankhamen shares 50% of his DNA with western European men so if anything the British have a better claim to it than the Egyptian people.

@alainprostbis Ай бұрын

thats BS Jack. the Rosetta stone was found and later deciphered by the French. without the Brits we would still know everything we do about ancient Egypt. unless in your world French and Brits are the same entity but i doubt it...

@yusufrosyid3561 2 ай бұрын

Currently, I know that Ancient egypt language also change, nice information👌👍

@FahdRyS 2 ай бұрын

It is important you can expand item slot with it, in dissidia 012 final fantasy

@JorgeMartinez-nr2sv 2 ай бұрын

And who made this stone?

@edntz 2 ай бұрын

Someone without access to internet. Imagine how bored he must've been.

@antoniousai1989 2 ай бұрын

The "government" at the time of Ptolomy

@Baxtexx 2 ай бұрын

Aliens

@sfguzmani 11 күн бұрын

Kozuki clan

@Sody-ip8xl Ай бұрын

C1🎉

@piratapan 2 ай бұрын

Humanity better praise these amazing nerds

@user-bp4nv3qp4d 2 ай бұрын

PHENOMENAL 🩶🖤

@technicalsanaullah7963 2 ай бұрын

What about stones in Mohenjo-Daro

@rollintweeds234 2 ай бұрын

So cool to imagine that a translation allowed us to reach back 5000 years.

@abhilashchaturvedi4575 Ай бұрын

Rosetta stones forever

@Thwacker71 2 ай бұрын

Great video but "pillaged"? It was literally forgotten and used as a brick until that French officer happened to stumble upon it

@gayslays 2 ай бұрын

the ending got me - it’s basically calling out the British Museum to bring back its artifacts to its original countries of origin

@KNG-pc5qd 2 ай бұрын

Cry about it. Finders keepers.

@Paul-A01 2 ай бұрын

Modern Egypt has about as much connection to the people who crafted the stone as you do to the ancient assyrians. The Rosetta stone is where it belongs

@Alizudo 2 ай бұрын

The two comments above me are 100% correct, and I'm glad to actually find people who understand.

@TheAegisClaw 2 ай бұрын

Elgin marbles to Greece would be safe, Rosetta Stone to Egypt not so much. Sorry Egyptians, but your country has been a bit volatile the last few decades.

@alainprostbis Ай бұрын

@@KNG-pc5qd you did not find it you bozo. the French did. you stole it. "thieves keepers" would be more accurate...

@PokhrajRoy. 2 ай бұрын

Hieroglyphics are fun! They’re so beautiful.

@TheLegend-cc4ju Ай бұрын

What about Ibn Waḥshiyya in his attempted translation of Egyptian hieroglyphs Shawq al-mustahām fī maʿrifat rumūz al-aqlām ☑️

@tienf6642 Ай бұрын

Next, what is Duolingo?

@awesomehpt8938 2 ай бұрын

What if the Rosetta stone had never been found? Would we still have no idea what Egyptian hieroglyphs mean?

@arthaiser 2 ай бұрын

finding about it when they did basically brought a lot of attention to egyptian culture at the time, making all these discorveries at the 1900s, the mummy curses and all that. if they hadnt do it then, we would probably do it when computers came in the form of brute forcing it somehow. and that would mean that whatever popularity egpypt got in 1900 it would have gotten it around 1970-1990.