For centuries, scholars puzzled over the hieroglyphs they found carved onto ancient Egyptian ruins, tablets, and papyri. But a unique discovery would finally help unlock their meaning.
Vekovima, učenjaci su bili zbunjeni hijeroglifima koje su pronašli ispisane na egipatskim ruševinama, pločama i papirusima. Međutim, jedinstveno otkriće im je konačno otkrilo značenje.
In 1799, as the French military invaded Egypt, an officer encountered a curious stone on the outskirts of Rashid, or Rosetta. It was inscribed with three different portions of text: Egyptian hieroglyphs, which is the oldest Egyptian script, dating back some 5,000 years; Demotic Egyptian, which is a later derivative of Egyptian; and Ancient Greek. It seemed that each section was a rough translation of the others, meaning the stone presented an unprecedented key to unlocking hieroglyphs. English troops soon intercepted the stone and brought it to the British Museum in 1802, where it became one of the most popular displays.
Kada je francuska vojska upala u Egipat 1799. godine, oficir je naišao na neobičan kamen na obodu Rašida, ili Rozete. Na njemu su bila ispisana tri različita dela teksta: egipatski hijeroglifi, koji su najstarije egipatsko pismo, staro oko 5 000 godina; demotski egipatski, koji je kasniji derivat egipatskog; i starogrčki. Činilo se kao da je svaki odeljak grubi prevod ostalih, što je značilo da kamen predstavlja dosad neviđen ključ za odgonetanje hijeroglifa. Engleske trupe su ubrzo presrele kamen i odnele ga u Britanski muzej 1802. godine, gde je postao jedan od najpopularnijih eksponata.
Various European scholars— including Johan Åkerblad, Thomas Young, and Jean-François Champollion— worked to decode the Egyptian scripts. There were some crucial initial clues. The Greek section included the names of royal figures, while certain areas in the Demotic section had bracket-like forms and some hieroglyphic sections were encircled. Could these portions encode the same royal names? Åkerblad matched some characters up and, in 1802, successfully decoded the royal names and some simple words, like “much” and “temples” in the Demotic script. This led Åkerblad to believe that all Demotic signs were alphabetic, meaning each letter represented a discrete sound— much like in English.
Razni evropski učenjaci— uključujući Johana Akerblada, Tomasa Janga i Žan-Fransoa Šampoliona— radili su na tome da dešifruju egipatska pisma. Bilo je par ključnih tragova na početku. Grčki odeljak sadržao je imena vladarskih figura, dok su određeni delovi demotskog odeljka imali oblike nalik na zagrade a neki odeljci sa hijeroglifima bili su zaokruženi. Da li ovi odlomci kriju ista imena vladara? Akerblad je upario nekoliko znakova i 1802. godine, uspešno dešifrovao imena vladara i nekoliko prostih reči, poput “mnogo” i “hramovi” u demotskom pismu. Zbog toga je Akerblad verovao da su svi demotski znakovi alfabetski, što znači da svako slovo predstavlja različit glas— slično kao i u engleskom.
Thomas Young, in contrast, suspected that some of the Demotic signs were logograms— that is, symbols encoding entire words or phrases. For example, he believed a sun disk with a stroke indicated the sun or sun god. Around 1814, he deciphered some recurring Demotic words like “pharaoh” and “Egypt.” Young also had the critical insight that Demotic was a later iteration of hieroglyphs. And, studying the hieroglyphic text, Young successfully decoded the royal name “Ptolemy.” But he still believed the prevailing misconception that most hieroglyphs were logograms representing ideas— not sounds.
Sa druge strane, Tomas Jang je sumnjao da su neki od demotskih znakova logogrami— to jest simboli koji predstavljaju čitave reči ili fraze. Na primer, verovao je da sunčev disk sa crtom predstavlja Sunce ili boga Sunca. Oko 1814. dešifrovao je neke učestale demotske reči poput “faraon” i “Egipat”. Jang je takođe imao ključnu ideju da je demotski kasnija iteracija hijeroglifa. Takođe, proučavajući tekstove hijeroglifa, Jang je uspešno dešifrovao ime vladara “Ptolemeja”. Ipak, i dalje je pogrešno verovao u tadašnje shvatanje da su većina hijeroglifa logogrami koji predstavljaju ideje— ne glasove.
Using his knowledge of other scripts and languages, like the Egyptian Coptic he’d learned from a Coptic Christian priest, Champollion realized that most encircled hieroglyphs were phonetic. They represented sounds: the Egyptian vulture, an “a”; the three fox skins, “m-s”, and so on. This finally allowed him to read the Egyptian names “Ramses” and “Thutmose.” Cross-referencing other hieroglyphic texts, Champollion confirmed that many hieroglyphs beyond the encircled names were phonetic. And on September 14th, 1822, he ran to his brother’s house and declared the breakthrough. Later, Champollion determined that beyond alphabetic and logographic hieroglyphs, some were classifiers that sorted words into categories, like occupations, plants, and abstract concepts.
Koristeći se svojim znanjem drugih pisama i jezika, poput egipatskog koptskog koji je naučio od koptskog hrišćanskog sveštenika, Šampolion je shvatio da su većina zaokruženih hijeroglifa fonetski. Predstavljaju glasove: egipatski lešinar, “a”; tri lisičje kože, “mes”, i tako dalje. Ovo mu je konačno omogućilo da pročita egipatska imena “Ramzes” i “Tutmos”. Upoređujući ih sa drugim tekstovima hijeroglifa, Šampolion je potvrdio da su mnogi hijeroglifi pored onih sa zaokruženim imenima bili fonetski. A 14. septembra 1822. godine, otrčao je do kuće svog brata i obznanio svoje otkriće. Kasnije, Šampolion je utvrdio da pored alfabetskih i logografskih hijeroglifa, neki su bili klasifikatori koji su svrstavali reči po kategorijama, poput zanimanja, biljaka i apstraktnih koncepata.
The first complete translation of the Rosetta Stone was finally published in the early 1850s. So, what did it actually say? The inscription was marked 196 BCE. It honored the first anniversary of 13-year-old Pharaoh Ptolemy V’s coronation and outlined a series of benefits for the Egyptian priesthood. The inscriptions described laws for maintaining temples and performing rituals, like the burial of sacred animals. At the time, Egypt was a multicultural society. Two main languages were spoken: Ancient Greek, brought by Egypt’s conquerors, and Demotic Egyptian, the native language. Hieroglyphs represented Middle Egyptian, a language that was already antiquated but may have been included to convey a sense of authority. The decree was copied onto many stones and erected in temples. However, as regimes shifted, edifices were deconstructed and reconstructed. Some scholars think the Rosetta Stone was originally placed in a temple in Sais. It’s unclear how it ended up 80 kilometers away, but it may have been transported up the Nile after the late 15th century.
Prvi potpuni prevod kamena iz Rozete konačno je objavljen ranih 1850-ih. Dakle, šta je zapravo tamo pisalo? Natpis je označen kao 196. p.n.e. Odavao je počast prvoj godišnjici krunisanja trinaestogodišnjeg faraona Ptolemeja V i navodio niz povlastica za egipatsko sveštenstvo. Natpisi su opisivali zakone za održavanje hramova i izvršavanje rituala, poput sahranjivanja svetih životinja. U to vreme, Egipat je bio višekulturalno društvo. Govorila su se dva glavna jezika: starogrčki, donet od strane osvajača Egipta, i demotski egipatski, tj. maternji jezik. HIjeroglifi su predstavljali klasični egipatski, jezik koji je još tada bio zastareo, ali je možda uključen da bi preneo osećaj autoriteta. Dekret je bio prepisan na mnogo kamenja i postavljen u hramovima. Međutim, kako su se režimi smenjivali, zdanja su bivala dekonstruisana i rekonstruisana. Neki učenjaci misle da je kamen iz Rozete prvobitno smešten u hram u Saisu. Nejasno je kako je završio 80 kilometara dalje, ali moguće je da je premešten uz Nil nakon kasnog 15. veka.
Once deciphered, hieroglyphs helped overturn misconceptions. Subterranean chambers within Egyptian pyramids were once thought to be secret sites of priestly initiation and study. But it was finally confirmed that pyramids were tombs housing sacred preparations for the afterlife. Soon, entire texts could be translated that showcased the complexity of ancient Egyptian religious compositions.
Nakon što su dešifrovani, hijeroglifi su pomogli da se raščiste zablude. Podzemne prostorije unutar egipatskih piramida su se smatrale za tajna mesta postavljanja sveštenika i radne sobe. Ali na kraju je potvrđeno da su piramide bile grobnice gde su obavljane svete pripreme za zagrobni život. Ubrzo, čitavi tekstovi su mogli biti prevedeni, što je pokazivalo složenost staroegipatskih religijskih zajednica.
Experts are still decoding new hieroglyphs as they arise and untangling instances of tricky grammar and wordplay. The Rosetta Stone helped illuminate one of the world’s oldest written languages and the vibrant history it emerged from. And yet, the pillaged artifact remains far from its provenance today.
Stručnjaci još uvek dešifruju nove hijeroglife kako se pojavljuju i rešavaju slučajeve komplikovane gramatike i igara reči. Kamen iz Rozete pomogao je da se rasvetli jedan od najstarijih pisanih jezika sveta i živopisne istorije iz koje je iznikao. A ipak, oteti artefakt i dan-danas počiva daleko od mesta porekla.