The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone

by James Cross Giblin

Paperback, 1993

Status

Available

Call number

ANC.EGYPT

Genres

All Topics

Nonfiction

Publication

HarperCollins (1993), Edition: Reprint, 96 pages

Description

Describes how the discovery and deciphering of the Rosetta Stone unlocked the secret of Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Media reviews

CCBC

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 1990) In 1799 Napoleon's soldiers discovered an oddly shaped stone buried in an old fort near the town of Rosetta, Egypt. Because it was inscribed with the same proclamation transliterated into Greek, hieroglyphics and Egyptian demotic writing, it

provided the key that scholars needed to break the code of the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic writing system. Giblin describes the efforts of scholars from France, Sweden and England who worked for over three decades to decipher the stone's message in hieroglyphics. Their successes eventually opened up the whole world of ancient Egyptian history as was preserved in the written records of the time. CCBC categories: History, People And Places. 1990, Thomas Y. Crowell, 85 pages, $13.89. Ages 9-14.

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User reviews

LibraryThing member adharrington

The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone by James Cross Giblin tells the story of how the Rosetta Stone was found and why it was such an important discovery. It begins by explaining what Egyptian heiroglyphics are and why people wanted to be able to decipher their meaning. The story goes on to reveal what

the Rosetta Stone is and how it was used to translate Egyptian text. The author shares information about the different scholars who attempted translations and the difficulties these people had in their task.

I have always been intrigued by Egyptian culture and have been studying different types of text in two of my English classes this semester so this book got my attention very easily. It helped me to understand exactly what the Rosetta Stone is and how it was used.

In the classroom this book would be a very approachable way for children to learn about Egypt and heiroglyphics. It also reveals a lot of history in a story-telling way that I believe children woul.d enjoy.

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LibraryThing member LouCypher

Very nice and informative quick read to introduce people or young adults to what the Rosetta Stone actually was and what it provided for the eventual deciphering of ancient egyptian hieroglyphs. I especially enjoyed all the engravings and photographs of various relics and statues from ancient egypt.

LibraryThing member kthomp25

This is a fascintating book about the history of Egypt and its various forms of writing. When Alexander the Great took control of Egypt in 322 BC, a Greek, Ptolemy, became the Pharoah. After that, important edicts were written in Greek, and in the sacred writing of Egypt, hieroglyphs, as well as

the common Egyptian language known as demotic or 'of the people'.

So the three passages on the Rosetta Stone held the same message, but people had lost the ability to read the priestly hieroglypics (sacred carvings) or the demotic script because it had been replaced by Coptic, the language spoken by the Christian Egyptians.

Many scholars tried to decipher the languages but were stumped, partly by the mistaken belief that all the hieroglyphics had symbolic meanings rather than phonetic ones.

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LibraryThing member lostinavalonOR

This was a really interesting book, written for kids, regarding the basic history of the Rosetta Stone. I had no knowledge of it before reading the book so it was a great little learning time for me!

LibraryThing member the4otts

Excellent introduction to the story of the Rosetta Stone. The author includes photos and engravings which are exceptional. The engravings were created prior to the camera, so the detail is precise. Excellent story about the various persons who attempted to decipher the stone, This is a quick read,

great for older elementary and older.

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