Which writing system of ancient Egypt was deciphered via the Rosetta Stone?

Which writing system of ancient Egypt was deciphered via the Rosetta Stone?

• A. Hieroglyphics
• B. Cuneiform
• C. Demotic script
• D. Phoenician alphabet

Answer: (A)

Understanding how a language is read often depends on a text that can be understood in a known language. The Rosetta Stone does exactly this: it contains the same decree written in three scripts, including hieroglyphic and Greek. Because Greek could be read, scholars could figure out what the symbols in the hieroglyphic script stood for—sounds and words—by comparing the texts. This breakthrough let researchers unlock thousands of hieroglyphic inscriptions across temples and tombs, revealing Egyptian history and culture. Cuneiform comes from Mesopotamia, not Egypt, so it isn’t the script connected to the Rosetta Stone. Demotic is another Egyptian script present on the stone, but the major decipherment that opened up hieroglyphs came from using the Greek text as the key. The Phoenician alphabet is unrelated to this discovery.

Understanding how a language is read often depends on a text that can be understood in a known language. The Rosetta Stone does exactly this: it contains the same decree written in three scripts, including hieroglyphic and Greek. Because Greek could be read, scholars could figure out what the symbols in the hieroglyphic script stood for—sounds and words—by comparing the texts. This breakthrough let researchers unlock thousands of hieroglyphic inscriptions across temples and tombs, revealing Egyptian history and culture.

Cuneiform comes from Mesopotamia, not Egypt, so it isn’t the script connected to the Rosetta Stone. Demotic is another Egyptian script present on the stone, but the major decipherment that opened up hieroglyphs came from using the Greek text as the key. The Phoenician alphabet is unrelated to this discovery.