Rosetta Stone $1.69 AUD
Category: History
In 196 BCE, priests of all the gods of Upper and Lower Egypt assembled at Memphis to celebrate the accession to the throne of the boy king Ptolemy V. He was already in the ninth year of his reign, but this was the first time that such a momentous gathering as this had taken place. The Council of Priests reviewed all the good works that Ptolemy had performed since acceding to the throne. They also decided that his services to Egypt merited extra honours to be paid to him in all major temples in Egypt. So, after this ceremony, the priests went about drafting a decree in which the good deeds of Ptolemy V and the extra honours to be paid to him were laid out. They wrote a final copy of this decree in three languages: Greek, Demotic (New Egyptian) and hieroglyphs (Old Egyptian). This decree was engraved onto hard stone and was to be set up in every temple in Egypt. Thus, the Rosetta stone was created.
