The stone itself is a stele from the Ptolemaic period with a carved text in three languages: two scriptures in Egyptian language (hieroglyphics and demotic) and one in classical Greek. The stone was discovered by the French in 1799 in the Egyptian locality of Rashid (called by the French as Rosette), which contributed significantly to the decipherment of the principles of hieroglyphic writing in 1822 by the British scientist Thomas Young and the French scholar Jean-Francois Champollion.
Comparative translations of the stone helped to understand some indecipherable examples of hieroglyphic writing. The text of the Rosetta Stone is a decree of Ptolemy V, announcing the revocation of various taxes and instructions to erect new statues in temples.
Apart from classical Greek, the decree was ordered to be published in the language of the gods (hieroglyphics) and in the writing of the people (demotic).
The stone is 114.4 cm at its highest point; 72.3 cm wide and 27.9 cm thick. Its weight is 760 kg. The Rosetta Stone has been on display in the British Museum since 1802.
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