Question

List one event from each of the 5 chapters that led to the discovery of the Rosetta Stone and support each event with a quote from that chapter. Out of all 5 events, which ONE event do you feel the author thought was most important to the discovery of the Rosetta Stone?

Answer 1

The discovery of the Rosetta Stone in 1799 is likely the most important event as per the author's view since it enabled all subsequent decipherments of hieroglyphs.

Step-by-step explanation:

Key Events Leading to the Discovery of the Rosetta Stone

Throughout history, several crucial events have paved the way for the discovery of the Rosetta Stone and our understanding of hieroglyphs:

1. The loss of knowledge of hieroglyphic writing after it died out in the fourth century CE.
2. The discovery of the Rosetta Stone in 1799 by soldiers in Napoleon's army during the construction of a fort near el-Rashid (Rosetta).
3. Thomas Young's breakthrough in identifying the sounds of a royal name, Ptolemy, from some hieroglyphs on the stone.
4. Jean-François Champollion's realization that hieroglyphs recorded the sound of the Egyptian language, a cornerstone for deciphering the ancient script.
5. The British acquisition of the Rosetta Stone following Napoleon's defeat and the Treaty of Alexandria in 1801.

Out of all these events, the most significant in the author's view and a turning point in Egyptology was likely the actual discovery of the Rosetta Stone, as it was this event that made all subsequent steps towards deciphering hieroglyphs possible.