Rosetta Stone back to Egypt?

by Salman Hameed

The Rosetta Stone should be back in Egypt. I had a chance to visit Luxor in late 2010 and was completely blown away by the remains of the temples there as well as the Valley of the Kings. You have to really be there to appreciate the richness of the ancient Egyptian civilization. The museum in Cairo is also great and has some spectacular objects older than four thousand years. However, the Valley of the Kings is vastly superior as we are seeing it in the same location as it was. The museum becomes a bit remote. And a museum in London holding an important Egyptian artifact is even worse. The Rosetta Stone was discovered by the French in 1799 and then handed over to the British as part of the treaty of Alexandria. It has been part of the British museum since 1802. Isn't it time to rest another colonial acquisition and send the Rosetta Stone back to its place of origin? Perhaps - but unlikely that it will actually happen.

In the mean time, here is a brief interview with Mohammed Ismail Khaled, the Egyptian official in charge of in charge of foreign archaeological missions. The last question is about the Rosetta Stone. From this week's Science:

    Q:What challenges did you face during the revolution?
    We had many difficult times, beginning with what happened at the [Museum of Egyptian Antiquities]. The same wrong information was just multiplied by the media. People didn't believe us when we said that only 54 pieces were stolen from the museum and that now only 29 are missing. All the masterpieces relating to King Tut, thank God, they are back.
    Q:Are all foreign archaeological missions back in the field again?
    The only missions that left Egypt were from the Cairo area, and they left because it was not safe. But missions in the Eastern and Western Desert, in Aswan, and in other areas, they did not see the revolution. They never stopped working.
    Q:Egypt's former minister of state for antiquities affairs, Zahi Hawass, campaigned for the return of Egyptian artifacts, such as the Rosetta Stone, from foreign museums. Is this still a priority?
    It is our cultural heritage. We will not leave the repatriation issues unsettled. But the problem now is that the Ministry of State for Antiquities is suffering from internal protests: people want jobs, increases in salaries. You have to solve these problems first and then think about the fight outside the country.

And as a bonus, here is Sagan talking about the decoding of Egyptian hieroglyphs by Champollion using the Rosetta Stone: