History: Finding the Rosetta Stone

history

History: Finding the Rosetta Stone

Learn about the discovery of the Rosetta Stone in Egypt and how it helped unlock ancient hieroglyphs in this A2 English reading lesson.

Title

History: Finding the Rosetta Stone

Seo_intro

Learn about the discovery of the Rosetta Stone in Egypt and how it helped unlock ancient hieroglyphs in this A2 English reading lesson.

Reading Text

In 1799, French soldiers stayed in Egypt near a town called Rosetta. They needed to fix an old fort. The men worked under the hot sun and cleaned dirt from broken walls. While digging, one soldier stopped and looked down. He noticed a very large black stone slab buried in the ground. It weighed more than 700 kilograms, so several soldiers helped him lift it out. The stone showed writing carved in three different scripts. One script was Ancient Greek. Another was Egyptian picture writing, called hieroglyphs. For many centuries, people wanted to read these mysterious pictures, but no one could understand them. Later, the stone traveled to a museum in London. A French teacher named Jean-François Champollion studied copies of the Greek text and compared the words to the Egyptian pictures. He worked for years, counted the symbols, and finally helped unlocked the lost history of ancient Egypt.

Activities

Vocabulary

Items:

Label: soldiers
Answer: def_1
Label: slab
Answer: def_2
Label: carved
Answer: def_3
Label: hieroglyphs
Answer: def_4
Label: mysterious
Answer: def_5
Label: symbols
Answer: def_6

Definitions:

Text: people who serve and fight in an army
Text: a thick, flat, heavy piece of stone or rock
Text: cut into a hard surface like wood or stone
Text: pictures or signs used as a writing system in ancient Egypt
Text: strange, secret, or difficult to explain and understand
Text: marks, signs, or shapes that represent an idea, sound, or word

Fill In The Blanks:

Before: The brave
After: built a camp to protect the town.
Answer: soldiers
Before: The builders moved a heavy
After: of dark rock into place.
Answer: slab
Before: The ancient artist
After: letters deep into the stone wall.
Answer: carved
Before: Egyptian
After: use pictures of birds, eyes, and people.
Answer: hieroglyphs
Before: The explorer discovered a
After: box with no keyhole.
Answer: mysterious

Comprehension

Questions:

Text: The French soldiers found the stone while repairing an old fort.
Answer: true
Text: One soldier lifted the heavy stone out of the ground completely alone.
Answer: false
Text: The writing on the stone was carved in three different scripts.
Answer: true
Text: People could easily read Egyptian hieroglyphs before the stone was found.
Answer: false
Text: Jean-François Champollion compared the Greek text with the Egyptian pictures.
Answer: true

Scrambled:

Answer: The soldiers worked under the hot sun.
Answer: He noticed a large black stone in the ground.
Answer: The stone showed writing in three different scripts.
Answer: No one could understand the mysterious pictures.
Answer: The teacher studied copies of the Greek text.

Written Expression

Questions:

Text:
Imagine you find a buried ancient object in your backyard. Describe what it looks like and how you feel.
Text: Why do you think it is important for museums to preserve old artifacts and languages?

Examples:

Example Response 1: If I found an old object, it would probably be a small metal coin covered in brown dirt. I would feel very surprised and excited to show it to my history teacher.

Example Response 2: Museums are important because they protect history. When we study old objects, we can learn how people lived thousands of years ago.

Critical Thinking

Title: Critical Thinking Extension

Instructions:

Why was having Ancient Greek on the Rosetta Stone the key to unlocking the meaning of Egyptian hieroglyphs?
The Rosetta Stone was found in Egypt by French soldiers and is now in a museum in London. Where do you believe ancient historical treasures should be kept, and why?