Napoleon's Expedition Discovered Rosetta Stone

In 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte brought 160 scientists, engineers, and artists on his Egyptian campaign to study the country and assist his 50,000-man army. Naturalists catalogued wildlife, surveyors mapped the landscape, and archaeologists documented ancient monuments. The French also discovered the Rosetta Stone, which the British forces later seized. French scholar Jean-Francois Champollion later used a plaster cast of the stone to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs, while the expedition's wider research filled the 20-volume Description de l'Egypte.

Previous Fact Next Fact