The rosetta stone
The last known use of hieroglyphics was written in AD 394, on the Rosetta Stone. It is over a metre high, and was discovered in 1799 at the village of el-Rashid. It is inscribed in hieroglyphics in the top third, demotic in the centre and Greek on the bottom. It is all the same writing, in different languages. This was one way that some hieroglyphs were deciphered and the text was figured out.
In 1822, Jean-Francois Champollion deciphered the inscriptions, and historians consider this to be the greatest achievement in the study of ancient Egypt.
In 1822, Jean-Francois Champollion deciphered the inscriptions, and historians consider this to be the greatest achievement in the study of ancient Egypt.