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The Rosetta Stone | ||
Tags: History | Rosetta Stone | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Philological Room |  | |
| Alexander86 Tetraglot Senior Member United Kingdom alanguagediary.blogs Joined 4981 days ago 224 posts - 323 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, German, Catalan Studies: Swedish | Message 1 of 12 16 December 2011 at 6:56pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yesterday I strode out of UCL (University College London) after my conference had finished and walked down a
block and entered the Waterstones book store on the corner, which I'm glad to say had a massive collection of language material that would have pleased the whole forum. Its Spanish and Italian language collections were excellent, its German and Portuguese also, and the Greek and Latin and associated historic literature was overflowing with texts. It was a good find, I even found the Swedish texts I wanted to browse through (before buying online). I then wandered on to the British Museum, like so many other people heading for the one thing it is most famous for holding, The Rosetta Stone. I basically walked straight towards it, knowing that I could see that first and then move around the other objects related to it in the most impressive of rooms. It impressed me, even after seeing it hundreds of times in pictures, on TV and so forth. It's quite a small stone (it was originally rather larger) and seeing the three texts together - Greek, Demotic and Hieroglyphs - I thought of all the other language learners and lovers that there are here on this forum. It's a must-see, a wonderful piece of history, but my journey did not end there. I stayed in that room a while, pausing at an obelisk and several other stones full of those most wonderful of things: Egyptian Hieroglyphs. I remember seeing them as a kid, such vivid imagery, completely different to the banal roman alphabet of the languages I speak. I then moved round to the Enlightenment Room, which had a section on scripts and languages. I saw Chinese, Persian, Linear B, Coptic, Japanese, Tibetan and more. It was a language orgy, so to speak. But my question is, what other language marvels should I try to see? Which museum exhibits, engravings, letters, and so on would you recommend from your homelands or travels? Edited by Alexander86 on 16 December 2011 at 6:58pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| WentworthsGal Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4888 days ago 191 posts - 246 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Swedish, Spanish | Message 2 of 12 16 December 2011 at 7:06pm | IP Logged | ||
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LOL! At first I thought you were talking about there being a Rosetta Stone language course booth at the British Museum!! I didn't even know the Rosetta Stone was there - definitely something to go and see :o) thanks for posting :o)
As to your question, I'm afraid I don't know. Edited by WentworthsGal on 16 December 2011 at 7:07pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Jeffers Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4909 days ago 2151 posts - 3960 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German | Message 3 of 12 16 December 2011 at 7:22pm | IP Logged | ||
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If you get the chance to visit India, Ashoka inscriptions are fascinating. I went to school for 6 years in a school in the Himalayas, then worked there for several years. It was only when I'd been there about 10 years total that I found out there was an Ashoka inscription like 40 miles away. So a friend and I drove there to have a look.
Unlike the Rosetta Stone, I couldn't make out any of the script. But, we were able to touch it with our own hands, which was a moving experience. The information on plaques nearby said that this particular inscription mentioned several Roman emperors by name. The inscription was carved onto a large rock in the ground, so it wasn't moved to a museum. The British build a building over it to protect it. In their anachronistic way, the shelter is built in an Islamic style. Here's a pic of the building. Here's a picture of the edict inside the building. Since I visited, they've put up a gate. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Hampie Diglot Senior Member Sweden Joined 6659 days ago 625 posts - 1009 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Latin, German, Mandarin | Message 4 of 12 16 December 2011 at 7:28pm | IP Logged | ||
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I’d suggest going to the Louvre and looking at the Law Stele of Ḫammurapi; which is the oldest law codex to be
preserved in it’s wholeness. That and some clay tables! It’s a pity to miss one of the biggest and most widely used scripts of all time: cuneiform! 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Delodephius Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member Yugoslavia Joined 5403 days ago 342 posts - 501 votes Speaks: Slovak*, Serbo-Croatian*, EnglishC1, Czech Studies: Russian, Japanese | Message 5 of 12 16 December 2011 at 8:53pm | IP Logged | ||
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The only inscriptions that I ever saw were the Tabula Traian, a giant plaque carved into
the side of the mountain in Djerdap, on the Serbian side of the Danube. It commemorates the building of the road that went along the Danube and into the Djerdap canyon which then joined the first ever build bridge across the river into Dacia. The bridge no longer exists, just a few columns that held it. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| strikingstar Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5173 days ago 292 posts - 444 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin*, Cantonese, Swahili Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written) | Message 6 of 12 16 December 2011 at 8:58pm | IP Logged | ||
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I've seen fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The Gandharan Buddhist Texts. Oldest discovered Buddhist manuscripts. link For Classical Chinese, there's... Chu Silk Manuscript (~300 BC) Contains works on Chinese astrology and astronomy as well as creation myths of Fuxi and Nuwa. Zhangjiashan Bamboo Text (~200 BC) Contains Book of Numbers and Computaition, one of the earliest Chinese mathematical works. Mawangdui Silk Texts (~170 BC). From Wiki:
Yinqueshan Bamboo Slips. Contains chapters of the Art of War. (~130 BC) Edited by strikingstar on 16 December 2011 at 9:13pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| rivere123 Senior Member United States Joined 4830 days ago 129 posts - 182 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 7 of 12 16 December 2011 at 11:31pm | IP Logged | ||
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That's quite interesting. If I ever get a chance to go to London, I'll remember that... oh, yeah, and the Rosetta Stone too. Gosh, that bookstore sounds awesome.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| psy88 Senior Member United States Joined 5591 days ago 469 posts - 882 votes Studies: Spanish*, Japanese, Latin, French | Message 8 of 12 16 December 2011 at 11:46pm | IP Logged | ||
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You said it was small. I always pictured it as large, from the photos I had seen. What were the dimensions of the stone? Why is it smaller now?
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