Hieroglyphs at the British Museum: how the Rosetta Stone opened up 4,000 years of knowledge to the world

Temple lintel of King Amenemhat III from Hawara, Egypt, 12th Dynasty, 1855–1808 BCE

(Picture: British Museum)

Ask any of the staff members helpfully loitering around the entrance to the British Museum’s Great Court and they’ll tell you - there are three things that people ask for. The mummies, the toilets and the Rosetta Stone.

The latter, for future reference, is normally found in the Egyptian Sculpture gallery, though it’s usually impossible to see due to the mass of people crammed around its case, holding up their phones for a snap before moving on, one more world-famous artefact ticked off the list.