The secret message of the Scribe.

A sculpture of a sitting scribe.

As you know, the ancient egiptians used a special writting, the hieroglyphics. For them, they were sacred, symbols related with the gods. Only scribes and priests knew how to read and write them, so for the rest of the egiptians, the hieroglyphics were secret messages written in temples and tombs walls.

The scribes used a special paper to write in: the papyrus. The papyrus is a plant which grow on the Nile's  riversides. 

A typical papyrus plant near the Nile.

There are so many that the egyptians used it, after cut the plant, extend and prepare the leaves with some natural products. Then they could writte over the papyrus sheet like this: 

But... How can we know what the egyptians wanted to say? Thanks to the Rosetta Stone: This is a fragment of basaltic stone with the same text written three times in three different scripts: hieroglyphics, demotic and Greek. It's important because, using ancient greek as the basis, we are capable to use this fragment to understand the hieroglyphs of the Ancient Egyptians.

Activities:

Investigate: 

Who discovered the Rosetta Stone and when? 

Why did they put this name?

Who decoded the Rosetta Stone? 

How  long did it take to decode the Rosetta Stone?

You can find information HERE and HERE

A treasure had been hidden in your class, but you will find it only if you decoded this secret egyptian message: 

To achieve it you can use this translator English- Egyptian. Good luck!