It was important for scholars to understand that the inscription was the same in all three languages on the Rosetta Stone because it provided a key to deciphering the hieroglyphic and demotic scripts. The presence of the identical text in Greek, a language that scholars could already understand, allowed them to use it as a reference point to unlock the meanings of the Egyptian characters. This tri-lingual aspect of the inscription facilitated the process of translation and ultimately contributed to the broader understanding of ancient Egyptian culture and language. Without recognizing the equivalence of the messages in the three languages, scholars would have struggled to make any progress in decoding the hieroglyphs and demotic writing.
But what did the passages in Egyptian mean? Did they contain exactly the same message as the Greek passage? The last sentence of the Greek text said, “This decree shall be inscribed on a stela [slab] of hard stone in sacred [hieroglyphic] and native [demotic] and Greek characters,” so it seemed clear that the inscription was the same in all three languages. That way, the priests’ statement could be read by Egyptians who understood Greek, as well as by those who knew only one or both of the Egyptian languages. But the scholars were still far from being able to decipher either the hieroglyphs or the demotic writing.
—The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone,
James Cross Giblin
Based on the passage, why was it so important that the scholars figured out that the inscription was the same in all three languages on the stone?
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