ANCIENT
EGYPT
The History, People and Culture of the Nile Valley
The History, People and Culture of the Nile Valley |
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Ancient Egypt Magazine -- Volume Five Issue Two -- October/November 2004 A New Look for the Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone, the key to the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic script, is the most popular single item in the British Museum, and one of the great icons of museum culture. When it first entered the Museum, the Stone was displayed as an abstract and flat piece of black and white text: at an angle and covered with a layer of black wax (later supplemented by finger-grease) with a modern white infill in the signs. It looked like a sheet of western printing laid out on a desk, quietly depriving it of its character as an ancient monument. After initial experiments starting in 1999, a complete conservation and redisplay has now been implemented, and "the most famous piece of rock in the world" is more fully accessible than at any time since Antiquity. The old display has been recreated in the Museum’s King’s Library, which celebrates the Enlightenment, in order to tell the story of decipherment in this context. This uses the original nineteenth century iron cradle that the Stone sat in and a specially made replica that visitors are encouraged to touch. The Stone itself, however, was moved to its new home on the evening of the first of July (making Radio 4 news headlines), after the new case had been constructed behind hoardings in the Egyptian Sculpture Gallery (Gallery 4). The Stone was lifted on slings using a fork-lift truck, and painstakingly moved on wooden slides into position on its new plinth. The schedule was carefully drawn up to ensure that the Stone was not removed from public display for a moment. We were particularly pleased with the timing, which allowed two Egyptian colleagues from Cairo, here as part of a curatorial exchange scheme, to be present for the installation, and the display was completed in time for the visit of Zahi Hawass at the official opening of the Museum’s temporary exhibition Mummy: The Inside Story. The new display stands the Stone back on its original base, and restores its character as a specifically Egyptian stela. The case was designed by Paul Tansey of the Museum’s Department of Presentation and constructed by the company Glasbau Hahn. It subtly evokes its original temple context and alignment, supplemented by images on the in-case panels. A carefully chosen sandstone plinth and in-case lighting evoke the original Egyptian environment: the plinth is a pale sandy yellow, and the light is reflected down onto the Stone, making the inscription beautifully legible. The Museum will publish a new guide to the Stone shortly, tracing its biography from the time of its quarrying near Aswan to the completion of the new display.
The Stone now sits in the central saloon of Gallery 4, with its craggy pink and grey silhouette facing visitors entering from the Great Court; it introduces them not only to Ancient Egypt, but also to the Greek and Ancient Near Eastern galleries. In 1999 most of the Stone’s surface was cleaned, but a patch of the nineteenth century protective wax and the more recent finger grease from visitors who touched the Stone was left to document this stage of the Stone’s history. In the weeks after the Stone was moved, this patch was also conserved, allowing the colour and quality of the stone to be seen fully for the first time in over a century. Once again, this conservation work was done outside the Museum’s opening hours to avoid any disruption to public access. The position of the new case neatly embodies the secret of its significance, since it was created in a multicultural society, and the presence of both Greek and Egyptian texts on it allowed the decipherment of the Egyptian hieroglyphs. The light, modern case is already constantly surrounded by crowds of visitors, and we hope it will convey the enduring relevance of Stone as a popular icon of not only decipherment, but also of all our attempts to understand other cultures in their own terms. Richard ParkinsonAssistant Keeper, Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan, at the British Museum Editor’s Note: The replica of the Rosetta Stone in the King’s Library is really excellent. It is interesting to see that the replica reproduces more modern inscriptions on the stone, which are almost invisible on the original, but which would have been clear when it first entered the Museum. On the left side of the stone is: CAPTURED IN EGYPT BY THE BRITISH ARMY 1801 and on the right side: PRESENTED BY KING GEORGE III Back to Ancient Egypt Magazine - Volume 5 Issue 2 contents
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