Description

The deciphering of the Rosetta stone was among the great intellectual achievements ever, unlocking the secrets of tens and thousands of years of Egypt’s historic world. However previously two generations, the conditions surrounding this bravura job of interpretation have grown to be shrouded in mystery and myth. Today in his hypnotic book, Daniel Meyerson recounts the remarkable true story of the way the lives of two geniuses–the emperor Napoleon and the linguist Jean-François Champollion–converged in a development that changed our knowledge of the past.In this significant account, the haunting story of the Rosetta stone–its finding in a doomed struggle, the piece to secure it, the distressing competition to uncover its secrets, and the discomfort it appeared to cause on all who handled it–reads such as the many engrossing fiction. As counterpoint to the testimonies of the experienced emperor and the amazing linguist, Meyerson interweaves the historic myths of interest, love, brutal death, and remarkable revival that were concealed for hundreds of years around the walls of Egyptian tombs–stories that Champollion ultimately made available to the planet.