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Why was the Rosetta Stone so important? - Franziska Naether

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For centuries, scholars puzzled over the hieroglyphs they found carved onto ancient Egyptian ruins, tablets, and papyri. But in 1799, a unique discovery would finally help unlock their meaning. It was a stone inscribed with three different texts: Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Demotic Egyptian, and Ancient Greek. Franziska Naether shares how scholars decoded the ancient message of the Rosetta Stone.

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Meet The Creators

  • Educator Franziska Naether
  • Director Tim Rauch
  • Narrator Christina Greer
  • Composer Stephen LaRosa
  • Sound Designer Stephen LaRosa
Avatar for Hayley Levitt
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Many museums contain artifacts from problematic contexts: They might have been acquired during the Colonial Period or were looted. How should we deal with such objects?


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Avatar for Paulo Rodrigues
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To deal with artifacts from problematic contexts, such as the colonial period, it is necessary to adopt ethical and transparent approaches, however the focus must be on respecting communities of origin returning these objects and promoting understanding and international cooperation.


Avatar for Lakshay Verma
Lesson completed

The question of what to do with artifacts acquired during colonial periods is complex. Some argue that museums in places like Britain or Australia have better resources and technology to take care of these artifacts compared to museums in the countries where they originally came from. Plus, having them in one place makes them more accessible to everyone. I mean, imagine if you had to travel to every corner of the world just to see different artifacts!. However, retaining these artifacts raises ethical concerns, as many were obtained through coercion or theft, undermining the rights of source communities. That's why some museums are starting to give stuff back. Like, there was this one case in Australia where they returned ancient artifacts to Indonesia. The National Museum of Australia sent back stone tools and this really old ceramic pot called the Purut Jar. These things had been in Australia for ages, and finally, they decided to send them back to where they belong.

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