Napoleon Bonaparte's ambition to control all the area round Mediterranean Sea led him and his French soldiers to Egypt. After losing a naval battle, they were forced to remain there for three years. In 1799, while constructing a fort, a soldier discovered a piece of stele (stone pillar bearing an inscription) known as the Rosetta stone. This famous stone, which would eventually lead to the deciphering of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics dating to 3100 B.C., was written in three languages: hieroglyphics (picture writing), demotic (a shorthand version of hieroglyphics), and Greek. Scientists discovered that the characters, unlike those in English, could be written from right to left and in other directions as well. Twenty-three years after discovery of the Rosetta stone, Jean Francois Champollion, a French philologist, fluent in several languages, was able to decipher the first word - Ptolemy- name of an Egyptian ruler. This name was written inside an oval called a “cartouche”. Further investigation revealed that cartouches contained names of important people of that period. Champollion painstakingly continued his search and was able to increase his growing list of known phonetic signs. He and an Englishman, Thomas Young, worked independently of each other to solve the deeply hidden mysteries of this strange language. Young believed that sound values could be assigned to the symbols, while Champollion insisted that the pictures represented words.
Choose an option (A, B, C, or D) that best answers each question.
Câu 46:
Why was the piece of newly discovered stele called the Rosette stone?
A. It was shaped like a rosette.
B. It was to honor Napoleon’s friend Rosetta.
C. The town near the fort was called Rosetta.
D. The fort was called Rosetta.
Câu 47:
The word painstakingly is closest in meaning to?
A. Scientifically. B. Patiently. C. Smartly. D. Carefully.
Câu 48:
Why was the discovery of the Rosetta Stone significant for
understanding ancient Egyptian writing?
A. Because it contained information about Napoleon's military victories.
B. Because it was a translation of important texts from Greek.
C. Because it was the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs, a lost language.
D. Because it recorded historical events from the Ptolemaic period.
Câu 49:
When was the first word from the Rosetta stone deciphered?
A. 3100. B. 1766. C. 1799. D. 1822.
Câu 50:
Why were Napoleon’s soldier in Egypt in 1799?
A. They were celebrating a naval victory.
B. They were waiting to continue their campaign.
C. They were looking for the Rosetta stone.
D. They were trying to decipher the hieroglyphics.
Câu 51:
Who was responsible for deciphering the first word?
A. Champollion. B. Young. C. The ruler. D. Napoleon.
Câu 52:
What was the significance of the Rosetta stone in understanding ancient Egyptian writing?
A. It provided a complete dictionary of hieroglyphics.
B. It showed how hieroglyphics were written only from right to left.
C. It contained the same text written in three different languages.
D. It listed the names of all the Egyptian rulers.
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