【单选题】
The Rosetta Stone
Things were not going well for Ptolemy V, king ofEgypt in the second centuryB、
C、He was not one of the all-powerfulEgyptian pharaohs who had ruled for many centuries. The young king was one of the Ptolemaic pharaohs who were of Greek heritage, descendants of a ruler put in place byAlexander the Great when he conqueredEgypt in the fourth centuryB、
C、The reign of Ptolemy V was a time of civil unrest and foreign incurious, and the king was unpopular. It was time for a public-relations campaign. The priests of the king wrote a short history of the king’s family, described his accomplishments, and explained his future plans. This message was written on stone tablets in demoticEgyptian for the common people, inEgyptian hieroglyphs for the priests, and in Greek for the ruling class. Thus, it was written in two languages but in three scripts. These tablets were posted all overEgypt.
Almost two thousand years later, in 1799, the French army, led by NapoleonBonaparte, was occupyingEgypt. Several years earlier, Napoleon’s army had defeated theBritish army nearCairo and had taken over the country. However, theBritish fleet had destroyed the French navy and there was no way for the French soldiers to return home.During this "extended vacation", French military engineers strengthened existing defensive positions. In the port town of Rosetta (now known asEI-Rashid), the French were rebuilding an old fort whenCaptain Pierre-FrancoisBouchard discovered an irregularly shaped slab made of dark granite (often misidentified as basalt) with three types of writings on it in three distinct bands.Besides military forces, Napoleon had also brought scientists and scholars with him. The Rosetta Stone, as it became known, was turned over to them. They quickly realized that the three scripts contained the same message.
They translated the Greek quickly but could not understand the other two scripts.
In 1801, the French were forced to surrender. Under the terms of the Treaty ofAlexandria, theBritish claimed the artifacts that the French had found during their occupation. The French tried to smuggle the Rosetta Stone out ofEgypt in a small boat but faileD、The stone was brought to London and presented to theBritish Museum. On the back of the stone is the painted message, "Captured by theBritishArmy inEgypt in 1801".
It was through the Rosetta Stone that scholars learned how to readEgyptian hieroglyphs. The hieroglyphic alphabet, one of the earliest writing systems ever developed, had been used by theEgyptians for 3,500 years.
However, it is far more complex than simple picture writing and contains thousands of symbols.
AfterEgypt was conquered by the Romans, Latin became the dominant language, and by the fourth centuryA、D、, no one could understand the symbols.
Before the Rosetta Stone was discovered, some scholars even believed that hieroglyphs were not really an alphabet but were merely decorations.
Copies of the Rosetta Stone were sent by theBritish Museum to linguists all overEurope, but learning which Greek word represented which hieroglyph proved difficult. It was the brilliant French linguist Jean FrancoisChampollion who finally unlocked the mystery. He began studying the Rosetta Stone at the age of 18.After fourteen years, he deciphered the code. In a letter to the French RoyalAcademy of Inscriptions, he explained the three basic assumptions that led to a translation: (1) TheCopticEgyptian language, still spoken by a small group ofEgyptians, was the final stage of the ancientEgyptian
网考网参考答案：D
网考网解析：
暂无解析 document.getElementById("warp").style.display="none"; document.getElementById("content").style.display="block"; 查看试题解析出处>>
Things were not going well for Ptolemy V, king ofEgypt in the second centuryB、
C、He was not one of the all-powerfulEgyptian pharaohs who had ruled for many centuries. The young king was one of the Ptolemaic pharaohs who were of Greek heritage, descendants of a ruler put in place byAlexander the Great when he conqueredEgypt in the fourth centuryB、
C、The reign of Ptolemy V was a time of civil unrest and foreign incurious, and the king was unpopular. It was time for a public-relations campaign. The priests of the king wrote a short history of the king’s family, described his accomplishments, and explained his future plans. This message was written on stone tablets in demoticEgyptian for the common people, inEgyptian hieroglyphs for the priests, and in Greek for the ruling class. Thus, it was written in two languages but in three scripts. These tablets were posted all overEgypt.
Almost two thousand years later, in 1799, the French army, led by NapoleonBonaparte, was occupyingEgypt. Several years earlier, Napoleon’s army had defeated theBritish army nearCairo and had taken over the country. However, theBritish fleet had destroyed the French navy and there was no way for the French soldiers to return home.During this "extended vacation", French military engineers strengthened existing defensive positions. In the port town of Rosetta (now known asEI-Rashid), the French were rebuilding an old fort whenCaptain Pierre-FrancoisBouchard discovered an irregularly shaped slab made of dark granite (often misidentified as basalt) with three types of writings on it in three distinct bands.Besides military forces, Napoleon had also brought scientists and scholars with him. The Rosetta Stone, as it became known, was turned over to them. They quickly realized that the three scripts contained the same message.
They translated the Greek quickly but could not understand the other two scripts.
In 1801, the French were forced to surrender. Under the terms of the Treaty ofAlexandria, theBritish claimed the artifacts that the French had found during their occupation. The French tried to smuggle the Rosetta Stone out ofEgypt in a small boat but faileD、The stone was brought to London and presented to theBritish Museum. On the back of the stone is the painted message, "Captured by theBritishArmy inEgypt in 1801".
It was through the Rosetta Stone that scholars learned how to readEgyptian hieroglyphs. The hieroglyphic alphabet, one of the earliest writing systems ever developed, had been used by theEgyptians for 3,500 years.
AfterEgypt was conquered by the Romans, Latin became the dominant language, and by the fourth centuryA、D、, no one could understand the symbols.
Before the Rosetta Stone was discovered, some scholars even believed that hieroglyphs were not really an alphabet but were merely decorations.
Copies of the Rosetta Stone were sent by theBritish Museum to linguists all overEurope, but learning which Greek word represented which hieroglyph proved difficult. It was the brilliant French linguist Jean FrancoisChampollion who finally unlocked the mystery. He began studying the Rosetta Stone at the age of 18.After fourteen years, he deciphered the code. In a letter to the French RoyalAcademy of Inscriptions, he explained the three basic assumptions that led to a translation: (1) TheCopticEgyptian language, still spoken by a small group ofEgyptians, was the final stage of the ancientEgyptian
网考网参考答案：D
网考网解析：
暂无解析 document.getElementById("warp").style.display="none"; document.getElementById("content").style.display="block"; 查看试题解析出处>>
发布评论 查看全部评论