W. Marc Gilfillan CPA

The Rosetta Stone, discovered by Napoleon, was possibly the single most helpful Egyptian archaeological find to date. The Stone had duplicated writing in 3 different languages: Egyptian hieroglyphs, demotic (also called Egyptian script) and Greek. Using the Greek translation, archaeologists figured out how to understand the Egyptian script and subsequently the pictographs. However, the query remains: Egyptians had paper, called papyrus, so why was the writing carved in stone? Furthermore, why 3 languages? And why Greek?

The Stone has been around since 3000 B.C. The Rosetta Stone was created around 200 B.C. while Ptolemy V was in power (an emperor of Greek origin). So what happened to the Pharaohs? By this point in history, Egypt was taken over in 700 B.C. by the Assyrians, after that the Persians, and finally the Greeks in 330 B.C. After an existence of 2000+ years, Egypt was in decline.

The Ptolemy dynasty were for the most part good kings, but in 200BC, during which the Rosetta Stone was etched, Egypt had just ended a 10-year long civil war. The civil war started over excessive and oppressing taxation put in place by tough Greek tax collectors. When the war ended there was still much unrest. Ptolemy V put into a effect a Proclamation of Peace which gave forgiveness for any rebel and tax debtors, lowered taxation practices, stopped forced conscription into the navy, and restored tax immunity to the priesthood, temples, and their crops and lands, as it had been in the reign of the ancient Pharaohs. If you’re feeling the pressure with today’s taxes, call a Raleigh NC CPA for all your tax-related needs!

This turned out to be a great edge and financial windfall for the priests and temples and they desired to be sure first all people knew it and, second, didn’t want it to be thrown away again at some point in the future.

As a result, “Rosetta Stones” were carved and put in front of each temple throughout Egypt. The Rosetta stones proclaimed to all that tax immunity had been given to the priesthood and this temple and was a “Do Not Enter” sign to cease the lawlessness of the king’s tax collectors. Go here if you want help with modern-day Tax Preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll in Raleigh NC.

This still begs the question: why carved into stone? The answer is because the priesthood wanted to make sure it wouldn’t fade in history or able to be easily disposed. Another question was why was it written in three languages? The Stone was written in three languages because all could see and follow the message the priests desired to send to everyone of the country. The stone was written in Greek to be very clear to the king’s tax collectors that they couldn’t even set foot in the gates of the temple.

So, the most important Egyptian archaeological find in history, the stone translated the mysterious language of the Egyptians, made us capable of discovering the secrets of hieroglyphic writing and thereby the key to unlocking the history and the understanding of the Egyptian way of life for 3000 years was, in truth, a tax document.

Keep an eye out for my next chapter in his History of Taxes series: Taxes and The Colussus of Rhodes.