迷失畫廊
逛畫廊，看世界， 記下自己的心得
The Rosetta Stone: translation of the demotic text
[Year 9, Xandikos day 4], which is equivalent to the Egyptian month, second month of Peret, day 18, of the King 'The Youth who has appeared as King in the place of his Father', the Lord of the Uraei 'Whose might is great, who has established Egypt, causing it to prosper, whose heart is beneficial before the gods', (the One) Who is over his Enemy 'Who has caused the life of the people to prosper, the Lord of the Years of Jubilee like Ptah-Tenen, King like Pre', [the King of the Upper Districts and] the Lower Districts 'The Son of the Father-loving Gods, whom Ptah has chosen, to whom Pre has given victory, the Living Image of Amun', the Son of Pre 'Ptolemy, living forever, beloved of Ptah, the Manifest God whose excellence is fine', son of Ptolemy and Arsinoe, the Father-loving Gods, (and) the Priest of Alexander and the Saviour Gods and [the Brother-and-Sister Gods and the] Beneficent [Gods] and the Father-loving Gods and King Ptolemy, the Manifest God whose excellence is fine, Aetos son of Aetos; while Pyrrha daughter of Philinos was Prize-bearer before Berenice the Beneficent, while Areia daughter of Diogenes was [Basket]-bearer [before Arsi]noe the Brother-loving, and while Eirene daughter of Ptolemy was Priestess of Arsinoe the Father-loving: on this day, a decree of the mr-sn priests and the hm-ntr priests, and the priests who enter the sanctuary to perform clothing rituals for the gods, and the scribes of the divine book and the scribes of the House of Life, and the other priests who have come from the temples of Egypt [to Memphis on] the festival of the Reception of the Rulership by King Ptolemy, living forever, beloved of Ptah, the Manifest God whose excellence is fine, from his father, who have assembled in the temple of Memphis, and who have said:
Whereas King Ptolemy, living forever, the Manifest God whose excellence is fine, son of King Ptolemy [and Queen] Arsinoe, the Father-loving Gods, is wont to do many favours for the temples of Egypt and for all those who are subject to his kingship, he being a god, the son of a god and a goddess, and being like Horus son of Isis and Osiris, who protects his father Osiris, and his heart being beneficent concerning the gods, since he has given much money and much grain to the temples of Egypt, [he having undertaken great expenses] in order to create peace in Egypt and to establish the temples, and having rewarded all the forces that are subject to his rulership; and of the revenues and taxes that were in force in Egypt he had reduced some or(?) had renounced them completely, in order to cause the army and all the other people to be prosperous in his time as [king; the arrear]s which were due to the King from the people who are in Egypt and all those who are subject to his kingship, and (which) amounted to a large total, he renounced; the people who were in prison and those against whom there had been charges for a long time, he released; he ordered concerning the endowments of the gods, and the money and the grain that are given as allowances to their [temples] each year, and the shares that belong to the gods from the vineyards, the orchards, and all the rest of the property which they possessed under his father, that they should remain in their possession; moreover, he ordered concerning the priests that they should not pay their tax on becoming priests above what they used to pay up to Year 1 under his father; he released the people [who hold] the offices of the temples from the voyage they used to make to the Residence of Alexander each year; he ordered that no rower should be impressed into service; he renounced the two-thirds share of the fine linen that used to be made in the temples for the Treasury, he bringing into its [correct] state everything that had abandoned its (proper) condition for a long time, and taking all care to have done in a correct manner what is customarily done for the gods, likewise causing justice to be done for the people in accordance with what Thoth the Twice-great did; moreover, he ordered concerning those who will return from the fighting men and the rest of the people who had gone astray (lit. been on other ways) in the disturbance that had occurred in Egypt that [they] should [be returned] to their homes, and their possessions should be restored to them; and he took all care to send (foot)soldiers, horsemen, and ships against those who came by the shore and by the sea to make an attack on Egypt; he spent a great amount in money and grain against these (enemies), in order to ensure that the temples and the people who were in Egypt should be secure; he went to the fortress of Sk3n [which had] been fortified by the rebels with all kinds of work, there being much gear and all kinds of equipment within it; he enclosed that fortress with a wall and a dyke(?) around (lit. outside) it, because of the rebels who were inside it, who had already done much harm to Egypt, and abandoned the way of the commands of the King and the commands [of the god]s; he caused the canals which supplied water to that fortress to be dammed off, although the previous kings could not have done likewise, and much money was expended on them; he assigned a force of footsoldiers and horsemen to the mouths of those canals, in order to watch over them and to protect them, because of the [rising] of the water, which was great in Year 8, while those canals supply water to much land and are very deep; the King took that fortress by storm in a short time; he overcame the rebels who were within it, and slaughtered them in accordance with what Pre and Horus son of Isis did to those who had rebelled against them in those places in the Beginning; (as for) the rebels who had gathered armies and led them to disturb the nomes, harming the temples and abandoning the way of the King and his father, the gods let him overcome thein at Memphis during the festival of the Reception of the Rulership which he did from his father, and he had them slain on the wood; he remitted the arrears that were due to the King from the temples up to Year 9, and amounted to a large total of money and grain; likewise the value of the fine linen that was due from the temples from what is made for the Treasury, and the verification fees(?) of what had been made up to that time; moreover, he ordered concerning the artaba of wheat per aroura of land, which used to be collected from the fields of the endowment, and likewise for the wine per aroura of land from the vineyards of the gods' endowments: he renounced them; he did many favours for Apis and Mnevis, and the other sacred animals that are honoured in Egypt, more than what those who were before him used to do, he being devoted to their affairs at all times, and giving what is required for their burials, although it is great and splendid, and providing what is dedicated(?) in their temples when festivals are celebrated and burnt offerings made before them, and the rest of the things which it is fitting to do; the honours which are due to the temples and the other honours of Egypt he caused to be established in their (proper) condition in accordance with the law; he gave much gold, silver, grain, and other items for the Place of Apis; he had it adorned with new work as very fine work; he had new temples, sanctuaries, and altars set up for the gods, and caused others to assume their (proper) condition, he having the heart of a beneficent god concerning the gods and enquiring after the honours of the temples, in order to renew them in his time as king in the manner that is fitting; and the gods have given him in return for these things strength, victory, success(?), prosperity, health, and all the (sic) other favours, his kingship being established under him and his descendants forever:
With good fortune! It has seemed fitting to the priests of all the temples of Egypt, as to the honours which are due to King Ptolemy, living forever, the Manifest God whose excellence is fine, in the temples, and those which are due to the Father-loving Gods, who brought him into being, and those which are due to the Beneficent Gods, who brought into being those who brought him into being, and those which are due to the Brother-and-Sister Gods, who brought into being those who brought them into being, and those which are due to the Saviour Gods, the ancestors of his ancestors, to increase them; and that a statue should be set up for King Ptolemy, living forever, the Manifest God whose excellence is fine - which should be called 'Ptolemy who has protected the Bright Land', the meaning of which is 'Ptolemy who has preserved Egypt' - together with a statue for the local god, giving him a scimitar of victory, in each temple, in the public part of the temple, they being made in the manner of Egyptian work; and the priests should pay service to the statues in each temple three times a day, and they should lay down sacred objects before them and do for them the rest of the things that it is normal to do, in accordance with what is done for the other gods on the festivals, the processions, and the named (holi)days; and there should be produced a cult image for King Ptolemy, the Manifest God whose excellence is fine, son of Ptolemy and Queen Arsinoe, the Father-loving Gods, together with the (sic) shrine in each temple, and it should be installed in the sanctuary with the other shrines; and when the great festivals occur, on which the gods are taken in procession, the shrine of the Manifest God whose excellence is fine should be taken in procession with them; and in order that the shrine may be recognized, now and in the rest of the times that are to come, ten royal diadems of gold should be added - there being one uraeus on them each, like what is normally done for the gold diadems - on top of the shrine, instead of the uraei that are upon the rest of the shrines; and the double crown should be in the centre of the diadems, because it is the one with which the King was crowned in the temple of Memphis, when there was being done for him what is normally done at the Reception of the Rulership; and there should be placed on the upper side of (the) square(?) which is outside the diadems, and opposite the gold diadem that is described above, a papyrus plant and a 'sedge' plant; and a uraeus should be placed on a basket with a 'sedge' under it on the right of the side on top of the shrine, and a uraeus with a basket under it should be placed on a papyrus on the left, the meaning of which is 'The King who has illumined Upper and Lower Egypt'; and whereas fourth month of Shemu, last day, on which is held the birthday of the King, has been established already as a procession festival in the temples, likewise second month of Peret, day 17, on which are performed for him the ceremonies of the Reception of the Rulership - the beginning of the good things that have happened to everyone: the birth of the King, living forever, and his reception of the rulership - let these days, the 17th and the last, become festivals each month in all the temples of Egypt; and there should be performed burnt offerings, libations, and the rest of the things that are normally done on the other festivals, on both festivals each month; and what is offered in sacrifice(?) should be distributed as a surplus(?) to the people who serve in the temple; and a procession festival should be held in the temples and the whole of Egypt for King Ptolemy, living forever, the Manifest God whose excellence is fine, each year, from first month of Akhet, day 1, for five days, with garlands being worn, burnt offerings and libations being performed, and the rest of the things that it is fitting to do; and the priests who are in each of the temples of Egypt should be called 'The Priests of the Manifest God whose excellence is fine' in addition to the other priestly titles, and they should write it on every document, and they should write the priesthood of the Manifest God whose excellence is fine on their rings and they should engrave it on them; and it should be made possible for the private persons also who will (so) wish, to produce the likeness of the shrine of the Manifest God whose excellence is fine, which is (discussed) above, and to keep it in their homes and hold the festivals and the processions which are described above, each year, so that it may become known that the inhabitants of Egypt pay honour to the Manifest God whose excellence is fine in accordance with what is normally done; and the decree should be written on a stela of hard stone, in sacred writing, document writing, and Greek writing, and it should be set up in the first-class temples, the second-class temples and the third-class temples, next to the statue of the King, living forever.
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/articles/r/the_rosetta_stone_translation.aspx
羅塞塔石碑（英語：Rosetta Stone，又譯為羅塞達碑），是一塊製作於公元前196年的大理石石碑，原本是一塊刻有古埃及法老托勒密五世（Ptolemy V）詔書的石碑。但是，由於這塊石碑同時刻有同一段內容的三種不同語言版本，使得近代的考古學家得以有機會對照各語言版本的內容後，解讀出已經失傳千餘年的埃及象形文之意義與結構[1]，而成為今日研究古埃及曆史的重要裏程碑。羅塞塔石碑最早是在1799年時由法軍上尉皮耶-佛罕索瓦·劄維耶·布夏賀（Pierre-François Xavier Bouchard）在一個埃及港灣城市羅塞塔（Rosetta，今日稱為el-Rashid）發現，但在英法兩國的戰爭之中輾轉到英國手中，自1802年起保存於大英博物館中並公開展示。
羅塞塔石碑是由一群生活於西元前、埃及托勒密王朝時代的祭司所製作，作為當時的國王、年僅13歲的托勒密五世加冕一周年時的紀念，其上的內容主要是在敘述托勒密五世自父親托勒密四世處襲得的王位之正統性，與托勒密五世所貢獻的許多善行，例如減稅、在神廟中豎立雕像等對神廟與祭司們大力支持的舉動。在托勒密王朝之前、法老時代的埃及，像這般的詔書原本都是由法老頒授，等同於聖旨，但到了托勒密時代，唯一還知道埃及象形文撰寫方式的祭司們卻成為詔書的頒寫者，是一個很不一樣的特點。
羅塞塔石碑由上至下共刻有同一段詔書的三種語言版本，最上麵是14行古埃及象形文（Hieroglyphic，又稱為聖書體，代表獻給神明的文字）句首和句尾都已缺失，中間是32行埃及草書（Demotic，又稱為世俗體，是當時埃及平民使用的文字）是一種埃及的紙莎草文書，再下麵是54行古希臘文（代表統治者的語言，這是因為當時的埃及已臣服於希臘的亞曆山大帝國之下，來自希臘的統治者要求統治領地內所有的此類文書都需要添加希臘文的譯版）其中有一半行尾殘缺。在西元4世紀結束後不久，尼羅河文明式微、不再使用的埃及象形文之讀法與寫法徹底失傳，雖然之後有許多考古與曆史學家極盡所能，卻一直解讀不了這些神秘文字的結構與用法。直到時隔1400年之後羅塞塔石碑出土，它獨特的三語對照寫法，意外成為解碼的關鍵，因為三種語言中的古希臘文是近代人類可以閱讀的，利用這關鍵來比對分析碑上其他兩種語言的內容，就可以了解這些失傳語言的文字與文法結構。
在許多嚐試解讀羅塞塔石碑的學者中，19世紀初期的英國物理學家托馬斯·楊（Thomas Young）是第一個證明碑文中曾多次提及“托勒密”這人名的發音者。至於法國學者尚-佛罕索瓦·商博良（Jean-François Champollion）則是第一個理解到，一直被認為是用形表義的埃及象形文，原來也是具有表音作用的，這重大發現之後成為解讀所有埃及象形文的關鍵線索。也正是因為這緣故，羅塞塔石碑會被稱為了解古埃及語言與文化的關鍵基礎。
今日被存放在大英博物館埃及廳中展示的羅塞塔石碑，是個高約114.4厘米、寬72.3厘米、厚27.9厘米，略呈長方形但實際上缺了許多邊角的平麵石碑，大理石材質製造（雖然常被誤會為是花崗岩），重約762公斤。大理石的黑色表麵上刻有塗上白漆的文字，石碑的兩側刻有後人加上的文字，其中左側為“1801年時由英軍在埃及獲得”（Captured in Egypt by the British Army in 1801），右側則為“國王喬治三世捐贈”（Presented by King George III），雖然這塊石碑曾在1998年時由大英博物館的古物維護專家以現代化的手法清理幹淨還原其原貌，但上述的刻字由於也是近代人類文明事跡的見證之一，因此被保留了下來。除此之外，石碑底部左側也有一個小角落蓄意被保留而沒有清理，主要的目的是為了對照，讓人們知道清理前與清理後的差異。
曆史
Height: 112.3 cm
Width: 75.7 cm
Thickness: 28.4 cm
1799年7月15日，當時隨著拿破侖占領埃及（1798年—1801年）的法軍上尉皮耶-佛罕索瓦·劄維耶·布夏賀在尼羅河三角洲上一個稱為羅塞塔的港口城鎮郊外，指揮聖朱利安要塞（Fort St Julien）的地基擴大挖掘工程時，意外挖到一顆黑色的大石頭。他意識到這顆石頭的重要性而向指揮官阿卜達拉·傑克·德·門努瓦（Abdallah Jacques de Menou）報告，後者決定應該將這顆大石送去給拿破侖在開羅設立的埃及研究所（Institut de l'Égypte）裏之科學家們研究分析，並於同年8月運抵開羅。由於石碑是在羅塞塔郊外出土的，因此根據發現地點而命名為羅塞塔石碑。
1801年，拿破侖的大軍被英軍打敗投降，也結束了法軍在埃及為期三年的占領期。埃及的占領權易手也掀起這批法軍在埃及收集到的古物之所有權爭議，當時法國的科學家們希望能保留這批古物並在6月開羅破城時，帶著它們避走亞曆山大港（Alexandria），但英方卻認為這些古物是沒收品，應當屬於英王喬治三世的財產。當時，著名法國自然學家艾奇恩那·若弗魯瓦·聖-蒂萊爾（Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire）曾致信英國大使威廉·理查·漢彌爾頓（Sir William Richard Hamilton），威脅如果英方豪奪，他們將焚毀這批發現物。英軍在占領亞曆山大後，與法方簽訂亞曆山大協約（Treaty of Alexandria，1801年9月）正式結束法軍在埃及的占領，根據此協約法軍在占領期間於埃及發現的古物，也應一同轉移給英方。但法軍在撤退時並未依約繳出羅塞塔石碑，而是將它藏在一艘小船上準備偷渡回歐陸，但功敗垂成半途被英軍捕獲。事後雙方協議，法方可以保留之前的研究成果與石碑的拓印，但英方則獲得石碑的實際擁有權。
羅塞塔石碑在1802年時運抵英國，並且以英王的名義捐獻給大英博物館作為收藏，從此之後羅塞塔石碑一直被展示在博物館的埃及館中，是該館最引以為傲的鎮館之寶之一。在之後的兩百多年間，羅塞塔石碑僅曾短暫地離開過大英博物館一次——1917年時，接近尾聲的第一次世界大戰戰火蔓延，由於博物館方麵擔心倫敦遭受到激烈的轟炸而損傷古物，因此將一批包括有羅塞塔石碑、較為輕便容易搬移的重要古物，偷偷藏匿在霍本（Holborn）一帶深達地下50英尺的地鐵車站中，為期兩年。直至大戰結束恢複和平後，才將古物移回博物館繼續展覽。
不過，並不是全世界的人們都很樂意見到羅塞塔石碑被保存在大英博物館中，由於羅塞塔石碑是解開古文字的關鍵，對埃及來說意義非凡，也因此設址於開羅的埃及古物最高委員會（Supreme Council of Antiquities，是埃及文化部的下轄組織之一，此委員會負責掌管埃及出土的所有古跡與古物）秘書長、也是知名埃及考古學家的劄希·哈瓦斯博士（Dr. Zahi Hawass）就曾公開呼籲英國應該將羅塞塔石碑歸還給它真正的歸屬地：埃及。羅塞塔石碑也是這些年古物最高委員會追討流失文物的重點之一。
在翻譯學中的意義
之所以稱為羅塞塔石碑，是因為該石碑座落於埃及尼羅河流域一個名叫“羅塞塔”的小城鎮。
1799年，遠征埃及的拿破侖的士兵在尼羅河口的羅塞塔鎮修建城堡之時，發現了這塊創作於公元前196年的古字碑。羅塞塔石碑的發現，證明了歐洲與亞洲文明交往的具體情形，也成為了解讀古埃及象形文字的關鍵。該石碑上刻著埃及象形文、俗體文和希臘文三種文字。其中，象形文字用於書寫宗教文本和重要文件。俗體文是一般人用的文字，用於記錄日常生活。希臘文是當時埃及統治者使用的語言。這樣，用三種文字書寫之後，埃及的祭司、政府官員和統治者以及普通民眾都能讀懂它的內容。
早在公元前3500年到公元前3100年，埃及人使用象形文字作為刻本，直到公元4世紀。從公元3世紀開始，埃及人才開始使用自己的7個象形文字，加上希臘字母表做成符號，用以書寫自己的語言。這種語言稱為科普特語，即為希臘字母的變體。自從科普特語取代象形文字後，埃及的象形文字基本失傳。
西方有記載的翻譯活動可以上溯到古代埃及。羅塞塔石碑對於翻譯的重要意義在於，它是世界上最著名、最有影響的翻譯作品之一。有些人認為，埃及的象形文字是原文，希臘文和俗體文是譯文，但也有人持不同意見。究竟哪一個是原文，哪一個是譯文，還是三種同是原文，還是兩種原文，一種譯文？在多元文化的社會中，多種語言同時並存、同時使用，這已經不足為奇。[
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