Rosetta Stone decree Rosetta Stone decree The Decree of Memphis (Ptolemy V) is the third Memphis decree, the first being for his grandfather Ptolemy III (Decree of Canopus), and the second being The Raphia Decree (Ptolemy IV). The Decree for Ptolemy V is the text recorded on the Rosetta Stone (issued at Memphis in 196 BC) in the Egyptian hieroglyphs, Demotic (Egyptian) script, and Greek. The Hellenistic Ptolemaic dynasty, which ruled Egypt from 305 BC to 30 BC, issued a series of decrees over the course of their reign. The Rosetta Stone is the best known example. After six lines of preview on
Rosetta Stone is now used in other contexts as the name for the essential clue to a new field of knowledge. The Rosetta Stone is listed as "a stone of black granodiorite, bearing three inscriptions ... found at Rosetta" in a contemporary catalogue of the artefacts discovered by the French expedition and surrendered to British troops in 1801. At some period after its arrival in London, the inscriptions on the stone were coloured in white chalk to make them more legible, and the remaining surface was covered with a layer of carnauba wax designed to protect the Rosetta Stone from visitors' fingers.