Tristan Hughes

You've got so many of these other objects as well, which I'm guessing at this time when they do come to the British Museum and there's still a lot of mystery around what these hieroglyphs mean.

Is there a lot of excitement in Britain when they come to the British Museum and they see all these objects there?

All right.

So how long is it before people, academics, scholars start looking into the Rosetta Stone and seeing how it can help with deciphering of the ancient Egyptian language?

Who are some of the key figures from this period then who have got copies of the Rosetta Stone and then start getting to work, seeing how that can help in the deciphering of hieroglyphs?

Right.

And one of these other figures who let's talk about now, Thomas Young.

So Thomas Young, who is this figure on the other side of the channel?

Right, well, this challenge, if it keeps going, so what's the first significant breakthrough, I guess, when looking at the Rosetta Stone with helping with this decipherment, with this decoding?

I mean, that's interesting because sometimes you associate Jung with that Ptolemy cartouche and the hieroglyphs.

But from what you're saying there, Eleanor, he also spends a lot of time and makes some significant progress in deciphering Demotic as well.

And is that sometimes overlooked, that part of the story compared with the hieroglyphs?

So we have this anonymous publication in the late 1810s, nearly 1820.

Guessing Champollion, he gets a copy of it, and the Rosetta Stone is proving important.

But is it also important to highlight that at this time there are other objects, other people are working on things which ultimately will contribute to this hieroglyphic decipherment going further?

In the exhibition, and I'm guessing it feels like we probably should mention the name William Banks.

Is he one of these figures?

He also plays a key role in communicating with young, I'm guessing also Champollion as well, from his ventures.

And what he brings back at that time, is it also important to mention that part of the story?

The name Cleopatra, so they now know the hieroglyphic cartouche for two key figures there with Ptolemy and Cleopatra.