Time Words Timeline

April 13, 2015
By Jill Rubalcaba, Janice Kamrin (consultant)
In 1799 a group of French soldiers rebuilding an old
fort on the Egyptian coast uncovered a gray slab of
granite in the dusty rubble. The stone’s surface was
covered in strange markings that the soldiers could
not read. It would take over 20 years of hard work
before anybody could read the markings. The Rosetta
Stone, as it became known, would prove to be one of
the most important archaeological finds ever made.
A fragment of a larger stone, it was the key that
unlocked many of the secrets of one of the most long-lived
of ancient civilizations: that of Egypt.
The Rosetta Stone
ANCIENT HISTORY
500 BCE
RECENT HISTORY
400 BCE
300 BCE
200 BCE
100 BCE
1700 CE
1800 CE
Highlight the words or phrases that tell you when an event occurred.
Indicate on the timeline when the Rosetta Stone was found and when it was deciphered.
Time Words
Timeline
April 13, 2015
By Jill Rubalcaba, Janice Kamrin (consultant)
In 1799 a group of French soldiers rebuilding an old
fort on the Egyptian coast uncovered a gray slab of
granite in the dusty rubble. The stone’s surface was
covered in strange markings that the soldiers could
not read. It would take over 20 years of hard work
before anybody could read the markings. The Rosetta
Stone, as it became known, would prove to be one of
the most important archaeological finds ever made.
A fragment of a larger stone, it was the key that
unlocked many of the secrets of one of the most long-lived
of ancient civilizations: that of Egypt.
The Rosetta Stone
ANCIENT HISTORY
500 BCE
RECENT HISTORY
400 BCE
300 BCE
200 BCE
100 BCE
1700 CE
1800 CE
Highlight the words or phrases that tell you when an event occurred.
Indicate on the timeline when the Rosetta Stone was found and when it was deciphered.
Time Words
Timeline
April 13, 2015
Sacred Carvings
During the 1st dynasty (2925–2775 BCE), the ancient
Egyptians created a system of writing made up of pictures.
They called their writing medu netjer, which means “words
of god.” Thousands of years later the Greeks named these
picture words hieroglyphs, which means “sacred carvings.”
The Greeks believed the words must be sacred because they
found them in tombs and temples. They were everywhere:
On the walls, across the ceilings—even the coffins were
covered with carvings.
Egyptian hieroglyphics
Very few people in ancient Egypt could read or write the complicated script. Being able to write was a
profession all by itself. Those who could were called scribes. It took years to learn the skill. While other
children were outside playing hockey with sticks made from palm branches and pucks made from
leather pouches stuffed with papyrus, the students studying to be scribes practiced writing.
ANCIENT HISTORY
3000 BCE
2900 BCE
2800 BCE
2700 BCE
500 BCE
400 BCE
Highlight the words or phrases that tell you when an event occurred.
Indicate on the timeline when hieroglyphs were first used in Egypt.
Time Words
Timeline
300 CE
Keyline
hieroglyphs
April 13, 2015
Sacred Carvings
During the 1st dynasty (2925–2775 BCE), the ancient
Egyptians created a system of writing made up of pictures.
They called their writing medu netjer, which means “words
of god.” Thousands of years later the Greeks named these
picture words hieroglyphs, which means “sacred carvings.”
The Greeks believed the words must be sacred because they
found them in tombs and temples. They were everywhere:
On the walls, across the ceilings—even the coffins were
covered with carvings.
Egyptian hieroglyphics
Very few people in ancient Egypt could read or write the complicated script. Being able to write was a
profession all by itself. Those who could were called scribes. It took years to learn the skill. While other
children were outside playing hockey with sticks made from palm branches and pucks made from
leather pouches stuffed with papyrus, the students studying to be scribes practiced writing.
ANCIENT HISTORY
3000 BCE
2900 BCE
2800 BCE
2700 BCE
500 BCE
400 BCE
Highlight the words or phrases that tell you when an event occurred.
Indicate on the timeline when hieroglyphs were first used in Egypt.
Time Words
Timeline
300 CE
Keyline
hieroglyphs
April 13, 2015
By the fifth century BCE, the hard-to-learn hieroglyphs
were replaced by an easier system of writing. Scribes
still used the “words of god” in sacred places—on
temples and tombs—but for record keeping they
adopted a more practical script. They called itsesh,
which means “writing for documents.” Later, the
Greeks named this writingdemotic. As the centuries
passed, fewer and fewer scribes learned the ancient
sacred symbols.
When the Greeks ruled Egypt (from 332 BCE to
30 BCE) their alphabet found its way into Egyptian
writing. By the fourth century CE, no one could read
Sesh
those words drawn in pictures. The hieroglyphs that
had been used for more than 3,500 years became a mystery—one that haunted scholars.
The words of the ancients were everywhere. But no one knew how to read them.
ANCIENT HISTORY
700 BCE
600 BCE
500 BCE
400 BCE
300 BCE
200 BCE
Highlight the words or phrases that tell you when an event occurred.
Indicate on the timeline when each writing system was used in Egypt.
Time Words
Timeline
100 BCE
Keyline
hieroglyphs
sesh
Greek alphabet
April 13, 2015
By the fifth century BCE, the hard-to-learn hieroglyphs
were replaced by an easier system of writing. Scribes
still used the “words of god” in sacred places—on
temples and tombs—but for record keeping they
adopted a more practical script. They called itsesh,
which means “writing for documents.” Later, the
Greeks named this writingdemotic. As the centuries
passed, fewer and fewer scribes learned the ancient
sacred symbols.
When the Greeks ruled Egypt (from 332 BCE to
30 BCE) their alphabet found its way into Egyptian
writing. By the fourth century CE, no one could read
Sesh
those words drawn in pictures. The hieroglyphs that
had been used for more than 3,500 years became a mystery—one that haunted scholars.
The words of the ancients were everywhere. But no one knew how to read them.
ANCIENT HISTORY
700 BCE
600 BCE
500 BCE
400 BCE
300 BCE
200 BCE
Highlight the words or phrases that tell you when an event occurred.
Indicate on the timeline when each writing system was used in Egypt.
Time Words
Timeline
100 BCE
Keyline
hieroglyphs
sesh
Greek alphabet
April 13, 2015
Secrets of the Stone
The three-quarter-ton granite slab Napoleon’s
soldiers found had been carved in three scripts.
Two of the scripts were Egyptian—hieroglyphic
and demotic. One was Greek. It appeared as
if someone, 2,000 years before (196 BCE),
had carved the same message three ways.
Napoleon’s scholars made copies of what they
were now calling the Rosetta Stone. They
spread ink over the stone, laid sheets of paper
on top of the ink, and then used rollers to
transfer the markings onto paper. These copies
were sent to scholars all over Europe. Would
this four-by-two-and-a-half-foot stone be the
clue that cracked the code?
Hieroglyphs in the notebook of Jean-François Champollion,
who published the first translation of the Rosetta Stone in
1822.
ANCIENT HISTORY
500 BCE
RECENT HISTORY
400 BCE
300 BCE
200 BCE
100 BCE
1700 CE
1800 CE
Highlight the words or phrases that tell you when an event occurred.
Indicate on the timeline when the Rosetta Stone was carved and when it was found.
Time Words
Timeline
April 13, 2015
Secrets of the Stone
The three-quarter-ton granite slab Napoleon’s
soldiers found had been carved in three scripts.
Two of the scripts were Egyptian—hieroglyphic
and demotic. One was Greek. It appeared as
if someone, 2,000 years before (196 BCE),
had carved the same message three ways.
Napoleon’s scholars made copies of what they
were now calling the Rosetta Stone. They
spread ink over the stone, laid sheets of paper
on top of the ink, and then used rollers to
transfer the markings onto paper. These copies
were sent to scholars all over Europe. Would
this four-by-two-and-a-half-foot stone be the
clue that cracked the code?
Hieroglyphs in the notebook of Jean-François Champollion,
who published the first translation of the Rosetta Stone in
1822.
ANCIENT HISTORY
500 BCE
RECENT HISTORY
400 BCE
300 BCE
200 BCE
100 BCE
1700 CE
1800 CE
Highlight the words or phrases that tell you when an event occurred.
Indicate on the timeline when the Rosetta Stone was carved and when it was found.
Time Words
Timeline