Ancient artifacts have always been a topic of concern. Their preservation and safety is one of the most delicate, time-consuming and tedious tasks that the world has to carry out in today's modern time. It is important to make sure that they don't get lost amidst the fast and technologically oriented world of today. These artifacts are the only shreds of history that not only help us decipher the stories of past civilizations but also present a means to understand how people in the past lived and survived, communicated and thrived.
One such artifact of utmost importance is the Egyptian Rosetta Stone. The Rosetta stone was discovered in July 1799 by French officer, Pierre Francois Xavier Bouchard. There is strong belief that the Rosetta stone should be sent back to Egypt, which is its birthright. The history of the Rosetta stone is quite mysterious from its early beginnings as claimed to be found by being discovered as part of the walls of Fort St. Julien; used as a building material. The stone was claimed by General Menou and was held as part of his personal collection for the duration of two years at his home in Alexandria, after he was notified of its existence by Pierre Francois Xavier Bouchard in 1977 (Budge 1). The stone did not stay with the General for more than two years, when rediscovered by Napoleon it was shifted to Cairo to be stored in the "institute national" that was owned and founded by Napoleon himself. The Rosetta stone had become the sole prospect of curiosity for Napoleon and he wanted it deciphered soon. "He at once ordered a number of copies of the stone to be made for redistribution among the scholars of Europe, and two skilled Lithographers, "citizen's Marcel and Galland", were especially called to Cairo from Paris to make them. (Budge 1)." In 1802 the French lost to the British in Egypt in the treaty of Alexandria, and handed over the Rosetta stone to them, which then successfully arrived to the British museum and has remained there till today.
