Many engravers in ancient times used engraving for the same reason we do today — to make or decorate things that were needed in everyday life. The same Mesopotamian carvers who made seals also carved and polished thousands upon thousands of beads for use in daily activities. Cloisonné work of gemstones set into gold was also quite popular among these people. Engravers in Central and South America worked primarily with jade to create earplugs, masks and plaques, among other household items.
Engraving has also played a very important role in mankind’s ability to understand Egyptian history. Before the Rosetta Stone was discovered in 1799, Egyptian hieroglyphics were a mystery. All meaning of the Egyptian writing had been lost to the ages since the 4th century AD, and for 1400 years, scholars had puzzled over the pictograph-writing. The discovery of the engraved Rosetta Stone changed all that in the early 1800s, when the code was finally broken by French scholar Jean Francois Champollion. The Rosetta Stone was engraved with an edict, issued in 196 BC, which recorded the benefits conferred on Egypt by the 13-year-old Ptolemy V Epiphanes at the time of his coronation. The edict was engraved in three scripts: Egyptian hieroglyphics, Demotic script (a cursive form of hieroglyphics) and Greek. Using the Greek engraving, Champollion was able to decipher the mysterious hieroglyphics, opening up a world of information and unlocking the key to Egyptian civilization.
Many engravers in ancient times used engraving for the same reason we do today — to make or decorate things that were needed in everyday life. The same Mesopotamian carvers who made seals also carved and polished thousands upon thousands of beads for use in daily activities. Cloisonné work of gemstones set into gold was also quite popular among these people. Engravers in Central and South America worked primarily with jade to create earplugs, masks and plaques, among other household items. Engraving has also played a very important role in mankind’s ability to understand Egyptian history. Before the Rosetta Stone was discovered in 1799, Egyptian hieroglyphics were a mystery. All meaning of the Egyptian writing had been lost to the ages since the 4th century AD, and for 1400 years, scholars had puzzled over the pictograph-writing. The discovery of the engraved Rosetta Stone changed all that in the early 1800s, when the code was finally broken by French scholar Jean Francois Champollion. The Rosetta Stone was engraved with an edict, issued in 196 BC, which recorded the benefits conferred on Egypt by the 13-year-old Ptolemy V Epiphanes at the time of his coronation. The edict was engraved in three scripts: Egyptian hieroglyphics, Demotic script (a cursive form of hieroglyphics) and Greek. Using the Greek engraving, Champollion was able to decipher the mysterious hieroglyphics, opening up a world of information and unlocking the key to Egyptian civilization.
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