Abstract

This paper presents the results of research realized within the project “Deciphering the Middle Text of the Rosetta Stone”, supported by Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 2003 – 2005.

In the paper, it is assumed that a syllabic script of the type consonant-vowel was used for the middle text of the Rosetta Stone. Symbols for 27 consonants were identified. By using the procedure of mirroring and rotation in the writing surface (plain), a monosemic (unambiguous) way was determined for connecting the symbol of consonant with 4 or 8 vowels. Although rarely used, the symbols for writing isolated vowels and some consonants were identified. In the analyzed text, the syllabic signs were not only written next to each other, but also they were often written one above the other in the form of what are known as ligatures. A small number of pictographic symbols were also identified.
 
In the process of the wiring for sound, we started from the fact that sounds for consonants and vowels in a particular language change very slowly in time, eventually within the time period measured by several thousands of years. Consequently, having in mind that the rulers of the ancient Egypt in that period was from Ptolemaic dynasty, and that their homeland was ancient Macedonia, we assumed that sounds of consonants and vowels should be preserved in the archaisms of contemporary Macedonian language. With these identified syllables and their wiring for sound and the definite rules for writing, a monosemic (unambiguous) methodology was generated in order to make out certain words and to read what was written. By applying this methodology in the text, which was written from right to left, without space between the signs, without word’s separation and without separation of sentences, in a continuous sequence of signs, more than 360 different words were identified, as well as respectable number of expressions, which have kept their meaning in some dialects of the contemporary Macedonian language. At a higher level of similarity, certain number of grammatical rules were also identified which are discerned in the contemporary Macedonian language, such as the formation of superlative of the adjectives with the prefix  нај_ [nai] (equivalent to the English   the  …… _est/ the most ……); the plural of nouns by adding  и [i] (equivalent to the English _s); the occurrence of definite and indefinite form of nouns, the frequent use of the preposition на [na] (equivalent to the English prepositions on, at,), formation of masculine and feminine forms of nouns, as well as passive and active form of verbs.  
 
At this moment, using our methodology for identification of the syllabic signs and their wiring from sound we are able to read a complete middle text on the Rosetta Stone, with identified boundaries of the particular words, and complete sentences, sign by sign (syllable after syllable). In this paper, besides the examples of important expressions, and grammatical rules, we present the last 11 rows of the text, starting from row 22 up to the last row. We decided to present these particular rows because this part of the text is very characteristic due to the fact that every sentence starts with the phrase (the pharaoh) ordered/decreed, which simplifies the process of comparison between our reading and publicly very well known readings of the ancient Greek text on the stone. Comparison of our results of reading the middle text and known readings of ancient Greek text, published by the British Museum, are also presented in the paper. One can very easily concludes that the two texts, so called demotic and the ancient Greek text are identical only by the contents of the pharaoh’s orders. Within each particular order, the sentences in two compared texts have different structures, which is very logical and it must be expected in each case when we are comparing two identical texts written in two different languages even today. Going further, by carefully analyzing the proposed reading of the middle and ancient Greek text, everyone can conclude that the culture level of communication with particular different ethnical group with different religion was very high. Namely, communication in such case is according to social status and the religion of particular group in those days ancient Egypt. The presented results of deciphering the middle text of the Rosetta Stone points also to the fact that there are many details which cannot be found in the text inscribed in uncial (ancient Greek) alphabet. This conclusion proves the science awareness from the time of Thomas Young (1822) that the middle text was the original. On the basis of our research we can make this knowledge more precise with the conclusion that the pharaoh’s decree from the middle text of the Rosetta Stone in original is inscribed in the language of the ancient Macedonians with letters of the alive (living) masters of that time, i.e. with the official letters and language of the state that had been ruled by them at year 196 BC for more than a century. The language that we are discovering on the middle text is definitely with the characteristics of the Slavic language, and we found every single word that we were able to identify in the text so far in all contemporary Slavic languages as well, in archaic or official version of particular Slavic language. Consequently, we can define this language as Pre-Slavic language.

Keywords: Ancient Macedonians, Pre-Slavic, script, language, Rosetta Stone, Egypt, hieroglyphs, Demotic, Greek