Patterning himself after Alexander the Great, Napoléon invited well-known scholars, scientists and artists to accompany the army to Egypt in May 1798. They would document all they found for three years. The scholars' or savants' (as they were known) investigation of the "Rosetta Stone," first discovered in 1799 by French soldiers building a fort at Rosetta near Rashid, would ultimately lead to the modern decipherment of Egyptian heiroglyphics.
Historical Provenance - the collection of Charles-Roux
