Rosetta WebQuest

Rosetta Stone WebQuest
Who really owns the Rosetta Stone?

In this WebQuest you will investigate the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, learn of its history, and how the eventual deciphering of the stone unlocked the mysteries of Ancient Egypt. You will also become involved in a simulation in which the rightful ownership of the Rosetta Stone will be debated.

Background

Soldiers of Napoleon's army discovered the Rosetta Stone in Egypt in 1799. As part of the spoils of war, the French army turned the stone over to the British forces. The Rosetta Stone eventually made its way to the British Museum, where it resides today.

If you've gotten this far, you have already read The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone: Key to Ancient Egypt by James Cross Gibbons. By reading this book you have learned the story of its discovery and how the stone made its way to the British Museum. You have also learned the separate story of how, after many failed attempts, a French scholar "broke the code", was able to translate it and decipher the Egyptian hieroglyphs, the meanings of which were unknown to the modern world.

The Problem

The central question is this:

To whom does the Rosetta Stone rightfully belong?

Your task in this learning adventure

The class will be divided up into three groups of scholars from:

The Egyptian Museum, Cairo
The Département antiquités égyptiennes Musée du Louvre, Paris
The Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the British Museum, London

Each group will have a task sheet, which will include doing Internet research to gather information and the making of a PowerPoint presentation.

Conclusion

At the conclusion of your study of the Rosetta Stone each national group of scholars (Britain, Egypt, and France) will make a presentation to an International Tribunal, which will decide the rightful ownership of the stone.

The Tribunal will be composed of students selected from another class or classes. These students will know very little or nothing about the Rosetta Stone, so everything they learn about it will come from you. Each national group, in addition to providing information on the history and significance of the Rosetta Stone, will make a presentation to the Tribunal which will attempt to persuade that body of the correctness of each nation's cause.

At the conclusion of your presentations the Tribunal will meet to discuss the issues presented. This discussion will be guided by another teacher. The Tribunal will be asked to consider which group made the best case for its ownership of the Rosetta Stone. The Tribunal, after consideration, will then vote and decide the fate of the stone.