Thebes

Opposite Detail of the Book of the Dead of Queen Nedjmet. Papyrus, 21st Dynasty, 1070 BC. Size: 34 x 416cm overall right The Rosetta Stone, from Rasid. Granodiorite, Ptolemaic period, 196 BC. Size: 112.3 x 75.7 x 28.4cm

Hieroglyphs: the key to ancient Egypt

As the British Museum marks the 200th anniversary of the decoding of the Rosetta Stone in a new exhibition, Lindsay Fulcher talks to its curator, Ilona Regulski, about the two men who worked to decipher its text, what it revealed, and the powerful role of the scribes who created these petrified books.