Why was the Rosetta Stone so important? - Franziska Naether

Prevodilac: Milan Ležaja Lektor: Milenka Okuka

For centuries, scholars puzzled over the hieroglyphs

Vekovima, učenjaci su bili zbunjeni hijeroglifima

they found carved onto ancient Egyptian ruins, tablets, and papyri.

koje su pronašli ispisane na egipatskim ruševinama, pločama i papirusima.

But a unique discovery would finally help unlock their meaning.

Međutim, jedinstveno otkriće im je konačno otkrilo značenje.

In 1799, as the French military invaded Egypt,

Kada je francuska vojska upala u Egipat 1799. godine,

an officer encountered a curious stone on the outskirts of Rashid, or Rosetta.

oficir je naišao na neobičan kamen na obodu Rašida, ili Rozete.

It was inscribed with three different portions of text:

Na njemu su bila ispisana tri različita dela teksta:

Egyptian hieroglyphs, which is the oldest Egyptian script,

egipatski hijeroglifi, koji su najstarije egipatsko pismo,

dating back some 5,000 years;

staro oko 5 000 godina;

Demotic Egyptian, which is a later derivative of Egyptian;

demotski egipatski, koji je kasniji derivat egipatskog;

and Ancient Greek.

i starogrčki.

It seemed that each section was a rough translation of the others,

Činilo se kao da je svaki odeljak grubi prevod ostalih,

meaning the stone presented an unprecedented key

što je značilo da kamen predstavlja dosad neviđen ključ

to unlocking hieroglyphs.

za odgonetanje hijeroglifa.

English troops soon intercepted the stone

Engleske trupe su ubrzo presrele kamen

and brought it to the British Museum in 1802,

i odnele ga u Britanski muzej 1802. godine,

where it became one of the most popular displays.

gde je postao jedan od najpopularnijih eksponata.

Various European scholars—

Razni evropski učenjaci—

including Johan Åkerblad, Thomas Young, and Jean-François Champollion—

uključujući Johana Akerblada, Tomasa Janga i Žan-Fransoa Šampoliona—

worked to decode the Egyptian scripts.

radili su na tome da dešifruju egipatska pisma.

There were some crucial initial clues.

Bilo je par ključnih tragova na početku.

The Greek section included the names of royal figures,

Grčki odeljak sadržao je imena vladarskih figura,

while certain areas in the Demotic section had bracket-like forms

dok su određeni delovi demotskog odeljka imali oblike nalik na zagrade

and some hieroglyphic sections were encircled.

a neki odeljci sa hijeroglifima bili su zaokruženi.

Could these portions encode the same royal names?

Da li ovi odlomci kriju ista imena vladara?

Åkerblad matched some characters up and, in 1802,

Akerblad je upario nekoliko znakova i 1802. godine,

successfully decoded the royal names and some simple words,

uspešno dešifrovao imena vladara i nekoliko prostih reči,

like “much” and “temples” in the Demotic script.

poput “mnogo” i “hramovi” u demotskom pismu.

This led Åkerblad to believe that all Demotic signs were alphabetic,

Zbog toga je Akerblad verovao da su svi demotski znakovi alfabetski,

meaning each letter represented a discrete sound—

što znači da svako slovo predstavlja različit glas—

much like in English.

slično kao i u engleskom.

Thomas Young, in contrast, suspected that some of the Demotic signs were logograms—

Sa druge strane, Tomas Jang je sumnjao da su neki od demotskih znakova logogrami—

that is, symbols encoding entire words or phrases.

to jest simboli koji predstavljaju čitave reči ili fraze.

For example, he believed a sun disk with a stroke indicated the sun or sun god.

Na primer, verovao je da sunčev disk sa crtom predstavlja Sunce ili boga Sunca.

Around 1814, he deciphered some recurring Demotic words like “pharaoh” and “Egypt.”

Oko 1814. dešifrovao je neke učestale demotske reči poput “faraon” i “Egipat”.

Young also had the critical insight

Jang je takođe imao ključnu ideju

that Demotic was a later iteration of hieroglyphs.

da je demotski kasnija iteracija hijeroglifa.

And, studying the hieroglyphic text,

Takođe, proučavajući tekstove hijeroglifa,

Young successfully decoded the royal name “Ptolemy.”

Jang je uspešno dešifrovao ime vladara “Ptolemeja”.

But he still believed the prevailing misconception

Ipak, i dalje je pogrešno verovao u tadašnje shvatanje

that most hieroglyphs were logograms representing ideas— not sounds.

da su većina hijeroglifa logogrami koji predstavljaju ideje— ne glasove.

Using his knowledge of other scripts and languages,

Koristeći se svojim znanjem drugih pisama i jezika,

like the Egyptian Coptic he’d learned from a Coptic Christian priest,

poput egipatskog koptskog koji je naučio od koptskog hrišćanskog sveštenika,

Champollion realized that most encircled hieroglyphs were phonetic.

Šampolion je shvatio da su većina zaokruženih hijeroglifa fonetski.

They represented sounds: the Egyptian vulture, an “a”;

Predstavljaju glasove: egipatski lešinar, “a”;

the three fox skins, “m-s”, and so on.

tri lisičje kože, “mes”, i tako dalje.

This finally allowed him to read the Egyptian names “Ramses” and “Thutmose.”

Ovo mu je konačno omogućilo da pročita egipatska imena “Ramzes” i “Tutmos”.

Cross-referencing other hieroglyphic texts,

Upoređujući ih sa drugim tekstovima hijeroglifa,

Champollion confirmed that many hieroglyphs

Šampolion je potvrdio da su mnogi hijeroglifi

beyond the encircled names were phonetic.

pored onih sa zaokruženim imenima bili fonetski.

And on September 14th, 1822,

A 14. septembra 1822. godine,

he ran to his brother’s house and declared the breakthrough.

otrčao je do kuće svog brata i obznanio svoje otkriće.

Later, Champollion determined that beyond alphabetic and logographic hieroglyphs,

Kasnije, Šampolion je utvrdio da pored alfabetskih i logografskih hijeroglifa,

some were classifiers that sorted words into categories,

neki su bili klasifikatori koji su svrstavali reči po kategorijama,

like occupations, plants, and abstract concepts.

poput zanimanja, biljaka i apstraktnih koncepata.

The first complete translation of the Rosetta Stone

Prvi potpuni prevod kamena iz Rozete

was finally published in the early 1850s.

konačno je objavljen ranih 1850-ih.

So, what did it actually say?

Dakle, šta je zapravo tamo pisalo?

The inscription was marked 196 BCE.

Natpis je označen kao 196. p.n.e.

It honored the first anniversary

Odavao je počast prvoj godišnjici

of 13-year-old Pharaoh Ptolemy V’s coronation

krunisanja trinaestogodišnjeg faraona Ptolemeja V

and outlined a series of benefits for the Egyptian priesthood.

i navodio niz povlastica za egipatsko sveštenstvo.

The inscriptions described laws for maintaining temples

Natpisi su opisivali zakone za održavanje hramova

and performing rituals,

i izvršavanje rituala,

like the burial of sacred animals.

poput sahranjivanja svetih životinja.

At the time, Egypt was a multicultural society.

U to vreme, Egipat je bio višekulturalno društvo.

Two main languages were spoken:

Govorila su se dva glavna jezika:

Ancient Greek, brought by Egypt’s conquerors,

starogrčki, donet od strane osvajača Egipta,

and Demotic Egyptian, the native language.

i demotski egipatski, tj. maternji jezik.

Hieroglyphs represented Middle Egyptian,

HIjeroglifi su predstavljali klasični egipatski,

a language that was already antiquated but may have been included

jezik koji je još tada bio zastareo, ali je možda uključen

to convey a sense of authority.

da bi preneo osećaj autoriteta.

The decree was copied onto many stones and erected in temples.

Dekret je bio prepisan na mnogo kamenja i postavljen u hramovima.

However, as regimes shifted,

Međutim, kako su se režimi smenjivali,

edifices were deconstructed and reconstructed.

zdanja su bivala dekonstruisana i rekonstruisana.

Some scholars think the Rosetta Stone was originally placed in a temple in Sais.

Neki učenjaci misle da je kamen iz Rozete prvobitno smešten u hram u Saisu.

It’s unclear how it ended up 80 kilometers away,

Nejasno je kako je završio 80 kilometara dalje,

but it may have been transported up the Nile after the late 15th century.

ali moguće je da je premešten uz Nil nakon kasnog 15. veka.

Once deciphered, hieroglyphs helped overturn misconceptions.

Nakon što su dešifrovani, hijeroglifi su pomogli da se raščiste zablude.

Subterranean chambers within Egyptian pyramids

Podzemne prostorije unutar egipatskih piramida

were once thought to be secret sites of priestly initiation and study.

su se smatrale za tajna mesta postavljanja sveštenika i radne sobe.

But it was finally confirmed that pyramids were tombs

Ali na kraju je potvrđeno da su piramide bile grobnice

housing sacred preparations for the afterlife.

gde su obavljane svete pripreme za zagrobni život.

Soon, entire texts could be translated that showcased

Ubrzo, čitavi tekstovi su mogli biti prevedeni, što je pokazivalo

the complexity of ancient Egyptian religious compositions.

složenost staroegipatskih religijskih zajednica.

Experts are still decoding new hieroglyphs as they arise

Stručnjaci još uvek dešifruju nove hijeroglife kako se pojavljuju

and untangling instances of tricky grammar and wordplay.

i rešavaju slučajeve komplikovane gramatike i igara reči.

The Rosetta Stone helped illuminate one of the world’s oldest written languages

Kamen iz Rozete pomogao je da se rasvetli jedan od najstarijih pisanih jezika sveta

and the vibrant history it emerged from.

i živopisne istorije iz koje je iznikao.

And yet, the pillaged artifact remains far from its provenance today.

A ipak, oteti artefakt i dan-danas počiva daleko od mesta porekla.