The Rosetta Stone is the most visited and famous antiquity on display at the British Museum (Ray, 2007, p. 1; Robinson, 2007, p. 46). The Rosetta Stone gained its fame as it was the key to decoding ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, allowing for scholars to further examine and understand other antiquities (Robinson, 2007, p. 46). Although the Rosetta Stone aided in further advancing the worlds’ understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphics the stele also sparked an ethical conversation about the culturally appropriate display and legal ownership. This following paper will examine the Rosetta Stones’ discovery, its’ physicality, and its’ cultural contextual and ethical dilemmas, and argue for it to have a tripartite ownership agreement between the English, French, and Egyptian nations.
