The acquisition of the Rosetta Stone was tied up in the imperial battles between Britain and France.

After Napoleon Bonaparte’s military occupation of Egypt, French scientists uncovered the stone in the northern town of Rashid, known by the French as Rosetta.

When British forces defeated the French in Egypt, the stone and over a dozen other antiquities were handed over to the British under the terms of an 1801 surrender deal between the generals of the two sides.

Through knowledge of the latter, academics were able to decipher the hieroglyphic symbols, with French Egyptologist Jean-Francois Champollion eventually cracking the language in 1822.

It has remained in the British Museum ever since.

But Hanna says the stone was taken illegally, “I think all nations have the right to ask back for their heritage.

“In the 19th century, slavery was legal, child labour was legal and women had no rights. Today, we are in the 21st century and we have to correct the mistakes of the past and correct the mistakes of history because we can’t change it” she adds.

Source: Egyptians call on British Museum to return famous Rosetta stone | Euronews