The Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone, namesake of the widely successful language software, is of massive importance to the fields of archelogy and Egyptology. The discovery and subsequent translation of the stone enabled scholars to read texts that, until then, had been indecipherable. Texts and records left behind by the ancient Egyptian societies, at least those that hadn’t been destroyed, offered a wealth of knowledge on the daily lives of every day citizens and the ruling classes. It is no exaggeration to say that if the stone had never been discovered, or destroyed by carelessness, our understanding of Egyptian society wouldn’t be nearly as advanced as it is today. The discovery of the stone changed history, or rather allowed us to understand a portion that was otherwise lost.
The Rosetta Stone is a massive black/grey stone block (Image) most likely composed of granite. The stone’s smooth face is its most notable aspect, as it contains three different sections, written in Ancient Greek, Demotic (the common man’s language of Egypt), and Hieroglyphic (British). The carvings on the stone are believed to have been produced around the times of 204 to 181 BCE during the rule of one Ptomely the V. The written material is not of much importance (it states that the priesthood of a temple in Memphis supported Ptomely’s ascension and rule), rather what characters it was written in. The stone was lost for considerable period of time, and around the end of 4th century AD, writing in Hieroglyphs fell out of usage, along with the knowledge of how to read it (British). The stone was only rediscovered by chance when the French army was digging the foundations for a fort near el-Rashid (or Rosetta) in 1799. During this time the French, under Napoleon, were pushing to expand their empire and Egypt possessed a wealth of resources for the French to plunder. The officer in charge of the fortification, one Pierre-Francois Bouchard, realized the importance of the stone and insured it’s safe keeping. After Napoleon’s defeat, the stone was seized by the British as a part of the Treaty of Alexandria in 1801(British). Afterwards, the stone was transferred to the British Museum by George the third, and scholars began to decipher the carvings in earnest (British).
The factor that was most important to the successful translation of the stone’s Hieroglyphs was the presence of the Ancient Greek writings. While Hieroglyphs had fallen out of common usage, scholars at this time (1803-1820) still possessed the knowledge of how to read the Greek script, and began to base their translations off of that. One of the first individuals credited with a translation of the stone is Thomas Young, a British physicist, who was able to translate the name Ptomely from the stone (British). While he was able to successfully translate other sections of the hieroglyphic script, he was never able to state with certainty how or why he was able to do so. The next major discovery was made by a French scholar by the name Jean-Francois Champollion, who realized that the Hieroglyphs also recorded the sound of the Egyptian language, as well as the writing styles. He was then able to piece together the alphabet of hieroglyphs that was used for non-Egyptian kings (This work was completed using multiple texts aside from the Rosetta Stone). He later discovered that this same alphabet applied not only to foreign kings, but local rulers as well, thus along scholars to fully read the ancient script(British). The translation of the stone provided scholars with “a knowledge capable of enriching the annals of mankind….reaching back at least ten centuries” (Figeac). While there existed other works and etchings that were important to the rediscovery of understanding hieroglyphics, such as the “six Plates” (Figeac) a series of written works based in different forms of hieroglyphics (such as linear and hieratic), it is not a stretch to say that Rosetta Stone was of far greater importance. Today the stone is housed in the British Museum along with many other artifacts. It has resided there since 1802, when it was originally donated. However, during World War 2 the curators feared it, along with many other artifacts, would be destroyed. During this period, which is often referred to as the Blitz, the stone and other pieces were stored underground so that the works would be preserved if the museum was not. However, it has since been returned to its home within the museum. Today the stone acts as the namesake for a piece of language software that helps users to learn new languages with relatively easy to follow lessons.
The Rosetta Stone’s importance to history cannot be understated. Its discovery radically changed the timetable of scholarly efforts to translate ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and allowed for the successful translation of other important historical documents. The stone was the key to understanding an otherwise dead language.
America Online
America Online was crucial for the popularization of the internet, and to a certain extent home computing as well. This one time tech leviathan changed the internet from a niche service primarily used by college students and professors, for sharing documents and selling drugs respectively (one of the first internet transactions was the sale of marijuana by a Stanford student to a MIT student, this occurred in 1972), to the information superhighway that is now pivotal to the smooth running of our daily lives. While the internet we use today is not the same as the one created and run by America Online, it’s existence is entirely due to this one company and the services it provided.
America Online, or AOL for short, saw its origins after the collapse of Control Video, an Atari games distributor, in 1983. Steve Case, a former employee of the company, went on to found Quantum Computer Services, or QCS for short. Originally the company was designed to host a message board service for the Commodore 64, a computer gaming system of the time. But Case began to expand on the original service and started laying the foundations for its expansion. In 1991, QCS officially changed its name to America Online and began to shift their company focus away from hosting only messages boards to internet access at large(Time). By 1993, their service was no longer exclusive to the Commodore 64’s message boards, and they had begun to design and sell software for the Windows computer software platform. It was at this point that they began to offer their own Internet browsing service as well as an email service. According to one of their 1995 commercials, all you needed to get started was a copy of their browsing software (which they provided to you, for free during the trial period), a phone line connection (this was the era of dial up), and a computer. It was that simple, they even threw in ten free hours of internet service as an incentive for new users, along with subscriptions to magazines and access to the New York Stock exchange (Commercial). While company started small, having only one to two hundred thousand users when it first went public, it quickly grew to having more the one million subscribers within a few years’ time, and it only continued to grow. This was due in part to their ad campaign, as one of the limiting factors of dial up internet was its download speeds. Even the smallest files by today’s standards could take upwards of thirty minutes to download, and most service providers charged by the minute or by the hour. But, since AOL offered ten hours of free browsing, they were able circumvent new users reservations of costs. When the ten hours were up, many users decided to sign on permanently as they came to enjoy/rely on the services AOL provide.
By 1997, AOL was starting to buyout many of the competitors such as Compuserve and Netscape, and folding them into AOL brand(Time). Also around this time, AOL switched from an hourly rate to monthly pricing plan, as many local providers had begun to witch their payment plans, and AOL did not want to lose out on new customers or maintain old ones. By the year 2000, AOL was the largest provider of internet access in the United States, with over twenty three million subscribers. Despite the concerns of some, AOL also moved to purchase Time Warner, the second largest telecommunications company in the US, during this period as well (Senate). While there was a hearing on the merger, with most of senators concerned with how this merger would affect competition and unaffiliated content providers, the merger was ultimately approved. This was due in no small part to the pro-business stance of the Senate at this time, which was largely Republican. When this merger went through, it was one of the largest such merger to have ever occurred at roughly 124 billion dollars. Thus the largest internet provider in the US combined with the second largest telecommunications, and executives of both companies were expecting massive growth, and profits, as a result (somewhere in the ballpark of 33%). However, this was not the case as by 2002 broadband connections began to become common place in the US. AOL, the one-time ruler of internet access, was to slow to hop on the “[Broad] Bandwagon” and its stock prices began to plummet(Going from 55 dollars a share to around 15). While AOL never officially folded, it was cut loose from Time Warner to become its own company once more, and now largely makes profits off of advertising technologies and media brands they have purchased.
While AOL has almost no presence on the internet (aside from their webpage), it’s impact is undeniable. AOL moved the internet from a niche audience to the mass culture of the United States within a few short years, and is synonymous with internet during the 90’s. It is entirely thanks to AOL that the internet we rely on is as widespread and multifaceted as it is.
Works Cited
The British Museum. “Everything you ever wanted to know about the Rosetta Stone.” Objects in Focus, The British Museum, 14 July 2017, blog.britishmuseum.org/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-the-rosetta-stone/. Accessed 6 Mar. 2019. Created by the British Museum, this post was created as brief historical synopsis of the Rosetta Stone. This piece acts as brief overview of the history of the discovery and importance of the Rosetta Stone from believed date of creation to the present. This post seems to be designed for a general public audience. As this post was created by a British organization, it is clear that greater emphasis is placed on British contributions to the stones translation/safe-keeping than that of the French, it’s original caretakers. This posts does cover a decent range of the history and importance of the artifact, but it wasn’t produced by or for a historian/archeologist and wasn’t produced by any of the original translators. However, this article does highlight most of the important events regarding the stone and it’s current whereabouts.
Champollion, Figeac, and Aime Champollion. Universal Palaeography or Fac-Similies of Writing of All Nations and Periods. Edited by M.J.B. Silvestre, translated by Freddric Madden, London, H.G. Bohn, 1849. HathiTrust, babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015081561618;view=1up;seq=194. Accessed 18 Mar. 2019. Main author is one Champollion-Figeac. Contains written works by Jean Champollion. History of writing across all regions. Comprehensive work. Meant for a scholarly audience. Produced around the time of the discovery/translation of the Rosetta Stone.
“Early AOL Comercial.” Youtube, uploaded by My Commercials, Alphabet Coperation, 16 Nov. 2009, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1npzZu83AfU. Accessed 11 Mar. 2019. Video was originally produced by America Online (however this clip was posted by the YouTube user mycommercials). This video is an advertisement for their online service. This commercial is intended for a general audience. As this was produced as a commercial, and by the distributor of the product, it is clear that their intention is to sell the product/service. Therefore, there is no acknowledgement of any potential faults or failings of the product in question. As this is material created by the company, it gives clear insight into their marketing plan and what the service can do.
File:Rosetta Stone.JPG. .JPG file, 21 Nov. 2007. Image of the Rosetta Stone. Aside from the text etched into the stone, there is no writing. Of note, I personally did not take this picture, but it is available for free use.
Rothman, Lily. “A Brief Guide to the Tumultuous 30-Year History of AOL.” Time, 22 May 2015. Time.com, time.com/3857628/aol-1985-history/. Accessed 13 Mar. 2019. The author of this piece is written by Lily Rothman. This piece is a brief synopsis of the history of the company know as AOL, it is clear that this piece was designed for a general audience. It is clear that the author of this piece is rather critical of the company and focuses on public reactions to the company. Acts as a overview of the company covering most of the major events, but wasn’t written by member of the company and was written many years after the events.
United States, Congress, Senate, US Senate Commitee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. AOL and Time Warner Merger. Government Publishing Office, 2 Mar. 2000. U.S. Congressional Hearings, archive.org/details/gov.gpo.fdsys.CHRG-106shrg78185/page/n3. Accessed 6 Mar. 2019. 106th Congress, 2nd session, S. HRG. 106-1090. Created by the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. This document is a transcription on the hearing for the AOL and Time Warner merger that occurred in 2000. This document was produced for politically and legally minded individuals as a direct source of information from the government. This document was produced at a time when the Republican party was in control of this committee, and is therefore biased towards corporations(pro-business). Committee members seem to be in favor of the merger. While this document is produced by the US Government and contains quotations from the CEOs of both Time Warner and AOL, it is a very long document as it is a direct transcription of what was said at the hearing (including some jokes which while slightly relevant don’t contribute to the hearing as a whole). This particular document s very useful to my paper,as it is a direct source from a major event in the company’s history.