Chapter 87: The Rosetta Stone

"Are all you scholars this crazy?" Just as Liang En was getting excited about the nearby light spot, Fan Meng suddenly quipped from the side.

"Me, crazy?" Liang En, awakened from his thoughts, pointed at himself with a finger, only to see Fan Meng vigorously nodding beside him.

"Isn't it a bit less urgent to figure out how this castle was built? I can't understand why you'd give up a freshly roasted whole lamb for this," Fan Meng said, puzzled.

"Mengzi, this is much more important than roasting a whole lamb," Liang En gently shook his index finger and said, "If the other party used water transport to bring this stone tablet here, then the builders are likely to have transported the entire stone tablet."

"From the existing text on this tablet, it seems that this stone tablet was part of a temple built during the Ptolemaic dynasty of Hellenistic Egypt," Liang En explained, glancing at a bewildered Fan Meng, then continued.

"And if they used water transport, it means they probably overlooked the weight of these items. In other words, the lower half of this stone tablet is very likely to be here in this castle too."

"But what does that imply?" After Liang En's explanation, Fan Meng felt even more confused. "Is there any special significance in reconstructing this stone tablet? Today, we've found three complete ones and over a dozen incomplete ones—"

"No, it's not the same," Liang En shook his head and clarified, "Because during that Hellenistic era, these temple inscriptions were required to include Greek as a sign of submission to the conquerors."

"Greek..." Fan Meng might not be well-versed in history, literature, or academic research, but he was clever. So, as soon as Liang En finished speaking, he understood the implication.

"You mean, if this is a complete stone tablet, the top part should have the same content written in Ancient Egyptian and then in Greek?"

"Exactly, and if we have such a stone tablet, I can prove to everyone that the translation method I've devised for Ancient Egyptian is correct," Liang En said somewhat helplessly.

"Unfortunately, Egypt's Hellenistic period wasn't very long, and due to shifts in belief, many past temples turned to ruins or were repurposed, so these bilingual stone tablets haven't been preserved intact to this day."

Considering it was evening, it wasn't convenient to work. So, Liang En and Fan Meng returned to the central square of the castle with excited hearts and began to eat the now somewhat cooled roasted whole lamb.

The people present didn't find Liang En's behavior unusual, as true scholars sometimes had a tendency to dive straight into work when an idea struck. In fact, they believed that such individuals were the ones who could achieve immense academic success.

Early the next morning, right after having breakfast, Liang En and Fan Meng headed to a corner of the courtyard where several local workers, their heads wrapped in cloth, were clearing debris under the guidance of a young scholar named Roland.

When Liang En and Fan Meng offered their help, explaining that they were available after finishing their tasks, Roland, the young scholar, displayed a grateful expression on his face.

The reason Liang En and the others were digging here was because the location indicated by the cards he used last night was indeed this place. Of course, the reason he gave to Fan Meng was something entirely different.

"I think I've found it." After about an hour and a half of digging, they had finally cleared away the debris on the surface and reached the ground. At this moment, Fan Meng felt a large stone beneath about an inch of dust.

"It seems like this is really what we're looking for." After clearing a palm-sized area on the ground, Liang En discovered that the flat stone underneath was also black granite.

"You're right, those workers did follow a pattern when moving these stones," Fan Meng whispered to Liang En while clearing the soil from the ground. "Clearly, the stones placed under this building at the fortress entrance are larger than the ones we saw in those other rooms. So, the heavier the stone, the shorter the distance they transported it."

As they chatted, the outline of the stone tablet gradually emerged. Similar to the previous broken tablet, this half of a tablet had its inscribed side facing downward.

This practice wasn't due to the workers having a great sense of cultural preservation. It was because Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs contained many symbols resembling humans or animals. Thus, for religious reasons, they needed to conceal these symbols.

Soon, the outline of the stone tablet was fully cleared. With the assistance of the local hired workers, they leveraged the stone tablet from the ground and turned it over.

"Oh my! This is a major discovery!" Seeing the densely packed writing on the other side of the stone tablet, the scholar named Roland exclaimed.

However, just as he was about to rush over to examine it, Liang En stopped him.

"I have something to do now." Liang En said and asked Fan Meng to take out a cloth to cover the Ancient Greek text on the stone tablet. Then, as he cleaned the stone, he took photos.

"Many people doubt my ability to translate Ancient Egyptian. So, I hope to prove that I genuinely possess this knowledge and haven't resorted to sensationalism."

Glancing at the people who had been attracted by Roland's exclamation, Liang En shot a brief glance at Sheriff, who had been causing trouble, and then spoke loudly.

"The stone tablet we've just discovered is an extremely rare Hellenistic-era temple commemorative stone, and it's relatively well-preserved. This means that the upper portion contains the same content written in Ancient Egyptian sacred script, Ancient Egyptian demotic script, and Ancient Greek."

"Now, I will translate the Ancient Egyptian right here, and you can understand what's written on the stone tablet through the Ancient Greek text beside it. By the time the translation is done, you should know whether I truly understand Ancient Egyptian."

In reality, Sheriff represented the viewpoints of quite a few people present. After all, Liang En was an outsider who had joined this small group. Moreover, his academic qualifications were the lowest among them, which led to some subtle exclusion.

So, Liang En's sudden move at this moment was quite understandable. At least through this method, he could earn the respect he deserved in the shortest possible time.

"Very well, let's proceed this way." Professor Jacques, the leader, said, and then began directing the workers to prepare everything Liang En needed, getting ready for him to translate the Ancient Egyptian text on the stone tablet right there on the spot.

In his eyes, Liang En's age was just right for youthful exuberance, and enduring the provocations from earlier until now had already surpassed most of his peers. Therefore, vindicating himself through this method was only fitting.

Compared to engaging in a verbal quarrel, Liang En's choice to counterattack academically was much more likely to gain the recognition of the scholars present.

Of course, Professor Jacques had a small personal interest in doing this as well. He hoped to be one of the first to witness a significant event in the field of Ancient Egyptian studies.