Long Before Iraq existed but in the same geologic position as Iraq, the nation of “Sumer” existed and the cradle of civilization refers to that place and that time.  After the great flood Iraq was founded, the Garden of Eden had been buried under almost 2000 feet of mud and silt.
Indeed the place now called Iraq is from all research the oldest known place of civilization…  yet many archeologists still believe the southern portion of Africa might be the starting place of humanity…  The ancient records of Sumer identify that area as one of the richest in natural minerals in the world, an interesting fact when you consider the recent discovery of natural Gold near Baghdad, the richness of the land, the volume of oil and other minerals that exist there.

Extensive information about Sumer was not known until 1947 when two Shepard boys playing in the area of the Dead Sea discovered a cave and in that cave they discovered what has since become known as the “Dead Sea Scrolls”.    More then 60,000 scrolls were discovered at that time, but other discovery’s have since been made and today their are more then 150,000 writings and scrolls.
All are in the possession of Israel.

I wanted to name this article “Ancient Sumer – The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Rosetta Stone”  however the title was way too long.   The point of the title is to bring together the idea that these three things are not separate but are interwoven in their parts and become significant to each other providing each other with validity and information and connection.  The lynch pin to deciphering the ancient language of Sumar was discovered in 1799 (see information about Rosetta Stone, below).

In our sequence of events The Rosetta Stone was discovered first.    It was discovered in mid July 1799 by engineers employed by and working for Napoleon Bonaparte.   The Block of Basalt stone upon which there are 3 languages written was once part of a wall that was destroyed in the building of Fort Julien.   The stone was named after the village where it was found, Rashid (also known as Rosetta to Europeans), and located near Alexandria a few miles from the sea in the western delta of the Nile.  

The Stone measures 3’9″ (114 cm) in height, 2’4-1/2″ (72cm) in width and 11″ (28cm) in thickness.   It weighs just under a ton (762kg).  It is somewhat damaged, missing a large part of the upper left-hand corner, and a smaller part of its lower right corner.   The chiseled inscriptions are in three scripts.   The first of the Egyptian scripts is Hieroglyphs, used 3,000 years ago at the time around the First Dynasty.   The second script was later determined to be Demotic, a cursive language that evolved from Hieroglyphs and dating from 643 B.C and the third script is Greek.


Scholars (Savants) immediately recognized that this stone contained the key to deciphering the ancient Egyptian language   because it appeared the Stone’s message was repeated in the three scripts, (Greek, Hieroglyph and Demotic) and because Greek could be read, over time it might be used to decipher the other two.

The Rosetta Stone itself went through a sojourn of its own.  The following is a brief description of the events surrounding the stone and its ultimate journey to England:

“Following the Royal Navy’s defeat of the French Fleet at Aboukir Bay on 1 August 1798 (the Battle Of The Nile), the expedition, which included savants, engineers and scribes found itself cut off from France and under blockade.   Relations between Paris and Constantinople deteriorated, and news of Admiral Nelson’s victory may have had a direct affect on the formation of the Second Coalition.  Turkey, Naples, Russia and Austria joined Great Britain and Portugal between September 1798 and 1799, all in opposition to France.  These events did not immediately affect the expedition, but in the long term, doomed it to failure.  French military setbacks in Germany and Italy later provided Bonaparte with a political opportunity to return to Paris and overturn the Directory.   When the blockading English fleet left Egyptian waters, Bonaparte sailed for France on August 22 with a select group which included his secretary Bourienne, his stepson Eugène Beauharnais, the generals Berthier, Lannes, Murat, Bessieres, and Marmont as well as the savants Monge, Berthollet and Denon.

The capable General Jean-Baptiste Kléber was left in command of the remaining French forces in Egypt with orders to hold out until a peace was concluded.   When he was assassinated on 14 June 1800, Kléber was succeeded by General Jacques-François (Abdallah) Menou, who declared Egypt to be a French territory.  Turkish and British forces landed and maneuvered against the French in October 1800.  Menou was defeated by Sir Ralph Abercromby in the night battle of Aboukir on 21 March 1801.   He retreated and was besieged in Alexandria.   When Cairo was threatened, the savants left the capital for the safety of Alexandria, taking their documents, specimens and collected antiquities, among them the Rosetta Stone.   Cairo surrendered on 27 June, and the French forces there marched by agreement to Rosetta where they embarked for France. Alexandria held out until the end of August, but capitulated under similar terms as Cairo.   The remaining French forces marched to Aboukir and embarked for France on 14 September 1801 ending French ambitions in Egypt.

General John Hely Hutchinson succeeded Abercromby after the latter’s death.   He claimed the savant’s collections and several antiquities, including the Rosetta Stone under Article XVI of the treaty of capitulation.   The scholars, led by Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire refused to surrender their work, and insisted on accompanying their collections to England rather than surrender them.   Menou begrudgingly agreed to this, but himself refused to surrender the Stone, claiming it to be his private property.   Hutchinson allowed the savants to keep their collections but insisted on the Rosetta Stone, which Menou was forced to relinquish. ‘You want it, Monsieur le Général?’ he wrote. “You can have it, since you are the stronger of us two… You may pick it up whenever you please.”   A Colonel Turner came to claim the Stone, which had been stored in a warehouse in Alexandria beside Menou’s personal baggage, protected by a double matting and cloth cover.

Apparently it was turned over by a French officer in the streets of Alexandria, accompanied by a member of the Institute and witnessed by three British antiquarians including Edward Clarke who recorded the incident.   The French officer threatened that the Stone should be removed from the city before the French troops discovered what had happened, and it was taken away under a British military escort.

The Rosetta Stone was shipped to England on HMS l’Égyptienne (a 44-gun vessel ship of the line captured from the French in Alexandria harbor on 2 Sept 1801), and arrived in Portsmouth on February 1802.   It was delivered to The Society of Antiquaries in London where the inscriptions were studied by Oriental and Greek scholars.   Four plaster casts were made for the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Trinity College, Dublin.   Copies of the Greek text were sent to Universities, Libraries, Academies and Societies throughout Europe.   Near the end of 1802, the Stone was transferred to the British Museum in London, where it is still on display for the general public.”

What is important about the Rosetta Stone is the part it has played in the discovery of ancient Sumer; in the deciphering of the scrolls and documents of that land, its aide in our understanding of ancient Sumer’s people, technology, science and general acquired knowledge and of the incredible story the Sumerian’s told, regarding their ancient Extraterrestrial teachers and guardians.   Additionally the Rosetta Stone has allowed the scholars of the world to be able to read and interpret the Dead Sea Scrolls and also to decipher the various ancient writing on Stella and Statue throughout Egypt.

Next on our list of discovery is the Dead Sea Scrolls. We must ask ourselves if this discovery was an accident or guidance by higher consciousness.  In 1947 two young boys (shepherds) were playing in the area of desert near the Dead Sea and discovered a cave.  The cave proved to be a vault of sorts because it contained thousands of scrolls and clay tablets, some hidden in urns, some neatly stacked in rows.  In all there were more then 60,000 scrolls and tablets discovered.  The excavation of the area has continued and today there are more then 150,000 such scrolls and tablets that exist.  The Rosetta Stone has been extremely instrumental in deciphering the languages found on the various scrolls and tablets.

If you wish to investigate this subject further please look for the article “The Dead Sea Scrolls and Tablets”….

By the way, here is my own name in Egyptian Hieroglyphs: