Général Menou (at right, on knees)

Menou was one of those who first heard about the discovery of the Rosetta Stone by French Colonel Bouchard, on July 19, 1799. He soon realized that the inscripitions on the stone held the clue to solve the mysteries of three languages and that it would lead to a better understanding of Egyptian history. The Governor of Rosetta, who had just celebrated his conversion to Islam and his marriage, had a feeling that this was a godsend to him. One of the many narratives about Menou, says the man spent a whole night contemplating the Stone. On the next day, and before giving orders for the Stone to be sent to Bonaparte and his Savants in the Egyptian Scientific Institute, in Cairo, he had the inscriptions on the Stone copied and printed. This was the first step on the long and difficult road that ended up by Champollion deciphering the hieroglyphs on the Stone.