Ancient Egyptian cursive and the yet-untranslated hieroglyphics. Known as the Rosetta Stone, this trilingual slab presented an unmatched opportunity to unlock the stories of the Ancient Egyptians.

Dates: 3100 B.C. to 30 B.C. Writing: Hieroglyphics, a writing system that uses pictures; hieratic, a quicker type of "cursive"; and demotic, a written short-form script Ancient Egypt's gods ...