![]() He was here in 1801 when the English defeated the French atAlexandriaand took the stone away, claiming it was “honorably acquired by fortune of war.” He had been inEgyptwhen his compatriots found the Rosetta Stone and, being intellectually superior, instantly understood its value. To Monsieur Duval, this army of savants was proof of French superiority: unlike the barbaric British, hisĬountrymen sought intellectual enlightenment as well as military conquest. These were the people responsible for the monumental Description de VEgypte. Along with the soldiers had come another army-of scientists, scholars, and artists. Jean-Claude Duval had come toEgyptwith Napoleon’s army in 1798. ![]()
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