Rašīd

Rashid, known to Europeans as Rosetta, stands near the mouth of the western branch of the Nile. Its position between river and sea made it a port for the fertile western Delta and a meeting place for merchants travelling to and from the Mediterranean. Mosques, houses and warehouses reflected the prosperity of a town whose life was closely tied to the river.

Following the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517, Rashid became an important port for commerce with the Ottoman lands. In 1799, during the French occupation of Egypt, Lieutenant Pierre-François Bouchard found an inscribed stone while fortifications were being repaired near the town. The decree on the Rosetta Stone appeared in Greek, Demotic and hieroglyphs. Comparing the scripts later helped scholars unlock ancient Egyptian writing.