The History of Taxes, Section 3: Tax Law and The Rosetta Stone
W. Marc Gilfillan, CPA, NC, individual and business CPA and Tax expert, shares about the history of taxes…
The Rosetta Stone, unearthed by Napoleon, was perhaps the absolute most helpful Egyptian archaeological find in history. The Stone had duplicated writing in 3 different languages: hieroglyphics, demotic (known as Egyptian script) and Greek. Using the Greek translation, archaeologists were able to decipher the Egyptian script and subsequently the hieroglyphics. However, the question remains: Egyptians had paper, named papyrus, so why was the work etched in a rock? Furthermore, why 3 languages? And why Greek?
The Stone has been around since 3000 B.C. The Rosetta Stone was created in 200 B.C. while Ptolemy V was in power (an emperor of Greek origin). So where did the Pharaohs go? By this point in history, Egypt had been conquered in 700 B.C. by the Assyrians, after that the Persians, and eventually the Greeks in 330 B.C. After reigning 2000+ years, Egypt was finally declining.
The Ptolemy dynasty were by and large decent kings, but around 200BC, during which the Rosetta Stone was created, Egypt had just concluded a 10-year long civil war. The internal struggle broke out over excessive and oppressive taxes put in place by tough Greek tax collectors. As the struggle ceased there was still much unrest. Ptolemy V mandated a Proclamation of Peace which gave general amnesty for any rebel and tax debtors, reigned in tax laws, stopped forced draft into the navy, and reinstituted tax exemption to the priesthood, temples, and their crops and lands, as it had been in the days of the great pharaohs. If you're feeling the pressure with today's taxes, call a Cary NC CPA for all your tax-related needs!
This was a superb advantage and financial windfall for the priests and temples and they desired to be sure first all people knew it and, also, did not desire it to be taken away again at some time in the future.
As a result, “Rosetta Stones” were etched and placed at the entrance of each temple throughout Egypt. The Rosetta stones proclaimed to everyone that tax exemption had been given to the priests and this temple and was a “Do Not Enter” sign to curtail the lawlessness of the king’s tax men. Go here if you want help with modern-day Tax Preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll in Raleigh NC.
This still leaves the question: why written in stone? The answer? Because the priests desired to make sure it wouldn’t fade in history or able to be simply destroyed. Another question was why put it in three languages? The Stone was carved in three languages because all may see and heed the proclamation the priests desired to spread to everyone of Egypt. The stone was written in Greek to be very clear to the king's tax collectors that they couldn't even set foot in the temple gates.
So, the most important Egyptian archaeological find ever, the stone unraveled the weird language of the Egyptians, made us capable of discovering the secrets of hieroglyphic writing and subsequently the key to unlocking the history and the understanding of the Egyptian empire for 3000 years was, in truth, a tax document.
Keep an eye out for W. Marc Gilfillan's next chapter in his History of Taxes series: Taxes and The Colussus of Rhodes.
http://www.marccpa.com/
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