And that’s how we deciphered ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs

When you're French soldiers digging a fort in Egypt in 1799 and accidentally discover the Rosetta Stone

The animated meme opens with a gloved hand pulling a dark, flat rectangular object representing the Rosetta Stone out from a glowing space, then cuts to three anime schoolgirls who react with first shock, then growing awe, then excited, overjoyed disbelief as they look at the stone, ending with one of the girls holding the stone excitedly. The repeating caption across the animation describes the scenario of French soldiers digging a fort in Egypt in 1799 accidentally discovering the Rosetta Stone, the artifact that allowed researchers to finally decode ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. The meme uses over-the-top, exaggerated excited anime reactions to humorously frame the historically significant accidental discovery as an incredibly exciting, unexpected win.

This meme was originally shared on the Reddit r/Meme subreddit, as sourced from the platform's RSS feed. It repurposes a viral anime reaction clip as a template to create a humorous take on the historical event of the Rosetta Stone's discovery, and has circulated in history and general meme communities online.