Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone, discovered by soldiers in Napolean's army in Egypt in 1799, is a secret decoder ring of sorts because scholars used the Greek inscription to translate the hieroglyphics into something that made sense and thereby unlocked the secrets of life in ancient Egypt.
Read the BBC pages first, then check out the remaining links.
Rosetta Stone Reenactment Video
BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/worldhistory/rosetta_stone/
British Museum - currently offline, but check it out to see if it has been restored
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aes/t/the_rosetta_stone.aspx
Social Studies For Kids
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/worldhistory/rosettastone.htm
Rosetta Stone
http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/writing/rosetta.html
Have some fun writing with hieroglyphics.