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 possibly the most helpful Egyptian archaeological discovery in history. The Stone had duplicated text in 3 different languages: Egyptian hieroglyphs, demotic (Egyptian script) and Greek. Using the Greek translation, archaeologists were able to decipher the demotic and then the pictographs. But the question remains: Egyptians had a form of paper, known today as papyrus, so why was the work etched in a rock? Furthermore, why 3 languages? And why Greek?
The Stone has been around before 3000 B.C. The Rosetta Stone was etched in 200 B.C. while Ptolemy V was in power (a king of Greek origin). So what happened to the Pharaohs? At this time, Egypt had been taken over in 700 B.C. by the Assyrians, after that the Persians, and finally the Greeks in 330 B.C. After reigning 2000+ years, Egypt was finally declining.
The Ptolemy’s were by and large good kings, but around 200BC, when the Rosetta Stone was etched, Egypt had recently concluded a decade long civil war. The civil struggle started because of excessive and oppressive taxes strengthened by tough Greek tax collectors. As the war ended there was continuous unrest. Ptolemy V issued a Proclamation of Peace which gave forgiveness for any rebel and tax debtors, lowered taxation practices, eliminated forced conscription into the navy, and reinstated tax immunity to the priesthood, temples, and their crops and lands, as it had been in the reign of the great pharaohs. If you’re feeling the pressure with today’s taxes, call a Raleigh NC CPA for all your tax-related needs!
This was a great edge and monetary windfall for the priesthood and temples and they desired to make certain first all people knew it and, second, didn’t want it to be taken away again at some time in the future.
As a result, “Rosetta Stones” were etched and put in front of every temple in Egypt. The Rosetta stones acted as warnings to everyone that tax immunity had been given to the priests and this temple and acted as a “Do Not Enter” sign to curtail the lawlessness of the king’s tax collectors. Go here if you want help with modern-day Tax Preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll in Cary NC.
This still leaves the question: why carved in stone? The answer? Because the priesthood wanted to make sure it wouldn’t fade in history or able to be easily destroyed. Another question was why put it in 3 languages? The Stone was written in three languages so that everyone may see and heed the command the priests desired to spread to all of the country. It was written in Greek to be especially direct to the king’s tax collectors that they could not even come inside the gates of the temple.
So, the most important Egyptian archaeological discovery ever, the stone translated the mysterious language of the Egyptians, made us capable of discovering the key to hieroglyphic writing and subsequently the key to unlocking the mystery of ancient Egypt and the understanding of the Egyptian empire for 3000 years was, in fact, 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/
