Rosetta

Rosetta or Rashid is a port city of the Nile Delta, east of Alexandria, in Egypt's Beheira governorate. The Rosetta Stone was discovered there in 1799. Founded around the 9th century on site of the ancient town Bolbitine, Rosetta boomed with the decline of Alexandria following the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517, only to wane in importance after Alexandria's revival. During the 19th century, it was a popular British tourist destination, known for its Ottoman mansions, citrus groves and relative cleanliness. Etymology The name of the town most likely comes from an Arabic name Rašīd (meaning "guide") and was transcribed and corrupted in numerous ways – the name Rexi was used by the Crusaders in Middle Ages and Rosetta or Rosette ("little rose" in Italian and French respectively) was used by the French at the time of Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in Egypt. The latter lent its name to the Rosetta Stone, which was found by French soldiers at the nearby Fort Julien in 1799. Some scholars believe that there is no evidence that the city's name comes from Egyptian, and the Coptic form is just a late transcription of the Arabic name. Some argue that it could be derived from and that the name is ancient.