In 1799, the Rosetta Stone was discovered in the Egyptian city of Jaffa. The stone is a granodiorite stele inscribed with a decree issued at Memphis in 196 BC on behalf of King Ptolemy V. It was discovered by French soldiers during Napoleon's Egyptian campaign and is now housed in the British Museum. The discovery of the Rosetta Stone was a major breakthrough in the field of Egyptology, as it provided the key to deciphering hieroglyphs, which had been undecipherable for centuries.