25 Mar 2026
Franschhoek's Audience was Treated to Something Different: Deciphering Ancient Egyptian with the Digital Rosetta Stone Project & Considerations of Afrofuturism
The SmallTalX® series took an intriguing turn this month at the Franschhoek Theatre, hosting two international experts on Ancient Egypt: Prof Franziska Naether on 19 March and Prof Rita Lucarelli on 25 March. Their talks explored the Digital Rosetta Stone Project and the links between Ancient Egypt and Afrofuturism, offering fresh perspectives that bridged past and future.
The Franschhoek Tatler featured the following article in this edition in the lead-up to the talk:
Prof Naether's talk on 19 March detailed the impressive Digital Rosetta Stone Project: offering sophisticated digital linguistic mapping of the translated text between the 3 scripts on the Rosetta Stone: Hieroglyphic (sacred script), Demotic (native cursive script), and Ancient Greek (language of the rulers).
As many know, the renowned Rosetta Stone has been an incredibly important instrument for deciphering ancient Egyptian texts beyond the decree inscribed on this particular granodiorite stone dating back to 196 BC. Many of its kind would have been demolished and repurposed, so it is a rare and important key to deciphering the rich and abundant history of Ancient Egypt.
Apart from describing her close work with such a famous artefact, Prof Naether's talk also offered the audience an opportunity to appreciate the importance of the field of 'digital humanities' in recording and making accessible the relics of the ancient world via digital channels, and also spotlighting the value of rigorous linguistic cataloguing for creating opportunities for more sophisticated studies of ancient Ancient Egyptian artefacts and language going forward. It sets a high standard for other scholars of the ancient world and humanities. Still, there is more to discover and learn!
The second instalment of insights into Ancient Egypt brought Prof Lucarelli to the floor, with audiences intrigued by the unexpected theme of Afrofuturism and Ancient Egypt. What unfolded was both surprising and thought-provoking. A unifying thread across both talks was the sense of Ancient Egypt as something that transcends time: at once a rich body of history, an object of present-day study through increasingly sophisticated digital tools—as seen in the Digital Rosetta Stone Project - and, intriguingly, a lens through which to imagine the future. In this way, Ancient Egypt emerges not only as a relic of the past, but as a powerful presence in the collective imagination, particularly as something to be reinterpreted and reclaimed by Africa and Africans.
Prof Lucarelli’s talk transported the audience into the world of Ancient Egypt, exploring the depth and richness of its symbolism and the enduring scale of its presence in the public imagination - particularly among Africans, for whom it offers a powerful point of connection to the vast and diverse histories of the continent.
The talk took a further compelling turn in its exploration of the future - this time through Ancient Egypt’s profound engagement with the afterlife. Through richly layered rituals, temples, and symbolic systems, the Ancient Egyptians developed intricate ways of preparing for what lay beyond death. Yet these practices are not solely concerned with the hereafter; they also invite reflection on how to live more consciously in the present. Death, after all, is a shared horizon, and their traditions suggest that preparing for it is as much about shaping a meaningful life as it is about envisioning what follows. Perhaps it is within this enduring dialogue between life and death that some of the “Egyptomania” Lucarelli described finds its deepest resonance.
Ancient Egypt, as the topic for the month at Franschhoek, was a wonderful detour. SmallTalX is hugely thankful to both visiting Prof Naether and Prof Lucarelli for their time, effort, and brilliant expertise!