en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_Stone
1 correction found
a stone of black granodiorite, bearing three inscriptions ... found at Rosetta
This quote is anachronistic: the early French description was "une pierre de granite noir" ("a stone of black granite"), not "black granodiorite."
Full reasoning
The article is not wrong that the Rosetta Stone is now classified geologically as granodiorite. The problem is the claim that a contemporary 1801 catalogue described it that way.
A scholarly abstract on the stone’s geology states that the French description applied soon after discovery was "une pierre de granite noir" — literally, "a stone of black granite" — and says that description was essentially correct for the period. That directly contradicts the article’s wording that the catalogue said "black granodiorite."
This is also anachronistic terminology: Merriam-Webster dates the first known use of the word "granodiorite" to 1893, long after the 1801 catalogue. So the catalogue could not have used "granodiorite" as quoted here.
In short: the stone may be modernly classified as granodiorite, but the historical catalogue quotation should refer to black granite, not black granodiorite.
2 sources
- The Geology of the Rosetta Stone
The description of the Stone as 'une pierre de granite noir', applied by the French soon after its discovery, was essentially correct and the designation 'basalt' erroneous.
- GRANODIORITE Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
Word History ... The first known use of granodiorite was in 1893.