Rosetta Stone is moved for first time in 18 years

But the exhibition, which has been planned for three years, will be unveiled on October 18 against the backdrop of calls to give the Rosetta Stone back to Egypt, where it was found in 1799 by French soldiers who turned it over to British troops.

‘Time for the British Museum to step up’

Joyce Tyldesley, professor of Egyptology at the University of Manchester and author of the forthcoming book Tutankhamun, told the Sunday Times: “Talks could start now in the 200th anniversary year of the decipherment of the stone to send it back to continue its journey.

“Why is it in London as opposed to Cairo? There are replicas of the stone in the British Museum already.”

Echoing his comments, Dan Hicks, professor of contemporary archaeology at the University of Oxford, told the newspaper: “It is about time for the British Museum to step up and offer leadership in this area.”

Ilona Regulski, curator of the exhibition, said there was no official request to the British Museum for the Rosetta stone to go back.

She said: “We wouldn’t be able to really tell the story of the decipherment of hieroglyphs without the Rosetta Stone, so we decided that it would have a good place in the exhibition.

“Also, it provides us with an opportunity to contextualise the story a bit better and to tell more complete stories about the role of the stone in the decipherment, but also how it came to the British Museum.”