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“That we shall ever obtain the same insight into the Babylonian language that we now have of Achaemenian Persian, I doubt extremely.”
Excerpt of a letter to a fellow philologist from Henry Rawlinson, a key figure in the early decipherment of cuneiform. A thread.
Excerpt of a letter to a fellow philologist from Henry Rawlinson, a key figure in the early decipherment of cuneiform. A thread.
The standard, but not quite correct, story of the decipherment of cuneiform places at its centre a relief carved into a cliff face at Behistun, Iran.
The cliff face is carved with a trilingual inscription in Old Persian, Akkadian, and Elamite cuneiform
The cliff face is carved with a trilingual inscription in Old Persian, Akkadian, and Elamite cuneiform
Trilingual inscriptions in the “Persepolitan” script, as the wedge-shaped signs were then called, were already known from Persepolis, from a relief at Mount Elwand near Hamadan, and from Naqsh-e Rustam.
Photo credit: Bernard Gagnon
Photo credit: Bernard Gagnon
Inscribed reliefs found in Persepolis in the 18th century showed 3 different sets of characters, all made up of little wedges, representing 3 languages.
Each relief gave pride of place to one inscription, thought therefore to represent the Persian Empire’s official language
Each relief gave pride of place to one inscription, thought therefore to represent the Persian Empire’s official language
The 18th century German explorer Carsten Niebuhr made accurate copies of inscriptions at Persepolis—years before photography—that formed the groundwork for early decipherment.
It it said that the bright sun against the marble reliefs caused him eventually to lose his eyesight
It it said that the bright sun against the marble reliefs caused him eventually to lose his eyesight
Several scholars worked on trilingual inscriptions from Persepolis in the initial stage of the decipherment of cuneiform.
The inscriptions contained many proper names of kings and kingdoms, so the contents could eventually be read with some certainty.
The inscriptions contained many proper names of kings and kingdoms, so the contents could eventually be read with some certainty.
Early work done by Georg Grotefund and Niels Louis Westergaard took the first steps, finding the names of Xerxes, Darius, and Hystaspes.
And the word for king.
Rasmus Rask recognised a grammatical feature, the genetive ending -anam in the recurring phrase “king of kings”
And the word for king.
Rasmus Rask recognised a grammatical feature, the genetive ending -anam in the recurring phrase “king of kings”
Enter Edward Hincks and Henry Rawlinson (c1845).
Hincks identified the semi-syllabic nature of the script and began to match signs up with the “the Babylonian inscriptions”, as he called them.
Independently, Rawlinson replicated many of the same steps.
Hincks identified the semi-syllabic nature of the script and began to match signs up with the “the Babylonian inscriptions”, as he called them.
Independently, Rawlinson replicated many of the same steps.
Had to throw some GIFs in there to make sure y’all weren’t falling asleep and also because decipherment is totally GIF-worthy
Edward Hincks took a crucial step in understanding “the Babylonian script” when he established equivalences between signs on tablets, which he called cursive, and those on reliefs, called lapidary.
This step opened up an enormous corpus of texts to help with decipherment
This step opened up an enormous corpus of texts to help with decipherment
“I have found the name of Babylon in the inscription on a piece of baked clay, shaped like a barrel, brought from the ruins, and in those on a few of the bricks.”
Edward Hinks takes the first steps in reading Akkadian cuneiform 2,000 years after it fell into disuse.
Edward Hinks takes the first steps in reading Akkadian cuneiform 2,000 years after it fell into disuse.
“I am indebted to him [Hincks] indeed for a most notable discovery, one in fact which has proven of more use to me than my Behistun key.”
Rawlinson praised Hincks’s establishment of equivalences between “cursive” and “lapidary” cuneiform signs in an 1846 letter.
Rawlinson praised Hincks’s establishment of equivalences between “cursive” and “lapidary” cuneiform signs in an 1846 letter.
Side note: I feel like 19th century CE handwriting is more difficult to read than 19th century BCE cuneiform.
Edward Hincks went on to publish the first Akkadian word that was not a proper name from “the Babylonian inscriptions”, which was the first person pronoun, anāku, “I”.
The rest, as they say, is history.
The rest, as they say, is history.
The early decipherment of cuneiform is poorly documented and confusing to reconstruct.
The Behistun inscription may have offered an easy analogue to the Rosetta Stone to help simplify the story and make it resonate with popular accounts of Egyptian hieroglyphs.
The Behistun inscription may have offered an easy analogue to the Rosetta Stone to help simplify the story and make it resonate with popular accounts of Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Those interested can read more about the history of the decipherment of Sumerian and Akkadian cuneiform in this study by Kevin Cathcart who has done a brilliant job of reconstructing this history #openaccess cdli.ucla.edu/files/publicat…
The last tablet inscribed with cuneiform is from 75 CE, but clay has not yet seen its last wedge.
An important part of Iraq’s cultural heritage, cuneiform is still a resonant part of modern identity, seen e.g., in the work of @alialsumery
An important part of Iraq’s cultural heritage, cuneiform is still a resonant part of modern identity, seen e.g., in the work of @alialsumery
