Transcriber’s Note: For this book you will need to have a font installed
that can render cuneiform characters such as 𐎠, 𐎡, 𐎢. If these do
not display for you, then one suitable option is the font ‘Segoe ui
historic’. Cuneiform signs that have no Unicode equivalent are given as
[Persian] or [Susian], and as images in the HTML version.
THE TRILINGUAL CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTIONS
[Illustration: PLAN OF PERSEPOLIS.
(_From Curzon’s “Persia and the Persian Question”_)
_Longmans, Green & Co., London, New York & Bombay._]
THE DISCOVERY AND DECIPHERMENT
OF THE
TRILINGUAL CUNEIFORM
INSCRIPTIONS
BY
ARTHUR JOHN BOOTH, M.A.
_WITH A PLAN_
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
NEW YORK AND BOMBAY
1902
All rights reserved
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION
Achaemenian Inscriptions, written in three styles of Cuneiform
character, and in three different languages ix
The Decipherment of the Persian Text afforded the clue to the others xi
Discovery of Sumerian, the ancient language of Babylonia xiii
The Historical Results xv
CHAPTER I
The Discovery of Achaemenian Ruins and Inscriptions: Barbaro to Le
Bruyn: A.D. 1472-1718 1
Barbaro visits Chehel Minar and the Tomb of the Mother of Solomon:
A.D. 1472 9
The Portuguese Missions—Gouvea first mentions the Inscriptions:
A.D. 1602 11
Don Garcia de Silva Figueroa identifies Chehel Minar with
Persepolis: A.D. 1618 17
The ‘Viaggi’ of Pietro della Valle: A.D. 1621 24
Sir Thomas Herbert, ‘Relation of Some Years Travaile’: A.D. 1627—The
first view of Persepolis 33
Mandelslo’s View of the Tomb of the Mother of Solomon: A.D. 1638 40
The French Travellers Daulier Deslandes, Thévenot, and Tavernier:
A.D. 1665 48
Dr. Hyde’s opinion: A.D. 1700 59
Chardin’s Travels—The Drawings of Grélot: A.D. 1711 61
Kaempfer first describes the writing as ‘Cuneiform’: A.D. 1712 69
He and Le Bruyn make the first copies of Inscriptions: A.D. 1718 71