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 CHAPTER II