It will be seen from the transliteration that he recognised some of the signs as syllabic and some as alphabetical. He also knew there was a single sign for ‘son,’ which, he points out, occurred as _a_ in Darius; and he had found three of the equivalent signs for ‘king.’ It is not improbable that if he had persevered in analysing a larger number of proper names, he might eventually have reached other solid results. Unfortunately, these were not readily accessible. The I inscription, that yielded so much assistance to Burnouf and Lassen, had no Babylonian equivalent; and Westergaard had not yet copied the one at Naksh-i-Rustam. Failing the only true method, he had recourse to another that once more carried him far away to another ‘constellation of Moro.’ There was much speculation as to what could be the signification of a certain inscription found on cylinder seals and ‘holy’ vases, and reproduced with amplification on the bricks collected by Mr. Rich at Babylon. Hager had long ago thrown out the useful suggestion that the brick inscriptions most probably recorded the name of the maker or the builder; but this opinion did not ultimately find favour. It was contended that the inscriptions on the seals and ‘holy’ vases must have a religious import, and were no doubt used as talismans, in accordance with Oriental custom; and nothing could be more natural than that the same mystical formulae should be impressed upon the bricks, in order to banish the evil demons from the precincts of the building. Grotefend accordingly looked about for guidance, and at length found something to suit his purpose in the Zend-Avesta. He collected a number of brick inscriptions together, and placed under them such portions of the inscriptions on seals and ‘holy’ vases as he found to correspond. They are not, however, exactly alike, for in the latter two or more words are omitted from the middle of the sentence. The first legend contains sixteen words and, according to Grotefend, it runs thus: ‘(1) Ich erhebe (2) demüthigst (3) den grossen (4) König (5) Mithras (6) immerdar (7) mit Grösse (8) und mit Stärke (9) an diesem (10) öffentlichen Orte (11) Ja (12) ich erhebe (13) diesen (14) grossen (15) König (16) Mithras.’ The legend taken from the brick of Nebuchadnezzar (line 13) differs slightly from this. The name of the king or god is not the same (words 5 and 16); and the two words ‘öffentlichen Orte,’ ‘ja,’ are also different. At the end, a seventeenth word is added, signifying, as is supposed, ‘sei gnädig.’ Such was the last attempt at translation before the breaking of the new light. The meaning of this inscription is now known to be: ‘(words 1, 2, 3) Nabu-kudur-usur, (4) King (5) of Babylon, (6-10) Restorer of Bit-Saggatu and of Bit-Zida, (11) eldest son (12, 13, 14) of Nabu-pal-usur, (15) King (16) of Babylon, (17) I.’[776]