Page:Discovery and Decipherment of the Trilingual Cuneiform Inscriptions.djvu/149

 inscriptions were even then beyond his reach, and it was impossible to recede a sufficient distance to obtain a tolerable view. He ascertained that they consisted of seven columns, each of ninetv-nine lines, and that there were also tablets above the figures. It must be admitted that the result was extremely unsatisfactory, considering the official position of the explorer. He abandoned the enterprise and left the honour to Major Rawlinson, who, as soon as political events permitted, revisited the scene and completed the task he had already begun. Flandin and Coste returned to Ispahan in August, and after a period of rest they proceeded, early in October, to Murgab. Here they remained for two days. M. Flandin hesitates to accept the identification of the ruins with those of Pasargadae, and prefers Fasa: an impression which, however, wears off later, when he had visited that place. He describes the ruins of the principal palace at Murgab to consist of three pillars and a column. 'There are,' he adds, 'no means of obtaining sufficient data to reconstruct the plan. Nothing is to be found except the foundations of columns and pillars, which lead to the belief that it was formerly the site of some important structure.' Not more satisfactory is his notice of the Terrace which, he says, is the remains of an edifice of which it is impossible to recognise the character. These descriptions scarcely prepare us for the very elaborate plans that appear in the plates, upon which the modern ideas of the place are chiefly based.' From Murgab they proceeded to Naksh-i-Rustam, where they again allowed themselves to be baffled difficulties that they should certainly not have treated as insuperable. They observed the long inscription on one of the tombs,