Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/577

 CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTIONS 573 It is known that the writing was at one time syllabic. For example, there was one charac- ter to represent the syllable da, another to rep- resent di, and another to represent du; and the vowels were not represented by any sepa- rate symbol. Afterward characters were in- vented to represent the vowels ; but the vari- ous forms of the consonants, although only one form of each was any longer necessary, were in the case of some of the letters still retained. But why the various forms should have been retained in the case of some letters and not of others, is a point not yet satisfactorily ex- plained. While Burnouf, Lassen, and others were prosecuting their labors in Europe, an- other investigator was at work in the country where the inscriptions were chiefly found. H. C. Rawlinson, a young Englishman in the mil- itary service of the East India company, had been sent to Persia in 1833. In 1835 he was stationed at Kermanshah, and there commenced the study of the inscriptions. He knew nothing of what had been done in Europe, not even of the labors of Grotefend. He commenced with inscriptions found at Mount Elvend, near Ha- madan, a city N. E. of Kermanshah. The fol- lowing year, when in Teheran, he became ac- quainted with Grotefend's paper ; but he had already proceeded further than the German scholar. In 1837 he copied the first column of the great Behistun inscription, and four of the smaller inscriptions. On Jan. 1, 1838, he sent to the royal Asiatic society an account of his labors. In this year he first became acquaint- PEESIAN CUNEIFOKM ALPHABET. Vowels. yp' 1 - <TT u, A. StTBDS. Consonants. A8P1BATES. Before Before Before a. i. u. Before Before Before Before Before Before a. i. u. a. i u. f-fi- - rTrt eW f W- ft ?? ?! W f T Gutturals : Palatals : Dentals : Labials : Semi-vowels : y ^ y^- ^~- T ^f ^f T - Sibilants : c |^ y^ y^ S ^^ J^r ^r Rough breathing: ^x Compound signs: ff tr. y/ (J. ^ a' &yf d'<=f b ~f -T cT. ~1E*?, HE- ~ f T"" TT~T- ed with Burnouf ? s works. He continued his study of the inscriptions till 1839, and had already deciphered and interpreted with a great degree of accuracy the whole of the Behistun inscription, when the breaking out of the war in Afghanistan rendered necessary his transfer to that country, and several years elapsed be- fore he could resume his investigations. He returned to Persia in 1844, and was finally able to present to the royal Asiatic society complete eqpies of the Persian portion of the Behistun inscription, of which the society published facsimiles in September, 1846. These con- tained more of the cuneiform writing of the first kind than all the other inscriptions then known in Europe put together. Near the city of Kermanshah, toward the east, the mountain Behistun rises suddenly and precipitously from the surrounding plain to a height of about 1,700 ft. The great inscription is cut upon the rock at a height of 300 ft. from the base. The face of the rock was first cut smooth, and wherevei a fault made it necessary, a stone was set in and fastened with molten lead so accurately that even at the present day it can hardly be de- tected. Highest on the rock is a figure in- tended to represent the Persian god Auramaz- da. Underneath this are several other figures. First on the left are armed attendants. Then comes Darius the king, standing with one hand uplifted and one foot upon the breast of a man lying prostrate on his back. Approaching Da- rius are nine other figures in line, connected by a cord passing around their necks, and with their hands bound behind their backs; these figures, as we learn from the inscription, repre-