xlv 



due of having been the 6rst to read and make connected sense of the 

 inscriptions. Lassen had found out the values of most of the Persian 

 signs, and Grotefend laid down a plan ; but Rawlinson put both 

 together and added the values of the missing signs from analogous 

 forms in Zend, Pehlevi, and Sanskrit. By immense personal exer- 

 tions,* and at no small risk, he was able to obtain transcripts of the 

 inscriptions engraved on the precipitous rock of Behistnn at a height 

 of 500 feet above the plain, and having mastered the old Persian 

 character, he obtained a key by which he was enabled to unlock many 

 of the secrets of Persian history, while the Babylonian version of the 

 Behistun text, together with the newly-discovered syllabaries and 

 sign-lists from Nineveh, enabled him to bring to light many historical 

 facts from the Assyrian inscriptions at Khorsabad and Nineveh 

 (Kouyunjik). 



Some misunderstanding has existed about Rawlinson's share in the 

 decipherment both of Persian and Semitic cuneiform texts, and it 

 may be as well here to recall a few of the more important facts in 

 connexion with his work. There is abundant evidence that he was 

 working at the texts of Elwend so far back as 1835, and in 1836 he 

 had mastered all that Grotefend had made out, even succeeding in 

 correcting some of the results obtained by him in 1804. The short 

 inscriptions of Elwend were, however, insufficient for Rawlinson's 

 purpose, and RO he boldly attacked the long text inscribed on the 

 rock at Behistun; and at the end of 18^6 he had translated several 

 passages in it. In 1837 he began to correspond with the Royal 

 Asiatic Society with a view of sending them a translation of the 

 whole text ; in 1838 he sent in a general statement of his discovery, 

 and. in 1839 his complete manuscript was ready for despatch. It 

 will be remembered that Lessen published his work on the Ancient 

 Persian cuneiform texts in 1836, and there have not, been wanting 

 those who asserted that without it Rawlinson could never have obtained 

 his excellent results, inasmuch as he was indebted to it for the pho- 

 netic values of many of the Persian cuneiform characters. This 

 is not the place to adduce minute proofs of the original character of 

 Rawlinson's work, but it may be stated as a well-known fact that the 

 discovery of several phonetic values was peculiarly his own, and that 

 by applying other values to the cuneiform characters in question 

 than his own, he could not have translated the Behistun text. More- 

 over, Lassen's book did not come into Rawlinson's hands until two 

 years after his translation had been made and sent in to the Royal 

 Asiatic Society. As soon as political troubles broke out in Persia in 



* An idea of the difficulties encountered in this work may be obtained from the 

 fact that MM. Coste and Flandin, who were Bent out by the French Government 

 to copy the Behistun text, returned empty-handed and reported the rock to be 

 inaccessible. 



