CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTIONS DECIPHERED. 129 



of Hystaspes, Darius, and Xerxes. In 1835, after 

 correct values had been obtained for rather more than 

 a third of the Persian alphabet, as a result of the work 

 of Grotefend and his successors, Sir Henry Rawlinson, 

 who was ignorant of the details of Grotefend's dis- 

 covery, set to work on the inscriptions of Hamadan. 

 Thanks to his knowledge of Zend and Pehlevi, cognate 

 dialects to the old Persian language, he was rewarded 

 with a greater measure of success than had fallen to 

 his predecessors in the same field, and after working for 

 two years at the inscriptions of Behistun, he forwarded 

 in the year 1837 a translation of the first two para- 

 graphs to the Eoyal Asiatic Society, to be followed ten 

 years later by the publication of a complete translation 

 of the Persian text of the now celebrated inscriptions 

 to which I have already referred. 



The land all round the town is frequently washed for 

 gold, which is now found chiefly in the form of gold- 

 dust. Gold ear-rings and ornaments have also come to 

 light in the process, and some of the older inhabitants 

 have found bowls containing coins when digging at the 

 foundations of their houses, relics no doubt of the days 

 when the Ecbatana of the Achsemenian kings stood 

 here. A question still to solve is whether the Ecbatana 

 of Deioces the Mede, with its seven brilliantly coloured 

 circular walls, stood where Hamadan stands now, in 

 spite of a reckless statement by Layard that " Hamadan 

 is known to occupy the site of Ecbatana, the ancient 

 capital of the Modes." Whether this be so or not, it is 

 at any rate agreed that here stood the treasure city of 

 the Achsemenian kings, and it is likewise certain that 

 here Alexander indulged in the most riotous living on 

 his return from his conquests in the East. In the midst 

 of the wildest scenes of feasting and debauchery Hephaes- 

 tion, his favourite general, died. The results of the 



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