RELICS AT SUSA. 
417 
apparently naked, excepting a sash round his waist, and a sort 
of cap on his head. His hands are bound behind him. The 
corner of the stone holds the neck of the figure, so that his 
head forms part of one of its ends. Two lions, in sitting pos¬ 
tures, appear on either side at the top, each having a paw on 
the head of the man. The execution resembles the style of the 
dark stone, but there are no traces of letters on this. While 
copying both, I could not but regret that my military friend 
had not transcribed, if not all, some few lines of the cuneiform 
characters on the hieroglyphic stone. 
This character is known by the several names of cuneiform, 
nail-headed, arrow-headed, as descriptive of its shape ; and Per- 
sepolitan, or Babylonian, according to the places where it has 
been principally found. For a long time it was considered an 
absolute dead letter by all who looked on the rare specimens 
our earlier travellers presented to the eye; but it is daily be¬ 
coming an object of even lively hope to those who are interested 
in antiquarian disclosures, from the indefatigable zeal, and en¬ 
couraging success, with which certain learned professors in Ger¬ 
many and France have devoted their talents and their time to 
discover its explication. From absence of proof to the contrary, 
3 H 
VOL. II. 
