[784] ‘Lettre a Löwenstern,’ Sept. 1847, in Revue Archéologique, 1848.

[785] Journal Asiatique, 1848, xi. 247.

[786] J. R. A. S. 1847, x. 24.

[787] Exposé, p. 10, note.

[788] Hommel, Geschichte, p. 98.

[789] Layard, Nineveh and its Remains, ii. 173.

[790] J. R. A. S. x. 29.

[791] Exposé, p. 44.

[792] Ib. p. 73.

[793] Exposé, p. 58.

[794] Ib. pp. 56, 73.

[795] See No. 21 of Hincks, where it is unnoticed. Cf. Exposé, p. 28.

[796] Exposé, pp. 27, 85-6. Cf. Transactions, xxi. 247.

[797] He instances the word for ‘earth,’ p. 86.

[798] ‘Lettre à Löwenstern,’ loc. cit. p. 506.

[799] Rawlinson thus describes Botta’s labours. He has been employed in ‘constructing a complete table of variants, the frequent repetition of the same word with orthographical variations furnishing him with a key to the equivalent signs: and by these means he has succeeded, he informs me, in reducing the Assyrian alphabet to some manageable compass.’—J. R. A. S. 1846, x. 29.

[800] Journal Asiatique, 1848, March, xi. 245.

[801] Journal Asiatique, ix. 378; ‘Lettre à Letronne,’ Revue Archéologique, 1848, p. 466.

[802] Cf. Rev. Archéol. 1848, p. 504.

[803] Rev. Archéol. ib. p. 503. See Oppert, Expédition, p. 123.

[804] J. R. A. S. Dec. 1847, ix. 439.

[805] Athenæum, Aug. 23, 1851.

[806] J. R. A. S. 1848, vol. ix.

[807] ‘On the Khorsabad Inscription,’ Trans. R. I. Acad. xxii. 12.

[808] Transactions, xxi. 241, 247.

[809] Ib. xxii. 328; Athenæum, Sept. 21, 1850, p. 1000.

[810] ‘It will appear,’ he says later on, ‘that I consider the syllabary to be of Indo-European origin.’ In 1852 he adds: ‘The characters all represent syllables, and were originally intended to represent a non-Semitic language.’ Transactions, xxii. 57; ib. p. 295.

[811] Transactions, xxii. 25. In this case, however, it is so. Hincks afterwards instanced an, which, followed by ac, he reads, not ‘anac,’ but ‘nabu.’ Athenæum, Sept. 21, 1850.

[812] He explained this matter with great clearness in 1850, when he showed that the sign for an is used (1) as a simple phonograph in some words, as in ‘zarangu’; (2) elsewhere it occurs alone as an independent ideograph for ‘god,’ and forms the plural ‘gods’ by the mere addition of the plural sign. (3) Again, it is found before the proper names of gods, as before Aurmuzd. Here the name is phonetically complete without it, and it is therefore simply a non-phonetic determinative. (4) Elsewhere it forms part of a compound ideograph, and may entirely change its phonetic value; and (5) it may be used ideographically for ‘god’ in Semitic proper names, where its value is not an but ilu, or sometimes Assur.—Transactions, ib. pp. 27-30; Athenæum, ib.

[813] He admits in Sept. 1850 that he had not yet seen Longpérier’s paper (Athenæum, Sept. 21, 1850).

[814] He explained, however, that his short a corresponds to the Greek epsilon (Transactions, p. 10). In his list the consonants followed by ā are really those followed by a, and those followed by a correspond to the consonants followed by i. His view of the four vowels dates from the paper on Van, Dec. 1847 (J. R. A. S. 1848, vol. ix.).

[815] Athenæum, Aug. 24, 1850, p. 908.

[816] Essai de Déchiffrement, p. 11; cf. Journal Asiatique, 1848, xi. 246.

[817] Thus Löwenstern, writing in 1847, before the third column was taken, says: ‘Rawlinson a, durant nombre d’années, interdit au public savant la vue des trésors dont il s’était réservé de faire un usage si utile à sa gloire.’—Exposé, p. 10.

[818] J. R. A. S. xii. 404.

[819] Mr. King has given a list of 329 signs (First Steps in Assyrian, p. cxxxii.). Conder reckons about 550 in all (‘On Hittite Writing,’ J. R. A. S. 1893, p. 829).

[820] Menant, in 1864, reports 6,000 words, Ecritures, p. 256.

[821] Trans. R. I. Acad. xxii. 70.

[822] He refers to the British Museum series recently edited by Layard and Birch.

[823] J. R. A. S. xii. 430 ff. The greater part, if not the whole of the Obelisk inscription was translated before the publication of Layard’s book in 1849. Layard, Nineveh and its Remains (1849), ii. 192, note.

[824] Cf. J. R. A. S. xii. 482-3; Records of the Past, N.S. 1890, iv. 39-40. The translator is Father Scheil, who has not thought it worth while to mention the name of his great predecessor. From what he says the reader might suppose the inscription was first translated by Oppert (p. 37).

[825] He thought the dynasty of Nimrud flourished B.C. 1300-1200, and the later dynasty of Khorsabad from B.C. 1100-1000. J. R. A. S. xii. 471.

[826] ‘The cuneiform text accompanied by a transcript in Roman characters and an interlineary Latin translation was printed’ before May; see Report, May 1851, J. R. A. S. xiii. p. vi. The complete volume appeared in January 1852 (ib. p. 199). Rawlinson returned to Bagdad in the autumn of 1851 (Memoir, p. 171).

[827] Trans. R. I. Acad. xxii. 56.

[828] The report of his lecture, given in the Athenæum, leaves no doubt on this point. It says: ‘Major Rawlinson could not admit that the phonetic system was entirely syllabic, as had been sometimes stated. There was no doubt an extensive syllabarium, and the literal characters, moreover, required a vowel-sound either to precede or follow the consonant: but such vowel sound was rarely uniform. He preferred, therefore, distinguishing the literal signs as sonant and complemental, and leaving the vowels to be supplied according to the requirements of the language’ (Athenæum, March 2, 1850). And in August of the same year he vindicated the use of bona fide letters, in opposition to Hincks, who maintained that ‘the characters had all definite syllabic values’ (Athenæum, Aug. 24, 1850).

[829] For example, he describes the signs for ut and ti as t; for bu and bil as b; for la and li as l; su as s, and ku as k (J. R. A. S. xii. 405, 406, 424, 433). Hincks already knew that the signs indicated ti, bu, la, li and ku.

[830] Cf. J. R. A. S. xii. 413, xiv. p. xi.

[831] Hincks, Trans. R. I. Acad. 1852, xxii. 306, note. Cf. Rawlinson, J. R. A. S. xii. 406.

[832] J. R. A. S. xiv. 4.

[833] Dr. Hommel has, however, come to a somewhat different conclusion, Geschichte, p. 99.

[834] Menant estimates ‘the necessary simple syllables’ at eighty-two, though this number is slightly modified in practice (Manuel, p. 6).

[835] Trans. R. I. Acad. xxii. 70.

[836] See those marked H 1849 or 1850 in ‘Assyrio-Babylonian Phonetic Characters’ (Trans. R. I. Acad. 1852, xxii. 293, ff).

[837] J. R. A. S. xiv. 3.

[838] For Rawlinson see J. R. A. S. vol. xiv. Plate 1; for De Saulcy, Journal Asiatique, 1854, iii. 95; for Bezold, Die Achämenideninschriften, p. 24.

[839] The sign for ‘king’ was written ‘melik,’ after the Hebrew, till it was seen that the Assyrians pronounced it ‘sarru’ (Menant, Manuel, p. 265). In Rawlinson’s analysis he points out that one of the terms for ‘king’ was certainly ‘sarru,’ as in the Window inscription of Darius at Persepolis and also at Khorsabad. ‘This discovery,’ he adds, ‘of course tends to discredit the reading of “melik,” and to suggest the uniform adoption of “sarru”’ (J. R. A. S. xiv. p. iii, note). The discovery was made by Longpérier in 1847, and he gives the Hebrew equivalent (Revue Archéologique, 1848, Longpérier to Löwenstern, Sept. 1847, p. 503). Oppert assigns the credit to De Saulcy (Journal Asiatique, 1857, ix. 142), who mentions it in 1849. Hincks seems to have been the first to suggest ‘melik’ or ‘malek’ (1849). ‘On Khorsabad,’ Trans. R. I. Acad. xxii. 39.

[840] Singularly enough, Hincks had just independently deciphered in the Obelisk inscription the names of Menahem and Jehu the son of Omri. Prof. Wilson, Jan. 1852, J. R. A. S. xiii. 198. See also George Smith, Assyrian Discoveries, 1883, p. 10. Hincks did not at first recognise Rawlinson’s identification of Samaria (see Athenæum, Sept. 13, 1851).

[841] J. R. A. S. 1851, xiv. p. iii.

[842] Athenæum, Aug. 23, 1851, p. 902.

[843] Trans. R. I. Acad. xxii. 293-363.

[844] Revue Orientale, 1852, ii. 162.

[845] These figures may be arranged thus:

[846] See Menant, Manuel, p. 10.

[847] Although the British Museum contains a multitude of tracts by De Saulcy on numismatics and other subjects, those on Assyrian do not appear to be among the number, and we have advertised for them in Paris without result.

[848] Les Langues perdues: Assyrie, p. 139. De Saulcy’s early contributions were letters to Burnouf, June 20 and 30, 1847.

[849] Revue Orientale, 1852, ii. 165.

[850] Menant, op. cit. pp. 141-5.

[851] Revue Orientale, loc. cit. p. 167.

[852] Mohl, op. cit. Report, Aug. 1848.

[853] Menant, op. cit. p. 149.

[854] Memoir by Canon Rawlinson, p. 159.

[855] Menant, p. 151.

[856] Ib. p. 146. For an even more enthusiastic appreciation of his services see p. 148.

[857] Sur les Inscriptions de Ninive (Paris, 1850); Revue Orientale, 1852, ii. 168. Cf. Menant, Les Ecritures, p. 225; Langues perdues, p. 150.

[858] Athenæum, Jan. 26, 1850, p. 105.

[859] Journal Asiatique, 1854, iii. 93.

[860] Revue Orientale, loc. cit.

[861] Langues perdues, p. 146.

[862] Memoir, p. 172.

[863] Ib. p. 181.

[864] J. R. A. S. Report, 1853, xv. p. xvii.

[865] Ib. Report, 1854, vol. xvi.

[866] Ib. Report, 1854, xvi. p. xiv.

[867] Ib. xii. 477.

[868] See Rassam’s account in Trans. S. B. A. vol. vii. Cf. Hommel, Geschichte, p. 86.

[869] Bertin acknowledges in 1887 that Rawlinson was the first to discover the existence of the Akkadian language (J. R. A. S. 1887, N.S. xix. 644).

[870] J. R. A. S. 1855, xv. 221, note.

[871] Ib. Report, 1856, xvi. p. vii.

[872] Talbot in J. R. A. S. 1862, xix. 196.

[873] Talbot, ib. 1867, N.S. iii. 7. Cf. ib. 1873, vi. p. xxix.

[874] On Akkadian, 1855.

[875] J. R. A. S. Report, June 1866, N.S. ii.

[876] Trans. S. B. A. 1886, ix., article by Mr. Pinches. Dr. Birch’s interest in the subject dates from 1846, when he wrote on the discovery of the name of Babylon, in Proceedings of the Society of Literature.

[877] See Athenæum, Sept. and Oct. 1851; J. R. A. S. 1854-5, and many others.

[878] Athenæum, March and April, 1854.

[879] Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, 1882, p. xlvii.

[880] J. R. A. S., N.S. Report, 1867, iii.

[881] Ib. Report, 1856, xvi.

[882] Ib. N.S. 1866, ii. The first instalment of the separate publication appeared in 1868 (J. R. A. S. Report, May 1868, iii. p. xv).

[883] Mohl, op. cit. Report, June 1859.

[884] Second edition in 1864.

[885] Menant, Ecritures, p. 239; Langues perdues, p. 165.

[886] J. R. A. S. 1852, xiii. p. 196.

[887] Mohl, op. cit. i. 418, Report, 1851.

[888] J. R. A. S. 1861, xviii.

[889] See Menant, Langues perdues, p. 177. He refers to Athenæum, May 1857, p. 663.

[890] Mohl, op. cit. Report, June 1869, ii. 257.

[891] Ib. June 1864, ii. 565.

[892] Mohl, op. cit. June 1861, ii. 364.

[893] Trans. S. B. A. 1886, ix., article by Mr. Pinches. Cf. Report, May 1862, J. R. A. S. 1862, xix.

[894] Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, new ed. p. xxxviii, note.

[895] J. R. A. S. 1860, xvii. Report, 1859. Memoirs, p. 241.

[896] For a list of these see Memoir, p. 170.

[897] He received the Conyngham Medal of the Royal Irish Academy in 1848 (Athenæum, May 1850). Layard has well said: ‘In any other country but England a man of such attainments and so eminently calculated to confer honour upon the nation to which he belonged, would have received some reward, or would have been placed in a position of independence to enable him to pursue his studies. But in spite of numerous representations to Government and of the European reputation he had established, he was allowed to remain without any public recognition of his literary and scientific acquirements.’—Nineveh and Babylon, new ed. p. xlvi, note.

[898] Aug. 24, 1850.

[899] The signs are reproduced from M. Oppert, Le Peuple des Mèdes, 1879.

[900] The values in this column assumed to be correct are taken from Weisbach, Die Achämenideninschriften, Zweiter Art., 1890, p. 33.

[901] Keilinschriften, Bonn, 1845. Mémoire des Antiquaires, Copenhagen, 1844. The values in brackets [*] in this column are from the Copenhagen Edition.

[902] Transactions R. I. Acad. xxi., 241.

[903] Journal Asiatique, 4ᵉ série, xv., 526. The vowels in brackets in this column are those supposed to follow the consonant.

[904] Journal Royal Asiatic Society, 1855, vol. xv.

[905] Expédition en Mésopotamie, 1859, ii., 71.

[906] Le Peuple des Mèdes, 1879, p. 41.

[907] Ideogram recognised by Grotefend.