Edward Hincks
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Edward Hincks was an Irish Church of Ireland clergyman, Egyptologist and Assyriologist, known for the decipherment of cuneiform.
Edward Hincks
Plaque to Edward Hincks in Killyleagh, County Down
Decipherment of cuneiform
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The decipherment of cuneiform began with the decipherment of Old Persian cuneiform between 1802 and 1836.
Edward Hincks
…Edward Hincks (19 August 1792 – 3 December 1866) was an Irish Church of Ireland clergyman, Egyptologist and Assyriologist, known for the decipherment of cuneiform. Edward Hincks was born on 19 August 1792 in Cork to Anne Hincks (née Boult; 1767–1835) and Rev. Thomas Dix Hincks, a Unitarian minister, orientalist…
Old Persian alphabet, and proposed transcription of the Xerxes inscription, according to Georg Friedrich Grotefend. Initially published in 1815. Grotefend only identified correctly eight letters among the thirty signs he had collated.
García de Silva Figueroa (1620)
This Old Persian cuneiform sign sequence, because of its numerous occurrences in inscriptions, was correctly guessed by Münter as being the word for "King". This word is now known to be pronounced xšāyaθiya in Old Persian (𐎧𐏁𐎠𐎹𐎰𐎡𐎹), and indeed means "King".
Niebuhr inscription 1, with the suggested words for "King" (𐎧𐏁𐎠𐎹𐎰𐎡𐎹) highlighted, repeated three times. Inscription now known to mean "Darius the Great King, King of Kings, King of countries, son of Hystaspes, an Achaemenian, who built this Palace". Today known as DPa, from the Palace of Darius in Persepolis, above figures of the king and attendants