a history of science-4-第59章

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ges　of　Assyrian　study　than　at　the　very　outset；　and　the　first　clew　to　the　message　of　the　cuneiform　writing　came　through　a　slightly　different　channel。

Curiously　enough；　it　was　a　trilingual　inscription　that　gave　the　clew；　as　in　the　case　of　the　Rosetta　Stone；　though　with　very　striking　difference　withal。　The　trilingual　inscription　now　in　question；　instead　of　being　a　small；　portable　monument；　covers　the　surface　of　a　massive　bluff　at　Behistun　in　western　Persia。　　Moreover；　all　three　of　its　inscriptions　are　in　cuneiform　characters；　and　all　three　are　in　languages　that　at　the　beginning　of　our　century　were　absolutely　unknown。　　This　inscription　itself；　as　a　striking　monument　of　unknown　import；　had　been　seen　by　successive　generations。　Tradition　ascribed　it；　as　we　learn　from　Ctesias；　through　Diodorus；　to　the　fabled　Assyrian　queen　Semiramis。　　Tradition　was　quite　at　fault　in　this；　but　it　is　only　recently　that　knowledge　has　availed　to　set　it　right。　The　inscription；　as　is　now　known；　was　really　written　about　the　year　515　B。C。；　at　the　instance　of　Darius　I。；　King　of　Persia；　some　of　whose　deeds　it　recounts　in　the　three　chief　languages　of　his　widely　scattered　subjects。

The　man　who　at　actual　risk　of　life　and　limb　copied　this　wonderful　inscription；　and　through　interpreting　it　became　the　veritable　〃father　of　Assyriology；〃　was　the　English　general　Sir　Henry　Rawlinson。　　His　feat　was　another　British　triumph　over　the　same　rivals　who　had　competed　for　the　Rosetta　Stone；　for　some　French　explorers　had　been　sent　by　their　government；　some　years　earlier；　expressly　to　copy　this　strange　record；　and　had　reported　that　it　was　impossible　to　reach　the　inscription。　But　British　courage　did　not　find　it　so；　and　in　1835　Rawlinson　scaled　the　dangerous　height　and　made　a　paper　cast　of　about　half　the　inscription。　Diplomatic　duties　called　him　away　from　the　task　for　some　years；　but　in　1848　he　returned　to　it　and　completed　the　copy　of　all　parts　of　the　inscription　that　have　escaped　the　ravages　of　time。　And　now　the　material　was　in　hand　for　a　new　science；　which　General　Rawlinson　himself　soon；　assisted　by　a　host　of　others；　proceeded　to　elaborate。

The　key　to　the　value　of　this　unique　inscription　lies　in　the　fact　that　its　third　language　is　ancient　Persian。　　It　appears　that　the　ancient　Persians　had　adopted　the　cuneiform　character　from　their　western　neighbors；　the　Assyrians；　but　in　so　doing　had　made　one　of　those　essential　modifications　and　improvements　which　are　scarcely　possible　to　accomplish　except　in　the　transition　from　one　race　to　another。　　Instead　of　building　with　the　arrow…head　a　multitude　of　syllabic　characters；　including　many　homophones；　as　had　been　and　continued　to　be　the　custom　with　the　Assyrians；　the　Persians　selected　a　few　of　these　characters　and　ascribed　to　them　phonetic　values　that　were　almost　purely　alphabetic。　In　a　word；　while　retaining　the　wedge　as　the　basal　stroke　of　their　script；　they　developed　an　alphabet；　making　the　last　wonderful　analysis　of　phonetic　sounds　which　even　to　this　day　has　escaped　the　Chinese；　which　the　Egyptians　had　only　partially　effected；　and　which　the　Phoenicians　were　accredited　by　the　Greeks　with　having　introduced　to　the　Western　world。　In　addition　to　this　all…essential　step；　the　Persians　had　introduced　the　minor　but　highly　convenient　custom　of　separating　the　words　of　a　sentence　from　one　another　by　a　particular　mark；　differing　in　this　regard　not　only　from　the　Assyrians　and　Egyptians；　but　from　the　early　Greek　scribes　as　well。

Thanks　to　these　simplifications；　the　old　Persian　language　had　been　practically　restored　about　the　beginning　of　the　nineteenth　century；　through　the　efforts　of　the　German　Grotefend；　and　further　advances　in　it　were　made　just　at　this　time　by　Renouf；　in　France；　and　by　Lassen；　in　Germany；　as　well　as　by　Rawlinson　himself；　who　largely　solved　the　problem　of　the　Persian　alphabet　independently。　So　the　Persian　portion　of　the　Behistun　inscription　could　be　at　least　partially　deciphered。　　This　in　itself；　however；　would　have　been　no　very　great　aid　towards　the　restoration　of　the　languages　of　the　other　portions　had　it　not　chanced；　fortunately；　that　the　inscription　is　sprinkled　with　proper　names。　　Now　proper　names；　generally　speaking；　are　not　translated　from　one　language　to　another；　but　transliterated　as　nearly　as　the　genius　of　the　language　will　permit。　It　was　the　fact　that　the　Greek　word　Ptolemaics　was　transliterated　on　the　Rosetta　Stone　that　gave　the　first　clew　to　the　sounds　of　the　Egyptian　characters。　　Had　the　upper　part　of　the　Rosetta　Stone　been　preserved；　on　which；　originally；　there　were　several　other　names；　Young　would　not　have　halted　where　he　did　in　his　decipherment。

But　fortune；　which　had　been　at　once　so　kind　and　so　tantalizing　in　the　case　of　the　Rosetta　Stone；　had　dealt　more　gently　with　the　Behistun　inscriptions；　for　no　fewer　than　ninety　proper　names　were　preserved　in　the　Persian　portion　and　duplicated；　in　another　character；　in　the　Assyrian　inscription。　A　study　of　these　gave　a　clew　to　the　sounds　of　the　Assyrian　characters。　The　decipherment　of　this　character；　however；　even　with　this　aid；　proved　enormously　difficult；　for　it　was　soon　evident　that　here　it　was　no　longer　a　question　of　a　nearly　perfect　alphabet　of　a　few　characters；　but　of　a　syllabary　of　several　hundred　characters；　including　many　homophones；　or　different　forms　for　representing　the　same　sound。　But　with　the　Persian　translation　for　a　guide　on　the　one　hand；　and　the　Semitic　languages；　to　which　family　the　Assyrian　belonged；　on　the　other；　the　appalling　task　was　gradually　accomplished；　the　leading　investigators　being　General　Rawlinson；　Professor　Hincks；　and　Mr。　Fox…Talbot；　in　England；　Professor　Jules　Oppert；　in　Paris；　and　Professor　Julian　Schrader；　in　Germany；　though　a　host　of　other　scholars　soon　entered　the　field。

This　great　linguistic　feat　was　accomplished　about　the　middle　of　the　nineteenth　century。　　But　so　great　a　feat　was　it　that　many　scholars　of　the　highest　standing；　including　Joseph　Erneste　Renan；　in　France；　and　Sir　G。　Cornewall　Lewis；　in　England；　declined　at　first　to　accept　the　results；　contending　that　the　Assyriologists　had　merely　deceived　themselves　by　creating　an　arbitrary　language。　The　matter　was　put　to　a　test　in　1855　at　the　suggestion　of　Mr。　Fox…Talbot；　when　four　scholars；　one　being　Mr。　Talbot　himself　and　the　others　General　Rawlinson；　Professor　Hincks；　and　Professor　Oppert；　laid　before　the　Royal　Asiatic　Society　their　independent　interpretations　of　a　hitherto　untranslated　Assyrian　text。　　A　committee　of　the　society；　including　England's　greatest　historian　of　the　century；　George　Grote；　broke　the　seals　of　the　four　translations；　and　reported　that　they　found　them　unequivocally　in　accord　as　regards　their　main　purport；　and　even　surprisingly　uniform　as　regards　the　phraseology　of　certain　passagesin　short；　as　closely　similar　as　translations　from　the　obscure　texts　of　any　difficult　language　ever　are。　This　decision　gave　the　work　of　the　Assyriologists　official　status；　and　the　reliability　of　their　method　has　never　since　been　in　question。　Henceforth　Assyriology　was　an　established　science。



APPENDIX

REFERENCE…LIST

CHAPTER　I。　MODERN　DEVELOPMENT　OF　THE　PHYSICAL　SCIENCES

＇1＇　Robert　Boyle；　Philosophical　Works　（3　vols。）。　London；　1738。

CHAPTER　II。　　THE　BEGINNINGS　OF　MODERN　CHEMISTRY　

＇1＇　For　a　complete　account　of　the　controversy　called　the　〃Water　Controversy；〃　see　The　Life　of　the　Hon。　Henry　Cavendish；　by　George　Wilson；　M。D。；　F。R。S。E。　London；　1850。

＇2＇　Henry　Cavendish；　in　Phil。　Trans。　for　1784；　P。　119。

＇3＇　Lives　of　the　Philosophers　of　the　Time　of　George　III。；　by　Henry；　Lord　Brougham；　F。R。S。；　p。　106。　　London；　1855。　　

＇4＇　Experiments　and　Observations　on　Different　Kinds　of　Air；　by　Joseph　Priestley　（3　vols。）。　Birmingham；　790；　vol。　II；　pp。　103…107。

＇5＇　Lectures　on　Experimental　Philosophy；　by　Joseph　Priestley；　lecture　IV。；　pp。　18；　ig。　J。　Johnson；　London；　1794。

＇6＇　Translated　from　Scheele's　Om　Brunsten；　eller　Magnesia；　och　dess　Egenakaper。　Stockholm；　1774；　and　published　as　Alembic　Club　Reprints；　No。　13；　1897；　p。　6。

＇7＇　According　to　some　writers　this　was　discovered　by　Berzelius。

＇8＇　Histoire　de　la　Chimie；　par　Ferdinand　Hoefer。　Paris；　1869；　Vol。　CL；　p。　289。

＇9＇　Elements　of　Chemistry；　by　Anton　Laurent　Lavoisier；　translated　by　Robert　Kerr；　p。　8。　London　and　Edinburgh