The secret to deciphering the Cuneiform ancient language | Irving Finkel and Lex Fridman

Quick Overview

The decipherment of Cuneiform, particularly the Behistun Inscription, was made possible by scholars like Sir Henry Rawlinson and Edward Hincks, who used the trilingual text (Elamite, Babylonian, and Old Persian cuneiform) to unlock the more complex scripts, revealing that Sumerian was not related to Semitic languages but was instead an early example of a language isolate or language isolate family that required a syllabic writing system.

Key Points: The Behistun Inscription (c. 520–518 BCE) is trilingual, featuring text in Elamite, Babylonian, and Old Persian cuneiform, which provided the key to decipherment. Sir Henry Rawlinson, known as the "Father of Assyriology" (1810–1895), deciphered the Old Persian script first, which then served as the foundation for translating the two more complex cuneiform scripts. Edward Hincks, a clergyman from Northern Ireland, was also a crucial pioneer in the decipherment process, working concurrently with Rawlinson. Sumerian, an early written language, is not part of the Semitic language family (like Akkadian, Hebrew, or Arabic) but is considered a language isolate or belongs to a small isolate family. Cuneiform writing, particularly for Sumerian, functioned as a syllabic writing system, where signs represented syllables (like 'ab,' 'ib,' 'ub,' 'eb') rather than just consonants, unlike the early Old Persian script. The complexity of Sumerian grammar and sign values made its decipherment more challenging than the relatively simpler Old Persian script.

Context: This interview segment features Lex Fridman speaking with an expert (implied to be Irving Finkel, based on the context of Cuneiform discussion) about the historical process of deciphering ancient cuneiform scripts, particularly the monumental trilingual Behistun Inscription. The discussion focuses on the key figures involved, like Sir Henry Rawlinson and Edward Hincks, and highlights the structural differences between the languages involved, specifically contrasting the Semitic languages with the language isolate, Sumerian.