[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.