[14] Herodotus, viii, 98.
[15] See chapter v.
CHAPTER III
ORIENTAL CIVILIZATION [1]
13. SOCIAL CLASSES
REDISCOVERY OF THE ORIENT
Our present knowledge of the Orient has been gained within recent times. Less than a century ago no one could read the written records of the Egyptians and Babylonians. The decipherment of the Rosetta Stone, which contained an inscription in both Greek and hieroglyphics, led to the understanding of Egyptian writing. Scholars later succeeded in interpreting the Babylonian cuneiform script. Modern excavations in the valleys of the Nile and the Euphrates have now provided them with abundant material for study in the shape of books and inscriptions. As these are gradually deciphered, new light is being thrown on all features of ancient Oriental civilization.
[Illustration: A ROYAL NAME IN HIEROGLYPHICS (ROSETTA STONE) The cut shows the symbols contained in one of the oval rings, or cartouches, for Ptolemaios, the Greek name of King Ptolemy. Each symbol represents the initial letter of the Egyptian name for the object pictured. The objects in order are: a mat, a half-circle, a noose, a lion, a hole, two reeds, and a chair-back. The entire hieroglyph is read from left to right, as we read words in English.]
[Illustration: THE ROSETTA STONE. British Museum, London. A block of black basalt, three feet seven inches in height, found in 1799 A.D., near the Rosetta mouth of the Nile.]