Persia from the Earliest Period to the Arab

HISTORY OF PERSIA. IOI
Roman empire, and there are some interesting contracts,
&c., on clay tablets bearing the names of more
than one prince of the Seleucidae 1 . The rapid exten-
sion of the Greek language, and its simplicity both
for writing and reading, naturally diminished the use
of even the Persian Cuneiform. The last monument
I shall notice is a vase in grey porphyry, preserved
in the treasury of St. Mark's at Venice, bearing on
"
it an inscription badly written and spelt, Artaxerxes
the great king." As on the two vases of Xerxes,
here, also, is a cartouche with the same name written
in hieroglyphics, which was long since deciphered by
Sir Gardner Wilkinson,
In concluding this portion of my story, I am
tempted to transcribe a few eloquent words in the
Quarterly Review for 1847 (attributed
to Dean Milman),
shortly after the first translations by Sir Henry
(then Major) Rawlinson, appeared in the Journal
of the Asiatic Society of London :
" The more,"
says the writer, "we consider the marvellous character
of this discovery, the more we feel some
mistrust and misgiving returning to our minds. It is
no less, in the first place, than the creation of a
regular alphabet of nearly forty letters, out of what
appears, at first sight, confused and unmeaning lines
and angles ; and, secondly, the creation of a language
1 The following is a list of all, or nearly all, the Perso-cuneiform in-
scriptions yet found, i. Cyrus at Murghdb. 2. Darius son ot Hystaspes
at Behistan, Alwand, Susa, Persepolis, Nakhsh-i-Rustiim (with cylinder
in Brit. Mus.). 3. Xerxes at Persepolis, Alwand, Van, and on vases
of the Count of Caylus, and from Halicarnassus
4.
(in
Brit. Mus.).
Artaxerxes I, Longimanus, on vase at Venice. 5. Darius II at
Persepolis. 6. Artaxerxes Mnemon at Susa. 7. Ochus at Persepolis.
8. Oil a seal, bearing the name of Arsakcs, noted by Grotefend.