Page:Discovery and Decipherment of the Trilingual Cuneiform Inscriptions.djvu/247

Paragraph II

Grotefend Dominus Xerxes rex fortis rex regum rex populorum quorumlibet purorum rex collegii piiri probi vi maxima [praediti] Darii stirps mundi rectoris Djemschidis Paraphrase of above Ceci [est] Darius roi divin, roi des rols, roi des provinces, qui produisent les braves, roi du monde excellent [et] divin; redoutable, protecteur: fils du Cioshtasp Ach6menide.

Burnouf Ceci est Darius roi divin roi des rois Roi des provinces qui produisent les braves, roi du monde excellent divin redoubtable protecteur, de Goshtasp tils, Achemcnide Correct Version of Incription O I am Darius the great King, King of Kings, King of countries which consist of many races, king of this great earth afar and near, son of Hystaspes the Achaemenian.

A comparison of the two translations with the final version will show at a glance how vastly superior Burnoufs rendering was to that of his predecessor. Not the least important of his contributions to the work of translation was the identification of the names of some of the provinces of Darius, which are contained in the I inscription. We have already observed that Grotefend had attempted a translation of this inscription in 1832:^[1] and in 1836 he again drew attention to the circumstance that it contained a series of geographical names. The list included no less than twenty-four proper names, some of which were entirely beyond Burnoufs power to decipher; but he made an attempt to read sixteen, and out of these eight were

1. Göttinyen Anzeigen (1832), p. 122. Holtzman (A.), Beitrᾶe, p. 16.