Art. XXIII.—The Cuneiform Inscriptions of Van, deciphered and translated

Abstract

It is now more than half a century ago that the existence of inscriptions written in the Cuneiform character, and found in different parts of Armenia, first became known. The French Professor, Saint-Martin, in 1823, gave an account in theJournal Asiatiqueof the antiquities of Van, and drew attention to the fact that the Armenian historian, Moses of Khorene, has described them in such detail as to make it probable he had seen them with his own eyes. In the curious romance, compiled partly from the Old Testament, partly from the legends of Greek writers, partly from the names of localities, which was made to take the place of the forgotten early history of Armenia, these monuments were ascribed to Semiramis, to whom Van was imagined to owe its foundation. Saint-Martin concluded that some of them, at any rate, must still be in existence, and at his instigation, therefore, a young scholar from Hesse, Prof. Fr. Ed. Schulz, was sent by the French Government to Armenia, in 1826, in order to examine them. In 1828, accordingly, Van and its neighbourhood were thoroughly explored by Schulz, who succeeded in discovering and copying no less than forty-two Cuneiform inscriptions. Considering his utter ignorance of both the language and the character, the accuracy of his copies is really wonderful. They were published in theJournal Asiatique(3rd ser. vol. ix. No. 52) in 1840, but the unfortunate discoverer never returned home, having been murdered in 1829 by a Kurdish chief, along with several officers of the Shah of Persia. His papers were subsequently recovered from the Prince of Julamerk.