Table Of ContentMAYBE THE
IT^S P
“speaking with the dead," hearing the voices
"pf
of long-silent peoples and civilizations. Perhaps
it's the puzzle solver's relish for the challenges
posed by breaking codes. Whatever the
reasons, undeciphered ancient scripts have
long tantalized the public, tost Languages
investigates the most famous examples, leading
us back to a far-distant past obscured by the
ravages of time and haunted by code breakers
hungry for glory.
_
The book begins with an incisive description
of decipherment techniques^and tells the stories
of three great decipherments; Egyptian
hieroglyphs in the 19th century, the Mayan
glyphs of Central America, and the Linear B
clay tablets of the Minoan civilization of Crete in
the 20th century. Then tackles the important
it
scripts strll awaiting their decipherers.
Perhaps the greatest challenge today the
is
Indus script. Found on exquisitely beautiful
seal stones, pottery, and copper tablets
excavated in Pakistan and India, it is the only
writing of the four "first" civilizations that can-
not be read. Unraveled, would not only break
it
the millennia-long silence of the impressive
Indus Valley civilization, would also shed
it
new light on the origins of the Indo-European
ancestorsof the modern West.
,
Then there are the Etruscans, who have spell-
bound the imagination ever since Renaissance
times. Builders of sensational tombs and
drinkers of wine, they were the cultural conduit
through which the Greek alphabet reached
Rome and hence the rest of Europe. And yet
the language spoken by the Etruscans remains
wrapped in mystery; if penetrated, it could
^pP^yw^^
reveal the history of a pre- ^te
almost,as great as ancient
(continuedon backflap
LANGUAGES
The Enigma of The World’s Undeciphered Scripts
LANGUAGES
The Enigma of-The World’s Undeciphered Scripts
Andrew Robinson
NEVRAUMONT BOOK
A PETER N.
McGRAW-HILL
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Robinson, Andrew, 1957-
Lost languages the enigma of the world's undeciphered scripts / Andrew Robinson
:
cm.
p.
'A Peter Nevraumont book.”
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-07-135743-2 (he.)
1. Writing-History. 2. Extinct languages. I. Title
P211 .R59 2002
4ir.09-dc21 2001051412
Created and Produced by Nevraumont Publishing Company
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York City
Ann J. Perrini, President
Jacket and Book Design by Cathleen Bennett
r 1
/
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
8
INTRODUCTION
Writing Sjstems, Coded Civilizations and Undeciphered Scripts 10
PART THREE GREAT DECIPHERMENTS
I
/ Voices ofthe Pharaohs
EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHS (EGYPT) 50
II The Lal^rinth ofMinos
LINEAR B (GREECE) 74
III Bishop de Landa's Inquisition
MAYAN GLYPHS (CENTRAL AMERICA) 104
PART UNDECIPHERED SCRIPTS
II
11/ Voices ofthe Black Pharaohs
THE MEROITIC SCRIPT (SUDAN) 140
1/ Creek but not Creek
THE ETRUSCAN ALPHABET (ITALY) 156
VI A Mediterranean Mystery
LINEAR A (THE AEGEAN) 182
Vll Secrets ofthe Ancient Ledgers
THE PROTO-ELAMITE SCRIPT (IRAN) 200
VIII Birdmen ofRapanui
RONGORONGO (EASTER ISLAND) 218
New
IX The World Begins to Write
THE ZAPOTEC AND ISTHMIAN SCRIPTS (MEXICO) S44
X At the Sign ofthe Unicorn
THE INDUS SCRIPT (PAKISTAN/INDIA) 264
XI Sir Arthur's 'Chaunt of Victory'
THE PHAISTOS DISC (CRETE) 296
CONCLUSION
XII The Urge to Decipher 316
NOTES AND REFERENCES 324
FURTHER READING
334
BIBLIOGRAPHY
335
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS
341
INDEX
344
r 1
I
dedicate this book jointly to the late John Chadwick, author of The Decipherment of
Linear B, and to Michael Coe, author of Breaking the Maya Code. In my view these are
the two best books on archaeological decipherment: the first for its intellectual clarity, the
second for its lively humanity. Both John and Mike have offered generous encouragement
to me over the past ten years or so, especially in connection with my book. The Story of
Writing. admire the way they have combined keen professionalism in their respective
I
fields with wide-ranging interests and open-mindedness to new ideas, including those of
amateurs. After all, Michael Ventris, perhaps the cleverest of the great archaeological deci-
pherers, was an amateur (albeit of a unigue kind), who never attended a university.
Many scholars-some of whom have had the satisfaction of publishing in the pages of
I
The Times hligher Education Supplement-have given invaluable help with my research
and writing. One of the real pleasures of working with academics is that so many of them
are willing to take trouble to explain their ideas, simply because the ideas matter, not
because they expect anything in return. hope have done justice to what they have pub-
I I
lished and personally told me. To those whose ideas have criticized, in a few cases severely,
I
would like to say this. began with an open mind, read widely and thought about their
I I
ideas at length, as well as discussing them with other specialists; but where the arguments
did not convince me have not hesitated to say so, while explaining my reasons.
I
owe a genuine debt to those who commented on individual chapters in draft: John
I
Baines of Oxford University (Egyptian hieroglyphs); Tom Palaima of the University of Texas
at Austin (Linear B); Michael Coe of Yale University (Mayan glyphs); Peter Shinnie of the
New
University of Calgary and Robin Thelwall (the Meroitic script); Larissa Bonfante of
York University (the Etruscan alphabet); Yves Duhoux of the University of Louvain and
Maurice Pope (Linear A); Robert England of the University of California at Los Angeles
(the proto-Elamite script); Jacques Guy (Rongorongo); Michael Coe, Stephen Houston
of Brigham Young University, Martha Maori of the University of California at Davis and
Javier Urcid of Brandeis University (the Zapotec and Isthmian scripts); Asko Parpola of
the University of Helsinki (the Indus script); and Maurice Pope (the Phaistos disc). Other
helpful comments came from Elizabeth Barber, Whitfield Diffie, Krishna Dutta, Oliver Moore,
Alan G. Robinson and George Stuart. Any remaining errors are of course my responsibility.
In addition, a number of other scholars helped me to obtain published and unpublished
work by themselves and others, in particular: John Bennet, Emmett Bennett Jr., Margalit
Finkelberg, Steven Roger Fischer, Nikolai Grube, John Justeson, Mark Kenoyer, John
Killen, James Lamb, Jean Leclant, Iravatham Mahadevan, Nicholas Millet, Jean-Pierre
Olivier, John Ray, George Stuart, Bryan Wells and Derek Welsby. Michael Zach of the
University of Vienna offered selfless assistance with the Meroitic script.
Finally, a word of thanks to the publishers: Amy Murphy, the book’s editor at McGraw-
Hill, Kip Hakala, and Peter McCurdy; the dedicated designer Cathleen Bennett; and the
staff of the Nevraumont Publishing Company, including Simina Calin and Simone
Nevraumont, for their hard work on the illustrations. Peter Nevraumont’s editorial suggestions
improved the final draft.
London, May 2001
AKNOWLEDGEMENTS
