Persepolis Inscription Might Be A New Unidentified Language

Iranian archaeologists have found a fragment with an inscription. They say it might be written in a new unidentified language...

From Fragment of Persepolis inscription puzzles experts

Iranian archaeologists have still been unable to translate a fragment of an inscription recently discovered during an excavation at the ruins of Persepolis, ancient scripts expert Abdul-Majid Arfa�i announced on Saturday.

�With dimensions of 2cm x 2cm x 4cm, the triangular clay fragment bears cuneiform script, but we have not succeeded in identifying the language,� he added.

He said that the fragment might be written in a new unidentified language.

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It�s written by "the greys", isn�t it?
Or perhaps by an ancient civilization not yet discovered.

Having visited the site in 1978 its an incredible place. Once was the center of the known world, its a must see once the current government falls that is.

Originally posted by Hellmutt
It�s written by "the greys", isn�t it?
Or perhaps by an ancient civilization not yet discovered.

No to the first, "Maybe -- maybe not" to the second.

It's in cuneiform. We have records showing how cuneiform script developed over the past 20,000 years and how it spread. An "alien civilization" using a fully developed cuneiform script to write their language is as unlikely as one showing up and using the American alphabet to write their language.


(explaination: American standard English uses only a fraction of the phonemes that the human voice can sound. This is why the American alphabet of 26 letters is inadequate for spelling Spanish (we need the double r and the tilde n and other "add on letters) or Norwegian (again, more letters added to the alphabet) or German. These languages have sounds that American Standard doesn't.)

Other things that it *could* be (one sample is not enough to determine anything) -- a code, a language variant, a different language... we don't know. We need to see more samples.

It is a very interesting topic. I myself am looking for translations of this language into english. Also, some ancient summerian texts translated into english that discussed a creation myth. Lastly, I am interested in finding out How I could translate this language to english and possible adopt some terms into our language similarly to english people adopting french words such as facade.

My goals are slightly less lofty:

Does anyone have a link to a picture?

Zip

Aye a pic would be helpful.

They say that it could be a new language, however it culd have once been a written language that has been evolved over the years, to a recent one...If this is true, still would be an interesting find.

Some photos of the fragment have been sent to experts at the University of Chicago in the U.S., the University of Luneburg in Germany, and the University of Rome in Italy to identify and translate the inscription.