Abstract
The linear version of the Elamite script used in ancient Iran has not been completely deciphered. This letter comes from the older pictographic writing system. Today, about 40 linear texts are known. Attempts by C. Frank, F. Bork, W. Hinz and P. Meriggi brought limited success. The article is devoted to clarifying the reading of three inscriptions compiled by a linear variety of ancient Elamite writing; they are usually denoted by the Latin letters A, B, C. Since their fi rst publication (1905), scholars have tried to clarify the reading of the signs. The key in the deciphering process was the inscription A, which is a partial translation of the Akkadian text; both are engraved on a stone statue in the shape of a lion. In 1962, W. Hinz established the meaning of the signs and proposed a translation of the text A, but some provisions of its deciphering were not accepted by other researchers. He used the results of his decryption to read more than ten linear texts. In general, he was able to correctly establish the meaning of most of the characters. Our detailed analysis shows that indeed some of the meanings he proposed raise doubts, because they do not correspond to the norms of the morphology and syntax of the Elamite language. Therefore, the readings of other texts proposed by W.Hinz also need to be verifi ed. Our study is based on the results of W. Hinz, but in contrast to it, it was found that (1) there are signs and words borrowed from Akkadian writing and language; (2) the name of the author of the text was conveyed by the syllable characters Ku-uk-ti-ki-šu-ši-na-ik; (3) before the name of his patronymic, the word si-in “Heir” is written. The results of my research to clarify the readings of signs can be applied to decipher other, especially the newly revealed inscriptions of Elam.
Keywords
Elamite Kingdom, ancient epigraphy of Iran, deciphering of ancient texts, linear inscriptions of Elam, relict languages, the fi rst Akkado-Elamite bilingual.
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