Four Cuneiform Inscriptions from Persepolis, Antique Print, 1780

This is an original antique copper engraving, published in 1780, from the second volume of Carsten Niebuhr's travels. The plate carries no title or caption; it is a large sheet with four long cuneiform inscriptions copied in ruled panels keyed H, I, K and L.

H and I stand side by side across the upper half, each in many closely written lines of wedge shaped signs. K and L fill the lower half. The signs in K are set widely apart with dots between groups, while those in L are more crowded and differently formed, so the panels differ plainly in the look of their writing.

Each line is ruled off from the next. Dark patches of rough hatching break the text, the largest at the lower left of H and along the right side of L, and smaller ones scattered through I and K. No title, caption or signature is engraved on this sheet. The plate number Tab. XXXI. is engraved at the upper right.

The plate comes from the second volume, Tome Second, of Carsten Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie & en d'autres Pays circonvoisins, Traduit de l'Allemand, published by S. J. Baalde at Amsterdam and Barthelemy Wild at Utrecht, with the date MDCCLXXX, 1780, on its title page. Niebuhr's careful copies of the cuneiform inscriptions at Persepolis were later used by scholars working on the decipherment of cuneiform. Carsten Niebuhr (1733 to 1815) was a German born surveyor in Danish service and the only member of the Danish expedition to Arabia (1761 to 1767), sent by King Frederick V of Denmark, to return alive.

The sheet is cut away at the right below the upper panels and at the lower right corner, outside the engraved panels. Light uneven toning. Handling soiling along the top and bottom edges. A few foxing spots. Folding plate, folds as issued.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.