Original Antique Print of Persepolis Cuneiform Inscriptions by Niebuhr, 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 sheet of cuneiform inscriptions copied in ruled panels and keyed with the capital letters A to G.

The long inscription A fills the left half of the sheet in many ruled lines of wedge shaped signs. To the right, B sits at the top in a shorter block, with C and D below it, the signs of C set more widely apart than those of the others. Along the bottom run three more panels, E, F and G, the last of them the widest.

Each line is ruled off from the next, and small dots stand between groups of signs. In several places a patch of rough hatching stands in place of signs, most of them in panel A. The ground of the sheet is otherwise left plain. No title, caption or signature is engraved on this sheet. The plate number Tab: XXIV. 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.

Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Handling soiling along the right edge. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Folding plate, original center fold as issued. Slight wear at the top right corner.

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