High on a sheer cliff face in modern-day Iran lies the Behistun Inscription, a massive rock relief commissioned by Darius the Great. For millennia, its wedge-shaped cuneiform symbols remained completely unreadable, hiding the lost history of Mesopotamia. It wasn't until a daring British officer risked his life scaling the cliff to copy the text that the Rosetta Stone of the East was finally brought to the academic world. This book chronicles the thrilling, dangerous history of deciphering cuneiform. It details the fierce academic rivalries and the brilliant linguistic leaps required to translate a dead language written in three different forgotten scripts. The narrative shows how unlocking Behistun suddenly gave voice to the ancient Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians, rewriting the entire timeline of human civilization. Journey back to the dawn of written history and follow the incredible intellectual detective work that resurrected an empire. Learn how the obsession of a few scholars cracked a code that had been silent for over two thousand years, restoring the lost voices of antiquity.

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