Brian Roemmele(@BrianRoemmele):“THAT IS NOT WRITING, ITS BIRD TRACKS.”—EXPERTS For over 2,000 years, scholars dismissed Sumerian cuneiform as decorative "bird tracks." The key to finally decoding it was found by a man dangling from ropes 300 feet up a sheer Iranian cliff. The breakthrough centered on the Behistun Inscription. Commissioned by Darius the Great in 522 BCE, the monument featured the same royal proclamation in three distinct, long-forgotten languages: Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian (a form of Akkadian). Below: The Behistun Inscription features the same royal proclamation in three different cuneiform scripts.

2026.09.28 00:43

“THAT IS NOT WRITING, ITS BIRD TRACKS.”—EXPERTS For over 2,000 years, scholars dismissed Sumerian cuneiform as decorative "bird tracks." The key to finally decoding it was found by a man dangling from ropes 300 feet up a sheer Iranian cliff. The breakthrough centered on the Behistun Inscription. Commissioned by Darius the Great in 522 BCE, the monument featured the same royal proclamation in three distinct, long-forgotten languages: Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian (a form of Akkadian). Below: The Behistun Inscription features the same royal proclamation in three different cuneiform scripts.