BM
1. August 1866
My dear Sir,
My best thanks for the copy of your paper on the Bellinos Cylinder which is excellent. Your labours are however more adapted for the considerations of advanced students than beginners who require texts with interlinear translations and a commentary on the difficult words. There are many such now in Egyptian and they have advanced rapidly the progress of the study.
For example a good interpretation of the standard inscription which I am told is easy and with any variant would form a good text book for students as
<cuneiform in three parts>
Bit rab Ashur-izir-pal
House great (of) Ashurizerpal
<cuneiform in two parts>
Abd Ashar &cet
servant of Ashar
<cuneiform> means Bit house as proved by its occurring in certain places and being replaced by the phonetic forms & cet
<cuneiform> rab <gorut?> asurome .
ect
<cuneiform> izir <fung> <read> ader proof of its phonetic force &cet
<cuneiform> pal another phonetic, forms a is evidently pal from its appearance in Nabopalasar has the meang of some <illeg> inscriptions No <Arabic?> ‘and’ the variants are <blank> and <illeg> This is the kind of comment required for initial progress. For example some years ago I commenced the obelisk inscription and had to treat it with Rawlinsons commentary as if it were the Rosetta Stone & of course could not <probe?> out all satisfactorily. But the study is at present so much different that it requires undivided attention to know where to find the very elements much less the actual state which amongst students is always in advance of what is published. It would be possible for an advanced student only to make use of the works and dissertations of Rawlinson and Hincks as they exist unaccompanied by texts Norris is doing good work but on too large a scale. A glossary without quoted examples would have done <but?> to commence with
Yours Very truly
S Birch
Hon Fox Talbot