Dr Hincks
Millburn<1> Feb. 10th – 62
Dr Sir
If you compare BM plate 27 line 95 with plate 16 line 85 it results that
shakh is equivalent to
sha
akh although the first of those signs has been blundered by the lithographer. The sign in question has also the value sha, in weshabiba, I filled full from
BM 1st series pl 64 l.61.
With respect to the meaning of kuduri the following passage deserves consideration, In B.M. pl.20 line 15, the Kings of Nahiri peacefully bring tribute, and Ashurakhbal thereupon appoints persons
called yatil-kaduri over the lands of the Nahiri. These were evidently his lieutenants or prefects. Kuduri cannot mean soldiers, for he was at peace with the Nahiri, & had sent no soldiers thither.
Rawlinson never published his translation &c. of the N. Rustam insn, but the copies were distributed among the members of the Asiatic Society.
Oppert has transcribed erroneously the 18th line of the N. Rustam – The word maginal is quite plain: the cuneiform is
It undoubtedly means helmets; –
I set very little value on Opperts Hebrew transcriptions, & as the Assyrian language differs much from Hebrew, I think the notion an unfortunate one, of so transcribing the cuneiform texts. A passage or two might have been so given, as a specimen, but the rest shd have been transcribed into Roman characters.
The Persian text has takapara when the Assn has helmet-wearers This word I consider to belong to the great Indogermanic root tegere Germ. dechen, (I see you are of the same opinion).
Previous to your translation of 1854 in Septr 1853 I printed (for the Liverpool meeting of the British Assocn) a short translation for the Khorsabad sculptures, of the 8 gates of Sargons palace dedicated to the 8 gods, and of some other things.
Yours very truly
H. F. Talbot
Notes:
1. Millburn Tower, Gogar, just west of Edinburgh; the Talbot family made it their northern home from June 1861 to November 1863. It is particularly important because WHFT conducted many of his photoglyphic engraving experiments there. The house had a rich history. Built for Sir Robert Liston (1742-1836), an 1805 design by Benjamin Latrobe for a round building was contemplated but in 1806 a small house was built to the design of William Atkinson (1773-1839), best known for Sir Walter Scott’s Abbotsford. The distinctive Gothic exterior was raised in 1815 and an additional extension built in 1821. Liston had been ambassador to the United States and maintained a warm Anglo-American relationship in the years 1796-1800. His wife, the botanist Henrietta Liston, née Marchant (1751-1828) designed a lavish American garden, sadly largely gone by the time the Talbots rented the house .