Old Persian Cuneiform

Official script of the Achaemenid dynasty (525–330 BC). Darius the Great's trilingual Behistun inscription is its most famous example. Unlike Mesopotamian cuneiform, it uses only 36 signs — a simple alphabetic system. British officer Henry Rawlinson risked his life hanging from the cliff to copy the inscription in the 19th century; this material became the key to deciphering all cuneiform. Xerxes's Persepolis inscriptions are also carved in this script.