Old Persian Cuneiform

Official script of the Achaemenid dynasty (525–330 BC). Darius the Great's trilingual Behistun inscription (Old Persian, Elamite, Akkadian) became the key to deciphering all cuneiform. Unlike Mesopotamian cuneiform, it uses only 36 signs — a simple alphabetic system. Henry Rawlinson risked his life hanging from the cliff to copy the inscription in the 19th century — this work enabled one of the greatest ancient script decipherments in human history.