Tangut (Xi Xia)

Logographic script created in 1036 by the Western Xia kingdom modeled on Chinese characters. ~6,000 characters exist, widely used for Buddhist scripture translation. Continued in use for centuries after Genghis Khan destroyed Western Xia in 1227. Russian explorer Kozlov's early 20th-century excavation of Tangut documents at Khara-Khoto provided the key to decipherment. Along with Jurchen and Khitan, a rare example of independent script invention within the Chinese cultural sphere. Lost its users when Genghis Khan destroyed Western Xia in 1227, and went unread for 700 years. In the early 20th century, Russian explorer Pyotr Kozlov rediscovered the forgotten city of Khara-Khoto in the Gobi Desert and removed ~8,000 Tangut documents to St. Petersburg. Nikolai Nevsky began partial decipherment in 1929, and a comprehensive dictionary was finally completed in 1989. Tangut was added to Unicode in 2008, resurrecting the dead script in the digital realm.