Tuesday, December 29, 2020

Another rumour: Linear Elamite

François Desset has moved beyond his work on gunagi and lays down his cards: Linear Elamite is an ancient form of that Elamite language which was Cyrus the Great's language of empire. (Later the Achaemenids would identify themselves as more Iranian, and move to Aramaic for their Imperial voice.) See here, here, ici. We are all warned this is just hadith so far and that the research is getting published 2021.

For Linear Elamite's language, something in the Elamite family is where I'd start. It was always Plan A that hieroglyphic was used where Coptic would grow up, and Linear B where Arcado-Cypriot... wouldn't grow up. But the latter was close enough! Elsewhere we have Urartian where were the Hurrians, even less close, but close enough to read. Likewise that 2400 BC Linear Elamite should look like that of 400 BC, given thousands of years and perhaps some dialect.

M. Desset is no longer de Sacy; he now claims the crown of Champollion. Albeit Linear Elamite does not open up a whole civilisation as hieroglyphic did. So he's more Ventris, in his effect.

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