Troy Dayton of Fargo ND asked bibliophage why we haven’t cracked the Indus script (Staff Report: How come we can’t decipher the Indus script?), and bib mentioned several other historic mysteries that we have not been able to solve.
I just wanted to add, that a simple code like Kryptos seems to take forever.
I too enjoyed the article. It should serve as a warning, though, not to send in linguistic questions, or risk death by punnage. The “axe” jokes were even worse, but Harappan paper had a greater impact because it was at the end.
The article got me interested in reading more about hieroglyphics. Is the cited book a good read? (The Story of Decipherment: From Egyptian Hieroglyphs to Maya Script)
No, actually, it’s a warning against sending in any question which bibliophage might answer… All of his Reports are full of puns and bad jokes (what, no innuendo this time, bib? You’re slipping). Unfortunately, there’s no telling what books bibliophage might have consumed recently, so pretty much any question conceivable is potentially dangerous.
Thanks for a fascinating article. It occurs to me that I never actually knew what was inscribed on the Rosetta stone. Is it an alphabet or an essay? Something else?
I must admit it took me a bit to get the last one. I was pronouncing Harappan as HAR-a-pan, not ha-RAP-an
Biblio, you’re lucky you’re in Cyberspace and not near me right now. That was a most evil column - I almost lost my job I groaned so loud while reading it (I was on break luckily). “Joycean” as an undecipherable language - I would have laughed if terrors of English Literature 101 hadn’t flashed through my head.
Great article - I would go so far as to say that I would have no problem if you were to take up the mantle of The Master when Ed…er I mean Cecil finally tires of fighting ignorance and heads for a Tibetan monestary to live out his days.
Wikipedia: “It is a decree from Ptolemy V, describing various taxes he repealed, and instructing that statues be erected in temples and that the decree be published …”
It’s an excellent book, but make sure you get Pope’s revised 1999 edition, not the original 1975 edition. The first edition unfairly downplays the contributions of Thomas Young. Some other sources unfairly hype his contributions at the expense of Champollion. Pope’s 1999 edition strikes the balance.
Next time all puns will be in Norwegian. Except the blue ones of course, because that’s a Norse of a different color.
OK, that confirms my suspicions. Bib is The Master in disguise. Not only did he make a pun, he slipped in a Monty Python reference while doing it! Pure genius.