Note 828 — Chapter VI · DECIPHERMENT OF THE THIRD OR BABYLONIAN COLUMN—HINCKS AND RAWLINSON—A.D. 1846-1851

The report of his lecture, given in the Athenæum, leaves no doubt on this point. It says: ‘Major Rawlinson could not admit that the phonetic system was entirely syllabic, as had been sometimes stated. There was no doubt an extensive syllabarium, and the literal characters, moreover, required a vowel-sound either to precede or follow the consonant: but such vowel sound was rarely uniform. He preferred, therefore, distinguishing the literal signs as sonant and complemental, and leaving the vowels to be supplied according to the requirements of the language’ (Athenæum, March 2, 1850). And in August of the same year he vindicated the use of bona fide letters, in opposition to Hincks, who maintained that ‘the characters had all definite syllabic values’ (Athenæum, Aug. 24, 1850).