Inscriptions in Luvian hieroglyphs in Chamber 2.

Although the inscription has yet to be completely deciphered, the main gist of it is clear: the Great King Shupiluliuma reports that with the blessings of the gods he has conquered several lands, and that he has founded new cities and made sacrifices to the gods at various locations.

Luvian hieroglyphs are a picture script, developed in Anatolia. Neither pictorially nor linguistically do they have anything to do with Egyptian hieroglyphs. These hieroglyphic tests are written in a technique known as boustrophedon, literally meaning "as the ox plows". The writing goes from left to right in one line, then continuing from right to left in the next line, etc. You can identify hieroglyphs in the picture that are mirror images in adjacent rows, because of this technique.
(Location: Boğazköy /Hattuşaş )

Uploaded by slavica on 1/17/2010, viewed 686 times.