Christian Lassen
Christian Lassen (22 October 1800 – 8 May 1876) was a
Biography
He was born at
On his return to Bonn he studied
Work
In 1829–1831 he brought out, in conjunction with
As well as the study of Indian languages, he was a scientific pioneer in other fields of philological inquiry. In his Beiträge zur Deutung der Eugubinischen Tafeln (1833) he prepared the way for the correct interpretation of the Umbrian inscriptions; and the Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes (7 vols., 1837–1850), started and largely conducted by him, contains, among other valuable papers from his pen, grammatical sketches of the Beluchi and Brahui languages, and an essay on the Lycian inscriptions.[3]
Old Persian cuneiform
Soon after the appearance of Burnouf's Commentaire sur le Yacna (1833), Lassen also directed his attention to the
Subsequently, Lassen published, in the sixth volume of his journal (1845), a collection of all the Old Persian cuneiform inscriptions known up to that date. According to Sayce:
(Lassen's)...contributions to the decipherment of the inscriptions were numerous and important. He succeeded in fixing the true values of nearly all the letters in the Persian alphabet, in translating the texts, and in proving that the language of them was not Zend, but stood to both Zend and Sanskrit in the relation of a sister.
— Sayce[6]: 15
Brahmi script
The first successful attempts at deciphering the
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Lassen used the bilingual Greek-Brahmi coinage of
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Announcement byAsiatic Society of Bengal, in 1836.[8]
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Identical regnal names Agathuklayesa (Brahmi: 𑀅𑀕𑀣𑀼𑀼𑀓𑁆𑀮𑁂𑀬𑁂𑀲) and Agathokles (Greek: ΑΓΑΘΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ) on a bilingual coin of Agathocles, used by Christian Lassen to decipher securely the first Brahmi letters.[7]
Kharoshthi
He also was one of the first scholars in Europe who took up, with signal success, the decipherment of the newly discovered Bactrian,
He contemplated bringing out a critical edition of the Vendidad; but, after publishing the first five fargards (1852), he felt that his whole energies were required for the successful accomplishment of the great undertaking of his life—his Indische Altertumskunde. In this work—completed in four volumes, published respectively in 1847 (2nd ed., 1867), 1849 (2nd ed., 1874), 1858 and 1861—which forms one of the greatest monuments of untiring industry and critical scholarship, everything that could be gathered from native and foreign sources, relative to the political, social and intellectual development of India. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1868.[11]
References
- ^ "Christian Lassen". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
- ^ a b c "Christian Lassen". Norsk Biografisk Leksikon. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
- ^ a b "Lassen, Christian". Salmonsens konversationsleksikon. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
- ^ Rawlinson, Henry Creswicke (1846). The Persian Cuneiform Inscription at Behistun, Decyphered and Translated; with a Memoir on Persian Cuneiform Inscriptions in General, and on that of Behistun in Particular: By Major Henry Creswicke Rawlinson. Parker. p. 10.
- ^ Rawlinson received Lassen's copy in 1839, three years after publication "It was at this period that I received through the Vice-President of the Royal Asiatic Society, a letter from Professor Lassen, containing a précis of his last improved system of interpretation, and the Bonn alphabet I recognized at once to be infinitely superior to any other that had previously fallen under my observation" Rawlinson, Henry Creswicke (1846). The Persian Cuneiform Inscription at Behistun, Decyphered and Translated; with a Memoir on Persian Cuneiform Inscriptions in General, and on that of Behistun in Particular: By Major Henry Creswicke Rawlinson. Parker. p. 10.
- ^ Sayce 1908.
- ^ ISBN 9781351252744.
- ^ Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol V 1836. p. 723.
- ^ Lassen, Christian (1838). Zur Geschichte der griechischen und indoskythischen Könige in Baktrien, Kabul und Indien durch Entzifferung der altkabulischen Legenden auf ihren Münzen. Bonn, H. B. König.
- ISBN 978-0-19-535666-3.
- ^ "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter L" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
Other sources
- “Christian Lassen,” Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, Band 17, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, 1883, S. 784–788. (in German)
- “Christian Lassen,” Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, 4. Auflage von 1888–1890. (in German)
- Lassen, Christian (1836). Altpersischen Keil-Inschriften von Persepolis. Bonn, E. Weber.
- Lassen, Christian (1838). Zur Geschichte der griechischen und indoskythischen Könige in Baktrien, Kabul und Indien durch Entzifferung der altkabulischen Legenden auf ihren Münzen. Bonn, H. B. König.
External links
public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lassen, Christian". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 236–237.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the