decay. But clearly visible upon their walls, Barbara noticed long
legends written in a curious script which looked like a series of
scratches made by a sharp nail.

When he returned he mentioned his discovery to his fellow-townsmen, but
just then the Turks were threatening Europe with an invasion and people
were too busy to bother about a new and unknown alphabet, somewhere in
the heart of western Asia. The Persian inscriptions therefore were
promptly forgotten.

Two and a half centuries later, a noble young Roman by the name of
Pietro della Valle visited the same hillsides of Shiraz which Barbaro
had passed two hundred years before. He, too, was puzzled by the strange
inscriptions on the ruins and being a painstaking young fellow, he
copied them carefully and sent his report together with some remarks
about the trip to a friend of his, Doctor Schipano, who practiced
medicine in Naples and who besides took an interest in matters
of learning.

Schipano copied the funny little figures and brought them to the
attention of other scientific men. Unfortunately Europe was again
occupied with other matters.

The terrible wars between the Protestants and Catholics had broken out
and people were busily killing those who disagreed with them upon
certain points of a religious nature.

Another century was to pass before the study of the wedge-shaped
inscriptions could be taken up seriously.