The eighteenth century--a delightful age for people of an active and
curious mind--loved scientific puzzles. Therefore when King Frederick V
of Denmark asked for men of learning to join an expedition which he was
going to send to western Asia, he found no end of volunteers. His
expedition, which left Copenhagen in 1761, lasted six years. During this
period all of the members died except one, by the name of Karsten
Niebuhr, who had begun life as a German peasant and could stand greater
hardships than the professors who had spent their days amidst the stuffy
books of their libraries.

This Niebuhr, who was a surveyor by profession, was a young man who
deserves our admiration.

He continued his voyage all alone until he reached the ruins of
Persepolis where he spent a month copying every inscription that was to
be found upon the walls of the ruined palaces and temples.

After his return to Denmark he published his discoveries for the benefit
of the scientific world and seriously tried to read some meaning into
his own texts.

He was not successful.

But this does not astonish us when we understand the difficulties which
he was obliged to solve.

When Champollion tackled the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics he was able
to make his studies from little pictures.

The writing of Persepolis did not show any pictures at all.