________________
94
THE ALPHABET thanks to the researches of these two scholars and many others, Hittite hieroglyphic writing seems to have yielded to a certain extent to modern science. Not all scholars accept the achieved results, but there is increasing agreement on the main points of the decipherment.
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Dr
Fig. 47-Hittite hieroglyphic inscription engraved on stone
The inscriptions begin at the top right-hand side. The direction of writing is generally boustrophedon-alternating in direction with the successive rows, like oxen ploughing a field-but sometimes from right III
VII VIII
VI
AAE DI 96
Fig. 48-Hittite hieroglyphic cursive signs (II, IV, VI and VII) compared with
monumental symbols (I, III, V and VIIT)
to left or from left to right. The characters face always towards the beginning of the line. Appropriate signs separate the individual words.
The number of the signs is about 220, but according to Meriggi, the Hittite hieroglyphic system numbered as many as 419 symbols. They
