In laying before the Royal Asiatic Society the portions which remain of the Babylonian translation of the Great Behistun Inscription, it becomes indispensable that I should consider the general character of the Alphabet in which this Inscription is written, and should further endeavour to explain, in some degree, the grammatical structure of the language, and point out its affinities with other languages of the same family. I undertake this task, however, with the utmost diffidence, for the more that I have extended my investigations,—the more that I have studied the Inscriptions of Assyria and Babylonia, and sought to verify previous conclusions, by testing their general applicability—the more reason have I found to mistrust that which before seemed plain; the lucre alive, indeed, have I become to the sad conviction that in the present stage of the inquiry, as regards materials, no amount of labour will suffice for the complete resolution of difficulties; no ingenuity, however boldly or happily exerted, can furnish readings of such exactitude as to lead at once to positive results.