Deciphering Lost Scripts: Rosetta to Linear B

Champollion cracked hieroglyphs in 1822 using the Rosetta Stone trilingual decree and his knowledge of Coptic. Rawlinson copied the Behistun inscription hanging from a cliff to unlock cuneiform.

Ventris deciphered Linear B in 1952, revealing it as early Greek. The pattern: a bilingual text, a known related language, and brilliant pattern matching.

Maya glyphs took until the late 20th century. Voynich script, with no bilingual key, still resists everyone..