Chapter 28: The Silent Sound: The Dream of a New Language and Script
This experience drew Cyrus deep into the knowledge and history of antiquity. Through these tablets, he became acquainted with the intricacies of earlier civilizations, including Sumer, Akkad, Babylon, and Assyria. He learned about their battles, laws, customs, and scientific advancements. This knowledge provided him with a broader perspective of the ancient world and prepared him for the greater role he would play in the future.
However, alongside this marvel, a challenge also preoccupied Cyrus's mind. He acutely felt the complexity and inefficiency of these writing systems. Hundreds of signs for writing, the need for years of specialized training for scribes, and the difficulty in preserving and transferring information all led him to conclude that these systems would never be suitable for the widespread dissemination of literacy and knowledge.
This realization sparked an idea in Cyrus's creative mind. He began to ponder how he could overcome this significant obstacle. He thought of simpler and more efficient writing systems in the modern world; of alphabets that, with a limited number of letters, allowed for the writing of any word. This thought planted the seed of the first educational and cultural revolution in young Cyrus's mind, a revolution destined to begin in this very small library.
Cyrus, amidst the clay tablets of the library, relentlessly analyzed the writing systems around him. With every tablet he read, he became more aware of the complexity and inefficiency of Sumerian and Akkadian cuneiform scripts. Hundreds of signs, each capable of having a different meaning, and sometimes multiple signs used for a single word, had transformed writing into a specialized art. For a scribe to master these scripts, years of uninterrupted training and practice were required; a long and arduous process accessible only to a specific segment of society, keeping knowledge exclusive to a small group.
This complexity troubled Cyrus's mind. He wondered how this major impediment had hindered the spread of knowledge and literacy among the general populace. In the world he came from, literacy was a public right, but here, only a minority could read and write. This slowness in information transfer and limitation in access to knowledge imposed a heavy cost on the progress of civilization. To build a thousand-year empire, he needed a system that would liberate knowledge, not confine it to a small group.
Deep within his photographic memory, the ideas of modern linguistics and the simplicity of phonetic alphabets shone like a spark. He remembered how every language is composed of a limited number of sounds, and if a simple and learnable symbol could be created for each sound, reading and writing would no longer be a secret. This understanding was a turning point in his thoughts; he saw how the doors of knowledge could be opened to everyone.
Then, a clear image appeared in his mind: the story of King Sejong the Great of Korea. Cyrus recalled how this wise king, in the 15th century AD, invented the Hangul script for his people; a script that was astonishingly simple and logical, and anyone could learn it within a few hours. This act sparked a major cultural revolution in Korea and brought literacy to all social classes. This inspiration was like a light in the darkness for Cyrus; he realized that such a feat was not only possible but essential.
He decisively chose to invent an entirely new language and script for his people: New Persian. This script had to be simple and efficient enough for any child or old person to learn it easily, and for writing, it should not require years of study. He wanted this new script to be based on the sounds of the Persian language and to reflect its beauty and simplicity. This was an ambitious goal, but Cyrus knew that to achieve it, he had to start now and lay its strong foundations.
His goal was not merely to invent a script; he also wanted to gradually standardize and promote the New Persian language. He pondered how, through widespread education of this new language and script, a deeper cultural and linguistic cohesion could be created among Persian peoples, and even be used as a common communication tool in the future of his empire. This would significantly contribute to the unity and cohesion of the nation.