DescriptionThe Xanthos Obelisk, a trilingual inscribed pillar in the Lycian language with Greek inscriptions, Xanthos, Lycia, Turkey (8814432977).jpg
The Xanthian Obelisk is a stele bearing an inscription currently believed to be trilingual, found on the acropolis of the ancient Lycian city of Xanthos near the modern town of Kınık in southern Turkey. The three languages are Ancient Greek, Lycian and Milyan (the last two are Anatolian languages and were previously known as Lycian A and Lycian B respectively). During its early period of study, the Lycian either could not be understood, or was interpreted as two dialects of one language, hence the term, bilingual. Another trilingual from Xanthus, the Letoon trilingual, was subsequently named from its three languages, Greek, Lycian A and Aramaic. They are both four-sided, both trilingual. The find sites are different.
The stele is an important archaeological find pertaining to the Lycian language. Similar to the Rosetta Stone, it has inscriptions both in Greek and in a previously mysterious language: Lycian, which, on further analysis, turned out to be two Luwian languages, Lycian and Milyan.
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