10 lost languages we’ve managed to decipher and 10 we’re still trying to figure out

Hieroglyphs were used in ancient Egypt, but later readers were unable to interpret them once the tradition had died out. In 1822, Jean-François Champollion announced and explained the fundamental phonetic principles using the Rosetta Stone and other related evidence. After that, longer religious and historical texts became translatable.

Old Persian appears in Achaemenid royal inscriptions and uses a relatively limited set of characters. Georg Friedrich Grotefend made a breakthrough in 1802 by linking repeated motifs to known royal names and titles. Henry Rawlinson’s work on the trilingual Behistun Inscription subsequently confirmed these readings and paved the way for a broader study of cuneiform writing.

Akkadian was written using cuneiform characters, which can be difficult to decipher because a single character can have multiple meanings. In 1857, the Royal Asiatic Society asked four scholars to independently translate the same Assyrian text and then compare their sealed results. The high degree of agreement among the results helped convince the public that Akkadian cuneiform writing had been deciphered.

Sumerian texts were written in cuneiform and preserved in scribal schools alongside Akkadian, which explains why bilingual word lists have survived. Researchers recognized a non-Semitic layer in the 1800s, and Jules Oppert identified it in 1869 as the Sumerian language. These bilingual tablets subsequently helped researchers develop the grammar and vocabulary over time.

The clay tablets from Hattusa revealed the laws, treaties, and royal letters of the Hittites, but the language was initially unknown. In 1915, Bedřich Hrozný published a groundbreaking discovery showing that Hittite was an Indo-European language and proposing viable readings. This made it possible to study Hittite diplomacy during the Bronze Age.

The Linear B tablets come from Mycenaean palaces and primarily concern supplies, land, and workers. In 1952, Michael Ventris demonstrated that this script corresponded to an early form of Greek, and John Chadwick helped to reinforce this linguistic hypothesis shortly thereafter. It is now possible to read many of the tablets and understand how the palace administration functioned.

Ugaritic was discovered in the ancient city of Ugarit in Syria, written in alphabetic cuneiform rather than in syllables as was customary. By 1930, researchers such as Hans Bauer, Edouard Dhorme, and Charles Virolleaud had deciphered enough signs to be able to read the tablets. Their progress made it possible to access the myths, rituals, and letters of Ugarit.

The Maya script combines symbols based on sound and meaning and appears on monuments and a few surviving books. In 1952, Yuri Knorozov advocated for phonetic readings, and subsequent researchers have relied on this approach for many inscriptions. Today, you can trace the rulers, wars, and alliances through Maya texts.

Lycian was spoken in southwestern Anatolia and written using an alphabet related to the Greek alphabet, to which additional letters were added. Researchers made modest progress in the 1830s using short bilingual Lycian-Greek texts. Real breakthroughs occurred toward the end of the 19th century, which explains why translations have become much more consistent.

The Urartian language was spoken around Lake Van and survives primarily in official inscriptions written in cuneiform. In 1882, Archibald H. Sayce published a major work on the decipherment and translation of the “Van” inscriptions. Subsequent discoveries have refined the readings and expanded the scope of what could be translated.

The Indus script originated in the Indus Valley Civilization, in present-day Pakistan and northwestern India. Most inscriptions are extremely short, often appearing on seals, so there is not enough text to identify the grammar or vocabulary with certainty. Researchers continue to compile lists of signs and test theories, but the lack of bilingual texts and the unknown underlying language continue to prevent any consensus.

Rongorongo is a set of carved glyphs from Rapa Nui (Easter Island), preserved mainly on wooden tablets and other objects. Many pieces were lost or destroyed in the 19th century, meaning that the current corpus is limited and often damaged. Researchers have cataloged the signs, compared repeated sequences, and debated the reading order, but there is still no widely accepted method for translating the glyphs into legible sentences.

Linear A was used by the Minoans in Crete and the neighboring islands during the Bronze Age. Although many signs resemble those of Linear B and approximate phonetic values can be suggested, the underlying language does not correspond to known Greek or any other well-documented language. Since most of the surviving texts resemble administrative documents, we are left with repetitive records that offer little context for translation.

Cretan hieroglyphs appear on seals, stamps, and tablets dating from the early Minoan civilization in Crete. The small number of written texts makes it difficult to determine whether the signs represent sounds, whole words, or a combination of both. Scholars use enhanced photographs, standardized catalogs of signs, and the archaeological context to narrow down the possibilities, but no interpretation has yet convinced the scientific community.

The Phaistos Disc is a fired clay disc found in Phaistos, Crete, in 1908, on which a spiral of repetitive symbols is engraved. Since it is essentially a one-of-a-kind artifact, researchers cannot compare it to a broader body of documents to confirm patterns. Many interpretations have been proposed, but without additional examples, it remains unclear what language it represents—or even whether it is a genuine text.

Proto-Elamite is an ancient Iranian writing system, and numerous tablets have been discovered at Susa and at a few other sites. Some parts of the numeral system can be deciphered, but the non-numeric signs remain largely illegible. Experts are publishing clearer images of the tablets and refining the lists of signs, but the inconsistent writing practices of the scribes and the lack of translation aids prevent access to the core of the language.

Cypro-Minoan is an undeciphered script dating from the late Bronze Age in Cyprus, also found at a few sites beyond the island. Its inscriptions appear on various types of objects, and researchers suspect the existence of multiple regional or chronological varieties, which complicates “universal” interpretations. Research tends to focus on cataloging the corpus, comparing it with related Aegean scripts, and identifying repeated sequences that could be names or titles.

The Byblos script, sometimes called “pseudo-hieroglyphic,” is known from a small number of inscriptions found in Byblos, in modern-day Lebanon. The limited corpus, the uncertain meaning of the signs, and the unclear connections to Egyptian or Semitic writing traditions make this script difficult to classify. Researchers continue to reevaluate previous interpretations using better documentation and to seek parallels, but there is still no reliable method for deciphering it.

The Cascajal Block is a stone artifact from Veracruz, Mexico, associated with the Olmec civilization and often considered one of the earliest forms of writing in the New World. A major complication is that it was not discovered during controlled excavations, which has led to debates about its dating and context. Even if one accepts it as a form of writing, the current evidence is scant, and researchers rely on imagery, material analysis, and careful study of the motifs rather than on claims of translation.

A small Khitan script was used in the Liao Empire (in parts of present-day northeastern China) to write the Khitan language, which is now extinct. Many of the surviving texts are epitaphs and monumental inscriptions, which provide names and dates but no easy-to-use bilingual key. Linguists continue to compile and cross-check the corpus, match known historical references, and test structural hypotheses, but a complete reading and reliable translation are still in progress.