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I am looking for some potentially lesser well-known texts from these languages:
Are there any of these ancient texts in Text format (i.e. not PDF or scanned book).
Looking for it in the original language, not an English translation.
Strange question. That is far more language than a modern man or anyone ever talked!
I can't give texts to all of that, but:
- Old Persian, You have:
- the old Persian Corpus This one is written in cuneiform
- the avesta this one is old Persian in modern alphabet
- the Texas liberal art same as above, modern alphabet render of ancient cuneiform script, so no cuneiform just the transliteration, include a full grammar
- the Achaemenid royal inscription, again, alphabet render of cuneiform
- Middle Persian used several scripting system, Aramic and Avestan,
- Here is the Vendidad in Avestan, think to download the Avestan font and switch to Avestan to see the text properly.
A little note on Persian Cuneiform: It is easy to find Persian cuneiform in cuneiform corpus... you just need to understand what you are reading, which is semi problematic (historically the cuneiform was deciphered using precisely a Persian inscription, the one at Behitsun). reading cuneiform is hard (way harder than hieroglyph, by magnitude), due to its inconstancy geographically and over time, while the language cuneiform is expressing is quite stable (learn standard Babylonian and you read fluently old Babylonian and Assyrian), so it is very usual to just find transliterations (not to mention cuneiform in written on clay which is almost impossible to read on photos, so you need either a drawing or a prepared text). So it is the original language, not the original scripting system.
