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How did Georg Friedrich Grotefend use royal names and titles to begin deciphering Old Persian cuneiform?

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Sumerian cuneiform tablet — cuneiform An account of barley distribution, probably from Uruk, Mesopotamia, c. 3100–2900 bce; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

Georg Friedrich Grotefend achieved the first major breakthrough in deciphering Old Persian cuneiform by applying his skill in solving puzzles to inscriptions from Persepolis.1

Recognizing that these inscriptions were associated with Achaemenid kings, Grotefend hypothesized that the introductory lines followed a standard royal formula—name, title, and genealogy—similar to later Middle Iranian inscriptions. By analyzing the recurrence of specific symbols, he correctly identified the terms for "king" and "king of kings".21

He then successfully connected these royal titles to the names of Darius and Xerxes, as well as Hystaspes, the father of Darius I. By segmenting the text using a diagonal wedge as a word-divider, he was able to determine the sound values for several characters. Although he lacked formal training in Oriental languages, his 1802 discovery correctly identified 9 of the 13 symbols he analyzed, providing the essential foundation for future scholars.12