Linguists have announced a major breakthrough in deciphering a variant of the Kushan script found on several inscriptions in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. By using a bilingual inscription that includes a known Bactrian text, researchers have identified phonetic values for over 60% of the characters in the unidentified writing system.
The script appears to record a previously unknown Iranian language used by the administrators of the Kushan Empire. This decipherment is expected to unlock a wealth of information regarding the political and religious life of Central Asia during the first few centuries of the Common Era.