Khandahar Afghanistan Inscription

The signs on this stone have been filled in with ink. This adds an additional layer of uncertainty to letter identification.
The top part of this inscription is Hellenistic Greek but it has been incorrectly translated due to incorrect letter assignments. The Bottom part of this inscription is Alphabetic Akkadian having Persian Empire (Aramaic) style lettering. 
Photo from Wikimedia Commons at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AsokaKandahar.jpg

Khandahar Afghanistan Inscription 300 BCE (Needs Better Photographs for Translation)

(January 14, 2024) The lettering of the runic section in this stone tablet is just too uncertain to translate accurately. The lettering is very corroded. All that is available for decipherment is one low resolution photograph. Adding to that uncertainty is the fact that the letters on the stone have been drawn over with an ink further hiding the original letter designs. While some letters are obvious, too many others can be interpreted in too many different ways.

This inscription was discovered below a 1-metre (3.3 ft) layer of rubble in 1958 during an excavation project around Kandahar and is designated as KAI 279. The edict remains on the mountainside where it was discovered. According to the Italian archaeologist Umberto Scerrato, "the block lies at the eastern base of the little saddle between the two craggy hills below the peak on which the celebrated Cehel Zina of Babur are cut." 

The Kandahar region was first settled by Neolithic farmers at least as early as 5000 BCE (Dupree, 1951). Kandahar has been a frequent target for conquest because of its location on the main trade route linking the Indian subcontinent with the Middle East and Central Asia. It was first called Mundigak and was founded around 3000 BCE. Mundigak served as the provincial capital of Arachosia and was ruled by the Medes followed by the Achaemenids until the arrival of Alexander the Great is 330 BCE.

The name of Kandahar is a corruption of Alexander.


"Those who go from Persia, from the kingdom of Horaçam (Khorasan), from Bohára, and all the Western Regions, travel to the city which the natives corruptly call Candar, instead of Scandar, the name by which the Persians called Alexander."

    — João de Barros, 1552 

References

Hobson Jobson Dictionary Archived 7 July 2012 at https://archive.ph/20120707232441/http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.0:1:390.hobson 

Above is the Proposed translation of the Greek text at the top by Romila Thapar in his 1997 book entitled " Asoka and the Decline of the Mauryas." Yet this translation is completely different from that derived from Google Translate. Both seem false indicating the Greek letter assignments and/or word divisions are wrong.  
Online at: https://web.archive.org/web/20170517144931/http://www.learn.columbia.edu/indianart/pdf/asoka_thapar.pdf

The Top Greek Text Has Not Been Properly Translated

(January 14) Below is a quick Greek translation from Google Translate (which is not bad these days). Compare to the proposed translation by Romila Thapar on the left.

  1. ten full [  ] 
  2. Piodasis piety [ ]
  3. people, and therefore more respectful
  4. of the people He has made and always
  5. Thou shalt say that they have come to earth - And it falls
  6. King of souls and so on
  7. People and predators or fishermen
  8. Kings fall prey and
  9. The States are dying wi-
  10. ne by power, and the children of the Fathers
  11. and mother and elders present
  12. the past and the rest of the
  13. And I remain in all these things
  14. Who are you going through?

Reference

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kandahar_Bilingual_Rock_Inscription

A drawing of the Aramaic text above does not match the low resolution, out-of-focus photograph below. Which source is more accurate is hard to determine. This drawing is from the 1963 book Epigraphica India volume 34, Edited by D.C Sircar. https://archive.org/details/epigraphia-indica/epigraphia-indica-vol-34/page/n1/mode/2up?view=theater

(January 14, 2024)  The bottom runic text is in the style of the Persian Empire (Aramaic)

Translation of the First Sentence of Line 1 Which Has Good Lettering (Eastern Text 3)

(read right to left. Capital letters on object. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels. Vowels are italic bold) 
  1. E  NuNu  -

(Dual use letters are E/H, I/Y, U/W, and '/A in which vowel appears at beginning of words except for Yahu which is keeping its traditional Hebrew transliteration)

In English

  1. Nothing is causing chaos -