HINCKS

hincks, edward (1792-1866), british assyriologist, was born at cork, ireland, and educated at trinity college, dublin. he took orders in the protestant church of ireland, and was rector of killyleagh, down, from 1825 till his death on the 3rd of december 1866. hincks devoted his spare time to the study of hieroglyphics, and to the deciphering of the cuneiform script (see cuneiform), in which he was a pioneer, working out contemporaneously with sir h. rawlinson, and independently of him, the ancient persian vowel system. he published a number of original and scholarly papers on assyriological questions of the highest value, chiefly in the _transactions_ of the royal irish academy.