For language lovers, here are some suggestions for your bucket list:
Rosetta Stone – British Museum in London
The ancient Rosetta Stone’s three-language inscription unlocked the 1400-year-old secret of hieroglyphics in one of the most significant feats of translation ever performed.
Museum of the Alphabet, in Waxhaw, North Carolina
Founded in 1991, the museum came together as a culmination of the study of minority languages around the world. Some of these languages had yet to take written form. The museum features a chronological history of written language.
Boonville, California
A local dialect born in the late 19th century is only spoken in this isolated California valley.
Esperanto Museum – Vienna, Austria
Museum devoted to the artificial language of Esperanto.
Temple of the Inscriptions – Chiapas, Mexico
This impressive, nine-level ancient Maya Temple contains panels and piers covered in carved images and huge amounts of hieroglyphic Maya script.
Shiloah (Siloam) inscription - City of David, Jerusalem, Israel
Found within Hezekiah’s Tunnel, the Shiloah inscription was for many years considered the oldest Hebrew inscription until a surprise discovery in 2013.
National Museum of Language – College Park, Maryland
Designed “to inspire an appreciation for the magic and beauty of language,” this volunteer-run museum focuses on language diversity in America.
Ikom Monoliths – Cross River State, Nigeria
These volcanic-stone monoliths of unknown age feature faces and patterns as well as inscriptions in Nsibidi, a West Central African script possibly 7,000 years old.