Punishment of captured impostors and conspirators:Gaumāta lies under the boot of Darius the Great. The last person in line, wearing a traditionalScythian hat and costume, is identified asSkunkha. His image was added after the inscription was completed, requiring some of the text be removed.
Authored byDarius the Great sometime between his coronation as king of thePersian Empire in the summer of 522 BC and his death in autumn of 486 BC, the inscription begins with a brief autobiography of Darius, including his ancestry and lineage. Later in the inscription, Darius provides a lengthy sequence of events following the death ofCambyses II in which he fought nineteen battles in a period of one year (ending in December 521 BC) to put down multiple rebellions throughout thePersian Empire. The inscription states in detail that the rebellions were orchestrated by several impostors and their co-conspirators in various cities throughout the empire, each of whom falsely proclaimed himself king during the upheaval following Cambyses II's death. Darius the Great proclaimed himself victorious in all battles during the period of upheaval, attributing his success to the "grace ofAhura Mazda".
The inscription is approximately 15 m (49 ft) high by 25 m (82 ft) wide and 100 m (330 ft) up alimestone cliff from an ancient road connecting the capitals ofBabylonia andMedia (Babylon andEcbatana, respectively). TheOld Persian text contains 414 lines in five columns; the Elamite text includes 260 lines in eight columns, and the Babylonian text is in 112 lines.[3][4] A copy of the text in Aramaic, written during the reign of Darius II, was found in Egypt.[5] The inscription was illustrated by a life-sizedbas-relief ofDarius I, the Great, holding abow as a sign of kingship, with his left foot on the chest of a figure lying supine before him. The supine figure is reputed to be the pretenderGaumata. Darius is attended to the left by two servants, and nine one-meter figures stand to the right, with hands tied and rope around their necks, representing conquered peoples. AFaravahar floats above, giving its blessing to the king. One figure appears to have been added after the others were completed, as was Darius's beard, which is a separate block of stone attached with iron pins andlead.
The name Behistun is derived from usage in Ancient Greek and Arabic sources, particularlyDiodorus Siculus andYa'qubi, transliterated into English in the 19th century byHenry Rawlinson. The modern Persian version name is Bisotun.[6]
After the fall of the Persian Empire'sAchaemenid Dynasty and its successors, and the lapse of Old Persian cuneiform writing into disuse, the nature of the inscription was forgotten, and fanciful explanations became the norm.
Route to inscription at upper right.Context of the inscription (centre) in 2010. A person is visible in the lower left; reaching the inscription requires climbing the steep cliff face in front of them, then traversing a narrow ledge.
German surveyorCarsten Niebuhr visited in around 1764 forFrederick V of Denmark, publishing a copy of the inscription in the account of his journeys in 1778.[10] Niebuhr's transcriptions were used byGeorg Friedrich Grotefend and others in their efforts to decipher theOld Persian cuneiform script. Grotefend had deciphered ten of the 37 symbols of Old Persian by 1802, after realizing that unlike the Semitic cuneiform scripts, Old Persian text is alphabetic and each word is separated by a vertical slanted symbol.[11]
In 1835,Sir Henry Rawlinson, an officer of theBritish East India Company army assigned to the forces of theShah of Iran, began studying the inscription in earnest. As the town of Bisotun's name was anglicized as "Behistun" at this time, the monument became known as the "Behistun Inscription". Despite its relative inaccessibility, Rawlinson was able to scale the cliff with the help of a local boy and copy the Old Persian inscription. The Elamite was across a chasm, and the Babylonian four meters above; both were beyond easy reach and were left for later. In 1847, he was able to send a full and accurate copy to Europe.[12]
Close-up of the inscription.The Behistun Inscription photographed in 2019
The site was visited by the American linguistA. V. Williams Jackson in 1903.[13] Later expeditions, in 1904 sponsored by theBritish Museum and led byLeonard William King andReginald Campbell Thompson and in 1948 by George G. Cameron of theUniversity of Michigan, obtained photographs, casts and more accurate transcriptions of the texts, including passages that were not copied by Rawlinson.[14][15][16][17]It also became apparent that rainwater had dissolved some areas of the limestone in which the text was inscribed, while leaving new deposits of limestone over other areas, covering the text.
In 1938, the inscription became of interest to the Nazi German think tankAhnenerbe, although research plans were cancelled due to the onset of World War II.
In 1999, Iranian archeologists began the documentation and assessment of damages to the site incurred during the 20th century. Malieh Mehdiabadi, who wasproject manager for the effort, described aphotogrammetric process by which two-dimensional photos were taken of the inscriptions using two cameras and later transmuted into 3-D images.[19]
In recent years, Iranian archaeologists have been undertaking conservation works. The site became a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site in 2006.[20]
In 2012, the Bisotun Cultural Heritage Center organized an international effort to re-examine the inscription.[21]
In the first section of the inscription, Darius the Great declares his ancestry and lineage:
KingDarius says: My father isHystaspes [Vištâspa]; the father ofHystaspes wasArsames [Aršâma]; the father ofArsames wasAriaramnes [Ariyâramna]; the father ofAriaramnes wasTeispes [Cišpiš]; the father ofTeispes wasAchaemenes [Haxâmaniš].KingDarius says: That is why we are called Achaemenids; from antiquity we have been noble; from antiquity has our dynasty been royal.KingDarius says: Eight of my dynasty were kings before me; I am the ninth. Nine in succession we have been kings.
Later in the inscription, Darius provides an eye-witness account of battles he successfully fought over a one-year period to put down rebellions which had resulted from the deaths of Cyrus the Great, and his son Cambyses II:
The site covers an area of 116 hectares. Archeological evidence indicates that this region became a human shelter 40,000 years ago. There are 18 historical monuments other than the inscription of Darius the Great in the Behistun complex that have been registered in the Iranian national list of historical sites. Some of them are:
TheAnubanini rock relief, dated to 2300 BC, and made by the pre-IranianLullubi rulerAnubanini, is very similar in content to the Behistun reliefs (woodprint).
The inscriptional tradition of the Achaemenids, starting especially withDarius I, is thought to have derived from the traditions ofElam,Lullubi, theBabylonians and theAssyrians.[25]
^"Behistun Inscription is a cuneiform text in three ancient languages."Bramwell, Neil D. (1932).Ancient Persia. NJ Berkeley Heights. p. 6.ISBN978-0-7660-5251-2.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^Tavernier, Jan (2021)."A list of the Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions by language".Phoenix (in French).67 (2):1–4.ISSN0031-8329. Archived fromthe original on 2023-03-25. Retrieved2023-03-25.The rock inscription itself contains no less than 414 lines of Old Persian, 112 lines of Babylonian and 260 lines of Elamite (in an older and a younger version).
^"The Bīsitūn Inscription [CDLI Wiki]".cdli.ox.ac.uk. 2015-09-06. Archived fromthe original on 2023-03-25. Retrieved2023-03-25.This tri-lingual inscription has 414 lines in Old Persian cuneiform, 260 in Elamite cuneiform, and 112 in Akkadian cuneiform (Bae: 2008)
^Tavernier, Jan, "An Achaemenid Royal Inscription: The Text of Paragraph 13 of the Aramaic Version of the Bisitun Inscription", Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 60, no. 3, pp. 161–76, 2001
^King, L.W.; Thompson, R.C.; Budge, E.A.W. (1907).The Sculptures and Inscription of Darius the Great: On the Rock of Behistûn in Persia. British museum. p. xi.The name of the Rock is derived from that of the small village of Bîsitûn or Bîsutûn, which lies near its foot. The form of the name "Behistûn" is not used by the modern inhabitants of the country, although it is that by which the Rock is best known among European scholars. The name "Behistûn," more correctly "Bahistûn," was borrowed by the late Major-General Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, Bart., G.C. B., from the Arabic geographer Yakût, who mentions the village and its spring, and describes the Rock as being of great height, and refers to the sculptures upon it. The earliest known name of the Rock is that given by Diodorus Siculus, who calls it τό Βαγίστανον ορος, whence, no doubt, are derived the modern forms of the name.
^E. Denison Ross, The Broadway Travellers: Sir Anthony Sherley and his Persian Adventure, Routledge, 2004,ISBN0-415-34486-7
^[1] Robert Ker Porter, Travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia, ancient Babylonia, &c. &c. : during the years 1817, 1818, 1819, and 1820, volume 2, Longman, 1821
^A. V. Williams Jackson, "The Great Behistun Rock and Some Results of a Re-Examination of the Old Persian Inscriptions on It",Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 24, pp. 77–95, 1903
^[2] W. King and R. C. Thompson, The sculptures and inscription of Darius the Great on the Rock of Behistûn in Persia: a new collation of the Persian, Susian and Babylonian texts, Longmans, 1907
^George G. Cameron, The Old Persian Text of the Bisitun Inscription, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 47–54, 1951
^George G. Cameron, The Elamite Version of the Bisitun Inscriptions, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 59–68, 1960
^W. C. Benedict and Elizabeth von Voigtlander, Darius' Bisitun Inscription, Babylonian Version, Lines 1–29, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 1–10, 1956
Borger, Rykle.Die Chronologie des Darius-Denkmals am Behistun-Felse, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen, 1982,ISBN3-525-85116-2.
Cameron, George G. "Darius Carved History on Ageless Rock".National Geographic Magazine. Vol. XCVIII, Num. 6, December 1950. (pp. 825–844)
Thompson, R. Campbell. "The Rock of Behistun".Wonders of the Past. Edited by Sir J. A. Hammerton. Vol. II. New York: Wise and Co., 1937. (pp. 760–767)"Behistun". Members.ozemail.com.au. Archived fromthe original on January 13, 2010. Retrieved2010-04-23.
Louis H. Gray, Notes on the Old Persian Inscriptions of Behistun, Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 23, pp. 56–64, 1902
[3]Karaj, Iran, "A New Reading of the 70th Paragraph of the Behistun Inscription", Cuneiform Digital Library Bulletin 3, 2024
Paul J. Kosmin, A New Hypothesis: The Behistun Inscription as Imperial Calendar, Iran - Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies, August 2018
A. T. Olmstead, Darius and His Behistun Inscription, The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, vol. 55, no. 4, pp. 392–416, 1938
Rubio, Gonzalo. "Writing in another tongue: Alloglottography in the Ancient Near East". InMargins of Writing, Origins of Cultures (ed. Seth Sanders. 2nd printing with postscripts and corrections. Oriental Institute Seminars, 2. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007), pp. 33–70."Oriental Institute | Oriental Institute Seminars (OIS)". Oi.uchicago.edu. 2009-06-18. Archived fromthe original on 2014-06-04. Retrieved2010-04-23.
Schmitt, Rüdiger.Die altpersischen Inschriften der Achaimeniden. Editio minor mit deutscher Übersetzung, Reichert, Wiesbaden, 2023,ISBN978-3-7520-0716-9, pp. 9 and 36–96.
The Behistun InscriptionArchived 2016-03-03 at theWayback Machine, livius.org article by Jona Lendering, including Persian text (in cuneiform and transliteration), King and Thompson's English translation, and additional materials
Hyland, John O. (2014). "The Casualty Figures in Darius' Bisitun Inscription".Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History.1 (2):173–199.doi:10.1515/janeh-2013-0001.S2CID180763595.
![Relief of ššina c. 519 BC: "This is ššina. He lied, saying "I am king of Elam.""[22]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aBehistun_Relief%2c_Assina.jpg)
![Relief of Nidintu-Bêl: "This is Nidintu-Bêl. He lied, saying "I am Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabonidus. I am king of Babylon.""[22]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aBehistun_Relief_Nidintu-B%25C3%25AAl.jpg)
![Relief of Tritantaechmes: "This is Tritantaechmes. He lied, saying "I am king of Sagartia, from the family of Cyaxares.""[22]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aBehistun_Relief%2c_Tritantaechmes.jpg)
![Relief of Arakha: "This is Arakha. He lied, saying: "I am Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabonidus. I am king in Babylon.""[22]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aBehistun_relief_Arakha.jpg)
![Relief of Frâda: "This is Frâda. He lied, saying "I am king of Margiana.""[22]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aBehistun_relief_Frada.jpg)
![Behistun relief of Skunkha. Label: "This is Skunkha the Sacan."[22]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aBehistun_relief_Skunkha.jpg)
