TheSuez inscriptions of Darius the Great were texts written inOld Persian,Elamite,Babylonian andEgyptian on five monuments erected inWadi Tumilat, commemorating the opening of the "Canal of the Pharaohs" between theNile and theBitter Lakes.[1]
One of the best preserved of these monuments was astele ofpink granite, which was discovered by Charles de Lesseps,Ferdinand de Lesseps's son, in 1866, 30 kilometres fromSuez near Kabret inEgypt. It was erected byDarius the Great, king of theAchaemenid Empire (or Persia), whose reign lasted from 522 to 486 BCE. The monument, also known as theChalouf stele (alt.Shaluf Stele), records the construction of a forerunner of the modernSuez Canal by the Persians, a canal through Wadi Tumilat, connecting the easternmost,Bubastite, branch of theNile withLake Timsah, which was connected to theRed Sea by natural waterways.[2] The stated purpose of the canal was the creation of a shipping connection between the Nile and the Red Sea, betweenEgypt and Persia.
Partial transliteration and translation of the inscription:
xâmanišiya \ thâtiy \ Dârayavauš \ XŠ \ adam \ Pârsa \ amiy \ hacâ \ Pâ rsâ \ Mudrâyam \ agarbâyam \ adam \ niyaštâyam \ imâm \ yauviyâ m \ katanaiy \ hacâ \ Pirâva \ nâma \ rauta \ tya \ Mudrâyaiy \ danuvatiy \ ab iy \ draya \ tya \ hacâ \ Pârsâ \ aitiy \ pasâva \ iyam \ yauviyâ \ akaniya \ avathâ \ yathâ \ adam \ niyaštâyam \ utâ \ nâva \ âyatâ \ hacâ \ Mudrâ yâ \ tara \ imâm \ yauviyâm \ abiy \ Pârsam \ avathâ \ yathâ \ mâm \ kâma\ âha
"King Darius says: I am a Persian; setting out from Persia I conquered Egypt. I ordered to dig this canal from the river that is called Nile and flows in Egypt, to the sea that begins in Persia. Therefore, when this canal had been dug as I had ordered, ships went from Egypt through this canal to Persia, as I had intended."
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