Behistun Inscription

The name Behistun is derived from usage in Ancient Greek and Arabic sources, particularly Diodorus Siculus and Ya'qubi, transliterated into English in the 19th century by Henry Rawlinson. The modern Persian version name is Bisotun.{{cite book | last1=King | first1=L.W. | last2=Thompson | first2=R.C. | last3=Budge | first3=E.A.W. | title=The Sculptures and Inscription of Darius the Great: On the Rock of Behistûn in Persia | publisher=British museum | year=1907 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XhpkAAAAMAAJ | page=xi|quote=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.}}

{{multiple image

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| header = Darius at Behistun

| image1 = Behistun_relief_Darius_and_Gaumata.jpg

| caption1 = Full figure of Darius trampling rival Gaumata.

| image2 = Behistun Darius the Great.jpg

| caption2 = Head of Darius with crenellated crown

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After the fall of the Persian Empire's Achaemenid 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.

File:BehistunRoute.jpg

File:Behistun 2.JPG

In 1598, Englishman Robert Sherley saw the inscription during a diplomatic mission to Safavid Persia on behalf of Austria, and brought it to the attention of Western European scholars. His party incorrectly came to the conclusion that it was Christian in origin.E. Denison Ross, The Broadway Travellers: Sir Anthony Sherley and his Persian Adventure, Routledge, 2004, {{ISBN|0-415-34486-7}} French General Gardanne thought it showed "Christ and his twelve apostles", and Sir Robert Ker Porter thought it represented the Lost Tribes of Israel and Shalmaneser of Assyria.[https://archive.org/download/travelsingeorgia02port/travelsingeorgia02port.pdf] Robert Ker Porter, Travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia, ancient Babylonia, &c. &c. : during the years 1817, 1818, 1819, and 1820, volume 2, Longman, 1821 In 1604, Italian explorer Pietro della Valle visited the inscription and made preliminary drawings of the monument.{{Cite book|last=Kipfer|first=Barbara Ann|title=Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology|publisher=Springer US|year=2013|isbn=9781475751338|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BDKqBgAAQBAJ}}

File:Behistun DB1 1-15.jpg (1881).]]

File:Aramaic translation of the behistun inscripton.png with an Aramaic translation of the Behistun inscription's text, known as TAD C2.1.]]

{{see also|Decipherment of cuneiform}}

German surveyor Carsten Niebuhr visited in around 1764 for Frederick V of Denmark, publishing a copy of the inscription in the account of his journeys in 1778.Carsten Niebuhr, Reisebeschreibung von Arabien und anderen umliegenden Ländern, 2 volumes, 1774 and 1778 Niebuhr's transcriptions were used by Georg Friedrich Grotefend and others in their efforts to decipher the Old 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.ancientscripts.com/oldpersian.html |title=Old Persian |publisher=Ancient Scripts |access-date=2010-04-23| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100418053701/http://www.ancientscripts.com/oldpersian.html| archive-date= 18 April 2010 | url-status= live}}

In 1835, Sir Henry Rawlinson, an officer of the British East India Company army assigned to the forces of the Shah 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.{{cite book | last=Harari | first=Y.N. | title=Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind | publisher=HarperCollins | year=2015 | isbn=978-0-06-231610-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FmyBAwAAQBAJ | chapter=15. The Marriage of Science and Empire}}

File:BehistunInscriptiondetail.jpg

[[File:Behistun Inscription in Persia ca. 520 BC- UNESCO World Heritage Site.jpg|thumb|right|The Behistun Inscription photographed in 2019

]]

The site was visited by the American linguist A. V. Williams Jackson in 1903.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 Later expeditions, in 1904 sponsored by the British Museum and led by Leonard William King and Reginald Campbell Thompson and in 1948 by George G. Cameron of the University of Michigan, obtained photographs, casts and more accurate transcriptions of the texts, including passages that were not copied by Rawlinson.[https://archive.org/download/sculpturesinscri00brituoft/sculpturesinscri00brituoft.pdf] 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, 1907George G. Cameron, The Old Persian Text of the Bisitun Inscription, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 47–54, 1951George G. Cameron, The Elamite Version of the Bisitun Inscriptions, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 59–68, 1960W. 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

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 tank Ahnenerbe, although research plans were cancelled due to the onset of World War II.

The monument later suffered some damage from Allied soldiers using it for target practice in World War II, and during the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran.{{Cite web | url=http://atlantisonline.smfforfree2.com/index.php?topic=2799.5;wap2 | title=BEHISTUN Inscription - Persia | access-date=2011-07-20 | archive-date=2012-02-03 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203155912/http://atlantisonline.smfforfree2.com/index.php?topic=2799.5;wap2 | url-status=live }}

In 1999, Iranian archeologists began the documentation and assessment of damages to the site incurred during the 20th century. Malieh Mehdiabadi, who was project manager for the effort, described a photogrammetric process by which two-dimensional photos were taken of the inscriptions using two cameras and later transmuted into 3-D images.{{cite web|url=http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=2589 |title=Documentation of Behistun Inscription Nearly Complete |publisher=Chnpress.com |access-date=2010-04-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110918093441/http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=2589 |archive-date=2011-09-18 }}

In recent years, Iranian archaeologists have been undertaking conservation works. The site became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006.{{cite web |url=http://www.payvand.com/news/06/jul/1130.html |title=Iran's Bisotoon Historical Site Registered in World Heritage List |publisher=Payvand.com |date=2006-07-13 |access-date=2010-04-23 |archive-date=2018-12-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215122846/http://www.payvand.com/news/06/jul/1130.html |url-status=live }}

In 2012, the Bisotun Cultural Heritage Center organized an international effort to re-examine the inscription.{{cite web |url=http://www.tehrantimes.com/arts-and-culture/98233-intl-experts-to-reread-bisotun-inscriptions |title=Intl. Experts to reread Bisotun inscriptions - Tehran Times |access-date=2012-04-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120529044243/http://www.tehrantimes.com/arts-and-culture/98233-intl-experts-to-reread-bisotun-inscriptions |archive-date=2012-05-29 }} Intl. experts to reread Bisotun inscriptions, Tehran Times, May 27, 2012{{dead link|date=October 2016}}

{{Clear}}

{{wikisource|1=The Sculptures and Inscription of Darius the Great on the Rock of Behistûn in Persia/Annotated/The Persian Text|2=Full translation of the Behistun Inscription}}

File:Lineage of Darius the Great.jpg according to the Behistun inscription.]]

{{see also|Achaemenid family tree}}

In the first section of the inscription, Darius the Great declares his ancestry and lineage:

{{Blockquote|

King Darius says: My father is Hystaspes [Vištâspa]; the father of Hystaspes was Arsames [Aršâma]; the father of Arsames was Ariaramnes [Ariyâramna]; the father of Ariaramnes was Teispes [Cišpiš]; the father of Teispes was Achaemenes [Haxâmaniš].

King Darius says: That is why we are called Achaemenids; from antiquity we have been noble; from antiquity has our dynasty been royal.

King Darius says: Eight of my dynasty were kings before me; I am the ninth. Nine in succession we have been kings.

King Darius says: By the grace of Ahuramazda am I king; Ahuramazda has granted me the kingdom.}}

File:Map of the Achaemenid Empire.jpg

Darius also lists the territories under his rule:

{{quote|

King Darius says: These are the countries which are subject unto me, and by the grace of Ahuramazda I became king of them: Persia [Pârsa], Elam [Ûvja], Babylonia [Bâbiruš], Assyria [Athurâ], Arabia [Arabâya], Egypt [Mudrâya], the countries by the Sea [Tyaiy Drayahyâ (Phoenicia)], Lydia [Sparda], the Greeks [Yauna (Ionia)], Media [Mâda], Armenia [Armina], Cappadocia [Katpatuka], Parthia [Parthava], Drangiana [Zraka], Aria [Haraiva], Chorasmia [Uvârazmîy], Bactria [Bâxtriš], Sogdia [Suguda], Gandhara [Gadâra], Scythia [Saka], Sattagydia [Thataguš], Arachosia [Harauvatiš] and Maka [Maka]; twenty-three lands in all.}}

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:

Behistun Relief, Assina.jpg|{{center|Relief of ššina {{circa|519 BC}}: "This is ššina. He lied, saying "I am king of Elam.""{{cite book|title=Behistun, minor inscriptions DBb inscription- Livius|url=https://www.livius.org/sources/content/behistun-persian-text/behistun-minor-inscriptions/|access-date=2020-03-26|archive-date=2020-03-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200310112440/https://www.livius.org/sources/content/behistun-persian-text/behistun-minor-inscriptions/|url-status=live}}}}

Behistun Relief Nidintu-Bêl.jpg|{{center|Relief of Nidintu-Bêl: "This is Nidintu-Bêl. He lied, saying "I am Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabonidus. I am king of Babylon.""}}

Behistun Relief, Tritantaechmes.jpg|Relief of Tritantaechmes: "This is Tritantaechmes. He lied, saying "I am king of Sagartia, from the family of Cyaxares.""

Behistun relief Arakha.jpg|Relief of Arakha: "This is Arakha. He lied, saying: "I am Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabonidus. I am king in Babylon.""

Behistun relief Frada.jpg|Relief of Frâda: "This is Frâda. He lied, saying "I am king of Margiana.""

Behistun relief Skunkha.jpg|Behistun relief of Skunkha. Label: "This is Skunkha the Sacan."

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:

{{col-begin}}

{{col-3}}

• Hunters' cave
• Farhād Tarāsh
• Median fortress
• Parthian town
• Statue of Hercules in Behistun
• Parthian site of worship

{{col-3}}

• Behistun Palace (said to be Palace of Khosrau II)
• Ilkhanid caravanserai
• Median temple
• Bas relief of Mithridates II of Parthia
• Bas relief of Gotarzes II of Parthia

{{col-3}}

• Sheikh Ali khan Zangeneh text endowment
• Safavid caravanserai
• Vologases's relief
• Carved Sassanian stones
• Royal Road

{{col-end}}

Image:Seleucid statue of Hercules 2.jpg|Statue of Herakles in Behistun complex

File:Heracles Behistun 4000762965 10dbfce20a.jpg|Herakles at Behistun, sculpted for a Seleucis Governor in 148 BC.

Image:Godarz.jpg|Bas relief of Mithridates II of Parthia and bas relief of Gotarzes II of Parthia and Sheikh Ali khan Zangeneh text endowment

File:Behistun, Parthian relief of Gotarzes II.jpg|Damaged equestrian relief of Gotarzes II at Behistun

File:نقش برجسته بلاش 1.JPG|Vologases's relief in Behistun

File:Anubanini rock relief woodprint.jpg, dated to 2300 BC, and made by the pre-Iranian Lullubi ruler Anubanini, is very similar in content to the Behistun reliefs (woodprint).]]

{{Main|Anubanini rock relief}}

The Anubanini rock relief, also called Sarpol-i Zohab, of the Lullubi king Anubanini, dated to {{circa|2300 BC}}, and which is located not far from the Behistun reliefs at Sarpol-e Zahab, is very similar to the reliefs at Behistun. The attitude of the ruler, the trampling of an enemy, the lines of prisoners are all very similar, to such extent that it was said that the sculptors of the Behistun Inscription had probably seen the Anubanini relief beforehand and were inspired by it.{{cite book |last1=Potts |first1=D. T. |title=The Archaeology of Elam: Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State |date=1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521564960 |page=318 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mc4cfzkRVj4C&pg=PA318 |language=en |access-date=2019-03-15 |archive-date=2017-10-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012050532/https://books.google.com/books?id=mc4cfzkRVj4C |url-status=live }} The Lullubian reliefs were the model for the Behistun reliefs of Darius the Great.{{cite book |last1=Wiesehofer |first1=Josef |title=Ancient Persia |date=2001 |publisher=I.B.Tauris |isbn=9781860646751 |page=13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yFocMaM49SgC&pg=PA13 |language=en |access-date=2019-03-17 |archive-date=2012-05-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120502163656/http://books.google.com/books?id=yFocMaM49SgC |url-status=live }}

The inscriptional tradition of the Achaemenids, starting especially with Darius I, is thought to have derived from the traditions of Elam, Lullubi, the Babylonians and the Assyrians.{{cite book |last1=Eastmond |first1=Antony |title=Viewing Inscriptions in the Late Antique and Medieval World |date=2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781107092419 |page=14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5uJwBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA14 |language=en |access-date=2019-03-16 |archive-date=2020-05-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200518234133/https://books.google.com/books?id=5uJwBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA14 |url-status=live }}

• Behistun palace
• Darius I of Persia
• Achaemenid empire
• Taq-e Bostan (Rock reliefs of various Sassanid kings)
• Pasargadae (Tomb of Pasargadae Cyrus the Great)
• Shapur I's inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht
• Naqsh-e Rajab
• Cities of the Ancient Near East
• Gaumata (False Smerdis)
• Anubanini rock relief
• List of colossal sculptures in situ
• World Heritage Sites by country

{{Reflist}}

• Adkins, Lesley, Empires of the Plain: Henry Rawlinson and the Lost Languages of Babylon, St. Martin's Press, New York, 2003.
• Blakesley, J. W. [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3917316;view=1up;seq=23 An Attempt at an Outline of the Early Medo-Persian History, founded on the Rock-Inscriptions of Behistun taken in combination with the Accounts of Herodotus and Ctesias]. (Trinity College, Cambridge,) in the Proceedings of the Philological Society.
• Borger, Rykle. Die Chronologie des Darius-Denkmals am Behistun-Felse, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen, 1982, {{ISBN|3-525-85116-2}}.
• 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) {{cite web|url=http://members.ozemail.com.au/~ancientpersia/behistun.html |title=Behistun |publisher=Members.ozemail.com.au |access-date=2010-04-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100113111204/http://members.ozemail.com.au/~ancientpersia/behistun.html |archive-date=January 13, 2010 }}
• Louis H. Gray, Notes on the Old Persian Inscriptions of Behistun, Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 23, pp. 56–64, 1902
• [https://cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/articles/cdlb/2024-3.pdf]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
• Rawlinson, H.C., Archaeologia, 1853, vol. xxxiv, p. 74.
• Rubio, Gonzalo. "Writing in another tongue: Alloglottography in the Ancient Near East". In Margins 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.{{cite web |url=http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/ois/ois2.html |title=Oriental Institute | Oriental Institute Seminars (OIS) |publisher=Oi.uchicago.edu |date=2009-06-18 |access-date=2010-04-23 |archive-date=2014-06-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140604035903/http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/ois/ois2.html |url-status=dead }}
• Saber Amiri Parian, [https://cdli.ucla.edu/pubs/cdlb/2017/cdlb2017_003.html A New Edition of the Elamite Version of the Behistun Inscription (I)], Cuneiform Digital Library Bulletin 2017:003.
• Schmitt, Rüdiger. Die altpersischen Inschriften der Achaimeniden. Editio minor mit deutscher Übersetzung, Reichert, Wiesbaden, 2023, {{ISBN|978-3-7520-0716-9}}, pp. 9 and 36–96.

{{Commons category|Behistun Inscription}}

{{Wikisource|1=The Sculptures and Inscription of Darius the Great on the Rock of Behistûn in Persia/Annotated/The Persian Text|2=Full translation of the Behistun Inscription}}

• {{cite book |title=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, with English translations, etc |first1=L. W. |last1=King |first2=R. Campbell |last2=Thompson |publisher=British Museum |year=1907 |url=https://archive.org/details/sculpturesinscri00brituoft }}
• [https://www.livius.org/be-bm/behistun/behistun01.html The Behistun Inscription] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303225415/http://www.livius.org/be-bm/behistun/behistun01.html |date=2016-03-03 }}, livius.org article by Jona Lendering, including Persian text (in cuneiform and transliteration), King and Thompson's English translation, and additional materials
• {{cite book |title=The Behistan inscription of King Darius: translation and critical notes to the Persian text with special reference to recent re-examinations of the rock |last=Tolman |first=Herbert Cushing |publisher=Vanderbilt University |year=1908 |url=https://archive.org/details/behistaninscript00daririch }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090413214509/http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/txt/ah/Persia/Behistun_txt.html Tolman's English translation of the inscription text]
• [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1222 Brief description of Bisotun] from UNESCO
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090605010957/http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=7430 "Bisotun receives its World Heritage certificate"], Cultural Heritage News Agency, Tehran, July 3, 2008
• [https://www.livius.org/be-bm/behistun/behistun-rem.html Other monuments of Behistun] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161107071427/http://www.livius.org/be-bm/behistun/behistun-rem.html |date=2016-11-07 }}
• Rüdiger Schmitt, "Bisotun i", Encyclopaedia Iranica [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bisotun-i]
• {{cite journal |last1=Hyland |first1=John O. |title=The Casualty Figures in Darius' Bisitun Inscription |journal=Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History |date=2014 |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=173–199 |doi=10.1515/janeh-2013-0001|s2cid=180763595 }}

{{Achaemenid Empire}}

{{World Heritage Sites in Iran}}

{{Kermanshah Province}}

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