Statue of Hercules in Behistun
{{Short description|Rock statue on Mount Behistun, Iran}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
The Statue of Hercules in Behistun (or Statue of Heracles/Herakles in Bisotun, Persian: تندیس هرکول) is located on Mount Behistun, Iran. It was discovered in 1958,{{cite web |title=Behistun, other monuments |url=https://www.livius.org/articles/place/behistun/behistun-other-monuments/ |website=Livius.org |access-date=10 October 2020}} and is the only extant rock sculpture from the period of Seleucid control over the Iranian Plateau, that lasted from {{circa|312 BC}} to {{circa|140/139}} BC.{{sfn|Canepa|2018|p=61}}
The statue was sculpted in 148 BC, and dedicated in the name of "Herakles Kallinikos" (Ἡρακλῆν
Καλλίνικον, "Hercules glorious in victory") by a Seleucid governor.{{cite book |last1=Visscher |first1=Marijn S. |title=Beyond Alexandria: Literature and Empire in the Seleucid World |year=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-005908-8 |page=75, note 26 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4yntDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA75 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Frye |first1=Richard Nelson |title=The History of Ancient Iran |year=1984 |page=230 |publisher=C.H.Beck |isbn=978-3-406-09397-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0y1jeSqbHLwC&pg=PA230}} The Seleucid governor carved it in honor of a satrap.{{sfn|Canepa|2018|p=61}}
Hercules is lying on a 2 m long platform and holds a bowl in his left hand. His right hand rests on his leg. The statue is 1.47 m long and is attached to the mountain.{{cite book |last1=Kasinec |first1=Wendy F. |last2=Polushin |first2=Michael A. |title=Expanding Empires: Cultural Interaction and Exchange in World Societies from Ancient to Early Modern Times |date=3 February 2024 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-8420-2731-1 |page=52 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gow69ojjaoQC&pg=PA52 |language=en}} Heracles's club is carved in relief "as if propped up behind him" according to Matthew P. Canepa.{{sfn|Canepa|2018|p=61}} The form of the stele bears similarities to Seleucid stelae that bore official inscriptions in the area, most notably the stele from Laodicia-in-Media (Nahavand), on which a local Seleucid official wrote down a copy of the dynastic cult inscription of Seleucid ruler Antiochus III the Great (r. 222–187 BC), which he had created for his wife Queen Laodice III.{{sfn|Canepa|2018|p=61}} The head of the statue was stolen twice, but was recovered in 1996. The current head is a replica. The original head is held by the Cultural Heritage, Handcrafts and Tourism Organization.
Description
The Bisotun Hercules was carved by a sculptor who was not formally trained in the Greek sculptural style.{{sfn|Canepa|2018|p=185}} According to the modern historian Rolf Strootman, the design was more Iranian than Greek. In Hellenistic art, Heracles is seldom shown wielding a bow. In the rock relief, however, he is wielding a bow resembling those shown in the Behistun inscription.{{sfn|Strootman|2020|p=212}} Although the epithet of the god ("kallinikos") was quite common in the Greek religion, it was also appropriate for the Iranian god Wahrām (Avestan Vərəθraγna-), with whom Hercules was assimilated.{{sfn|Canepa|2018|p=185}} The statue of Hercules at Bisotun most likely attests to assimilation of the Greek god Hercules with the Iranian god Wahrām in the Seleucid period; however, it does not offer unequivocal evidence.{{sfn|Canepa|2018|p=180}}
The relief may have been part of a naiskos (small shrine), as indicated by the nearby remnant of a small Ionic column, which is the same height (52 cm) as that of the Temple of Athena Nike in Athens.{{sfn|Canepa|2018|p=185}}
Inscriptions
Behind the statue is a Greek inscription. An Aramaic version, drawn "quite a bit lighter" than the Greek version, is thought to have been carved below it, although only the word šnt ("in the year") is discernible.{{cite web | title=Bīsotūn Dedication to Heracles Callinicus | website=iranohellenica.eie.gr | date=1976-06-05 | url=https://iranohellenica.eie.gr/content/catalogue/bisotun/documents/116999550 | access-date=2023-12-29}}{{cite book | first= David |last=Bivar |author-link= David Bivar |chapter=The Aramaic Summary|editor-last=Stronach | editor-first=David | author2=British Institute of Persian Studies | title=Pasargadae: A Report on the Excavations Conducted by the British Institute of Persian Studies from 1961 to 1963 | publisher=Clarendon Press | issue=v. 1 | year=1978 | isbn=978-0-19-813190-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r0CQAAAAMAAJ | access-date=2023-12-29 | page=161}} Canepa notes that this indicates that the sponsor of the inscription "intended to situate this message, both visually and linguistically, within the idiom of Seleucid imperial epigraphy".{{sfn|Canepa|2018|p=61}}
{{clear}}
| class="wikitable centre"
|+ Dedicatory inscription of Herakles{{cite book |title=HIB Greek text – Parthian Sources Online |url=http://parthiansources.com/texts/hib/hib-greek-text/ |language=en}} (Behistun, 153 BCE) | ||
| scope="col" align=left| Translation | Inscription (original Greek script) | Original inscription |
|---|---|---|
| align=center width="50%"|
{{quote| In the year 164 (of the Seleucid era) in the month of Panemos (June) [set this statue of] Herakles Kallinikos ("Hercules glorious in victory") did Hyakinthos, son of Pantauchos, for the safety of Kleomenes, Commander of the Upper Satrapies, of the satraps. }} | align=center width="50%"| {{quote| ἔτους δξρ᾽, μηνὸς Πανήμου, Ἡρακλῆν Καλλίνικον Ὑάκινθος Πανταύχου ὑπὲ[ρ] τῆς Κλεομένου τοῦ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄνω σ[ατρ]απειῶν σωτηρίας τῶν σατραπῶν }} |
References
{{reflist|2}}
Sources
- {{cite book|last= Canepa|first= Matthew|author-link= Matthew P. Canepa|title= The Iranian Expanse: Transforming Royal Identity Through Architecture, Landscape, and the Built Environment, 550 BCE–642 CE|year= 2018|location= Oakland|publisher= University of California Press|isbn= 978-0-520-37920-6}}
- {{cite journal |journal=Dabir |volume=7 |last=Strootman|first=Rolf | title=Hellenism and Persianism in Iran |date=2020|pages=201–227|doi=10.1163/29497833-00701016 |hdl=1874/408015 |url=https://www.academia.edu/43017267|url-access=registration|hdl-access=free }}
{{coord|34.3833|N|47.4333|E|source:wikidata|display=title}}
Category:2nd-century BC sculptures
Category:Archaeological discoveries in Iran
Category:Archaeological sites in Iran
Category:Sculptures of Heracles
Category:Tourist attractions in Kermanshah province