Behistun Inscription
Behistun Inscription
Behistun Inscription
The Behistun Inscription (also Bisotun,
Bistun
Bisitun or Bisutun; Persian: بیستون, Old
Persian: Bagastana, meaning "the place of UNESCO World Heritage Site
god") is a multilingual Achaemenid royal
inscription and large rock relief on a cliff at
Mount Behistun in the Kermanshah Province of
Iran, near the city of Kermanshah in western
Iran, established by Darius the Great
(r. 522–486 BC).[1] It was important to the
decipherment of cuneiform, as it is the longest
known trilingual cuneiform inscription, written
in Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian (a
variety of Akkadian).[2]
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Name
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.[6]
History
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.
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.[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.[8] In 1604, Italian explorer
Pietro della Valle visited the inscription and made preliminary drawings of the monument.[9]
Translation efforts
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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.[10] 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.[11]
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 Darius at Behistun
later. In 1847, he was able to send a full
and accurate copy to Europe.[12]
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.[18]
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In 2012, the Bisotun Cultural Heritage Context of the inscription (centre) in 2010. A person is
Center organized an international effort to visible in the lower left; reaching the inscription requires
re-examine the inscription.[21] climbing the steep cliff face in front of them, then
traversing a narrow ledge.
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Content
Lineage
In the first section of the inscription, Darius the Great
declares his ancestry and lineage:
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Territories
Darius also lists the territories under his rule:
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Notes
1. "The Arya in Iran" (https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/others/sunday-read/the-arya-in-iran/
articleshow/71559634.cms).
2. "Behistun Inscription is a cuneiform text in three ancient languages."Bramwell, Neil D.
(1932). Ancient Persia
(https://archive.org/details/ancientpersia0000bram/page/6/mode/1up). NJ Berkeley Heights.
p. 6. ISBN 978-0-7660-5251-2.
3. Tavernier, Jan (2021). "A list of the Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions by language" (https://dial.
uclouvain.be/pr/boreal/object/boreal:268449). Phoenix (in French). 67 (2): 1–4. ISSN 0031-
8329 (https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0031-8329). Retrieved 2023-03-25. "The rock
inscription itself contains no less than 414 lines of Old Persian, 112 lines of Babylonian and
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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)."
4. "The Bīsitūn Inscription [CDLI Wiki]" (https://web.archive.org/web/20230325102656/https://c
dli.ox.ac.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=bisitun_inscription). cdli.ox.ac.uk. 2015-09-06. Archived from
the original (https://cdli.ox.ac.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=bisitun_inscription) on 2023-03-25.
Retrieved 2023-03-25. "This tri-lingual inscription has 414 lines in Old Persian cuneiform,
260 in Elamite cuneiform, and 112 in Akkadian cuneiform (Bae: 2008)"
5. 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
6. 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 (https://books.google.com/books?id=Xh
pkAAAAMAAJ). 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."
7. E. Denison Ross, The Broadway Travellers: Sir Anthony Sherley and his Persian Adventure,
Routledge, 2004, ISBN 0-415-34486-7
8. [1] (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
9. Kipfer, Barbara Ann (2013). Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology (https://books.google.c
om/books?id=BDKqBgAAQBAJ). Springer US. ISBN 9781475751338.
10. Carsten Niebuhr, Reisebeschreibung von Arabien und anderen umliegenden Ländern, 2
volumes, 1774 and 1778
11. "Old Persian" (http://www.ancientscripts.com/oldpersian.html). Ancient Scripts. Archived (htt
ps://web.archive.org/web/20100418053701/http://www.ancientscripts.com/oldpersian.html)
from the original on 18 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
12. Harari, Y.N. (2015). "15. The Marriage of Science and Empire". Sapiens: A Brief History of
Humankind (https://books.google.com/books?id=FmyBAwAAQBAJ). HarperCollins.
ISBN 978-0-06-231610-3.
13. 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
14. [2] (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, 1907
15. George G. Cameron, The Old Persian Text of the Bisitun Inscription, Journal of Cuneiform
Studies, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 47–54, 1951
16. George G. Cameron, The Elamite Version of the Bisitun Inscriptions, Journal of Cuneiform
Studies, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 59–68, 1960
17. 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
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Version, Lines 1–29, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 1–10, 1956
18. "BEHISTUN Inscription - Persia" (http://atlantisonline.smfforfree2.com/index.php?topic=279
9.5;wap2). Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20120203155912/http://atlantisonline.smff
orfree2.com/index.php?topic=2799.5;wap2) from the original on 2012-02-03. Retrieved
2011-07-20.
19. "Documentation of Behistun Inscription Nearly Complete" (https://web.archive.org/web/2011
0918093441/http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=2589). Chnpress.com. Archived
from the original (http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=2589) on 2011-09-18.
Retrieved 2010-04-23.
20. "Iran's Bisotoon Historical Site Registered in World Heritage List" (http://www.payvand.com/
news/06/jul/1130.html). Payvand.com. 2006-07-13. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2
0181215122846/http://www.payvand.com/news/06/jul/1130.html) from the original on 2018-
12-15. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
21. "Intl. Experts to reread Bisotun inscriptions - Tehran Times" (https://web.archive.org/web/20
120529044243/http://www.tehrantimes.com/arts-and-culture/98233-intl-experts-to-reread-bi
sotun-inscriptions). Archived from the original (http://www.tehrantimes.com/arts-and-culture/
98233-intl-experts-to-reread-bisotun-inscriptions) on 2012-05-29. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
Intl. experts to reread Bisotun inscriptions, Tehran Times, May 27, 2012
22. Behistun, minor inscriptions DBb inscription- Livius (https://www.livius.org/sources/content/b
ehistun-persian-text/behistun-minor-inscriptions/). Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20
200310112440/https://www.livius.org/sources/content/behistun-persian-text/behistun-minor-i
nscriptions/) from the original on 2020-03-10. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
23. Potts, D. T. (1999). The Archaeology of Elam: Formation and Transformation of an Ancient
Iranian State (https://books.google.com/books?id=mc4cfzkRVj4C&pg=PA318). Cambridge
University Press. p. 318. ISBN 9780521564960. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2017
1012050532/https://books.google.com/books?id=mc4cfzkRVj4C) from the original on 2017-
10-12. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
24. Wiesehofer, Josef (2001). Ancient Persia (https://books.google.com/books?id=yFocMaM49
SgC&pg=PA13). I.B.Tauris. p. 13. ISBN 9781860646751. Archived (https://web.archive.org/
web/20120502163656/http://books.google.com/books?id=yFocMaM49SgC) from the
original on 2012-05-02. Retrieved 2019-03-17.
25. Eastmond, Antony (2015). Viewing Inscriptions in the Late Antique and Medieval World (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=5uJwBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA14). Cambridge University Press.
p. 14. ISBN 9781107092419. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20200518234133/https:
//books.google.com/books?id=5uJwBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA14) from the original on 2020-05-
18. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
References
Adkins, Lesley, Empires of the Plain: Henry Rawlinson and the Lost Languages of Babylon,
St. Martin's Press, New York, 2003.
Blakesley, J. W. 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 (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3917316;view=1up;seq=23). (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.
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External links
King, L. W.; Thompson, R. Campbell (1907). 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 (https://archive.org/details/sculpturesinscri00
brituoft). British Museum.
The Behistun Inscription (https://www.livius.org/be-bm/behistun/behistun01.html)
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20160303225415/http://www.livius.org/be-bm/behi
stun/behistun01.html) 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, livius.org article by Jona
Lendering, including Persian text (in cuneiform and transliteration), King and
Thompson's English translation, and additional materials
Tolman, Herbert Cushing (1908). The Behistan inscription of King Darius: translation and
critical notes to the Persian text with special reference to recent re-examinations of the rock
(https://archive.org/details/behistaninscript00daririch). Vanderbilt University.
Tolman's English translation of the inscription text (https://web.archive.org/web/2009041
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3214509/http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/txt/ah/Persia/Behistun_txt.html)
Brief description of Bisotun (https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1222) from UNESCO
"Bisotun receives its World Heritage certificate" (https://web.archive.org/web/200906050109
57/http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=7430), Cultural Heritage News Agency,
Tehran, July 3, 2008
Other monuments of Behistun (https://www.livius.org/be-bm/behistun/behistun-rem.html)
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20161107071427/http://www.livius.org/be-bm/behistu
n/behistun-rem.html) 2016-11-07 at the Wayback Machine
Rüdiger Schmitt, "Bisotun i", Encyclopaedia Iranica [4] (http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/
bisotun-i)
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 (https://doi.org/
10.1515%2Fjaneh-2013-0001). S2CID 180763595 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusI
D:180763595).
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