Behistun Inscription 1

Behistun Inscription
For translation of the Behistun text, see Full translation of the Behistun Inscription.
"Bisitun" redirects here. For the city in Iran, see Bisotun.
Coordinates: 34°23′26″N 47°26′9″E [1]

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Bisotun
Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List
[2]

Type Cultural

Criteria ii, iii

Reference [3]
1222

[4] Asia-Pacific (Iran)

UNESCO region

Inscription history
Inscription 2006 (30th Session)

Location of Behistun Inscription in Iran.

The Behistun Inscription (also Bistun or Bisutun), (Persian: ‫ﺑﯿﺴﺘﻮﻥ‬, Old Persian: Bagastana, meaning "the place of
god") is a multi-lingual inscription located on Mount Behistun in the Kermanshah Province of Iran, near the city of
Kermanshah in western Iran.
Authored by Darius the Great sometime between his coronation as king of the Persian 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 deaths of
Cyrus the Great and Cambyses II in which he fought nineteen battles in a period of one year (ending in December
521 BC) to put down multiple rebellions throughout the Persian Empire. The inscription states in detail that the
rebellions, which had resulted from the deaths of Cyrus the Great and his son Cambyses II, were orchestrated by
several impostors and their co-conspirators in various cities throughout the empire, each of whom falsely proclaimed
kinghood during the upheaval following Cyrus's death.
Behistun Inscription 2

Darius the Great proclaimed himself victorious in all battles during the period of upheaval, attributing his success to
the "grace of Ahura Mazda".
The inscription includes three versions of the same text, written in three different cuneiform script languages: Old
Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian (a later form of Akkadian). In effect, then, the inscription is to cuneiform what the
Rosetta Stone is to Egyptian hieroglyphs: the document most crucial in the decipherment of a previously lost script.
The inscription is approximately 15 metres high by 25 metres wide and 100 metres up a limestone cliff from an
ancient road connecting the capitals of Babylonia and Media (Babylon and Ecbatana, respectively). The Old Persian
text contains 414 lines in five columns; the Elamite text includes 593 lines in eight columns, and the Babylonian text
is in 112 lines. The inscription was illustrated by a life-sized bas-relief of Darius I, the Great, holding a bow as a sign
of kingship, with his left foot on the chest of a figure lying on his back before him. The supine figure is reputed to be
the pretender Gaumata. Darius is attended to the left by two servants, and nine one-metre figures stand to the right,
with hands tied and rope around their necks, representing conquered peoples. Faravahar floats above, giving his
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 and lead.

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. For
centuries, instead of being attributed to Darius I, the Great, it
was believed to be from the reign of Khosrau II of Persia —
one of the last Sassanid kings, who lived over 1000 years
after the time of Darius I.
The route up to the inscription
The inscription is mentioned by Ctesias of Cnidus, who
noted its existence some time around 400 BC and mentioned a well and a garden beneath the inscription. He
incorrectly concluded that the inscription had been dedicated "by Queen Semiramis of Babylon to Zeus". Tacitus
also mentions it and includes a description of some of the long-lost ancillary monuments at the base of the cliff,
including an altar to "Herakles". What has been recovered of them, including a statue dedicated in 148 BC, is
consistent with Tacitus's description. Diodorus also writes of "Bagistanon" and claims it was inscribed by
Semiramis.

A legend began around Mount Behistun (Bisutun), as written about by the Persian poet and writer Ferdowsi in his
Shahnameh (Book of Kings) c. 1000, about a man named Farhad, who was a lover of King Khosrow's wife, Shirin.
The legend states that, exiled for his transgression, Farhad was given the task of cutting away the mountain to find
water; if he succeeded, he would be given permission to marry Shirin. After many years and the removal of half the
mountain, he did find water, but was informed by Khosrow that Shirin had died. He went mad, threw his axe down
the hill, kissed the ground and died. It is told in the book of Khosrow and Shirin that his axe was made out of a
pomegranate tree, and, where he threw the axe, a pomegranate tree grew with fruit that would cure the ill. Shirin was
not dead, according to the story, and mourned upon hearing the news.
In 1598, the Englishman Robert Sherley saw the inscription during a diplomatic mission to 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.[5] 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.[6] Italian explorer
Pietro della Valle visited the inscription in the course of a pilgrimage in around 1621CE.
Behistun Inscription 3

Translation
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.[7] Niebuhr's
transcriptions were used by Georg
Friedrich Grotefend and others in their
efforts to decipher the Old Persian Column 1 (DB I 1-15), sketch by Friedrich von Spiegel (1881)
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.

The Old Persian text was copied and deciphered before the recovery and copying of the Elamite and Babylonian
inscriptions had even been attempted, which proved to be a good deciphering strategy, since Old Persian script was
easier to study due to its alphabetic nature and the fact that the language it represents had naturally evolved into
Middle Persian, and in turn, to the living modern Persian language dialects, and was also related to the Avestan
language, used in the Zoroastrian book the Avesta.
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 Bisutun'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 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.
With the Persian text, and with about a third of the syllabary made available to him by the work of Georg Friedrich
Grotefend, Rawlinson set to work on deciphering the text. Fortunately, the first section of this text contained a list of
the same Persian kings found in Herodotus in their original Persian forms as opposed to Herodotus's Greek
transliterations; for example Darius is given as the original Dâryavuš instead of the Hellenized Δαρειος. By
matching the names and the characters, Rawlinson was able to decipher the type of cuneiform used for Old Persian
by 1838 and presented his results to the Royal Asiatic Society in London and the Société Asiatique in Paris.
In the interim, Rawlinson spent a brief tour of duty in Afghanistan, returning to the site in 1843. He first crossed a
chasm between the Persian and Elamite scripts by bridging the gap with planks, subsequently copying the Elamite
inscription. He was then able to find an enterprising local boy to climb up a crack in the cliff and suspend ropes
across the Babylonian writing, so that papier-mâché casts of the inscriptions could be taken. Rawlinson, along with
several other scholars, most notably Edward Hincks, Julius Oppert, William Henry Fox Talbot, and Edwin Norris,
either working separately or in collaboration, eventually deciphered these inscriptions, leading eventually to the
ability to read them completely.
The translation of the Old Persian sections of the Behistun Inscription paved the way to the subsequent ability to
decipher the Elamite and Babylonian parts of the text, which greatly promoted the development of modern
Assyriology.

Later research and activity

The site was visited by A. V. Williams Jackson in 1903.[8] 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.[9][10][11][12] 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,
Behistun Inscription 4

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, during
the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran.[13][14]
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.

In recent years, Iranian archaeologists have been undertaking Close-up of the inscription showing damage

conservation works. The site became a UNESCO World

Heritage Site in 2006.
In 2012, the Bisotun Cultural Heritage Center organized an international effort to re-examine the inscription.[15]

Other historical monuments in the Behistun complex

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:

• Hunters' cave • Behistun Palace (said to be Palace of Khosrau II) • Sheikh Ali khan Zangeneh text endowment
• Farhad Tarash • Ilkhanid caravanserai • Safavid caravanserai
• Median fortress • Median temple • Balash stone
• Parthian town • Bas relief of Mithridates II of Parthia • Carved Sassanian stones
• Seleucid statue of Herakles • Bas relief of Gotarzes II of Parthia • Royal Road
• Parthian site of worship

Statue of Herakles in Behistun complex Bas relief of Mithridates II of Parthia and bas relief of Gotarzes II of
Parthia and Sheikh Ali khan Zangeneh text endowment

In the first image, Herakles with curly hair and a beard rests on the lion skin. Beside him, an olive tree is seen carved
on the wall, while a quiver full of arrows is hanging from it, and a club resting close by. Behind the head of
Herakles, an inscription of seven lines in old Greek is written on a smooth space with a frame similar to Greek
Behistun Inscription 5

temples. According to this inscription, the statue was carved in 139 BC on the occasion of a conquest for Seleucid
Greeks (under Demetrius II Nicator) against the Parthians (under Mithridates I of Parthia), though the Seleucids were
later defeated and driven from the region.
The second image is a bas relief of Mithridates II of Parthia: this was carved in 123–110 BC and represents Parthian
king Mithridates and four of his satraps who are respecting the king. Bas relief of Gotarzes II of Parthia shows the
conquest of that king over Meherdates, an Arsacid prince who lived in Rome. An inscription in Greek is seen on the
left side of the top outer frame of the relief. Sheikh Ali khan Zangeneh text endowment: According to this text,
written in Sloth calligraphy, Sheikh Ali khan Zangeneh, a local ruler of the 17th century, dedicates four shares (out
of six) of his properties in Ghareh-vali and Chambatan (local villages) for Sadaats (descendants of the prophet
Mohammad), and two remaining shares for the Bisotoun Safavid caravansarai.

Notes
[1] http:/ / tools. wmflabs. org/ geohack/ geohack. php?pagename=Behistun_Inscription& params=34_23_26_N_47_26_9_E_
[2] http:/ / whc. unesco. org/ en/ list
[3] http:/ / whc. unesco. org/ en/ list/ 1222
[4] http:/ / whc. unesco. org/ en/ list/ ?search=& search_by_country=& type=& media=& region=& order=region
[5] E. Denison Ross, The Broadway Travellers: Sir Anthony Sherley and his Persian Adventure, Routledge, 2004, ISBN 0-415-34486-7
[6] (http:/ / www. 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
[7] Carsten Niebuhr, Reisebeschreibung von Arabien und anderen umliegenden Ländern, 2 volumes, 1774 and 1778
[8] 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
[9] (http:/ / www. 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
[10] George G. Cameron, The Old Persian Text of the Bisitun Inscription, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 47-54, 1951
[11] George G. Cameron, The Elamite Version of the Bisitun Inscriptions, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 59-68, 1960
[12] 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
[13] http:/ / ancientstandard. com/ 2011/ 03/ 30/ the-behistun-inscription-the-iranian-rosetta-stone/
[14] http:/ / atlantisonline. smfforfree2. com/ index. php?topic=2799. 5;wap2
[15] (http:/ / www. tehrantimes. com/ arts-and-culture/ 98233-intl-experts-to-reread-bisotun-inscriptions) Intl. experts to reread Bisotun
inscriptions, Tehran Times, May 27, 2012

References
• Adkins, Lesley, Empires of the Plain: Henry Rawlinson and the Lost Languages of Babylon, St. Martin's Press,
New York, 2003.
• Rawlinson, H.C., Archaeologia, 1853, vol. xxxiv, p. 74.
• 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" (http://members.ozemail.com.au/~ancientpersia/
behistun.html). Members.ozemail.com.au. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
• Cameron, George G. "Darius Carved History on Ageless Rock". National Geographic Magazine. Vol. XCVIII,
Num. 6, December 1950. (pp. 825–844)
• 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. "Oriental Institute | Oriental Institute Seminars (OIS)"
(http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/ois/ois2.html). Oi.uchicago.edu. 2009-06-18. Retrieved
2010-04-23.
• Louis H. Gray, Notes on the Old Persian Inscriptions of Behistun, Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol.
23, pp. 56–64, 1902
Behistun Inscription 6

• A. T. Olmstead, Darius and His Behistun Inscription, The American Journal of Semitic Languages and
Literatures, vol. 55, no. 4, pp. 392–416, 1938

External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Behistun Inscription.

• The Behistun Inscription (http://www.livius.org/be-bm/behistun/behistun01.html), livius.org article by Jona

Lendering, including Persian text (in cuneiform and transliteration), English translation, and additional materials
• English translation of the inscription text (http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/txt/ah/Persia/Behistun_txt.html)
• Case Western Reserve University Digital Library (http://library.case.edu:9090/ksl/ecoll/books/anoscu00/
anoscu00.pdf) — the complete text of the Behistun inscription, in transcribed cuneiform and English translation,
available in PDF format
• Brief description of Bisotun (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1222) from UNESCO
• "Bisotun receives its World Heritage certificate" (http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=7430),
Cultural Heritage News Agency, Tehran, July 3, 2008
• Other monuments of Behistun (http://www.livius.org/be-bm/behistun/behistun-rem.html)
Article Sources and Contributors 7

Article Sources and Contributors

Behistun Inscription  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=618658094  Contributors: A. Parrot, Aaaj, Acalamari, Adrian.benko, Agne27, Ahsaninam, Alansohn, Alborz Fallah,
Alborzagros, Amir85, Amirzaa, Andre Engels, Angel ivanov angelov, AnonMoos, Anthony Appleyard, Arthur Rubin, Aryobarzan, Axeloide, BD2412, Beetstra, Behi83, BehnamFarid, Bejnar,
Belekvor, Bidabadi, Blueberrybuttermilkpancakes, Bobblewik, Brion VIBBER, Brutannica, CDN99, Carlossuarez46, Catalographer, Cburnett, Chameleon, Chris 73, ChrisCork,
CommonsDelinker, Conversion script, Cromwellt, D6, DBaba, Dapsv, Daraheni, David Gerard, Dbachmann, Deville, DopefishJustin, Dougweller, DragonflySixtyseven, Droll, Dvidby0, E23,
ERcheck, Elekhh, Erianna, Farshadrbn, Gabbe, Gadfium, Galut5, Ganna24, Gerhardvalentin, Ghirlandajo, Glenn, Godardesque, Graham87, GuildNavigator84, Hadal, Hajor, Havhof, Heron,
Hillel, Hmains, Hoomanb, Houshyar, Humata, Iman d, Italia2006, J04n, Jalo, Japanese Searobin, Jaraalbe, Jeffrey O. Gustafson, Joey80, JohnThorne, Johnbod, Jona Lendering, Jonathunder,
Jonsafari, Jstumpel, Kauffner, Kbahey, Ken Gallager, KendallKDown, Kevin Rector, Kintetsubuffalo, Klemen Kocjancic, Koavf, Koyaanis Qatsi, Ksyrie, Ktsquare, KureCewlik81, Leibniz,
LilHelpa, LlywelynII, Longbowman, M Northstar, MIKHEIL, Mani1, Manu kian maheri93, Mav, Mehrshad123, Michael Hardy, Mimihitam, Mirv, Mmcannis, Monz, Mschlindwein,
Nefariousski, Night w, Nishkid64, Nsaa, Octavian history, Ordibehesht22, Ori, Orijentolog, Parrin134, Paul Drye, PericlesofAthens, Persia2099, Pete unseth, Petri Krohn, Ph80D, Pjacobi,
Ploversegg, Pouya, Quuxplusone, R'n'B, RP459, Redheylin, RetiredUser2, Rich Farmbrough, Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ), Richard Taylor, Rimbauddolot, Roozbeh, Russell Brown,
Rwxrwxrwx, S ellinson, SDC, SMcCandlish, SWAdair, Sadisticsuburbanite, Saga City, Sakonal, Sbn1984, SchuminWeb, Scoobycentric, Seinfeld111, Semperf, Shadowjams, Siddiqui, SimonP,
Snowgrouse, Snoyes, Stevertigo, Suruena, Susurrus, Susvolans, That Guy, From That Show!, TheLateDentarthurdent, Tpbradbury, Usualphonexs, VatooVatoo, Vriullop, Vssun, Wakantanka,
Wareh, Widr, Wjhonson, Woohookitty, Xashaiar, Yogesh Khandke, Zenbb, Zereshk, Zundark, Zyxw, Амартүвшин, ‫ﻣﺎﻧﻔﯽ‬, 110 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

File:Bisotun_Iran_Relief_Achamenid_Period.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bisotun_Iran_Relief_Achamenid_Period.JPG  License: Public Domain
 Contributors: Hara1603, JMCC1, Neithsabes, Schängel, Sémhur, ZxxZxxZ, 1 anonymous edits
File:Iran relief location map.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Iran_relief_location_map.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors:
Uwe Dedering
File:Magnify-clip.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Magnify-clip.png  License: Public Domain  Contributors: User:Erasoft24
File:BehistunRoute.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:BehistunRoute.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors: KendallKDown
File:Behistun DB1 1-15.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Behistun_DB1_1-15.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Bontenbal, Glenn, HenkvD, Imz,
Meteor2017, Mschlindwein, Sumerophile
File:BehistunInscriptiondetail.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:BehistunInscriptiondetail.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors:
KendallKDown
Image:Seleucid statue of Hercules 2.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Seleucid_statue_of_Hercules_2.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0
 Contributors: Alborz Fallah (talk)
Image:Godarz.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Godarz.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors: Alborz Fallah (talk)
Image:Commons-logo.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Commons-logo.svg  License: logo  Contributors: Anomie

License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/