The Behistun inscription is a trilingual text carved on the Behistun rock, which is located in Iran, southwest of Ekbatan. The text was created by sculptors at the behest of King Darius and tells about the events from 523 to 521 BC. The inscription is carved in Akkadian, Elamite and Persian. This is one of the largest monuments of antiquity, which was translated only in the 30s of the XIX century by the English scientist Rawlinson. The translation of this text marked the beginning of the interpretation and translation of the texts of many peoples of the ancient East. What is Behistun inscription? What is she like? What does it look like? What is its content? What is her story? The mysterious inscription on the Behistun rock will be discussed in our article.
What the Behistun inscription of Darius the Great looks like
The inscription is carved on the territory of the mussel at an altitude of approximately 105 meters. Its dimensions are about 22 meters wide and 7 meters high.
The inscription is accompanied by a bas-relief that depicts King Darius, who is under the auspices of the Persian god Ahuramazda. Darius meets his defeated enemies. It is in the Behistun inscription that the very first mention of the god Ahuramazda is found.
The rock below the inscription is cut down vertically and made almost impregnable.
Above the text on the bas-relief depicts the god Ahuramazda, who holds out his hand to Darius, thereby blessing him and, as it were, transferring royal power to him. Darius is depicted in the royal crown, his life-size figure. His right hand is extended to God, his left hand rests on a bow. With his left foot, King Darius tramples on the vanquished Gaumatu, who has taken power by fraud. Behind the defeated is eight more of his subjects and faithful servants, their hands tied behind their backs, they are all chained together by one chain. Behind King Darius are two of his loyal warriors.
The text is located on the sides of the bas-relief.
How the inscription was preserved to this day
You can see the bas-relief and the inscription only from a long distance, since more than 25 centuries ago, the ancient sculptors, when they finished the work, destroyed all the stone steps behind them, so that the descendants would not have any opportunity to climb to the monument and modify or destroy it. Perhaps that is why the Behistun inscription was preserved quite well. But there is another side to the coin. After some time, people forgot that it depicts which particular historical events. For example, the ancient Greek geographer Ctesias in the 5th century BC called the Behistun rock relief a monument to Queen Semiramis.
The content of cuneiform
The ancient text begins with a short biography of King Darius the Great, who ascended the throne in 522 BC. The following describes the military campaign in Cambyses and the events associated with it. Cambyses, according to the inscription, before going on a campaign against the Egyptians, ordered to kill his brother Bardiy. But at that time, a certain magician Gaumata seized the throne, posing as Bardia (it is not known for certain where Bardy himself went). Cambyses dies in Persia, and the power of Gaumata is recognized by all countries of a huge Persian power.
But after seven months he is secretly killed in his own palace. And the king becomes one of the conspirators - Darius. He proclaims himself ruler and attributes his success to the help and blessings of the god Ahuramazd.
These events are mentioned by Herodotus and many ancient Greek historians and philosophers, but their narratives differ from the version set forth in the Bakhistun inscription.
Many modern historians believe that Darius was very eager for power and at all costs wanted to be king, and that he killed Bardia, declaring him a priest of Gaumata. We are unlikely to be able to find out this question now, it will forever remain a historical mystery.
The text of the wall inscription consists of four columns written in three languages, the fifth column is written in ancient Persian:
- Ancient Persian text consists of 414 rows in 5 columns;
- Elamite text includes 593 rows in 8 columns;
- in Akkadian, the text is 112 lines.
The authors of the Behistun inscription for history remained unknown, it has been established for certain that it dates back to the 6th century BC.
Misconceptions of ancient men regarding the inscription
In the 4th century BC, the dynasty of the descendants of Darius fell. Gradually the old rock cuneiform was forgotten, although the inscription remained, causing a lot of questions. The most unusual explanations appeared that had nothing to do with historical reality.
For example, for several centuries it was believed that this rocky letter was created by sculptors during the Sassanid kings, who lived 1000 years before the time of King Darius.
In the 5th century BC, the ancient Greek geographer Ctesias believed that the inscription was dedicated to Queen Semiramis.
The ancient Roman historian Tacitus claimed that it was part of a monument dedicated to Hercules.
A century of wonderful discoveries - 16th century AD
At the end of the 16th century, this amazing cave art was seen by the Englishman Sherley Robert, who was on a diplomatic mission. European scientists learned from him about the historical bas-relief.
Many felt that this was an image of Jesus Christ and the 12 apostles.
Misconceptions continued into the Middle Ages of our era. So, the Scottish traveler Porter Ker Robert suggested that the monument belongs to the tribe of Israel from Assyria.
Work on the translation of the Behistun inscription
A lot of experts tried to decrypt the text. However, the British officer, Rawlinson Henry, managed to fully understand what was written. In 1835, he was sent to Iran on duty, where he began to carefully study cuneiform. After three years of hard work on the text, he translated the ancient Persian language of the inscription. Henry reported on his successful results to the Royal Society in London.
In 1843, the Elamite and Akkadian languages were deciphered. A whole team of specialists worked under the leadership of Rawlinson. All these scientific studies laid the foundation for the development of assyriology.
However, the entire text, including those passages that were not copied by Rawlinson, was translated only in the mid-20th century.
Copies of the inscription
The text of the mysterious inscription is written in three languages:
- in ancient Persian, the native language of Darius;
- in Akkadian, Assyrians and Babylonians spoke it;
- Elamite, it was spoken by ancient peoples living in the southwestern regions of Iran.
But this text in ancient times was translated into many other ancient languages, and translations were sent to many states. So there were copies of the Behistun inscription.
For example, one of such ancient papyruses was preserved in Egypt, the text is written in Aramaic - the official language of the state.
In Babylon, a block was found with a text carved in Akkadian, repeating the essence of the Behistun inscription.
A large number of copies of the inscription suggests that Darius launched a large propaganda activity, which was carried out in all the main languages of the Persian Empire. He tried to impose his interpretation of events on the whole civilized ancient world.
20th century and ancient historical inscription
In the 20th century, interest in cuneiform writing on Mount Behistun did not cease. With the development of technology, by the end of the 20th century, scientists made two-dimensional photographs of the inscription and its three-dimensional images.
At the beginning of the 21st century, Iranian archaeologists carried out work to improve the adjacent territory to the historical monument.
In 2006, the Behistun inscription in Iran received UNESCO World Heritage status.
Such an interesting and mysterious fate arose in the ancient creation of Persian sculptors, who were tasked with perpetuating Darius the Great and his deeds, which they very successfully dealt with.