Behistun Inscription

Behistun Inscription
Korosh.091 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Name	Behistun Inscription
Caption	The trilingual inscription carved into the cliff face at Mount Behistun.
Material	Limestone cliff
Writing	Cuneiform script
Languages	Old Persian, Elamite, Babylonian
Created	c. 520–518 BC
Discovered	1598 (Western rediscovery)
Location	Mount Behistun, Kermanshah Province, Iran
Culture	Achaemenid Empire
Discovered by	Robert Sherley (first European record)
Classification	Royal proclamation

Behistun Inscription. The Behistun Inscription is a monumental trilingual inscription carved into a limestone cliff at Mount Behistun in modern Iran. Commissioned by Darius the Great of the Achaemenid Empire, it records his accession to power and the suppression of multiple revolts across his realm. For the study of Ancient Babylon, it is of paramount importance as it provided the key to deciphering Babylonian cuneiform, unlocking vast troves of Mesopotamian history and literature.

Discovery and Location

The inscription is located on a sheer cliff face approximately 100 meters high on Mount Behistun, along the ancient Royal Road connecting the Persian capitals of Babylon and Ecbatana. Its existence was noted by several early travelers, including the English adventurer Robert Sherley in 1598. However, its remote and precipitous location made close study difficult for centuries. The site was systematically documented in the 19th century by British officer Henry Rawlinson, who famously risked his life to make paper casts of the text. The location itself is in the historical region of Media, near the border of the former Babylonian heartland, signifying the Achaemenid control over these core territories.

Content and Languages

The inscription is presented in three parallel columns of cuneiform script, each representing a different language: Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian (a late dialect of Akkadian). The text is a propagandistic account by Darius the Great, detailing his legitimate right to the throne following the death of Cambyses II and his defeat of the usurper Gaumata (also known as Smerdis). It further enumerates the subsequent rebellions he quelled in various provinces, including specific revolts in Babylon led by Nidintu-Bel and Arakha. The Babylonian version is particularly crucial, as it is a direct, official Achaemenid document rendered in the classical language of Mesopotamian administration and scholarship.

Historical Significance for Babylonian Studies

For scholars of Ancient Babylon, the Behistun Inscription serves as a foundational Rosetta Stone-like document. Before its decipherment, Babylonian and Assyrian cuneiform tablets were unreadable. The inscription provided a fixed, known historical narrative in a known language (Old Persian, which was deciphered first) alongside its Babylonian translation. This allowed philologists like Henry Rawlinson, Edward Hincks, and Jules Oppert to crack the code of the Akkadian language. Consequently, it unlocked the entire corpus of Mesopotamian literature, including the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Code of Hammurabi, and countless administrative and astronomical texts from cities like Babylon, Nippur, and Uruk.

Decipherment and Scholarly Impact

The decipherment was a landmark achievement in Assyriology. Henry Rawlinson began his work in the 1830s, meticulously copying the Old Persian text, which had the simplest cuneiform script. Using knowledge of later Persian languages, he and other scholars deciphered it. They then used the Old Persian as a crib to attack the Babylonian column. Key breakthroughs by Edward Hincks on the syllabic nature of signs and the work of the Royal Asiatic Society in publishing the texts accelerated the process. By the 1850s, the Babylonian script was largely readable, revolutionizing the field and transforming Ancient Babylon from a land of biblical mystery into a historically documented civilization with its own extensive records.

Relation to Achaemenid and Babylonian Rule

The inscription vividly illustrates the political relationship between the Achaemenid Empire and its Babylonian province. Darius’s account of suppressing two Babylonian revolts underscores the region’s persistent resistance to Persian authority and its importance as a wealthy, populous center of the empire. The very use of the Babylonian language alongside Old Persian and Elamite signifies the administrative and cultural prestige Babylon still held. The inscription legitimizes Darius’s rule in terms that would resonate within Mesopotamian traditions of kingship, presenting him as a ruler chosen by the god Ahura Mazda but also engaging with local conceptions of order. It is a direct artifact of the imperial policy that governed Babylon following the conquest by Cyrus the Great.

Physical Description and Preservation

The monument is a massive bas-relief sculpture accompanied by the textual panels. The central relief depicts Darius the Great standing triumphantly before a line of nine bound rebel chiefs, with the usurper Gaumata lying beneath his foot. The god Ahura Mazda is shown in a winged disk hovering above, bestowing favor on the Great-