Behistun Inscription
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BehnamFarid
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/* External links */ Added external link to news that Bisotun is granted World Heritage status.
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{{Infobox World Heritage Site
| Name = Bisotun
| infoboxwidth= 250px
| Image = [[Image:Darius I the Great's inscription.jpg|230px|Modern day picture of the inscription.]]
| State_Party = {{IRN}} (Islamic Republic of)
| Type = Cultural
| Criteria = ii, iii
| ID = 1222
| Region = [[List of World Heritage Sites in Asia and Australasia|Asia-Pacific]]
| Year = 2006
| Session = 30th
}}
The '''Behistun Inscription''' (also '''Bisitun''' or '''Bisutun''', [[Modern Persian]]: بیستون ; [[Old Persian]]: '''Bagastana''', meaning "the god's place or land") is a multi-lingual inscription located on [[Mount Behistun]] in the [[Kermanshah Province]] of [[Iran]], near the town of [[Jeyhounabad]].
The inscription includes three versions of the same text, written in three different [[cuneiform script]] languages: [[Old Persian language|Old Persian]], [[Elamite language|Elamite]], and [[Babylonian language|Babylonian]]. A [[British army]] officer, [[Sir Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baronet|Henry Rawlinson]], had the inscription transcribed in two parts, in 1835 and 1843. Rawlinson was able to translate the Old Persian cuneiform text in 1838, and the Elamite and Babylonian texts were translated by Rawlinson and others after 1843. Babylonian was a later form of [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]: both are [[Semitic languages]]. In effect, then, the inscription is to [[Cuneiform script|cuneiform]] what the [[Rosetta Stone]] is to [[Egyptian hieroglyph]]s: the document most crucial in the [[decipherment]] of a previously lost [[writing system|script]].
The inscription is approximately 15 [[metre]]s high by 25 metres wide, and 100 metres up a [[limestone]] cliff from an ancient road connecting the capitals of [[Babylonia]] and [[Medes|Media]] ([[Babylon]] and [[Ecbatana]]). It is extremely inaccessible as the mountainside was removed to make the inscription more visible after its completion. 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 the Great of Persia|Darius]], holding a [[bow (weapon)|bow]] as a sign of kingship, with his left foot on the chest of a figure lying on his back before him. The prostrate figure is reputed to be the [[pretender]] [[Gaumata]]. Darius is attended to the left by two servants, and ten 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 (oddly enough) Darius' beard {{Fact|date=November 2007}}, which is a separate block of stone attached with [[iron]] pins and [[lead]].
==In ancient history==
[[Image:IranKermanshah.png|225px|thumb|right|[[Mount Behistun]], Persia]]
The first historical mention of the inscription is by the Greek [[Ctesias|Ctesias of Cnidus]], who noted its existence some time around [[400 BC]], and mentions a well and a garden beneath the inscription dedicated by Queen [[Semiramis of Babylon]] to [[Zeus]] (the Greek analogue of [[Ahura Mazda]]). [[Gaius Cornelius Tacitus|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 [[Hercules]]. What has been recovered of them, including a statue dedicated in 148 BC, is consistent with Tacitus' description. [[Diodorus Siculus|Diodorus]] also writes of "Bagistanon" and claims it was inscribed by Queen Semiramis.
After the fall of the Persian Empire and its successors, and the fall of cuneiform writing into disuse, the nature of the inscription was forgotten and fanciful origins became the norm. For centuries, instead of being attributed to Darius — one of the first Persian kings — it was believed to be from the reign of [[Khosrau II of Persia|Chosroes II of Persia]] — one of the last.
A legend arose that it had been created by [[Farhad]], a lover of Chosroes' wife, [[Shirin]]. Exiled for his transgression, Farhad is given the task of cutting away the mountain to find water; if he succeeds, he will be given permission to marry Shirin. After many years and the removal of half the mountain, he does find water, but is informed by Chosroes that Shirin had died. He goes mad, throws his axe down the hill, kisses the ground and dies. It is told in the book of [[Chosroes 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 is not dead, naturally, and mourns upon hearing the news.
==Translation==
[[Image:Behistun DB1 1-15.jpg|thumb|330px|Column 1 (DB I 1-15), sketch by [[Friedrich von Spiegel|Fr. Spiegel]] (1881)]]
The inscription was noted by an Arab traveller, [[Ibn Hawqal]], in the mid-900s, who interpreted the figures as a teacher punishing his pupils. It was not until 1598, when the [[England|Englishman]] [[Robert Sherley]] saw the inscription during a diplomatic mission to [[Iran|Persia]] on behalf of [[Austria]], that the inscription first came to the attention of western European scholars. His party came to the conclusion that it was a picture of the [[Ascension of Jesus Christ|ascension]] of [[Jesus]] with an inscription in [[Greek language|Greek]].
Biblical misinterpretations by Europeans were rife for the next two centuries. French General Gardanne thought it showed Christ and his [[twelve apostles]], and [[Robert Ker Porter|Sir Robert Ker Porter]] thought it represented the 12 [[tribes of Israel]] and [[Shalmaneser I|Shalmaneser of Assyria]]. Italian explorer [[Pietro della Valle]] visited the inscription in the course of a pilgrimage in around 1621, and German surveyor [[Carsten Niebuhr]] visited in around 1764 while exploring Arabia and the middle east for [[Frederick V of Denmark]], publishing a copy of the inscription in the account of his journeys in 1777. 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.
In 1835, [[Sir Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baronet|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 metres above; both were beyond easy reach and were left for later.
Armed 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 [[transliteration]]s, 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 present his results to the [[Royal Asiatic Society]] in [[London]] and the [[Société Asiatique]] in [[Paris]].
Surprisingly, the Old Persian text was copied and deciphered before the recovery and copying of the Elamite and Babylonian inscriptions had even been attempted. 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 scholars [[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 ability to read Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian was one of the key developments that put the field of [[Assyriology]] on a modern footing.
==After Rawlinson==
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. It also became apparent that rainwater had dissolved some areas of the limestone in which the text is inscribed, while leaving new deposits of limestone over other areas, covering the text.
The monument suffered some damage from soldiers using it for target practice during [[World War II]]. In recent years, Iranian archaeologists have been undertaking conservation works. The site became a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]] in 2006. [http://www.payvand.com/news/06/jul/1130.html]
==See also==
* [[Darius I of Persia]]
* [[Full translation of the Behistun Inscription]]
* [[Achaemenid dynasty|Achaemenid empire]]
* [[Taq-e Bostan]] (Rock reliefs of various Sassanid kings)
* [[Pasargadae]] (Tomb of Pasargadae [[Cyrus the Great]])
* [[Ka'ba-i Zartosht]] (The "Cube of Zoroaster", a monument at Naqsh-e Rustam)
* [[Naqsh-e Rajab]]
==References==
{{Citations missing|date=December 2006}}
*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. (p. 760–767) [http://members.ozemail.com.au/~ancientpersia/behistun.html]
*Cameron, George G. "Darius Carved History on Ageless Rock". ''[[National Geographic Magazine]]''. Vol. XCVIII, Num. 6, December 1950. (p. 825–844) [http://members.ozemail.com.au/~ancientpersia/behistun.html]
== External links ==
{{Commonscat|Behistun inscription}}
* ''The Bisotun inscription'', Photos from Iran, [http://www.livius.org/be-bm/behistun/behistun01.html ''Livius''].
* ''Gandj Nameh'', Photos from Iran, [http://www.livius.org/a/iran/gandj_nameh/gandj_nameh.html ''Livius''].
* [http://aryo.ir/pages/kermanshah/bisotun.htm Photos of Bisotun Complex] - From Online Photo Gallery Of [http://www.aryo.ir Aryo.ir]
*[http://www.livius.org/be-bm/behistun/behistun01.html The Behistun Inscription], livius.org article by Jona Lendering, including Persian text (in cuneiform and transliteration), English translation, and additional materials
*[http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/txt/ah/Persia/Behistun_txt.html English translation of the inscription text]
*[http://library.case.edu:9090/ksl/ecoll/books/anoscu00/anoscu00.pdf Case Western Reserve University Digital Library] — the complete text of the Behistun inscription, in transcribed cuneiform and English translation, available in [[Portable Document Format|PDF]] format
*[http://www.ghiasabadi.com/behistun2.html Behistun Inscription, Persian text ترجمه فارسی کتیبه بیستون]
*[http://visopsys.org/andy/essays/darius-bisitun.html Darius the Great and the Bisutun Inscription], by J. Andrew McLaughlin
*[https://www.sharemation.com/zoroaster7/BISOTUN.PDF?uniq=ksz8bm Bisotun]— the complete text of the bisotun inscription, in transcribed cuneiform and [[Persian language|Persian]] translation, available in pdf format.
*[http://www.payvand.com/news/04/aug/1149.html Iran: Documentation of Behistun Inscription Nearly Complete]
*[http://www.avesta.org/op/op.htm Behistun and many others persian royal inscriptions]
*[http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1222 Brief description of Bisotun] from [[UNESCO]]
* ''Bisotun receives its World Heritage certificate'', Cultural Heritage News Agency, Tehran, July 3, 2008, [http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=7430].
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{{World Heritage Sites in Iran}}
[[Category:Behistun Inscription| ]]
[[Category:Inscriptions]]
[[Category:Ancient Persia]]
[[ca:Inscripció de Behistun]]
[[cs:Behistunský nápis]]
[[da:Bisutun-inskriptionerne]]
[[de:Behistun-Inschrift]]
[[es:Inscripción de Behistún]]
[[eo:Behistun-surskribo]]
[[fa:سنگنبشته بیستون]]
[[fr:Inscription de Behistun]]
[[gl:Inscrición de Behistún]]
[[ko:베히스툰 비문]]
[[hi:बिसितुन]]
[[it:Iscrizioni di Bisotun]]
[[he:כתובת ביסותון]]
[[nl:Behistuninscriptie]]
[[ja:ベヒストゥン碑文]]
[[pl:Inskrypcja z Behistun]]
[[pt:Inscrição de Behistun]]
[[ru:Бехистунская надпись]]
[[sk:Bísutúnsky nápis]]
[[fi:Behistun]]
[[sv:Behistuninskriften]]
[[ta:பெஹிஸ்ட்டன் கல்வெட்டு]]
[[diq:Kıtabey Bisutuni]]
[[zh:贝希斯敦铭文]]