Бехистунская надпись — трехъязычный (древнеперсидский, эламский и вавилонский) клинописный текст на скале Бехистун (Бисутун), юго-западнее Экбатан между Керманшахом и Хамаданом в Иране, высеченный по приказу царя Дария I о событиях 523-521 гг. до н. э. Самая важная по значению из надписей ахеменидских царей и один из крупнейших эпиграфических памятников вообще. Прочтен (в основном) в 30—40-х гг. XIX века английским ученым Г. К. Роулинсоном, что положило начало дешифровке клинописного письма многих народов древнего Востока.
The Behistun Inscription is a multi-lingual inscription located on Mount Behistun in the Kermanshah Province of Iran, near the town of Jeyhounabad in western Iran. The inscription includes three versions of the same text, written in three different cuneiform script languages: Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian. A British army officer, 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: both are Semitic languages. 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. 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, 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 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, which is a separate block of stone attached with iron pins and lead. Bisotun is also one of the 80 treasures featured on Around the World in 80 Treasures presented by Dan Cruickshank.
Russian version
Бехистунская надпись / Behistun Inscription
Sensational! Tens of thousands of unknown geoglyphs have been found in the Sahara.
