Behistun Inscription

AntiquityCuneiform
OriginKermanshah, Persia
Language or scriptCuneiform
Holding institutionIn situ, Mount Behistun, Iran

Overview

A colossal rock relief carved high on a cliff around 520 BCE for Darius I of Persia, recounting his victories in Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian cuneiform. Henry Rawlinson copied and deciphered it in the 1830s and 1840s, unlocking cuneiform the way the Rosetta Stone unlocked hieroglyphs.

Related Manuscripts