The site covers an area of 116 hectares. Archeological evidence indicates that this region became a human shelter 40,000 years ago. There are 18 historical monuments other than the inscription of Darius the Great in the Behistun complex that have been registered in the Iranian national list of historical sites. Some of them are:
•• Hunters' cave • Khosrow palace • Sheikh Ali khan Zangeneh text endowment
•• Farhad Tarash • Ilkhanid caravanserai • Safavid caravanserai
• Median fortress •• Median temple • Balash stone
• Parthian town • Bas relief of Mithridates II of Parthia •• Carved Sassanian stones
• Seleucid statue of Herakles • Bas relief of Gotarzes II of Parthia •• Royal Road
• Parthian site of worship
Behistun Inscription 62
Statue of Herakles in Behistun complex Bas relief of Mithridates II of Parthia and bas relief of Gotarzes II of Parthia and Sheikh Ali khan Zangeneh text endowment
In the first image, Herakles with curly hair and a beard rests on the lion skin. Beside him, an olive tree is seen carved on the wall, while a quiver full of arrows is hanging from it, and a club resting close by. Behind the head of Herakles, an inscription of seven lines in old Greek is written on a smooth space with a frame similar to Greek temples. According to this inscription, the statue was carved in 139 BC on the occasion of a conquest for Seleucid Greeks (under Demetrius II Nicator) against the Parthians (under Mithridates I of Parthia), though the Seleucids were later defeated and driven from the region.
The second image is a bas relief of Mithridates II of Parthia: this was carved in 123–110 BC and represents Parthian king Mithridates and four of his satraps who are respecting the king. Bas relief of Gotarzes II of Parthia shows the conquest of that king over Meherdates, an Arsacid prince who lived in Rome. An inscription in Greek is seen on the left side of the top outer frame of the relief. Sheikh Ali khan Zangeneh text endowment: According to this text, written in Sloth calligraphy, Sheikh Ali khan Zangeneh, a local ruler of the 17th century, dedicates four shares (out of six) of his properties in Ghareh-vali and Chambatan (local villages) for Sadaats (descendants of the prophet Mohammad), and two remaining shares for the Bisotoun Safavid caravansarai.
Notes
[1] http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1222 [2] http://whc.unesco.org/en/list
[3] http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/?search=&search_by_country=&type=&media=®ion=&order=region [4]
[4] E. Denison Ross, The Broadway Travellers: Sir Anthony Sherley and his Persian Adventure, Routledge, 2004, ISBN 0-415-34486-7 [5] (http://www.archive.org/download/travelsingeorgia02port/travelsingeorgia02port.pdf) Robert Ker Porter, Travels in Georgia, Persia,
Armenia, ancient Babylonia, &c. &c. : during the years 1817, 1818, 1819, and 1820, volume 2, Longman, 1821 [6]
[6] Carsten Niebuhr, Reisebeschreibung von Arabien und anderen umliegenden Ländern, 2 volumes, 1774 and 1778 [7] "Old Persian" (http://www.ancientscripts.com/oldpersian.html). Ancient Scripts. . Retrieved 2010-04-23.
[8]
[8] A. V. Williams Jackson, The Great Behistun Rock and Some Results of a Re-Examination of the Old Persian Inscriptions on It, Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 24, pp. 77-95, 1903
[9] (http://www.archive.org/download/sculpturesinscri00brituoft/sculpturesinscri00brituoft.pdf) W. King and R. C. Thompson, The
sculptures and inscription of Darius the Great on the Rock of Behistûn in Persia : a new collation of the Persian, Susian and Babylonian texts, Longmans, 1907
[10]
[10] George G. Cameron, The Old Persian Text of the Bisitun Inscription, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 47-54, 1951 [11]
[11] George G. Cameron, The Elamite Version of the Bisitun Inscriptions, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 59-68, 1960 [12]
[12] W. C. Benedict and Elizabeth von Voigtlander, Darius' Bisitun Inscription, Babylonian Version, Lines 1-29, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 1-10, 1956
[13] http://ancientstandard.com/2011/03/30/the-behistun-inscription-the-iranian-rosetta-stone/
[14] http://atlantisonline.smfforfree2.com/index.php?topic=2799.5;wap2
Behistun Inscription 63
[15] "Documentation of Behistun Inscription Nearly Complete" (http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=2589). Chnpress.com. . Retrieved 2010-04-23.
[16] "Iran's Bisotoon Historical Site Registered in World Heritage List" (http://www.payvand.com/news/06/jul/1130.html). Payvand.com.
2006-07-13. . Retrieved 2010-04-23.
[17] (http://www.tehrantimes.com/arts-and-culture/98233-intl-experts-to-reread-bisotun-inscriptions) Intl. experts to reread Bisotun inscriptions, Tehran Times, May 27 2012
References
• 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. (pp. 760–767) "Behistun" (http://members.ozemail.com.au/~ancientpersia/
behistun.html). Members.ozemail.com.au. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
• Cameron, George G. "Darius Carved History on Ageless Rock". National Geographic Magazine. Vol. XCVIII, Num. 6, December 1950. (pp. 825–844)
• Rubio, Gonzalo. "Writing in another tongue: Alloglottography in the Ancient Near East". In Margins of Writing, Origins of Cultures (ed. Seth Sanders. 2nd printing with postscripts and corrections. Oriental Institute Seminars, 2. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007), pp. 33–70. "Oriental Institute | Oriental Institute Seminars (OIS)"
(http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/ois/ois2.html). Oi.uchicago.edu. 2009-06-18. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
• Louis H. Gray, Notes on the Old Persian Inscriptions of Behistun, Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol.
23, pp. 56–64, 1902
• A. T. Olmstead, Darius and His Behistun Inscription, The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, vol. 55, no. 4, pp. 392–416, 1938
External links
• The Behistun Inscription (http://www.livius.org/be-bm/behistun/behistun01.html), livius.org article by Jona Lendering, including Persian text (in cuneiform and transliteration), English translation, and additional materials
• English translation of the inscription text (http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/txt/ah/Persia/Behistun_txt.html)
• Case Western Reserve University Digital Library (http://library.case.edu:9090/ksl/ecoll/books/anoscu00/
anoscu00.pdf) — the complete text of the Behistun inscription, in transcribed cuneiform and English translation, available in PDF format
• Brief description of Bisotun (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1222) from UNESCO
• "Bisotun receives its World Heritage certificate" (http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=7430), Cultural Heritage News Agency, Tehran, July 3, 2008
• Other monuments of Behistun (http://www.livius.org/be-bm/behistun/behistun-rem.html)