Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions

Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions: collection of Old Persian cuneiform texts from the sixth, fifth, and fourth centuries BCE, left by the Achaemenid kings on their official monuments.

In ca.521, the Persian king Darius I the Great ordered that a new alphabet, which he called the "Aryan script", was to be developed. It was used for a small corpus of inscriptions, known as the Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions. This page offers links to transcriptions, translations and pictures.

Overview

In this table, the first column indicates the inscription; the second column offers a very brief summary; the four last columns indicate whether there is a Photo, a Drawing, a Persian Text, and an English translation.

Ariaramnes
Darius I
Darius II
Arsames
Xerxes
Artaxerxes II
Cyrus
Artaxerxes I
Artaxerxes III

Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions

Ariaramnes, Hamadan
AmH Gold tablet, possibly a fake   D T E
Arsames, Hamadan
AsH Gold tablet, possibly a fake   D T E
Cyrus the Great (559-530), Babylon
CB "Cyrus Cilinder" (in Babylonian) P D   E
Cyrus the Great (559-530), Pasargadae / Murghab
CMa Entrance of Palace P and Palace S P D T E
CMb On a relief of king Cyrus in Palace P P     E
CMc Above a relief of king Cyrus in Gate R P     E
Darius I the Great (522-486), Behistun
DB "Behistun Inscription", (column #1, #2, #3, #4, #5)   D T E
  DBa, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k: additions to DB P   T E
Darius I the Great (522-486), Gandj Nameh / Elvend
DE Inscription near a waterfall P D T E
Darius I the Great (522-486), Gherla
DG Fragment of a clay tablet from Romania       E
Darius I the Great (522-486),  Hamadan
DH Gold and silver tablet (text identical to DPh)     T E
Darius I the Great (522-486), Naqš-e Rustam
DNa Upper register of Darius' tomb P D T E
DNb Lower register of Darius' tomb (later copied as XPl) P D T E
DNc Brief honorific text for Gobryas P   T E
DNd Brief honorific text for Aspathines     T E
DNe People list     T E
Darius I the Great (522-486), Persepolis
DPa From the Palace of Darius P D T E
DPb On reliefs in the Palace of Darius and the Palace of Xerxes P   T E
DPc On window corniches in the Palace of Darius P D T E
DPd Terrace inscription P D T E
DPe Terrace inscription P D T E
DPf-g Terrace inscriptions       E
DPh Gold and silver tablets from the Apadana (text identical to DH)   D T E
DPi Doorknob   D T E
DPj Fragment of  a column base     T E
Darius I the Great (522-486), Susa
DSa Two tiles   D T E
DSb Two tiles   D T E
DSc Column base     T E
DSd Column base     T E
DSe Empire list P D T E
DSf Foundation inscription P D T E
DSg Column base   D T E
DSi Column base   D T E
DSj Column base   D T E
DSk Brick   D T E
DSl Brick   D T E
DSm Incomplete inscription on glazed bricks     T E
DSn Statue     T E
DSo Slab of marble     T E
DSp Incomplete slab of marble   D T E
DSq Slab of marble     T E
DSs Slab of marble     T E
DSt Slab of marble   D T E
DSu Elamite inscription on a slab of marble       E
DSv Damaged Babylonian inscription on a slab of marble       E
DSw Babylonian inscription on a slab of marble       E
DSy Column base P   T E
DSz adaptation of DSf       E
DSaa Abridged Babylonian version of DSf       E
DSab Statue, in Egyptian P     E
Darius I the Great (522-486), Suez
DZa Cartouche     T E
DZb A brief "signature"     T E
DZc Description of the Red Sea Canal   D T E
Darius I the Great (522-486), Others
DWa Weight     T E
DWb Weight     T E
DWc Weight P   T E
DWd Weight     T E
  Seal P D T E
  Vase       E
Xerxes I (486-465), Gandj Nameh / Elvend
XE Inscription near a waterfall P D T E
Xerxes I (486-465), Hamadan
XH Fragment of a silver pitcher     T E
Xerxes I (486-465), Persepolis
XPa Gate of All Nations P D T E
XPb Stairs of the Apadana P D T E
XPc Palace of Darius P D T E
XPd Stairs of the Palace of Xerxes P D T E
XPe Palace of Xerxes P D T E
XPf "Harem inscription" P D T E
XPg Glazed bricks from the Apadana P D T E
XPh "Daiva inscription" P D T E
XPi Doorknob     T E
XPj Column bases     T E
XPk Relief     T E
XPl Adaptation of DNb       E
XPm Column bases     T E
Xerxes I (486-465), Susa
XSa Column bases   D T E
XSb Babylonian inscription on column bases       E
XSc Inscription on a slab of marble   D T E
XSd Column bases P     E
XSe Babylonian inscription on a slab of marble       E
Xerxes I (486-465), Van
XV Rock inscription P D T E
Xerxes I (486-465), others
  Seals     T E
  Vase     T E
Artaxerxes I Makrocheir (465-424), Persepolis
A1Pa Block of stone   D T E
A1Pb Hall of Hundred Columns       E
Artaxerxes I Makrocheir (465-424), vases
A1Va Vase     T E
A1Vb Vase     T E
A1Vc-d Vase     T E
Darius II Nothus (424-404), Hamadan
D2Ha Gold tablet       E
Darius II Nothus (424-404), Susa
D2Sa Column base   D T E
D2Sb Column base   D T E
Darius II Nothus (424-404), Others
  Vase (possibly of Darius I the Great) P     E
Artaxerxes II Mnemon (404-358), Hamadan
A2Ha Column base P D T E
A2Hb Column bases     T E
A2Hc Gold tablet   D T E
Artaxerxes II Mnemon (404-358), Persepolis
A2Pa People list on the Tomb of Artaxerxes II   D T E
Artaxerxes II Mnemon (404-358), Susa
A2Sa Column base P   T E
A2Sb Column base P   T E
A2Sc Stone tablet     T E
A2Sd Column bases from the Palace of Artaxerxes II P D T E
Artaxerxes III Ochus (358-338), Persepolis
A3Pa Repairs to the Palace of Darius P D T E
Artaxerxes III Ochus (358-338), other
  Seals       E
Related texts
  An Egyptian amulet with the name of Darius I P     E
  An Egyptian vase with the name of Xerxes P   T E
  An inscription from Hamadan, mentioning a king Artaxerxes P     E

Literature

This page was created in 2004; last modified on 24 September 2020.