Behistun T 08

Behistun or Bisotun: town in Iran, site of several ancient monuments, including a famous inscription by the Persian king Darius I the Great (r.522-486 BCE), the great organizer of the Achaemenid Empire.

On these pages, you can find drawings, a transliteration and an adapted version of the King/Thompson translation of the inscription.

Column i, lines 62-71

  1. umâyâ \ parâbartam \ âha \ ava \ adam \ patipadam \ akunavam \ adamšim \ gâtha
  2. vâ \ avâstâyam \ yathâ \ paruvamciy \ avayjâ \ adam \ akuravam \ âyadan
  3. â \ tyâ \ Gaumâta \ hya \ maguš \ viyaka \ adam \ niyaçârayam \ kârahyâ \ abi
  4. cariš \ gaithâmcâ \ mâniyamcâ \ vithbišcâ \ tyâdiš \ Gaumâta \ hya \
  5. maguš \ adînâ \ adam \ kâram \ gâthavâ \ avâstâyam \ Pârsamcâ \ Mâdamc
  6. â \ utâ \ aniyâ \ dahyâva \ yathâ \ paruvamciy \ avathâ \ adam \ tya \ parâbarta
  7. m \ patiyabaram \ vašnâ \ Auramazdâha \ ima \ adam \ akunavam \ adam \ hamataxšaiy \
  8. yâtâ \ vitham \ tyâm \ amâxam \ gâthavâ \ avâstâyam \ yathâ \ paruvamciy \
  9. avathâ \ adam \ hamataxšaiy \ vašnâ \ Auramazdâha \ yathâ \ Gaumâta \ hya \ magu
  10. š \ vitham \ tyâm \ amâxam \ naiy \ parâbara \ thâtiy \ Dârayavauš \ xšâyath

(14) King Darius says: The kingdom that had been wrested from our line I brought back and I reestablished it on its foundation. The temples which Gaumâta, the Magian, had destroyed, I restored to the people, and the pasture lands, and the herds and the dwelling places, and the houses which Gaumâta, the Magian, had taken away. I settled the people in their place, the people of Persia, and Media, and the other provinces. I restored that which had been taken away, as is was in the days of old. This did I by the grace of Ahuramazda, I labored until I had established our dynasty in its place, as in the days of old; I labored, by the grace of Ahuramazda, so that Gaumâta, the Magian, did not dispossess our house.