A1Pa

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.

A1Pa, inscription from Persepolis

[Old Persian inscription, written on a block of stone. The fragments were excavated on the court between the Palace of Darius, Palace of Xerxes, Palace of Artaxerxes I, and Palace G. The beginning of the Old Persian version is missing, but can be reconstructed because the Babylonian translation is better preserved.]

  1. baga \ vazraka \ Auramazdâ \ hya \
  2. imâm \ bûmim \ adâ \ hya \ ava
  3. m \ asmânam \ adâ \ hya \ marti
  4. yam \ adâ \ hya \ šiyâtim \ ad
  5. â \ martiyahyâ \ hya \ Artaxšaç
  6. âm \ xšâyathiyam \ akunauš \ a
  7. ivam \ parûnâm \ xšâyathiyam \
  8. aivam \ parûnâm \ framâtâram
  9. \ adam \ Artaxšaçâ \ xšâyathiya
  10. \ vazraka \ xšâyathiya \ xšâyathi
  11. yânâm \ xšâyathiya \ dahyûnâ
  12. m \ paruzanânâm \ xšâyathiya \
  13. ahyâyâ \ bûmiyâ \ vazrak
  14. âyâ \ dûraiy \ apiy \ Xšay
  15. âršahyâ \ xšâyathiyahyâ \ pu
  16. ça \ Dârayavahauš \ napâ \ Haxâmanišiya
  17. \ thâtiy \ Artaxšaçâ \ xšâ
  18. yathiya \ vazraka \ vašnâ \ Au
  19. ramazdahâ \ ima \ hadiš \ Xšayâ
  20. ršâ \ xšâyathiya \ hya \ manâ \ pi
  21. tâ \ frataram \ pasâva \ adam \ aku
  22. navam \ mâm \ Auramazdâ \ pât
  23. uv \ hadâ \ bagaibiš \ utamaiy \
  24. xšaçam \ utâ \ tyamaiy \ kartam

A great god is Ahuramazda, who created this earth, who created that heaven, who created man, who created happines for man, who made Artaxerxes king, one king for many, one leader for all.

I am Artaxerxes, the great king, the king of kings, the king of countries with all kinds of men, the king in this earth far and wide, the son of king Xerxes, the grandson of Darius, the Achaemenid.

Artaxerxes the great king says: by the grace of Ahuramazda, my father, king Xerxes, built this palace. After that, I built [it]. May Ahuramazda and the gods preserve me, my kingdom, and what I have built.

Literature