DSs

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.

DSs, inscription on a slab of marble from Susa

[Two fragments of an Old Persian inscription on a slab of marble. Only the right-hand side of this inscription is preserved, but the text is fairly stereotypical and can be reconstructed with some certainty.]

  1. baga \ vazraka \ Auramazdâ \ hya \ frašam \ ah
  2. yâyâ \ bûmiyâ \ kunautiy \ hya \ mart
  3. iyam \ ahyâyâ \ bûmiyâ \ kunau
  4. tiy \ hya \ šiyâtim \ kunautiy \
  5. martiyahyâ \ hya \ uvaspâ \ urathâcâ \
  6. kunautiy \ manâ \ haudiš \ frâbara \ mâm \ Au
  7. ramazdâ \ pâtuv \ utâ \ tyamaiy \ kartam \

A great god is Ahuramazda, who created what is good on this earth, who created man on this earth, who created happiness for man, who created good horses and good chariots.

He bestowed gave me the kingdom. May Ahuramazda protect me and what I have made!

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