XPd

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.

Inscription XPd can be found beside the stairs of the Palace of Xerxes in Persepolis and on the two pillars that once carried the roof of the northern portico of the royal mansion.

  1. baga \ vazraka \ Auramazdâ \ hya \ i
  2. mâm \ bûmim \ adâ \ hya \ avam
  3. \ asmânam \ adâ \ hya \ martiya
  4. m \ adâ \ hya \ šiyâtim \ adâ \ mar
  5. tiyahyâ \ hya \ Xšayâršâm \ x
  6. šâyathiyam \ akunauš \ aivam \ par
  7. ûnâm \ xšâyathiyam \ aivam \ parû
  8. nâm \ framâtâram \ adam \ Xšayârš
  9. â \ xšâyathiya \ vazraka \ xšâyathiya \
  10. xšâyathiyânâm \ xšâyathiya \ dahy
  11. ûnâm \ paruvzanânâm \ xšâyathiya
  12. \ ahiyâyâ \ bûmiyâ \ vazrakâyâ
  13. \ dûraiy \ apiy \ Dârayavahauš \ xš
  14. âyathiyahyâ \ puça \ Haxâmanišiya \
  15. thâtiy \ Xšayâršâ \ xšâyathiya \ va
  16. zraka \ vašnâ \ Auramazdâha \ ima \ had
  17. iš \ adam \ akunavam \ mâm \ Auramaz
  18. dâ \ pâtuv \ hadâ \ bagaibiš \ utama
  19. iy \ xšaçam \ utâ \ tyamaiy \ kartam
XPd

A great god is Ahuramazda, who created this earth, who created that heaven, who created humankind, who created happiness for humankind, who made Xerxes king, sole ruler of many, sole sovereign of many.

I am Xerxes, the great king, the king of kings, the king of all kinds of people, the king of this earth great and wide, the son of king Darius, the Achaemenid.

The great king Xerxes says: By the grace of Ahuramazda, I built this palace. May Ahuramazda and the gods protect me, my kingdom, and what I did!

Literature