Behistun T 32

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 iii, lines 84-92

  1. ya \ pasâva \ adam \ kâram \ frâišayam \ Bâbirum \ Vidafarnâ \ nâma \ Pârsa \ manâ
  2. \ badaka \ avamšâm \ mathištam \ akunavam \ avathâšâm \ athaham \ paraitâ \ avam \ kâram
  3. \ Bâbiruviyam \ jatâ \ hya \ manâ \ naiy \ gaubâtaiy \ pasâva \ Vidafarnâ \ hadâ \ kâr
  4. â \ ašiyava \ Bâbirum \ Auramazdâmaiy \ upastâm \ abara \ vašnâ \ Auramaz
  5. dâha \ Vidafarnâ \ Bâbiruviyâ \ aja \ utâ \ bastâ \ anaya \ Varkazanahya \ mâhyâ \ XXII \ ra
  6. ucabiš \ thakatâ \ âha \ avathâ \ avam \ Arxam \ hya \ Nabukudracara \ duruxtam \ a
  7. gaubatâ \ utâ \ martiyâ \ tyaišaiy \ fratamâ \ anušiyâ \ âhatâ \ agarb
  8. âya \ niyaštâyam \ hauv \ Arxa \ utâ \ martiyâ \ tyaišaiy \ fratamâ \ an
  9. ušiyâ \ âhatâ \ Bâbirauv \ uz[ma]yâpatiy \ akariyatâ

(50) King Darius says: Then did I send an army unto Babylon. A Persian named Intaphrenes, my servant, I appointed as their leader, and thus I spoke unto them: 'Go, smite that Babylonian host which does not acknowledge me.' Then Intaphrenes marched with the army unto Babylon. Ahuramazda brought me help; by the grace of Ahuramazda Intaphrenes overthrew the Babylonians and brought over the people unto me. On the twenty-second day of the month Markâsanašnote they seized that Arakha who called himself Nebuchadnezzar, and the men who were his chief followers. Then I made a decree, saying: 'Let that Arakha and the men who were his chief followers be crucified in Babylon!'