As I was studying the history of the Persian language, I learned that the oldest written record of the language is the Behistun Inscription, and so I wanted to learn some more about this Inscription and its historic, cultural, and linguistic importance.
The inscription is located on Mount Behistun in the Kermanshah Province of Iran, which is in western Iran. It was engraved on a cliff about 100 meters off the ground. The author of the inscription was Darius the Great, who served as king of the Persian Empire. It is believed that he wrote the inscription sometime between his coronation in the summer of 522 BCE and his death in the Fall of 486 BCE. This script is historically importance because it begins with the Darius' autobiography where he first explains his ancestry and lineage, but then goes on to describe events such as battles and rebellions that occurred throughout the Persian Empire.
What I find to be most fascinating about this stone is that is is multi-lingual. The inscriptions actually has three different versions of the text, written in three different languages: Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian. In this respect, the inscription is similar to Egypt's Rosetta Stone, which allowed for the decipherment of hieroglyphics. Old Persian, unlike Elamite and Babylonian, is alphabetic. When deciphering the text, linguists first started with the Old Persian version. This was easiest because although the writing system is different from Contemporary Persian, the evolution of the language is clear and linear, meaning that the spoken versions would be similar. Because the text begins with a list of Persian kings, it was easy to match up the characters to other scripts. The Elamite and Babylonian versions were easily deciphered with the use of the Old Persian version.
The site is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, encompassing 116 hectares. Through archeological studies, it has been discovered that the region was used as a human shelter 40,000 years ago. It also includes 18 other historical monuments, such as the Balash stone, the Parthian town, the Parthian site of worship, and the Royal Road. Aside from inscriptions in Elamite, Babylonian, and Old Persian, there are also Greek inscriptions at the site. The complex includes the Statue of Herakles and seven lines written in old Greek dating from 139 BCE and commemorating the Seleucid Greeks conquest of the Parthians..
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