Ancient site · Monument
Behistun inscription
Also known as Bisotun, Bisitun
A huge relief and inscription carved high on a cliff at Mount Behistun near Kermanshah in western Iran, on the orders of Darius the Great after he seized the Persian throne in 522 BCE. It tells his version of how he defeated rebels, in Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian.
Like the Rosetta Stone for Egyptian, its three matching texts let scholars in the 19th century decipher cuneiform writing. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- Dates
- carved c. 520 BCE
- Still standing
- Yes
- UNESCO World Heritage
- Yes
- Location
- 34.39° N, 47.44° E
How we know
It is itself a written source, carved for Darius the Great in three languages.
Nearby sites
- Susa c. 4200 BCE – 1218 CE
- Jarmo c. 7090–4950 BCE
- Chogha Zanbil c. 1250–645 BCE
- Babylon c. 2300 BCE – c. 1000 CE; first mentioned c. 2200 BCE
- Etemenanki, the ziggurat of Babylon origins perhaps 18th century BCE; rebuilt 7th–6th century BCE; demolished 323 BCE
- Tower of Babel (legend) Legend; no date can be given