Behistun Rock

   A huge boulder on which the Persian king Darius I (reigned 522-586 b.c.) carved some of the major records of his reign - the so-called Behistun Inscription.The rock was located near the village of Bagastana, on the road connecting Babylon with the old Median capital of Ecbatana. Darius's artisans carved the inscriptions, along with some human figures, on the face of a cliff at a height of some 328 feet (100m). The figures form a large tableau in which Darius exerts his superiority over nine defeated enemies, who are tied together by ropes around their necks. A tenth opponent lies beneath his feet. The text accompanying the figures is presented in three languages using cuneiform symbols - Old Persian, Babylonian, and Elam-ite, which the Achaemenid Persians used for administrative purposes. The words, largely deciphered by scholar Henry C. Rawlinson, tell how Darius was chosen by the great god Ahura-Mazda to overthrow the royal pretender Gaumata (who was impersonating Bardiya, son of King Cyrus II), and how, after assuming the throne, Darius defeated various rebels and enemies and captured their cities and lands. Part of the section describing his capture of Babylon reads:

   I marched against that [Babylonian ruler] Nidintu-Bêl, who called himself Nebuchadnezzar. The army of Nidintu-Bêl held the Tigris [River] and there it took its stand, and on account of the [high] waters [the river] was unfordable. Thereupon I supported my army on [inflated] skins, [while for] others I ... brought horses. Ahuramazda brought me help; by the grace of Ahuramazda we crossed the Tigris. Then did I utterly overthrow that host [army] of Nidintu-Bêl. . . . Then did Nidintu-Bêl flee with a few horsemen into Babylon. Thereupon I marched to Babylon. By the grace of Ahuramazda I took Babylon, and captured Nidintu-Bêl. Then I slew that Nidintu-Bêl in Babylon. (Behistun Inscription 18-20)

   See also: cuneiform; Darius I; Rawlinson, Henry C.