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Ancient Texts

The Cyrus Cylinder - Translation

The Cyrus Cylinder was discovered in 1879 and rapidly became one of the most famous cuneiform texts, as it seemed to confirm that the Persian conqueror Cyrus the Great had allowed the Jews to return from their Babylonian Exile. Although this is a bit exaggerated (more...), it remains an interesting text....

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Avesta

Avesta: the holy book of Zoroastrianism, the Iranian religion that was founded by the legendary Bactrian prophet Zarathustra. Like the Bible, the Avesta (sometimes incorrectly called Zend-Avesta) is actually a library, containing different sacred texts which were written during a very long period in different languages. A difference with the Bible ...

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Daiva Inscription

Achaemend Royal Inscriptions: XPh ("Daiva Inscription") In ca.521, the Persian king Darius I the Great ordered that a new alphabet, the Aryan script, was to be developed. This was used for a small corpus of inscriptions, known as the Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions. One of the most important Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions is the "Daiva inscription". ...

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Persepolis fortification tablets

Persepolis fortification tablets: large collection of ancient Persian cuneiform administrative texts, written between 506 and 497 BCE. They are one of the most important sources for the study of the administration of the Achaemenid empire. Persepolis was one of the capitals of the ancient Persian empire, founded by king Darius I the Great in 518 BC...

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Ganjnameh Inscription

Ganjnameh is an ancient inscription, 5 km southwest of Hamedan, on the side of Alvand Mountain in Iran. The inscription, which has been carved in granite, is composed of two sections. One (on the left) ordered by Darius I (521-485 BC) and the other (on the right) ordered by Xerxes I (485-65 BC). Both sections, which have been carved in three ancien...

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The Cyrus Cylinder

Text. The Cyrus Cylinder, discovered in 1879 and now in the British Museum, is one of the most famous cuneiform texts, because it was once believed that it confirmed what the Bible says (Isaiah 44.23-45.8; Ezra 1.1-6, 6.1-5; 2 Chronicles 36.22-23): that in 539 BCE, the Persian conqueror Cyrus the Great had allowed the Jews to return from their Ba...

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Discovery of the First Old-Persian-Inscription

Discovery of the First Old-Persian-Inscription among the Persepolis' Fortification-Tablets. LONDON, (CAIS) -- Researchers at Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago for the first time have identified an Old-Persian (Aryan) inscription among the loaned Achaemenid-clay tablets, announced Abdolmajid Arfaee, an Iranian Archaeologist with ICHT ...

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Behistun Inscription

The Behistun Inscription is to cuneiform what the Rosetta Stone is to Egyptian hieroglyphs: the document most crucial in the decipherment of a previously lost script. It is located in the Kermanshah Province of Iran. The inscription includes three versions of the same text, written in three different cuneiform script languages: Old Persian, Elamite...

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Darius the Great and the Bisutun Inscription

J. Andrew McLaughlin. What is the significance of the association between Darius I ("The Great") of Persia and the inscription on the rock of Bisutun? Of what importance is this association to the reconstruction of Persian history? This inscription, carved 300 feet above the ground near Bisutun (a.k.a. Bisitun, Behistun, and Bahistun) in modern Ira...

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ACHAEMENID ROYAL INSCRIPTIONS FROM PERSEPOLIS

Oriental Institute - ACHAEMENID ROYAL INSCRIPTIONS FROM PERSEPOLIS By Matthew W. Stolper, Professor of Assyriology in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, and Gene Gragg, Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Director of the Oriental Institute The University of Chicago. From 550 BC on, Cyrus the Great and his successors, t...

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