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Ancient Texts

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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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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Darius' Suez Inscriptions

Darius I (Old Persian DÃ-rayavauÅ¡): king of ancient Persia, whose reign lasted from 522 to 486. He seized power after killing king GaumÃ-ta, fought a civil war (described in the Behistun inscription), and was finally able to refound the Achaemenid empire, which had been very loosely organized until then. Darius fought several foreign wars, which b...

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Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions

In ca.521, the Persian king Darius I the Great ordered that a new alphabet, which he called the Aryan script, was to be developed. It was used for a small corpus of inscriptions, known as the Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions. This page offers links to transcriptions, translations and pictures....

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Khark Stone Inscription

Tehran Times - Khark stone inscription may add five new words to ancient Persian TEHRAN -- It is possible that five words have been added to our knowledge of the ancient Persian language by the recent discovery of a stone inscription on Khark Island in the Persian Gulf, the Persian service of CHN reported on Tuesday. The cuneiform inscription, com...

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Old Persian Texts

The Achaemenian Kings left extensive cuneiform inscriptions in Old Persian dated roughly between 600 BCE and 300 BCE. They also left ruins which have been described as the most grandiose of the ancient world. While it is by no means certain that they were orthodox Zoroastrians, the majority opinion among scholars is that this is very likely. One of...

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