Behistun Inscription

Kermanshah Province, Iran

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The Behistun Inscription, in Kermanshah Province, Iran, is a large trilingual rock relief carved high on Mount Behistun along an ancient trade route between Mesopotamia and the Iranian plateau. Created by the Persian king Darius I the Great between 522 and 486 BCE, it records his rise to power, how he crushed rebellions after the deaths of Cyrus and Cambyses II, and how he reorganized the empire into provinces, all attributed to the favor of the god Ahuramazda. The inscription is written in three cuneiform scripts—Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian—making it a key “Rosetta Stone” for deciphering cuneiform, much as the Rosetta Stone did for Egyptian hieroglyphs. The site also includes a life‑sized bas‑relief showing Darius standing over a fallen usurper, with attendants and bound prisoners, and UNESCO lists the whole Bisotun complex as a World Heritage site for its historical, linguistic, and artistic importance.