In the Behistun Inscription, Darius justifies his assumption of power by claiming that the crushed rebellions were orchestrated by several impostors and their co-conspirators in various cities throughout the empire, each of whom falsely proclaimed kinghood during the upheaval following Cyrus's death. Darius claims himself to be the true ruler of the Persion Empire through the "grace of Ahura Mazda."
darius I darius I
Darius son of Hystaspes.
The mother to King Darius one was called Rhodugune.
There were three kings named Darius. Which one do you mean?
There is a Biblical Darius, "Darius the Mede", who assumes the throne of Belshazzar after Daniel deciphers the predictions of Belshazzar's demise. (Book of Daniel) * This is one source for the English idiom "reading the handwriting on the wall", which means seeing a future consequence. Three kings of Persia were named Darius, the first being "Darius the Great" (549-486 BC) and the other two later successors, Darius II (aka Ochus, king 423-404 BC) and Darius III (aka Artashata 380-330 BC).
The Behistun Inscription was discovered in 1835 by a British officer named Henry Rawlinson in present-day Iran. It was carved on a cliff at Mount Behistun and dates back to the Persian Empire of King Darius the Great around 520 BC.
Behistun Inspription
Darius the Great, a Persian king, provided the first clue to unlocking cuneiform when he had a trilingual inscription created at the Behistun Rock. This inscription contains the same text in three different languages, including Old Persian cuneiform, Elamite, and Akkadian, which helped scholars decipher the previously unreadable script.
In Antiquity, Bagastâna, which means 'place where the gods dwell', was the name of a village and a remarkable, isolated rock along the road that connected the capitals of Babylonia and Media, Babylon and Ecbatana where The Behistun inscription was carved. The famous Behistun inscription was engraved on a cliff about 100 meters off the ground. Darius tells us how the supreme gods Ahuramazda choose him to dethrone a usurper named Gaumâta, how he set out to quell several revolts, and how he defeated his foreign enemies. - The monument consists of four parts: - A large relief depicting king Darius, his bow carrier Intaphrenes and his lance carrier Gobryas. Darius overlooks nine representatives of conquered peoples, their necks tied. A tenth figure, badly damaged, is lying under the king's feet. Above these thirteen people is a representation of the supreme god Ahuramazda. This relief is based on older monuments, further along the road, at Sar-e Pol-e Zahab. Underneath is a panel with a cuneiform text in Old Persian, telling the story of the king's conquests. The text consists of four columns and an appendix and has a total length of about 515 lines. Another panel is telling more or less the same story in Babylonian. A third panel with the same text in Elamite language. This translation of the Persian text has a length of 650 lines.
Herodotus recorded his Histories in Greek. Based on discrepancies between Herodotus's account of Darius' rise to power as apposed to what is written in the Behistun Inscription (that are not differences in events but in names and relations) , it is plausible that he was not proficient or fluent in Old Persian, Elamite, or Babylonian; the three languages the Inscription was written in.
Henry Rawlinson, Deciphered Cuneiform > WebsiteSir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, 1st Baronet GCB was an English soldier, diplomat and orientalist. He is sometimes referred to as the "Father of Assyriology." Knowledge of cuneiform was lost until 1835 when Henry Rawlinson, a British East India Company army officer, found the Behistun inscriptions in Persia. Carved in the reign of King Darius of Persia (522 BC-486 BC), they consisted of identical texts in the three official languages of the empire: Old Persian, Babylonian, and Elamite. The Behistun inscription was to the decipherment of cuneiform what the Rosetta Stone was to the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs.
- Darius murdered Gaumata and in his own person restored the royal line. - Though Darius was an excellent soldier and extended his empire east, north, and into Europe, he saw himself as an organizer and lawgiver rather than as a mere conqueror. - Darius established a system of well-maintained all-weather roads and a royal courier system with post-houses and regular relays of horses and riders in Persia. - Darius, himself a firm supporter of Ahura Mazda, the Zoroastrian god, said in the Behistun inscription that Ahura Mazda "gave" him his kingdoms, and with him Zoroastrianism became something like the national religion of the Persians. For the empire, however, he continued Cyrus's policy of toleration of local cults, and this mildness became and remained, except perhaps under Xerxes, a distinctive feature of Persian rule.\ - Darius I "the Great" (549-486 BCE) was a king of Persia who ruled for 35 years, from September 522 BCE to October 486 BCE. He was the third Achaemenian king and was considered by many to be "the greatest of the Achaemenian kings." During his reign, Darius completed the work of his predecessors, and not only did he "hold together the empire," but he also extended it in all directions. Thus, with Darius as Great King, Achaemenian Persia became the largest empire in the world.
Darius is from Darius
Ang Behistun Rock ay isang inskripsyon na matatagpuan sa Iran, kung saan nagpapakita ng mga mensahe sa tatlong wika: Old Persian, Elamite, at Babylonian. Pinatayo ito ni Darius I ng Persia upang ipakita ang kanyang tagumpay sa mga laban at upang ipakalat ang kanyang kaharian. Ito ay mahalagang tala ng kasaysayan na nagpapakita ng interaksyon ng mga sibilisasyon noong panahon ng sinaunang Persia.
The name Darius can be spelled as Darius, Dariush, Daryoush, or Dariyush.
Darius I died in -486.
Darius I was born in -550.