Bisotun
Bisotun is located along the ancient trade route linking the Iranian high plateau with Mesopotamia and features remains from the prehistoric times to the Median, Achaemenid, Sassanian, and Ilkhanid periods. The principal monument of this archaeological site is the bas-relief and cuneiform inscription ordered by Darius I, The Great, when he rose to the throne of the Persian Empire, 521 BC. The bas-relief portrays Darius holding a bow, as a sign of sovereignty, and treading on the chest of a figure who lies on his back before him. According to legend, the figure represents Gaumata, the Median Magus and pretender to the throne whose assassination led to Darius’s rise to power. Below and around the bas-reliefs, there are ca. 1,200 lines of inscriptions telling the story of the battles Darius waged in 521-520 BC against the governors who attempted to take apart the Empire founded by Cyrus. The inscription is written in three languages. The oldest is an Elamite text referring to legends describing the king and the rebellions. This is followed by a Babylonian version of similar legends. The last phase of the inscription is particularly important, as it is here that Darius introduced for the first time the Old Persian version of his res gestae (things done). This is the only known monumental text of the Achaemenids to document the re-establishment of the Empire by Darius I. It also bears witness to the interchange of influences in the development of monumental art and writing in the region of the Persian Empire. There are also remains from the Median period (8th to 7th centuries B.C.) as well as from the Achaemenid (6th to 4th centuries B.C.) and post-Achaemenid periods.
Bisotun is located along the ancient trade route linking the Iranian high plateau with Mesopotamia and features remains from the prehistoric times to the Median, Achaemenid, Sassanian, and Ilkhanid periods. The principal monument of this archaeological site is the bas-relief and cuneiform inscription ordered by Darius I, The Great, when he rose to the throne of the Persian Empire, 521 BC. The bas-relief portrays Darius holding a bow, as a sign of sovereignty, and treading on the chest of a figure who lies on his back before him. According to legend, the figure represents Gaumata, the Median Magus and pretender to the throne whose assassination led to Darius’s rise to power. Below and around the bas-reliefs, there are ca. 1,200 lines of inscriptions telling the story of the battles Darius waged in 521-520 BC against the governors who attempted to take apart the Empire founded by Cyrus. The inscription is written in three languages. The oldest is an Elamite text referring to legends describing the king and the rebellions. This is followed by a Babylonian version of similar legends. The last phase of the inscription is particularly important, as it is here that Darius introduced for the first time the Old Persian version of his res gestae (things done). This is the only known monumental text of the Achaemenids to document the re-establishment of the Empire by Darius I. It also bears witness to the interchange of influences in the development of monumental art and writing in the region of the Persian Empire. There are also remains from the Median period (8th to 7th centuries B.C.) as well as from the Achaemenid (6th to 4th centuries B.C.) and post-Achaemenid periods.
Historical Description
[In French only]
We can deduce from the Greek translation Bagistanon, "Mount Bagistanon" in Diodorus of Sicily, the original form in Old Persian name Bagistana Bisotun was the "seat of the gods." According to archaeological discoveries, the site of Bisotun was occupied long before the time of the Achaemenids. The Paleolithic caves attest indeed the occupation of the valley and the site from the tenth millennium BC. AD The site was a strategic point for thousands of years and especially in the early first millennium BC. AD, when communication with Mesopotamia increased, passing by Mount Bisotun. A Median fortress was probably built here in the seventh century BC. AD to control access. Darius I the Great had sculpted bas-reliefs and inscriptions on the rock face of the mountain in 521 BC. AD The site was regularly occupied since that time to the Middle Ages.
It seems that the origins of Darius monument fell into oblivion after the end of the Achaemenid Empire in 330 BC. AD, so Diodorus, writing on the subject two centuries later, was attributed to the legendary Queen Semiramis. Twelve centuries later, Yaqut noted the eroded relief of the rider assigned to the Parthian period. Europeans began to visit from the sixteenth century. In 1734 he was visited by the French Jean Otter and other French travelers Olivier (1756-1814), Jaubert (1779-1847) and Gardanne (1765-1822). J. Kinneir visited the site in 1810, but could not climb the cliff. In 1818, R. Ker Porter, who had unsuccessfully tried to climb the rock face of the mountain, wrote that the reliefs were to be the work of Shalmaneser king. Finally, in 1837-1838, Major Henry Rawlinson decided to copy the cuneiform inscriptions and reliefs to decipher: in 1847, the Old Persian was completely sequenced. Edward Hincks, Irish priest and explorer rival Rawlinson, also brought him a significant contribution to deciphering the text.
Source: UNESCO/CLT/WHC
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