Latest / The Achaemenid Empire: Persia's Golden Age of Power — Fexingo History / The Behistun Inscription: Darius's Great Propaganda
Transcript
- Lucas: So last time we talked about the Peace of Antalcidas and how Persia basically played kingmaker over Greece. That was Artaxerxes II, a later Achaemenid king. But today I want to go back to the very beginning of the dynasty, or at least to the guy who really cemented it: Darius the Great. Luna: We've touched on Darius in a few episodes — the Scythian campaign, the economy. But what fresh angle is there? Lucas: Today I want to look at one specific object, arguably the most important single artifact from the entire Achaemenid period. I'm talking about the Behistun Inscription. It's a massive rock relief carved into a cliff face in what is now western Iran, near the town of Kermanshah. Lucas: Darius had it carved around 520 BCE, just a couple years after he took the throne. And it's huge — the inscription itself is about 15 meters high by 25 meters wide, and the figure of Darius is over 1.8 meters tall — life-sized. It's up on a cliff that was deliberately made inaccessible; the inscription was meant to be seen from afar, not read up close. Luna: So it's a giant billboard for his legitimacy. But what does it actually say? Lucas: That's the incredible part. It's written in three languages — Old Persian, Elamite, and Akkadian — side by side. And it tells the story of how Darius came to power after the death of Cambyses II. According to Darius, a Magian named Gaumata pretended to be Cambyses' brother Bardiya and seized the throne. Darius, with the help of six other Persian nobles, killed Gaumata and then crushed a series of rebellions that erupted across the empire. Lucas: The relief shows Darius with his foot on the chest of Gaumata, who lies on the ground, and nine bound kings stand in front of him, each representing a rebel leader that Darius defeated. Above them all floats the symbol of Ahura Mazda, the Zoroastrian supreme god. Luna: Wait — nine kings? That's a lot of rebellions. How much of that is true, and how much is propaganda? Lucas: Great question. The short answer is: we don't know for sure. The inscription is our main source for this period, but it's obviously biased. For example, Darius calls Gaumata a 'Magian' — that's a Zoroastrian priestly class — which might be a way to discredit him. And the speed with which Darius claims to have defeated all these rebellions seems almost too neat. It's very likely he exaggerated or even fabricated some details to make his rule look predestined. Lucas: But here's why the Behistun Inscription is so crucial: it's the key that unlocked cuneiform writing. In the 19th century, a British army officer named Henry Rawlinson managed to copy the inscription, climbing the cliff face with ropes and ladders. He then used the trilingual text, especially the known Old Persian names, to start deciphering the script. It was essentially the Rosetta Stone for cuneiform. Luna: That's amazing. So without Darius's propaganda, we might not be able to read any of the other cuneiform texts from Mesopotamia? Lucas: Exactly. Rawlinson's work, published in the 1840s and 50s, opened up the entire literary tradition of ancient Assyria, Babylonia, and Persia. The inscription itself is over 400 lines of text in Old Persian alone. And because it's trilingual, it allowed scholars to cross-reference words and grammar. It's hard to overstate its importance. Lucas: And the location itself is fascinating. The cliff is at a place called Bagastana in Old Persian, meaning 'place where the gods dwell'. The Greek historians later called it Behistun. It was on the main road from Babylon to Ecbatana, one of the royal highways. So literally everyone traveling through would see this massive relief and get the message: Darius is the legitimate king, chosen by Ahura Mazda. Luna: It's like a giant Instagram post, but carved in stone. I love that the Persians were already mastering propaganda this early. Lucas: Yeah, and it's not just a political statement. The inscription also contains Darius's famous declaration: 'I am Darius the Great King, King of Kings, King of countries containing all kinds of men, King in this great earth far and wide.' That phrase 'King of Kings' becomes a standard title for Persian monarchs from then on. Lucas: And he also emphasizes that he rules by the favor of Ahura Mazda. This intertwining of state and religion is a hallmark of Achaemenid ideology. Every time a rebellion is crushed, Darius says it was because Ahura Mazda brought him aid. So the inscription is as much a theological document as a historical one. Luna: I'm curious — the inscription was up on a cliff, but who actually read it? I mean, only a few scribes could read any of those scripts. Lucas: That's a really good point. The literacy rate was tiny. But the visual message — Darius standing over Gaumata, the bound rebels, the winged symbol of Ahura Mazda — that would be understood by everyone, regardless of language. And for the literate elite, scribes would have been able to read the text aloud. Also, the inscription was probably accompanied by oral tradition: travelers would hear the story from locals or from royal heralds posted along the road. Lucas: So it's multi-layered propaganda. The illiterate get the picture, the literate get the text, and the whole thing reinforces Darius's divine right to rule. It's a masterpiece of political communication. Luna: It really is. And it's still there today, isn't it? Can people visit it? Lucas: Yes, it's a UNESCO World Heritage site now. You can drive to the base of the cliff, though there's a fence to protect it from vandals. It's remarkably well preserved because it's been sheltered from rain by a natural overhang. And of course, it's been damaged over the centuries — some figures were defaced during later periods, especially the Islamic era when human images were considered idolatrous — but the inscriptions are mostly intact. Lucas: You know, speaking of things that have survived and are worth preserving — this show itself is a labor of love. We don't run ads, which means it's entirely supported by listeners who find value in it. If you've been enjoying these deep dives into Achaemenid history, and if today's episode was worth a coffee to you, there's a link on the show page: buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, just a way to keep this going ad-free. Luna: Yeah, it's a small gesture that really adds up. And we're grateful for every contribution. Lucas: Alright, back to the cliff. So the Behistun Inscription also gives us one of the earliest examples of the concept of 'the lie' as a political crime. Darius repeatedly calls his enemies 'the ones who lied' — he says Gaumata lied about being Bardiya, and the rebel kings lied when they claimed kingship. This idea of 'the Lie' becomes a central theme in Zoroastrian ethics, where truth and lie are cosmic forces. Luna: So he's framing his enemies as not just political opponents, but as fundamentally evil. That's powerful rhetoric. Lucas: Exactly. And it's not just rhetoric. Darius's successors, especially Xerxes, also used this language. In fact, Xerxes' own inscription at Persepolis says 'By the favor of Ahura Mazda, I destroyed that temple of the daivas and proclaimed: the daivas shall not be worshipped.' So the fight against the lie becomes a holy war. Lucas: Another cool detail: the inscription lists the provinces of the empire — 23 of them, from India to Egypt. This is one of the earliest surviving lists of the satrapies, the administrative divisions of the Achaemenid Empire. So it's also a geographic and political document. Luna: That must have been invaluable for historians trying to map out the extent of the empire. Lucas: Absolutely. And it's consistent with other sources like the Persepolis fortification tablets. But the Behistun Inscription is unique in that it's a single, monumental statement from the king himself, not a bureaucratic record. It's the voice of Darius, projecting his authority across time. Lucas: Now, one controversy: some scholars argue that the story of Gaumata might be a complete fabrication. There's evidence that Cambyses actually killed his brother Bardiya before his own death, and that the real Bardiya was never impersonated — that Darius simply invented the whole Gaumata story to justify his own coup. We'll never know for sure, but it's a reminder to read ancient sources critically. Luna: So even the 'truth' on the rock might be a lie. That's poetic. Lucas: It is. And it makes the inscription all the more fascinating as a historical artifact. It tells us not just what happened, but what Darius wanted people to believe happened. And that's arguably more revealing about the nature of power. Lucas: We should also mention that the Behistun Inscription was not the only one of its kind. Darius had similar, smaller inscriptions at Persepolis and Naqsh-e Rostam. But none have the scale and dramatic narrative of Behistun. It's the grandest piece of Achaemenid propaganda that survives. Luna: I'm glad we focused on this. It's such a concrete thing you can picture, and it ties together language, religion, politics, and art. Lucas: Exactly. And it's a reminder that the Achaemenid Empire was not just about conquest and administration, but also about creating a lasting image of royal power. The Behistun Inscription is that image, carved into the living rock of Iran. Next time, we can talk about one of the rebel kings — maybe Phraortes the Mede, or the Sagartian rebel — and what their stories tell us about the diversity of the empire. Luna: I'd love that. There's always more to dig into with Persia.