The behistun inscription: Did you mean...?

Cuneiform is a system of writing first developed by the ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia c. 3500 BCE. It is considered the most significant among the many cultural contributions of the Sumerians and the greatest among those of the Sumerian...

Ancient Persian religion was a polytheistic faith which corresponds roughly to what is known today as ancient Persian mythology. It first developed in the region known as Greater Iran (the Caucasus, Central Asia, South Asia, and West Asia...

Anahita is the ancient Persian goddess of fertility, water, health and healing, and wisdom. Owing to her association with life-giving properties, she also came to be connected with ancient Persian warfare as soldiers would pray to her for...

Mithra is the Persian god of the rising sun, contracts, covenants, and friendship. He also oversaw the orderly change of the seasons, maintained cosmic order, and was responsible for bestowing divine grace on kings, legitimizing their rule...

Ancient Mesopotamian literature developed c. 2600 BCE after scribes, who had formerly been record keepers, began composing original works in the region of Sumer. The Sumerians invented writing c. 3500 BCE, refined the script c. 3200 BCE...

Fire Temples are places of worship in the Zoroastrian religion. They were known as ataskada (“house of fire”) by the Persians but are best known today by their Greek name pyratheia (fire temple). They are thought to have originated from the...

Artaphernes (active c. 513-492 BCE, also known as Artafarna) was the satrap of Lydia under the reign of his older brother Darius I (the Great, r. 522-486 BCE), monarch of the Achaemenid Empire (c. 550-330 BCE) which was founded by Cyrus II...

O Creator of the material world, at what distance from the holy man (should the place for the dead body be)?" Ahura Mazda replied: "Three paces from the holy man". (Vend. 8. 6-7) In September 2009 CE, one of my relatives suggested that we...

Dutch explorer Dirk Hartog (1580-1621) made landfall on the Eendracht on 25 October 1616 at Shark Bay on Australia’s west coast, 850 kilometres (528 miles) north of Perth. He nailed a pewter dish at Cape Inscription to announce he and his...

Persian literature derives from a long oral tradition of poetic storytelling. The first recorded example of this tradition is the Behistun Inscription of Darius I (the Great, r. 522-486 BCE), carved on a cliff-face c. 522 BCE during the period...