Darius Carves His Own Truth

The Behistun Inscription is carved about 100 meters up a sheer cliff in modern Iran. It shows Darius standing over chained rebels while Ahura Mazda hovers overhead. The text, in Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian, tells the story entirely from Darius's perspective.

The inscription was placed where it could be seen but not easily reached, propaganda designed to be permanent and impossible to vandalize. Written in three languages, it became the Rosetta Stone of cuneiform script.