Achaemenid_Empire_at_its_greatest_extent_according_to_Oxford_Atlas_of_World_History_2002

Tomb of Darius I Soldiers of the Empire with labels

The DNa inscription (abbreviation for ) is a famous Achaemenid royal inscription located in

Naqsh-e Rostam Naqsh-e Rostam (; , ) is an ancient archeological site and necropolis located about 13 km northwest of Persepolis, in Fars province, Iran. A collection of ancient Iranian rock reliefs are cut into the face of the mountain and the mount ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. It dates to , the time of

Darius the Great Darius I ( ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his death in 486 BCE. He ruled the empire at its territorial peak, when it included much of West A ...

, and appears in the top-left corner of the façade of his tomb.

Content

The inscription mentions the conquests of

and his various achievements during his life. Its exact date is not known, but it can be assumed to be from the last decade of his reign. Like several other inscriptions by Darius, the territories controlled by the Achaemenid Empire are clearly listed. The nationalities mentioned in the DNa inscription are otherwise vividly illustrated through the large sculptural relief on the upper registers of all the tombs, including that of Darius I, at Naqsh-e Rostam. One of the best preserved is that of

Xerxes I Xerxes I ( – August 465 BC), commonly known as Xerxes the Great, was a List of monarchs of Persia, Persian ruler who served as the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 486 BC until his assassination in 465 BC. He was ...

Script

The inscription is written in the

Old Persian cuneiform Old Persian cuneiform is a semi-alphabetic cuneiform, cuneiform script that was the primary script for Old Persian. Texts written in this cuneiform have been found in Iran (Persepolis, Susa, Hamadan, Kharg Island), Armenia, Romania (Gherla), Turk ...

, a nearly alphabetical, simple form of the ancient

cuneiform Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...

scripts (36 phonetic characters and 8 logograms), which was specially designed and used by the early Achaemenid rulers from the 6th century BCE.

Full inscription

The full inscriptions consists in two parts, the first one being related to a description of the lineage of Darius, as well as a list of the countries under his rule. The second part is more religious in nature and related to the cult of

Ahuramazda Ahura Mazda (; ; or , ),The former is the New Persian rendering of the Avestan form, while the latter derives from Middle Persian. also known as Horomazes (),, is the only creator deity and god of the sky in the ancient Iranian religion ...

Specific country names

The DNa inscription records the various territories under the rule of Darius I. File:DNa Inscription Sparda.jpg, The name for

Lydia Lydia (; ) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom situated in western Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. Later, it became an important province of the Achaemenid Empire and then the Roman Empire. Its capital was Sardis. At some point before 800 BC, ...

: ''Sparda'' ( 𐎿𐎱𐎼𐎭). File:DNA inscription Hidush.jpg, The name for

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

: ''Hidūš'' ( 𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁 in

) in the DNa inscription. File:DNa Inscription Yaunā takabarā.jpg, The presumed name for

Ancient Macedonians The Macedonians (, ) were an ancient tribe that lived on the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Vardar, Axios in the northeastern part of Geography of Greece#Mainland, mainland Greece. Essentially an Ancient Greece, ancient ...

: 𐎹𐎢𐎴𐎠𐏐𐎫𐎣𐎲𐎼𐎠, ''Yaunā takabarā'', "Ionians with shield-hats", referring to the

petasos A petasos () or petasus (Latin) is a broad brimmed hat of Thessalian origin worn by ancient Greeks, Thracians and Etruscans, often in combination with the chlamys cape. It was made of wool felt, leather, straw or animal skin. Women's versions ha ...

kausia The kausia or causia () was an ancient Macedonian flat hat. A purple kausia with a diadem was worn by the Macedonian kings as part of the royal costume.

.Darius I, DNa inscription, Line 29
/ref> File:DNA inscription Thatagush.jpg, The name for

Sattagydia Sattagydia (Old Persian: 𐎰𐎫𐎦𐎢𐏁 ''Thataguš'', country of the "hundred cows") was one of the easternmost regions of the Achaemenid Empire, part of its Seventh tax district according to Herodotus, along with Gandārae, Dadicae an ...

( 𐎰𐎫𐎦𐎢𐏁, ''Thataguš'') in the DNa inscription. File:DNa Inscription Yauna.jpg, The name for

Ionia Ionia ( ) was an ancient region encompassing the central part of the western coast of Anatolia. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionians who ...

n Greeks: '' Yauna'' ( 𐎹𐎢𐎴) File:DNA inscription Gadara.jpg, The name '' Gadāra'' ( 𐎥𐎭𐎠𐎼 in

) in the DNa inscription. File:DNa Inscription Arabāya.jpg, The name for

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

: ''Arabāya'' ( 𐎠𐎼𐎲𐎠𐎹) File:Aϑurā Assyria.jpg, The name for

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

: Ā/thūrā (𐎠/𐎰𐎢𐎼𐎠)

References

{{Template:Naqsh-e Rustam 5th-century BC inscriptions Achaemenid inscriptions Darius the Great Naqsh-e Rustam