نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
عنوان مقاله English
نویسنده English
Darius I (486-522 BC) made extensive changes in many fields, so that his successors moved and ruled in the shadow of Darius's achievements and foundations to a large extent. One of the key points of Darius is the inscription of his tomb in Naqsh-e Rustam (DNb inscription), which is unique compared to the other kings of the Near East and seems to have come from a different intellectual and cultural origin and in a way characterizes the character of Darius compared to other kings. Despite the valuable studies, the various existential aspects of this inscription have not been well studied and identified. The current research tries to provide a suitable field for understanding and interpreting the meaning and why of this stone inscription by historical-analytical method, while removing these shortcomings, and in this way, it has reached new results. According to the findings of the research, although the listed personality traits of Dariush have played a major role in the formation of this inscription, the data and analysis presented as well as the universal and funerary nature of the inscription show that the funerary texts and social laws of Egypt have a clear influence on writing and literature this inscription.
Keywords: Darius I, tomb of Darius I, inscriptions of Darius I, Naqsh- Rustam.
Introduction
The Achaemenid made extensive and profound changes in the Iranian plateau. Cyrus, the founder of empire and his successor Cambyses, was involved in the conquest of the country and did not have much opportunity to modernize the various structures of the empire, in accordance with the new situation, and it was Darius the Great (521-486 BC) who in many fields (political, economic, civil, artistic and cultural) made wide and deep changes. One of the remarkable and surprising points of Darius is inscription of his tomb in Naqsh-e Rustam (DNb), that is unique compared to the inscriptions of other kings of the Near East and seems to have come from a different intellectual and cultural origin and in a way reflects the personality of Darius. The importance of this inscription and its identification have been known to researchers since the past, however, there are basic questions in this connection; including what is the nature of this inscription? And the intellectual and cultural contexts and factors affecting its writing? The data and information of this research have been collected in a library manner and the research method is historical-analytical and for comparable examples, the method of comparative studies has also been used.
Discussion
Four rock tombs have been created on the rock wall of Naqsh- Rustam, and only the tomb of Darius can be reliably identified due to the presence of detailed inscriptions. According to the historical evidence, Dariush's tomb was built during his lifetime, and Dariush himself was involved and supervised in the design, construction, and the content of inscriptions. There are inscriptions on the forehead of the tomb facade and the middle space of the colonnades of portico, which introduce Darius and the territory, states and state representatives. The Trilingual inscription DNb is made on the left side of the entrance and between the columns of the portico.
It seems that the tomb inscription of Darius was made in different languages and in different ways. Two inscriptions from the period of Xerxes and Darius II contain parts of this inscription.
The tomb inscription of Darius I is unparalleled in the ancient Near East. The previous kings of Babylon and Assyria only knew the "glory of terror" and their weapons and considered their nation as slaves. In Assyrian inscriptions, people were depicted as sheep and kings were their shepherds (Graysom, 2002/a: 194).
Examining the contexts and reasons for the formation and writing of Dariush's epitaph is very important. Based on the investigations, it seems that Darius I's worldview and personality traits and his system-giving position in the Achaemenid Empire played the main role and Egyptian experiences and traditions played a secondary role.
Dariush undoubtedly had a high genius and the concepts reflected in his inscription from wherever he was influenced, were certainly approved and chosen by Dariush and are a reflection of his thoughts and actions, and historical and archaeological evidence supports such a claim. One of Dariush's distinctive characteristics that definitely influenced the writing of this text is his obvious inclinations of monotheism, systematization, founding and leading, freedom and tolerance, belligerence.
Monotheism: Darius's various inscriptions and his numerous references to Ahura Mazdā and the main role of this god in the creation of the universe, especially in relation to Darius, are full of monotheism, which is not seen in any of the other Achaemenid kings, as well as the kings of Assyria, Babylon, and Elam. In the Biston inscription, against the 63 times that the name of Ahura Mazdā is mentioned, only one time, and that too in passing and subordinate, other gods that existed were mentioned. Systematization: One of the characteristic features of Darius is organizing the empire and its various structures, as well as placing people in their true positions, which he refers to in his inscriptions. After the reign of Cambyses, Darius gave a new life to the imperial body with his extraordinary measures and gave its various structures a new order which in many cases had no precedent before. Founding and being a leader: implementing large construction projects in Susa, Persepolis, Pasargadea, Naqsh- Rustam, and other areas, minting coins and inventing special imperial script, being a leader in architectural and artistic designs in a way that later kings only continued the special style of Darius became The founding of Persepolis and its decoration with a special style of relief motifs and special themes is one of Dariush's important achievements, which continued until the end of the Achaemenid period. Freedom, tolerance: Following the tradition of Cyrus, Dariush also gave different cultural, religious and political freedoms to different ethnic groups. Just like Cyrus, who was called the chosen one of Marduk God in Babylon, Darius was also considered the legitimate successor of the pharaohs and the chosen one of the Egyptian gods in Egypt, and he was respected. Powerful warrior: One of Dariush's outstanding characteristics is his combativeness and impressive military successes, which Darius himself claimed in the Biston and tomb inscriptions, and historical sources also confirm it. Darius has been very successful in the war. When he came to power and suppressed the rebellions, his victories were so wide and numerous and fast that he found it unbelievable to express it. A similar image of Darius is presented in Greek sources.
Along with Dariush's personality and beliefs, which plays the main role in the formation of this inscription, it seems that ancient Egyptian texts had a clear influence on the writing and formatting of Dariush's inscription. The background of Dariush's familiarity with ancient Egyptian texts, apparently through his Egyptian advisor, and Darius' order to compile the Egyptian judicial traditions, Darius sent Egyptian advisor, who was in Susa, to Egypt in 518 BC, and by the envoy who accompanied him to the governor of Egypt, sent the mission of military leaders, priests, and Egyptian writers to collect all the laws of the country of Egypt that existed before the domination of the Persians and to codify them. Also, according to the writings of Diodorus (I:95), when Darius was in Egypt, he participated in the gathering of priests and, while overseeing the compilation of Egyptian laws, along with them, he investigated religious issues and researched the historical events of the content of holy books.
Among the literary works left from ancient Egypt, there are a significant number of texts related to the dead, which researchers have collected under the title "The Book of the Dead".
Conclusion
In the analysis of the meaning and the context of its formation of Dariush's tombstone inscription, it can be said that this inscription is not to present the ritual of statehood which some researchers emphasized, but rather it was prepared and edited with the worldview and getting the consent of Ahura Mazdā and it is a kind of political-moral testament of Dariush. This category of texts should be analyzed in the form of death literature. The contrast that can be seen between the inscription of Biston and the inscription of the tomb of Darius is also due to the different nature of these two inscriptions.
In relation to the fields and important influential factors, Dariush's characteristic features have had the greatest impact on the writing of this inscription. The later Achaemenid kings, despite copying the structure of Darius' tomb (Schmidt, 1970) and knowing about its inscription (Tavernier, 2001), did not write an inscription on their tomb. Along with the personality traits of Darius, the burial texts and social laws of Egypt have had a clear impact on the writing of this inscription and the literature used.
The Achaemenians accepted a lot of influences from ancient Greece in the field of architecture, arts and techniques, but considering the difference in worldview and the different way of governing, it is unlikely that Greek ethics and laws were used as a model, and if common themes such as wisdom, justice, moderation, self-control and Courage can be seen between this inscription and the Greek texts, it is due to the universality of these concepts. Other concepts such as truth, happiness, justice and the opposition of good and evil are also rooted in Zoroastrian beliefs, which Darius most likely believed in.