Babylonian language in the context of "Gandāra"

The Behistun Inscription (also Bisotun, Bisitun or Bisutun; Persian: بیستون, Old Persian: Bagastana, meaning "the place of god") is a multilingual Achaemenid royal inscription and large rock relief on a cliff at Mount Behistun in the Kermanshah Province of Iran, near the city of Kermanshah in western Iran, established by Darius the Great (r. 522–486 BC). It was important to the decipherment of cuneiform, as it is the longest known trilingual cuneiform inscription, written in Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian (a variety of Akkadian).

Authored by Darius the Great sometime between his coronation as king of the Persian Empire in the summer of 522 BC and his death in autumn of 486 BC, the inscription begins with a brief autobiography of Darius, including his ancestry and lineage. Later in the inscription, Darius provides a lengthy sequence of events following the death of Cambyses II in which he fought nineteen battles in a period of one year (ending in December 521 BC) to put down multiple rebellions throughout the Persian Empire. The inscription states in detail that the rebellions were orchestrated by several impostors and their co-conspirators in various cities throughout the empire, each of whom falsely proclaimed himself king during the upheaval following Cambyses II's death. Darius the Great proclaimed himself victorious in all battles during the period of upheaval, attributing his success to the "grace of Ahura Mazda".

The Xerxes I inscription at Van, also known as the XV Achaemenid royal inscription, is a trilingual cuneiform inscription of the Achaemenid King Xerxes I (r. 486–465 BC). It is located on the southern slope of a mountain adjacent to the Van Fortress, near Lake Van in present-day Turkey. When inscribed it was located in the Achaemenid province of Armenia. The inscription is inscribed on a smoothed section of the rock face near the fortress, approximately 20 metres (70 feet) above the ground. The niche was originally carved out by Xerxes' father, King Darius (r. 522–486 BC), but he left the surface blank.

Andrew R. George (born 1955) is a British Assyriologist and academic best known for his edition and translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Andrew George is Professor of Babylonian, Department of the Languages and Cultures of Near and Middle East at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Shulmanu or Shulman (Assyrian Akkadian: Salmānu, Babylonian Akkadian: Šulmānu) was an ancient Mesopotamian deity. The deity is only ever recorded as having been worshipped by the ancient Assyrians, in contrast to many other deities of the Mesopotamian pantheon which were more universal, and was particularly popular in the Middle Assyrian period. The deity's name was incorporated into the name Shalmaneser, assumed as a regnal name by five Assyrian kings from Shalmaneser I (r. 1274–1245 BC) to Shalmaneser V (r. 727–722 BC). The literal translation of the name Salmānu is "friendly one"; it is possible that Shulmanu was a friendly manifestation of the Assyrian national deity Ashur.

Akkadian literature is the ancient literature written in the East Semitic Akkadian language (Assyrian and Babylonian dialects) in Mesopotamia (Akkad, Assyria, and Babylonia) during the period spanning the Middle Bronze Age to the Iron Age (roughly the 25th to 4th centuries BC).

Drawing on the traditions of Sumerian literature, the Akkadians, Assyrians, and Babylonians compiled a substantial textual tradition of mythological narrative, legal texts, scientific works, letters and other literary forms. Conversely, Akkadian also influenced Sumerian literature.