Behistun inscription in the context of "Kermanshah"

Epigraphy (from Ancient Greek ἐπιγραφή (epigraphḗ) 'inscription') is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the writing and the writers. Specifically excluded from epigraphy are the historical significance of an epigraph as a document and the artistic value of a literary composition. A person using the methods of epigraphy is called an epigrapher or epigraphist. For example, the Behistun inscription is an official document of the Achaemenid Empire engraved on native rock at a location in Iran. Epigraphists are responsible for reconstructing, translating, and dating the trilingual inscription and finding any relevant circumstances. It is the work of historians, however, to determine and interpret the events recorded by the inscription as document. Often, epigraphy and history are competences practised by the same person. Epigraphy is a primary tool of archaeology when dealing with literate cultures. The US Library of Congress classifies epigraphy as one of the auxiliary sciences of history. Epigraphy also helps identify a forgery: epigraphic evidence formed part of the discussion concerning the James Ossuary.

An epigraph (not to be confused with epigram) is any sort of text, from a single grapheme (such as marks on a pot that abbreviate the name of the merchant who shipped commodities in the pot) to a lengthy document (such as a treatise, a work of literature, or a hagiographic inscription). Epigraphy overlaps other competences such as numismatics or palaeography. When compared to books, most inscriptions are short. The media and the forms of the graphemes are diverse: engravings in stone or metal, scratches on rock, impressions in wax, embossing on cast metal, cameo or intaglio on precious stones, painting on ceramic or in fresco. Typically the material is durable, but the durability might be an accident of circumstance, such as the baking of a clay tablet in a conflagration.

The Achaemenid royal inscriptions are the surviving inscriptions in cuneiform script from the Achaemenid Empire, dating from the 6th to 4th century BCE (reigns of Cyrus II to Artaxerxes III). These inscriptions are primary sources for the history of the empire, along with archaeological evidence and the administrative archives of Persepolis. However, scholars are reliant on Greek sources (such as Herodotus) to reconstruct much of Achaemenid history.

The Achaemenid royal inscriptions differ from earlier Assyrian and Babylonian inscriptions in their multilingualism, rhetorical style and their structure. The inscriptions are mostly trilingual – in Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian, which use two separate scripts (Babylonian and Elamite use variants of the same cuneiform). When they appear together, the privileged position is usually occupied by the Old Persian inscription: at the top when arranged vertically, and in the middle when arranged horizontally.

Arsames (Old Persian: 𐎠𐎼𐏁𐎠𐎶 Aršāma, modern Persian:،آرسام، آرشام‎ Arshām, Greek: Ἀρσάμης) was the son of Ariaramnes and the grandfather of Darius I. He was traditionally claimed to have briefly been king of Persia during the Achaemenid dynasty, and to have given up the throne and declared loyalty to his relative Cyrus II of Persia before retiring to his family estate in the Persian heartland of Parsa, living there peacefully for the rest of his life, perhaps nominally exercising the duties of a "lesser king" under the authority of the "Great King". However, the claim that he or his son were ever kings is rejected by historians such as Pierre Briant. In an inscription allegedly found in Hamadan he is called "king of Persia", but the document is widely argued to be a forgery, either modern or ancient. Another attestation of his reign is the Behistun Inscription, where his grandson Darius I lists him among his ancestors, although he does not explicitly mention him as being one of the anonymous eight kings whom he claims preceded him.

Arsames was the father of Hystaspes (satrap of Parthia), Pharnaces (satrap of Phrygia) and Megabates (a general). Arsames lived to see his grandson, Darius I, become the Great King of the Persian Empire, though he died during his reign. Arsames and his son Hystaspes are noted as being alive in 522 BC, indicating that he had survived well into old age.

Hystaspes (Old Persian: 𐎻𐏁𐎫𐎠𐎿𐎱 Vištāspa; Ancient Greek: Ὑστάσπης Hustáspēs) or Guštāsp (Persian: گشتاسپ Guštāsp) (fl. 550 BC), was a Persian satrap of Bactria and Persis. He was the father of Darius I, king of the Achaemenid Empire, and Artabanus, who was a trusted advisor to both his brother Darius as well as Darius's son and successor, Xerxes I.

The son of Arsames, Hystaspes was a member of the Persian royal house of the Achaemenids. He was satrap of Persis under Cambyses II, and probably under his second cousin Cyrus the Great also. He accompanied Cyrus on his expedition against the Massagetae. However, he was sent back to Persis to keep watch over his eldest son, Darius, whom Cyrus, after a dream, suspected of considering treason.

Bactria (Old Persian: 𐎲𐎠𐎧𐎫𐎼𐎡𐏁 Bāxtriš) was a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire. It was conquered between 545–540 BC by Cyrus the Great.

Bactria is attested in 520 BC at the Behistun inscription. Bactria was a special satrapy in that it was ruled by a crown prince or an intended heir. The capital of Bactria was Bactra, and the region also sometimes included Sogdia. During the reign of Darius the Great, the Bactrians and the Aeglians were placed in one tax district, which was supposed to pay 360 talents every year. Greeks communities and language became common in the area since the reign of Darius I, when the inhabitants of the Greek city of Barca, in Cyrenaica, were deported to Bactria for refusing to surrender assassins. Other exiled Greeks, most of them prisoners of war, were deported to Bactria up until the arrival of Alexander the Great in 328 BC. These settlers later established the hellenistic Kingdom of Bactria.

Gobryas (Ancient Greek: Γοβρύας; Old Persian: 𐎥𐎢𐎲𐎽𐎢𐎺 g-u-b-ru-u-v, reads as Gaub(a)ruva?; Elamite: Kambarma) was father of Mardonius and lance-bearer of Darius I.

Gobryas was one of the six helpers of Darius in killing Gaumāta in September 522 BC mentioned by Herodotus. He was appointed as Darius' lance carrier (arštibara). He is represented on the Behistun inscription and on Darius' tomb in Naqsh-e Rustam, as:

Artabanus was a son of Hystaspes, and therefore brother of Darius I as well as uncle of Xerxes I.

Artabanus had a reputation for great wisdom. Artabanus is known to have advised his brother Darius I against the Achaemenid campaign against the Scythians, saying that the Scythians were "impossible to deal with", but he wasn't heard, and the invasion proceeded, but was ultimately unsuccessful as Artabanus had predicted.