darius

Question 1

construction of Darius the king in the Behistun monument

Answer 1

shifts the dates of the rebellions to occur under his reign - makes his own rebellion one amongst many rather than a standout - legitimising impact - 9 kings in his first year

vahyazdata - false king amongst a list of false kings - diminishes the fact he successfully took over half of the empire

reoccurring theme of false identity - legitimises his own clearly incorrect claims by putting even worse claims around it - obscurring facts

repetition of ahuramazdas blessing - yes formulaic for monuments but still very frequent - sacred legitimisation

Question 2

manipulation of time in the behistun inscription and relief

Answer 2

death of Guamata and rebellion in sharp focus and described precisely

death of Cambyses suspended in time - less detailed despite him (darius) supposedly being on campaign alongside him

blurs when he died in relation to Darius’ rise to power

the repetition in the relief equally creates this suspension of time - all conquered peoples at the same place

Question 3

location of behistun inscription (original)

Answer 3

66m above the ground on a cliff face - north-west iran on the main highway between babylon and ecbatana

both highly visible and yet also difficult to discern - demonstration of power? for a godly audience?

Question 4

seal of darius I

Answer 4

cylinder seal

features ahuramazda
king as archer
doesn’t play with scale in usual way of persians (could be a space and size issue)
trilingual inscription of ‘i am darius, the king’ (in babylonian it translates to ‘great king’)

Question 5

portrait statue of Darius from Susa

Answer 5

tir-lingual inscription

darius is depicted in the egyptian figural style and in egyptian granite but his style of dress is persian

hieroglyphics much more threatening than the old persian text

Question 6

missing figures in the behistun inscription

Answer 6

the six - in most cases either just depicts Darius as the solution or an unnamed subordinate (no patronymic), that leas HIS army

one exception where he mentions 6 men who strove as his followers - 5/6 of names listed are corroborated by herodotus