language

Question 1

translations present on the behistun inscription

Answer 1

elomite, then babylonian added and finally old persian

all translations are different eg: babylonian includes the numbers of dead and substitutes the figure or ahuramazda out

ending of the old persian inscription - addition - invented as it goes? language never recorded before this monument (possibly a purely oral language before this and writing conventions thus hard to be established)

Question 2

languages of royal inscriptions

Answer 2

generally old persian, elamite and. akkadian - none of which are related to eachother

quadralingual when egypt added to empire

Question 3

background on akkadian

Answer 3

semetic language spoken in mesopotamia, written in a cuneiform script

generally used for administrative purposes and royal inscriptions before the times of the persians (ie: neo-assyrian and babylonian)

other than cyrus cylinder which has very good akkadian - other inscriptions don’t seem to write in this language naturally or to culturally adapt - probably non-native speakers

Question 4

background on elamite

Answer 4

written in adapted form of cuneiform - used in south-western iran

persians were in this region for a long time before the persian state - not related to old persian but utilised quite broadly