BISOTUN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE

The very high sculpted bas-reliefs on the edge of the cliff overlook the old royal path that connected Babylon, Iraq, to the old Ecbatane. They are among the most significant achievements of Persian art. The message of Darius I (522-486 BC), founder of Persepolis and the Persian Empire, addressed both his subjects and posterity. The most famous of them dates back to 520 B.C. and recounts his victory over the adversaries, decided to delight him the throne after the death of King Achaemenid II II in 522 BC.

Darius I appears standing, the foot on the Mage mage, his main enemy. His other rivals, eight rebel princes of different satrapies, and Skunkha, king of the Scythians identifiable with his sharp cap, are chained to each other. In the background, its allies and Darius dominate the whole of its immense stature, dominated solely by the symbol of the god Ahura Mazda. See at the bottom of the work the inscription in three languages (élamite, New-Babylonian and Old Persian) of these weapons. The disappearance of the wedge Persian old resulted from its gradual replacement by the Persian means. In studying these texts, an English officer - Rawlinson - will help in the th century to understand the Babylonian writing, like the French Champollion, who had percé the mystery of Egyptian hieroglyphs over ten years earlier.

Also to the right, protected by a canopy, on the two parathians bas-reliefs accompanied by inscriptions in Greek. The left, altered by a Persian inscription of the th century, is King Mithridates II (123-87 BC) standing in the face of the vanquished. The right-wing bas retrace the victory of Gotarzes II (38-51 AP. On his enemy Meherdate, his inauguration and the execution of a rite of burnt fire against the altar of the sacred fire fire.

Towards Hamdan (the old Ecbatane), on the route of the Millénaire road, which connected Asia to the Mediterranean, now deploys the large road axis Baghdad-Tehran.