AN ACHAEMENID ROYAL INSCRIPTION: THE TEXT OF PARAGRAPH 13

OF THE ARAMAIC VERSION OF THE BISITUN INSCRIPTION*

JAN TAVERNIER, Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven

1. INTRODUCTION

THE longest and most studied text in the corpus of Achaemenid royal inscriptions
is the Bisitun inscription (DB), in which king Darius 1 gives an account of the tumultuous
first year of his reign. As is the case with most Achaemenid royal inscriptions, the text is
recorded in Old Persian, Babylonian, and Elamite. When in 1911 Sachau published his
text edition of Aramaic papyri in Egypt,l however, it became clear that there was also an
Aramaic version of this inscription (DB Aram.). This is hitherto the only preserved Ara-
maic version of an Achaemenid royal inscription.
This Aramaic version was written on a papyrus, the verso of which contains several col-
umns of accounts. As can be deduced from the dates mentioned in these accounts, it seems
certain that the Aramaic text was written on the papyrus in the early years of the reign of
Darius II (around 421 B.C.),2 i.e., approximately a century after DB was carved on the
rocks. There are several possible reasons for this. The copy could be an exercise of a mas-
ter scribe. Yet it is more probable that the new copy was intended to commemorate the one-
hundredth anniversary of the accession of Darius 1 to the throne and of his suppression of

* Many thanks go to A. Schoors of the University Other abbreviations used throughout are: Aram. =
of Leuven and S. Creason of the University of Chi- Aramaic, Av. = Avestan, Arab. = Arabic, Bab. = Baby-
cago for their critical and helpful remarks. 1 would lonian, El. = Elamite, Heb. = Hebrew, Ir. = lranian, OP
also like to thank the staff of the Chicago Assyrian = Old Persian, Parth. = Parthian, Sogd. = Sogdian.
Dictionary (CAD) for its hospitality and access to its The Babylonian version of DB can be found in
resources. E. N. von Voigtlander, The Bisitun Inscription of Da-
1 am currently a Research Assistant for the Fund for rius the Great: Babylonian Version, Corpus Inscrip-
Scientific Research-Flanders. tionum Iranicarum 1: Inscriptions of Ancient Iran,
Abbreviations of texts cited follow the CAD and vol. 2, The Babylonian Versions of the Achaemenian
the DNWSI (J. Hoftijzer and K. Jongeling, eds., Inscriptions, Texts 1 (London, 1978). The Aramaic
Dictionary of the North-west Semitic Inscriptions version of DB (except for paragraph 13) is edited
[Leiden, 1995]), except for AiW = Chr. Bartholomae, as TAD C2.1. For the Old Persian version of DNb,
Altiranisches Worterbuch (Berlin, 1904), and TAD see W. Hinz, "Die untere Grabinschrift des Dareios,"
A,B,C = B. Porten and A. Yardeni, Textbook of Ara- ZDMG 115 (1965): 227-41; N. Sims-Williams, "The
maic Documents from Ancient Egypt, 3 vols. (Jerusa- Final Paragraph of the Tomb-Inscription of Darius 1
lem, 1986-93). The Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions (DNb, 50-60): The Old Persian Text in the Light of an
are cited according to the sigla established by R. G. Aramaic Version," BSOAS 44 (1981): 1-7; R. Schmitt,
Kent, Old Persian: Grammar, Texts, Lexikon, 2d ed., "Bemerkungen zum SchluBabschnitt von Dareios'
American Oriental Series 33 (New Haven, Conn., Grabinschrift DNb," Altorientalische Forschungen 26
1953), pp. 107-15. (1999): 127-39.
1 E. Sachau, Aramiiische Papyrus und Ostraka aus
einer jüdischen Militiir-Kolonie ZU Elephantine: Alt-
[JNES 60 no. 3 (2001)J orientalische Sprachdenkmiiler des 5. Jahrhunderts
© 2001 by The University of Chicago. vor Chr. (Leipzig, 1911). The edition of DB Aram.
Ali rights reserved. ap)Jears on pp. 185-205 and pis. 52 and 54-56.
0022-296812001/6003-0001 $02.00. 2 Porten and Yardeni, Textbook. vol. 3, p. 61.

161
162 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

the many rebellions that are described in DB. As both kings came to power in a fairly
similar way,3 the recopying of the story that tells about the rise to power of Darius 1 was
intended to identify Darius II with his well-known great-great-grandfather or at least to
make a striking comparison between the two kings. 4
This Aramaic text of DB has since been edited several times. 5 As it is very close to the
Babylonian version of DB, it has been generally assumed that it was based on that Baby-
lonian version. 6 For the sake of completeness, it should be mentioned that DB Aram. is
closer to a Babylonian version of DB, fragments of which were found in Babylon,7 th an
to the original Babylonian version carved on the rocks. 8 Even so, this does not raise an ob-
jection to the use of the Babylonian version to reconstruct the Aramaic text. 9 1t should also
be noted that the fragments do not contain the Babylonian parallel (or part of it) of DB
Aram. paragraph 13. 10
It is precisely this paragraph (DB Aram. 64-73) that this article intends to examine. It
is the only part of the text that is not yet completely understood by scholars, and it is
different from DB Bab. in two ways. First of all, DB Aram. 64-66a is not a nearly word-
for-word translation of the Babylonian text (as is the major part of DB Aram.), but it is
taken from two separate Babylonian sections (44 and 52). Secondly, the middle part
(lines 66b-70a) has no clear connection with any part of DB Bab. and has therefore puz-
zled scholars for a long time. 11 This problem was solved, however, when in 1981 Nicholas

3 Most information on the rise to power of Darius 7 Fragment BE 3627 (renumbered Berlin VA Bab.
II and his accession to the throne is given by Ctesias, 1502) has been published by F. H. Weissbach, Baby-
18.48-51 (no. 688 in F. Jacoby, Die Fragmente der /onische Miscel/en, Wissenschaftliche Ver6ffentlich-
griechischen Historiker, Dritter Teil: Geschichte von ungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft 4 (Leipzig,
Stiidten und Vii/kern, C: Autoren über einze/ne Liinder 1903; Osnabrück, 1978), pp. 24-26 and pl. 9. The
[nos. 608a-856] [Leiden, 1958]). See also D. M. other fragment, Bab. 41446, was published by R. Kol-
Lewis, Sparta and Persia: Lectures De/ivered at the dewey and F. Wetzel, Die Kiinigsburgen von Baby/on,
University of Cincinnati, Autumn i976, in Memory of 2: Die Hauptburg und der Sommerpa/ast Nebukad-
Dona/d W. Bradeen, Cincinnati Classical Studies, n.s. nezars im Hüge/ Babi!, Wissenschaftliche Ver6ffent-
1 (Leiden, 1977), pp. 69-76; M. W. Stolper, "The lichungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft 55
Death of Artaxerxes l," Archii%gische Mittei/ungen (Leipzig, 1932), pp. 23-24 and pl. 2. The most recent
aus Iran 16 (1983): 223-36; and Entrepreneurs and edition of these fragments can be found in von Voigt-
Empire: The Murasû Archive, the Murasû Firm, and lander, The Bisitun inscription, pp. 63-66.
Persian Ru/e in Baby/onia, Uitgaven van het Neder- 8 Greenfield and Porten, The Bisitun Inscription,
lands Historisch-archeologisch Instituut te Istanbul p.3.
(PIHANS) 54 (Leiden, 1985), pp. 116-24. 9 There are not too many differences, and the y
4 J. C. Greenfield and B. Porten, The Bisitun consist mainly of omissions on the fragments on the
Inscription of Darius the Great: Aramaic Version, Aramaic text. The fragments represent thus a later ver-
Corpus Inscriptionum lranicarum 1: Inscriptions of sion of the text. A comparison of both Babylonian
Ancient Iran, vol. 5, The Aramaic Versions of the versions has been made by von Voigtlander, The Bisi-
Achaemenian Inscriptions, Texts 1 (London, 1982), tun Inscription, pp. 63-65.
p. 3; Porten and Yardeni, Textbook, vol. 3, p. 59. 10 DB Aram. was divided by Greenfield and Por-
5 A. Ungnad, Aramiiische Papyrus aus E/ephantine ten into eleven paragraphs and by Porten and Yardeni
(Leipzig, 1911), pp. 83-97; A. Cowley, Aramaic Pa- into fourteen. The paragraph containing the Aramaic
pyri of the Fifih Century BC (Oxford, 1923), pp. 248- version of the last part of DNb is paragraph 10
71; Greenfield and Porten, The Bisitun Inscription; (Greenfield and Porten) or 13 (Porten and Yardeni),
Porten and Yardeni, Textbook, vol. 3, pp. 58-71 and i.e., the Aramaic lines 64-73. This article will follow
foldouts 25-28. Porten and Yardeni's division of the text.
6 Sachau, Aramiiische Papyrus, p. 185, noticed Il Sachau, Aramiiische Papyrus, p. 197; Cowley,
this. See also Cowley, Aramaic Papyri, pp. 249-50; Aramaic Papy ri, pp. 264-65.
Greenfield and Porten, The Bisitun Inscription, pp. 5-
16; Porten and Yardeni, Textbook, vol. 3, p. 59.
 AN ACHAEMENID ROYAL INSCRIPTION 163

Sims-Williams showed that this middle section was an Aramaic translation of the last
paragraph of Darius's tomb inscription DNb. 12 This paragraph is actually an independent
inscription, probably dictated by Darius sometime after DNb was carved on the rockS. 13
Presumably, the Aramaic version of DB, which was written down at the royal court
shortly after the accession of Darius II to the throne, already contained these two differ-
ences. 14 The scribe who copied the papyrus apparently did not play an active role and re-
frained from editorial work. 15
In addition to these two differences, sorne of the Babylonian text is not translated at all
in paragraph 13. Paragraphs 12 and 14 correspond to the Babylonian sections 38 and 54.
The paragraph in question here at first sight contains only parts of the Babylonian sections
44, 49, and 52. Sorne of them (39-43) are in the lost Aramaic columns ix and X. 16 Sec-
tions 45-48, 50-51, and 53 were not translated from Babylonian to Aramaic. 17 The rea-
son for these omissions is not known. Section 53 may have been omitted because it is
primarily concerned with the preservation of the rock monuments, Ha matter not pertinent
to an account on papyrus."18
The above-mentioned discovery by Sims-Williams proved to be a breakthrough in re-
search on both this paragraph and DNb itself, as it helped scholars to reconstruct the last
part of the latter inscription. Unfortunately, this breakthrough did not solve all the textual
problems connected with DB Aram. There are still sorne unc1ear areas, which the two lat-
est editions of this text do not de al with adequately.
What follows is a study of the textual problems of DB Aram. paragraph 13. The results
of this study will be incorporated in a new edition of the reconstructed text, accompanied
by a translation and a synoptic text. The text of this paragraph is divided into three parts:
a warning against lies (64-66a), the Aramaic rendering of the last paragraph of DNb
(66b-70a), and a recommendation not to conceal the truth (70b-73).

II. THE TEXTUAL PROBLEMS IN DB ARAM. PARAGRAPH 13

DB Aram. 64-66a: The Warning against Lies

This section of DB Aram. seems to correspond to both Babylonian sections 44 and 52.
It is, in fact, an abbreviated version of the se two parts. The introductory phrase presents
no problems: throughout DB Bab., Dariamus sarru kiam iqabbi corresponds to Aramaic
dryhws mlP kn :Jmr, so the restoration in Aramaic li ne 64 is qui te obvious. That Aram. [mn
:Jn]t mlk zy :J~ry thwh is the same as Bab. mannu atta sarru sa arkia tellâ is also c1ear. As

12 N. Sims-Williams, "The Final Paragraph of the Green Leal Papers in Honour of Professor les P As-
Tomb-Inscription of Darius I," pp. 1-7. mussen, Acta Iranica 28 [Leiden, 1988], pp. 475 and
13 1. Gershevitch, "The Alloglottography of Old 477-78).
Persian," Transactions of the Philological Society, 16 Greenfield, and Porten, The Bisitun Inscription.
1979, p. 130. pl. 1 and Porten and Yardeni, Textbook. vol. 3, foldout
14 See my article "The Origin of DB Aram. 66- 28: column ix corresponds to Babylonian lines 84-89
69," Nouvelles assyriologiques brèves et utilitaires, (secs. 39-40), while column x corresponds to lines
1999/86. 89-97 (secs. 41-43).
15 The other, and unlikely, possibility is that the 17 Greenfield and Porten, The Bisitun Inscription.
scribe of this papyrus did the editorial work himself p. 5, argue that parts of secs. 45-48 may have been
and that the differences are the results of this editorial abbreviated in Aramaic lines 65b-66a and 70b.
work (Hinz, "GroBkonig Darius und sein Untertan," A 18 Ibid., p. 5.
164 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

this is a general introductory formula, it is hard to determine what Babylonian section is

translated here. If one stresses the analogy between the Aramaic and the Babylonian word
order, then c1early the Aramaic text is taken from DB Bab. 97 (sec. 44), since in the other
two Babylonian occurrences of this phrase, the verb is not the final word of the sentence:
mannu atta sarru sa tellâ arkia (secs. 52 and 55, lines 105 and 112). It should be noted,
however, that word order is a rather weak basis for determining what section was translated
here. In aIl probability, the author of this version of DB Aram. did not have a particular
Babylonian section in mind when he wrote down this part of the text.
After this introductory formula, the Aramaic text describes a man who lies: :Jys zy ykdb.
There are two possible Babylonian equivalents of this phrase: la tusaddad amëlu sa
uparrWjU (sec. 44, line 97) and amëlu sa uparra~u u amëlu pirkiïni la tarâm (sec. 52, lines
105-6). As the expression zy ykdb occurs twice in this passage (lines 64 and 65), one can
expect that both Babylonian phrases will have been translated. It is more difficult, how-
ever, to determine which sentence was translated in line 65 and which one in line 66.
Most likely, Babylonian section 44, where the introductory formula is followed by
lapani pir~iitu lu miidu u~ur ramanka, is not the source for the Aramaic text after the in-
troductory formula; for in that case not :Jys zy ykdb, but mn kdbn sgy:Jn :Jzhr should be the
words following the introductory formula. The author thus inserted one phrase from sec-
tion 52 before translating section 44.
Accordingly, Aram. :Jys zy ykdb [... ]x (lines 64-65) is the equivalent of Bab. amëlu sa
uparra:ju u amëlu pirkiini la tarâm. Two parts of this phrase are preserved: the beginning
eYs zy ykdb) and sorne traces of its last letter, the letter to the left of the break in line 65.
Porten and Yardeni do not believe this, however, They restore [r~]q, and by connecting
this form with the following mn, they arrive at r~q mn kdbn sgy:Jn, "[withdr]aw from great
lies." The next word ezhr) they consider to be a separate sentence, meaning "take heed."19
The Babylonian text, however, has no such sentence consisting of only one verb. Conse-
quently, :Jzhr has to be connected with mn kdbn sgy:Jn. This sentence corresponds precisely
to the Babylonian version (mn = lapani, kdbn = pir:jiitu, sgy:Jn = miidu, :Jzhr = u:jur
ramanka), while the preceding [... ]x has to be the end of the sentence, which begins with
:Jys zy ykdb in line 64. 20
Although it is now quite certain that the first half of line 65 once contained the Aramaic
rendering of u amëlu pirkiini la tarâm, only part of the Aramaic version can be restored. 21
In analogy with amëlu (line 105)-:Jys (line 64), it is acceptable to restore here :Jys, de-
spite the fact that there is an exception to this equation: in line 65 the Aramaic rendering
of Bab. amëlu is certainly not :Jys.
Let us turn now to the Aramaic rendering of la tarâm. Sorne scholars believe that a res-
toration [:JI tr~]m in line 65 is not possible because "the remains of the letter to the left of
19 See Porten and Yardeni, The Bisitun Inscription, The Akkadian word pirku has a broad meaning:
p. 71, where they also consider another translation: "violence, difficulty, slander, evil." Il is especially used
"withdraw. From great lies guard yourself." In that ex- during the Neo-Babylonian (in letters) and Achaeme-
am~le, the verb r/:lq is a separate sentence. nian periods. See Stolper, Entrepreneurs and Empire,
oThis possibility has already been mentioned by p. 280 at no. 112. See also his article "No Harm
Greenfield and Porten in The Bisitun Inscription, p. 47. Done: On Late Achaemenid pirku Guarantees," in
21 Perhaps the question should be asked whether J. Marzahn and H. Neumann, eds., Assyriologica et
there could be a connection between Bab. pirkiinu and Semitica: Festschrift für Joachim Oelsner anliij3lich
Aram. prk, "to damage, to break" (DNWSI, p. 938). seines 65. Geburtstages am 18 Februar 1997, AOAT
The form yprk is attested once in a Lydian-Aramaic 252 (Münster, 2000), pp. 467-77.
bilingual (KAI 260:6: mn zy y/:lbl ~w yprk mndcm,
"whoever destroys or does damage to anything").
 AN ACHAEMENID ROYAL INSCRIPTION 165

the break can hardly be a mem."22 This, however, should not be assumed. The traces to the
left of the lacuna have mainly been seen as belonging to a q,23 but a closer examination
of the photographs suggests that the visible traces could be the upper left corner of a d, k,
q, r, or even an m. In the latter case (m), the text of line 65 would read [ y m l mn kdbn
sgyeJn eJzhr, which makes the restoration [eJl trbYm 1 still possible.
The next clear words in DB Aram. 65 are zy ykdb. Between them and the end of the last
sentence, i.e., eJzhr, there is space for one word of approximately four letters, which most
probably corresponds to Bab. amëlu. One would expect weJys because it is the equivalent
of amëlu in line 64, but this certainly does not appear in this line. The first letter of the word
was read by Sachau (and subsequently by Ungnad, Cowley, and Greenfield and Porten) as
ayin.24 Porten and Yardeni, however, proposed the restoration /([d]yD, "liar."25 If this is
correct, the translation would be "a liar who lies." This is a possible restoration, since cog-
nate accusatives occur often in Imperial Aramaic. 26 Yet, if one chooses to restore a form
of the root kdb, it would be better to restore k[d]b, based on TAD C1.1:133 (lkdb eJ "for the
liar"),27 The main objection to this restoration is that the evidence gleaned from the
photographs indicates that the first letter of this word is more likely an ayin than a k.
The word could thus be C[lym], "servant"28 (cf. DB Aram. line 19: Cylmy, a scribal error
for Clymy.29 See also TAD B3.9:3). Such a restoration is not incompatible with what re-
mains of the lower parts of the restored letters. The reason the author used the word "ser-
vant" instead of the word "man" is perhaps because he had another group of words in
mind, for example OP marïka, Bab. qalla, the usual Aramaic rendering of which is clym.3o
Clearly, c[lym?] zy ykdb is the object of a verb that means "do not care for, do not trust."
Since the author was most likely translating Babylonian section 44, he inserted here the
Aramaic equivalent of Bab. suddudu, "to take care of, to care for."31 This verb occurs
more than once in DB Bab., but unfortunately, of all its occurrences, only one has been
translated and/or preserved in the Aramaic version of DB. The Babylonian sentence ~abü
agannûtu u zërani sa ~abü agannûtu lu madu suddid, "fully prote ct the se men and the de-
scendants of these men" (line 112), is rendered in the Aramaic version Izr[Chwm zy gbryeJ
eJlk sgyeJ bpr]seJ sbl,32 "the seed of those men, fully with allotment support." The verbal
form sbl (péCel imperative from sbl, "to support, to sustain")33 is the equivalent of suddid
(D imperative from suddudu). Keeping this in mind, we can possibly restore the lacuna in
line 66 by inserting [eJl tsblhy]. The translation of this sentence would be: "a man who lies,
[you will not care for him]."34

22 Greenfield and Porten, The Bisitun Inscription. a nomen agentis usually is a qattiil-form. See H. Bauer
p.47. and P. Leander, Grammatik des Biblisch-Aramdischen
23 Ibid., p. 46; Porten and Yardeni, Textbook, vol. (Halle a.d. Saale, 1927), pp. 188 and 191.
3,~. 7. 28 DNWSI, pp. 854-55.
4 Sachau, Aramdische Papyrus, p. 196, line 2; 29 Ungnad, Aramdische Papyrus, p. 85; Cowley,
Ungnad, Aramdische Papyrus, p. 90, line 2; Cowley, Aramaic Papy ri, p. 260; Greenfield and Porten, The
Aramaic Papy ri, p. 253, line 51; Greenfield and Por- Bisitun Inscription, p. 31.
ten, The Bisitun Inscription, p. 46, li ne 65. 30 Greenfield and Porten, The Bisitun Inscription,
25 Porten and Yardeni, Textbook, vol. 3, p. 70. p.62.
26 T. Muraoka and B. Porten, A Grammar of 31 CAD, vol. S, p. 342.
Egyptian Aramaic, Handbuch der Orientalistik, 32 Restoration by Greenfield and Porten, The Bisi-
Erste Abteilung, Der Nahe und Mittlere Osten, vol. tun3~nscription, p. 52.
32 (Leiden, 1998), p. 272. DNWSI, p. 774.
27 Kdyb is a qatll-form. This type of form is mostly 34 See Muraoka and Porten, Grammar, par. 79,
used for adjectives or passive participles. In Aramaic, especially b.
166 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

One problem with this restaration, however, may be the word arder, since the Aramaic
text usually has exactly the same word order as the Babylonian. 35 The restaration pro-
posed here wou Id be an exception to this rule. In the Babylonian version (la [tusadFdad 1
amelu sa uparra r~u 1), the verb (tusaddad) occurs at the beginning of the sentence, while
in the Aramaic version (c[lym(?)] zy ykdb eJl tsblhy) the verb (tsblhy) would be at the end
of it, i.e., in line 66, but this wou Id not be the only example of a different word arder.
Other examples (phrases under discussion are in italics) are:

1. Bab. 51-52: arki ina sanïtu barranu nikrutu ip!Jurünimma ana tar~i mDadarsu
ittalku itti uqu ana epës tabazi.
Aram. 15: [btlt rgly~ mrdy~] eJtknsw eJzlw ICrqh zy ddrs lm cbd qrb.
Then for another expedition (Aram., for the third time) the rebels rallied and
marched against Dadarsu (Bab., with troops) to join battle.

2. Bab. 74: mUmizdatu ... it[ti] uqu ittalak ana tar~i mArtamarzi ana epës tabazi.
Aram. 41-42:[Wyzd]t ... eJth nm
[byF lCr]qh [zy ~rtwrzy] Im[C]bd q[r]b.

(This) Vahyazdata ... marched with his troops to join the battle against Artavarziya.

3. Bab. 77: mU[mi]zdatu u marë banë sa ittisu u:j:jabbitu ~abtu.

Aram. 48: Wyzdt eJbdw wJ:!r~ zy Cm[h].
They took captive Vahyazdata and the nobles who were with him.

4. Bab. 79: uqu ... ispurma iltapar ana l-en amëlu ....
Aram. 51-52: [J:!yP ... ] slb w~ys J:!d ... [slb].
He (= Vahyazdata) had sent troops, and he had sent an order to a certain man ....
(Aram.: he had sent a man).

These four examples show that differences in word order between DB Bab. and DB
Aram. do occur and that the different word order here does not affect the plausibility of the
proposed restoration.
Despite the reconstruction [eJl tsblhy], there is still sorne space left in the first half of line
66. 36 Perhaps one should restore here a hitherto unattested Aramaic equivalent of Bab. lu
madu salsu, "vigorously prosecute him." In that case, one of the words in the restoration
may have been sgyeJ, based on the equivalence of sgiJ and madu. 37 Another, more probable,
possibility for the Aramaic rendering of the verb "interrogate" (OP ufrastam 38 fra8-, Bab.
madu sâlu, El. mil hapi) is bsn Pl (TAD A6.8:3 and A6.1 0:9). Consequently, 1 restore it
as [bsn seJlhy], which fits nicely in the space available.

35 Cf. the line-for-line parallel translations in Green- Final Paragraph of the Tomb-Inscription of Darius l,"
field and Porten, The Bisitun Inscription, pp. 6-13. p.2).
36 This gap cannot be filled by inserting a vocative, 37 Greenfield and Porten, The Bisitun Inscription,
which would be connected with the following phrase, p.62.
as in the original text (the vocative being marika, "0 38 DB IV 38 and 69; sometimes ufra.stam (DB 1 22
subject"). Here Darius is giving advice to his succes- and IV 66-67).
sor rather than to his subject (Sims-Williams, "The
 AN ACHAEMENID ROYAL INSCRIPTION 167

Based on my conclusions thus far, the text of lines 64-66a appears as follows:
(64) [dryhws mlk~ kn ~mr mn ~n]t mlk zy ~!;ry thwh ~ys zy ykdb
(65) [w~ys zy(?) ~l tr!;]rml mn kdbn sgy~n ~zhr C[lym(?)] zy ykdb
(66) [~l tsblhy !;sn s~lhy]

DB Aram. 66b-70: The Aramaic Translation of DNb Paragraph 9

At this point (line 66b), the Aramaic translation of the last paragraph of DNb begins. 39
Since the rest of DB Aram. is based on DB Bab., one would expect that this part is based
on the Babylonian version of DNb by analogy; yet this is not the case. It is more likely
that the text is taken from the Old Persian text of DNb. One indication for this is that two
words of the Old Persian text (paratar and ayaumainif) appear on the papyrus in tran-
scription (prtr and :JymnS) rather than in translation. 4o An additional argument is that only
in the Babylonian text (line 37) does the subordinate clause, "what he who is not freeborn
does," follow the main clause, "look at that." In the three other versions of DNb, the sub-
ordinate clause precedes the main clause:
DNb Bab. 37 agasû am[u]r sa muske[na ippusu]
DNb OP 56-57 tya [skau6is kunav]ataiy (57) avasciy didiy
DB/DNb Aram. 68 zy mskn yCbd zk !;zy
DNb El. 40-41 [ap]pa [v.i-ip-ik-ra] hu-ud-da-man-ra hu-[be] zf-ia-i[s]4\
As DNb OP 50-60 appears to be the source for DB Aram. 66b-70a, it might be use fuI to
begin the analysis of this passage with the Old Persian text (for bibliographical references,
see the asterisked note on p. 161 above):

§9. (50) marika : darsam : azd[a] § 9. Young man, make in a large measure
kunsu[ va Ciya]karam (51): ahiy known of what kind you are, which are
ciyakaramtaiy huv[nara your gifts, of what kind your conduct is.
ciy]akara(52)mtaiy pariyanam Let not that seem best to you which one
mataiy : [ava vahis]tam : (53)6a ndaya whispers in your ear. Rather, listen to what
tyataiy gausaya 6[ahyatiy:] is said openly. Young man, let not that
avas(54)Ciy : axsnüdiy : hya : pa[ratar : seem very good to you what the freeborn
6ahy]ati(55)y : marika : matai y :ava [: man does. Rather, look at what he who is
naibam 6a ndaya tya da6a(56)ns?]: not freeborn does. Young man, do not
ku[na]vataiy tya [skau6is achieve your goal ... neither be unfit in
kunav]ataiy (57): avascly didiy your prosperity. A negligent man will not
marika [6 tekens] ma prosper, and in his country he will not live.
(58)parayataya : a-[5 tekens] : ma[patiy :
s]iyatiy(59)a : ayaumainis : bavahiy :
[marika: avara]diya (60): ma : rax6a ntuv :
u[ta : dahyauva : ma : dara]iya :

39 The reason why this particular text was incorpo- 40 Si ms-Williams, "The Final Paragraph of the
rated in DB is uncertain. Hinz, "GroBkdnig Darius," Tomb-Inscription of Darius l," p. 2.
pp. 477 and 480-81, believes that the Aramaic scribe 4\ Restorations according to W. Hinz and H. Koch,
who tirst made the insertion was highly impressed by Elamisches Worterbuch, Archaologische Mitteilun-
the moral value of Darius's words and wanted to make gen aus Iran, Erganzungsband 17 (Berlin, 1987),
them known to everyone. p.712.
168 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

Unfortunately, the papyrus is partly destroyed. Only the second half is preserved. De-
spite the fact that the content of the lost text is quite weIl known, it would be very difficult
to restore any of the original Aramaic text. Four specific places in the text can be dealt
with, however.
The first place occurs in the first half of line 67. There the Aramaic translation of OP
miitaiy [ava fraOa]mam Oa ndaya,42 "let not that seem best to you" should be restored. A
similar construction is not attested in Old or Imperial Aramaic. Yet there are sorne texts
in which sorne similar expressions occur, for example, hn cI mr:Jn tb, "if it is good to our
lord" (TAD A4.5:19,21; 4.7:23, 4.8:22); hn cl mr:Jy tb, "if it is good to my lord" (TAD
A6.3:5); and hn cZyk tb, "if it thus be good to thee" (TAD A6.7:8). Possibly the same type
of construction was used by the author of this text, so a part of the restoration could be
[:JZ clyk tb].43 The end of the missing text can be easily completed: zy b:J]dnk (= OP tyataiy
gausiiyii).44
In the next line (68), the same type of sentence can be restored: 45 [:JI clyk tb zy . .. yfbd.
Here it is also possible to reconstruct the subject of yCbd on the basis of the sentence that
follows zy mskn yCbd zk /:Izy, "that what he who is not freeborn does, look at that." The
word we are looking for must be the counterpart of mskn, i.e., br /:lm, "free man, noble-
man," a term that is also attested elsewhere in Imperial Aramaic46 and that is even a com-
mon Semitic form. 47 The restoration [:JI clyk tb zy br /:lm y]Cbd makes it impossible to
expect an Aramaic verb rendering OP Oandaya because there is not enough space for such
a restoration in line 68. 48
The third place in the text is the first half of line 69. Here a restoration is problematic,
since the Old Persian text itself is damaged and OP [par]iiyiitaya 49 is not completely clear.
Possibly, this verbal form consists of the prefix para-, followed by a causative of the root
yat- (Av. yat-, Parth. y:Jd_, Sogd. yt). This root has the meaning "to reach his natural place,
to reach his destination, to reach his goal."50
The only preserved Aramaic part of this sentence is :Jp qdmtk (at the end of line 68).
This is clear, since the particle :Jp usually occurs at the beginning of a new sentence. 51
Nevertheless, it has been argued that :Jp qdmtk has to be connected with /:Izy and is anal-

42 Restoration in Sims-Williams, "The Final Para- p. 239), and Syriac br J:t"ryn (see R. Payne Smith,
gra.rh of the Tomb-Inscription of Darius l," p. 3. ed., Thesaurus Syriacus, vol. 1 [Oxford, 1879),
3 Presumably OP mii, the prohibitive particle, is p. 53). Cf. also the Ugaritic PN bn J:try (J. C. De Moor
rendered in Aramaic by "1. the jussive parti cie; see and K. Spronk, "Problematic Passages in the Legend
also line 69. of Kirtu l," Ugarit-Forschungen 14 [1982): 168 and
44 Greenfield and Porten, The Bisitun Inscription, n.126).
p.48. 48 In the available space, one can restore approxi-
45 Ibid., p. 49. mately twenty-four signs. The proposed restoration
46 TAD C l.l :92 and 216. In DB Aram. 48 J:tr" is already takes up twenty-three signs. If one restored
the equivalent of Bab. miir banÎ (DB Bab. 77). The only J:tr", then the restoration would not fill the avail-
latter is also attested as the counterpart of muskenu in able place. The restoration br J:try remains the most
DNb Bab. 6. probable one.
47 Nabataean and Palmyrene br J:trn (DNWSI, 49 Restoration by Sims-Williams, in "The Final
pp. 401-2), Late Aramaic br J:twryn (see M. Sokoloff, Paragraph of the Tomb-Inscription of Darius l," p. 3.
A Dictionary of Jewish Palestinian Aramaic of the 50 É. Benveniste, "La racine yat- en indo-iranien,"
Byzantine Period, Dictionaries of Talmud, Midrash Indo-lranica: Mélanges présentées à Georg Morgen-
and Targum 2 [Ramat Gan, 1990), p. 99), Hebrew br stierne à l'occasion de son soixante-dixième anniver-
J:twryn (see W. Baumgartner, Hebriiisches und ara- saire (Wiesbaden, 1964), pp. 22-23.
miiisches Lexikon zum Alten Testament [Leiden, 1967), 51 Porten and Muraoka, Grammar, p. 336, par. 90
p. 334; J. Levy, Worterbuch über die Talmudim und and n. 1275. See Sims-Williams, "The Final Para-
Midraschim, 2d ed., vol. 2 [Berlin and Vienna, 1924), graph of the Tomb-Inscription of Darius l," p. 6.
 AN ACHAEMENID ROYAL INSCRIPTION 169

ogous to J:!zy qdmtk mndcm qsh, "see before you a difficult thing."52 If that is correct, J:!zy
Jp qdmtk would be a calque on OP avas-Ci dïdiy.
The end of the Aramaic section of DB that draws on DNb poses sorne problems for
scholars. First of aIl, one should try to determine what exactly was in lines 69-70. Since
the scribe started his version of DNb with the beginning of the last paragraph of that in-
scription (= paragraph 9) and did not omit substantial parts of that paragraph, it is fairly
certain that he translated the entire paragraph. As a result, the end of line 69 and the first
part of line 70 still have to be part of the Aramaic version of DNb and make up the end
of this Aramaic version. This makes it easier to de termine the content of these lines. Prob-
ably the second half of line 69 contains the equivalent of OP [marïka avara]diya ma
raxtJantuv (DNb 59-60),53 while the Aramaic version of u[ta dahyauva ma dariya]54 was
written at the beginning of line 70.
Unfortunately, both of these lines do not reveal their contents very clearly. The second
half of line 69 is badly damaged, and the hitherto proposed readings do not yield a com-
prehensible sentence. 55 Furthermore, the first half of line 70 is completely destroyed, ex-
cept for sorne small traces of the first letters of that line. 56
The first sentence of this difficult section consists-as does its Old Persian equivalent
[marïka avara]diya ma raxtJantuv-of three constituents that will be designated below as
[]d/rklyk, JI, and ylXn.
There are three reasons to believe that the first word ([]d/rklyk) is the subject of this sen-
tence and that the last word (yIXn) is its verbal element. Firstly, the Aramaic translation
of this paragraph has exactly the same word order as its Old Persian source, so, accord-
ingly, []d/rklyk is the Aramaic rendering of OP marïka avaradiya, while ylXn corresponds
to raxtJantuv. Secondly, there is only one example of the verb preceding its subject in DB
Aram.: [bflh zy Jhwrmzd q!lw J:!yP zy]ly IMyP mrdyJ] (line 55). FinaIly, the spelling [X]d/
rklyk is not likely a verbal form. If this were a verb, the lost letter would have to be a verbal
prefix J_, t-, or y-, or the conjunction W-. The stem of the verb wou Id be d/rkl. But in that
case what is the function of the yod that follows? Let us first consider the yod as a verbal
element. It cannot be part of the verbal root, so it must be part of a verbal ending. But the
only possible forms with an ending -y are jussive or imperative 2fsgY It does not seem
very likely that we are dealing here with a feminine form, since Darius can hardly have
been addressing a female reader. We can safely conclude that [X]d/rklyk is not a verbal but,
rather, a nominal form. To analyze this nominal form, we must again examine the function
of the yod. It is clear that the y is either a part of the root or that it is the construct state
plural ending, followed by a pronominal suffix -k (2msg.). In the latter case, however, there
would not be agreement between the subject and the verb, since a singular verb (yIXn)58
would have a plural subject ([X]d/rklyk). Consequently, the yod must belong to the noun.

52 TAD C 1.1:85. Greenfield and Porten, The Bisi- [w]rklyk Cl yldn (?): Cowley, Aramaic Papyri, p. 253;
tun Inscription, p. 49. See Cowley. Aramaic Papy ri, [ ]rklyk Cl yl[ ln: Greenfield and Porten, The Bisitun
p. 259: "see also before thee." Hoftijzer and Jongeling Inscription, p. 48; []d/rklyk ";Cl yl"/kn: Porten and
DNWSI, p. 992 ("In Beh 54 of diff. interpret."), have Yardeni, Textbook, vol. 3, p. 70.
no 0finion about this problem. 56 Sachau, Aramdische Papyrus, pl. 56 rev. no. 4.
5 Restoration by Hinz, in "Die untere Grabin- Cf. Porten and Yardeni, Textbook, vol. 3, foldout 27.
schrift des Dareios," pp. 237-38. 57 Muraoka and Porten, Grammar, p. 97 (exam-
54 Restoration, ibid., p. 238. pies on pp. 104-5 and 107).
55 []rklyk Cl yldn: Sachau, Aramdische Papyrus, 58 The verb ylXn almost certainly has to be singu-
p. 196 and Ungnad, Aramdische Papyrus, p. 90 lar. Most probably it is a jussive (compare the Old
170 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

One can always argue that [X]dlrklyk is the object of ylXn and that a pronominal suffix
attached to the root dlrkl is thus perfectly possible: "He will not ylXn your [X]dlrkly (plu-
ral)." The main objection to this assumption is that the subject of the sentence would not
be expressed because [X]dlrklyk would be the object. Since the subject of ylXn, a 3msg.
singular, is not the same as in the preceding sentence (2msg.), it would be very unusual
not to express the new subject the first time it occurs. It thus appears more and more likely
that -yk is not a grammatical element but that both letters belong to the noun, whatever
that root may be. This conclusion is confirmed by the lack of a possessive pronoun in the
corresponding Old Persian sentence.
It can thus be supposed that [ ]dlrklyk is not a verbal form but rather the subject of
ylXn, that it has the same meaning as OP [marika avara]diya, and that all the letters of this
word belong to the stem. This also makes it clear that the second word is JI, the Aramaic
jussive particle, and not the preposition cl. 59 This JI nicely corresponds to the Old Persian
prohibitive particle mil.
Hitherto no plausible explanation for []dlrklyk has been found. Since the word is not a
construct state masculine plural, all letters belong to the stem, for which a Semitic expla-
nation has not been found. 60 The other possibility-an Iranian loanword-also presents
difficulties. The main objection to this possibility is the occurrence of the phoneme Ill,
which is not a native Old Iranian phoneme. Yet, since an Iranian Irl can be rendered by a
III in other languages, such as Babylonian61 and Elamite,62 it might just be possible that
such a feature also exists for Aramaic. 63
The best way to explain this assumed Iranian loanword is to divide the Aramaic form
into two parts: []dlrk and lyk. This is also attested for other loanwords in Aramaic. Exam-
pIes are hdJbgw, "with interest" (TAD A6.13:5), that is composed of Ir. hada, "with," and
Ir. *abigilvil, "interest,"64 and Jrdkl (TAD B2.6:2)/ Jrdykl, "architect" (TAD B2.8:2), com-
posed of Akk. ardu and Akk. ekallu, "palace."65
Despite the fact that there is one letter missing, the first part can easily be restored and
identified by having a closer look at the Old Persian version, where the subject of the

Persian corresponding version) and the jussive plural Greater Mesopotamia, Bibliotheca Mesopotamica 7
ending is -w, not -no (Mali bu, California, 1977), pp. 259-66. The Achae-
59 Ibid., p. 199. menid Aramaic form of *hamârakâra, hmrkr- is always
60 It could be a derivative of rkl, "to go about from written with an r (DNWSI, pp. 284-85).
place to place (for trade or gossip)," which is related 62 Examples from the Elamite language are listed
to rgl, "to slander, to calumniate." The form rkly" oc- in M. Mayrhofer, Onomastica Persepolitana: Das alt-
curs in TAD A4.3:4, where it clearly means "mer- persische Namengut der Persepolistiifelchen, Oster-
chants" (DNWSI, pp, 1076-77). But this translation reichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Phil.-hist.
does not fit weil with the present text. Klasse, Sitzungsberichte 286 (Vienna, 1973), p. 301.
61 The Babylonian forms ammaru akal, ammari 63 The only possible ex ample in Imperial Aramaic
akal, ammarkaru, and fJammarakaru are loanwords is Jlnp (Stela from Daskyleion, line 1), which might
from Iranian *hamârakâra-. See W. Eilers, lranische stand for Ir. Arnapa; see J. Teixidor, "Bulletin d'épi-
Beamtennamen, pp. 43-59; Greenfield, "*hamarakara > graphie sémitique," Syria 45 (1968): 376. The name
"amarkal," in M. Boyce and I. Gershevitch, eds., W M. can also be considered Semitic, meaning "El is ex-
Henning Memorial Volume (London, 1970), p.181; alted" (TSSI, p. 157).
Hinz, Altiranisches Sprachgut der Nebenüberlieferun- 64 Hinz, Altiranisches Sprachgut, p. 109.
gen, Gottinger Orientforschungen, III. Reihe, Iranica, 65 A. L. Oppenheim, "Akkadian arad ekalli =
Band 3 (Wiesbaden, 1975), p. 121. Ir. *kârahmâra- ap- 'Builder'," Archîv Orientalni 17 (1949): 227-35;
pears in Babylonian texts as kalammaru, karammaru, S. A. Kaufman, The Akkadian Influences on Aramaic,
and karri ammaru. See Stolper, "Three lranian Loan- Assyriological Studies 19 (Chicago, 1974), pp. 35
words in Late Babylonian Texts," in L. D. Levine, ed., and ISO-51.
Mountains and Lowlands: Essays in the Archaeology of
 AN ACHAEMENID ROYAL INSCRIPTION 171

sentence is marika. The form [m]rk is without a doubt the Aramaic transcription of OP
marika. The second part is more difficult to explain: it is possibly a cognate of Av. raëk-,
"im Stich lassen," or irik-, "dem Verderben preisgebend."66 That the Aramaic version uses
an Iranian word different from the one used in the Old Persian version does not invalidate
this assumption. The same feature can be seen in DNb El. 8-9, where the equivalent of
the Old Persian adjective manauvis (line 13) is te-iz-za-ma-in-da. This form is not an
Elamite word, since in that case it would have to be a verbal form (2sg.). It is more likely
a transcription of Ir. *taizahuvant, "having sharpness."67 Another example is the Ir. *hu-
mana- "good dwelling-place, village,"68 which is written hu-ma-nu-is (DB El. 1 25, II 25)
and u-ma-nu-is (DSf El. 40) in Elamite and is used to translate the OP avahana- "village"
(DB OP II 33; DSf OP 46) as weil as dida- (DB OP 1 58). Finaily, a third example is Ir.
*ha8ra-mani- "follower, ally,"69 written ha-tar-ri-man-nu (several times in DB El.) in
Elamite and rendering OP anusiya- (several times in DB OP).
According to the photographs, possible readings for ylXn are yPn, ylbn, ylyn(?), yldn,
ylkn, ylCn, or ylrn. Since we are most likely dealing with a jussive 3msg., the verbal rooe o
to which this word belongs has to end in an -no This root has to mean something like "to
prosper," since ylXn is rendering OP raxtJantuv.
Possibly, one should connect the form ylyn with the root lyn. This verb is attested in He-
brew, Ugaritic, Phoenician, and possibly in Akkadian. 71 In Hebrew, Ugaritic, and Phoeni-
cian, its meaning is "to spend the night, to 10dge."72 The difficulty with this is that a
connection with lyn would require a semantic shi ft from "to spend the night" to "to thrive."
Perhaps the meaning "to be safe" can be extrapolated from "to spend the night." Thus "to
be safe" could lead to the meaning "to thrive" or something similar that fits the context and
the Old Persian source. This remains hypothetical, however.
The same semantic difficulty goes for connecting ylXn with the root Ibn, the form being
ylbn. The verb Ibn means "to make bricks."73 At first glance this has nothing to do with
the semantic field of "to thrive, to prosper," unless one makes the semantic jump from "to
make bricks," to "to build a house," to "to be able to build," to "to be prosperous, to
be in a safe condition." A closer link, however, is provided in Jewish Aramaic, where
66 AiW, pp. 1479 and 1529. 71 Its occurrence in Akkadian depends on the way
67 Hinz, Altiranische Funde und Forschungen one interprets CT 18, 6 rev. 6. The signs read clearly
(Berlin, 1969), p. 61; idem, Altiranisches Sprachgut, li-a-nam = a-la-[a-ku]. The AHw., p. 540 proposes a
p. 223; R. Schmitt, review of Hinz, Altiranische connection between this lianam and the Hebrew and
Funde, in Kratylos 14 (1969-71): 57. Ugaritic verbs Iyn and gives "nachts gehen" as trans-
68 Hinz, Altiranisches Sprachgut, p. 124. lation for lianu. This would be the only occurrence of
69 Ibid., p. 119. this word in Akkadian, however. For that reason the
70 Idem, "GroBkonig Darius," p. 479, believes that CAD, vol. L, p. 163, proposes an emendation of the
this form is a substantive preceded by the preposition text into sa-a-bu, based on Sd-a-bu (Malku II 94).
cl. He translates it "over your children." He considers The problem here is that two of the three signs would
the contents of the last part of DNb to be as follows: be incorrectly written.
Darius threatens the subject, who refuses to listen to 72 F. H. W. Gesenius, Hebrdisches und aramdi-
his words, with trouble (for him as weil as for his chil- sches Handwôrterbuch über das Alte Testament, 17th
dren), an unsuccessful life, and even exile. There are, ed. (Leipzig, 1921), p. 385; C. H. Gordon, Ugaritic
however, two arguments against Hinz's theory. Firstly, Textbook, vol. 3, Analecta Orientalia 35 (Rome,
the correct Aramaic expression for "über deine 1965), p. 428.
Kinder" wou Id be CI yldyk, which does not appear in 73 Heb. Ibn (Gesenius, Hebriiisches und aramiii-
the text. Secondly, in the other versions of DNb, there sches Handwôrterbuch, p. 377), Akk. labanu (CAD,
does not seem to be any trace of threats against chil- vol. L, p. 8), Ugaritic Ibn (Gordon, Ugaritic Textbook,
dren. The only threats in the last sentence of DNb are pp. 426-27), Jewish Aram. Ibn (M. Jastrow, A Dic-
uttered against a rebellious man and inc1ude an unsuc- tionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and
cessfullife (ma raxlJantuv) and exile (ma daraiya). Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature [New York,
172 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

the root Ibn (as a denominative of ~~::;t7, "brick") can also mean "to have a strong rest, to
be weIl balanced."74 This meaning is not exc1usively architectural, which may support the
connection yIbn - Ibn, as then the step is smaller in order to arrive at the meaning "to be
prosperous." Yet this meaning has hitherto only been attested in Jewish Aramaic and would,
if accepted for this particular passage, be the only attestation of it in Imperial Aramaic.
As already mentioned above, the lost first half of li ne 70 must be the equivalent of
dahyauva ma dariya. In aIl probability, the construction for OP dahyauva is [bmt"]. Mt, a
loanword from Akk. matu,75 is also the Aramaic equivalent of OP dahyaus in DB Aram.
29 and 62. The verb of this sentence, "to dweIl," is preserved only in the Babylonian ver-
sion of DNb: ussabi (DNb Bab. 39). Based on equating asib (DB Bab. 71) with ytb (DB
Aram. 36), the restoration ytb in this passage looks fairly plausible. 76 Thus the li ne reads
[wbmt" "I ytb].
The complete text of DB Aram. 66b-70a follows below.

(66) [sgY='] hwd c Jyk zy Cbyd Jnt wJ[yk] hlktk

(67) [JI Clyk tb(?) zy bJd]nk yJ mr sm c zy prtr yJ mr
(68) [JI Clyk tb (?) zy br J:lrn yC]bd zy mskn yCbd zk J:lzy Jp qdmtk
(69) [ wJI b]twbk Jymns thwh [m]rklyk JI yFb/y1n(?)
(70) [wbme JI ytb]

DB Aram. 70b-73: The Advice Not ta Canceai the Truth

Here the end of the Aramaic translation of DNb has been reached. Thus, at least from
now on, the Aramaic text is again based on the Babylonian version of DB. The first legible
sequence of letters in line 70 is /:lry or perhaps /:lrw. Unfortunately, it is impossible to be
sure whether these letters constitute one word or only a part of a word. The second word
was read t[qs]" by Sachau. 77 Porten and Yardeni read tqyn", but the y did not translate it. 78
The form tqyn", however, can be derived from the root tqn, a well-attested root in
Semitic. In Biblical Aramaic, this root occurs only once,19 having the meaning "to restore,
to reestablish."80 In Jewish Aramaic it has the meaning "to prepare, to put in order, to
establish, to place."81 The root is also attested in Hebrew and means "to make straight,

1926], p. 689; Sokolotf, A Dictionary of Jewish Pal· Inscription, p. 49) considered only the tav as being
estinian Aramaic of the Byzantine Period, p. 276), certain; see Porten and Yardeni, Textbook, vol. 3, p. 70
Arab. labana (Hava, Arabic-English, p. 676). Cf. also and liv (Glossary): tqyn".
Official Aram. lbnh (DNWSI, p. 564). 78 Ibid., p. 70 and liv (Glossary).
74 Jastrow, A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Tal- 79 Dan. 4,33: m~N 'D~~77J 'ï:n "And 1 was re-
mud Bahli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Litera- established in my kingdom."
ture, p. 690. 80 Gesenius, Hebriiisches und aramiiisches Hand-
75 H. Zimmern, Akkadische Fremdworter ais Be- worterbuch, p. 930.
weis für babylonischen Kultureinfluss (Leipzig, 1915), 81 J. A. Fitzmyer and D. J. Harrington, A Manual
p. 9; Kaufman, Akkadian Influences, p. 71. of Palestinian Aramaic Texts (Second Century B.C.-
76 See DNWSI, p. 475, S.v. ysb, for more on this Second Century A.D.), Biblica et Orientalia 34 (Rome,
verb. 1978), no. 60:4: wtqn ythn wsll,z lml,znyh, "prepare them
77 Sachau, Aramiiische Papyrus, p. 196. Ungnad, and send them to the camp"; Jastrow, A Dictionary of
Aramiiische Papyrus, p. 90, has tq"s, but this may be a the Targumim, the Talmud Bahli and Yerushalmi, and
typographical error (Green field and Porten, The Bisi- the Midrashic Literature, p. 1692; Sokolotf, A Dictio-
tun Inscription, p. 49). Cowley (Aramaic Papy ri, nary of Jewish Palestinian Aramaic of the Byzantine
p. 253) as weil as Greenfield and Porten (The Bisitun Period, pp. 589-90.
 AN ACHAEMENID ROYAL INSCRIPTION 173

to set in order."82 ln Akkadian, there is the verb taqiinu, "to be in order, to put in order
(D)";83 the adjective taqnu, "safe";84 a substantive tuqnu, "safety";85 and another adjective
tuqqunu, "of good quality."86 If we do connect tqyn with the root tqn, it will probably be
an adjective (with a qdtïl or a qattïl base)87 with the meaning "safe, firm."88
There are two objections to this interpretation. Firstly, this meaning of the word seems
hard to reconcile with the contents of DB, but of course we also do not know precisely
what is said in the preceding part of the sentence. The second objection is that the q wou Id
have been badly written; the right part of the letter is much smaller than usual.
There is, however, another solution that has the advantage of yielding a comprehensible
sentence, i.e., [mn eJnt mlk zy eJ]~ry trh l [wh], "whoever you are, 0 king who will come after
me" (cf. line 64). Such a restoration would at least fit the context well. The restored phrase
is a good transition from the translation of DNb to the resumption of the translation of DB
Bab., even des pite the fact that such a distinction is not to be found right at the beginning
of the account of DNb.
The word following t rh l [wh ]-at the same time the first word of a new sentence-was
read kdbt eJ by Sachau and connected by him with Bab. pir~iitu, "lies" (DB Bab. 99).89 ln
his eyes, the scribe was translating part of Babylonian section 45, more precisely the Baby-
lonian sentence sina pir~iitu la taqabbi, "do not say they are lies." This proved to be incor-
rect after Greenfield and Porten made use of an infrared photograph, which yielded the
reading swdt eJ/swrt eJ.90 Several solutions to this problem have been offered. Greenfield and
Porten try to consider the second letter as a p and connect the resulting sprt eJ with Bab.
sa!iiru sa ina narî, "the inscription on the relief" (DB Bab. 98 and 100). They refer to Ara-
maic mly spr eJ zy bn~beJ znh, "the words of the inscription which is on this stela" (KAI 222:1
C 17), but a problem with this is that "spr with the meaning 'inscription' always occurs in
the masculine."91 Another proposaI was made by Lemaire, who wanted to read it as sprF,
the masculine form. 92 This, however, is not compatible with the traces visible on the
photograph. The word after sprF is irretrievable. Perhaps a form of the verb "to protect"
should be restored.

82 Gesenius, Hebrdisches und aramdisches Hand- which is dealing with 5 ME KU 6 .ijI.A tuqqunu. In
w6rterbuch, p. 288; DNWSI, p. 1228; Jastrow, A Dic- this phrase, tuqqunu cannot mean "geordnet" but has
tionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and to mean "of good quality," see G. Cardascia, Les Ar-
Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature, pp. 1691-92. chives des Murasû: Une famille d'hommes d'affaires
83 AHw., p. 1323. babyloniens à l'époque perse (455-403 av. J.-c.)
84 Only twice attested in a Neo-Assyrian oracle (Paris, 1951), p. 171.
(SAA 9 1 vi 22-24): aklu taqnu takkal mê taqnüti 87 F. Rosenthal, A Grammar of Biblical Aramaic,
tasatti "you will eat safe bread, you will drink safe 6th ed., Porta Linguarum Orientalium 5 (Wiesbaden,
water" (AHw., p. 1324). 1995), p. 26.
85 Used as a word in Neo-Assyrian texts (for ex- 88 Cf. l'Pl]: (1) "established, firm" (2) "right,
ample, SAA 9 1 iv 3) and as a part of personal names good" (Jastrow, A Dictionary of the Targumim, the
both in Neo-Assyrian (ADD 414 R.E.l: Tuqnu-eres; Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic
SAA 7 6 ii 6': mTuqunu-eres) and Neo-Babylonian Literature, p. 1690).
(fTuqnaia: Dar 379:39; mTuqnu-eSsu: BE 8/1, 158:36; 89 Sachau, Aramdische Papyrus, p. 196; Ungnad,
VAS 4,45:8. M. Jursa, Die Landwirtschaft in Sippar Aramdische Papyrus, p. 90; and Cowley, Aramaic
in neubabylonischer Zeit, AfO Beiheft 25 (Vienna, PafJÔri, p. 253, supported this theory.
1995), nos. 59: 12 and 60: 10; mTuqnu-dSar: Jursa, 9 Greenfield and Porten, The Bisitun Inscription,
Die Landwirtschaft, no. 45:4; mTuqnu-dNanaia: BM p.49.
74524:21, cf. Jursa, Die Landwirtschaft, p. 219). 91 Ibid.
86 AHw., p. 1372 has "geordnet, in Lagen gelegt," 92 A. Lemaire, review of Greenfield and Porten,
based on BE 8, 154:3: SIG tabarri tuqquniitu. Appar- The Bisitun Inscription, in Or., n.s., 55 (1986): 349.
ently the AHw. overlooked PBS 2/1, 208:6 and 9,
174 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

The first word of the next sentence is only partly preserved and is followed by r zy Cbdtl,
"what 1 did."93 As pointed out by Greenfield and Porten, the verb preceding this relative
phrase is "believe" (corresponding to Bab. 10 1: atta qipi sa anaku epusu). The most re-
cent reading is zy :Jnh Cbdt. 94
1 do not agree with this restoration. The visible parts of the letters should rather be read
rhlyrmnl, that is the hafCtsl imperative of :Jmn, a verb commonly used in Semitic languages
to express belief and trust. 95 The beginning of line 71 reads r zy Cbdt1 • Here the personal
pronoun expressing the subject enh) is not given, as is also the case in DB Aram. 19,26,
29, and 3l.
There is not much to discuss in Aramaic lines 71-73. The text is clearly based on the
Babylonian text, and despite the damaged state of the papyrus, the lacunae in these lines
have been restored without great difficulty.
The lacuna in line 72 was restored y[brknk wzr c yhwh lk] sgy by Greenfield and Porten,
but a proposaI by Wesselius (yb[rk wyr~mnk wzrck y]sg:J) is more convincing, since it is
a reconstruction "almost completely in accordance with Akkadian line 102: duramazda
lusaddidka lu madu lira:Jamka u NUMUN-ka limïd."96 Porten and Yardeni restore yb[rknk],
which is analogous to yq[llnk].97 Greenfield and Porten, as weIl as Wesselius, expect an s
here instead of a b, but since that b looks quite clear, they have accepted it. 98 This s would
have been part of the verb sCd "to help," which is, according to Greenfield and Porten, the
Aramaic phonological cognate of Bab. lusaddidka. Line 73, the last line of paragraph 13,
can also be reconstructed in accordance with the Babylonian text :Jhwrmzd yq[llnk wzr c P
yhwh Ik].99

III. CONCLUSION

Having undertaken an attempt to obtain a clearer interpretation of this text, the results
have been put together here. The text and translation of DB Aram. paragraph 13 follow
below.

Text

(64) [dryhws mlk~ kn ~mr mn ~n]t mlk zy ~I:lry thwh ~ys zy ykdb
(65) [w~ys zy(?) ~l trl:lym 1 mn kdbn sgy~n ~zhr C[lym(?)] zy ykdb
(66) [~l tsblhy I:lsn s~lhy sgy~] hwd c ~yk zy Cbyd ~nt w~[yk] hlktk

93 According to Porten and Yardeni, Textbook, buch, p. 895; DNWSI, pp. 278-79); Jewish Aramaic
vol. 3, p. 70. As for Cbdt, Sachau, Aramdische Papy- "mn (hafcel), "to trust, to confide" (Jastrow, A Dic-
rus, p. 204, no. 4, line l, read nothing, as did Ungnad, tionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and
Aramdische Papyrus, p, 93, and Greenfield and Por- Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature, p. 347);
ten, The Bisitun Inscription, p, 48. Cowley, Aramaic Arabic "amuna (IV), "to believe."
PafJyri, p. 266, proposed a nun as the last letter. 96 Greenfield and Porten, The Bisitun Inscription,
94 Porten and Yardeni, Textbook, vol. 3, p. 71. p. 48; J. W. Wesselius, review of Greenfield and Por-
95 Hebrew "mn. "to be firm, to be reliable," in the ten, The Bisitun Inscription, in BiOr 41 (1984): 444.
hifcil, "to believe someone, to trust" (Gesenius, He- 97 Porten and Yardeni, Textbook, vol. 3, p. 70.
briiisches und aramiiisches Handworterbuch, p. 48), 98 Greenfield and Porten, The Bisitun Inscription,
and "amen, "certainly" (ibid., p. 49); Biblical Ara- p. 51; Wesselius, review of Greenfield and Porten,
maic (Dan. 6:24: 1~';::t "he believed"; Dan. 2:45 and BiOr 41, p. 444.
6:5: 1~';::t1?) and Imperial Aramaic (though here only 99 Greenfield and Porten, The Bisitun Inscription,
passive participle) "mn (haFel), "to believe" (Ge- p.50.
senius, Hebriiisches und aramiiisches Handworter-
 AN ACHAEMENID ROYAL INSCRIPTION 175

(67) [~l clyk tb(?) ] zy b~d]nk y~mr sm c zy prtr y~mr

(68) [~l clyk tb(?) zy br l)rn yC]bd zy mskn yCbd zk l)zy ~p qdmtk
(69) [ w~l bJtwbk ~ymns thwh [m]rklyk ~l yFy1n(?)
(70) [wbme ~l ytb mn ~nt mlk zy ~]l)ry trhl[wh] sprn~(?) kr}l [xx] rxx e(?ln(?) hlyrmnl
(71) rzy Cbdt1 Wm~ qst~ ~mr ~l th~pnF}lh [hn] P rtlh~pn [wFm~ emr]
(72) ~hwrmzd yb[rknk wyrl)mnk wzrck y]sg~ wywmyk y~rkwn whrn th~pnhyl
(73) ~hwrmzd yq[llnk wzr c P yhwh lk]

Translation

(64-66a) [Thus speaks King Darius: "Whoever yo]u are, 0 king who will come after
me, do not be a friend of the man who lies or to [lawbreakers]. Protect yourself from many
lies. [A servant] who lies, [do not support him].
(66b-70a) Firmly make known how you act and how your conduct is. [Let not that be
good to you which] one says in your ear. Listen to that which one says in public. [Let not
that be good to you what the freeborn man do]es. That which he who is not freeborn does,
look at that. For yourself too [ ] and you will not be insecure in your happiness. An evil
young man will not prosper(?) [and in the land he will not live].
(70b-73) Whoever you are, 0 king who will come after me, our texte?) completely [ ].
Believe what 1 did [and tell the truth to the people. Do not conceal] it. [If] you do not con-
ceal it [but tell it to the people], Ahuramazda will bl[ess you. He will befriend you and
your descendants will be] numerous, your days long lasting. But if you do conceal it,
Ahuramazda will cu[rse you, and there will not be any offspring for you].

Finally, in Table 1 below, 1 have provided the Aramaic text and its equivalents in its
source-texts, the Babylonian text of DB and the Old Persian text of DNb. The Babylonian
line numbers are given in parentheses.

TABLE 1

DB Aramaic Paragraph 13 Source Text

DB Aramaic 64-66a DB Babylonian 97, 105-6
(64) [dryhws mlk" kn "mr] dariamus sarru kïam iqabbi
[mn "n]t mlk zy "l;try thwh mannu atta sarru sa arkia tellâ (97 or 105, secs. 44 or 52)
"ys zy ykdb (65)[w"ys zy (?) "1 trl;tl'm ' amelu sa uparra~u u amelu pirkani 'la ta'râm (105-6, sec. 52)
mn kdbn sgy"n "zhr lapani pir~atu lu madu u~ur ramanka (97. sec. 44)
[Clym(?)] zy ykdb (66) ["1 tsblhy] la [tusadl'dad ' amelu sa uparra'~u' (97, sec. 44)
[l;tsn s"lhy] lu m'a'du salSu (Ii ne 97, sec. 44)?
DB Aramaic 66b-70a DNb OId Persian 50-60
[sgy)] hwd c "yk zy Cbyd Ont w"[yk] hlktk darsam azd[a] kunsuv[a ciya]karam (51) ahiy
ciyakara(52)mtaiy pariyanam
(67) ["1 Clyk lb(?) zy b)d]nk y"mr mataiy lava vahis]tam (53) 9a ndaya tyataiy gausaya
9[ahyatiy]
sm e zy prtr y)mr avas(54)ciy axsnudiy hya pa[ratar 9ahy]ati(55)y
(68) ["1 Clyk lb(?) zy br l;trn yC]bd mataiy ava [naibam 9a ndaya tya da9a(56)ns?] ku[na]vataiy
176 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

zy mskn yCbd zk I:Jzy tya [skau8iS kunav]ataiy (57) avasciy dïdiy

op qdmtk [... ] ma (58) parayataya a-[5 tekens]
(69) [wOI bHwbk °ymns thwh ma[patiy s]iyatiya (59) ayaumainis bavahiy
[m]rklyk °1 yl'y'n(?) [marïka avara]diya (60) ma rax8atuv
(70) [wbme °1 ytb] u[ta dahyauva ma dara]iya (DNb 60)
DB Aramaic 70b-73 DB Babylonian 97,101-3, 105(?), 106(?)
[mn Ont mlk zy O]l:Jry t'h'[wh] mannu atla sarru sa arkia tellâ (97 or 105, secs. 44 or 52)
sprnO(?) k'l' [xx] 'xx e(?)n(?)' su[ddissunütu]? (106, sec. 53)
'h'y'mn (71) zy cbdl' atta qïpi sa anaku epusu (101, sec. 49)
WmOqW °mr] u amatu kittu ana uqu qïbï (101-2, sec. 49)
[°1 th~pn] 'l'h 'ul' tapissin (102, sec. 49)
[hn] JO 't'h~pn [wlCmO emr] k'î' dib'bi' [an]nütu 'la' tap'issinu' u ana uqu taqabbû (102, sec. 49)
(72) °hwrmzd ybrknk duram[az]da 'Iu'saddidka (102, sec. 49)
[wyrl:Jmnk] lu madu liramka (102, sec. 49)
[wzrCk y] sgO 'u zeruka' [Ii]mïd (102, sec. 49)
wywmyk yOrkwn ume[ka]lîriku (102, sec. 49)
wh'n th~pnhy' u kï dibbi annütu tapissinu (102, sec. 49)
(73) °hwrmzd yq[llnk] duramazda lî' ru 'rka (103, sec. 49)
[wzr CJO yhwh Ik] zeruka lU ianu (103, sec. 49)