This volume presents part of the author’s research on the Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions recovered in the ruins of the Achaemenid palaces in Susa, conducted within the framework of the DARIOSH-Louvre Project. It offers a new study of several fragmentary inscriptions in Old Persian, Achaemenid Elamite, and Achaemenid Babylonian, currently designated as DSe, DSt, DSb, DSl, DSa, DSk, DSi, DSp, D²Sb, DSj, A²Se, DSs, ‘Inc. Sb’, and others. The book provides a new edition of each inscription based on both published and unpublished fragments. Additionally, it introduces some new lexicons and cuneiform signs in the Old Persian language and script.
Salman Aliyari Babolghani, Ph.D. (2014), is a researcher at the University of Hamburg. He has published monographs and articles on Achaemenid inscriptions and the philology of ‘West Iranian’ languages, including
The Elamite Version of Darius the Great’s Inscription at Bisotun (Nashr-e Markaz, 2015), in Persian.
Contents
DARIOSH-Louvre Project’s Note Acknowledgments List of Figures and Tables Abbreviations and Editorial Marks
Introduction 1 Fragmentary Inscriptions Scattered in Museums
2 Background and the Necessity of a New Survey
3 Current State and General Results of the Research
4 Overview of the Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions of Susa
5 Technical Details
Part 1: Some Fragments of a Foundation Stone Table Inscription
1
Ahuramazda Protected the Great King’s “Written Word” Fresh Old Persian Lexicon in Newly Discovered Fragments of DSe (Accompanied by DSt)
1 Introduction
2 Text-Bearers and Fragments
3 Previous Studies on DSe/OP and ex-DSt
4 Text of the Fragments
5 Commentary
6 New Edition of DSe/OP 44–52
Part 2: Terracotta Brick Inscriptions
2
“AhuraMazdā Belongs to Me” Inscriptions DSa, DSb, DSk, DSl, and DSae
1 Introduction
2 DSb and DSl
3 DSa
4 DSk
5 DSae
Part 3: Some Threshold Inscriptions
3
“I Did All Superior” DSi Inscription (Accompanied by DSp and D²Sb)
1 Introduction
2 Fragments in Question and Their Text-Bearers
3 Previous Studies
4 Examining the New Edition of DSi
5 Commentary
6 Epigraphic Errors in DSi
7 Examples, Exemplars, and Copies of DSi
8 Conclusion and New Edition of DSi
4
A Marvelous Palace Built by a Righteous King DSj Inscription
1 Introduction
2 Text-Bearer of DSj
3 Dimensions of the Text-Bearer of DSj
4 Fragments of DSj
5 Sign Count Estimation in DSj Versions
6 Previous Studies on DSj
7 The Latest Editions of DSj
8 Examining the New Edition of DSj/OP/AE/AB
9 Commentary
10 New Edition of DSj
5
The Man Who Does What AhuraMazdā Wished A²Se Inscription (Accompanied by DSs, ‘Inc. Sb’ and Two Other Fragments)
1 Introduction
2 Fragments in Question and Previous Studies
3 Text-Bearer of the Fragments
4 DSs, ‘Inc. Sb’, Sb 9998, and Louvre 54 as Fragments of A²Se
5 Examining the New Edition of A²Se
6 Commentary
7 Examples, Exemplars, and Copies of A²Se
8 Dimensions of the Text-Bearer of A²Se
9 Conclusion and New Edition of A²Se
Appendix 1: Persian Translations of the Inscriptions Appendix 2: Revised List of Old Persian Logograms Bibliography Index
This book would interest students and scholars of Achaemenid inscriptions, Old Persian, Achaemenid Elamite, and Achaemenid Babylonian languages and cuneiform scripts, as well as Iranian philology, Achaemenid history, and Zoroastrianism.