Behistun

[jona]

Slightly off-topic, but perhaps interesting: the restoration works at the Behistun rock relief are almost finished. See http://www.payvand.com/news/04/aug/1149.html . The text of the relief, which offers the very interesting account of the rise to power of Darius I, can be found at http://www.livius.org/be-bm/behistun/behistun01.html .Interesting to note: Diodorus mentions that Alexander saw this relief.Jona

[marcus]

Hi Jona,Thanks for that. Although I'm not 100% familiar with the Achaemenid road system and the geography of the area, I always assumed that Alexander would have seen the inscription, as he marched from Persepolis to Pasagardai and then on to Ecbatana.More to the point, I wonder whether he was at all interested in it! All the bestMarcus

[jona]

"More to the point, I wonder whether he was at all interested in it!"
Diodorus almost says so "For the purpose of sight-seeing he entered the region of Bagistan+¬" (17.110.5). (Baga-stana, "god's country", > Behistun). He had good reasons to be interested. After all, Darius was a fascinating figure - the man who had attacked the Greeks and subjected the Macedonians, but on the other hand a great organizer. Alexander must have known (from Herodotus) that the system of satraps he had adopted, was an invention of Darius.
"I'm not 100% familiar with the Achaemenid road system and the geography of the area".
Maybe it is interesting to add that the Zagros mountains are very accessible. On a map, it looks as if Alexander was traveling through a very harsh country, but there are specious plains and the road from Baghdad to Hamadan can best be visualised as an endless series of valleys.
I am currently putting my Iran pictures online at http://www.livius.org/a/iran.html ; if you continue to Zagros, you'll see what I mean.
Jona

[jan]

Thanks, Jona, for this link. I especially appreciate the Persian Gates and Persepolis texts and photographs. I have a vivid memory of the room of 100 columns, an inner wall with relief pictures that lead into the room of 100 columns, and the Persian Gates, and Gates of All Nations, so these pictures are very valuable to my understanding my images. I noticed the canal as I am reading Arrian's Campaigns, translated by Aubrey de Selincourt, and notice that Alexander is always interested in waterways and irrigation, digging wells, etc. In my recollection of Babylon that is all that I found was an interest in the canal system or the waterways. So again, I appreciated the canal in the Persepolis pictures as well. You are a godsend for me.

[jona]

"You are a godsend for me."We do our best. Thanks for the compliment. I expect to finish the site Wednesday and will post some additional info.Jona