Ganjnameh

Ganjnameh (Template:Langx) is located 12 km southwest of Hamadan (ancient Ecbatana) in western Iran, at an altitude of c. Template:Trim meters across Mount Alvand.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The site is home to two trilingual Achaemenid royal inscriptions.Template:Sfn The inscription on the upper left was created on the order of Achaemenid King Darius the Great (Template:Reign522–486 BC) and the one on the right by his son King Xerxes the Great (Template:Reign486–465 BC).Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Efn

Description

The two inscription panels of Ganjnameh, carved in stone in 20 lines on a granite rock above a creek, measure 2 × 3 m each.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Written in Old Persian, Neo-Babylonian and Neo-Elamite, except for the different royal name, the contents of the two inscriptions are identical; Ahura Mazda receives praise, and lineages and conquests are listed.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn According to Stuart C. Brown, in the pre-Hellenistic period, this mountain was apparently the main "east-west pass" through Mount Alvand.Template:Sfn During the Achaemenid period, Ecbatana functioned as summer capital due to its high elevation and pleasant weather.Template:Sfn

The site received its name from locals, who believed that the inscriptions contained the secret code to a hidden treasure.Template:Sfn

Gallery

• Eugène Flandin's 1840 drawing of Ganjnameh.
  Eugène Flandin's 1840 drawing of Ganjnameh.
• Pascal Coste's 1851 drawing of Ganjnameh.
  Pascal Coste's 1851 drawing of Ganjnameh.
• Ganjnameh inscriptions in 2018.
  Ganjnameh inscriptions in 2018.

Sources

• Template:Encyclopædia Iranica