Ganjnameh
گنجنامهInscriptions of Darius and Xerxes cut into the rock
Ganjnameh lies in a mountain valley on the slopes of Mount Alvand, a few kilometres from Hamadan, the city the Greeks knew as Ecbatana and one of the royal seats of the Achaemenid kings. Here, on a smooth face of granite beside an old road over the mountain, two panels of inscription were cut at the command of two kings: Darius I and his son Xerxes.
Each panel is divided into three columns, written in three languages in cuneiform script: Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian. The texts are short and formal. Each praises Ahuramazda, the great god “who created this earth, who created yonder sky”, and then names the king and his lineage. In content they resemble other Achaemenid royal inscriptions, a deliberate repetition of a single statement of kingship across the empire.
Later generations, unable to read the script, decided the inscriptions must record the location of a hidden treasure, and gave the place its name: ganjnameh, “treasure book”. Today the site is a popular day out for Hamadan families. A waterfall drops nearby, and there are picnic grounds, a modern panel with translations, and trails heading up the mountain. Seeing the ancient words beside the sound of running water and children's voices is part of the pleasure.
More in Hamadanهمدان
Tomb of Avicenna
The mausoleum of Ibn Sina
Stories from the regionداستانها
The Medes
An Iranian people of the north-western highlands, the Medes helped bring down Assyria and ruled from Ecbatana, beneath modern Hamadan, before Cyrus the Great absorbed their kingdom.
The Arab conquest and the Persian revival
Islam reached Iran with the Arab armies of the 7th century. Persian survived, took on a new script and, under dynasties such as the Samanids, returned as one of the great literary languages of the world.