Ganjnameh

Ganjnameh

Ganjnameh (PerB|گنجنامه literally: "Treasure epistle") is an ancient inscription, 5 km southwest of Hamedan, on the side of Alvand Mountain in Iran. The inscription, which has been carved in granite, is composed of two sections. One (on the left) ordered by Darius I (521-485 BC) and the other (on the right) ordered by Xerxes I (485-65 BC). Both sections, which have been carved in three ancient languages of Old Persian, Neo-Babylonian and Neo-Elamite, start with praise of God (Ahura Mazda) and describe the lineage and deeds of the mentioned kings.

The later generations who could not read the Cuneiform alphabets of the ancient Persian assumed that they contained the guide to an uncovered treasury; hence they called it Ganjnameh. The name literally means "treasure epistle", but it has also been called Jangnameh (PerB|جنگنامه) whose literal translation is "war epistle".

The translation of the text on the right plate, attributed to Xerxes, is:

"The Great God [is] Ahuramazda, greatest of all the gods, who created the earth and the sky and the people; who made Xerxes king, and outstanding king as outstanding ruler among innumerable rulers; I [am] the great king Xerxes, king of kings, king of lands with numerous inhabitants, king of this vast kingdom with far-away territories, son of the Achaemenid monarch Darius."

Today two new carved tablets have been placed in the site's parking lot with Persian explanation and its English translation.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Hamedan — Infobox City official name = Hamadan native name = همدان nickname = former name = province name = Hamadan Province motto = imagesize = image caption = Avicenna s monument in Avicenna Square in Hamadan image mapsize = map caption = pushpin pushpin …   Wikipedia

  • Asadabad, Iran — For the administrative subdivision, see Asadabad County. Asadabad اسدآباد   city   …   Wikipedia

  • Ganj Nameh — Gandj Nameh: Inschriftenfelder …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Hamadan Province — استان همدان   Province   Locati …   Wikipedia

  • Hamadān Province — Infobox Iran Province province name = Hamadān ostan name = همدان loc capital = Hamedan latd = 34.7982 longd = 48.5146 area = 19,368 pop = 1,738,772 pop year = 2005 pop density = 89.8 sub provinces = 8 languages= Persian Azeri Luri Laki Kurdish… …   Wikipedia

  • Malayer — For the administrative subdivision, see Malayer County. Malayer ملاير   city   Sayfieh Park of Malayer …   Wikipedia

  • Nahavand — For the administrative subdivision, see Nahavand County. Nahavand نهاوند   city   …   Wikipedia

  • Alvand — For the city in Iran, see Alvand, Iran. For the Iranian frigate Alvand, see Iranian frigate Alvand. For the village in Azerbaijan, see Əlvənd. Alvand …   Wikipedia

  • List of aerial tramways — around the world.:For gondola lifts, see the List of gondola lifts.:For funitels, see the Funitel article.(Note: this list should not contain gondola lifts.)Africaflag|South Africa* The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, to summit of Table Mountain …   Wikipedia

  • Asadabad County — Kabudarahang Gol Tappeh Shirin Su …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”