Ganjnameh

Ganjnameh inscriptions in 2011.
Location	Mount Alvand, Hamadan, Iran
Type	Epigraphy
Material	Stone

Ganjnameh ( Persian: گنجنامه, romanized: Ganjnāme, lit. 'Treasure Book') is located 12 km southwest of Hamadan (ancient Ecbatana) in western Iran, at an altitude of c. 2000 meters across Mount Alvand. ^{[1] [2]} The site is home to two trilingual Achaemenid royal inscriptions. ^[1] The inscription on the upper left was created on the order of Achaemenid King Darius the Great ( r. 522–486 BC) and the one on the right by his son King Xerxes the Great ( r. 486–465 BC). ^{[1] [2] [a]}

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. ^{[1] [2]} 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. ^{[1] [2]} According to Stuart C. Brown, in the pre- Hellenistic period, this mountain was apparently the main "east-west pass" through Mount Alvand. ^[1] During the Achaemenid period, Ecbatana functioned as summer capital due to its high elevation and pleasant weather. ^[2]

The site received its name from local natives, who believed that the inscriptions contained the secret code to a hidden treasure. ^[2]

Gallery

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

Notes

References

Sources

• Brown, Stuart C. (2000). "Ganj-nāma". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume X/3: Fruit–Gāvbāzī. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 285–286. ISBN  978-0-933273-47-4.
• Kia, Mehrdad (2016). The Persian Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. ISBN  978-1610693912.

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