A new inscription from the tomb of darius I in naqsh-I rustam and the ceremony of proskynesis in the achaemenid empire

Abstract

The article is devoted to the investigation of the Achaemenid trilingual inscription, having been published in 2019, from the tomb of the King Darius I (522-486 BC) in Naqsh-i Rustam (DNf). This inscription is the third one relating to the reliefs of the Persian nobles depicted on the façade of the tomb, who were Darius’s loyal supporters. The first two are images and inscriptions of Gobryas and Aspathines (DNc-d), and now the third is of Otanes. The Old Persian version of the new inscription includes a previously unknown verb that describes the action of a nobleman, depicted with a hand at his mouth, in the relief below the inscription. A thorough examination of the controversial aspects of the interpretation of the inscription allows us to conclude that the text refers to the action of a person represented on the relief who addressed King Darius with a gesture of blessing or greeting. The correlation of this textual and visual evidences from the royal tomb in Naqsh-i Rustam with the classical tradition reporting on proskynesis in the Achaemenid Empire allows us to come to conclusion that the new data provide us with the unique information about the ceremony of proskynesis to the King as it was seen by the Persians. The gesture of raising the hand to the mouth is found both in the famous scenes of the royal audience from the apadana of Persepolis, and in other images of the Achaemenid period.