Shapur I's inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht

Ka'ba-ye Zartosht
The inscriptions

Shapur I's Ka'ba-ye Zartosht inscription, also referred to as The Great Inscription of Shapur I,[1][2] ŠKZ, SKZ,[1] or Res Gestae Divi Saporis (RGDS),[1] refers to an important inscription made during the reign of the Persian Sasanian king Shapur I (r. 240-270). The inscription is carved on the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht, a stone quadrangular and stepped structure located in Naqsh-e Rustam, an ancient necropolis located northwest of Persepolis, in today's Fars Province, Iran. The inscription dates to c. 262.[1] There are some important inscriptions located on the outer walls of this building from Shapur I and Kartir. The inscription is trilingual; in Middle Persian, Parthian, and Greek,[1] containing 35, 30, and 70 lines, respectively. The Middle Persian variant is partially damaged, while the Greek and Parthian versions are better survived, although they are not exactly the same as the Middle Persian text. In this inscription, Shapur introduces himself, mentions the provinces of his empire, describes his campaigns against the neighboring rivaling Roman Empire and talks about the fire temples he built. The inscription is considered the most important inscription from the Sasanian era.

The relevant Middle Persian passage enumerating the Caucasian lands under direct Sasanian control reads:[1]

...[I] am ruler of Ērānshahr, [and I hold?] the lands: Pars, Parthia...Ādurbāyagān [’twrp'tkn], Armenia [Armin, ’lmny, i.e., Armenia], Wiruzān/Wručān [wlwc'n, i.e., K'art'li], Sigan, Ar[r]ān ['ld'nm, i.e., Caucasian Albania], Balāsagān up to the Caucasus Mountains [Kafkōf] and the Gates of Albania/the Alans...

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rapp 2014, p. 28.
  2. ↑ Yarshater 1983, p. 126.

Sources

  • Rapp, Stephen H. (2014). The Sasanian World through Georgian Eyes: Caucasia and the Iranian Commonwealth in Late Antique Georgian Literature. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 978-1472425522.
  • Yarshater, E. (1983). The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 3: The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanid Periods, Part 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521200929.
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