---
title: 'Tomb of Darius I at Naqsh-e Rustam: the king in relief beside his inscription DNa, c. 490 BCE'
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dna-inscription-darius-i-naqsh-e-rustam-490bce/
description: 'The upper left of the rock-cut tomb facade at Naqsh-e Rustam: the king in relief at right, and at left the long inscription in which Darius names…'
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[![Tomb of Darius I at Naqsh-e Rustam: the king in relief beside his inscription DNa, c. 490 BCE](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/dna-inscription-darius-i-naqsh-e-rustam-490bce.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/dna-inscription-darius-i-naqsh-e-rustam-490bce.jpg)

# Tomb of Darius I at Naqsh-e Rustam: the king in relief beside his inscription DNa, c. 490 BCE

The upper left of the rock-cut tomb facade at Naqsh-e Rustam: the king in relief at right, and at left the long inscription in which Darius names Ahuramazda as the god who made him king, lists the lands that bore him tribute, and tells the reader to look at the sculptures of the throne-bearers.

## Text on the object

Original (Old Persian) · checked against a source transcription

```
[DNa, opening, Old Persian transliteration:]
baga vazraka Auramazdâ hya imâm bumâm adâ hya avam asmânam adâ hya martiyam adâ hya šiyâtim adâ martiyahyâ hya Dârayavaum xšâyathiyam akunauš aivam parûvnâm xšâyathiyam aivam parûvnâm framâtâram adam Dârayavauš xšâyathiya vazraka xšâyathiya xšâyathiyânâm xšâyathiya dahyûnâm vispazanânâm xšâyathiya ahyâyâ bûmiyâ vazrakâyâ dûraiapiy Vištâspahyâ puça Haxâmanišiya Pârsa Pârsahyâ puça Ariya Ariya ciça
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
A great god is Ahuramazda, who created this earth, who created yonder sky, who created man, who created happiness for man, who made Darius king, one king of many, one lord of many.

I am Darius the great king, king of kings, king of countries containing all kinds of men, king in this great earth far and wide, son of Hystaspes, an Achaemenid, a Persian, son of a Persian, an Aryan, having Aryan lineage.
```

Transliteration and English from Livius.org's DNa page, where the web text breaks lines mid-word; those breaks are joined and the backslash word dividers shown as spaces. Only the opening is transcribed; the text continues with the list of lands and the passage on the throne-bearers. The monument also carries Elamite and Babylonian versions.

[← Clay cylinder with the Ehulhul inscription of Nabonidus, king of Babylon, describing work on three temples](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/cylinder-nabonidus-ehulhul-inscription-555bce/) [Seated limestone statue of Hatshepsut as king, with feminine royal titles on the throne, reassembled from fragments broken up at Deir el-Bahri →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hatshepsut-seated-statue-limestone-met-1458bce/)

## Using the same techniques

- [Behistun (Bisotun) rock relief and trilingual inscription of Darius I: the king, two attendants and the bound rebel leaders beneath the winged figure of Ahuramazda](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/behistun-relief-darius-and-rebels-521bce/) (Achaemenid Empire · 0000 · Card stacking, Name-calling, Testimonial). Content note: Shows bound captives before the king, and the inscription records the mutilation and public execution of rebel leaders, as the king's own account.
- [Seated limestone statue of Hatshepsut as king, with feminine royal titles on the throne, reassembled from fragments broken up at Deir el-Bahri](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hatshepsut-seated-statue-limestone-met-1458bce/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Transfer, Testimonial)
- [Bronze sestertius of Gaius (Caligula), reverse S P Q R P P OB CIVES SERVATOS in an oak wreath](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sestertius-caligula-ob-cives-servatos-0037/) (Roman Empire · 0037 · Testimonial, Transfer)
- [Bronze sestertius of Trajan, reverse S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, S C, the emperor on horseback riding down an enemy](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sestertius-trajan-optimo-principi-0103/) (Roman Empire · 0103 · Testimonial, Glittering generalities)
- [Seljuq gold dinar of Sanjar, dated 493 AH, with the Abbasid caliph named on one face](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/seljuq-gold-dinar-sanjar-caliph-name-1099/) (Great Seljuk Empire · 1099 · Testimonial)
- [Estoire d'Eracles page with Bernard of Clairvaux preaching the Second Crusade in the initial (Walters W.137, fol. 180v)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eracles-bernard-preaching-second-crusade-w137-1275/) (France · 1275 · Testimonial)
- [Opening page of the Estoire d'Eracles (William of Tyre in French), with the Crucifixion and Pope Urban II preaching the First Crusade in the initial (Walters W.137, fol. 1r)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eracles-urban-ii-preaching-first-crusade-w137-1275/) (France · 1275 · Testimonial, Transfer)
- [Miniature of Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont, Les Passages d'outremer (BnF Fr. 5594, fol. 19r)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/passages-doutremer-council-of-clermont-colombe-1474/) (France · 1474 · Testimonial, Fear appeal). Content note: Medieval religious imagery and a French text describing alleged killings and captivity of eastern Christians, as used to argue for the First Crusade; the text is shown as written.