Naqsh-e Rustam DNa

This short imperial witness gives the Scythian shelf one of its fixed eastern anchors. Darius does not describe the Saka as rumor or myth. He names them inside the political geography of empire, among tribute-bearing lands that obeyed the royal command.

The names matter. The inscription distinguishes the haoma-drinking Saka, the pointed-cap Saka, and the Saka beyond the sea. A Greek word like Scythian flattens the horizon. The Old Persian royal record preserves several Saka frontiers at once.

The translation below is from the Old Persian transliteration of DNa, the upper inscription on Darius' tomb at Naqsh-e Rustam.

Translation

A great god is Ahuramazda, who made this earth, who made that sky, who made man, who made happiness for man, who made Darius king, one king over many, one lord over many.

I am Darius, the great king, king of kings, king of lands holding every kind of people, king upon this great earth far and wide, son of Hystaspes, an Achaemenid, a Persian, son of a Persian, an Aryan of Aryan lineage.

Darius the King says: By the favor of Ahuramazda, these are the lands that I took outside Persia. I ruled over them. They brought me tribute. What I said to them, that they did. They held fast to my law: Media, Elam, Parthia, Aria, Bactria, Sogdia, Chorasmia, Drangiana, Arachosia, Sattagydia, Gandara, India, the haoma-drinking Saka, the Saka with pointed caps, Babylonia, Assyria, Arabia, Egypt, Armenia, Cappadocia, Lydia, the Greeks, the Saka beyond the sea, Thrace, the sun-hat Greeks, Libya, Nubia, Maka, and Caria.

Darius the King says: Ahuramazda saw this earth in turmoil. Then he gave it to me. He made me king. I am king. By the favor of Ahuramazda I set it in its place. What I said to them, that they did, as was my desire.

Colophon

This Good Works Translation was prepared for the Scythian shelf by the New Tianmu Anglican Church from the source text printed below. The English is an independent rendering from the source-language transliteration or Greek text, with existing public translations used only as controls for damaged or conventional passages.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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Source Text: DNa

Old Persian source text in romanized transliteration from the DNa inscription. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.

DNa 1-8: baga vazraka Auramazda hya imam bumam ada hya avam asmanam ada hya martiyam ada hya shiy atim ada martiyahya hya Darayavaum xshayathiyam akunauš aivam paruvnam xshayathiyam aivam paruvnam framataram

DNa 8-15: adam Darayavaush xshayathiya vazraka xshayathiya xshayathiyanam xshayathiya dahyunam vispazananam xshayathiya ahyaya bumiya vazrakaya duraiyapiy Vishtaspahya puca Haxamanishiya Parsa Parsahya puca Ariya Ariya cica

DNa 15-30: thatiy Darayavaush xshayathiya vashna Auramazdaha ima dahyava tya adam agarb ayam apataram haca Parsa adamsham patiyaxshayay manam bajim abaraha tvasham hacama athahya ava akunava datam tya mana avadish adaraiya Mada Uvja Parthava Haraiva Baxtrish Suguda Uvarazmish Zraka Harauvatish Thatagush Gadara Hidush Saka haumavarga Saka tigraxauda Babirush Athura Arabaya Mudraya Armina Katpatuka Sparda Yauna Saka tyaiy paradraya Skudra Yauna takabara Putaya Kushiya Maciya Karka

DNa 31-37: Darayavaush xshayathiya Auramazda yatha avaina imam bumim yaudatim pasavadiy mana frabara mam xshayathiyam akunauš adam xshayathiya amiy vashna Auramazdaha adamshim gathava niyashadayam tyasham adam athaham ava akunava yatha mam kama aha

Source Colophon

Old Persian transliteration inspected from Livius, DNa lines 1-37, based on the Achaemenid royal inscription at Naqsh-e Rustam. Livius names Pierre Lecoq, Les inscriptions de la Perse achemenide (1997), as literature for the page. The ancient inscriptional text is used here as source material; the English rendering above is newly prepared.

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