How and why the royal inscriptions in Persia was used and continued to Essay

How and why the royal inscriptions in Persia was used and continued to be used by achaemenids - Essay Example Writing on paper in that era and place was unknown and the Kings inscribed their story on huge rocks and structures (Livius, 1997). This paper examinees a few os such inscriptions to understand why these inscriptions were made and why the Achaemenid kings continued to use them. Specifically the paper would examine the inscriptions of King Darius I, his son Xerxes and Cyrus II the Great. Till King Darius I came to power, the Achaemenid kings were not regarded very seriously and were restricted to small fringe areas. However, King Darius I who ruled from 522 to 486 BC turned the pastoral Achaemenids to be a force to reckon with. The King achieved a number of victories, encouraged trade to grow and the kingdom became wealthy and rich. To announce his achievements to the world and to ensure that his achievements would remain forever, he had his story of victories carve in stone on tall cliffs and towers, where no one could tamper with them. However, unfortunately no one could climb to the heights and read then since the craftsmen removed all access ledges and walkways. Therefore, the inscriptions were created so that the Achaemenid could leave evidence of their achievements for all posterity. Other kings also were equally vain glorious and also wanted to leave evidence of their achievement for posterity and thus the tradition continued. Paper and Papyrus was not easily available in the Achaemenid kingdom and hence the Kings had to use stone as the media for writing (Livius, 1997). King Darius I came to power after killing king Gaumà ¢ta in 522 BC. He also entered into a deadly civil war that he won and he fought many wars and conquered more and more lands. At the time of his death in 486 BC, the Achaemenid kingdom extended till India and Thrace in Greece. After the victories, King Darius I decided to set up the Behistun inscriptions. Behistun was a village in Iran and has many ancient monuments. The village was situated