Statue Of Hercules In Behistun
The statue was sculpted in 148 BC, and dedicated in the name of "Herakles Kallinikos" (Ἡρακλῆν Καλλίνικον, "Hercules glorious in victory") by a Seleucid governor. The Seleucid governor carved it in honor of a satrap.
Hercules is lying on a 2 m long platform and holds a bowl in his left hand. His right hand rests on his leg. The statue is 1.47 m long and is attached to the mountain. Heracles's club is carved in relief "as if propped up behind him" according to Matthew P. Canepa. The form of the stele bears similarities to Seleucid stelae that bore official inscriptions in the area, most notably the stele from Laodicia-in-Media (Nahavand), on which a local Seleucid official wrote down a copy of the dynastic cult inscription of Seleucid ruler Antiochus III the Great (r. 222–187 BC), which he had created for his wife Queen Laodice III. The head of the statue was stolen twice, but was recovered in 1996. The current head is a replica. The original head is held by the Cultural Heritage, Handcrafts and Tourism Organization.
Description
The Bisotun Hercules was carved by a sculptor who was not formally trained in the Greek sculptural style. According to the modern historian Rolf Strootman, the design was more Iranian than Greek. In Hellenistic art, Heracles is seldom shown wielding a bow. In the rock relief, however, he is wielding a bow resembling those shown in the Behistun inscription. Although the epithet of the god ("kallinikos") was quite common in the Greek religion, it was also appropriate for the Iranian god Wahrām (Avestan Vərəθraγna-), with whom Hercules was assimilated. The statue of Hercules at Bisotun most likely attests to assimilation of the Greek god Hercules with the Iranian god Wahrām in the Seleucid period; however, it does not offer unequivocal evidence.
The relief may have been part of a naiskos (small shrine), as indicated by the nearby remnant of a small Ionic column, which is the same height (52 cm) as that of the Temple of Athena Nike in Athens.
Inscriptions
Behind the statue is a Greek inscription. An Aramaic version, drawn "quite a bit lighter" than the Greek version, is thought to have been carved below it, although only the word šnt ("in the year") is discernible. Canepa notes that this indicates that the sponsor of the inscription "intended to situate this message, both visually and linguistically, within the idiom of Seleucid imperial epigraphy".
| Translation | Inscription (original Greek script) |
Original inscription |
|---|---|---|
|
|
 |
References
- ^ "Behistun, other monuments". Livius.org. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
- ^ Canepa 2018, p. 61.
- ^ Visscher, Marijn S. (2020). Beyond Alexandria: Literature and Empire in the Seleucid World. Oxford University Press. p. 75, note 26. ISBN 978-0-19-005908-8.
- ^ Frye, Richard Nelson (1984). The History of Ancient Iran. C.H.Beck. p. 230. ISBN 978-3-406-09397-5.
- ^ Kasinec, Wendy F.; Polushin, Michael A. (3 February 2024). Expanding Empires: Cultural Interaction and Exchange in World Societies from Ancient to Early Modern Times. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-8420-2731-1.
- ^ Canepa 2018, p. 185.
- ^ Strootman 2020, p. 212.
- ^ Canepa 2018, p. 180.
- ^ "Bīsotūn Dedication to Heracles Callinicus". iranohellenica.eie.gr. 5 June 1976. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
- ^ Bivar, David; British Institute of Persian Studies (1978). "The Aramaic Summary". In Stronach, David (ed.). Pasargadae: A Report on the Excavations Conducted by the British Institute of Persian Studies from 1961 to 1963. Clarendon Press. p. 161. ISBN 978-0-19-813190-8. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
- ^ HIB Greek text – Parthian Sources Online.
Sources
- Canepa, Matthew (2018). The Iranian Expanse: Transforming Royal Identity Through Architecture, Landscape, and the Built Environment, 550 BCE–642 CE. Oakland: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-37920-6.
- Strootman, Rolf (2020). "Hellenism and Persianism in Iran". Dabir. 7: 201–227. doi:10.1163/29497833-00701016. hdl:1874/408015.