Ganjnameh Ancient Inscriptions

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Author: Paniz Taherkhani

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Ganjnameh Ancient Inscriptions - Photo: karnaval.ir/

Suitable For

Duration Of Visit
0.5 To 1 Hour

Best Seasons To Visit

the begging of the Abbas Abad Valley, beginning of the Hamedan Road to Tuyserkan County, Hamedan, Hamedan Province, Iran

Visitors Are Allowed

Also known as

Alvand Inscriptions
Alvand Epigraphs
Ganjnameh Epigraphs
Jangnameh

Geographical location of Ganjnameh Ancient Inscriptions

These ancient inscriptions located at the begging of the Abbas Abad Valley and at the beginning of the Hamedan Road to Tuyserkan County, beside Ganjnameh Waterfall, Hamedan, Hamedan Province, Iran. This waterfall located 8 kilometers of the southeast of Hamedan Province and it's about 12 meters in height.

History and culture of Ganjnameh Ancient Inscriptions

This road was one of the main royal roads in the Achaemenid Empire which connected Ecbatana to Babylonia in the center of Mesopotamia from Alvand Foothills. This road was one of the busiest and safest roads in ancient times. Also, it was considered as a holy road, due to ends to Babylonia. It was a suitable place for Achaemenid kings to make their inscriptions to immortalize their pure thoughts and beliefs.

Because, Ecbatana was the summer capital of the Achaemenid Empire in the royal road, Darius the Great ordered to carving the current Ganjnameh inscription after finishing Bisotun's stone works. After him, his son, Xerxes I, left an inscription on the right and a little lower than his father's inscription.

The Achaemenid, who established the largest Oriental empire after the Medes, highly revered and valued water, one of the sacred elements of Zoroastrianism (one of the world's oldest continuously practiced religions).

There are also, Ganjnameh Waterfall, the verdurous valley of Abbas Abad, Tarik Darreh, and Kivarestan nearby, where you can enjoy their pure environment.

There are two royal orders narrated here to advise posterity. One of them is Darius the Great inscription (484-521 B.C.) on the left, and the other is Xerxes I inscription (465-486 B.C.) on the right. Both mentioned inscriptions are carved in Cuneiform (a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East) in twenty lines from left to right, in Elamite language, Akkadian language, and Old Persian. The cuneiform's words are about 6 and 7 cm in height. The content of the inscriptions is similar to each other despite, in one the name of Darius the Great is mentioned and in the other the name of Xerxes I. Both include the praise of Ahura Mazda (the creator and highest deity of Zoroastrianism) and the introduction of the lineage of the kings. Around these two inscriptions, there are regular holes on the stones that indicate that in the past, there were metal doors and covers to protect them from wind, rain, and sun.

Tips and ideas

There are delightful seasonal waterfalls between the rocks of the Mishan Plain. Near the Ganjnameh Waterfall, there is a road that leads you to Tuyserkan, the center of walnut in Iran, right after passing from Aland foothills and fresh plains.

Ganjnameh Telecabin (cable car) that is located in the vicinity of Ganjnameh Inscriptions and Waterfall can be your next spot to make your day memorable. This cable car extends to Mishan Square, one of the verdurous heights of Alvand Mountain that can easily attract anyone.

Exciting sports facilities such as bungee jumping platform, flight cable, climbing wall, ranger, bowling alley, ski resort, sledding tracks, etc. along with special recreational facilities and services including cable car line, coffee shop and a variety of restaurants, indoor amusement parks, plant gardens and indoor and outdoor parking lots have provided almost everything for tourists!

YaldaMedTour is looking forward to read about your personal experience and ideas, please share them with us in the comment below.

Natioal Heritage Date: 2009/01/04

National Heritage Number: 21

Address Of Ganjnameh Ancient Inscriptions: the begging of the Abbas Abad Valley, beginning of the Hamedan Road to Tuyserkan County, Hamedan, Hamedan Province, Iran