The Behistun bas-relief surrounded by ancient multi-lingual inscriptions in Kermanshah Province

Herodotus, the Greek historian who was a contemporary of the great King Darius of ancient Iran, wrote in his remarkable history that the Persians esteemed the truth above all things. He went on to say, speaking with great respect, that the Persians hold it unlawful to speak of anything which is unlawful to do, and according to their thinking, the most disgraceful thing in the world is to tell a lie. This veneration of the truth among the ancient Iranians was indeed their most noteworthy feature, and throughout the history of the land, there was not a single foreigner who came to visit or to live among them who was not strikingly impressed by the love and respect of truth in that country. Through the passage of centuries, in the works of Greeks, Chinese, Indians and Arabs, this love and respect for the truth is mentioned endless times as perhaps the remarkable trait of all Iranians.

What these foreign visitors wrote was no myth, no embroidery upon hearsay or rumor, no pipe dream of their own arising from the lack of ethic or moral inventories and their distribution. There are some 1,500 such names contained in the tablets -- names not of kings or princes, nor priests and judges: simply names of minor officials and clerks who oversaw the wares in the storehouses.

The name chosen by parents for their children often expresses a wish, and the predominance of truth-names among the Old Persian officials reveals how deep-seated was the wish and respect for truth over all things even among families of humble origins.

But it was not only the common man who so dearly esteemed the truth among the ancient Persians. It was also the great Achaemenid kings themselves who expressed their love and admiration for the truth and their thorough despising of lie and deceit, exactly as Herodotus informs us. On the great inscription of Behistun, the magnificent King Darius incised the following words with imposing solemnity:

 

    The Lie made these provinces rebellious, so that they deceived the people. But afterwards Ahura Mazda placed them into my hand... Thou who shalt be king hereafter, protect thyself vigorously from Deceit. Punish well the man who shall lie and deceive, if thou shalt hope to keep the country secure... Know that I did this by the favor of Ahura Mazda, who bore me assistance because I was not aggressive, because I was not a follower of deceit, because I was not a doer of wrong - neither I nor my family. I conducted myself as befits the truth. Neither to the weaker nor to the powerful did I do wrong... Thou who shalt be king hereafter, do not be a friend to the follower of deceit nor to the doer of wrong. Punish them well.

 

Similarly on another of his inscriptions stand these noble words:

By the grace of Ahura Mazda I delight in what is right; I do not delight in what is false. It is not my desire that the weak should be mistreated by the mighty, nor that the mighty be treated wrongly by the weak. What is right and truthful is my desire.

 

Lastly, let us quote the following statement in an inscription of King Xerxes:

If you wish to be happy when living and blessed when dead, have respect for the law established by Ahura Mazda and worship him and truth reverently. The man who has respect for the law established by Ahura Mazda and worships him and the truth reverently, such a man becomes happy while living and blessed when he is dead.

 

Professor Stanley Insler is a world-renowned scholar who has lectured and published widely on subjects dealing with the ancient languages and texts of India and Iran.  (Source: Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies)