
The Suez inscriptions of Darius the Great were texts written in
Old Persian,
Elamite,
Babylonian and
Egyptian on five monuments erected in
Wadi Tumilat, commemorating the opening of the "
Canal of the Pharaohs" between the
Nile
The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...
and the
Bitter Lakes.
One of the best preserved of these monuments was a
stele of
pink granite, which was discovered by Charles de Lesseps,
Ferdinand de Lesseps's son, in 1866, 30 kilometres from
Suez
Suez (, , , ) is a Port#Seaport, seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest c ...
near Kabret in
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
. It was erected by
Darius the Great
Darius I ( ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his death in 486 BCE. He ruled the empire at its territorial peak, when it included much of West A ...
, king of the
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian peoples, Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, i ...
(or Persia), whose reign lasted from 522 to 486 BCE. The monument, also known as the ''Chalouf stele'' (alt. Shaluf Stele), records the construction of a forerunner of the modern
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...
by the Persians, a canal through Wadi Tumilat, connecting the easternmost,
Bubastite, branch of the
Nile
The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...
with
Lake Timsah, which was connected to the
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
by natural waterways.
[Barbara Watterson (1997), ''The Egyptians'', Blackwell Publishing, , p.186] The stated purpose of the canal was the creation of a shipping connection between the Nile and the Red Sea, between
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
and Persia.
Text
Partial transliteration and translation of the inscription:
* Transliteration of the
Old Persian text:
*English translation:
"King Darius says: I am a Persian; setting out from Persia I conquered Egypt. I ordered to dig this canal from the river that is called Nile and flows in Egypt, to the sea that begins in Persia. Therefore, when this canal had been dug as I had ordered, ships went from Egypt through this canal to Persia, as I had intended."
See also
*
History of Achaemenid Egypt
*
List of Iranian artifacts abroad
References
6th-century BC inscriptions
5th-century BC inscriptions
1866 archaeological discoveries
1866 in Egypt
Ancient Egyptian stelas
Achaemenid inscriptions
Archaeology of the Achaemenid Empire
Akkadian inscriptions
Elamite language
Suez Inscriptions
Suez Canal
Archaeological discoveries in Egypt
Wadi Tumilat
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