The Statue of Hercules in Behistun (or Statue of Heracles/Herakles in Bisotun, Persian: تندیس هرکول) is located on Mount Behistun, Iran. It was discovered in 1958,^[1] and is the only extant rock sculpture from the period of Seleucid control over the Iranian Plateau, that lasted from c. 312 BC to c. 140/139 BC.^[2]

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.^[1][3][4] The Seleucid governor carved it in honor of a satrap.^[2]

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.^[5] Heracles's club is carved in relief "as if propped up behind him" according to Matthew P. Canepa.^[2] 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.^[2] 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.

The Bisotun Hercules was carved by a sculptor who was not formally trained in the Greek sculptural style.^[6] 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.^[7] 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.^[6] 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.^[8]

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.^[6]

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.^[9][10] 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".^[2]

Dedicatory inscription of Herakles^[11]
(Behistun, 153 BCE)

Translation	Inscription (original Greek script)	Original inscription
In the year 164 (of the Seleucid era) in the month of Panemos (June) [set this statue of] Herakles Kallinikos ("Hercules glorious in victory") did Hyakinthos, son of Pantauchos, for the safety of Kleomenes, Commander of the Upper Satrapies, of the satraps.	ἔτους δξρ᾽, μηνὸς Πανήμου, Ἡρακλῆν Καλλίνικον Ὑάκινθος Πανταύχου ὑπὲ[ρ] τῆς Κλεομένου τοῦ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄνω σ[ατρ]απειῶν σωτηρίας τῶν σατραπῶν

• 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.

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