Archaeology, Achaemenids, And Pope Francis

Iran's Book News Agency:
Pope’s speech inscribed on a Persian document 2500 years ago
Publish Date : Friday 16 October 2015 - 23:45
http://www.ibna.ir/en/doc/tolidi/228596/pope-s-speech-inscribed-in-a-persian-document-2500-years-ago

According to IBNA correspondent, the commemoration ceremony of Professor Sadeq (Shapur) Malek Shahmirzadi, the prominent Iranian archaeologist, was held on Wednesday, October 14, 2015, at the National Museum of Iran in collaboration with the Archaeological Research Institute of Iran’s Cultural Heritage Organization...

At the beginning, Malek Shahmirzadi stated: “This is a session of archaeology and history. Please let me choose my own example from this field to tell you about. We Iranians have a written document that is 2500 years old which is recognized by UNESCO as a world record, and that is the inscription of the Achaemenid King Darius at Behistun.
The document begins with three words; great is God, Ahura Mazda. Why is God great? Because he has granted me this land, the people and joy and bestowed on me whatever is good.”

He further continued: “At the end, Darius asks God for three things. He appeals to God to keep this land and people safe from three plagues of war, drought and lies.”

“It was late September when Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholics of the world, delivered a speech in the United Nations, addressing the representatives of 190 countries present and said ‘avoid war’. This is while Darius had prayed for the same thing for us 2500 years ago. In his speech, Pope spoke of drought and the threat of greenhouse gases and urged politicians not to tell lies,” the archaeology scholar added.

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This is the logo for the Iran's Book News Agency.
I never studied Farsi, but it uses the Arabic script with a few additions; the word "book" on the right is pretty clear:  kitaab.

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