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A comparison of the Achaemenian and Sassanian inscriptions reveals some close thematic and linguistic parallels. In the absence of any West Iranian literary records from the time between the Old Persian and the Middle Iranian inscriptions we cannot tell whether the similarities are to be ascribed to some local (oral) literary tradition, or to some exterior influence; however, it seems we have to accept as a fact that there must have been some kind of connection between the older and the younger inscriptions.

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A comparison of the Achaemenian and Sassanian inscriptions reveals some close thematic and linguistic parallels. In the absence of any West Iranian literary records from the time between the Old Persian and the Middle Iranian inscriptions we cannot tell whether the similarities are to be ascribed to some local (oral) literary tradition, or to some exterior influence; however, it seems we have to accept as a fact that there must have been some kind of connection between the older and the younger inscriptions.

This will become clear from the text passages presented in the following. I have selected for comparison certain themes common to the Achaemenian and Sassanian inscriptions.

A. Presentation of the king, his descent, and his realm

Many inscriptions contain no more than this. In the longer inscriptions it usually serves as an introduction. In the Sassanian inscriptions the royal generalogies all conform to the same pattern, but in the Old Persian ones the patterns vary from king to king.

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THEMATIC AND LINGUISTIC PARALLELS IN
THE ACHAEMENIAN AND SASSANIAN INSCRIPTIONS
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