The Dating Issue of the 3rd Pahlavi Inscription of Sassanid Era in Derbent of Dagestan, Caucasus

The inscriptions of Derbent, a city in Dagestan, Caucasus, are among the most important Sassanid inscriptions. They have been inscribed on the defensive wall of Derbent. Derbent's defense fortifications consist of walls that were built to defend against the invasion of nomadic tribes, usually located on the upper borderlands of the Sassanid Caucasus. The construction of defensive walls, promotion of their quality and strength, and the maintenance and restoration of these fortifications have been the main and primary tasks of Sassanid rulers against the invasion of these tribes. The construction phases of Derbent's defensive wall and its dating have been controversial among the researchers of this field. There are some inscriptions, in some parts of this wall, inscribed by the language of Sassanid Pahlavi. Of the 32 inscriptions on the Derbent's wall, the 3rd one has a historical significance due to a number that seems referring to a year with an unknown epoch. A variety of theories have been proposed about the reading of the number as well as its possible epoch. By reviewing some of these theories, it has been concluded that the mentioned number means the year 37. Considering the historical evidences, presented in the text of this paper, and based on our information about the king calendar of the Sassanians that its epoch was the year a Sassanid king sat on the throne, it can be guessed that the calendar epoch of the year 37, mentioned in the inscription, points the year Khosrow I crowned as the king. It can be claimed, accepting the suggestion, that the time for inscribing this historic record was the 37th anniversary of Khosrow Anushirvan's reign which coincides with 568-569 AD.