Editing Darius the Great (section)

===Religion===
{{quote box|quote="By the grace of Ahuramazda am I king; Ahuramazda has granted me the kingdom."<br>— Darius, on the [[Behistun Inscription]]|width=30%}}
{{multiple image
| align         = right
| caption_align = center
| total_width   = 300
| header        = Darius at Behistun
| image1        = Behistun relief Darius.jpg
| caption1      = Darius on the [[Behistun Inscription]] reliefs
| image2        = Behistun Darius the Great.jpg
| caption2      = Crowned head of Darius at Behistun
}}

While there is no general consensus in scholarship whether Darius and his predecessors had been influenced by [[Zoroastrianism]],{{sfn|Malandra|2005}} it is well established that Darius was a firm believer in [[Ahura Mazda]], whom he saw as the supreme deity.{{sfn|Malandra|2005}}{{sfn|Briant|2002|p=126}} However, Ahura Mazda was also worshipped by adherents of the [[Indo-Iranians|(Indo-)Iranian]] religious tradition.{{sfn|Malandra|2005}}{{sfn|Boyce|1984|pp=684–687}} As can be seen at the [[Behistun Inscription]], Darius believed that Ahura Mazda had appointed him to rule the Achaemenid Empire.{{sfn|Shahbazi|1994|pp=41–50}}

Darius had dualistic philosophical convictions and believed that each rebellion in his kingdom was the work of druj, the enemy of [[Asha]]. Darius believed that because he lived righteously by Asha, Ahura Mazda supported him.{{sfn|Boyce|1979|p=55}} In many [[cuneiform]] inscriptions denoting his achievements, he presents himself as a devout believer, perhaps even convinced that he had a divine right to rule over the world.{{sfn|Boyce|1979|pp=54–55}} However, his relationship with the deity was far more complex: in one inscription he writes "Ahura Mazda is mine, I am Ahura Mazda's".

In the lands that were conquered by his empire, Darius followed the same Achaemenid tolerance that Cyrus had shown and later Achaemenid kings would show.{{sfn|Shahbazi|1994|pp=41–50}} He supported faiths and religions that were "alien" as long as the adherents were "submissive and peaceable", sometimes giving them grants from his treasury for their purposes.{{sfn|Shahbazi|1994|pp=41–50}}{{sfn|Boyce|1979|p=56}} He had funded the restoration of the [[Second Temple|Israelite temple]] which had originally been decreed by Cyrus, was supportive towards Greek cults which can be seen in his letter to Gadatas, and supported Elamite priests.{{sfn|Shahbazi|1994|pp=41–50}} He had also observed Egyptian religious rites related to kingship and had built the temple for the Egyptian god, [[Amun]].{{sfn|Shahbazi|1994|pp=41–50}}