Everything about Achaemenid totally explained
Achaemenid Persian Empire>
شاهنشاهی هخامنشی ایران>
Achaemenid Empire. |
| Languages | Persian, Elamite, Aramaic,Hebrew
|
| Religions | There was no official state religion. Zoroastrianism was the royal faith but numerous others religions, such as Judaism, were practiced.
|
| Capitals | Anshan,
Ecbatana,
Pasargadae,
Persepolis,
Susa
|
| Area | Near East, Central Asia, Western South Asia, North Africa, and Southeast Europe
|
| Existed | 550-330 BCE
|
Achaemenid Empire or
Achaemenid Persian Empire (550–330 BCE) was the first of the
Persian Empires to rule over significant portions of
Greater Iran, and the second great
Iranian empire (after the Median Empire). At the height of its power, encompassing approximately 7.5 million square kilometers, the Achaemenid Empire was territorially the largest empire of
classical antiquity. It spanned three continents, including territories of modern
Pakistan,
Central Asia,
Asia Minor,
Thrace,Much of the
Black Sea coastal regions,
Iraq, northern
Saudi Arabia,
Jordan,
Israel,
Lebanon,
Syria, and all significant population centers of ancient
Egypt as far west as
Libya. It is noted in western history as the foe of the
Greek city states in the
Greco-Persian Wars, for freeing the
Israelites from their
Babylonian captivity, and for instituting
Aramaic as the empire's official language. Because of the Empire's vast extent and long endurance, Persian influence upon the language, religion, architecture, philosophy, law and government of nations around the world lasts to this day.
History
The empire began as a
tributary state of the
Medes but ended up conquering and enlarging the Median empire to include
Egypt and
Asia Minor. Under
Xerxes, it came very close to conquering
Ancient Greece. The Achaemenids were overthrown by the conquest of
Alexander the Great in 330 BCE.
The early period
The founder of this dynasty was supposedly
Achaemenes: هخامنش (Old Persian
Haxāmaniš "Of Friendly Mind"). He was succeeded by his son
Teispes (
Cišpi), who first took the title King of
Anšān after seizing Anšān city from the
Elamites. Inscriptions indicate that when Teispes died, two of his sons shared the throne as
Cyrus (
Kuruš), king of Anšān, and
Ariaramnes (
Ariyāramna, 'Having the Iranians at Peace'), king of
Parsua (later called
Pārsa, that is, Persia Proper). They were succeeded by their respective sons
Cambyses I of Anshan (
Kambūjiya, "the Elder"), and
Arsames (
Aršāma "Having a Hero's Might") of
Iran (Persia).
In 559 BCE, Cambyses I the Elder was succeeded as king of Anšān by his son
Cyrus II the Great, who also succeeded the still-living Arsames as King of Persia, thus reuniting the two realms. Cyrus is considered to be the first true king of the Achaemenid dynasty, as his predecessors were subservient to
Media. Cyrus II conquered Media,
Lydia, and
Babylon. Cyrus was politically shrewd, modeling himself as the "savior" of conquered nations. To reinforce this image, he instituted policies of religious freedom, and restored temples and other infrastrcture in the newly acquired cities. (Most notably the Jews of Babylon, as recorded in the
Cyrus Cylinder and the
Tanakh). It was the general policy of the Achaemenids to continue the Assyrian and Babylonian practice of transferring large populations between areas. This caused a great deal of cultural diffusion, blending many of the disparate clans together, and thus reducing previous tribal (and territorial) loyalties. As a result, the Achaemenid era was known as a relatively peaceful period in Middle Eastern history.
His immediate successors were less successful. Cyrus' son
Cambyses II conquered Egypt, but died in July 522 BCE as the result of either accident or suicide, during a revolt led by a sacerdotal clan that had lost its power following Cyrus' conquest of Media. These priests, whom Herodotus called
Magi, usurped the throne for one of their own, Gaumata, who then pretended to be Cambyses II's younger brother
Smerdis (Pers.
Bardiya), who had been assassinated some three years earlier. Owing to the despotic rule of Cambyses and his long absence in Egypt, "the whole people, Perses, Medes and all the other nations," acknowledged the usurper, especially as he granted a remission of taxes for three years (Herodotus iii. 68).
It is important to note that the claim that Gaumata had impersonated Smerdis, is derived from Darius. Historians are divided over the possibility that the story of the impostor was invented by Darius as justification for his coup
(External Link
). Darius made a similar claim when he later captured Babylon, announcing that the Babylonian king was not, in fact, Nebuchadnezzar III, but an impostor named Nidintu-bel.
(External Link)
According to the
Behistun Inscription, pseudo-Smerdis ruled for seven months before being overthrown in 522 BCE by a member of a lateral branch of the Achaemenid family,
Darius I (Old Persian
Dāryavuš "Who Holds Firm the Good", also known as
Darayarahush or Darius the Great). The Magi, though persecuted, continued to exist, and a year following the death of the first pseudo-Smerdis (Gaumata), had a second pseudo-Smerdis (named Vahyazdāta) attempt a coup. The coup, though initially successful, failed.
According to
Herodotus, the native leadership then debated the best form of government for the Empire. He reports that it was decided that
oligarchy would divide them against one another, and democracy would bring about
mob rule resulting in a charismatic leader resuming the monarchy. Therefore, they decided a new monarch was in order, particularly since
they were in a position to choose him. Darius I was chosen monarch from among the leaders. He was cousin to Cambyses II and Smerdis, claiming Ariaramnes as his ancestor.
Darius I attacked the Greek mainland, which had supported rebellious Greek colonies under his aegis; but as a result of his defeat at the
Battle of Marathon in 490, he was forced to pull the limits of his empire back to
Asia Minor.
The Achaemenids thereafter consolidated areas firmly under their control. It was
Cyrus the Great and
Darius the Great who, by sound and farsighted administrative planning, brilliant military maneuvering, and a humanistic world view, established the greatness of the Achaemenids and, in less than thirty years, raised them from an obscure tribe to a world power. It was during the reign of Darius I that
Persepolis was built (
518–
516 BCE) and which would serve as capital for several generations of Achaemenid kings.
Ecbatana (
Hagmatāna "City of Gatherings", modern
Hamadan) in Media was greatly expanded during this period and served as the summer capital.
Greco-Persian Wars
Nonetheless, by the 5th century BCE the Achaemenid kings ruled over territories roughly encompassing today's
Iran,
Iraq,
Armenia,
Afghanistan,
Turkey,
Bulgaria, many parts of
Greece,
Egypt,
Syria,
Pakistan,
Jordan,
Israel, the
West Bank, the
Gaza Strip,
Lebanon,
Caucasia,
Central Asia,
Libya, and northern parts of
Arabia. The empire eventually became the
largest empire of the ancient world.
Xerxes I (485–465 BCE, Old Persian
Xšayārša "Hero Among Kings"), son of
Darius I, organised a massive expedition aiming to conquer
Greece. His army entered Greece from the north, meeting little or no resistance through
Macedonia and
Thessaly, but was held by a small Greek force for three days at Thermopylae. A simultaneous naval battle at Artemisium was tactically indecisive as large storms destroyed ships from both sides. The battle was stopped prematurely when the Greeks received news of the defeat at Thermopylae and retreated. The battle was a strategic victory for the Persians, giving them uncontested control of Artemisium and Aegean Sea.
Following his victory at the
Battle of Thermopylae, Xerxes sacked the evacuated city of
Athens and prepared to meet the Greeks at the strategic
Isthmus of Corinth and the
Saronic Gulf. In 480 BCE the Greeks won a decisive victory at the
Battle of Salamis and forced Xerxes to retire to
Sardis. The army which he left in Greece under
Mardonius was destroyed in 479 BCE at the
Battle of Plataea. The final defeat of the Persians at
Mycale encouraged the Greek cities of Asia to revolt, and marked the end of the
Greco-Persian Wars, along with Persian expansion to
Europe.
The cultural phase
Xerxes I was followed by
Artaxerxes I (465–424 BCE), who moved the capital from Persepolis to Babylon. It was during this reign that
Elamite ceased to be the language of government, and Aramaic came into prominence. It was probably during this reign that the solar calendar (based on the
Babylonian one) was introduced as the national calendar. Under Artaxerxes I, [[Zo
ArtaxerxesI died in Susa, and his body was brought to Persepolis for interment in the tomb of his forebears. Artaxerxes I was immediately succeeded by his eldest son Xerxes II, who was however assassinated by one of his half-brothers a few weeks later. Darius II was then in Babylon, where he rallied support for himself. He marched eastwards, desposed and put to death the assassin and was crowned in his stead.
From 412
Darius II (423–404 BCE), at the instance of the able Tissaphernes, gave support then to Athens, then to Sparta, but in 407, Darius' son
Cyrus the Younger was appointed to replace Tissaphernes and aid was given entirely to Sparta which finally defeated Athens in 404. In the same year, Darius fell fatally ill and died in Babylon. At his deathbed, his Babylonian wife
Parysatis pleaded with Darius to have her second eldest son Cyrus (the Younger) crowned, but Darius refused.
Darius was then succeeded by his eldest son
Artaxerxes II Memnon.
Plutarch relates (probably on the authority of
Ctesias) that the displaced Tissaphernes came to the new king on his coronation day to warn him that his younger brother Cyrus (the Younger) was preparing to assassinate him during the ceremony. Artaxerxes had Cyrus arrested and would have had him put to death if their mother Parysatis hadn't intervened. Cyrus was then sent back as Satrap of Lydia, where he prepared an armed rebellion. Cyrus and Artaxerxes met in the
Battle of Cunaxa in 401 BCE, where Cyrus was killed.
Artaxerxes II (404–358 BCE), was the longest reigning of the Achaemenid kings and it was during this 45-year period of (relative) peace and stability that many of the monuments of the era were constructed. Artaxerxes moved the capital back to Persepolis, which he greatly extended. Also the summer capital at Ecbatana was lavishly extended with gilded columns and roof tiles of silver and copper (Polybius, 10.27.12). The extraordinary innovation of the Zoroastrian shrine cults can also be dated to his reign, and it was probably during this period that Zoroastrianism was disseminated throughout
Asia Minor and the
Levant, and from there to
Armenia. The temples, though serving a religious purpose, were however not a purely selfless act: they also served as an important source of income. From the Babylonian kings, the Achaemenids had taken over the concept of a mandatory temple tax, a one-tenth tithe which all inhabitants paid to the temple nearest to their land or other source of income (Dandamaev & Lukonin, 1989:361–362). A share of this income called the
quppu ša šarri, "kings chest"—an ingenious institution originally introduced by
Nabonidus—was then turned over to the ruler. In retrospect, Artaxerxes is generally regarded as an amiable man who lacked the moral fibre to be a really successful ruler. However, six centuries later
Ardeshir I, founder of the second Persian Empire, would consider himself Artaxerxes' successor, a grand testimony of the importance of Artaxerxes to the Persian psyche.
Fall of the empire begins
According to Greek sources, Artaxerxes' successor
Artaxerxes III (358 BC–338 BCE) came to the throne by bloody means, ensuring his place upon the throne by the assassination of eight of his half-brothers. In 343 BCE Artaxerxes III defeated
Nectanebo II, driving him from Egypt, and made Egypt once again a Persian satrapy. In 338 BCE, the very year that
Philip of Macedon united the Greek states (by force) and so paved the way for
Alexander, Artaxerxes III died of natural causes (according to cuneiform sources) but according to the Greek historian Diodorus, Artaxerxes was murdered by his minister, Bagoas.
Artxerxes III was succeeded by
Artaxerxes IV Arses, who before he could act was also poisoned by Bagoas. Bagoas is further said to have killed not only all Arses' children, but many of the other princes of the land. Bagoas then had
Darius III (336–330 BCE), a nephew of Artaxerxes IV, placed on the throne.
Darius III, although previously
Satrap of Armenia, had no training in governing the empire, but in his first year as emperor he personally forced Bagoas to swallow poison. In 334 BCE, when Darius was just succeeding in subduing Egypt again, Alexander and his battle-hardened Macedonian troops attacked Asia Minor.
Second reign over Egypt falls
At two different times, the Achaemenids ruled
Egypt although the Egyptians twice regained temporary independence from Persia. After the practice of
Manetho,
Egyptian historians refer to the periods in Egypt when the Achaemenid dynasty
ruled as the twenty-seventh dynasty of Egypt, 525–404 BCE, until the death of Darius II, and the thirty-first dynasty of Egypt, 343–332 BCE, which began after
Nectanebo II was defeated by the
Persian king Artaxerxes III.
This second Persian occupation of Egypt ended in 332 when Alexander the Great, withdrawing from his attempted conquest of
Nubia which was rebuffed by the
Candace of Meroë, entered Egypt instead, where he was welcomed as a liberator in
Persian-occupied Egypt.
Alexander defeated western Satraps at the battles of
Issus (332 BCE), and the
Gaugamela (331 BCE).
Next, Alexander marched on
Susa, which likewise, capitulated and surrendered vast treasure. Alexander then went eastward to
Persepolis which surrendered in early 330 BCE. From Persepolis, Alexander headed north to Pasargadae where he treated the tomb of Cyrus II with respect. From there he headed to
Ecbatana, where Darius III had sought refuge.
The Persian king was taken prisoner by
Bessus, his
Bactrian satrap and kinsman. As Alexander approached, Bessus had his men murder Darius and then declared himself Darius' successor, as Artaxerxes V, before retreating into Central Asia to launch a guerrilla campaign against Alexander. They left the body of Darius in the road to delay Alexander, who took his body to Persepolis for an honorable interment.
The Achaemenid empire was succeeded by the
Seleucid empire, that is, by the generals of Alexander and their descendants, who ruled Persia. They in turn would be succeeded by the Arsacid dynasty of
Parthia in North-Eastern Iran, who, quite spuriously, would claim Artaxerxes II for their ancestor.
Istakhr, one of the vassal kingdoms of the Arsacids would be overthrown by Papak, a priest of the temple there. Papak's son,
Ardašir I, who named himself in remembrance of Artaxerxes II, revolted against the Parthians, defeated them and went on to establish the second Persian Empire, 556 years after the end of the first.
Government
The Achaemenids were absolutists who allowed a certain amount of regional autonomy in the form of the
satrapy system. A satrapy was an administrative unit, usually organized on a geographical basis. A
satrap (governor) administered the region, a general supervised military recruitment and ensured order, and a state secretary kept official records. The general and the state secretary reported directly to the central government.
Accomplishments of Darius' reign included codification of the data, a universal legal system upon which much of later Iranian law would be based, and construction of a new capital at
Persepolis, where vassal states would offer their yearly tribute at the festival celebrating the spring equinox.
The practice of slavery in Achaemenid Persia was generally banned, although there's evidence that conquered and/or rebellious armies were sold into captivity. Zoroastrianism, the de facto religion of the empire, explicitly forbids slavery, and the kings of Achaemenid Persia followed this ban to varying degrees, as evidenced by the freeing of the Jews at Babylon, and the construction of Persepolis by paid workers.
The twenty three satrapies were linked by a 2,500-kilometer highway, the most impressive stretch being the
Royal Road from
Susa to
Sardis, built by command of Darius I. Relays of mounted couriers could reach the remotest of areas in fifteen days. Despite the relative local independence afforded by the satrapy system, royal inspectors, the "eyes and ears of the king," toured the empire and reported on local conditions. The king also maintained a personal bodyguard of 10,000 men, called the
Immortals.
Darius revolutionized the economy by placing it on a silver and gold coinage system. Trade was extensive, and under the Achaemenids there was an efficient infrastructure that facilitated the exchange of commodities in the far reaches of the empire. Tariffs on trade were one of the empire's main sources of revenue, along with agriculture and tribute.
Culture
The Achaemenid Empire, which at the height of its glory had more than 20 nations under its control, was built on the most basic principles - that of
truth and
justice, which formed the bases of the Achaemenid culture. Based on the Zoroastrian doctrine, it was the strong emphasis on honesty and integrity that gave the ancient Persians credibility to rule the world, even in the eyes of the people belonging to the conquered nations.
Herodotus in his mid-5th century BCE account of Persian residents of the Pontus recorded that
the most disgraceful thing in the world [thePerses] think, is to tell a lie; the next worst, to owe a debt: because, among other reasons, the debtor is obliged to tell lies. Herodotus also reports that Persian youths, from their fifth year to their twentieth year, were instructed in three things -
to ride a horse, to draw a bow, and to speak the Truth.
Truth for the sake of truth, was the universal motto and the very core of the Achaemenid culture that was followed not only by the great kings, but even the ordinary Persians, who made it a point to adhere to this code of conduct.
In Achaemenid Iran, the lie,
druj, is considered to be a
cardinal sin, and it was punishable by death in some extreme cases. Tablets discovered by archaeologists in 1930s at the site of
Persepolis give us adequate evidence about the love and veneration for the culture of truth during the Achaemenian period. These tablets contain the names of ordinary Iranians, mainly traders and warehouse-keepers. According to Professor Stanley Insler of
Yale University, as many as 72 names of officials and petty clerks found on these tablets contain the word
truth. Thus, says Insler, we've Artapana, protector of truth, Artakama, lover of truth, Artamanah, truth-minded, Artafarnah, possessing splendour of truth,
Artazusta, delighting in truth,
Artastuna, pillar of truth,
Artafrida, prospering the truth and
Artahunara, having nobility of truth. It was Darius the Great, who laid down the
ordinance of good regulations during his reign. King Darius' testimony about his constant battle against the lie is found in
cuneiform inscriptions. Carved high up in the
Behistun mountain on the road to
Kermanshah, Darius testifies:
» I wasn't a lie-follower, I wasn't a doer of wrong ... According to righteousness I conducted myself. Neither to the weak or to the powerful did I do wrong. The man who cooperated with my house, him I rewarded well; who so did injury, him I punished well.
Darius had his hands full dealing with large-scale rebellion which broke out throughout the empire. After fighting successfully with nine traitors in a year, Darius records his battles against them for posterity and tells us how it was the
lie that made them rebel against the empire. At Behistun, Darius says:
» I smote them and took prisoner nine kings. One was Gaumata by name, a Magian; he lied; thus he said: I'm Smerdis, the son of Cyrus...One, Acina by name, an Elamite; he lied; thus he said: I'm king in Elam... One, Nidintu-Bel by name, a Babylonian; he lied; thus he said: I'm Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabonidus. King Darius then tells us, The Lie made them rebellious, so that these men deceived the people.
Then an advice to his son
Xerxes, who is to succeed him as the great king:
» Thou who shalt be king hereafter, protect yourself vigorously from the Lie; the man who shall be a lie-follower, him do thou punish well, if thus thou shall think. May my country be secure!
Language
During the reign of Cyrus and Darius, and as long as the seat of government was still at
Susa in
Elam, the language of the Achaemenid chancellory was
Elamite. This is primarily attested in the Persepolis fortification and treasury tablets that reveal details of the day-to-day functioning of the empire. In the grand rock-face inscriptions of the kings, the Elamite texts are always accompanied by
Akkadian and Old Persian inscriptions, and it appears that in these cases, the Elamite texts are translations of the Old Persian ones. It is then likely that although Elamite was used by the capital government in Susa, it wasn't a standardized language of government everywhere in the empire. The use of Elamite isn't attested after 458 BC.
Following the conquest of Mesopotamia, the
Aramaic language (as used in that territory) was adopted as the "vehicle for written communication between the different regions of the vast empire with its different peoples and languages. The use of a single official language, which modern scholarship has dubbed Official Aramaic or
Imperial Aramaic, can be assumed to have greatly contributed to the astonishing success of the Achaemenids in holding their far-flung empire together for as long as they did." In 1955, Richard Frye questioned the classification of Imperial Aramaic as an "official language", noting that no surviving edict expressly and unambiguously accorded that status to any particular language. Frye reclassifies Imperial Aramaic as the "
lingua franca" of the Achaemenid territories, suggesting then that the Achaemenid-era use of Aramaic was more pervasive than generally thought. Many centuries after the fall of the empire, Aramaic script and - as ideograms - Aramaic vocabulary would survive as the essential characteristics of the
Pahlavi writing system.
Although Old Persian also appears on some seals and art objects, that language is attested primarily in the Achaemenid inscriptions of Western Iran, suggesting then that Old Persian was the common language of that region. However, by the reign of Artaxerxes II, the grammar and orthography of the inscriptions was so "far from perfect" that it has been suggested that the scribes who composed those texts had already largely forgotten the language, and had to rely on older inscriptions, which they to a great extent reproduced verbatim.
Customs
Herodotus mentions that the Persians were given to great birthday feasts, which would be followed by many desserts, a treat which they reproached the Greeks for omitting from their meals. Likewise, he observed that the Persians drank wine in large quantities and used it even for counsel, deliberating on important affairs when drunk, and deciding the next day, when sober, whether to act on the decision or set it aside.
On their methods of greeting, he asserts that equals kissed on the lips, persons of some difference in rank kissed on the cheek, and the lowest ranks would prostrate on the ground to the upper ranks. It is known that men of high rank practiced
polygamy, and were reputed to have a number of wives and a greater number of concubines. On their same-sex relations, high ranked men kept favorites, such as
Bagoas who was one of
Darius III's favorites and who later became
Alexander's
eromenos. Persian
pederasty and its origins were debated even in ancient times. Herodotus claimed they'd learned it from the Greeks, however,
Plutarch asserts that the Persians used eunuch boys to that end long before contact between the cultures.
Also from Herodotus we learn that the Persians had a very high regard for truth, teaching the respect of truth to their children and despising nothing so much as a lie. On the education of the children, we learn that from the age of five until twenty they were taught to ride, shoot the bow, and speak the truth. Until the age of five children spent all their time among the women and never met the father, so that, should they die in infancy, he wouldn't sorrow over their loss. (Herodotus,
The History, passim)
Religion
It was during the Achaemenid period that
Zoroastrianism reached South-Western Iran, where it came to be accepted by the rulers and through them became a defining element of Persian culture. The religion wasn't only accompanied by a formalization of the concepts and divinities of the traditional (Indo-)Iranian
pantheon but also introduced several novel ideas, including that of
free will, which arguably, is
Zoroaster's greatest contribution to religious philosophy.
Under the patronage of the Achaemenid kings, and by the fifth century BCE as the
de-facto religion of the state, Zoroastrianism would reach all corners of the empire.
For in the mid-fifth century BCE, that is, during the reign of Artaxerxes I and Darius II, Herodotus wrote "[thePerses] have no images of the gods, no temples nor altars, and consider the use of them a sign of folly. This comes, I think, from their not believing the gods to have the same nature with men, as the Greeks imagine." He claims the Persians offer sacrifice to: "the sun and moon, to the earth, to fire, to water, and to the winds. These are the only gods whose worship has come down to them from ancient times. At a later period they began the worship of
Urania, which they borrowed from the Arabians and Assyrians.
Mylitta is the name by which the Assyrians know this
goddess, whom the Arabians call
Alitta, and the Persians
Anahita." (The original name here's
Miθra, which has since been explained to be a confusion of Anahita with Mithra, understandable since they were commonly worshipped together in one temple).
From the Babylonian scholar-priest
Berosus, who—although writing over seventy years after the reign of
Artaxerxes II Mnemon—records that the emperor had been the first to make
cult statues of divinities and have them placed in temples in many of the major cities of the empire (Berosus, III.65). Berosus also substantiates Herodotus when he says the Persians knew of no images of gods until Artaxerxes II erected those images. On the means of sacrifice, Herodotus adds "they raise no altar, light no fire, pour no libations." This sentence has been interpreted to identify a critical (but later) accretion to Zoroastrianism. An altar with a wood-burning fire and the
Yasna service at which libations are poured are all clearly identifiable with modern Zoroastrianism, but apparently, were practices that hadn't yet developed in the mid-fifth century. Boyce also assigns that development to the reign of Artaxerxes II (fourth century BCE), as an orthodox response to the innovation of the shrine cults.
Herodotus also observed that "no prayer or offering can be made without a
magus present" but this shouldn't be confused with what is today understood by the term
magus, that's a
magupat (modern Persian:
mobed), a Zoroastrian priest. Nor does Herodotus' description of the term as one of the tribes or castes of the Medes necessarily imply that these
magi were Medians. They simply were a hereditary priesthood to be found all over Western Iran and although (originally) not associated with any one specific religion, they were traditionally responsible for all ritual and religious services. Although the unequivocal identification of the
magus with Zoroastrianism came later (Sassanid era, third–seventh c. AD), it's from Herodotus'
magus of the mid-fifth century that Zoroastrianism was subject to doctrinal modifications that are today considered to be revocations of the original teachings of the prophet. Also, many of the ritual practices described in the
Avesta's Vendidad (such as
exposure of the dead) were already practiced by the
magu of Herodotus ' time.
Art and architecture
Achaemenid art, like Achaemenid religion, was a blend of many elements. Just as the Achaemenids were tolerant in matters of local government and custom, as long as Persians controlled the general policy and administration of the empire, so also were they tolerant in art so long as the finished and total effect was Persian. At
Pasargadae (Pāsargad), the capital of Cyrus II and Cambyses II, and at
Persepolis, the neighboring city founded by Darius the Great and used by all of his successors, one can trace to a foreign origin almost all of the several details in the construction and embellishment of the architecture and the sculptured reliefs; but the conception, planning, and overall finished product are distinctly Persian.
Moreover, when Cyrus chose to build Pasargadae, he'd a long artistic tradition behind him that probably was distinctly Iranian already and that was in many ways the equal of any. The columned hall in architecture can now be seen as belonging to an architectural tradition on the Iranian Plateau that extended back through the Median period to at least the beginning of the first millennium BC. The rich Achaemenid
gold work, which inscriptions suggest may have been a specialty of the Medes, was in the tradition of the delicate metalwork found in
Iron Age II times at
Hasanlu and still earlier at
Marlik.
This Achaemenid artistic style is particularly evident at Persepolis: with its carefully proportioned and well-organized ground plan, rich architectural ornament, and magnificent decorative reliefs, the palace there's one of the great artistic legacies of the ancient world. In its art and architecture, Persepolis celebrates the king and the office of the monarch and reflected Darius' perception of himself as the leader of a conglomerate people to whom he'd given a new and single identity. The Achaemenids took the art forms and the cultural and religious traditions of many of the ancient Middle Eastern peoples and combined them into a single form.
In describing the construction of his palace at Susa, Darius records that "The cedar timber from there (a mountain by name Lebanon) was brought, the
yaka timber was brought from
Gandara and from
Carmania. The gold was brought from
Sardis and from
Bactria . . . the precious stone lapis-lazuli and carnelian . . . was brought from
Sogdiana. The turquoise from
Chorasmia, the silver and ebony from
Egypt, the ornamentation from
Ionia, the ivory from
Ethiopia and from
Sind(Pakistan) and from
Arachosia. The stone-cutters who wrought the stone, those were Ionians and
Sardians. The goldsmiths were
Medes and
Egyptians. The men who wrought the wood, those were Sardians and Egyptians. The men who wrought the baked brick, those were Babylonians. The men who adorned the wall, those were Medes and Egyptians."
This was an imperial art on a scale the world hadn't seen before. Materials and artists were drawn from all the lands ruled by the great kings, and thus tastes, styles, and motifs became mixed together in an eclectic art and architecture that in itself mirrored the empire and the Achaemenid understanding of how that empire ought to function.
Achaemenid kings and leaders
Unattested
» The epigraphic evidence for these rulers can't be confirmed and are often considered to have been invented by Darius I
*
Achaemenes of Persia » *
Ariaramnes of Persia, son of Teispes and co-ruler with Cyrus I
*
Arsames of Persia, son of Ariaramnes and co-ruler with Cambyses I
Attested
» *
Teispes of Anshan, son of Achaemenes
*
Cyrus I of Anshan, son of Teispes
» *
Cambyses I of Anshan, son of Cyrus I
*
Cyrus II, the Great, son of Cambyses I, ruled from c.550-530 BCE (ruler of Anshan c. 559 BCE – conquered Media 550 BCE)
» *
Cambyses II, son of Cyrus the Great, ruled 529-522 BCE
*
Smerdis (Bardiya), alleged son of Cyrus the Great, ruled 522 BCE (Possibly a usurper)
» *
Darius I, the Great, brother-in-law of Smerdis and grandson of Arsames, ruled 521-486 BCE
*
Xerxes I, son of Darius I, ruled 485-465 BCE
» *
Artaxerxes I Longimanus, son of Xerxes I, ruled 465-424 BCE
*
Xerxes II, son of Artaxerxes I, ruled 424 BCE
» *
Sogdianus, half-brother and rival of Xerxes II, ruled 424-423 BCE
*
Darius II Nothus, half-brother and rival of Xerxes II, ruled 423-405 BCE
» *
Artaxerxes II Mnemon, son of Darius II, ruled 404-359 BCE (see also
Xenophon)
*
Artaxerxes III Ochus, son of Artaxerxes II, ruled 358-338 BCE
» *
Artaxerxes IV Arses, son of Artaxerxes III, ruled 338-336 BCE
*
Darius III Codomannus, great-grandson of Darius II, ruled 336-330 BCE
Further Information
Get more info on 'Achaemenid'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://achaemenid_empire.totallyexplained.com">Achaemenid Empire Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
