Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1.2
HISTORY
Origin
rising to power at the end of the 7th century BC and incorporating the Persians into their empire. The Iranian peoMain articles: Achaemenes, Teispids and Achaemenid ple had arrived in the region circa 1000 BCE[25] and had
initially fallen under the domination of the Assyrian Emfamily tree
pire (911-609 BCE). However, the Medes and Persians
(together with the Scythians and Babylonians) played a
major role in the defeat of the Assyrians and establishment of the rst Persian empire.
The term Achaemenid is in fact the Latinized version of
the Old Persian name Haxmani (a bahuvrihi compound
translating to having a friends mind[26] ), meaning in
Greek of the family of the Achaemenis. Despite the
derivation of the name, Achaemenes was himself a minor 7th-century ruler of the Anshan (Ansham or Ann)
located in southwestern Iran.[24] It was not until the time
of Cyrus the Great (Cyrus II of Persia), a descendant of
Achaemenes, that the Achaemenid Empire developed the
prestige of an empire and set out to incorporate the existing empires of the ancient east, becoming the vast Persian
Empire of ancient legend.
At some point in 550 BCE, Cyrus the Great rose in rebellion against the Median Empire (most likely due to
the Medes mismanagement of Persis), eventually conquering the Medes and creating the rst Persian empire. Cyrus the Great utilized his tactical genius,[27] as
well as his understanding of the socio-political conditions
governing his territories, to eventually incorporate into
the Persian Empire the neighbouring Lydian and NeoBabylonian empires, also leading the way for his successor, Cambyses II, to venture into Egypt and defeat the
Egyptian Kingdom.
1.3
Ancient Greek writers provide some legendary information about Achaemenes by calling his tribe the Pasargadae and stating that he was raised by an eagle". Plato,
when writing about the Persians, identied Achaemenes
with Perses, ancestor of the Persians in Greek mythology.[30] According to Plato, Achaemenes was the
same person as Perses, a son of the Ethiopian queen
Andromeda and the Greek hero Perseus, and a grandson of Zeus. Later writers believed that Achaemenes and
Perses were dierent people, and that Perses was an ancestor of the king.[31] This account further conrms that
Achaemenes could well have been a signicant Anshan
leader and an ancestor of Cyrus the Great. Regardless,
both Cyrus the Great and Darius the Great were related,
prominent kings of Persia, under whose rule the empire
expanded to include much of the ancient world.
HISTORY
According to Herodotus, Cambyses II had originally ventured into Egypt to take revenge for the pharaoh Amasiss
trickery when he sent a fake Egyptian bride whose family Amasis had murdered,[36] instead of his own daughter, to wed Cambyses II. Additionally negative reports of
mistreatment caused by Amasis, given by Phanes of Halicarnassus, a wise counsellor serving Amasis, further enforced Cambysess resolve to venture into Egypt. Amasis
died before Cambyses II could face him, but his successor Psamtik III was defeated by Cambyses II in the Battle
of Pelusium.
1.5
5
rst phase of the Greco-Persian Wars. Asia Minor had
been brought back into the Persian fold, but Darius had
vowed to punish Athens and Eretria for their support of
the revolt.[45] Moreover, seeing that the political situation
in Greece posed a continued threat to the stability of his
Empire, he decided to embark on the conquest of all of
Greece. However, the Persian forces were defeated at the
Battle of Marathon and Darius would die before having
the chance to launch an invasion of Greece.
HISTORY
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, 27 October 2012). 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, from Armenia. The construction
of temples, though serving a religious purpose, was however not a purely seless act: as 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, 1989:361362). A
share of this income called the quppu a arri, kings
chestan ingenious institution originally introduced by
Ancient bracelet, Achaemenid period, part of Oxus Treasure, 500 Naboniduswas then turned over to the ruler. In retrospect, Artaxerxes is generally regarded as an amiable
BCE, Iran
man who lacked the moral bre to be a really successful
ruler. However, six centuries later Ardeshir I, founder of
It was probably during this reign that the solar calendar the second Persian Empire, would consider himself Arwas introduced as the national calendar. Under Artax- taxerxes successor, a grand testimony to the importance
erxes I, Zoroastrianism became the de facto religion of of Artaxerxes to the Persian psyche.
state, and for this Artaxerxes I is today also known as the
Constantine of that faith.
Artaxerxes I died in Susa, and his body was brought to
Persepolis for interment in the tomb of his forebearers.
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 rallied support
for himself and marched eastwards, executing the assassin and was crowned in his stead.
Archaeological Museum.
1.7
7
able to oer a stable alternative.[53] When he died his empire was divided among his generals (the Diadochi), and
succeeded by a number of smaller states, the largest of
which was the Seleucid Empire, ruled by the generals of
Alexander and their descendants. They in turn would be
succeeded by the Parthian Empire.
Part of the cause of the Empires decline had been the
heavy tax burden put upon the state, which eventually
led to economic decline.[54][55] An estimate of the tribute
imposed on the subject nations was up to U.S. $180M
per year. This does not include the material goods and
supplies that were supplied as taxes.[56] After the high
overhead of government - the military, the bureaucracy,
whatever the satraps could safely dip into the coers
for themselves - this money went into the royal treasury. At Persepolis, Alexander III found some 180,000
talents, besides the additional treasure the Macedonians
were carrying that already had been seized in Damascus by Parmenio.[57] This amounted to U.S. $2.7B. On
top of this, Darius III had taken 8,000 talents with him
on his ight to the north.[56] Alexander put this static
hoard back into the economy, and upon his death some
130,000 talents had been spent on the building of cities,
dockyards, temples, and the payment of the troops, besides the ordinary government expenses.[58] Additionally,
one of the satraps, Harpalus, had made o to Greece
with some 6,000 talents, which Athens used to rebuild
its economy after seizing it during the struggles with the
Corinthian League.[59] Due to the ood of money from
Alexanders hoard entering Greece, however, a disruption
in the economy occurred, in agriculture, banking, rents,
the great increase in mercenary soldiers that cash allowed
the wealthy, and an increase in piracy.[60]
Another factor contributing to the decline of the Empire
after Xerxes was its failure to ever mold the many subject
nations into a whole; the creation of a national identity
was never attempted.[61] This lack of cohesion eventually
aected the eciency of the military.[62]
3 MILITARY
Government
soldiers[66] Cyrus also formed an innovative postal system throughout the empire, based on several relay stations
called Chapar Khaneh.[67]
The practice of slavery in Achaemenid Persia was generally banned, although there is evidence that conquered
Modern impression of Achaemenid cylinder seal. The use of and/or rebellious armies were sold into captivity.[71]
cylinder seals appears to have been restricted to ocials of the
Zoroastrianism, the de facto religion of the empire, exroyal administration during this period.[64]
plicitly forbids slavery,[72] and the kings of Achaemenid
Persia, especially the founder Cyrus the Great, followed
Cyrus the Great founded the empire as a multi-state
this ban to varying degrees, as evidenced by the freeing
empire, governed by four capital states; Pasargadae,
of the Jews at Babylon, and the construction of Persepolis
Babylon, Susa and Ekbatana. The Achaemenids allowed
by paid workers.
a certain amount of regional autonomy in the form of the
satrapy system. A satrapy was an administrative unit, usu- The vexilloid of the Achaemenid Empire was a gold
ally organized on a geographical basis. A 'satrap' (gover- falcon on a eld of crimson.[73][74]
nor) was the vassal king, who administered the region, a
'general' supervised military recruitment and ensured order, and a 'state secretary' kept the ocial records. The 3 Military
general and the state secretary reported directly to the
satrap as well as the central government. At diering Despite its humble origins in Persis, the empire reached
times, there were between 20 and 30 satrapies.[65]
an enormous size under the leadership of Cyrus the Great.
Cyrus the Great created an organized army including Cyrus created a multi-state empire where he allowed rethe Immortals unit, consisting of 10,000 highly trained gional rulers, called the 'satrap' to rule as his proxy over
3.1
Navy
9
was to change, as the empire came across Greek, and
Egyptian forces, each with their own maritime traditions
and capabilities. Darius the Great (Darius I) is to be credited as the rst Achaemenid king to invest in a Persian
eet.[76] Even by then no true imperial navy had existed either in Greece or Egypt. Persia would become the
rst empire, under Darius, to inaugurate and deploy the
rst regular imperial navy.[76] Despite this achievement,
the personnel for the imperial navy would not come from
Iran, but were often Phoenicians (mostly from Sidon),
Egyptians, Cypriots, and Greeks chosen by Darius the
Great to operate the empires combat vessels.[76]
At rst the ships were built in Sidon by the Phoenicians;
the rst Achaemenid ships measured about 40 meters in
length and 6 meters in width, able to transport up to 300
Persian troops at any one trip. Despite origin of the technique of the arsenal and ship construction in Sidon, soon
other states of the empire were constructing their own
ships each incorporating slight local preferences. The
ships eventually found their way to the Persian Gulf.[76]
Persian naval forces laid the foundation for a strong Persian maritime presence in the Persian Gulf. Persians were
not only stationed on islands in the Persian Gulf, but also
had ships often of 100 to 200 capacity patrolling the empires various rivers including the Shatt-al-Arab, Tigris
and Nile in the west, as well as the Indus.[76]
Xenophon describes his eye-witness account of a massive military bridge created by joining 37 Persian ships
across the Tigris river. The Persians utilized each boats
buoyancy, in order to support a connected bridge above
3.1 Navy
which supply could be transferred.[76] Herodotus also
gives many accounts of Persians utilizing ships to build
Since its foundation by Cyrus, the Persian empire had bridges.[78][79] Darius the Great, in an attempt to subdue
been primarily a land empire with a strong army, but void the Scythian horsemen north of the Black sea, crossed
of any actual naval forces. By the 5th century BC, this
10
4 CULTURE
Culture
Herodotus, in his mid-5th century BCE account of Persian residents of the Pontus, reports that Persian youths,
from their fth year to their twentieth year, were instructed in three things to ride a horse, to draw a bow,
and to speak the Truth.[83]
He further notes that:[83]
the most disgraceful thing in the world [the
Persians] think, is to tell a lie; the next worst,
4.2
Customs
thus he said: I am Smerdis, the son of Cyrus ...
One, Acina by name, an Elamite; he lied; thus
he said: I am king in Elam ... One, Nidintu-Bel
by name, a Babylonian; he lied; thus he said: I
am Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabonidus.
11
was used by the capital government in Susa, it was not a
standardized language of government everywhere in the
empire. The use of Elamite is not attested after 458 BC.
4.2 Customs
The Persian queen Atossa, Darius the Great's wife and mother
of Xerxes I
12
4 CULTURE
also observed that the Persians drank wine in large quantities and used it even for counsel, deliberating on important aairs when drunk, and deciding the next day, when
sober, whether to act on the decision or set it aside.
4.3
Religion
13
time.
5 Legacy
achievements of the Achaemenid Persians manifesting in The Achaemenid Empire left a lasting impression on the
construction of spectacular cities utilized for governance heritage and the cultural identity of Asia and the Middle
and habitation, temples made for worship and social gath- East, as well as inuencing the development and structure
14
8 SEE ALSO
and religion eastward and westward into the
world ... I need not rehearse for you again
the achievements of your Achaemenid period.
Then for the rst time in known history an empire almost as extensive as the United States received an orderly government, a competence
of administration, a web of swift communications, a security of movement by men and
goods on majestic roads, equaled before our
time only by the zenith of Imperial Rome.
Unattested
Achaemenes of Persia
The epigraphic evidence for these rulers cannot be
conrmed and are often considered to have been invented by Darius I
6.2 Attested
Early in the reign of Artaxerxes II, in 399 BCE, the Persians lose control over Egypt. They regained control 57
years later in 342 BCE when Artaxerxes III conquered
Egypt.
7 Gallery
Panorama of Persepolis Ruins
Ruins of Throne Hall
Persepolis gifts
Apadana Hall, Persian and Median soldiers at Persepolis
Nowruz Zoroastrian
Lateral view of tomb of Cambyses I, Pasargadae,
Iran
8 See also
List of kings of Persia
Achaemenid family tree
15
Notes
[6] http://www.livius.org/maa-mam/maka/maka.html
[9] Unicode:
http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/texte/etcs/
iran/airan/apers/aperslex.htm Switch to word Index,
search 'Prsa' under Oldpersian-trl.
[10] http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/eieol/
opeol-MG-X.html
[11] http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~{}iranian/OldPersian/
OPers5_End.pdf
[12] Sampson, Gareth C. (2008). The Defeat of Rome: Crassus, Carrhae and the Invasion of the East. Pen & Sword
Books Limited. p. 33. ISBN 9781844156764. Cyrus the
Great, founder of the First Persian Empire (c. 550330
BCE).
[13] David Sacks, Oswyn Murray, Lisa R. Brody; Oswyn Murray; Lisa R. Brody (2005). Encyclopedia of the ancient
Greek world. Infobase Publishing. pp. 256 (at the right
portion of the page). ISBN 978-0-8160-5722-1.
[14] http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/eieol/
opeol-MG-X.html Macdonell and Keith, Vedic Index. This is based on the evidence of an Assyrian
inscription of 844 BCE referring to the Persians as Paru,
and the Behistun Inscription of Darius I referring to
16
9 NOTES
[30] David Sacks, Oswyn Murray, Lisa R. Brody; Oswyn Murray; Lisa R. Brody (2005). Encyclopedia of the ancient
Greek world. Infobase Publishing. pp. 256 (at the bottom left portion). ISBN 978-0-8160-5722-1.
[45] Willis Mason West (1904). The ancient world from the
earliest times to 800 CE. Allyn and Bacon. p. 137.
The Athenian support was particularly troubling to Darius since he had come to their aid during their conict with
Sparta
[31] Dandamayev
[32] Haydn Middleton (2 October 2002). Ancient Greek War
and Weapons. Haydn Middleton. pp. 123. ISBN 9781-4034-0134-2.
[33] Lawrence Heyworth Mills (1906). Zarathustra, Philo, the
Achaemenids and Israel. Open Court. p. 467.
[34] Isaiah 45:17 (Passage)". Bible gateway (New International Version). 2010. Retrieved 26 December 2010.
[35] Maria Brosius (2006). The Persians: an introduction.
Taylor & Francis. pp. 13 (at the bottom of the page).
ISBN 978-0-415-32089-4.
[36] Herodotus Volume 1, Book II
[37] Augustus William Ahl (1922). Outline of Persian history
based on cuneiform inscriptions. Lemcke & Buechner. p.
56.
[38] Britannica
Online
Encyclopedia.
cise.britannica.com. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
Con-
17
[63] Ashraan, Hutan. (2011). Limb gigantism, neurobromatosis and royal heredity in the Ancient
World 2500 years ago: Achaemenids and Parthians. J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg 64 (4): 557.
doi:10.1016/j.bjps.2010.08.025. PMID 20832372.
[64] Collon, Dominique, First Impressions, Cylinder Seals in
the Ancient Near East: p.90, British Museum Press, 1987,
2005. ISBN 0-7141-1136-8
[65] Engineering an Empire The Persians. Broadcast of The
History Channel, narrated by Peter Weller
[66] Pierre Briant (2006). From Cyrus to Alexander: A History
of the Persian Empire. Eisenbrauns. p. 261. ISBN 9781-57506-120-7.
[67] Herodotus, Herodotus, trans. A.D. Godley, vol. 4, book
8, verse 98, pp. 9697 (1924).
[68] Persepolis Recreated, NEJ International Pictures;
1st edition (2005) ISBN 978-964-06-4525-3 ASIN
B000J5N46S,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
nCwxJsk14e4
[69] History Of Iran (Persia)". Historyworld.net. Retrieved 7
January 2011.
[70] Darius I (Darius the Great), King of Persia (from 521
BC)". 1902encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
[71] M. Dandamayev, Foreign Slaves on the Estates of the
Achaemenid Kings and their Nobles, in Trudy dvadtsat' pyatogo mezhdunarodnogo kongressa vostokovedov
II, Moscow, 1963, pp. 15152
[72] Volume 2. Zarathushtra.com. 11 February 2005. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
[73] Vexilloid of the Achaemenid Empire. Archived from
the original on 24 October 2009.
[74] Flags of Persian History. Archived from the original on
24 October 2009.
[75] A history of Greece, Volume 2, By Connop Thirlwall,
Longmans, 1836, p. 174
[76] Kaveh Farrokh (2007). Shadows in the desert: ancient
Persia at war. Osprey Publishing. p. 68. ISBN 978-184603-108-3.
[77] Elspeth R. M. Dusinberre (2002). Aspects of empire in
Achaemenid Sardis. Cambridge University Press. p. 42.
ISBN 978-0-521-81071-5.
[78] Ehsan Yar-Shater (1982). Encyclopaedia Iranica, Volume
4, Issues 58. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
[93] Gershevitch, Ilya (1964). Zoroasters own contribution. Journal of Near Eastern Studies 23 (1): 1238.
doi:10.1086/371754. p. 20.
[80] E. V. Cernenko, Angus McBride, M. V. Gorelik (198303-24). The Scythians, 700-300 BC. Osprey Publishing.
ISBN 978-0-85045-478-9.
18
12
EXTERNAL LINKS
11 Further reading
Wiesehfer, Josef; Azizeh Azodi (translator)
(2001). Ancient Persia. London, New York: I.B.
Tauris. ISBN 1-86064-675-1. There have been a
number of editions since 1996.
Curtis, John E.; Nigel Tallis (editors) (2005). Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
ISBN 0-520-24731-0. A collection of articles by
dierent authors.
Pierre Briant (January 2002). From Cyrus to
Alexander: a history of the Persian Empire. ISBN
978-1-57506-031-6.
The Greco-Persian Wars, Peter Green
Philip Souza (2003-01-25). The Greek and Persian
Wars 499-386 BC. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 9781-84176-358-3.
The Heritage of Persia, Richard N. Frye
10
References
Schmitt, Rdiger. Achaemenid dynasty. Encyclopaedia Iranica. vol. 3. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Stronach, David Darius at Pasargadae: A Neglected Source for the History of Early Persia,
Topoi
Stronach, David Anshan and Parsa: Early
Achaemenid History, Art and Architecture on the
Iranian Plateau. In: John Curtis, ed., Mesopotamia
and Iran in the Persian Period: Conquest and Imperialism 539331, 3553. London: British Museum
Press 1997.
Wiesehfer, Josef. History in pre-Islamic period.
Encyclopaedia Iranica.
12 External links
Persian History
Livius.org on Achaemenids
Swedish Contributions to the Archaeology of Iran
Artikel i Fornvnnen (2007) by Carl Nylander
19
IPI
The Behistun Inscription
Livius.org on Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions
Achaemenid art on Iran Chamber Society (www.
iranchamber.com)
Persepolis Fortication Archive Project
Photos of the tribute bearers from the 23 satrapies
of the Achaemenid empire, from Persepolis
medals and orders of the Persian empire
Ancient Iran
Dynasty Achaemenid
Iran, The Forgotten Glory Documentary Film
About Ancient Iran (achaemenids & Sassanids)
Achemenet The major electronic resource for the
study of the history, literature and archaeology of
the Persian Empire
Persepolis Before Incursion (Virtual tour project)
Muse achmnide virtuel et interactif (Mavi) a vast
Virtual Interactive Achemenide Museum of more
than 8000 items, dedicated to the inheritance of the
Persian Empire, from Cyrus the Great to Alexander,
is now accessible on the Internet thanks to the initiative of a College de France professor, Pierre Briant.
20
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Images
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DanielTheGreat, Mehri.k2000, Titanic25, SoSivr, Issac Watson, Billybowden211, JJ4427, Artin Mehraban and Anonymous: 747
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Content license