Achaemenid Research Articles

Legacy of Teispian and Achaemenian Materiality

This paper explores the ways in which the materiality of the Achaemenian Empire was incorporated into the narratives of different polities and political groups on the Iranian Highlands. These approaches, which have continued into the present day, have marked these sites as objects of appropriation, imposition, resistance and negotiation by various actors in different discursive arenas. The current study further deals with the question of whether there was a biographical difference between distinct sites.

A Royal Romance: The Cult of Cyrus the Great in Modern Iran

Abstract This article looks at the continuing fascination with the idea of monarchy in Iran, dismissed and condemned after the revolution but gradually rehabilitated through an engagement with the Shahnameh and a reinvigorated interest in ancient Iran. The interest in Sasanian Iran, as the cradle for the development of Islamic civilisation, has in turn enabled a popular re-acquaintance with Achaemenid Iran, previously frowned on for its association with Mohammad Reza Shah but legitimised by the enthusiastic endorsement of the figure of Cyrus the Great by President Ahmadinejad. This political myth of Cyrus the Great reflects the changing political dynamics of the Islamic Republic and the need to appropriate popular nationalist iconography to the state.

Pulvar River changes in the Pasargadae plain (Fars, Iran) during the Holocene and the consequences for water management in the first millennium BCE

Located in the middle basin of the Pulvar river (Fars, Iran), Pasargadae was founded around 550 BCE in the early days of the Achaemenid Empire. Its territory is dotted with remains of imposing hydraulic facilities (dams, dikes, canals), some of which date to that very period. The purposes and functions of these structures, built to exploit surface water, located in today's landscape (a deeply incised valley with temporary watercourses), raise questions and problems for which geomorphological studies provide major elements for consideration. Erosion of the Pleistocene glacis by the Pulvar and its tributaries caused several phases of alluvial deposition during the Holocene. They can be seen today in the Pasargadae region by examining the remains of three well-developed step-like terraces. These sedimentary units are primary archives for the reconstruction of river dynamics, and thus allow a better estimation of water availability. Since 2016, within the framework of a joint Iranian-French archaeological mission, several geo-archaeological campaigns have been carried out. Sediment analyses, C-14 dating and OSL dating of sediments collected in the alluvial formations, as well as in archaeological contexts, have been made to accurately reconstruct the variations over time in the Pulvar regime, as well as the past regional waterscape. From the beginning of the Holocene to the onset of the 1st millennium BCE, the Pulvar catchment area was marked by an aggradation phase, which led to the valley being filled with alluvial deposits. This sedimentary unit provided vast areas of arable land where cultivation could be enhanced by irrigation. The creation of water inlets in the Pulvar and its tributaries was at that time facilitated by riverbeds less incised than present-day ones. Ancient hydraulic systems reflect these geomorphological conditions, since they were built to manage higher water levels, as well as stronger flows, when compared to irrigation facilities developed in modern times.

The Indian Invasion of Alexander and the Emergence of Hybrid Cultures

Alexander the Great usurped the Achaemenid Empire in 331 bc, captured Swat and Punjab in 327 bc, and subdued the region to the west of the Indus and fought with Porus at the Hydaspes in 326 bc. But he was forced to return home when the army refused to proceed. Some of his soldiers remained in India and its periphery while some joined Alexander in his homeward journey. When Alexander died in 323 bc his successors ( diodochoi) fought to divide the empire among themselves and established separate kingdoms. Though Alexander the Great and related matters were well expounded by scholars the hybrid communities that emerged or revived as a result of Alexander’s Indian invasions have attracted less or no attention. Accordingly, the present study intends to examine contribution of Alexander’s Indian invasion to the emergence of Greco-Indian hybrid communities in India and how Hellenic or Greek cultural features blended with the Indian culture through numismatic, epigraphic, architectural and any other archaeological evidence. This will also enable us to observe the hybridity that resulted from Alexander’s Indian invasion to understand the reception the Greeks received from the locals and the survival strategies of Greeks in these remote lands.

الفيل الأبيض في التصوير الإسلامي في إيران والهند دراسة آثارية فنية

من الموضوعات التي اهتمت بتصويرها المخطوطات الإسلامية في إيران والهند الموضوعات التراثية التي تحمل في طياتها العديد من الدلالات العقائدية القديمة ويعتبر الفيل الأبيض أحد هذه الموضوعات التي عني بها التصوير الإسلامي في هذه المنطقة الجغرافية من العالم الإسلامي . وان کانت الافيال بوجه عام أحد الکائنات الحية التي تشتهر بها آسيا واعتبرت من الحيوانات التي ساهمت في ظهور الحضارات القديمة لاستخدامها في النواحي الاقتصادية والنقل والحروب والصراعات فکانت عناية التصوير بها باعتبارها أحد العناصر الطبيعية الموجودة في البيئة ، لکن موضوع الفيل الأبيض ذو دلاله خاصة فهو أحد رموز الديانة البوذية القديمة ، وکذلک أحد المعبودات الهندوسية المعروفة المتمثل في المعبود جانيشة الذي يصور على هيئة الفيل بجسد طفل له أربعة أذرع . ولذا کان الفيل الأبيض من الموروثات التي عمل التصوير الإسلامي على تصويرها وابرازها في المخطوطات الفنية التي حملت الکثير من تأثيرات الديانات القديمة التي قالت بتناسخ الأرواح؛ لذا فقد وجب العناية به وتزينه بما يلائم مکانته الدينية، وکان اهتمام المسلمين باقتنائه ليس من باب اتباع عقيدة ما؛ وانما من قبيل تملک کل نفيس والتشبه بالملوک الاسطوريين في إيران القديمة والهند الذين امتلکوا أفيالا بيضاء مزينة بالحلي والجواهر One of the topics that Islamic painting in Iran and India have been painted the heritage topics that carry with them many ancient ideological connotations, the White Elephant consider one of those topics that concerned Islamic painting in this geographical area of the Islamic world. Although elephants are generally one of the living beings to which Asia is famous and considered one of the animals that contributed to the emergence of ancient civilizations for use in economic aspects, transport, wars and conflicts, the care of painting them as one of the natural elements found in the environment, but the subject of the white elephant here is particularly significant is one of the symbols of the ancient Buddhist religion as well as one of the gods of India, which call Ganisha, who portrays as elephant with child body and have four arms. Therefore, the white elephant has been taken care and its decoration to suit his religious case, and the Muslims’ interest in white elephant not to follow a faith of Hindu, but to own the precious and legendary like the kings of ancient Iran and India who owned white elephants which decorated with jewels.

Persian Interventions: The Achaemenid Empire, Athens and Sparta, 450‐386 BCE. By John O.Hyland. Pp. xi, 257, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018, $54.95.

The Heythrop JournalVolume 62, Issue 2 p. 334-334 Book Review Persian Interventions: The Achaemenid Empire, Athens and Sparta, 450-386 BCE. By Hyland, John O.. Pp. xi, 257, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018, $54.95. Robin Waterfield, Robin Waterfield Lakonia, GreeceSearch for more papers by this author Robin Waterfield, Robin Waterfield Lakonia, GreeceSearch for more papers by this author First published: 08 March 2021 https://doi.org/10.1111/heyj.13813Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume62, Issue2Special Issue: Classical CultureMarch 2021Pages 334-334 RelatedInformation

Jason M. Silverman, Persian Royal-Judaean Elite Engagements in the Early Teispid and Achaemenid Empire: The King's Acolytes

Amsterdam University Press is a leading publisher of academic books, journals and textbooks in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Our aim is to make current research available to scholars, students, innovators, and the general public. AUP stands for scholarly excellence, global presence, and engagement with the international academic community.

Бактрия в греческой литературе классической эпохи

The article is dedicated to the appearance and the development of the Greeks’ knowledge about Bactria in the literature of the Classical epoch (V–IV centuries BC). Herodotus, Ctesias, Xenophon give us the most important information about Bactria. Ctesias’ «The Persian History» as the most significant work studying Ancient Bactria does not remain. The works by Diodorus of Sicily and Patriarch Photius are the main research on Ctesias’ work. Much more before the Eastern Campaign of Alexander, the Hellenes had the information about Bactria geography, its population, military forces and economic potential, the largest cities and their role in the Achaemenid Empire. Such information competently allowed to assess the perspectives during Alexander’s conquering of the Bactrian territories, for example, the strategic location of Bactria in his wide Empire. Beginning from Herodotus, some classical authors have formed the critical view about the Asiatic statehood. On the other side Ctesias promoted the compromise ideas, directing to cooperation with the «barbarian» East. In the same time Bactria and Bactrians became the background to advance all these ideologies.

Investigation of the death of the founder of the Achaemenid dynasty

هرودت در سده‌ی پنجم پیش از میلاد و تنها به فاصله‌ی تقریبی صد سال از مرگ کورش بزرگ به ما گوشزد می‌کند که در مورد مرگ این پادشاه روایات فراوان و گوناگونی وجود دارد. در واقع، احتمالاً تعداد روایاتی که در مورد مرگ کورش دوّم هخامنشی در زمان هرودت وجود داشته است، بسیار بیشتر از روایاتی بوده که به دست ما رسیده است. منبع اصلی پژوهشگران برای پی بردن به واقعیت مرگ کورش بزرگ یا لااقل نزدیک شدن به آن، متون کلاسیک است که در این میان نوشته‌های هرودت، کتسیاس و گزنفون از اهمیت بیشتری برخوردارند. در این پژوهش کوشش شده است روایت هرودُت در قیاس با روایات سایر مورخان عهد باستان و نیز با توجّه به شواهد باستان‌شناختی، مشخصاً آرامگاه کورش بزرگ در پاسارگاد، سنجیده شود؛ همچنین روابط نخستین شاهنشاهان هخامنشی با سکاها و ماساگت‌ها مورد بررسی قرار گیرد. این بررسی نشان می‌دهد روایت هرودت علی‌رغم شهرتی که در طول زمان کسب کرده است، با بسیاری از شواهد تاریخی هم‌خوانی ندارد. روایت گزنفون نیز با وجود برخی ریشه‌های ایرانی که دارد، مورد تردید است. اما روایت کتسیاس که آن نیز ظاهراً برخاسته از سنّتی ایرانی است، با سایر شواهد تاریخی هم‌خوانی بیشتری دارد.

Consequences of groundwater overexploitation on land subsidence in Fars Province of Iran and its mitigation management programme

AbstractLand subsidence induced by rapid groundwater depletion in Fars Province (Iran) has led to serious problems for agricultural lands, structures and infrastructures, also its destructive effects on the Achaemenid Empire monuments has raised national concerns. Over the past three decades, mainly due to the increasing reliance of the economy on agriculture, the number of water wells has grown rapidly (7100 new wells with the annual withdrawal of 1.1 billion m3) and therefore the groundwater storage has decreased 10 billion m3 and groundwater level has declined averagely 11 m. To cease groundwater depletion and land subsidence, Iran's sustainable groundwater management programme that is currently being implemented to sustain aquifers is considered as the main remedy solution. To analyse the efficiency of the programme implementation in sustaining the aquifers of the province so far, the status of aquifers levels before the programme implementation (before 2015) is compared to its current status (after 2015). The results indicate that by implementing the programme, 22 out of 100 aquifers, mostly located in the southern half of the province, have been sustained. Although, mainly due to inappropriate management and limited financial support, 25 aquifers are still in critical condition, some of which are the most important aquifers in the province. However, implementing sustainable groundwater management in basins facing land subsidence due to groundwater overexploitation is important since it can minimize or stop land subsidence by sustaining aquifers and preventing groundwater drawdown.

Daniel Beckman. “Law, Mercy, and Reconciliation in the Achaemenid Empire”

Daniel Beckman. “Law, Mercy, and Reconciliation in the Achaemenid Empire”

Elisabeth Katzy, Helen Gries. “Tell Halaf (Northeast Syria) in the Achaemenid Period. A Case-Study”

The Authors offer a synthesis of the layers at Tell Halaf attributed to the period between the 6th-4th centuries and, thus, to the Achaemenid culture. This attribution is based on their stratigraphical position as well as to the presence of specific elements of material culture usually connected to presence of Achaemenids in residential spaces and burials. The article discusses the results of the most recent excavations on the site (campaigns 2006-2010). The Authors try first to delineate the...

Emad Matin. “The Achaemenid Settlement of Dashtestan (Borazjan): A View from Persepolis”

The article, published in the first number of the new series of East & West journal edited by ISMEO, analyses all the archaeological and historical data available to date for the Dashtestan county from the Achaemenid period, in order to demonstrate the presence of the settlement of Tamukkan (Taoce, Taḫ(u)makka) in this area and propose for it an urban model similar to that recently hypothesized for the Achaemenid settlements of Persepolis and Pasargadae. The author examines the data of the ex...

Ann C. Gunter. “Beyond ‘a series of ecstatic moments’?. Achaemenid Art at the Exhibitions of Persian Art in London (1931) and New York (1940)”

Ann C. Gunter looks at the lasting impact of two early exhibitions showcasing Achaemenid art on both later private collections and on academic discourse, e.g. in coining the rather elusive label ‘pre-Achaemenid’. Not least, the often-dubious business practice of Arthur U. Pope, central to both exhibitions, and other antiquities’ dealers are discussed.

Antonio Panaino. “The Conceptual Image of the Planets in Ancient Iran and the Process of Their Demonization: Visual Materials and Models of Inclusion and Exclusion in Iranian History of Knowledge”

Antonio Panaino. “The Conceptual Image of the Planets in Ancient Iran and the Process of Their Demonization: Visual Materials and Models of Inclusion and Exclusion in Iranian History of Knowledge”

Yasmina Wicks. “Between Highlands and Lowlands. The Ram Hormuz Plain in the Neo-Elamite and Early Achaemenid Periods, and Comments on Five Burials from the Fort Mound at Tal-i Ghazir”

The purpose of this article is to outline the evidence for the Neo-Elamite (ca. 1000-525 BCE) and early Achaemenid periods (ca. 525-330 BCE) collected during surveys across the Ram Hormuz plain and the excavations at Tal-i Ghazir, with special attention to the burials in the Fort Mound. This site and its surrounds comprised a thriving settlement zone from the early second millennium BCE and a critical crossroads of Elamite and Iranian interaction in the centuries leading up to the emergence o...

Caroline Waerzeggers. “Changing Marriage Practices in Babylonia from the Late Assyrian to the Persian Period”

This article analyses the development of marriage practices in Babylonian according to marriage agreements and other legal records, in particular texts relating to the dowry, from the neo-Assyrian to the Achaemenid period. It can be shown that a clear bifurcation of society is in evidence, and the old-established urban elites, priestly families, did not mingle with socially inferior strata (comprising groups of different economic means: the urban poor, immigrants and deportees but also homine...

Jake Nabel. “Tiridates in the Forum, Peroz on his Knees: Religion and Reputation in ancient Iranian Diplomacy”

Jake Nabel. “Tiridates in the Forum, Peroz on his Knees: Religion and Reputation in ancient Iranian Diplomacy”

Antonio Panaino. A Walk through the Iranian Heavens. Spherical and Non-Spherical Cosmographic Models in the Imagination of Ancient Iran and Its Neighbors

En se penchant sur la notion de « sphere » dans le cadre cosmologique et astrologique du monde iranien ancien et tardo-antique, l’A. offre une discussion sur la cosmographie iranienne qui tient en compte des interactions culturelles avec les civilisations grecques, mesopotamiennes et indiennes. Les sources persanes preislamiques revelent des modeles cosmographiques anciens dans lesquels trois cieux sont superposes. Puisant ses origines dans la tradition mesopotamienne (comme l’attestent des t...

A New Inscription from the Tomb of Darius I in Naqsh-i Rustam and the Ceremony of Proskynesis in the Achaemenid Empire

The article is devoted to the investigation of the Achaemenid trilingual inscription, having been published in 2019, from the tomb of the King Darius I (522–486 BC) in Naqsh-i Rustam (DNf). This inscription is the third one relating to the reliefs of the Persian nobles depicted on the façade of the tomb, who were Darius’s loyal supporters. The first two are images and inscriptions of Gobryas and Aspathines (DNc–d), and now the third is of Otanes. The Old Persian version of the new inscription includes a previously unknown verb that describes the action of a nobleman, depicted with a hand at his mouth, in the relief below the inscription. A thorough examination of the controversial aspects of the interpretation of the inscription allows us to conclude that the text refers to the action of a person represented on the relief who addressed King Darius with a gesture of blessing or greeting. The correlation of this textual and visual evidences from the royal tomb in Naqsh-i Rustam with the classical tradition reporting on proskynesis in the Achaemenid Empire allows us to come to conclusion that the new data provide us with the unique information about the ceremony of proskynesis to the King as it was seen by the Persians. The gesture of raising the hand to the mouth is found both in the famous scenes of the royal audience from the apadana of Persepolis, and in other images of the Achaemenid period.