Seleucid Research Articles

The Antiochus Cylinder, Babylonian Scholarship and Seleucid Imperial Ideology

Abstract:With few surviving Greek sources from Hellenistic Babylonia, we are often ill-informed about the details of Seleucid imperialism ‘on the ground’ — in particular, about the Seleucids' relationship with the Babylonian priestly elites and Babylonian cult and culture. This makes the cuneiform sources all the more important. One of the most intriguing is the Antiochus (or Borsippa) Cylinder, a clay cylinder in the form of a traditional Mesopotamian royal inscription recording Antiochus I's restoration of a Babylonian temple. Although the Cylinder was previously seen as evidence for the adoption of Babylonian cultural forms by the Seleucids, recent readings have analysed it as a product of interaction between Babylonian tradition and Seleucid imperial ideology. Yet the accuracy of such readings crucially depends on situating the Cylinder correctly within its cultural context. Here the inscription is reassessed with close reference to earlier and contemporary Mesopotamian sources. While evidence for ‘copy-and-paste’ redaction imposes significant methodological constraints on textual analysis, certain elements of the Cylinder which are non-traditional from a Babylonian perspective can persuasively be interpreted in terms of Seleucid royal ideology. Ultimately, however, we must question the extent to which the inscription's ideological maneouvres are broadly ‘Babylonian’ or ‘imperial’, rather than shaped by and targeted at a specific local context.

Mammonymy, Maternal-Line Names, and Cultural Identification


 
 
 The onomasticon of Hellenistic Uruk demonstrates that, in some cases, individuals with Greek names were included in otherwise Babylonian families. Often, such Greek names have been interpreted by scholars as evidence for Hellenization. This article suggests an alternate explanation, based on evidence throughout the family trees for a series of naming practices that focus on the perpetuation of names of female relatives and transmission of preferred family names through maternal lines. Particularly important to this discussion are the practices of mammonymy, a term coined here to refer to papponymy’s gendered parallel, i.e., the naming of a girl after her grandmother or other female ancestor, and the practice, previously unexamined in the Assyriological literature, of “maternal-line papponymy,” the tradition of naming a son for his maternal grandfather or other male ancestor from a maternal line. Maternal-line papponymy can be observed in family trees in which the members bear only Babylonian names, as well as in family trees that include individuals with Babylonian names and individuals with Greek names. The Greek names used for boys are often those of fathers or grandfathers of women with Greek names who married into these Babylonian families. This article argues that the incorporation of Greek names into the elite Babylonian families of Hellenistic Uruk cannot be assumed to be straightforward evidence of impulses toward “Hellenization.” Rather, this evidence indicates that Greek names were given to sons in such families within the context of traditional Babylonian maternal-line naming practices. This finding has important implications for scholarship’s understanding of acculturation and the display of cultural identity in Hellenistic Babylonia.
 
 

Rethinking the Hellenistic Gulf: The New Greek Inscription from Bahrain

AbstractThe recent discovery in Bahrain of a Greek inscription, dating to the 120s BC, transforms our understanding of the Arab-Persian Gulf in the Hellenistic period. The inscription, recording the dedication of a shrine to the Dioskouroi on behalf of the first independent king of Characene, indicates that Bahrain was a garrisoned node within the Seleucid Empire and the centre of the previously unknown archipelagic administrative district ‘Tylos (Bahrain) and the Islands’. Seleucid and Characenian control of Bahrain is placed within the longue durée political history of relations between southern Mesopotamia and Dilmun. The cultic dedication to the Dioskouroi traces the consciously Hellenizing modalities of Characenian emancipation from the Seleucid Empire and the development of a coherent maritime religious network in the Gulf.

Daniel T. Potts. Mesopotamia, Iran and Arabia from the Seleucids to the Sasanians

Ce volume reunit vingt articles sur une periode allant de l’avenement de l’empire achemenide a l’arrivee de l’islam, publies entre 1988 et 2008. Deux d’entre eux concernent le christianisme nestorien en Arabie orientale, le Beth-Qatrayē des sources syriaques (XIV, 2008 et XIX, 1994). Une des steles gravees retrouvees a Bahrain lors de la campagne de fouilles de 1991-1993 presente plusieurs symboles (etole de diacre, grappe de raisin et colombe) sur lesquels la critique restait prudente quant ...

Tom Boiy. Between the royal administration and local elite: the pāhātu in Hellenistic Babylonia as epistates?

The problem of the status of cities in the Seleucid Empire has often been discussed, especially in historical and philological studies, with regard to the epigraphic cuneiform documents unearthed in several sites of the Middle East or held in important museum collections. It is not infrequent to find that the most important distinction made in these studies is between the cities having the status of poleis, presumably granted with a degree of independence from the Seleucid crown, and the cent...

The Milesian Connection: Dan 11:23 and Antiochus IV’s Rise to Power

AbstractThe phrasebm‘t goyin Dan 11:23 has been called “barbarous” and “curious.” In the context of a verse that seems to say that Antiochus IV will rise to power with the help of a small band of conspirators, it seems quite strange to call the group a “little nation.” The phrase may refer to several members of one small nation, Miletus, who formed a network that brought Antiochus IV to the Seleucid throne. Two powerful families of officials in the kingdom of Antiochus IV, those of Apollonius son of Menestheus and Timarchus, came from Miletus in Asia Minor, an independent city that was not part of the Seleucid kingdom. I will suggest that the Milesians Apollonius, governor of Coele Syria and Phoenicia, and Timarchus, later satrap of Babylonia, and his brother Heraclides, later treasurer of the kingdom, formed a web that helped to bring Antiochus IV to the Seleucid throne with the essential help of Eirenias, the Milesian statesman who was an ambassador to both Eumenes II, king of Pergamon, and the Seleucid court.

The Roman Imperial Cult in Smyrna

The origins of the imperial cult in Smyrna date back to the Hellenistic period. It is a fact that political concerns were effective in the generation of such cults. Predicting the super power of the future and proving to be a loyal ally whilst acting in satisfactory behaviors were essential factors. The right preference made between two fighting or contending powers ensured that a city would benefit from various privileges in the future. For example, Symrna, which had established a cult in the city previously on behalf of Stratonice, the mother of Antiochus II of Seleucid dynasty, would do the same by building a temple in the name of the dty of Rome for the first time in Asia in 195 BC, after recognizing the rising power. Later on, while giving permission to the provinces that wanted to establish an imperial cult, the Roman emperors and the Senate would consider first, their relationships with Rome in the past and second, their origins. Smyrna, building its relationships with the Roman state on a solid basis, was granted the title of neokoros three times by the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Hadrianus and Caracalla, respectively. In this essay, the development of the Roman imperial cult in Smyrna is discussed within the historical process outlined above. An attempt has been made to put forth new opinions about the issue by discussing the academicians' evaluations on the imperial cult, which apparently was effectively executed in Smyrna between the first and third centuries AD, with the support of epigraphic and numismatic evidences.

Apocalypse Against Empire: Theologies of Resistance in Early Judaism (review)

Reviewed by: Apocalypse Against Empire: Theologies of Resistance in Early Judaism April D. Westbrook Apocalypse Against Empire: Theologies of Resistance in Early Judaism. By Anathea E. Portier-Young. Pp. xxiii + 462. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2011. Cloth, $50.00. In Apocalypse Against Empire, Portier-Young integrates sociological studies of resistance theory, historical analysis of the Seleucid domination in [End Page 396] Judea, and specific texts within apocalyptic literature in order to determine an informed theological interpretation of these texts as apocalypses vis-à-vis resistance movement. Her work focuses on the book of Daniel and Enochic literature, specifically the Apocalypse of Weeks and the Book of Dreams. Portier-Young begins with an overview of resistance theory, emphasizing those points that pertain to the historical setting in which these apocalyptic texts were written. Here, she carefully defines terminology that is systematically employed throughout the book, as well as providing a helpful framework from earlier scholarship in resistance theory. She focuses on the differences, but also consistent interplay between hegemony and domination—methods regularly utilized in imperial conquest. From there, she justifies the concept of early apocalyptic texts as contributions to resistance through their intention to reveal the reality of a power greater than that displayed within the structures of imperial false sovereignty. She further argues that apocalypses recognize the human tendency to display consistent integration between belief and practice. Thus, functionally, apocalypses intend to shape the thinking of their readers in order to provide a reasonable basis for resistant actions. After establishing her methodological approach, Portier-Young moves to a detailed description of the Seleucid empire and its control over Judea in the second century B.C.E., including attention to current historians in the field and the most recent analysis of archeological evidence. She makes the compelling argument that in order to understand the context in which the early apocalypses were written, one must go beyond the final edict of terror by Antiochus IV. In supporting her theory, she identifies elements of tension in the larger history that ultimately moved people toward a mind-set of resistance, including the earliest imperial ideology of rule via conquest, and initial steps by Antiochus III to establish authority over the Judean way of life. Portier-Young concludes that this prior history converged with the immediate personal needs of Antiochus IV, a man politically pressed and humiliated by Rome, thus moving him to re-create his own empire through the reconquest of Judea. He attempted this by a calculated plan to demonstrate power first through de-creation and then re-creation of Judea. The resultant terrorization of the Judean people ultimately formed the conditions of resistance that found its voice in apocalyptic writings, which countered the perceived power of Antiochus IV to re-create the world by reasserting the more potent sovereign power of the divine. Following her analysis of historical setting, Portier-Young moves to textual interpretation. Her general approach counters that of some earlier perspectives, which understood apocalypses as attempts by marginalized people to escape the difficulties of persecution by retreating into a secretive, visionary world. Portier-Young takes the opposite understanding with her [End Page 397] view of apocalypses as intentional efforts to exhort readers toward personal engagement with a troubling present reality by taking responsibility for social transformation through resistance. She further argues that apocalyptic writers displayed sophisticated literary skill, education, and an empowered desire to communicate their political views of resistance to a large audience, rather than intending secrecy. In her analysis of the book of Daniel, Portier-Young begins with a detailed overview of recent scholarly work that has considered the book as resistance literature. She ultimately concludes that the book is designed to take the reader from personal identification with a former hero who used nonviolent methods of resistance against an empire to direct associations with themes obviously related to the agenda of Antiochus IV (faithfulness to worship practices even at the risk of martyrdom; expectation of divine deliverance which asserted God's sovereign ordering of time in the face of imperial attempts of de-creation). Most importantly, the character Daniel recedes in the concluding chapters of the book, requiring the readers to understand that its final exhortations...

Markets in pre-industrial societies: storage in Hellenistic Babylonia in the medieval English mirror

AbstractAt least some ancient civilizations used various risk-management strategies to minimize price volatility. In this article, we examine one such strategy, grain storage, by means of a dataset recently made available that provides agricultural prices for Babylonia during the Late Achaemenid and Hellenistic periods (c.400–65 BCE). A comparative analysis of medieval England and Hellenistic Babylonia reveals a low level of inter-annual storage in both economies, and helps us to compare the costs and benefits in each society. Costs are largely equated with interest rates, and benefits with seasonal price changes. Unlike in England, Babylonia’s dual crop structure (barley and dates) reduced seasonality and thus the potential benefits of storage. There is no evidence, however, that storage costs – that is, interest rates – were likewise lower. This suggests that interest rates were primarily determined in the urban and commercial sectors, not the agricultural one. Consequently, measures of seasonal price changes in pre-modern economies may tell us relatively little about interest rates. While the McCloskey–Nash methodology may be helpful in analysing particular economies, it is perhaps of limited use for comparing them.

마카베오상 10-11장의 ‘진홍색 사제복’에 관한 소고(10:20, 62, 64; 11:58)

The purpose of this article is to propose a Korean word corresponding to porfu,ran in 1 Ma 11-10. Under the rule of Selucid Antiochus IV from 167 to 164 B.C., the Jews under the leadership of Mattathias rebel against the king who forces Jews to violate the Torah. This revolt succeeded. Chapters 10-11 of the First Book of Maccabees is about Jonathan who was the leader of the Maccabean Revolt. The Selucid kingship was divided between Demetrius I and Alexander. This was a great help in gaining the religious and political freedom in Judea. By autumn of 152 B.C., Alexander Balas made Jonathan the high priest and called him the king"s friend. And Alexander sent him a purple robe (πορ??ραν ) and a golden crown (1 Ma 10:20).<BR> The Bible in Korean published in 1998 translated the Greek πορ??ραν as a dark-red priestly robe (10:20, 62, 64; 11:58). But the Greek word πορ??ραν actually means a purple robe. In ancient times, people used to reveal their social status by the color of their dress. The purple dress became a symbol of power. Only kings could put on such purple clothes.<BR> The Bible in Korean assumed that Alexander made Jonathan a high priest, so he gave Jonathan a priestly robe. But the high priest wore sacred vestments that include a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a checkered tunic, a turban and a sash. They used gold, blue, purple and crimson yarns and fine linen (Ex 28:1-4). And the robe of the ephod is all blue.<BR> Jonathan was not only the high priest but also the political leader in Judea. And he was the friend of the king of the Seleucid kingdom. So he could recruit troops and equip them with arms (1 Ma 10:21). The gift from Alexander, a purple robe and a golden crow, was a symbol not of a religious leader, but of a political leader. We must read 1 Ma 10-11 in a political aspect. The Greek πορ??ραν must be translated not as a dark-red priestly robe, but a purple robe.

セレウコス朝時代のバビロンにおける「諸神殿の判事たち」の管轄範囲

セレウコス朝時代のバビロンにおける「諸神殿の判事たち」の管轄範囲

Le renouveau des études séleucides

The renewal of Seleucid studies. Since the 90’ s many studies have allowed us to change our view of the state organization of the Achaemenid Empire and then of the Seleucid empire, for the Seleucid kings were often seen as the heirs of the Achaemenid kings. The paper gives a review of the main publications and suggests new approaches. It would be more accurate to consider the Seleucid empire as a complex network of powers rather than a territory.

Alan Lenzi. « The Uruk List of Kings and Sages and late Mesopotamian Scholarship ». JANER, 8:2, 2008, p. 137-169.

Since its publication in 1962, the so-called Uruk List of Kings and Sages, where connections were established between human scholars and antediluvian sages, rose many questions regarding the specific purpose of the text itself and the context within it was written, namely that of Hellenistic Uruk. A context much more complicated than usually believed by Hellenocentric historians, where the figures of Antiochus I stood out among the other Seleucid rulers for his personal involvement in the sup...

A Diasporic Kingdom: The Abandonment of Macedonia in Seleucid Ideology

In this paper I shall examine the changing meaning of “Macedonia” within the royal ideology of the first two rulers of the Seleucid kingdom. A tension existed between the Macedonian ethnic identity of the kings and the Asian location of their kingdom. Previous scholarship has addressed this exclusively as a problem of imperialism and colonialism, i.e. the imposition of a foreign dynasty on indigenous populations (e.g. Capdetrey, Sherwin-White and Kuhrt). In contrast, I investigate this tension from the perspective of the ruling house: how did the kings respond to the geographical externality of the homeland? I shall argue that Seleucus I’s failure to absorb Macedonia into his kingdom was transformed by his successor Antiochus I into an official ideology of diaspora. In 281 BCE an elderly Seleucus I Nicator, already ruling from India to the Hellespont, embarked on an expedition to conquer and incorporate Macedonia. Our main source for the campaign, Memnon of Heraclea Pontica (FGrH 434 F1 8.1), suggested that Seleucus was motivated by a pothos for his homeland (Briant). I place alongside this, for the first time, a cuneiform Babylonian Chronicle (BCHP 9), contemporary with the expedition, which also portrays Seleucus Nicator as a Macedonian going home (ina mātīsu). I argue that this convergence between two such culturally-distinct and geographically-separated historiographical traditions indicates that both sources are independently reproducing official Seleucid discourse. That is to say, Seleucus Nicator publicly characterized his imperial ambitions as homesickness. Although a yearning for Macedonia had been expressed by Alexander’s veterans in India and Bactria, these were mutinies and crushed accordingly. Seleucus, in contrast, made it authorized policy, and thereby assimilated the direction of military conquest to the personal fulfillment of his ethnic identity. Seleucus was killed in 280 BCE as soon as he landed in Europe and the extension of his empire to Macedonia was aborted. In response to Seleucus’ failure and the establishment of an independent and initially hostile state within the former homeland (the Antigonid kingdom), the second Seleucid ruler, Antiochus I, transformed Macedonia from a loss into an absence. Northern Syria was made into a “new Macedonia” by a comprehensive renaming of its landscape: the Syrian coastline was called Pieria, the Orontes was called the Axios, cities were renamed “Pella”, “Edessa”, and so on. At the same time, official court historiography (Primo 2009) depicted the abandoned homeland as a forbidden space, a strategy which naturalized the kingdom’s borders. The “Seleucus Romance”, a posthumous novelistic biography of Seleucus Nicator (much like the Alexander Romance), incorporates oracular utterances that explicitly prohibit a return home, such as “Do not hurry back to Europe; Asia is much better for you” (App. Syr. 56). More importantly, various episodes from Seleucus’ childhood and service in Alexander’s army are made to suggest that his ascent to monarchy will require the renunciation of Macedonia. Briant, Pierre. 1991. “De Samarkhand a Sardes et de la ville de Suse au pays des Haneens”, Topoi 4: 455-467. Capdetrey, Laurent. 2007. Le pouvoir seleucide. Paris. Primo, Andrea. 2009. La Storiografia sui Seleucidi da Megastene a Eusebio di Cesarea. Pisa. Sherwin-White, Susan and Kuhrt, Amelie. 1993. From Samarkhand to Sardis: a New Approach to the Seleucid Empire. Berkeley.

Languages of Identity and Obligation: Daniel as Bilingual Book

AbstractSociolinguistics provides a theoretical framework for viewing the bilingualism of the book of Daniel as a deliberate rhetorical strategy. The author(s) of Daniel began their discourse in Hebrew, switched to Aramaic, and concluded in Hebrew to move its audience to a recognition of a new context in which the claims of empire had dissolved and claims of covenant alone remained. In so doing, the author(s) invited the audience to find their place within the world of the visions, forsaking a stance of collaboration with the reigning Seleucid empire in order to adopt a posture of resistance rooted in covenant.

The cult of Helios in the Seleucid East

The cult of Helios in the Seleucid East

« On a souvent besoin d’un plus petit que soi » : le rôle des alliés de moindre importance dans la construction de l’Empire romain au IIe siècle av. J.-C.

Alliance treaties passed by Rome with the small States of the Hellenistic World during the second century BC should not be seen as mere signs of goodwill toward faithful but insignificant allies. The Romans themselves were careful to observe the procedure when passing or revoking the treaties, and the military clauses were taken seriously by the contracting parties. During the 160’ s, the Romans made treaties with small communities in Thrace, in Caria-Lycia and with the Jews to check their rivals’ territorial ambitions (Pergamon, Rhodes and the Seleucid Kingdom).

Das Heiligtum in Baitokaike (Hössn Soleiman): Chronologie, Funktion und Bedeutung

The sanctuary at Baitokaike is not a specifically Phoenician cult site, but rather a local one whose tradition reaches from the Iron Age into late antiquity. Of decisive importance in the building of the entire complex were the storage, use and distribution of water. In the early Hellenistic period, the sanctuary was enlarged and endowed with monumental stone architecture by the Seleucids, before being granted to the priesthood of Baitokaike in the 1 st century B.C., when the Seleucid Empire was in decline. In its religious, mercantile and therapeutic function, the sanctuary tended to the various needs of the inhabitants and visitors, and functioned as the organic centre of the communities in the region.The local cult continued without interruption independently of the process of Hellenization, which is manifested in the architectural forms and the Greek votive inscriptions. By the 2 nd century A.D. the complex already served the Roman imperial cult, which probably provided the impetus for the construction of a new temple in the large precinct.

SOCIAL NETWORKS AND CROSS‐CULTURAL INTERACTION: A NEW INTERPRETATION OF THE FEMALE TERRACOTTA FIGURINES OF HELLENISTIC BABYLON

Summary. In the study of the Hellenistic period in Babylon, cross‐cultural interactions between Greeks and native Babylonians have been primarily interpreted using colonialist theories of Hellenisation, domination, and cultural isolation. This paper finds, however, that such theories cannot adequately explain the types of cross‐cultural combinations seen in the archaeological record of female Hellenistic Babylonian terracotta figurines. The forms and functions of these terracotta figurines were substantially altered and combined throughout the Hellenistic period, resulting in Greek‐Babylonian multicultural figurines as well as figurines that exhibited new features used exclusively in Hellenistic Babylonia. In order to facilitate a greater understanding of the full complexity of these Greek–Babylonian interactions, a new interpretation of cross–cultural interaction in Hellenistic Babylon is developed in this paper. This Social Networks model provides an alternative framework for approaching both how a hybrid material culture of terracotta figurines was developed and how Hellenistic Babylon became a multicultural society.

Ancient Archives and Archival Traditions: Concepts of Record-Keeping in the Ancient World

1. Ancient Archives and Concepts of Record Keeping: An Introduction 2. Archival Record-keeping at Ebla 2400-2350 BC 3. Archival Practices in Third-millennium Babylonia 4. Private and Public: The Ur-Utu Archive at Sippar-Amnanum (Tell Ed-Der) 5. Archives of Old Assyrian Traders 6. Documents in Government Under the Middle Assyrian Kingdom 7. Local Differences in Arrangements of Ration Lists on Minoan Crete 8. 'Archives' and 'Scribes' and Information Hierarchy in Mycenean Greek Linear B Records 9. Reflections on Neo-Assyrian Archives 10. Aramaic Documents of the Assyrian and Achaemenid Periods 11. Record-keeping Practices as Revealed by teh neo-Babylonian Private Archival Documents 12. Reconstructing an Archive: Account and Journal Texts from Persepolis 13. Cuneiform Arcgives in Hellenistic Babylonia: Aspects of Contents and Form 14. They Did Not Write on Clay: Non-Cuneiform Documents and Archives in Seleucid Mesopotamia 15. Greek Archives: From Record to Monument 16. Tomoi Synkollesimoi