The World of Achaemenid Persia: The Diversity of Ancient Iran

645 Pages·2010·17.59 MB·English

by  John Curtis

John Curtis, OBE, FBA, is Keeper of the Middle East Collections at the British Museum.
His publications include Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia (with N. Tallis, 2005),
Art and Empire: Treasures from Assyria in the British Museum (with J. E. Reade, 2005)
and Ancient Persia (2000).
St John Simpson is Assistant Keeper and Curator of Ancient Iran and Arabia,
also at the British Museum. He has excavated extensively in the Middle East and
Central Asia, including sites of all periods from prehistoric to recent times.
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“The Persian Empire has never been out of the news, but since the great British Museum exhibi-
tion, and a spate of publications on the subject, it is more in the eyes and minds of archaeologists
and historians of the ancient world than hitherto. This welcome volume offers a major guide to
and an explanation of the whole phenomenon, from the acknowledged experts. It will be used
and referred to more than most such compendia, and for very good reason.”
Sir John Boardman, FBA, Lincoln Professor
Emeritus of Classical Art and Archaeology, University of Oxford
“The World of Achaemenid Persia is a fine new survey of the first world empire, an empire which
linked Egypt and Greece with Central Asia and India. This series of essays, undertaken by some
50 new and established scholars, discusses the whole spectrum of the Achaemenids’ wealth, diver-
sity, culture, economy and society and will become a standard work on this important area of
study, a field as significant and exciting today as it has been in the past.”
Georgina Herrmann, OBE, FBA,
formerly Reader in Western Asiatic Archaeology, University College London
“This attractive and authoritative volume provides an unusually complete assessment of the mul-
tiple accomplishments of the Achaemenid Persians. The range of topics that is covered is quite
exceptional; and the long list of contributors includes most of the principal scholars who are
active in Achaemenid and ancient Persian studies at the present moment.”
David Stronach, Emeritus Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology,
University of California, Berkeley
“This timely book represents an outstanding contribution to the state of research on the first
actual world empire in history. There can be no doubt that many of its thought-provoking articles
will make a strong impact on our views of ancient Persia, and of its society and culture.”
Josef Wiesehöfer, Professor of Ancient History, Kiel University
“The Achaemenid era constitutes the most brilliant period of Persia’s long history, a period dur-
ing which all of western Asia and part of North Africa were brought together in a vast empire
under the suzerainty of the Achaemenid kings. A great deal of research has gone into the elu-
cidation of the various aspects of the dynasty and the empire. It is wonderful now to have such
an up-to-date, competent and comprehensive account of the history and culture of Achaemenid
Persia between two covers.”
Ehsan Yarshater, Hagop Kevorkian Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies, Columbia University
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THE WORLD OF
ACHAEMENID PERSIA
History, Art and Society in Iran and
the Ancient Near East
Edited by
John Curtis and St John Simpson
Proceedings of a conference at the British Museum
29th September–1st October 2005
Published by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd
in association with the Iran Heritage Foundation
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Published in 2010 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd
6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU
175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010
www.ibtauris.com
Distributed in the United States and Canada Exclusively by Palgrave Macmillan
175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010
Selection and editorial matter copyright © 2010 John Curtis and St John Simpson
Individual chapters © 2010 Kamyar Abdi, Bahram Adjerloo, Björn Anderson, Barbara R. Armbruster, Heather
D. Baker, Oric Basirov, Pierre Briant, Maria Brosius, Annie Caubet, Alireza Askari Chaverdi, M. R. Cowell, Vesta
Sarkhosh Curtis, Mehdi Daryaie, Albert de Jong, Elspeth R.M. Dusinberre, Susanne Ebbinghaus, Lisbeth S. Fried,
Richard Nelson Frye, Mark B. Garrison, A. R. George, Hilary Gopnik, Thomas Harrison, Shalom E. Holtz, Despina
Ignatiadou, Bruno Jacobs, Anke Joisten-Pruschke, Deniz Kaptan, Alireza Khosrowzadeh, Philip G. Kreyenbroek,
Amélie Kuhrt, Judith A. Lerner, Yannick Lintz, Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, Parvin Loloi, John MacGinnis, Peter
Magee, Sabrina Maras, Bernadette McCall, S. La Niece, C. L. Nimchuk, Cameron A. Petrie, D. T. Potts, Shahrokh
Razmjou, Michael Roaf, Kourosh Roustaei, N. V. Sekunda, Mojgan Seyedin, Shapur Shahbazi, St J. Simpson,
Abolala Soudavar, Mohammad Hassan Talebian, Nigel Tallis, Christopher Tuplin, Melanie Wasmuth, Matt Waters,
Lloyd Weeks, Wu Xin, Sima Yadollahi, Ehsan Yaghmaee, Abbas Yalvaee, Mohsen Zaidi.
The right of John Curtis and St John Simpson to be identifi ed as the editors of this work has been asserted by them
in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced,
stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
ISBN: 978 1 84885 346 1
A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available
Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham
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The conference was organized by the British Museum and the Iran
Heritage Foundation, in association with the Persian Cultural Foundation
and with additional support provided by the Soudavar Memorial
Foundation. This volume is dedicated to Neil MacGregor, who during his
tenure as Director of the British Museum has done so much to promote
interest in Iranian culture.
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Contents
Editors’ Introduction xiii
Part 1: History and Historiography
1. The Theme of “Persian Decadence” in Eighteenth-Century European
Historiography: Remarks on the Genesis of a Myth 3
Pierre Briant (Collège de France)
2. Cyrus the Mede and Darius the Achaemenid? 17
Richard Nelson Frye (Formerly Harvard University)
3. Reinventing Achaemenid Persia 21
Thomas Harrison (University of Liverpool)
4. Portraits of the Achaemenid Kings in English Drama:
Sixteenth–Eighteenth Centuries 33
Parvin Loloi (Swansea University)
5. Light from Aramaic Documents 41
Anke Joisten-Pruschke (University of Göttingen)
6. All the King’s Men 51
Christopher Tuplin (University of Liverpool)
7. Cyrus and the Medes 63
Matt Waters (University of Wisconsin)
Part 2: Religion
8. T he Achaemenian Practice of Primary Burial: An Argument against
Their Zoroastrianism? Or a Testimony of Their Religious Tolerance? 75
Oric Basirov (London)
9. Ahura Mazda¯ the Creator 85
Albert de Jong (Leiden University)
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viii THE WORLD OF ACHAEMENID PERSIA
10. From Gabled Hut to Rock-Cut Tomb:
A Religious and Cultural Break between Cyrus and Darius? 91
Bruno Jacobs (University of Basel)
11. Zoroastrianism under the Achaemenians: A Non-Essentialist Approach 103
Philip G. Kreyenbroek (University of Göttingen)
12. The Formation of Achaemenid Imperial Ideology and Its Impact on the Avesta 111
Abolala Soudavar (Houston)
Part 3: Gender Studies
13. The Royal Audience Scene Reconsidered 141
Maria Brosius (University of Newcastle)
14. An Achaemenid Cylinder Seal of a Woman Enthroned 153
Judith A. Lerner (New York)
15. The Big and Beautiful Women of Asia:
Picturing Female Sexuality in Greco-Persian Seals 165
Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (University of Edinburgh)
Part 4: Art and Architecture
16. The Social Dimensions of Babylonian Domestic Architecture in
the Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid Periods 179
Heather D. Baker (University of Vienna)
17. Why Columned Halls? 195
Hilary Gopnik (Emory University, Atlanta)
18. A Reassessment of Brick Motifs and
Brick-Building Techniques at Achaemenid Susa 207
Sabrina Maras (University of California, Berkeley)
19. Empire Encapsulated: The Persepolis Apadana Foundation Deposits 221
C. L. Nimchuk (University of Illinois, Springfield)
20. Persepolis: A Reinterpretation of Palaces and Their Function 231
Shahrokh Razmjou (The British Museum)
21. The Role of the Medes in the Architecture of the Achaemenids 247
Michael Roaf (University of Munich)
22. Changes in Achaemenid Royal Dress 255
N. V. Sekunda (Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun)
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Contents ix
Part 5: Archaeology
23. T he Passing of the Throne from Xerxes to Artaxerxes I, or How an Archaeological
Observation Can Be a Potential Contribution to Achaemenid Historiography 275
Kamyar Abdi (Tehran)
24. Cultural Transition in Iranian Azerbaijan through the Iron Age III–Achaemenid
Period Based on Recent Archaeological Survey and Excavations (Abstract) 285
Bahram Adjerloo (Tehran)
25. Archaeological Evidence for Achaemenid Settlement within
the Mamasani Valleys, Western Fars, Iran 287
Alireza Askari Chaverdi, Alireza Khosrowzadeh, Bernadette McCall, Cameron A. Petrie,
D. T. Potts, Kourosh Roustaei, Mojgan Seyedin, Lloyd Weeks and Mohsen Zaidi
(ICHHTO, Tehran, Universities of Cambridge, Nottingham and Sydney)
26. A Review of Research and Restoration Activities at Parsa-Pasargadae:
Analysis, Evaluation and Future Perspectives 299
Mohammad Hassan Talebian (Tehran)
27. The Achaemenid Army in a Near Eastern Context 309
Nigel Tallis (The British Museum)
28. The Origins of the Achaemenids (Abstract) 315
Sima Yadollahi and Abbas Yalvaee (Tehran)
29. Excavations in Dashtestan (Borazjan, Iran) (Abstract) 317
Ehsan Yaghmaee (Tehran)
Part 6: Seals and Coins
30. An Analytical Investigation on the Coin Hoard of the Oxus Treasure (Abstract) 321
Mehdi Daryaie (Tehran)
31. Anatolian Crossroads: Achaemenid Seals from Sardis and Gordion 323
Elspeth R.M. Dusinberre (University of Colorado)
32. Archers at Persepolis: The Emergence of Royal Ideology
at the Heart of the Empire 337
Mark B. Garrison (Trinity University, San Antonio)
33. Clay Tags from Seyitömer Höyük in Phrygia 361
Deniz Kaptan (University of Nevada, Reno)
34. The Archer Coins: A Closer Examination of Achaemenid Art in Asia Minor 369
Yannick Lintz (Musée du Louvre)
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