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The Persians: an Introduction 1111 2 3 4 5 THE PERSIANS 6 7 8 9 10111 11 2 3 European history describes the Persian empires mainly through the 4 history of the Greeks and Romans who regarded them as politically, 5 culturally, and socially inferior. In short, to them the Persians were 6 barbarians. Yet this Indo-European civilisation was one of the most 7 highly developed of the ancient world. Its society, with its many 8 different languages, cultures, and religions, had a profound and 9 continuing influence on the West. 20111 This study vividly introduces the reader to the history of Persia 1 in its own right; from the heights of the Achaemenid dynasty 2 (559–330 BC), the first monarchy to create a world empire, to the 3 heterogeneous empire of the Parthians (247 BC–AD 224), and the 4 powerful Sasanian empire (AD 224–651), epitomised in the rule of 5 Khosrow Anushirvan, ‘Of the Immortal Soul’. 6 The only book of its kind to cover both the history of the 7 Achaemenid period and of the thousand years following Alexander’s 8 conquest, and including chapters on a wide range of separate issues 9 such as society, economy, gender, power, and defence, this book is 30111 the essential beginner’s guide to ancient Persia and ideal for students 1 and general readers alike. 2 3 Maria Brosius is a Reader in Ancient History at the University of 4 Newcastle. She has worked and travelled in Iran and has published 5 several books on Persian history, including The Persian Empire from 6 Cyrus II to Artaxerxes I (2000) and Women in Ancient Persia (559– 7 331 BC) (1996, reprinted 1998, 2001). 8 9 folio 1111 2 3 4 51 PEOPLES OF THE ANCIENT WORLD 6 7 8 9 10111 11 2 311 This series stands as the first port of call for anyone who wants to 4 know more about the historically important peoples of the ancient 5 world and the early middle ages. 6 Reliable, up-to-date and with special attention paid to the 7 peoples’ enduring legacy and influence, Peoples of the Ancient World 8 will ensure the continuing prominence of these crucial figures in 9 modern-day study and research. 20111 1 THE PERSIANS 2 An Introduction 3 Maria Brosius 4 5 THE TROJANS AND THEIR NEIGHBOURS 6 Trevor Bryce 7 8 MYCENAEANS 9 Rodney Castleden 30111 1 THE EGYPTIANS 2 An Introduction 3 Robert Morkot 4 5 THE BABYLONIANS 6 An Introduction 7 Gwendolyn Leick 8 911 folio 1111 2 3 4 5 THE PERSIANS 6 7 8 An Introduction 9 10111 11 2 3 4 Maria Brosius 5 6 7 8 9 20111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 folio 1111 2 3 4 51 6 7 8 9 10111 11 2 311 First published 2006 4 by Routledge 5 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 6 Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 7 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 8 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group 9 20111 © 2006 Maria Brosius 1 This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006. 2 “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s 3 collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” 4 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or 5 reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, 6 or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or 7 retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. 8 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data 9 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library 30111 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data 1 A catalog record for this book has been requested 2 ISBN10: 0–415–32089–5 (hbk) 3 ISBN10: 0–415–32090–9 (pbk) 4 ISBN10: 0–203–06815–7 (ebk) 5 6 ISBN13: 978–0–415–32089–4 (hbk) ISBN13: 978–0–415–32090–0 (pbk) 7 ISBN13: 978–0–203–06815–1 (ebk) 8 911 folio 1111 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10111 11 2 3 FÜR FINI 4 5 6 7 8 9 20111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 folio 1111 2 3 4 51 6 7 8 9 10111 11 2 311 4 5 6 7 8 9 20111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 911 folio 1111 2 3 4 5 CONTENTS 6 7 8 9 10111 11 2 3 List of figures ix 4 List of maps xi 5 Foreword xii 6 Acknowledgements xiii 7 List of abbreviations xiv 8 Month names in the Achaemenid calendar xvii 9 Month names in Parthian and Pahlavi xviii 20111 1 Introduction 1 1 2 2 The Achaemenids 6 3 Historical survey 6 4 King and court 32 5 Organisation and administration of the empire 47 6 Religion 63 7 Art and architecture 72 8 Excursus I: The creation of ‘the Other’: The Persians and 9 the Greek–Persian wars 76 30111 3 The Parthians (Arsacids) 79 1 Preliminary remarks 79 2 Historical survey 81 3 King and court 101 4 Organisation of the empire 113 5 Religion 125 6 Art and architecture 126 7 Excursus II: The Parthians in the eyes of the Romans 136 8 9 folio vii CONTENTS 1111 4 The Sasanians 139 2 Historical survey 139 3 King and court 159 4 Organisation of the empire 179 51 Religion 187 6 Art and architecture 196 7 Appendices 8 The Achaemenid dynasty 201 9 The Arsacid dynasty 201 10111 The Sasanian dynasty 202 11 2 Notes 204 311 Select bibliography 206 4 Index 211 5 6 7 8 9 20111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 911 folio viii 1111 2 3 4 5 LIST OF FIGURES 6 7 8 9 10111 11 2 1 Seal of Cyrus I (PFS 93) 7 3 2 Plan of Pasargadae 10 4 3a Mount Bisitun 18 5 3b The relief and inscription of Darius I at Bisitun 19 6 4 Plan of Persepolis 21 7 5 Seal of Artaxerxes III (The Hermitage Museum, 8 St Petersburg 19499) 30 9 6 Audience relief of Persepolis 35 20111 7 Shield of a Persian soldier on the Alexander 1 sarcophagus 36 2 8 North staircase of the Apadana, Persepolis 38 3 9 Seal of a female audience scene (PFS 77*) 42 4 10 Seal of Darius I from Egypt (BM 89132) 44 5 11 Persian seal depicting an ostrich hunt (Louvre 6 AO20115) 45 7 12 Persian banquet scene on an ivory from Demetrias, 8 Greece (Athens 27993) 46 9 13 The royal hero on a doorway at Persepolis 61 30111 14 Seal from Persepolis (PFS 75) 64 1 15 The royal khvarrah in the winged disc, Persepolis 67 2 16 The tomb of Cyrus II at Pasargadae 72 3 17 Achaemenid royal tomb at Naqsh-i Rustam 73 4 18 Persian nobles on the staircase, Persepolis 75 5 19 Tetradrachme of Mithridates I, Seleucia (Bibliothèque 6 Nationale de France, Paris) 87 7 20 Statue of Augustus from Prima Porta (Vatican 8 Museum, Braccio Nuovo, Rome, Inv.2290) 98 9 21 Denarius of Augustus depicting a kneeling Parthian 98 folio ix LIST OF FIGURES 1111 22 Drachme of Arsaces I (Bibliothèque Nationale de 2 France, Paris) 102 3 23 Rhython from Nisa 105 4 24a Women in Parthian dress from Hatra 109 51 24b Statue of a princess in Parthian dress from Hatra 109 6 25 Plan of Old Nisa 112 7 26 Graffito of a cataphractus from Dura-Europos 121 8 27 Parthian horseman (Pergamonmuseum, no. I.3684) 121 9 28 Parthian relief at Bisitun 130 10111 29 Parthian relief at Khung-e Nouruzi 131 11 30 Chivalrous combat at Tang-e Sarvak 132 2 31 Statue of a Parthian nobleman from Shami (Muzeh 311 Melli, Tehran 2401) 133 4 32 Statue of the Hatran king Sanatruq 135 5 33 Sestertius of Trajan commemorating his Parthian 6 victory (Ashmolean Museum) 137 7 34 The Sasanian relief at Tang-e Ab, Firuzabad 141 8 35 Relief at Bishapur of Shapur II’s victory over the 9 Roman emperors 146 20111 36 Kirdir’s relief at Naqsh-i Rajab 147 1 37a Investiture relief of Ardashir I at Tang-e Ab, Firuzabad 161 2 37b Investiture relief of Ardashir I at Tang-e Ab, 3 Firuzabad – close-up 161 4 38 Investiture relief of Ardashir I at Naqsh-i Rustam 162 5 39 Sasanian silver plate depicting a royal banquet 6 (Walters Art Museum, Baltimore 57.709) 165 7 40 Sasanian gold and silver plate depicting a hunt of 8 Shapur II (The Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, inv. S-253) 166 9 41 Relief of Khosrow II at Taq-e Bostan 166 30111 42 Sasanian relief of a chivalrous combat at Naqsh-i Rustam 167 1 43 Aerial photograph of Ardashir Khvarrah (Firuzabad) 2 (Gerster) 169 3 44 Aerial view of Bishapur (Gerster) 171 4 45a Sasanian seal depicting a royal woman 175 5 45b Seal of Denak (The Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg) 175 6 46 The royal family of Narseh, Naqsh-i Rustam 176 7 47 Sasanian relief of Khosrow II at Taq-e Bostan 177 8 48 Aerial view of Adur Gushnasp (Takht-e Suleiman) 911 (Gerster) 190 folio x 1111 2 3 4 5 LIST OF MAPS 6 7 8 9 10111 11 2 3 1 The Achaemenid empire 14 4 2 The Royal Roads of Achaemenid Persia 54 5 3 The Parthian empire at the time of Mithridates I 88 6 4 The Parthian empire 93 7 5 The Silk Road 124 8 6 The Sasanian empire 143 9 20111 All maps were redrawn for this volume.
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