arts Article The Horse and the Lion in Achaemenid Persia: Representations of a Duality Eran Almagor Independent Researcher, P.O. Box 3410, Jerusalem 91033, Israel;
[email protected] Abstract: This paper explores the ambiguous Persian Achaemenid attitude towards the horse and the lion. It examines the way these animals appear in imperial official presentations, local artifacts throughout the empire and Greek textual representations. In the case of the stallion, it looks at the imagery of horse riding or the place of the horse in society and religion alongside the employment of steeds in chariots. Images of the lion are addressed in instances where it appears to be respected as having a significant protective power and as the prey of the chase. This paper attempts to show that this ambiguity corresponds roughly to the dual image of the Persians as both pre-imperial/nomad Citation: Almagor, Eran. 2021. The and imperial/sedentary (and hence allegedly luxurious), a schism that is manifest in both the Horse and the Lion in Achaemenid self-presentation of the Achaemenids and in the Greek texts. Persia: Representations of a Duality. Arts 10: 41. https://doi.org/ Keywords: horse; lion; Achaemenid; Ancient Persia; animals; Assyrian Empire; Medes; nomads; art 10.3390/arts10030041 history; archaeology Academic Editors: Branko F. van Oppen de Ruiter and Chiara Cavallo In a passage from Diodorus Siculus, the courtier Tiribazus, faced with charges of treason, tells his judges how once he had saved the Great King’s life: Received: 4 June 2020 Once