History of Iran

The Kurash Prism ; The decree of return for the Jews, 539 BCE Edited by: Charles F. Horne

Iam Kurash [ "Cyrus" ], King of the World, Great King, Legitimate King, King of Babilani, King of Kiengir and Akkade, King of the four rims of the earth, Son of Kanbujiya, Great King, King of Hakhamanish, Grandson of Kurash, Great king, King of Hakhamanish, descendant of Chishpish, Great king, King of Hakhamanish, of a family which always exercised kingship; whose rule Bel and Nebo love, whom they want as king to please their hearts. When I entered Babilani as a friend and when I established the seat of the government in the palace of the ruler under jubilation and rejoicing, , the great lord, induced the magnanimous inhabitants of Babilani to love me, and I was daily endeavoring to worship him.... As to the region from as far as Assura and , Akkade, Eshnunna, the towns Zamban, Me-turnu, Der as well as the region of the Gutians, I returned to these sacred cities on the other side of the the sanctuaries of which have been ruins for a long time, the images which used to live therein and established for them permanent sanctuaries. I also gathered all their former inhabitants and returned them to their habitations. Furthermore, I resettled upon the command of Marduk, the great lord, all the gods of Kiengir and Akkade whom had brought into Babilani to the anger of the lord of the gods, unharmed, in their former temples, the places which make them happy. [1]

In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord inspired King Cyrus of Persia to issue this proclamation throughout his kingdom, both by word of mouth and in writing: "Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: "All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord, the God of heaven, has given to me, and he has also charged me to build him a house in , which is in Judah. Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of his people, let him go up, and may his God be with him! Let everyone who has survived, in whatever place he may have dwelt, be assisted by the people of that place with silver, gold, and goods, together with free will offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem.' Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and Levites --everyone, that is, whom God had inspired to do so-- prepared to go up to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. All their neighbors gave them help in every way, with silver, gold, goods, and cattle, and with many precious gifts besides all their free-will offerings. King Cyrus, too, had the utensils of the house of the Lord brought forth which Nebuchadnezzar had taken away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his god. Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought forth by the treasurer Mithredath, and counted out to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. [2]

Notes: The Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East, (New York: Parke, Austin, & Lipscomb, 1917); Vol. I: and , pp. 460-462; The (Douai-Rheims Version), (Baltimore: John Murphy Co., 1914). From The , Ezra 1:1-8: Points to Ponder:

--This revolt began with rebels killing the imperial governor, Hamatai. What do you think this governor did as part of his job? In whose name did he rule? It is certainly true that Hamatai was a person, but was this governor a kind of technology that was used by the emperor?

--How did Ashurnasirpal end the revolt? What did he do to prevent further revolts? Can you identify a specifically political method, or technique, that he used?

--If you consider technology in the general sense of methods and tools for controlling your physical and social environment, do you think that this primary source illustrates a kind of technology?

The Revolt

While I was staying in the land of Kutmuhi, they brought me the word: "The city of Suru of Bit-Halupe has revolted, they have slain Hamatai, their governor, and Ahiababa, the son of a nobody, whom they brought from Bit-Adini, they have set up as king over them." With the help of Adad and the great gods who have made great my kingdom, I mobilized my chariots and armies and marched along the bank of the Habur.

During my advance I received much tribute from Shulmanuhaman-ilani of the city of Gardiganni, from Ilu-Adad of the city of Katna, -- silver, gold, lead, vessels of copper, and garments of brightly colored wool, and garments of linen. To the city of Suru of Bit-Halupe I drew near, and the terror of the splendor of [], my lord, overwhelmed them. The chief men and the elders of the city, to save their lives, came forth into my presence and embraced my feet, saying: "If it is thy pleasure, slay! If it is thy pleasure, let live! That which thy heart desireth, do!"

Ahiababa, the son of nobody, whom they had brought from Bit-Adini, I took captive. In the valor of my heart and with the fury of my weapons I stormed the city. All the rebels they seized and delivered them up. My officers I caused to enter into his palace and his temples. His silver, his gold, his goods and his possessions, iron, lead, vessels of copper, cups of copper, dishes of copper, a great horde of copper, , tables with inlay, the women of his palaces, his daughters, the captive rebels together with their possessions, the gods together with their possessions, precious stone from the mountains, his chariot with equipment, his horses, broken to the yoke, trappings of men and trappings of horses, garments of brightly colored wool and garments of linen, goodly oil, cedar, and fine sweet-scented herbs, panels of cedar, purple and crimson wool, his wagons, his cattle, his sheep, his heavy spoil, which like the stars of heaven could not be counted, I carried off.

Azi-ilu I set over them as my own governor. I built a pillar over against his city gate, and I flayed all the chief men who had revolted, and I covered the pillar with their skins; some I walled up within the pillar, some I impaled upon the pillar on stakes, and others I bound to stakes round about the pillar; many within the border of my own land I flayed, and I spread their skins upon the walls; and I cut off the limbs of the officers, of the royal officers who had rebelled. Ahiababa I took to , I flayed him, I spread his skin upon the wall of Nineveh.

My power and might I established over the land of [Laqe]. While I was staying in the city of Suru, [I received] tribute from all the kings of the land of [Laqe], -- silver, gold, lead, copper, vessels of copper, cattle, sheep, garments of brightly colored wool, and garments of linen, and I increased the tribute and taxes and imposed them upon them. At that time, the tribute of Haiani of the city of Hindani, -- silver, gold, lead, copper, umu-stone, alabaster, purple wool, and [Bactrian] camels I received from him as tribute. At that time I fashioned a heroic image of my royal self, my power and my glory I inscribed thereon, in the midst of his palace I set it up. I fashioned memorial stelae and inscribed thereon my glory and my prowess, and I set them up by his city gate.

From Daniel Luckenbill, ed., Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, vol. 1 (New York: Greenwood Press, 1968): 144-145 The Satrapies ()

Darius I (Old Persian Dârayavauš): king of ancient Persia, whose reign lasted from 522 to 486. He seized power after killing king Gaumâta, fought a civil war (described in the Behistun inscription), and was finally able to refound the , which had been very loosely organized until then. Darius fought several foreign wars, which brought him to and Thrace. When he died, the Persian empire had reached its largest extent. He was succeeded by his son Xerxes. Darius, relief from the Central Relief of the Northern Stairs of the Apadana, Persepolis

In the following text, Herodotus of Halicarnassus tells us how Darius organized the Persian empire in tax districts or satrapies. The reliefs ofPersepolis show how the subject people mentioned below bring their tribute. The translation of Herodotus' 3.89-97 was made by Aubrey de Selincourt.

Darius then proceeded to set up twenty provincial governorships, called satrapies. The several governors were appointed and each nation assessed for taxes; for administrative purposes neighboring nations were joined in a single unit; outlying peoples were considered to belong to this nation or that, according to convenience.

Before I record the amount of the annual tribute paid by the various provinces, I should mention that those who paid in silver were instructed to use the Babylonian talent as the measure of weight, while the Euboean talent was the standard for gold - the Babylonian being worth 11/6 of the Euboean. During the reigns of Cyrus and Cambyses there was no fixed tribute at all, the revenue coming from gifts only; and because of his imposition of regular taxes, and other similar measures, the Persians have a saying that Darius was a tradesman, Cambyses a tyrant, and Cyrus a father - the first being out for profit wherever he could get it, the second harsh and careless of his subjects' interests, and the third, Cyrus, in the kindness of his heart always occupied with plans for their well-being.

Map of the Achaemenid Empire with Persian names

Now for the account of the tribute paid by the twenty provinces.

1. The Ionians, the Magnesians in Asia, the Aeolians, Carians, Lycians, Milyans, and Pamphylians contributed together a total sum of 400 talents of silver. 2. The Mysians, Lydians, Lasonians, Cabalians, and Hytennians, 500 talents. 3. The people on the southern shore of the Hellespont, the Phrygians, the Thracians of Asia, the Paphlagonians, Mariandynians, and Syrians, 360 talents. 4. The Cilicians paid 500 talents of silver, together with 360 white horses (one for each day in the year); of the money, 140 talents were used to maintain the cavalry force which guarded , and the remaining 360 went to Darius. 5. From the town of Posidium, which was founded by Amphilochus, son of Amphiaraus, on the border between Cilicia and Syria, as far as Egypt - omitting Arabian territory, which was free of tax, came 350 talents. This province contains the whole of and that part of Syria which is called Palestine, and Cyprus.

6. Egypt, together with the Libyans on the border and the towns of Cyrene and Barca (both included in the province of Egypt) paid 700 talents, in addition to the money from the in Lake Moeris, and the 120,000 bushels of grain allowed to the Persian troops and their auxiliaries who were stationed in the White Castle at Memphis. 7. The Sattagydians, Gandarians, Dadicae, and Aparytae paid a joint tax of 170 talents. 8. Susa, with the rest of Cissia - 300 talents. 9. and Assyria - 1000 talents of silver and 500 eunuch boys. 10. Ecbatana and the rest of Media, with the Paricanians and Orthocorybantes - 450 talents. 11. Caspians, Pausicae, Pantimathi, and Daritae - a joint sum of 200 talents. 12. The Bactrians and their neighbors as far as the Aegli 360 talents. 13. The Sagartians, Sarangians, Thamanaeans, Utians, Myci, together with the inhabitants of the islands in the Persian gulf where the king sends prisoners and others displaced from their homes in war - 600 talents. 14. The Sacae and Caspians - 250 talents. 15. The Parthians, Chorasmians, Sogdians, and Arians - 300 talents. 16. The Paricanians and Asiatic Ethiopians - 400 talents. 17. The Matienians, Saspires, and Alarodians - 200 talents. 18. The Moschi, Tibareni, , Mosynoeci, and Mares - 300 talents. 19. The Indians, the most populous nation in the known world, paid the largest sum: 360 talents of gold-dust. 20. Sakâ tigrakhaudâ. Relief from the eastern stairs of the Apadana at Persepolis.Pactyica, together with the Armenians and their neighbors as far as the - 400 talents. A man from Sindhu, carrying gold. Relief from the eastern stairs of the Apadana at Persepolis

If the Babylonian talents here referred to are reduced to the Euboean scale, they will make a total of 9,880; and if gold is reckoned at thirteen times the value of silver, the Indian gold-dust will be found to amount to 4,680 talents. Thus the grand total of Darius' annual revenue comes to 14,560 Euboean talents - not to mention the odd ones.

This was the revenue derived from Asia and a few parts of Libya; but as time went on, more came in from the islands and from the peoples in Europe as far as Thessaly. The method adopted by the Persian kings of storing their treasure is to melt the metal and pour it into earthenware jars; the jar is then chipped off, leaving the solid metal. When money is wanted, the necessary amount is coined for the occasion.

That completes the list of provinces, with the amounts they had to contribute in taxation. The one country I have not mentioned as paying taxes is Persia herself - for the simple reason that she does not pay any. A few peoples upon whom no regular tax was imposed made a contribution in the form of gifts; the , for instance, on the Egyptian border [...] Every second year these two nations brought - and still bring to-day about two quarts of unrefined gold, two hundred logs of ebony, and twenty tusks.

A Kushite (Relief from the eastern stairs of the Apadana at Persepolis)

Again, a voluntary contribution was undertaken by the Colchians and the neighboring tribes between them and the Caucasus - the limit of the empire in this direction, everything to the northward being outside the range of Persian influence. In their case the contribution consisted (and still does) in the gift, every fourth year, of a hundred boys and a hundred girls.

Lastly, the Arabians brought a thousand talents - about twenty-five and a half tons- of frankincense every year. This, then, was the revenue which the king received over and above what was produced by regular taxation.

This page was created in 1999; last modified on 20 August 2015. Ancient History Sourcebook: Accounts of the Campaign of , 701 BCE

From The Sennacherib Prism In my third campaign I marched against Hatti. , king of , whom the terror-inspiring glamor of my lordship had overwhelmed, fled far overseas and perished.... As to , the Jew, he did not submit to my yoke, I laid to his strong cities, walled forts, and countless small villages, and conquered them by means of well-stamped earth-ramps and battering-rams brought near the walls with an attack by foot soldiers, using mines, breeches as well as trenches. I drove out 200,150 people, young and old, male and female, horses, mules, donkeys, camels, big and small cattle beyond counting, and considered them slaves. Himself I made a prisoner in Jerusalem, his royal residence, like a bird in a cage. I surrounded him with earthwork in order to molest those who were his city's gate. Thus I reduced his country, but I still increased the tribute and the presents to me as overlord which I imposed upon him beyond the former tribute, to be delivered annually. Hezekiah himself, did send me, later, to Nineveh, my lordly city, together with 30 talents of gold, 800 talents of silver, precious stones, antimony, large cuts of red stone, couches inlaid with ivory, nimedu-chairs inlaid with ivory, elephant-hides, ebony-wood, boxwood and all kinds of valuable treasures, his own daughters and concubines. . .

From The Hebrew Bible, -19 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, went on an expedition against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. Hezekiah, king of Judah, sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: "I have done wrong. Leave me, and I will pay whatever tribute you impose on me." The king of Assyria exacted three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold from Hezekiah, king of Judah. Hezekiah paid him all the funds there were in the temple of the Lord and in the palace treasuries...That night the of the Lord went forth and struck down 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp. Early the next morning, there they were, all the corpses of the dead. So Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, broke camp and went back home to Nineveh. When he was worshiping in the temple of his god , his sons Adram- melech and Sharezer slew him with the sword and fled into the land of Ararat.

From The Hebrew Bible, But after he had proved his [Hezekiah's] fidelity by such deeds, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came. He invaded Judah, besieged the fortified cities, and proposed to take them by storm. . . .His officials said still more against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah, for he had written letters to deride the Lord, the God of Israel. . . They spoke of the God of Israel as though he were one of the gods of the other peoples of the earth, a work of human hands. But because of this, King Hezekiah and the prophet , son of Amos, prayed and called out to him. Then the Lord sent an angel, who destroyed every valiant warrior, leader and commander in the camp of the Assyrian king, so that he had to return shamefaced to his own country. And when he entered the temple of his own god, some of his own offspring struck him down there with the sword. Source: From: Oliver J. Thatcher, ed., The Library of Original Sources, (Milwaukee: University Research Extension Co., 1907), Vol. I: The Ancient World; The Bible (Douai-Rheims Version), (Baltimore: John Murphy Co., 1914). Scanned by: J. S. Arkenberg, Dept. of History, Cal. State Fullerton. Prof. Arkenberg has modernized the text