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“Truth and Lies in Ancient Iranian History” RICHARD N. FRYE

Published in Melammu Symposia 4: A. Panaino and A. Piras (eds.), Schools of Oriental Studies and the Development of Modern Historiography. Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Symposium of the Assyrian and Babylonian Intellectual Heritage Project. Held in Ravenna, Italy, October 13-17, 2001 (Milan: Università di Bologna & IsIao 2004), pp. 129-32. Publisher: http://www.mimesisedizioni.it/

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FRYE T RUTH AND LIES IN ANCIENT IRANIAN HISTORY

RICHARD N. F RYE Harvard

Truth and Lies in Ancient Iranian History

ome archaeologists claim that the records which are preserved. One should word impressionistic is a synonym always ask why a priest or scribe re- Sfor superficial, since they deal with corded a text, or why a ruler ordered a the hard facts of material culture, while text to be written. Even more questions historians are shallow because they study need to be applied to information handed causes and effects which frequently are down orally and then recorded in writing. intangible. In the ancient Near East and Finally the historian of the ancient Near Central Asia, however, to try to under- East must be on guard not to import stand the past the paucity of all sources contemporary views or biases into an in- forces one to resort to analogies, com- terpretation of the past. All very simple parisons and logic, or just simple com- and understood but sometimes neglected. mon sense. Unfortunately sometimes the What follows is speculative and im- last is forgotten in trying to explain pressionistic, but it concerns an impor- enigmas. For example, it is well known, tant historical question: how can we assess but at times overlooked, that both writing and believe records from the past? and oral memories were limited to a few Anyone who tries to recover memories people. One might say that until the from his own past, or remembers the spread of Arabic in the Middle Ages, in Japanese film Rashomon , will sympa- the Near East writing was restricted to thize with any attempt to set up guide- priests (or other religious figures) and lines, trying to establish what Leopold professional scribes. The former were von Ranke said about history – to report interested in preserving religious texts, was eigentlich geschehen ist. while the latter primarily in keeping As a general rule one should ask, does accounts. the information support or promote a po- Oral history was preserved by profes- sition or point of view, or is it neutral in sional story tellers, called g 0sn in not contributing to any argument which Parthian times, while common folk fre- is advanced by the text or inscription? In quently mis-remembered or forgot past a somewhat simple or crude example, in events. Those with prodigious memories Suetonius’ Life of Caesar (22), when he were respected and honoured as folk has the consul say that the Amazons had ‘historians,’ but additions and losses controlled a large part of Asia, this re- were the normal practices of those re- mark really has to do with a contempo- porting past events. rary joke, and cannot be deemed true or All of the above does not take into ac- historical. The Classical writers are full count deliberate falsification of informa- of ‘historical information’ which is meant tion for political or other reasons. Con- to edify or teach their readers some les- sequently one must be sceptical of much son, and consequently must be regarded information from the ancient world and with caution. On the other hand, if a re- consider motives and reasons for the mark is simply recorded as an interesting

A. Panaino & A. Piras (eds.) MELAMMU SYMPOSIA IV (Milano 2004) ISBN 88-88483-206-3 129 FRYE T RUTH AND LIES IN ANCIENT IRANIAN HISTORY

piece of information, without any didac- were similar and simple, saying “I am tic or glorification purpose, then the Cyrus the Achaemenid.” This seemed chances of being true are enhanced. In strange, since it is now generally ac- other words, the purpose of a statement cepted that Darius introduced the Old should be determined before moving to Persian cuneiform script, and most proba- the next step, which is a comparison of bly it was he who ordered these inscrip- similar statements or situations, to de- tions to be engraved on the buildings in termine the reasonableness or logic of the city of Cyrus. Why would Darius the information. It is this second step order such a simple text engraved there? which is tricky but frequently necessary Obviously he wanted everyone to know for the ancient world, where sources are that Cyrus was an Achaemenid like him- few, or mere copies of one original self, and therefore Darius had legitimacy source. In this vein let us turn to ancient to rule. However, what does Cyrus say in Iran and examine the long standing his Babylonian inscriptions? argument about Darius and his Behistun Cyrus never mentions Achaemenes as inscription. his ancestor in proclaiming his genealogy Previously I had upheld the veracity of in cuneiform texts. 1 The common name Darius’ remarks, considering the fact that which attaches the descent of Darius to witnesses undoubtedly existed who would that of Cyrus is Teispis (OP 5išpiš), but know about the events he describes. Yet is it the same person? It would be easy to there was one instance where he might assert that it was one and the same an- have escaped detection, and that was the cestor, but just as the matter of Sargon, murder of the person he claimed was the the intention was to prove legitimacy, usurper Gaum ta rather than Bardiya, which was very important in the ancient brother of Cambyses. The Gaum ta epi- world. If we may question Sargon’s an- sode has been discussed ad nauseam , and cestors, why not also those of Darius? here I wish to concentrate only on the Why did Darius insist that both he and question of legitimacy. Cyrus were descended from Achaemenes, If we cosider who was legitimate or and not be content with Teispis as their not in previous history, the case of the common ancestor, since after the latter neo-Assyrian king Sargon (722-705 B.C.), the two branches of the family diverged? who was a usurper, might come to mind. We may consider several reasons for He had asserted legitimacy by claiming Darius’ insistence on exalting Achaeme- descent from ancient kings of Babylonia, nes, which in every inscription of all the and had great success in not only main- successors of Darius is emphasized. All taining power, but also expanding the proclaim that they are Achaemenids. The Assyrian realm. Could the story of Darius Greeks accepted the Persian version of be a parallel to that of Sargon, or even the descent of their rulers, and the name better to more ancient rulers who exhib- Achaemenid came down in history eve- ited similar claims? In a recent trip to rywhere except in Iran. The usual expla- Pasargadae I again examined the inscrip- nation for this phenomenon is the loss of tions with the name Cyrus there. All memory after Alexander, but why was

1 Cf. Weidener, E.F., “Die älteste Nachricht über das found in Kent, R., Old Persian Grammar, Text, Lexi- persische Konigshaus,” Archiv für Orientforschung , 7 con , (AOS, New Haven, Conn., 1953). (1930), pp. 1-7. The Old Persian inscriptions may be

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the Assyrian Empire and its kings re- kings (Darius, Artaxerxes) do appear on membered even in Islamic times in Iran coins of the Frataraka rulers of Persis or and not the Achaemenids? The great Frs, homeland of the Achaemenids, but savant al-B rAssyria but not the Achaemenids Is it possible that the people in western under that name. It is fascinating that Iran did not want, or care, to remember a even though he did not know the name dynasty which was not beloved, or may ‘Achaemenid’ he did have the correct even have been considered illegitimate, sequence of their rulers (Cyrus, Camby- in the eyes of many? This may seem far- ses, Darius, etc.), but they are listed un- fetched, but the disappearance of the der the sobriquet of the kings of the Achaemenids in the one land where they Chaldaeans. 2 Later, when he gives a list should have been remembered is puz- of the Persian kings, according to Classi- zling. cal authors, in a curious fashion he re- Another, and I suggest more plausible, peats the Chaldaean list, with the addi- explanation of the loss of memory of the tions of Tiglath Pileser, Salmanassar name Achaemenid is that it was not for- and a form of Esarhadon. 3 I am at a loss gotten, but a substitution was made to know where al-B rreligion of Nineveh in 612 B.C., while the in- who wrote down what little has been scriptions of Darius and his successors preserved. I propose that the priests, attest to their desire to preserve memory together with popular story tellers, con- of the Achaemenids. This requires an ex- structed an account of Iran’s past parallel planation. to the history which we know today. But It seems there are two possible answers why would the Sasanians accept this to the loss of memory of the name account as their ‘official’ version of the Achaemenids in Iran. The generally ac- past in place of the ‘real’ history? I sug- cepted explanation is that the Seleucid, gest that the Classical account was first and especially the Parthians, were the considered propaganda of their Roman/ primary agents of forgetfulness. The lat- Byzantine enemies. Second, and more ter, who came from Central Asia, it is important, the priests became greatly asserted, substituted their mythic and epic concerned about the spread of Christian- version of the ancient history of Iran for ity, the religion of the enemies of the the true history of the Achaemenids. It is Sasanians, especially in the fifth century surprising, however, that in western Iran, and later when Christianity was the offi- home of the Medes and Persians, memory cial religion of their enemies. I have pro- of the Achaemenids was completely lost. posed that it was this fear of the progress Forms of the names of the Achaemenid of Christianity in Iran which caused the

2 al-B r

131 FRYE T RUTH AND LIES IN ANCIENT IRANIAN HISTORY

Zoroastrian priests to persuade the with the previous dynasty, but for some Sasanian kings to accept and proclaim reason has to flee from court and hide the popular and religious account of the among the common folk, who raise him past of Iran instead of the pernicious until the time of his revolt and success ‘Western’ history. 4 Later Islamic authors arrives. This is the account of the child- were confused about this manipulation of hood of Cyrus, repeated for Ardaš r, the past by Iranians, and the above ex- founder of the Sasanian dynasty, and planation should be considered when with similar events even in Islamic times, studying Islamic versions of the past. witness the rise of Ismail, founder of the The third century is a turning point in Safavid dynasty. Are we dealing with world history when universal, intolerant mythic or epic elements of history; how and competing religions replaced former much can one believe? allegiances. No longer was it a privilege To take another general but seemingly to become a Roman citizen, rather one comparable instance, how is one to un- identified himself as a Christian, Jew, derstand the recurring pattern of revolu- Zoroastrian, Manichaean or other. Chris- tions, with a violent uprising and strug- tians did not tolerate pagans and Zoroas- gle, followed by a regime of terror and trians also adopted the intolerant attitude then foreign invasion? The French, Rus- of their enemies. Religion became the sian and Iranian revolutions are almost prime player in everyone’s life and this eerily similar, as though participants in is reflected in the history of the Near each follow a law of revolutions, again East as well as the West. The above sug- either unconsciously or by design, having gests that we must be very cautious in determined the paths all revolutions must accepting accounts of the past, without follow. Sheep or shrewd readers of his- careful questioning of the motives of the tory? Many are the puzzles of the past. recorder of those events. The repetition Truth and falsehood are indeed diffi- of patterns or motifs in the past, such as cult to distinguish in history, but we the tale of ‘baby Moses in the bulrushes,’ should not go to one extreme, which has found also in ancient Mesopotamia, and history a ‘pack of lies agreed upon.’ elsewhere with variations, points to an Rather one should examine the past unconscious, or even possibly intended, with objectivity, logic, and with all the desire to conform to well-known and resources available, to reconstruct what popularly accepted paradigms of be- really happened in the past. Then perhaps haviour. Another recurring pattern in the we can approach the dictum of Ranke history of Iran is that of the founder of a rather than an account of what should new dynasty, who is connected by blood have happened.

4 Cf. Frye, R.N., “Founder Myths in Iranian History,” by A.S. Shahbazi, “Early Sasanians’ Claim to Achae- Nme-ye Ir n-e B st n, vol. 2, no. 1 (Tehran, 2003), menid Heritage,” in the first issue of the same journal pp. 19-21, where reference is to an important article (2001), pp. 61-73.

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