1. Achaemenid History

1. 1. Achaemenid History BOT535 Postexilic History & Literature

2. Cyrus the Great: Genealogy Achaemenes (700-675?) Teispes (675-640?) Cyrus I (640-600?) Ariaramnes (640-615?) Cambyses I (600-559?) Arsames (590-550?) Cyrus II (559-530) [Yamauchi, Edwin M. Persia and the Bible, 70]

3. Cyrus II Biblical References: Dan 1.21; 6.28; 10.1; 2 Chr 36.22-23; Ezra 1.1-4; 6.3-5; Isa 44.28; 45.1 (Isa 41.2-3, 25-26; 45.13; 46.11). Parents and Birth: Father = Cambyses I, a Persian Mother = Mandane, the daughter of the Median king Astyages. 590 BCE

4. Cyrus II (559-530 BCE) “At the beginning of my lasting kingship they (the great gods) showed me a vision in a dream . . . . Marduk said to me, “The Umman-manda of whom thou speakest, he, his land, and the kings who go at his side, will not exist for much longer. At the beginning of the third year, Cyrus, kind of Anshan, his youthful servant, will come forth. With his few forces he will rout the numerous forces of the Umman-manda. He will capture Astyages, the king of the Umman-manda, and will take him prisoner to his country.” [DOTT, pp. 89-90 in Yamauchi, 80-81]

5. Cyrus II (559-530) Defeats Astyage and the Medes in 550 BCE Capital was Ecbatana (Ezra 6.2) Received the allegiance from the Hyrcanians, Parthians, Sakai and Bactrians Treasure of Astyage Conquest of Croesus of Lydia Sardis conquered Period of consolation of power (546-540 BCE)

6. Cyrus II (559-530) Conquest of the Neo-Babylonian Empire Babylonian citizen assisted Cyrus’ general Gobryas enters Babylon in 539 BCE Cyrus uses propaganda Cyrus seizes the territory of the Outer Euphrates Dies in 530 BCE (Massagetai)

7. Cyrus’ Cylinder: Amelie Kuhrt’s Outline 1-3: . . . a reference to Cyrus’ predecessor (Nabonidus) as a person unfit to rule Bablonia. 4-8: A narrative of the wicked deeds of Nabonidus particularly in relation to Esagila, his blasphemous offerings, his interruption of regular offerings, his lack of awe for Marduk. In addition he caused the people to perish by imposing heavy labour-duties.

8. Cyrus’ Cylinder: Amelie Kuhrt’s Outline 9-10: Marduk raged as he heard the laments of his people; (cult centres were abandoned?), their shape (was forgotten?) and the gods who dwelt therein abandoned them. He (Nebonidus) brought the gods into Babylon. 19-14: Marduk’s anger turns to mercy in the face of his people’s suffering; he examines all the countries to find a just and suitable ruler. He takes Cyrus, king of Anshan, calls

9. Cyrus’ Cylinder: Amelie Kuhrt’s Outline him to his position and appoints him 15-19: Marduk now orders Cyrus to go to Babylon and accompanies him and his troops like a friend; he causes him to enter Babylon without a battle and hands Nabonidus over to him. All the inhabitants of Babylon are delighted, welcome Cyrus as king and praise Marduk for their deliverance.

10. Cyrus’ Cylinder: Amelie Kuhrt’s Outline 20-22: ‘I, Cyrus’; followed by royal titles and genealogy back to great-grandfather - ‘eternal seed of royalty, whose kingship is loved by Marduk and Nabu, who desired his kingship in order to please their hearts.’ 22-24: Cyrus’ peaceful and joyful arrival in Babylon and his daily honouring of Marduk.

11. Cyrus’ Cylinder: Amelie Kuhrt’s Outline 24-26: Cyrus guarantees the peace of the country and protects the welfare of Babylon and its cult centres; he releases them from their burden (which was not in accordance with the will of the gods). 26-30: Marduk is pleased and blesses Cyrus, his son, Cambyses, and all his troops. At Marduk’s command all enthroned kings of all regions bring tribute and kiss Cyrus’ feet

12. Cyrus’ Cylinder: Amelie Kuhrt’s Outline in Babylon. 30-34: All the gods whose dwelling-places have been abandoned ‘long ago’ are returned to their places and allowed to settle in an eternal dwelling (the cult-centres listed in this section are: (Nineveh?), Assur, Susa, Akkad, Es]nunna, Zamban, Me4turnu, De4r as far as Gutium, cult-centres on the other side (i.e. east) of the Tigris). All the

13. Cyrus’ Cylinder: Amelie Kuhrt’s Outline people associated with these returned deities are gathered together and brought back to their (i.e. the restored gods’) dwelling-places. All the gods of Babylonia that had been gathered by Nabonidus together in Babylon were also joyfully returned to their homes at the command of Marduk. 34-36: A prayer asking that all the restored

14. Cyrus’ Cylinder: Amelie Kuhrt’s Outline gods may daily speak to Marduk and Nabu on behalf of Cyrus and Cambyses, his son. 36: All lands are at peace. 37-38: (Probably) a reference to increased cult-offerings. 33-43: Improvements and completion of building in Babylon (walls, quay-wall, elaborate doors).

15. Cyrus’ Cylinder: Amelie Kuhrt’s Outline 43-45: Cyrus finds an inscription of Assurbanipal, ‘a king who preceded me’ [the last line has only the final word preserved but it is probable that it would have referred to the reverent replacing of the text and perhaps a mention of the fact that Cyrus placed his own inscription next to it].

16. Cyrus’ Cylinder: Amelie Kuhrt’s Literary Pattern A. (1-19) Historical preamble and Marduk’s role in it (in the third person) B. (20-22) Royal protocol and genealogy (in the first person) C. (22-34) Cyrus’ correct behaviour in returning everything to normal D. (34-35) Prayer by Cyrus for himself and his son

17. Cyrus’ Cylinder: Amelie Kuhrt’s Literary Pattern E. (36-37) Statement that everything in the empire is in order F. (38-45) Cyrus’ building works in Babylon.

18. Cyrus’ Cylinder: Amelie Kuhrt’s Analysis 1. The Cyrus Cylinder is a document composed in accordance with traditional Mesopotamian royal building texts and apart from the incontrovertible fact that the main protagonist is a Persian no foreign and /or new literary elements appear in it. 2. It is thus unsuprising that the text relates itself exclusively to the fortunes of the city

19. Cyrus’ Cylinder: Amelie Kuhrt’s Analysis of Babylon and its god Marduk and only by extension to other deities of the Babylonian pantheon and the country of which Babylon was the capital. 3. The fact that the text has a limited local application is confirmed by the geographical horizon outlined above and the possibility that similar (albeit perhaps not

20. Cyrus’ Cylinder: Amelie Kuhrt’s Analysis such elaborate) compositions were produced in relation to the restoration of other sanctuaries. 4. The main significance of the text lies in the insight it provides into the mechanism used by Cyrus to legitimise his conquest of Babylonia by manipulating local traditions - an exercise in which he probably received

21. Cyrus’ Cylinder: Amelie Kuhrt’s Analysis the support of a fairly powerful segment of the urban population in Babylonia, whose traditional privileges were perhaps being threatened by Nabonidus’ policy. 5. Whether Cyrus ever actually “restored” any cults is quite unclear and to some extent the answer to this question depends on an evaluation of the effect of Nabonidus’

22. Cyrus’ Cylinder: Amelie Kuhrt’s Analysis religious reforms on the Babylonian cities; it is possible that some kind of restoration of normal cult-practice, disrupted by the fall of the Assyrian empire, was also envisaged . . . . But such a restoration does not appear to have been carried out. . . .

23. Cyrus’ Cylinder: Amelie Kuhrt’s Summary 1. He and his successors were doing no more than following Assyrian policy in relation to the Babylonian cities - a policy which could be reversed when necessary; not the destruction of Babylon and possible removal / destruction of the Marduk statue by Xerxes after the revolts in Babylonia in the early part of his reign.

24. Cyrus’ Cylinder: Amelie Kuhrt’s Summary 2. Cambyses ‘the tyrant’ also restored cultic order in the temple of Neith and Sais and yet certainly withdrew incomes and privileges from other temples in Egypt in order to break the power of the priesthoods. 3. While Achaemenid rulers appear to have been anxious to maintain the privileges of cultic communities as evidenced, for

25. Cyrus’ Cylinder: Amelie Kuhrt’s Summary example, by the letter from Darius to Gadates concerning the workers in the sacred of Apollo, yet the temple at Didyma in Asia Minor was destroyed on the others of the same king probably because of the role it had played in the Ionian revolt (Hdt. 6.20). 4. While Achaemenids certainly practised the

26. Cyrus’ Cylinder: Amelie Kuhrt’s Summary deportation of populations as part of their policy just as Assyrians and Babylonians had done; thus, the inhabitants of Barca in Libya were moved to Bactria by Darius I (Hdt. 4.204), the Paeonians were moved from Thrace to Phrygia (Hdt. 5.13-16), and the inhabitants of Miletus were settled on the Persian Gulf (Hdt. 6.20). A much later

27. Cyrus’ Cylinder: Amelie Kuhrt’s Summary reference in a Babylonian text dating to Artaxerxes III lists deportees, including women, arriving in Babylon after the revolt of Sidon.

28. Cyrus’ Cylinder: Amelie Kuhrt’s Conclusion The assumption that Persian imperial control was somehow more tolerable than the Assyrian yoke is based, on the one hand, on the limited experience of one influential group of a very small community which happened to benefit by Persian policy and, on the other, on a piece of blatant propaganda successfully modelled on

29. Cyrus’ Cylinder: Amelie Kuhrt’s Conclusion similar texts derised to extol a representative and practitioner of the earlier and much condemned Assyrian imperialism. [Kuhrt, Amelie, “The Cyrus Cylinder and Achaemenid Imperial Policy,” JSOT 25 (1983), 83-97]

30. Cambyses (530-522 BCE) Conquest of Egypt 525 Cambyses enters Sais Failure in the Ethiopian Campaign Cambyses’ Policies Local sacral traditions followed as politically expedient: the sacred Apis Bull and the testimony of Udjahorresnet, etc. Dies attempting to return to Persia (522BCE)

31. Egypt: 26th Dynasty Psammetichus I 664-610 BCE Necho II 610-595 BCE Psammetichus II 595-589 BCE Apries 589-570 BCE Amasis 570-526 BCE Psammetichus III 526-525 BCE

32. Darius I (522-486 BCE) Biblical References Ezra 4-6 Haggai 1.1, 15; 2.10 Zechariah 1.1, 7; 7.1

33. Darius I (522-486 BCE) Problem of Succession: Was Bardya, Smerdis (Hdt.), Guamata Cambyses’ brother? Or was Darius the usurper? Rebellions Crushed: in Egypt, Persia, Elam, Babylonia, Media and East on the Iranian Plateau. In Egypt in 518: Did he stop by Judah during the ministries of Haggai and Zechariah?

34. Darius I (522-486 BCE) Building Programs Canal from Nile to Red Sea (512 BCE) “I am Persian; from Persia I seized Egypt, I gave order to dig this canal from a river by name Nile which flows in Egypt, to the sea which goes from Persia. After this canal was dug thus as I had ordered and ships went from Egypt through this canal to Persia thus as was my desire.” Behistun Monument

35. Darius I (522-486 BCE) Persepolis Royal road system from Sadis to Susa Governance 20 Satrapies “He established in the Persian Empire twenty governments (archai) called satrapies; the variousgovernors were appointed, and each nation assessed for tributes (phoroi) that should revert to him” (Hdt. 3.89)

36. Darius I (522-486 BCE) Coinage, the “daric” in about 515 BCE Military Problems Aristagoras of Miletus (499-494 BCE) First Persian War (490 BCE) and the defeat at Marathon Darius dies: 486 BCE)

37. The Behistun Relief Date: 521 or 520 BCE to 519 BCE (addition). Description: “The relief represents Darius triumphant over his enemies; he holds a bow in this left hand and stands with one foot on the fallen figure of Gaumata, the first rebel, who raises his arms in a pleading gesture toward Darius. Behind the king are two Persian attendants, and the nine

38. The Behistun Relief remaining rebel leaders stand in front of Darius; their hands are tied behind their backs, and their necks are bound by a rope which runs from figure to figure. Above the rebels floats the truncated figure of Ahura Mazda in a winged disc; the god holds a ring in his left hand and raises his right hand toward Darius. The Persian monarch raises

39. The Behistun Relief his right hand in a similar gesture to the god, so that the two seem to be in communion, the god bestowing, the king worshipping. The king and his two officers wear Persian dress; each rebel leader is shown in his appropriate native costume and hairdress.” [Farkas, Ann, “The Behistun Relief,” The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol 2., 828]

40. The Behistun Relief Inscription “Afterwards, there was one man, a Magian, Gaumata by name; he rose up from Paishiyauvada. A mountain by name Arakadri - from there 14 days of the month Viyakhna [March 11, 522] were past when he rose up. He lied to the people thus: “I am Smerdis [OP Bardiya], the son of Cyrus, brother of Cambyses.” After that all the

41. The Behistun Relief Inscription people became rebellious from Cambyses, (and) went over to him, both Persia and Media and the provinces.” [Quoted from Yamauchi, p. 138]

42. Xerxes I (486-465 BCE) Biblical References Ezra 4.6 Daniel 11.2 (?) Esther Birth and Parentage Not the eldest son of Darius, but first born after Darius came to power (@518) Mother: Atossa, daughter of Cyrus

43. Xerxes I (486-465 BCE) Revolts Egypt suppressed by 484 BCE Babylonian revolts of 484 and 482 BCE Defeated in the immense land and sea battle with Greece in 480 BCE Death Assassinated in 465 BCE

44. Arataxerxes I (465-424 BCE) Biblical References Nehemiah 1.1; 2.1 (Nehemiah was “cupbearer”) Supposed dates of: the so-called Trito-Isaiah, Jonah, many Psalms, Proverbs and Qoheleth Revolts The third son of Xerxes who was satrap of Bactria

45. Arataxerxes I (465-424 BCE) Egypt (460 BCE) rebelled under Inarus with the aid of Athens - suppressed by Megabyzus by 454 BCE Struggle with Athens continues . . . 449 the peace of Callias Death Natural causes in 425/424 BCE

46. The Last Rulers Xerxes II (45 days, i.e., 424-425 BCE) Darius II Ochus (423-404 BCE) Artaxerxes II Memnon (404-359 BCE) Artaxerxes III Ochus (359-338 BCE) Arses (338-336 BCE) Darius III Codommanus (336-331 BCE)