Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Maps
- Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions and Classical Sources
- Acknowledgments
- Map
- 1 Introduction: Tracking an Empire
- 2 Forerunners of the Achaemenids: The First Half of the First Millennium BCE
- 3 Persia Rising: A New Empire
- 4 From Cyrus to Darius I: Empire in Transition
- 5 Darius, the Great King
- 6 Mechanics of Empire
- 7 Xerxes, the Expander of the Realm
- 8 Anatomy of Empire
- 9 Empire at Large: From the Death of Xerxes to Darius II
- 10 Maintaining Empire: Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III
- 11 Twilight of the Achaemenids
- 12 Epilogue
- Appendix A – Timeline
- Appendix B – Chronological Chart of Achaemenid Persian Kings
- Appendix C – Lineages of the Achaemenid Royal Family
- Appendix D – Further Readings
- Notes
- Index
3 - Persia Rising: A New Empire
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2014
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Maps
- Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions and Classical Sources
- Acknowledgments
- Map
- 1 Introduction: Tracking an Empire
- 2 Forerunners of the Achaemenids: The First Half of the First Millennium BCE
- 3 Persia Rising: A New Empire
- 4 From Cyrus to Darius I: Empire in Transition
- 5 Darius, the Great King
- 6 Mechanics of Empire
- 7 Xerxes, the Expander of the Realm
- 8 Anatomy of Empire
- 9 Empire at Large: From the Death of Xerxes to Darius II
- 10 Maintaining Empire: Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III
- 11 Twilight of the Achaemenids
- 12 Epilogue
- Appendix A – Timeline
- Appendix B – Chronological Chart of Achaemenid Persian Kings
- Appendix C – Lineages of the Achaemenid Royal Family
- Appendix D – Further Readings
- Notes
- Index
Summary
CYRUS I IN AN ELAMITE-PERSIAN MILIEU
The Assyrian Empire was at its height during the reign of Ashurbanipal (669–c. 630 BCE). Sources from Assyria on Elam and the early Persians, especially after the Assyrian sack of Susa in 646, are scarce. Scattered Elamite evidence attests to a number of kings that may be dated to this late period (c. 650–550 BCE). But beyond their names, little is known of these individuals: their chronologies, the scope of their rules, and their relationships with one another are all uncertain. Among those kingdoms was the earliest Persian kingdom ruled by Cyrus the Great’s forefathers, whom Cyrus lists in the famous Cyrus Cylinder, one of the most important extant pieces of evidence for Cyrus’ reign (see discussion later in this chapter). In modern scholarship it has generally been assumed that Cyrus the Great’s grandfather (Kurash in Akkadian), whom Cyrus named “King of Anshan” in the Cyrus Cylinder, is the same as the Cyrus, King of Persia (Parsumash in Akkadian), who sometime in the late 640s sent a delegation to Ashurbanipal.
Cyrus, the King of Parsumash, heard about my victory. He became aware of the might that I wielded with the aid of Ashur, Bel, and Nabu, the great gods my lords, with which I leveled the whole of Elam like a flood. He sent Arukku, his eldest son, with his tribute to Nineveh, the city of my lordship, to pay homage to me. He implored my lordship.
Such descriptions are typical of the aftermath of Assyrian conquests, both in the fate of the antagonist and the ways in which the neighboring rulers rushed to pay their respects and to curry Assyrian favor. The particulars of the matter, of course, would have been more complicated, even if Ashurbanipal’s rhetoric was true at its core. In the version quoted above, Cyrus’ son, Arukku, was sent as a hostage to the Assyrian court. This was a common practice, a means of ensuring good relations between the Assyrians and their subjects or distant neighbors. The success of such practices was mixed, however. Roughly a decade before the Cyrus of Parsumash episode, Elamite princes that had been given refuge at the Assyrian court were returned and enthroned in Elam with Assyrian help. But these Elamite princes then turned on their erstwhile benefactors and rebelled, which necessitated further Assyrian military action.
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- Information
- Ancient PersiaA Concise History of the Achaemenid Empire, 550–330 BCE, pp. 35 - 51Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014