SUPPORTING THE BLOG

FOR SUPPORTING THE BLOG, PLEASE CLICK ON THE GOOGLE'S ADS IN THE DIFFERENT PAGES

THANK YOU

Ancient History

The Persian Wars

Map of Aegean Sea and region in 5th century (source: livius.org)

1. Croesus
2. Persia
3. Darius I
4. The Ionian Revolt
5. The Revolt is Crushed
6. Aftermath of the Revolt
7. Darius Invades
8. Preparations
9. Battle of Marathon
10. Marathon
11. Results of Marathon
12. Persia Prepares Again
13. Xerxes Invades
14. The Greeks Unite
15. Thermopylae
16. The Battle of Thermopylae
17. Betrayal
18. Results of Thermopylae
19. Xerxes Moves South
20. Salamis
21. Plataea
22. Conclusion

Further reading

Last reviewed May 2009

the Persian Ruler of Egypt (27th Dynasty) And His Lost Army

In 525 BC the Persian emperor Cambyses II, son of Cyrus the Great, who had already named his son as king of Babylon though Cambyses II resigned that position after only one year, invaded Egypt and successfully overthrew the native Egyptian pharaoh, Psamtek III, last ruler of Egypt's 26th Dynasty to become the first ruler of Egypt's 27th Persian Dynasty. His father had earlier attempted an invasion of Egypt against Psamtek III's predecessor, Amasis, but Cyrus' death in 529 BC put a halt to that expedition. After capturing Egypt, Cambyses took the Throne name Mesut-i-re (Mesuti-Ra), meaning "Offspring of Re". Though the Persians would rule Egypt for the next 193 years until Alexander the Great defeated Darius III and conquered Egypt in 332 BC, Cambyses II's victory would bring to an end (for the most part) Egyptians truly ruling Egyptians until the mid 20th century, when Egypt finally shrugged off colonial rule.


We know very little about Cambyses II through contemporary texts, but his reputation as a mad tyrannical despot has come down to us in the writings of the Greek historian Herodotus (440 BC) and a Jewish document from 407 BC known as 'The Demotic Chronicle' which speaks of the Persian king destroying all the temples of the Egyptian gods. However, it must be repeatedly noted that the Greeks shared no love for the Persians. Herodotus informs us that Cambyses II was a monster of cruelty and impiety.

Herodotus gives us three tales as to why the Persians invaded Egypt. In one, Cambyses II had requested an Egyptian princess for a wife, or actually a concubine, and was angered when he found that he had been sent a lady of second rate standing. In another, it turns out that he was the bastard son of Nitetis, daughter of the Saite (from Sais) king Apries, and therefore half Egyptian anyway, whereas the third story provides that Cambyses II, at the age of ten, made a promise to his mother (who is now Cassandane) that he would "turn Egypt upside down" to avenge a slight paid to her. However, Ctesias of Cnidus states that his mother was Amytis, the daughter of the last king of independent Media so we are really unsure of that side of his parentage. While even Herodotus doubts all of these stories, and given the fact that his father had already planned one invasion of Egypt, the stories do in fact reflect the later Greek bias towards his Persian dynasty.

Regardless of Cambyses II's reason for his invasion of Egypt, Herodotus notes how the Persians easily entered Egypt across the desert. They were advised by the defecting mercenary general, Phanes of Halicarnassus, to employ the Bedouins as guides. However, Phanes had left his two sons in Egypt. We are told that for his treachery, as the armies of the Persians and the mercenary army of the Egyptians met, his sons were bought out in front of the Egyptian army where they could be seen by their father, and there throats were slit over a large bowl. Afterwards, Herodotus tells us that water and wine were added to the contents of the bowl and drunk by every man in the Egyptian force.

This did not stop the ensuing battle at Pelusium, Greek pelos, which was the gateway to Egypt. Its location on Egypt's eastern boundary, meant that it was an important trading post was well and also of immense strategic importance. It was the starting point for Egyptian expeditions to Asia and an entry point for foreign invaders.

Here, the Egyptian forces were routed in the battle and fled back to Memphis. Apparently Psamtek III managed to escape the ensuing besiege of the Egyptian capital, only to be captured a short time afterwards and was carried off to Susa in chains. Herodotus goes on to tell us of all the outrages that Cambyses II then inflicted on the Egyptians, not only including the stabbing of a sacred Apis bull and his subsequent burial at the Serapeum in Saqqara, but also the desecration and deliberate burning of the embalmed body of Amasis (a story that has been partly evidenced by destruction of some of Amasis' inscriptions) and the banishment of other Egyptian opponents.

The story of Cambyses II's fit of jealousy towards the Apis bull, whether true or simply Greek propaganda, was intended to reflect his personal failures as a monarch and military leader. In the three short years of his rule over Egypt he personally led a disastrous campaign up the River Nile into Ethiopia. There, we are told, his ill-prepared mercenary army was so meagerly supplied with food that they were forced to eat the flesh of their own colleagues as their supplies ran out in the Nubian desert. The Persian army returned northwards in abject humiliation having failed even to encounter their enemy in battle.

Then, of course, there is also the mystery of his lost army, some fifty thousand strong, that vanished in the Western Desert on their way to the Siwa Oasis along with all their weapons and other equipment, never to be heard of again. Cambyses II had also planned a military campaign against Carthage, but this too was aborted because, on this occasion, the king's Phoenician sea captains refused to attack their kinfolk who had founded the Carthagian colony towards the end of the 8th century BC. In fact, the conquest of Egypt was Cambyses' only spectacular military success in his seven years of troubled rule over the Persian empire.

However, we are told that when the Persians at home received news of Cambyses' several military disasters, some of the most influential nobles revolted, swearing allegiance to the king's younger brother Bardiya. With their support, the pretender to the great throne of Cyrus seized power in July 522 BC as Cambyses II was returning home.

The story is told that, on hearing of this revolt, and in haste to mount his horse to swiftly finish the journey home, Cambyses II managed to stab himself in the thigh with his own dagger. At that moment, he began to recall an Egyptian prophecy told to him by the priests of Buto in which it was predicted that the king would die in Ecbatana. Cambyses II had thought that the Persian summer capital of Ecbatana had been meant and that he would therefore die in old age. But now he realized that the prophecy had been fulfilled in a very different way here in Syrian Ecbatana.

Still enveloped in his dark and disturbed mood, Cambyses II decided that his fate had been sealed and simply lay down to await his end. The wound soon became gangrenous and the king died in early August of 522 BC. However, it should be noted that other references tell us that Cambyses II had his brother murdered even prior to his expedition to Egypt, but apparently if it was not Bardiya (though there is speculation that Cambyses II's servants perhaps did not kill his brother as ordered), there seems to have definitely been an usurper to the throne, perhaps claiming to be his brother, who we are told was killed secretly.

The Real Cambyses II

Modern Egyptologists believe that many of these accounts are rather biased, and that Cambyses II's rule was perhaps not nearly so traumatic as Herodotus, who wrote his history only about 75 years after Cambyses II's demise, would have us believe. In reality, the Saite dynasty had all but completely collapsed, and it is likely that with Psamtek III's (Psammetichus III) capture by the Persians, Cambyses II simply took charge of the country. The Egyptians were particularly isolated at this time in their history, having seen there Greek allies defect, including not only Phanes, but Polycrates of Samos. In addition, many of Egypt's minorities,  such as the Jewish community at Elephantine and even certain elements within the Egyptian aristocracy, seem to have even welcomed Cambyses II's rule.

A depiction of Cambyses II worshipping the Apris Bull

The Egyptian evidence that we do have depicts a ruler anxious to avoid offending Egyptian susceptibilities who at least presented himself as an Egyptian king in all respects. It is even possible that the pillaging of Egyptian towns told to us by Greek sources never occurred at all. In an inscription on the statue of Udjadhorresnet, a Saite priest and doctor, as well as a former naval officer, we learn that Cambyses II was prepared to work with and promote native Egyptians to assist in government, and that he showed at least some respect for Egyptian religion. For example, regardless of the death of the Apris Bull, it should be noted that the animal's burial was held with proper pomp, ceremony and respect. Udjahorresnet also tells us that:

"I let His Majesty know the greatness of Sais, that it is the seat of Neith-the-Great, mother who bore Re and inaugurated birth when birth had not yet been...I made a petition to the majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Cambyses, about all the foreigners who dwelled in the temple of Neith, in order to have them expelled from it., so as to let the temple of Neith be in all its splendor, as it had been before. His Majesty commanded to expel all the foreigners who dwelled in the temple of Neith, to demolish all their houses and all their unclean things that were in the temple.

When they had carried all their personal belongings outside the wall of the temple, His Majesty commanded to cleanse the temple of Neith and to return all its personnel to it...and the hour-priests of the temple. His Majesty commanded to give divine offerings to Neith-the-Great, the mother of god, and to the great gods of Sais, as it had been before. His Majesty knew the greatness of Sais, that it is a city of all the gods, who dwell there on their seats forever.

" Indeed, Cambyses II continued Egyptian policy regarding sanctuaries and national cults, confirmed by his building work in the Wadi Hammamat and at a few other Egyptian temples.

The statue recording the autobiography of Udjadhorresnet

Udjadhorresnet goes on to say in his autobiography written on a naophorous statue now in the Vatican collection at Rome, that he introduced Cambyses II to Egyptian culture so that he might take on the appearance of a traditional Egyptian Pharaoh.

However, even though Cambyses II had his name written in a kingly Egyptian cartouche, he did remained very Persian, and was buried at Takht-i-Rustam near Persepolis (Iran). It has been suggested that Cambyses II may have originally followed a traditional Persian policy of reconciliation in the footsteps of their conquests. In deed, it may be that Cambyses II's rule began well enough, but with the his defeats and losses, his mood may very well have turned darker with time,

along with his actions. We do know that there was a short lived revolt which broke out in Egypt after Cambyses II died in 522 BC, but the independence was lost almost immediately to his successor, a distant relative and an officer in Cambyses II's army, named Darius. The dynasty of Persian rulers who then ruled Egypt did so as absentee landlords from afar.

The unfinished tomb of Cambyses II in Iran The Lost Army of Cambyses II

Within recent years all manner of artifacts and monuments have been discovered in Egypt's Western Desert. Here and there, new discoveries of temples and tombs turn up, even in relatively inhabited areas where more modern structures are often difficult to distinguish from ancient ruins. It is a place where the shifting sands can uncover whole new archaeological worlds, and so vast that no more than very small regions are ever investigated systematically by Egyptologists. In fact, most discoveries if not almost all are made by accident, so Egypt antiquity officials must remain ever alert to those who bring them an inscribed stone unearthed beneath a house, or a textile fragment found in the sand.

Lately, there has been considerable petroleum excavation in the Western Desert. Anyone traveling the main route between the near oasis will see this activity, but the exploration for oil stretched much deeper into the Western Desert. It is not surprising that they have come upon a few archaeological finds, and it is not unlikely that they will come across others. Very recently, when a geological team from the Helwan University geologists found themselves walking through dunes littered with fragments of textiles, daggers, arrow-heads, and the bleached bones of the men to whom all these trappings belonged, they reported the discovery to the antiquity service.

Mohammed al-Saghir of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) now believes that this accidental find may very well be at least remnants of the mysterious Lost Army of Cambyses II, and he is now organizing a mission to investigate the site more thoroughly. If he is successful and the discovery is that of Cambyses II's 50,000 strong lost army, than it will not only answer some ancient mysteries, but will probably also provide us with a rich source of information on the Persian military of that time, and maybe even expand our knowledge of Cambyses II himself. The Persian armed forces consisted of many elements, including companies of foreign mercenaries such as Greeks, Phoenicians, Carians, Cilicians, Medes and Syrians. Hence, if this is not another false lead, we may expect excellent preservation of helmets, leather corselets, cloth garments, spears, bows, swords and daggers – a veritable treasure trove of military memorabilia. The rations and support equipment will all be there, ready for detailed analysis.

However, it should be noted that some Egyptologists question the very existence of such an army, rather believing that the whole affair was simply a fable told by a very prejudiced Greek.

Yet if true, Cambyses II probably sent his army to Siwa Oasis in the Western Desert to seek (or seize) legitimization of his rule from the oracle of Amun, much as Alexander the Great would do in the 4th century BC. However, the army was overtaken by a sandstorm and buried. For centuries adventurers and archaeologists have tried to find the lost army, and at times, tantalizing, though usually false glues have been discovered.

Legitimizing his rule does not fully explain the need for taking such a large army to the Siwa Oasis. Accounts and other resources provide that the priests of the oracle were perhaps posing a danger to Cambyses II's rule, probably encouraging revolt among the native Egyptians. Perhaps the priests felt slighted that Cambyses II had not immediately sought their approval as Alexander the Great would do almost upon his arrival in Egypt. Therefore, it is likely that Cambyses II intended to forces their legitimization of his rule. In fact, some sources believe that his intent was to simply destroy the Oasis completely for their treachery, while it is also know that the army was to continue on after Siwa in order to attack the Libyans.

Yet the Siwa Oasis, the western most of Egypt's Oasis, is much deeper into the desert than others, such as Bahariya, and apparently, like many of Cambyses II's military operations, this one too was ill conceived. Why he so easily entered Egypt with the help of the Bedouins, and than sent such a large force into the desert only to be lost is a mystery.

We know that the army was dispatched from the holy city of Thebes, supported by a great train of pack animals. After a seven day march, it reached the Kharga Oasis and moved on to the last of the near Oasis, the Bahariya, before turning towards the 325 kilometers of desert that separated it from the Siwa Oasis. It would have been a 30 day march through burning heat with no additional sources of water or shade.

According to Herodotus (as later reported to him by the inhabitants of Siwa), after many days of struggle through the soft sand, the troops were resting one morning when calamity struck without warning. "As they were at their breakfast, a wind arose from the south, strong and deadly, bringing with it vast columns of whirling sand, which buried the troops and caused them utterly to disappear." Overwhelmed by the powerful sandstorm, men and animals alike were asphyxiated as they huddled together, gradually being enveloped in a sea of drift-sand.

It was after learning of the loss of his army that, having witnessed the reverence with which the Egyptians regarded the sacred Apis bull of Memphis in a ceremony and believing he was being mocked, he fell into a rage, drew his dagger and plunged it into the bull-calf. However, it seems that he must have latter regretted this action, for the Bull was buried with due reverence. Email the Editor This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

References:

Title	Author	Date	Publisher	Reference Number
Chronicle of the Pharaohs (The Reign-By-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt)	Clayton, Peter A.	1994	Thames and Hudson Ltd	ISBN 0-500-05074-0
Egypt in Late Antiquity	Bagnall, Roger S.	1993	Princeton University Press	ISBN 0-691-1096-x
History of Ancient Egypt, A	Grimal, Nicolas	1988	Blackwell	None Stated
Monarchs of the Nile	Dodson, Aidan	1995	Rubicon Press	ISBN 0-948695-20-x
Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, The	Shaw, Ian	2000	Oxford University Press	ISBN 0-19-815034-2

Cambyses

Cambyses (Old Persian Kambujiya): second king of the ancient Achaemenid empire (ruled 530-522).  In 525, he conquered Egypt. This is the first of two articles.   Early career Cambyses was the oldest son of Cyrus the Great, the first king of the Achaemenid empire (559-530). The name of Cambyses' mother is not known. The Greek researcher Herodotus of Halicarnassus calls her Cassandane, but Ctesias of Cnidus states she was Amytis, the daughter of the last king of independent Media, Astyages. Cyrus' career was dazzling. In 559, he became king of Persia; in 550, he subdued his overlord, Astyages the Mede. Three years later, he conquered Lydia (western Turkey) and in 539, he added Babylonia to his empire. Babylonia was an ancient kingdom, and its king played an important role in the religious and cultural life of the ancient Near East. If Cyrus were to rule Babylonia, he ought to act as a Babylonian king. In his official propaganda (the Cyrus cylinder) he did indeed present himself as the one chosen by the Babylonian supreme god Marduk. However, the great king was not in the position to be present when the Babylonians celebrated the Akitu festival. This was a problem, because the last king of independent Babylonia, Nabonidus, had lost much credit by not attending the festival for several years. To prevent similar troubles, Cyrus appointed his son Cambyses as king of Babylon, and in this quality, Cambyses was present during the ceremonies. A contemporary source, the Chronicle of Nabonidus, states: When, on the fourth day [27 March 538] Cambyses, son of Cyrus, went to the temple of [unintelligible], the priest of Nabû who [lacuna]the bull [lacuna] They came and made the weaving by means of the handles and when he led the image of Nabû [lacuna]spears and leather quivers, from [lacuna] Nabû returned to Esagila, sheep offerings in front of Bêl and the god Mârbîti. The lacunas in the text make it hard to understand what happened exactly, but it seems that there was an incident because Cambyses was incorrectly dressed: he and his men were armed, which was forbidden. Fortunately, the error was corrected and the statue of the god Nabû was brought to the Esagila temple according to the ritual regulations. Cambyses' reign in Babylon lasted for only one year. It is not known why he resigned or what forced him to resign. The incident during the New Year's festival may have played a role. We simply do not know. It is possible that Cambyses was now made satrap of Bactria; in the next two generations, every crown prince served in that region. However, this is nothing but speculation. Cyrus fell in a battle against the Massagetes in the last weeks of 530; the last letter that is dated to his reign was written in November. Before he left, he had appointed Cambyses as his successor. The first letter dated to the reign of Cambyses was written on 31 August 530. Every Persian king needed to secure the support of the nobility. One of the means to achieve this, was a dynastic marriage. Herodotus tells us that Cambyses married Phaedymia, the daughter of Otanes. This Otanes may have been the brother of Cassandane, who was, still according to Herodotus, Cambyses' mother. If Herodotus is right, Cambyses' queen was also his cousin. However, Herodotus makes at least one mistake in his description of the family tree (he calls Otanes' father Pharnaspes instead of Thukra), so we must be skeptical. Two other marriages were concluded with his sisters. One of them was -according to Ctesias- called Roxane; the other was called Atossa and was later to marry Cambyses' successor Darius. Herodotus thinks that these marriages are an example of Cambyses' madness, but if we assume that the Persian king was a Zoroastrian, there is nothing strange about it.	Part one Early career The conquest of Egypt Part two The madness of Cambyses The revolt of Gaumâta
Lower Egypt	The conquest of Egypt The most important event during Cambyses' reign was the conquest of Egypt. This meant that the king was away from Persia for some time. The Histories of Herodotus, our most important source, and the Persian Behistun inscription agree that Cambyses ordered,  as a kind of safety measure, Cambyses ordered his brother to be executed (section 10); Herodotus calls this brother Smerdis, the Behistun inscription calls him Bardiya, which is more or less the same name. The two sources disagree about the moment of the murder: the Greek researcher dates it during the Egyptian campaign, the inscription states that it happened before Cambyses left Persia. A son of Cyrus, named Cambyses, one of our dynasty, was king here [...]. That Cambyses had a brother, Smerdis by name, of the same mother and the same father as Cambyses. Afterwards, Cambyses slew this Smerdis. When Cambyses slew Smerdis, it was not known unto the people that Smerdis was slain. Thereupon Cambyses went to Egypt. Probably, the inscription is correct. As we will see below, Herodotus has constructed a part of his Egyptian narrative as a catalogue of crimes and may well have postdated the fratricide. (The colorful narrative of Ctesias of Cnidus about the killing can be ignored as historical source. It is full of errors: for example, he calls Cambyses' victim Tanyoxarkes and wants us to believe that bull's blood is a deadly poison.) Egypt was well-prepared for the war. Its pharaoh Amasis (Egyptian name Khnemibre Ahmose-si-Neit) had enlisted Carian and Greek mercenaries and had allied himself with Polycrates of Samos, who owned a large navy. This could be a great help, because marines could easily perform actions against the Persians when they were marching from Gaza to Pelusium, a vulnerable desert road along the coast. Shortly before the war broke out, Polycrates switched sides. Herodotus writes: Without the knowledge of the Samians, Polycrates sent an envoy to Cambyses the son of Cyrus (who was gathering an army to attack Egypt) and asked him to send a messenger to him in Samos to ask for an armed force. When Cambyses heard this, he sent an envoy to the Samians and requested a naval force to join him in the war against Egypt. So Polycrates selected those of the citizens whom he most suspected of desiring to rise against him, and sent them away in forty warships, charging Cambyses not to send them back. [Herodotus, Histories 3.44] It is not clear whether these people ever joined Cambyses' Phoenician navy, but in any case, Amasis could not count on their support.
The naophoros of Wedjahor-Resne (Musei Vaticani)	We happen to possess the autobiography of the admiral of the Egyptian fleet, Wedjahor-Resne. It is written on a small statue now in the Vatican Museums in Rome. One element is curiously absent from this text: Wedjahor-Resne does not mention a naval battle. Herodotus does not mention fighting at sea either. It is possible that the Persians had bribed the Egyptian admiral and offered him an important function, because after the conquest, Wedjahor-Resne was Cambyses' right-hand man. Ctesias of Cnidus, who is not known for his reliability, explicitly mentions a traitor, although he calls him Combaphis (Persica, §10). Amasis died during the preparations of the war, probably in November 526, and was succeeded by his son Psammetichus III (Ankhkaenre Psamtik). Six months later, the Persian invaders and  their Arabian allies reached Pelusium. The Egyptians were defeated and Cambyses' men continued to the Egyptian capital Memphis, which they took after a long siege. Psammetichus was captured alive and received a honorable treatment.
Mesuti-Ra Cambyses	Cambyses was recognized as the new pharaoh. Wedjahor-Resne tells: The great king of all foreign countries Cambyses came to Egypt, taking the foreigners of every foreign country with him. When he had taken possession of the entire country, they settled themselves down therein, and he was made great sovereign of Egypt and great king of all foreign countries. His Majesty appointed me his chief physician and caused me to stay with him in my quality of companion and director of the palace, and ordered me to compose his titulary, his name as king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Mesuti-Ra [born of Re]. Stated differently, Wedjahor-Resne helped Cambyses behave like a true Egyptian king. (Cyrus had done his best to behave himself as a native king when he had conquered Babylon; his son followed his example in the ancient kingdom along the Nile.) For example, Wedjahor-Resne persuaded Cambyses to direct the Persian garrison in the holy city of Sais to another camp, making sure that the sanctuary of Neit, the mother of the supreme god Re, and the shrine of Osiris were purified. His autobiography also makes it clear that the conquest of Egypt was accompanied with great misery. I am the benefactor of my city. I have saved its inhabitants from the very large troubles which had come over the whole country and which had not yet existed before in this country. I defended the meek against the powerful; I saved those who were afraid after an accident had happened to them; I gave them all useful things when they were unable to take care of themselves. Human suffering must have been immense. Probably, every soldier in the Persian army was rewarded with an Egyptian slave. This can be illustrated with a contract from Babylon: on 31 December 524, the veteran soldier Idin-Nabû sold his Egyptian slave with her baby, who was three months old. (The conclusion that Idin-Nabû sold his own child seems inescapable.) A very late source, Iamblichus (c.245-c.330), tells us that among the slaves was the Greek philosopher Pythagoras, who was forced to spend twelve years in Babylon before he was allowed to return his own country. This may well be true. Having conquered Lower Egypt, Cambyses sent out a small expeditionary force against the oases in the western desert. According to Herodotus, it reached the beautiful Bahariya oasis. But when the soldiers marched to Siwa, they were overtaken by the simoon storm and killed.
A Kushite (Relief from the eastern stairs of the Apadana at Persepolis) (more).	Cambyses and a part of his army went to the south (524/523). The capital of Upper Egypt, Thebes, was occupied and the army continued along the Nile until it reached the first cataract, where a garrison was posted. (The soldiers were Jews who had a temple of their own.) When Cambyses had reached the second cataract, he founded a town called 'market of Cambyses'. It may have been a fortified trading place where the Persians, Egyptians and Kushites (Nubian) could exchange commodities. According to Herodotus, Cambyses intended to conquer Kush, but this is not very likely. Egypt was not completely pacified and it would have been foolish to leave the country before it was a safe possession of the Achaemenid empire. It is perhaps better to see the campaign to the border zone from an Egyptian point of view: the pharaoh had to go there at least once in his life to show himself as the true king. A Persian embassy was sent to the Kushite capital, and the Kushites started to pay tribute (or continued an earlier trade). They are portrayed in Persepolis, bringing incense, ivory and an okapi for the great king's zoo.
	Disquieting news forced Cambyses to return to Lower Egypt (Autumn 523). Psammetichus had organized a revolt against the new overlord. The Persian army could easily suppress the revolt, but its revenge was bloody and destructive. The Greek geographer Strabo of Amasia visited Thebes in 24 BCE and saw the ruins of several temples that had been destroyed. Perhaps this story was made up by the Egyptian priests, who had good reasons to hate Cambyses. Pharaoh Amasis had offered great gifts to the temples, but Cambyses considered this outrageous. He may have tried to 'defend the meek against the powerful' by remitting the taxes that the Egyptians had to pay to the temples. A papyrus (now in the French Bibliothèque nationale) gives a summary of Cambyses' instructions: Of the cattle that once were given by the people to the temples of the gods, let they give only half of it. [...] Regarding the poultry, do not give it to them any more. The priests are perfectly capable of rearing their own geese. So the priests, who now had to breed their own geese, had good reason to hate the Persian king.

Cambyses (Old Persian Kambujiya): second king of the ancient Achaemenid empire (ruled 530-522).  In 525, he conquered Egypt. This is the second of two articles; the first one can be found here.   The madness of Cambyses Although Cambyses had reduced the temple taxes, he did his best to behave as an Egyptian pharaoh. This is proven by the autobiography of Wedjahor-Resne, one of the few contemporary documents. He also made a wise decision when he appointed Aryandes as satrap of Egypt. This man ruled the country for more than twenty years, and possible almost thirty. The Greek researcher Herodotus, living almost a century after the conquest of Egypt, offers a completely different picture. In his view, Cambyses' behavior is almost criminal. He gives a complete catalogue of evildoings. In Sais, he had violated the corpse of Amasis: When Cambyses had entered the palace of Amasis, he gave command to take the corpse of Amasis out of his burial-place. When this had been done, he ordered [his courtiers] to scourge it and pluck out the hair and stab it, and to dishonor it in every other possible way. When they had done this too, they were wearied out, for the corpse was embalmed and held out against the violence and did not fall to pieces. Cambyses gave command to consume it with fire, a thing that was not permitted by his own religion. The Persians hold fire to be a god and to consume corpses with fire is by no means according to the Persian or Egyptian custom. [Herodotus, Histories 3.16] According to Herodotus, this happened almost immediately after the conquest of Egypt, in the summer of 525. A new sacrilege was committed after the expedition to Upper Egypt: Cambyses killed the Apis bull. This was a manifestation of the god Ptah and therefore a sacred animal. After the death of the Apis bull, the priests started to search for a new Apis, and when they had found it, every Egyptian joined the celebrations. When Cambyses arrived at Memphis, Apis appeared to the Egyptians [...] and they began to wear their fairest garments and organized festivities. Cambyses saw the Egyptians doing thus and supposed that they were rejoicing because he had fared ill. Therefore, he called for the officers who had charge of Memphis, and when they had arrived, he asked them why the Egyptians had done nothing of this kind when he was at Memphis on the former occasion, but were now, when he came there after losing a large part of his army, very glad. They said that a god had appeared to them [...] and that whenever he appeared, they all rejoiced and kept festival. Hearing this Cambyses said that they were lying, and as liars he condemned them to death. [Herodotus, Histories 3.27]	Part one Early career The conquest of Egypt Part two The madness of Cambyses The revolt of Gaumâta
Cambyses and the Apis (From G. Posener, La première domination Perse en Egypte, 1936; ©!!!) .	After the execution, Cambyses called the priests and the sacred bull into his presence. When the priests brought Apis, Cambyses -being somewhat affected with madness- drew his sword, and aiming at the belly of Apis, struck his thigh. Then he laughed [...] and ordered those whose duty it was to do such things, to scourge the priests without mercy, and to put to death any one of the other Egyptians whom they should find keeping the festival. Thus the festival of the Egyptians was brought to an end, the priests were chastised, and Apis [...] lay dying in the temple. When he had died because of the wound, the priests buried him without the knowledge of Cambyses. [Herodotus, Histories 3.27] Egyptologists have refuted Herodotus' story. It is a fact that an Apis bull died in September 524, but he received a normal burial in the Serapeum at Saqqara (near Memphis). The funeral monument shows Cambyses worshipping the divine bull.
	The next crime on Herodotus' list is the killing of his brother Smerdis. We have already seen above that this happened before Cambyses went to Egypt. Herodotus' claims that Cambyses' next victim was the son of one of his courtiers, Prexaspes. Twelve Persian noblemen were buried alive, courtiers were executed, statues of Egyptian gods were ridiculed. Herodotus concludes with a remark that this last crime shows that Cambyses was completely out of his mind, because only a madman would mock the ancient laws and customs of a foreign country (text). This conclusion tells a lot about Herodotus, who had great respect for foreign cultures. The question is what its says about Cambyses, and the answer is: nothing. Herodotus is interested in the moral aspect of his story and did not check his spokesmen, the Egyptian priests who had, as we have already seen above, every reason to hate the Persian king. However, it is too easy to conclude that Cambyses' behavior was completely normal and Herodotus is simply mistaken. The Apis was buried comparatively late, which may suggest that something unusual had happened. Many inscriptions mentioning Amasis were damaged, and although we do not know why and when, it certainly makes sense if we assume that Cambyses wanted to eradicate Amasis' reign. We simply do and can not know what happened in Egypt between 525 and 522.
	The revolt of Gaumâta Herodotus and the Behistun inscription agree that Cambyses' stay in Egypt was interrupted in the spring of 522 by the news that a Magian named Gaumâta had seized power in the Achaemenid empire, claiming to be Smerdis. (Gaumâta could do this, because the real Smerdis had been killed secretly.) According to the Behistun inscription: When Cambyses had departed into Egypt, the people became hostile, and the lie multiplied in the land, even in Persia and Media, and in the other provinces. Afterwards, there was a certain man, a Magian, Gaumâta by name, who raised a rebellion in Paishiyâuvâdâ, in a mountain called Arakadriš. On the fourteenth day of the month Viyaxana[11 March 522] did he rebel. He lied to the people, saying: 'I am Smerdis, the son of Cyrus, the brother of Cambyses.' Then were all the people in revolt, and from Cambyses they went over unto him, both Persia and Media, and the other provinces. He seized the kingdom; on the ninth day of the month Garmapada [1 July 522] he seized the kingdom. Afterwards, Cambyses died uvamaršiyuš. The word uvamaršiyuš means 'his own death'. Nobody knows how to understand this: some scholars have argued that Cambyses died of natural causes, others maintain that it means suicide. The second alternative seems more plausible, because otherwise 'he died' would have been sufficient. Herodotus offers no real help. He tells that Cambyses, on hearing the news of the rebellion, rushed back to Persia. But when he jumped into the saddle of his horse, the cap fell of the sheath of his sword and exposed the blade, which pierced his thigh. The Greek historian does not fail to stress that this was just the spot where Cambyses had wounded the Apis. According to Herodotus, the Persian king died not much later. The idea that Cambyses died by his own sword may or may not corroborate the interpretation that uvamaršiyuš means suicide. The last letter that is dated to Cambyses' reign was written on 18 April 522. It was found in Babylon, and it merely proves that Gaumâta was recognized as king in April or May. Cambyses probably was still alive. He may have died in July. The court official with the title of arštibara, "lance carrier", must have replaced him as commander. His name was Darius son of Hystaspes.
Takht-e Rostam	According to both Herodotus and the Behistun inscription, Darius and six noblemen killed the Magian Gaumâta on 29 September 522. The first regnal year of the new king saw nineteen battles in an intense civil war, but at the end of that long but single year, Darius was victorious and was recognized as the true successor of Cyrus the Great and Cambyses. There has been some speculation whether the stone structure at Takht-e Rostam was Cambyses' tomb. However, from the Persepolis Fortification Tablets, we know that he was venerated in Pasargadae. In a press release dated 13 December 2006, the Iranian Heritage Organization announced that the entrance gate of the tomb of Cambyses had indeed been found near Pasargadae.

SUPPORTING THE BLOG

FOR SUPPORTING THE BLOG, PLEASE CLICK ON THE GOOGLE'S ADS IN THE DIFFERENT PAGES

THANK YOU

CYRUS THE GREATS' CYLINDER: The World's First Charter of the Human Rights

	Cyrus
A modern Persian carpet showing Cyrus the Great, seen in Tehran.	Cyrus (Old Persian Kuruš; Hebrew Kores): founder of the Achaemenid empire. He was born about 600 BCE as the son of Cambyses I, the king of the Persian kingdom called Anšan. During Cambyses' reign, the Persians were vassals of the Median leader Astyages. Expressions like 'king of the Persian kingdom' and 'the Median kingdom' are a bit misleading. The Medes and the Persians were coalitions of Iranian nomad tribes; in the fifth century, this was still remembered and the Greek researcher Herodotus of Halicarnassus wrote: The achievement of Deioces [...] was to unite under his rules the peoples of Media - Busae, Parataceni, Struchates, Arizanti, Budii, Magi. The Persian nation contains a number of tribes [...]: the Pasargadae, Maraphii, and Maspii, upon which all the other tribes are dependent. Of these, the Pasargadae are the most distinguished; they contain the clan of the Achaemenids from which spring the Perseid kings. Other tribes are the Panthialaei, Derusiaei, Germanii, all of which are attached to the soil, the remainder -the Dai, Mardi, Dropici, Sagarti, being nomadic. [Herodotus, Histories 1.101 & 125; tr. Aubrey de Selincourt] These 'kingdoms' were in fact losely organized tribal coalitions. In the first half of the sixth cenctury, the Median federation was the most powerful and was able to demand tribute from the Persians, but also from the Armenians, Parthians, Drangians and Arians. Cyrus became king of Anšan in 559, and formed a new coalition of his own tribe, the Pasargadae, together with the Maraphii, Maspii, Panthialaei, Derusiaei, Germanii, Dahae, Mardi, Dropici and Sagarti. They revolted in 550 (or 554/553 according to another chronology). The Median king Astyages sent an army to Anšan. It was commanded by Harpagus, but he defected to the Persians. Astyages was captured, his army was -according to Herodotus- massacred, and Cyrus became the new ruler of the empire of Persians and Medes. According to the Greek topographer Strabo of Amasia, who lived more than five centuries later, Cyrus' victory took place among the Pasargadae, where Cyrus built his residence. From now on, this tribal name became the name of a city. According to Herodotus, Cyrus' father Cambyses had been married to Astyages' daughter Mandane. This would explain why the Medes accepted Cyrus' rule; he was one of them. Intertribal marriages were common, but it is also possible that the story of Cambyses' Median marriage was invented to justify Cyrus' rule. The Greek historian Ctesias of Cnidus writes that Cyrus also married a daughter of Astyages. If both authors are right, this woman must have been Cyrus' aunt. Cyrus may have united Persia and Media in a personal union; it was, therefore, a dual monarchy. Taking over the loosely organized Median empire also implied taking over several subject countries: Armenia, Cappadocia, Parthia, Drangiana, Aria. They were probably ruled by vassal kings called satraps. It is plausible that Elam was an early addition. In 547, Urartu was captured; its king was killed. After 547, Cyrus defeated the Lydians in the Battle of Sardes and added Lydia to his possessions, a state that had among its vassals the Greek and Carian towns in the west and southwest of what is now Turkey. A part of the population appears to have been deported to Nippur in Babylonia, where a community of Lydians is recorded in the Murašu Archive. According to Herodotus, Cyrus left Lydia and "his mind was on Babylon and the Bactrians and the Sacae and the Egyptians" (Histories 1.154). It is certain that Cyrus never invaded Egypt, which was left to his son and successor Cambyses. However, it is possible that he added Cilicia to his dominions, making the local ruler, the Syennesis, a vassal king. Babylonian sources do not mention imported Cilician iron after 545 - which may be signicant. It is plausible that Cyrus did indeed, as Herodotus suggests, conquer Bactria, although there is no independent confirmation. What we do know for certain is that in October 539, the Persian king took Babylon and captured its king Nabonidus. The capture of the city was easy, but the aftermath of the battle appears to have been violent: the Nabonidus Chronicle uses the expression iduk, "to kill, to massacre" to describe what happened to the defeated. The Babylonian Empire had been large, and Cyrus now became ruler of Syria and Palestine as well. According to the Biblical book of Ezra, Cyrus allowed the Jews, who were exiled to Babylon, to return home. This may have been an attempt to fortify the empire's western border against possible Egyptian attacks. However, there are serious chronological problems, and the archaeological evidence suggests that the return of the Jews took place much later. The Cyrus Cylinder reports the return of Mesopotamian exiles. (The policy was pretty standard, cf. ABC 2, 15-17). The second century Greek-Roman author Arrian of Nicomedia tells us in his book about Alexander the Great (the Anabasis)  that Cyrus founded a frontier town in Sogdia; there is no reason to doubt this statement. The Greeks called this town Cyropolis ('town of Cyrus') or Cyreschata (a pun on the name of the king and the word 'far away'); both names seem renderings of Kurushkatha, 'town of Cyrus'. The Sacae (or Scythians) lived between Bactria and Cyreschata, and there is nothing implausible in Herodotus' words that Cyrus subdued these tribes.	All texts related to the fall of Babylon can be found here. Cyrus' royal inscriptions: Cyrus Cylinder CMa, CMb, CMc
The tomb of Cyrus at Pasargadae	Another story by Arrian deals with Cyrus' expedition to India (text); probably, this story is also accurate, but we cannot be completely certain. If he did invade India, he had to control Gandara first, and it is certain that Cyrus managed to seize this country: in the Behistun inscription, it is mentioned in the list of countries that king Darius the Great inherited from earlier Persian kings. However, it seems equally certain that Cyrus did not conquer the Indus valley itself, because India is not mentioned in the Behistun inscription. Maybe his navy conquered Maka during this campaign. Cyrus' latest expedition took him to modern Khazakhstan, where he fought against a nomadic tribe called Massagetes. The news of his death in battle reached Babylon in December 530, where letters were dated 'first year of the reign of king Cambyses', because Cyrus had appointed his son Cambyses as his successor. (The mother of  Cambyses was Cassadane, a sister of Otanes, who was to play an important role after the death of Cambyses.) Cyrus was buried near Pasargadae, in a small building containing a gold sarcophagus, his arms, his jewellery and a cloak. This cloak played an important role in the Persian inauguration rituals (see Plutarch of Chaeronea, Life of Artaxerxes 3.1; the custom itself is Babylonian). When Persia was subjected by the Macedonian king Alexander the Great, many sacred objects were taken away to prevent the coronation of an anarya, a foreigner; Cyrus' body was desacrated by throwing it on the ground. Alexander ordered restorations in January 324 BCE. Cyrus' capital was Pasargadae, where inscriptions in his palace state Cyrus the Great King, an Achaemenid. They were probably written during the reign of Darius I the Great, and it is uncertain whether the two kings really belonged to the same family.
Cyrus' cylinder (British Museum)	Literature The most important sources documenting the reign of Cyrus are the contemporary Chronicle of Nabonidus and the Cyrus cylinder. The first book of the Histories by the Greek researcher Herodotus is also very important, but legends and fairy tales sometimes obscure the historical facts. The book known as Education of Cyrus by the Athenian author Xenophon (c.430-c.355) is a vie romancée that contains no historical information. E. Badian, 'Alexander the Great between two thrones and Heaven: variations on an old theme' in: Alastair Small (ed.), Subject and Ruler: the Cult of the Ruling Power in Classical Antiquity (1996 Ann Arbor) Diana Edelman, The Origins of the 'Second' Temple (2005) Amélie Kuhrt 'The Cyrus Cylinder and Achaemenid Imperial Policy' in: Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 25 (1983) 83-97. Max Mallowan, 'Cyrus the Great' in: Ilya Gershevitch (ed.): The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. II: The Median and Achaemenian Periods, 1985 Cambridge, pages 392-419 R.J. van der Spek, 'Did Cyrus the Great introduce a new policy towards subdued nations?' in: Persica 10 (1982), pages 278-283

ACHAEMENID PERIOD (553 BCE - 330 BCE)

In the middle of the sixth century BCE, the Achaemanid clan of the Persians was headed by Cyrus, who ruled, under Median domination, as sub-king of Parsa, or Persis. In 553 BCE Cyrus led a revolt that resulted in the overthrow of the Median ruler and the rise to the power of the Achaemenids. A close union of Persians and Medes soon followed, and an army drawn from these tribal groups embarked on a series of successful campaigns that resulted in the establishment of the first world Empire.
The Medo-Persian army reached the Aegean Sea opposite Greece in 546 BCE, captured Babylon in 539, and sized Egypt a decade later. Cyrus proved to be a wise ruler and a generous victor. The Jews called him the Messiah, and later Greek writers praised his sagacity. His son, Cambyses II, died violently in 522 BCE, leaving the kingdom rent by civil war, during which a false pretender, Smerdis or Gaumata, temporarily mounted the throne. In a brilliant two-year campaign, 520-518 BCE, Darius I, claimed kingship to Achaements, reunited the country, recording his feats on the famous Behistuen rock carving. His rule was long and noteworthy. Herodotus gives detailed figures on the organization of the immense realm called "the land of the Aryans" or Eranshahar, the largest world has seen up to that time. The new capital, called by the Greeks Persepolis, was adorned with exquisitely beautiful rock carvings depicting the glories and wealth of his realm. It is also fairly well established that at his court there lived Zoroaster, one of the greatest of the Aryan-speaking prophets, whose teachings were eventually codified in the sacred books know as the Zend-Avesta. Because some Greeks encouraged the Ionians to revolt in Asia Minor (499-494 BCE), Darius sent two punitive forces to punish them. The first army was only partly successful, but the second was overwhelmed at Marathon in 490 BCE. A more ambitious to subjugate the Greeks was attempted by Xerxes, but after a navel disaster at Salamis in 480 BCE and a decimation of the land forces at Plataea the next year, the invading forces were withdrawn to the shores of Asia Minor. Vastness of the kingdom, degeneration of royal line, and the ambitions of powerful satraps combined, brought about a decentralization of authority in spite of good post roads and an originally enlightened provincial policy. The effort of Cyrus the Younger, satrap of Asia Minor, to size the throne in 401 BCE resulted in the retreat of the ten thousand Greek mercenaries described by Xenophon. This incident also revealed the weakness and wealth of the empire, temporarily held together by Artaxerxes III.
The Achaemenid Empire cam to an end when Alexander the Great defeated the forces of the last ruler in pitched battles and moved on to Susa and Persepolis, where the vast royal treasures were plundered and taken. At Persepolis the structures of the platform were burned to the ground. Fire destroyed the wooden roofs and brick walls of the buildings, and in the course of the following centuries a considerable depth of debris accumulated over the site. Only a few of the lofty stone columns and a number of the stone doorways made a landmark of the site.

Achaemenid Architecture

Darius, who became king of the Achaemenid Empire in 521 BCE, ordered construction work at Persepolis in southwestern Iran just two years later. Work was carried on intermittently at the site until 337 BCE. Susa, Babylon, and Ecbatana were the political and commercial centers of the Empire. Persepolis, however, situated in the homeland of the Achaemenids was its spiritual center. It was the site of the royal treasury, and every spring the kings came in state to celebrate the festival of the New Year.
The site of Persepolis is a low rocky spur jutting out from a line of low hills; it faces west and overlooks a broad, fertile plane. This spur was first cut down to create a level platform area. From the plain below a great double reversing staircase leads up to the platform, and once ended at an entrance gate with very high walls which enclosed the entire platform. Beyond the gate which, along with the enclosing walls, now has disappeared, was the portico of "all lands." This structure was built by Xerxes, the son and successor of Darius, and still stands today. The portico building is square in plan with four interior columns and with portals guarded by huge human-headed, winged bulls of stone.
To the south of the portico of Xerxes are the remains of the great apadana, or audience hall, built under Darius and Xerxes. The retaining wall of the hall and its double stair are of stone decorated with incised reliefs. These reliefs depict both the Persian Guards in their distinctive Persian and Median dress and long lines of the subject peoples of the Empire bringing offerings of the most typical products of their provinces for the New Year festival. The hall once contained six rows of six columns supporting a flat roof, but only a few of these lofty stone columns still stand, and the entrance porticoes of the hall have long since vanished.
To the east of the apadana are the ruins of the "hall of one hundred columns," an audience hall constructed during the reign of Xerxes. Only column bases and stone door-jambs decorated with incised reliefs remain. Behind and to the south of the hall of Xerxes are the excavated lower walls of the royal treasury constructed by Darius. Adjacent to the treasury is the harem, or women's quarters, of Darious and Xerxes. The foundation walls of this structure was excavated and then rebuilt according to its original plan. Now it is a museum to house the precious objects found at the site. At the southwestern corner of the platform are the remains of a number of small royal palaces: the tachara of Darius; the hadish of Xerxes; the palace of Artaxerxes III; and an unidentified palace.
The structures at Persepolis indicate that Achaemenid architecture was a cosmopolitan, eclectic style in which elements and details from many lands had been absorbed and joined. Assyria supplied the concept of the royal structure on a raised platform, certain of the plan forms, the use of colossal bulls, and the composition and style of the incised reliefs. Egyptian architecture furnished specific decorative elements and the profiles of certain of the moldings. Achaemenid inscriptions record that workmen were drawn from every part of the vast empire, as were the materials used, including cedars carried a great distance overland from the famous groves of Lebanon.
Cut into the hill behind the platform on which Persepolis was built are the tombs of Artaxerxes II, Artaxerxes III, and Darius III, at Naksh-i-Rustam, only three miles from Persepolis. High up carved into the cliff are the rock-cut tombs of Darius, Xerxes, Artaxerxes I, and Darius II. These rock-cut facades, descendants of the Median type, display four engaged columns bearing an elaborate entablature. Naksh-I-Rustam is also the site of the so-called Ka'aba-I-Zardusht, a tower-like structure similar to the one at Pasargadae but in a much better state of preservation.
The excavations at Susa brought to light the plan of an extensive palace built during the reign of Darius. This in all probability is the structure described in the Book of Esther, i:2-6.

The Persian Empire

• 630-553 BC: Zarathustra
• 559-530 BC: Reign of Cyrus the Great
  • 559 BC: Cyrus the Great overthrows Astyages of Media
  • 546 BC: Persians conquer Lydia
  • 538 BC: Persians conquer Babylonia
• 530-522 BC: Reign of Cambyses
  • 525 BC: Persians conquer Egypt
• 522-521 BC: Civil War
• 521-485 BC: Reign of Darius
  • Reorganizes the government into satrapies.
  • Builds an extensive system of roads.
  • 521-519 BC: The Empire is extended beyond the Indus River
  • 490 BC: Attempts to conquer the Greek mainland.Persian War Chronology
• 485-465 BC:Reign of Xerxes
  • 480 BC: Makes a second attempt to conquer the mainland Greeks.Persian War Chronology
• 465-338 BC: A Period of Imperial Decline
  • 465-424 BC: Reign of Artaxerxes I Longimanus
  • 424-404 BC: Reign of Xerxes II
  • 404-358 BC: Reign of Artaxerxes II Mnemon
  • 358-338 BC: Reign of Artaxerxes III Ochus
  • 336-330 BC: Reign of Darius Codomannus
    • 330 BC: Alexander the Great conquers the Persian EmpireRise of Macedonia Chronology

A c h a e m e n i d s

An ancient Persian dynasty whose kings ruled from 559 to 330 BC, when Darius III was defeated by Alexander the Great.

Central and Eastern Satrapies

Anonymous (circa 500 - 300 BC) AR Satamana Mitchiner ACW 152; 4076 43 x 10 x 3 mm. 10.67 gm. Die position=n/a Obverse: Septa-radiate symbol at each end; three other punchmarks (single pellet, heart shape with two pellets [Jalalabad (?)], two crescents, one pellet, two 'insects' [Taxila (?)]. Reverse: Blank. Anonymous (circa 500 - 300 BC) AR Satamana Mitchiner ACW 4073v. 36 x 10 x 4 mm. 8.08 gm. Die position=n/a Obverse: Septa-radiate symbol at each end. Reverse: Blank. Anonymous (circa 500 - 300 BC) AR 1/8 Satamana Mitchiner 14 x 12 mm. 0.92 gm. Die position=n/a Obverse: Septa-radiate symbol. Reverse: Blank.

Anonymous (circa 500 - 300 BC) AR 1/8 Satamana Mitchiner ACW 153 14 mm. 1.25 gm. Die position=n/a Obverse: Septa-radiate symbol. Reverse: Blank.

Achaemenid Kings

Darius I to Artaxerxes I (490 - 460 BC) AR Siglos SGCv2 4682; Mitchiner ACW 106; Carradice type IIIa 15 x 15 x 4 mm. 5.49 gm. Die position=n/a Obverse: Bearded, crowned king wearing quiver, running right; holding spear and bow. Bankers' marks. Reverse: Oblong punch. Bankers' marks. Note: Courtesy Jamison T. Graff collection.

Artaxerxes I to Artaxerxes II (450 - 370 BC) AR Siglos SGCv2 4683v.; Mitchiner ACW 111v.; Carradice type IVa 16 x 14 mm. 5.57 gm. Die position=n/a reverse Obverse: Bearded (?), crowned king running right; holding dagger and bow. Mark or letter (Aramaic (?)) behind head. Traces of dotted border at bottom (!) Reverse: Oblong punch. Note: This coin has an odd style; perhaps from an eastern mint.

Artaxerxes II to Darius III (390 - 320 BC) AR Siglos SGCv2 4682; Mitchiner ACW 106; Carradice type IIIc 16 x 13 mm. 5.54 gm. Die position=n/a Obverse: Bearded, crowned king wearing quiver, running right; holding spear and bow. Reverse: Oblong punch.

Artaxerxes II to Darius III (390 - 300 BC) AR Siglos SGCv2 4683v.; Mitchiner ACW 110; Carradice type IVb 14 x 15 x 4 mm. 5.42 gm. Die position=n/a Obverse: Bearded, crowned king running right; holding dagger and bow. Reverse: Oblong punch. Note: Courtesy Jamison T. Graff collection.

Artaxerxes II to Darius III (390 - 300 BC) AR Siglos Carradice type ___ 13 x 14 mm. 5.67 gm. Die position=n/a Obverse: Crowned king running right; holding dagger and bow. Reverse: Oblong punch. Artaxerxes II to Darius III (390 - 300 BC) AR 1/8 Siglos Carradice type ___ 8 mm. 0.85 gm. Die position=n/a Obverse: King running right holding dagger. Reverse: Blank; incuse.

Satraps of Caria

Memnon (?) (circa 349-333 BC) AR Tetradrachm Mitchiner ACW -; Hurter/Price P132, 32v. 20 x 21 x 4 mm. 14.64 gm. Die position=12h Obverse: Reverse: Note: Courtesy Peter A. Linenthal collection.

SUPPORTING THE BLOG

FOR SUPPORTING THE BLOG, PLEASE CLICK ON THE GOOGLE'S ADS IN THE DIFFERENT PAGES

THANK YOU

IRANIAN MILITARY HISTORY:Achaemenid Imperial Army

"The armoured Persian horsemen and their death dealing chariots were invincible.

No man dared face them."

- Herodotus (484 - 430 BCE)

Iran under Achaemenid dynasty

The Achaemenian/Achaemenid army is well known through descriptions by Herodotus, Xenophon, and Arrian as well as by illustrations on Persepolitan and Greco-Persian monuments [31]. Of particular importance for the topic are the Greek representations of Persian warriors [32] and the evidence of the so-called Alexander Sarcophagus from Sidon [33]. The Persians whom Cyrus united [34] did not possess a professional army: as in days of old, the "people" of a region was represented by its backbone, the "military force," so the two words were used synonymously in one Old Persian term, kāra (cognate with Lithuanian kārias/kāris "war, army," Gothic harjis "army," and German Heer "army," [35]), a sense still retained in the New Persian term kas-o kār "relatives and supporters."

 

Glazed0Tiles from Susa, showing the Immortals (Click to enlarge)

At first the Achaemenid army consisted wholly of Iranian warriors, and even when other regions were subjugated, Iranian formed the nucleus of the imperial army [36]. Darius the Great advises his successor: "If thus thou shalt think: `May I not feel fear of (any) other,' protect this Persian kāra; if the Persian kāra shall be protected, thereafter by the will of Ahuramazda happiness shall come down uninterruptedly and eternally upon this royal house" [37]. With the expansion of the petty kingdom of Persis into a world-empire embracing all Iranian groups from Central Asia to the Danube, a standing army was formed from Persians, Medes, and closely related peoples, and an imperial army was organized by incorporating warriors of all subject nations. Persepolitan representations, and official Persian economic and military documents ultimately used by Herodotus [38] prove that the closer a nation was to the Persians, the more it shared in the domination of the empire by paying less tribute but contributing more soldiers. Thus, the Medes who had the second position in the empire furnished more soldiers than others and indeed many of the imperial generals were chosen from the Medes (Mazares, Harpagus, Taxmaspada, Datis, etc.). Then came the Sacians, Bactrians, Hyrcanians, and other East Iranian groups [39].

 

The general term for the professional army was spāda. This consisted of infantry (pasti), cavalry (asabāri "horse-borne," and occasionally usabari "camel-borne"), and charioteers (only the noblest warriors used the then obsolete but symbolic chariot), and a large number of camp followers [40]. From the moment they met the Greeks, the Iranians incorporated subject or mercenary Greeks in their army [41]. As the time went by, not only Iranian satraps in Asia Minor but also the King of Kings employed Greek mercenaries, each of whom received free board and a monthly wage (a gold Daric per month in 401 BCE [42]). By the time of Alexander, these mercenaries had become a regular part of the spāda and their leaders had been incorporated into Iranian aristocracy [43]. They played a major role in Greco-Iranian cultural relations, and helped an eastward expansion of Greek culture.

 

(Click to enlarge)

The size of the imperial army was never as large as the Greeks exaggerated. Careful examination of topography, logistics, organization of the spāda, and official battle orders enable historians to arrive at reasonable figures for Iranian forces. Thus, Xerxes' 3,000,000 fighting men [44] or 2,641,610 soldiers and an equal number of attendants [45] are reduced to 70,000 infantry and 9,000 horsemen [46]; the 900,000-strong army of Artaxerxes II at Cunaxa [47] was in reality no more than 40,000 [48], and the 1,040,000 soldiers of Darius III at Gaugamela [49] is brought down to 34,000 cavalry and some infantry [50]. Unfortunately, historians have seldom paid attention to these overstatements, accordingly, their judgements of Iranian tactics, strategy, and motives have been impaired by faulty calculations [51].

 

The organization of the spāda was based on a decimal system "far superior to anything on the Greek side" [52] and was not employed in any Asiatic army until the Mongols [53]. Ten men composed a company under a daθapati  [54]; ten companies made up a battalion under a *θatapati [55]; ten battalions formed a division under a *hazārapati  [56]; and ten divisions comprised a corps under a *baivarapati  [57]. The whole spāda was led by a supreme commander (probably *spādapati, although a generalissimo with full civil authority was called *kārana [Greek karanos] [58]), who was either the King of Kings himself or a trusted close relative or friend (e.g., Mazares the Mede led Cyrus the Great’s army and Datis the Mede that of Darius of the Great at Marathon). A characteristic of the Achaemenid period is that commanders and dignitaries participated in actual fighting, and many of them lost their lives in action [59].

The training of the Iranian nobility was arduous. As a youth, the Iranian was schooled-in companies of fifty-in running, swimming, horse grooming, tilling the land, tending the cattle, making various handicrafts, and getting accustomed to standing at watch; he would be trained in the arts of the chase (both afoot and on horseback), archery, throwing the spear and javelin, and of sustaining forced marches in unfriendly climate [60]. At twenty he started his military profession [61] which lasted till the age of fifty [62] as a foot soldier or a rider. The elitist groups were trained for both tasks. Thus, Darius says proudly: "Trained am I both with hands and with feet. As a horseman I am a good horseman. As a bowman I am a good bowman both afoot and on horseback. As a spearman I am a good spearman both afoot and on horseback" [63]. The foot soldier carried a short sword (acinaces), a spear with wooden shaft and metal head and butt, a quiver full of arrows of reed with bronze or iron heads, and a bow about one meter long with ends formed in animals' heads, and a case which combined the bow-case and quiver-holder [64]. A symbol of kingship and the Iranian national arm, the bow was held in the hand of the King of Kings on his tomb and coins. Battle-axe was also used, especially by North Iranians [65]. For protection, the infantryman relied on his wicker shield (made of sticks evidently threaded through a wet sheet of leather capable of stopping arrows [66]). The shield was either small and crescent-shaped or large and rectangular; the latter could be planted in the ground allowing the archer to discharge his arrows from behind it [67]. Some guards carried the large "figure-of-eight" -shaped shield known as the Boeotian, while the Gandharans carried round shields not dissimilar to those of Greek hoplites [68]. Some Iranians wore metal helmets, but only the Egyptians and the Mesopotamian contingents wore armour for body protection [69]. The elite infantry had variegated costumes: either the fluted hat, short cape over a shirt, pleated skirt and strapped shoes of the Elamite court dress, or the conical felt hat, tight-fitting tunic and trousers and boots of the Median cavalry suit. One division of the infantry comprised "one thousand spearmen, the noblest and bravest of the Persians" who formed a special royal guard; their spears had golden apples as butts from which they were called the Apple-bearers [70]. As a prince, Darius served in this guard of spearmen under Cambyses [71]. Their commander was the hazārapati of the empire, who, as the officer next to the emperor, possessed vast political power [72]. All members of this guard fell at Plataea defending their position [73]. One corps of the spāda consisted of ten thousand elite Iranian foot soldiers, the so-called "Immortal Guard," whose "number was at no time either greater or less than 10,000"[74]. These had variegated costumes [75] and acted as the Imperial Guards [76]. "Of these one thousand carried spears with golden pomegranate at the lower end instead of spikes; and these encircled the other nine thousand, who bore on their spears pomegranates of silver" [77].

 

Achaemenid Armored Cavalry  (Click to enlarge)

The cavalry had been instrumental in conquering subject lands, and it retained its importance to the last days of the Achaemenid empire. The horseman was equipped more or less like the foot soldier; but he carried two javelins, one for throwing and one for fending-at least this was the case in Xenophon's time[78]. Some wore metal helmets and padded linen corselets covered with metal scales [79]. A Babylonian document dated to the second year of Darius II lists the requirements of a horseman as follows: a horse along with its girdle (?) and bridle, a helmet, a cuirass of iron, a bronze shield, 120 arrows, a mace of iron, and two iron spears [80]. There were also units of camel-borne troops, and some riding chariots and scythed-chariots, but these were very seldom effective against massed infantry. At Gaugamela 15 elephants were also present but their action is not recorded [81]. Various divisions bore particular standards (Herodotus 9.59), but the imperial banner was a golden eagle with outstretched wings borne on a spear at the side of the commander-in-chief of the army [82].

   

Apart from the standing army, the rest of the levies were recruited when the need arose, and it took a long time, sometimes years, to muster a grand army. There were many Iranian garrisons in important centres of the empire, and satraps and governors also had their guards and local levies, but these could not be depleted to form an army on short notice because the danger of revolt was always present. Tribal troops, especially from East Iran, were more readily available. Levies were summoned to a recruiting station (*handaisa[83]) where they were marshaled and reviewed. Campaigns usually started in early spring [84]. Provisions were stored at various magazines along the route of the army, and were also brought with it in baggage-trains [85]. Royal and religious emblems accompanied the centre of the army where the commander had his position: the eagle standard and the holy fire in portable fire-holders attended by Magi chanting hymns, and the sacred chariots of Miθra, Ahura Mazda and others[86]. Mounted scouts were sent in advance to watch the enemy's movements [87]. There was also an excellent system of communication: couriers on the royal road changed horses at short intervals and speedily conveyed their messages to their destinations [88]; also by their light and mirror signals the King of Kings in Susā and Ecbātanā received the news from the whole empire-it is claimed-on the same day [89]. Fire signals communicating the news from towers and heights were widely used with good results [90]. Fortified gates were set up in narrow passes leading into various provinces not only for custom checks but also for stopping the advance of an enemy [91]. The Iranians disliked night marches and did not attack at night; their daily marches were, however, in slow pace because of the heavy baggage-train which often comprised litters for conveying the wives and concubines of the commanders [92]. When night fell, they encamped in a flat area, and if they were approaching the enemy, they dug a ditch and set up ramps of sand-bags around it [93]. Rivers were forded by using rafts, boat-bridges, or inflated skins or simply by riding across on horses and camels [94].

 

Before the battle (hamarana), a council of war was held and plans of action discussed. The line of battle was usually drawn up as follows: the foot archers were stationed in the front, flanked by cavalry and supported by light-armed and heavier-armed infantry. The commander-in-chief occupied the centre, observing the lines and directing the actions from an elevated point, where he was best protected, and his orders were received by both wings at the same time. When the battle was joined the archers discharged their arrows, and the slingers [95] threw their stone missiles (lead missiles with longer range became fashionable from 400 BCE, and an actual lead bullet bearing the name of Tissaphernes in Greek has survived [96]). The aim was to throw the enemy lines into confusion. The effective range of the Persian archer was about 120 yards [97]. Then the heavier infantry with spear and sword moved in, supported by cavalry attacking the flanks. These tactics worked well against Asiatic armies, but failed against heavy-armed Greek infantry (hoplites) and Macedonian phalanxes: the arrows were simply stopped by the body armour and the huge shield of the hoplites, and once the hand to hand combat began, no amount of personal bravery could compensate for  the Iranians' lack of armour and their inferior offensive weapons [98]. At the battle of Plataea, for instance, a fierce hand-to-hand combat raged between the Iranians and the Greek hoplites: The Iranians "many times seized hold of the Greek spears and broke them; for in boldness and warlike spirit the Iranians were not a whit inferior to the Greeks; but they were without shields, untrained, and far below the enemy in respect of skill in arms. Sometimes singly, sometimes in bodies of ten, now fewer and now more in number, they dashed forward upon the Spartan ranks, and so perished" [99]. Another weakness of the Iranians was the attitude towards their commander: with an able and farsighted general, they displayed unsurpassed courage, but the same men took to disorderly flight as soon as the commander was killed or forced to flee [100]. Knowing that the King of Kings was the heart of his army, Cyrus the Younger ordered Clearchus-his Greek mercenary leader-to attack the centre where the King of Kings was stationed: "and if," he said, "we are victorious there, our whole task [of defeating his army] is accomplished," [101].

 

Remains of an Achaemenid battle-ship along with the artist reconstruction

Cyrus the Younger who knew both the Iranian and Greek armies, tactics and strategies, nearly succeeded in removing Iran's military weaknesses. He supplemented his Asiatic force with a large army of Greek hoplites, formed battalions of heavy cavalry which wore helmets. Breast-plates, and thigh-guards (this protected the sides of the horse as well), and carried a Greek sword in addition to their own arms; their horses too were protected with frontlets and breast-pieces [102]. He made effective use of the coordination of heavy cavalry and heavy infantry-an art which later Agesilaus and especially Alexander employed to the fullest and with the best results. It must be remembered, however, that the effectiveness of the Persian shock cavalry was severely hampered by the lack of stirrup and the saddle. "Encumbered with a corslet of scale armour and poised precariously atop his steed, the horseman kept his seat only through the pressure of his knees. He will have been in serious danger of being unhorsed whenever he delivered a blow with his saber or came within reach of an enemy soldier" [103].

 

The Iranians gave quarter to the adversary who requested it, and usually treated their captives with respect and kindness. Noble prisoners were accorded due honour, and princes treated royally. Even rebellious peoples were deported only to be given new lands and houses and enrolled as ordinary subjects. Personal valour was greatly esteemed, and special boons were conferred on brave servants of the empire [104]. Records of battles were kept, detailing the course of an engagement and casualty figures [105]. The commander-in-chief's scribe wrote down distinguished deeds of warriors: "During the whole battle Xerxes sat at the base of the hill..., and whenever he saw any of his own captains perform any worthy exploit he inquired concerning him, and the man's name was taken down by his scribe, together with the names of his father and city" [106]. In the same way Darius recorded the names of his six helpers, together with those of their fathers and nationality, adding: "Thou who shalt be king hereafter, protect well the family of these men" [107]. In 335 BCE both Athens and Thebes sought Iranian help, and the ambassadors of the latter city were received with the greatest honour at the Imperial court and their wishes were granted on the account that their forebears had rendered military assistance to Xerxes 150 years earlier [108].  Cont.. Parthian Army