EMPIRES: Persian Empire
Egyptian (hieroglyphic/demotic)
___ was the more ancient, classical version of Egyptian. It was used by priests for sacred events and documents, however by the time of the Achaemenid Empire, it was not used colloquially. ___ was a version of Egyptian that was simplified and used in everyday practice during the time of Persian Rule. It was used in everyday documents, such as tax records.
Arrian
a Greek historian during the roman period. He wrote extensively about Alexander the great, generally casting him a good and heroic light.
Udjahorresnet
an Egyptian Navel commander and Physician. After the Persian conquest of Egypt under Cambyses, he became an advisor to both the courts of Cambyses and Darius I.
Mithra
an Iranian God that appears with Ahuramazda in royal inscriptions during the time of Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III. Devotion of Mithra later became insurgent during the Roman Period where a cult was established around the worship of Mithra.
Bisitun Inscription
was erected by Darius I in the early part of his reign. It uses three languages, Old Persian (which a written form was created for this specific inscription), Babylonian, and Elamite, to depicts Darius's suppressions of revolts after this questionable rise to the throne of the Empire. It is the first major text that introduced both the Achaemenid blood line as well as Ahuramazda as legitimizing forces for the Empire. It was an example of excellent political propaganda, and was the base text used by Herodotus and others in their histories of Darius' acquisition of Power from the "imposter" Bardiya/Smerdis.
Scythians
This term refers to two branches of a nomadic/semi-nomadic group of people. One group was in central asia and was distinguished by their "pointy hats", as shown in the Bisitun Inscription. The other group was found in European Thrace. Darius I launched an unsuccessful campaign against the Thracian Scythians during his rule.
Cyrus Cylinder
an akkadian cuneiform script was a proclamation of Cyrus the Great's declarations of laws and reforms. It is often considered the first document on human rights ever produced.
Persepolis (archaeology)
founded by Darius I and was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire and was expanded upon by later kings. It included major constructions, such as the Gate of All Nations and the Hall of 100 Columns. It is also directly next to the burial site for many of the Achaemenid Kings, including Darius I and Xerxes I. It was largely destroyed by Alexander during his conquest of the empire.
Indo-Iranian language(s)
A family of languages that includes Vedic Sanskrit as well as Old Persian.
Gaumata
According to Darius in the Bisitun Inscription, ___ was the name of the magus who killed Bardiya and impersonated him. It was this imposter that Darius and his coconspirators killed and it was his treachery that Darius used to legitimize his rule
Nabonidus
He was the last king of Neo-Babylonia before it was conquered by Cyrus the Great in 539 BCE.
Old Persian (language/script)
Indo-Iranian Language, used in Fars. Up until the Bisitun Inscription, it did not have a written form. However Darius commissioned a written cuneiform form of the language to be used on the Bisitun Inscription, next to the inscriptions in Elamite and Babylonian.
Alexander the Great
Macedonian King and General who succeeded his father Phillip II. He consolidated Macedonian control of Greece, then invaded Anatolia in 334 BCE. He conquered Anatolia, the Levant and Egypt before decisively defeating Darius III at Gaugamela. He died at the age of 32 after conquering the entire Achaemenid Empire. His death was followed by the dissolution of the empire into kingdoms controlled by his various generals.
Semitic language(s)
Semitic Languages refers to a family of languages, primarily found in the Levant and Arabian Peninsula. Semitic languages include Aramaic (the official Bureaucratic language of the Persian Empire), Hebrew, and Phoenician.
Cambyses
Son of Cyrus the Great, he continued to expand the Persian empire, primarily into Egypt. Herodotus claims that he was a mad king, however this is not based in any fact. He died returning to Fars. It is unclear if he was involved in the plot to assassinate his brother, Bardiya, or not, however most accounts claim that he was returning to face an imposter to his brother who sat on the throne when Cambyses himself died.
Artaxerxes II
Son of Darius II. His rule was marked by the Peloponnesian war, a major revolt lead by his younger brother, Cyrus the Younger, and revolts in Egypt, as well the revolt of the Satraps. He was also the first Persian King to include Mithra alongside Ahuramazda in royal inscriptions.
Babylonian (language/culture/history)
The kingdom of the southern Mesopotamian flood plain, ___ was one of the major political players in the region during the rise of the Persian Empire. It was conquered By Cyrus the Great, however was the home to a vast number of rebellions throughout the life of the empire. The Babylonian Language was included in the Bisitun Inscription, and the primary deity, marduk, was used as a replacement for the Persian deity Auramazda in the Babylonian text of the inscription.
Achaemenid
The lineage that Darius I proclaimed he was from in order to legitimize his rule. Although he claimed that both Cambyses and Cyrus were Achaemenid as well, there is no evidence of this and seems to come originally from Darius. It was used as the legitimization of the royal blood line until the death of Darius III.
Bardiya/Smerdis
The name of Cambyses brother. According to various versions in Herodotus, Ctesisas, and Justin, the real Bardiya/Smerdis was killed and replaced by an imposter, with different levels of involvement in this plot by Cambyses dependent on the source. It was under this pretext, that the Bardiya on the throne was an imposter, was Darius I legitimized his and his coconspirators assassination of him and Darius's own rise to power.
Herodotus
a Greek historian who wrote extensively about the Persian Achaemenid Empire. His work is known for having many false facts and made up stories that served to embellish and dramatize reality. However, he is often the only historian who wrote about certain events, and is thus still an important resource in understanding the history of the Achaemenid Empire.
Xenophon
a Greek soldier and historian who participated in Cyrus the Younger's Revolt. He wrote extensively on Cyrus the Great, the Peloponnesian War, Cyrus the Younger and his failed campaign, and many other topics in Persian History.
Phillip II
a Macedonian King in the 3rd century BCE, and was the father of Alexander the Great. It was under him that Macedonia conquered much of northern Greece and Thrace. He also created the army that was a large part responsible for Alexander's victories in his Conquest of the Persian Empire.
Bessus
a Persian satrap of Bactria. During the invasion of Alexander the Great, it is claimed by ___ that he killed Darius III and assumed the crown of what was reaming of the empire, naming himself Artaxerxes V. He attempted to launch a resistance to Alexander, but was eventually turned into the Macedonians by his own people, where he was executed.
Ctesias of Cnidus
a greek physician and historian. He claimed to have been the personal physician to Atraxerxes II. His histories are often incredibly exaggerated and many times outright false.
Medes
a large kingdom located primarily in north western iran and southern anatolia with their capital at Ecbatana. In alliances with the Persians and Babylonians, they were able to conquer the Neo-Assyrian Empire. They were eventually conquered by Cyrus the Great of Persia.
Phoenician (language/culture/history)
a people who occupied the Levant area in the Eastern Mediterranean. They were the first civilization to develop an alphabet for their language and were prolific traders. They set up many trading colonies throughout the Mediterranean, including Carthage.
Elamite (language/culture/history)
a peoples who lived on the edge of the Zagros Mountains and the Mesopotamian flood plains with their Capital at Susa. They where conquered by Cyrus the Great in the 5th century BCE. Their language was a central language of the Persian empire and was included, along with Old Persian and Babylonian, on the Bisitun Inscription.
Cuneiform
a very early and rudimentary writing form that was developed by the Sumerians. It was used for the many languages, such as Akkadian, Elamite, and Old Persian.
Darius II
became King of Persia after rebellion and infighting following the death of Artaxerxes I. He was also the father of Artaxerxes II and Cyrus the Younger. While there is relatively little record about his reign, he was responsible for suppressing a number of major rebellions.
Murashu archive
consists of 879 clay tables written in Aramaic and Acadian that were from a wealthy banking family in Babylonia during the time of Artaxerxes I and Darius II. They shed an enormous insight into the inner workings of land-use contracts and internal agricultural trade.
Croesus
last king of Lydia before the conquest of Cyrus when he was defeated in battle. Accounts differ on what happened to him afterwards, with Herodotus claiming he became an advisor to Cyrus, with others claiming that he was either killed or committed suicide.
magus (plural: magi)
referred to followers of Zoroastrianism. One of the first references to Magus is in the Bisitun Inscription, where-in Darius I claimed that two Magus conspired to usurp the throne, with one of the Magi, Guatema, impersonating the younger brother of Cambyses, Bardiya. In a number of sources on the history of the Persian Empire, certain magi appear and tend to have some degree of influence or power.
Xerxes
seceded Darius I as King of the Achaemenid Empire. During his reign, he brutally repressed revolts in Babylonia and Egypt. He also attempted to invade and control Greece, which ended in defeat at he battle of Salamis. While he eventually sacked Athens twice and held Persian dominance for a few years, he was eventually forced to withdrawal his forced after they were defeated in the Battle of Plataea.
Cyrus the younger
son of Darius II and the younger brother of Artaxeres II. He was dispatched to Anatolia to control the Persian response to the Peloponnesian War, where he became allied with Sparta. After the war, he lead an army in revolt against Artaxerxes II, however he was killed in the Battle of Cunaxa.
Artaxerxes III
the Persian king that succeeded Artaxerxes II. He killed the entire royal family to ensure his position as king. He launched two campaigns against Egypt, finally conquering it after 60 years of independence from the Empire. He was followed by the short reign of Artaxerxes IV.
Parysatis
the daughter of Araxerxes I, and was the mother of Artaxeres II and Cyrus the Younger. This rivalry led to her poisoning the Queen, Stateria.
Battle of Salamis (480 BCE)
the decisive turning point in the 2nd Persian invasion of Greece lead my Xerxes I. Although the Persians has won a number of land victories against the greek armies, Their navy was decisively crushed by the Athenian-led greek navy. It was this battle that greatly destabilized the Persian control of the northern Peloponnesians, and was a major factor in the ultimate withdrawal of Persian forces from Greece.
Darius I
the first Achaemenid king of the Empire, he was part of a group of Persian noble who killed the so-called imposter Bardiya. After the assassination, he was crowned king (purported after cheating in a horse race). He commissioned the Bisitun inscription, which details his suppression of revolts and legitimizes his rule. He was the first rule to make Auramazda the central governmental religious figure. He also expanded the boundaries of the empire, especially into Europe with mixed success.
Cyrus the Great
the founder of the Achaemenid Empire in 559 BCE. He vastly expanded the Persian kingdom, incorporating kingdoms such as Media, Lydia, and Babylonia. He "wrote the Cyrus Cylinder, which is the oldest known declaration of human rights. Cambyses who continued his campaigns of expansion, followed him.
Ahuramazda
the main deity of Zoroastrianism. This deity first made prominence in the Bisitun Inscription commissioned by Darius I was used to legitimize his rule. It was the primary deity used to legitimize Achaemenid rule until Artaxerxes II and III, who included Mithra as well in their royal inscriptions.
Zoroastrianism
the main state religion of the Achaemenid Empire after the rise of Darius I to power until its collapse under Alexander the Great. It is a monotheistic religion with the primary deity of Auramazda. It was founded by Zoroaster at an unknown time, but probably around 1000 BCE. It is an example of how rules can use an ideology, such as religion, to unite their dominion as well as legitimize their own rule.
King's Peace (387/386 BCE)
the peace brokered by Artaxerxes II that ended the Corinthian War between Athens and Sparta. It forbade the Athenians from forming any coalitions or federations. This peace is symbolic of the fact that Persia had enormous influence in Greek Politics and could shape any outcome that worked in the best interest of the Empire.
Darius III
the successor of Aratxerxes IV, who was killed shortly into his reign by rival factions within the royal court, or so we are told. He was the last Persian King and presided over the Empire during Alexander's Invasion and conquest. He was decisively defeated at the Battle of Gaugamela, and was later betrayed and killed by the Satrap Bessus as he retreated to the north-eastern satrapies of the Empire.
Parsagadae (archaeology)
was the capital of Cyrus the Great in Fars. It contains the tomb of Cyrus. The capital was later moved to nearby Persepolis under the rule of Darius I, however it remained an important city in the empire.
Marduk
was the primary Babylonian Deity. In the Bisitun Inscription, commissioned by Darius I, wherever the old Persian says Ahuramazda, in the Babylonian text it states Marduk. This signified Darius I's propaganda skills and ability to placate different religions within his empire as a means of securing his power.
