Richard N. Frye THEHISTORY OF ANCIENT IRAN Verlag C-H- Beck THE HISTORY OF ANCIENT IRAN BY RICHARD N. FRYE AGA KHAN PROFESSOR OF IRANIAN HARVARD UNIVERSITY C. H. BECK'SCHE VERLAGSBUCHHANDLUNG MÜNCHEN HANDBUCH DER ALTERTUMSWISSENSCHAFT BEGRÜNDET VON IWAN VON MÜLLER ERWEITERT VON WALTER OTTO FORTGEFÜHRT VON HERMANN BENGTSON DRITTE ABTEILUNG, SIEBENTER TEIL Mit 3 Karten im Anhang CIP-Kurztitelaufnahme der Deutschen Bibliothek Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaft / begr. von Iwan von Müller. Erw. von Walter Otto. Fortgef. von Hermann Bengtson. - München : Beck NE: Müller, Iwan von [Begr.]; Bengtson, Hermann [Hrsg.] Abt. 3. Teil 7. -» Frye, Richard N.: The history of andern Iran Frye, Richard N.: The history of ancient Iran / by Richard N. Frye. - München : Beck, 1983. (Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaft : Abt. 3; Teil 7) ISBN 3 406 09397 3 ISBN 3 406 09397 3 C. H. Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung (Oscar Beck) München 1984 Satz: Spottiswoode Ballantyne Ltd., Colchester, England Druck: C. H. Beck'sche Buchdruckerei Nördlingen Printed in Germany Nels der Zukunft gewidmet TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction IX Abbreviations XV Chapter I. Geographical Survey 1 Chapter II. Demography 21 Chapter III. Pre-Iranian History of the Plateau and Central Asia ... 45 Chapter IV. Medes, Scythians and Eastern Rulers 65 Chapter V. Achaemenids 87 Chapter VI. Alexander the Great and the Seleucids 137 Chapter VII. Greco-Bactrians, Sakas and Parthians 177 Chapter VIII. The Parthians on the Plateau 205 Chapter IX. The Kushans 249 Chapter X. Minor Dynasties on the Plateau 271 Chapter XI. The Sasanians 287 Chapter XII. Eastern Iran and Central Asia 341 APPENDICES Appendix 1 . Genealogical Tables of the Achaemenid, Parthian and Sasanian Dynasties 359 Appendix 2. The Behistun Inscription of Darius near Kermanshah, Iran 363 Appendix 3. The Bactrian Inscription of Surkh Kotal near Baghlan in Afghanistan 369 Appendix 4. The Inscription of Shapur I at Naqsh-e Rustam in Fars . . 371 Appendix 5. The MP Inscription of Narseh at Paikuii north of Khanaqin, Iraq 375 Index 379 Maps INTRODUCTION PROLEGOMENA The Leitmotiv of this book is the continuity in the history of western Iran from the earliest times to the Arab conquest, and in certain respects even down to the present. In spite of constant invasion and widespread destruction, like a phoenix the Persians have reasserted themselves often in the face of great adversity. The continuity is observable in many realms, one of the most striking of which is the language of ancient Persis, today the province of Fars, which developed from an Old Persian through a Middle to a New Persian stage with many admixtures, of course, and literary remains of all three stages exist. Of all the present day peoples of the Middle East, the Persians are the most conscious of their pre-Islamic past, and in many senses, traces of the ancient heritage of the area are better preserved in Persia than in Syria, Egypt, or elsewhere. In the present book the word 'Persia' refers to the contemporary land with the capital of Tehran. The term 'Iran,' however, is used for a greater, and unfortunately more imprecise, area including those regions where predominantly Iranian languages were spoken in antiquity. It must be emphasized that the term has no political connotations, and the word 'Iranian' is used primarily in a linguistic sense to differentiate the Speakers of Iranian languages from Semitic Speakers, Indians, or others. Persis or Parsa, on the other hand, is the modern province of Fars. The main source for Median and early Achaemenid history is the Ionian historian Herodotus, whose reliability, however, has been questioned many times. Many scholars, on the other hand, swear by his veracity when his data fits their theories, but reject or ignore him when his information goes counter to their reconstructions. On the whole, I believe one should follow the general rule that Herodotus generally reports what he heard and adds his own views in those matters where he moralizes, such as in the invasion of Greece by the Achaemenids, or the like. Whether his sources were reliable, of course, is another problem, but on the whole even if he reports stories which were current in his time, these stories are important for reconstructing ancient views. The second feature of this book, which is emphasized, is the extension of the Iranian cultural realm in antiquity to the borders of China, Siberia and South Russia. It is not the intention here to attempt to write a history of the steppes before the rise of the Turks but simply to stress the importance of Central Asia as an Iranian cultural area overshadowed by the Achaemenids and the Sasanians, but important in its own right as an independent source of Iranian ideas, art motifs, forms of society and government which had more of an impact on the Far East and Russia than heretofore realized. The post-Islamic-conquest flourishing of Bukhara, Samarqand and Khwarazm as great centers of Islamic learning and culture has puzzled many scholars who did not find the same phenomenon in the former Sasanian Empire. Central Asia was not a pale provincial reflection of the Sasanian Empire; rather it was a flourishing, independent X Introduction mercantile civilization before the coming of the Arabs. The profuse results of a Plethora of Soviet archaeological excavations in Central Asia have not only enormously enriched our knowledge of this area in antiquity, but they have revised long held ideas that here nomads roamed and culture was almost non-existent. It is virtually impossible for one person to keep abreast of the ongoing work in Central Asia, both in the western and in the eastern (Sinkiang) regions. Although no attempt has been made to cover the history of Sinkiang or even adequately other parts of Central Asia, nonetheless constant reference to contacts between Central Asia and the more settled lands to the south, east and west has been made. It is hoped that the importance of this area, far from Europe, will be realized by the reader. The chapters of the present book pass from east to west and hopefully the differences as well as the affinities of the two Iranian areas will appear. Central Asia always has been bound with eastern Iran (present Afghanistan) rather than with Persia, and so it will be treated as part of eastern Iranian history. Continuity in the east was more frequently interrupted than in Persia, but it is also a feature of east Iranian culture. GENERAL WORKS ON THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF IRAN Unlike Greek, Roman, or even Egyptian and Mesopotamian history, there have been relatively few general histories of Iran down to the Arab conquests. The reasons for this lack are not dirficult to discern. First, few historians have ventured into this area which requires formidable linguistic controls; instead the field has been left to philologists and linguists who are more interested in the detailed investigation of words than in the historical significance of texts. Second, the variety of aids one must utilize to reconstruct the history of Iran deters many investigators. One must turn to numismatics, art history, architecture, and, of course, archaeology to help recon- struct the past of a vast area, which again has repelled historians and encouraged archaeologists and art historians to take their place, often with not so happy results. Finally, so many travellers and amateurs have written about Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia that scholars have shied away from writing a general work on the ancient history of the area, preferring instead to concentrate on much needed detailed monographs. It is true that much more investigation is needed on all aspects of the pre-Islamic history of this part of the world, but it is regrettable that syntheses of new discoveries in archaeology, art history, epigraphy and other branches of knowledge have not been made in a general history of the whole Iranian world before Islam. If we survey the books written on the general ancient history of Iran during the past one hundred years, the picture is quite different from that of other parts of the world which have received much more attention from scholars. The earliest general history of ancient Iran which utilized the native Old Persian inscriptions, primarily of Darius, was by George Rawlinson, brother of Henry, who copied and deciphered the Behistun inscription. 1 His first publication dealt with the Achaemenids, as the last of The Five Great Monarchies ojthe Ancient World, but this was soon augmented by the The two-volume history oflran, down to the reliable, while earlier books on ancient Iran by rise of the Sasanians, by le Comte de Gobineau. Thomas Hyde, Sylvestre de Sacy, among others, published in Paris in 1 869, is neither systematic nor did not pretend to be histories. Introduction XI Parthians and Sasanians to become The Seven Great Monarchies. 2 George Rawlinson, Professor of ancient history at Oxford, based most of his work on Classical sources, but he did use other sources available to him in translation and his work remained a Standard history of ancient Iran for many years. It should be mentioned that the vast lands of eastern Iran (including Afghanistan) and Central Asia were largely untouched in Rawlinson's writings. This was rectified to some extent in a tom- prehensive three-volume account of geography, ethnology, religions and history by Friedrich Spiegel, a philologist in the widest sense of the word, a professor of Oriental languages at the University of Erlangen over a Century ago. In this encyclopedic work, Spiegel utilized Oriental as well as Classical sources. His historical survey was followed on the whole by Ferdinand Justi, who was Professor of Indogermanische Philologie at Marburg University, first in a general world history edited by W. Oncken in 1879, and then in the Grundriß der iranischen Philologie, published in Strasbourg between 1896 and 1904. This latter publication long remained the Standard survey of the ancient history of Iran. The populär work of Brigadier-General Sir Percy M. Sykes, A History ofPersia, vol. 1 (London, 1915), contributed little, and the book of the Orientalist Clement Huart, La perse antique et la civilisation iranienne (Paris, 1925), is notable only for including results of the many years of excavation at the site of Susa, and the consequent addition of the history of the Elamites to the ancient history of Iran. The book by Huart was revised several times, and the title was changed to L'Iran antique, Elam et Perses, and remained the Standard reference work in French until R. Ghirshman, an archaeologist, wrote his history called Iran (Payot, Paris, 1951), translated into English and published for the Penguin paperbacks in 1954. The work, as to be expected, was well illustrated and emphasis was on cultural history, art and archaeology. The same was true of the general history of ancient Iran by the Soviet Orientalist and archaeologist M. M. Dyakonov, published posthumously in 1961 . 3 In this work the eastern Iranian world, including Central Asia, first received more than cursory attention, primarily as a result of Soviet archaeological work there. This trend was further elaborated in the book of R. N. Frye, The Heritage of Persia (London, 1962), which, in spite of its title, chosen by the publisher for British readers, Covers all areas where Iranian peoples lived in antiquity. The Cambridge History of Iran, vols. 2 and 3, will treat the early plus Achaemenid periods and the Parthians and Sasanians respectively, but even in those comprehensive volumes lacunae exist. It is clear that histories in the sense of a history of Greece, Rome, much less of France or England, cannot be written about ancient Iran; rather, a short sketch of ancient Iranian civilization, including art and archaeology as well as other fields, must be substituted in many periods. Nonetheless, an attempt is made here to utilize many works for a composite picture of the past, based on available sources. Naturally secondary sources have provided the basis for much of this com- prehensive history, even though disagreements may exist, since monographs and specialists on restricted periods and regions have been able to concentrate on problems 2 His first work on the 'five monarchies' was 3 Ocherk istorii dtevnego Iran (Moscow, 1961), published in London between 1 862 and 1 867, and 441 . the 'seven monarchies' came out in 1 873 and 1 875 respectively. X Introduction mercantile civilization before the Coming of the Arabs. The profuse results of a plethora of Soviet archaeological excavations in Central Asia have not only enormously enriched our knowledge of this area in antiquity, but they have revised long held ideas that here nomads roamed and culture was almost non-existent. It is virtually impossible for one person to keep abreast of the ongoing work in Central Asia, both in the western and in the eastern (Sinkiang) regions. Although no attempt has been made to cover the history of Sinkiang or even adequately other parts of Central Asia, nonetheless constant reference to contacts between Central Asia and the more settled lands to the south, east and west has been made. It is hoped that the importance of this area, far from Europe, will be realized by the reader. The chapters of the present book pass from east to west and hopefully the differences as well as the affinities of the two Iranian areas will appear. Central Asia always has been bound with eastern Iran (present Afghanistan) rather than with Persia, and so it will be treated as part of eastern Iranian history. Continuity in the east was more frequently interrupted than in Persia, but it is also a feature of east Iranian culture. GENERAL WORKS ON THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF IRAN Unlike Greek, Roman, or even Egyptian and Mesopotamian history, there have been relatively few general histories of Iran down to the Arab conquests. The reasons for this lack are not dimcult to discern. First, few historians have ventured into this area which requires formidable linguistic controls; instead the field has been left to philologists and linguists who are more interested in the detailed investigation of words than in the historical significance of texts. Second, the variety of aids one must utilize to reconstruct the history of Iran deters many investigators. One must turn to numismatics, art history, architecture, and, of course, archaeology to help recon- struct the past of a vast area, which again has repelled historians and encouraged archaeologists and art historians to take their place, often with not so happy results. Finally, so many travellers and amateurs have written about Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia that scholars have shied away from writing a general work on the ancient history of the area, preferring instead to concentrate on much needed detailed monographs. It is true that much more investigation is needed on all aspects of the pre-Islamic history of this part of the world, but it is regrettable that syntheses of new discoveries in archaeology, art history, epigraphy and other branches of knowledge have not been made in a general history of the whole Iranian world before Islam. If we survey the books written on the general ancient history of Iran during the past one hundred years, the picture is quite different from that of other parts of the world which have received much more attention from scholars. The earliest general history of ancient Iran which utilized the native Old Persian inscriptions, primarily of Darius, was by George Rawlinson, brother of Henry, who copied and deciphered the Behistun inscription. 1 His first publication dealt with the Achaemenids, as the last of The Five Great Monarchies ofthe Ancient World, but this was soon augmented by the The two-volume history of Iran, down to the reliable, while earlier books on ancient Iran by rise of the Sasanians, by le Comte de Gobineau, Thomas Hyde, Sylvestre de Sacy, among others, published in Paris in 1 869, is neither systematic nor did not pretend to be histories. Introduction XI Parthians and Sasanians to become The Seven Great Monarchies. 2 George Rawlinson, Professor of ancient history at Oxford, based most of his work on Classical sources, but he did use other sources available to him in translation and his work remained a Standard history of ancient Iran for many years. It should be mentioned that the vast lands of eastern Iran (including Afghanistan) and Central Asia were largely untouched in Rawlinson's writings. This was rectified to some extent in a com- prehensive three-volume account of geography, ethnology, religions and history by Friedrich Spiegel, a philologist in the widest sense of the word, a professor of Oriental languages at the University of Erlangen over a Century ago. In this encyclopedic work, Spiegel utilized Oriental as well as Classical sources. His historical survey was followed on the whole by Ferdinand Justi, who was Professor of Indogermanische Philologie at Marburg University, first in a general world history edited by W. Oncken in 1879, and then in the Grundriß der iranischen Philologie, published in Strasbourg between 1896 and 1904. This latter publication long remained the Standard survey of the ancient history of Iran. The populär work of Brigadier-General Sir Percy M. Sykes, A History ofPersia, vol. 1 (London, 1915), contributed little, and the book of the Orientalist Clement Huart, La perse antique et la civilisation iranienne (Paris, 1925), is notable only for including results of the many years of excavation at the site of Susa, and the consequent addition of the history of the Elamites to the ancient history of Iran. The book by Huart was revised several times, and the title was changed to L'lran antique, tilam et Perses, and remained the Standard reference work in French until R. Ghirshman, an archaeologist, wrote his history called Iran (Payot, Paris, 1951), translated into English and published for the Penguin paperbacks in 1954. The work, as to be expected, was well illustrated and emphasis was on cultural history, art and archaeology. The same was true of the general history of ancient Iran by the Soviet Orientalist and archaeologist M. M. Dyakonov, published posthumously in 1 961 . 3 In this work the eastern Iranian world, including Central Asia, first received more than cursory attention, primarily as a result of Soviet archaeological work there. This trend was further elaborated in the book of R. N. Frye, The Heritage of Persia (London, 1962), which, in spite of its title, chosen by the publisher for British readers, Covers all areas where Iranian peoples lived in antiquity. The Cambridge History of Iran, vols. 2 and 3, will treat the early plus Achaemenid periods and the Parthians and Sasanians respectively, but even in those comprehensive volumes lacunae exist. It is clear that histories in the sense of a history of Greece, Rome, much less of France or England, cannot be written about ancient Iran; rather, a short sketch of ancient Iranian civilization, including art and archaeology as well as other fields, must be substituted in many periods. Nonetheless, an attempt is made here to utilize many works for a composite picture of the past, based on available sources. Naturally secondary sources have provided the basis for much of this com- prehensive history, even though disagreements may exist, since monographs and specialists on restricted periods and regions have been able to concentrate on problems 2 His first work on the 'five monarchies' was 3 Ocherk islorii drevnego Iran (Moscow, 1961), published in London between 1 862 and 1 867, and 441 . the 'seven monarchies' came out in 1873 and 1875 respectively. XII Introduction which can only be touched by the present work, and reference is made to them for further information. For pre-Achaemenid history the writings of I. M. Dyakonov have proved especially valuable, while M. Dandamayev and W. Hinz have concentrated on the Achaemenids. Seleucid history in Iran is not so well served while J. Wolski is our man on the early Parthians as is V. G. Lukonin for the early Sasanians. Other scholars and their works are cited in the various chapters, but obviously it is impossible to cover or cite everything one should. Many times, rather than increase the volume by adding bibliographies, reference has been made to other works where extensive bibliographies are given. In the forthcoming age of Computers and easily recalled bibliographies, the present book will become antiquated, but for the time being I hope it will be of some aid in finding one's way in the undergrowth and proliferation of writings on ancient Iran and Central Asia. TECHNICALITIES When one marvels at books of the past which were handset and printed with Greek and Oriental fonts by many experts, as well as a series of editors, one question which may arise is 'what price pedantry?' The use of diacritical points and macrons is necessary in linguistic arguments but hardly in a general history where those who read Oriental languages know what is meant, while to those who do not it is superfluous. Therefore I have omitted such banes to printers and proof-readers as much as possible, although in Arabic and other Semitic language words a more strict system of transliteration at times has been followed. I have tried to be consistent in spellings and only hope not too many slips will provide grist for reviewers. I must plead guilty to inconsistency in the usage of Latin and Greek forms of names and words, especially such details as final -us and -os. On the whole I have followed commonly accepted spellings except certain names, e.g. Priskos for Priscus, but again I hope that at least consistency has been observed in one and the same name. One explanation for variations, though not excuse, is that this book was originally intended to be written in German, but I found that my strength and ability by this time were not equal to the task and after much lost time and effort, I decided I would have to write in English. In the shift some 'un-English' forms of names may have survived. Also, in the case of transcripitions, rather than transliterations, of Middle Persian or other Iranian forms of names or words, consistency has not always been observed, for example: Weh not Veh but Neu rather than New, so one would not mistake the latter with the English word new.' Again, I hope no one will be confused ; specialists will not be, and those who are not should realize that there are many forms of transcription of foreign sounds and written forms. I have used the antiquated Wade-Giles System of transcribing Chinese characters, since it will be easy to consult the dictionaries and change into other forms of transcription with which I am not familiär. I must reiterate that this book is a general history of pre-Islamic Iran in its widest sense and not a philological treatise. The endings of Russian names cause trouble since forms in western European languages differ from the original. Thus we find Litvinskii written as Litvinsky and Perikhanyan written as Perikhanian, but hopefully the reader will understand such inconsistencies. Introduction XIII One Innovation different from the usual Interpretation of numismatics should be mentioned. Numismatists, on the basis of styles and iconography, assign coin series to certain time periods, and the suspicion that archaizing tendencies may negate their conclusions rarely becomes a factor to consider. Studies of Sogdian silver in the fifth and sixth centuries of our era have revealed archaic forms similar to similar objects of the Parthian and even Achaemenid periods. Coinage likewise may confuse one by archaic styles. Also the continuity of series of coins in eastern Iran or Central Asia, even one style lasting several centuries, as in Bukhara, frequently has been ignored by numismatists. In western Iran we find dynastic continuity while in the east we have lip-service to dynastic allegiance. Unfortunately, the history of eastern Iran is a vast area in itself and here it can only be touched with reference to bibliographies for further study. Finally, it is somewhat of a miracle that this volume appears since it was begun years ago when I was director of the Asia Institute of Pahlavi University in Shiraz, and I will not bürden the reader with stories of the vicissitudes of lost books and portions of the manuscript, as well as the lack of aid in preparing the MS. This book should have been written by an old-fashioned Ordinarius with several assistants to compile bibliographies, fetch books, check references and read proofs. Unfortunately, I have been alone with many burdens and if it were not for the süperb typing of Carolyn Cross, secretary of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University, the book would not have seen the light of day. I would have preferred to have colleagues read the MS. and save me from errors, but today no one has time or inclination. Perhaps in the future machines will allow more time for such tasks but until then one should strive the best one can. If this work provides a useful guide to the history of ancient Iran I will be grateful. Richard N. Frye Hamburg, Shiraz and Cambridge, Mass. ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS BOOK Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungarkae (Budapest) Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften und Literatur, Mainz Abhandlungen Altorientalische Forschung (Berlin) Abhandlungen der -» GWG Acta Iranica (Leiden) Annali dell' Istituto Orientale (Naples) American Journal of Archaeology (New York) American Journal of Ancient History (Cambridge, Mass.) American Journal of Semitic Languages (Chicago) Asia Major (London) Archaeologische Mitteilungen aus Iran (Berlin) American Numismatic Society (New York) American Numismatic Society Museum Notes (New York) Archiv Orientälnl (Prague) seeAbk.PAW Bulletin de l'icole francaise de l'Extrime Orient (Paris) Bibliotheca Orientalis (Amsterdam) Bulletin de la sociM linguistique (Paris) Bulletin of the School ofOriental (and African) Studies (London) Beiträge zur Namenforschung (Heidelberg) Central Asian Journal (Wiesbaden) Cambridge History of Iran (Cambridge, England) Centre national des recherches scientifiques (Paris) Comptes Rendus de l'Acadimie des Inscriptions et Beiles Lettres (Paris) Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium (Paris) Darius, Naqsh-e Rustam inscription d in R. Kent, Old Persian (New Haven, 1953) Darius, Suez inscription Epigrafika Vostoka (Leningrad) East and West (Rome) Fragmenta Historicorum Craecorum, ed. C. Müller (Paris) Die' Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker, ed. F. Jacoby (Berlin and Leiden) Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen Handbuch des Altpersischen, W. Brandenstein u. M. Mayrhofer (Wiesbaden, 1964) Handbuch der Orientalistik, ed. B. Spuler (Leiden) Iranica Antiqua (Leiden) Indogermanische Forschungen (Berlin) Indo-Iranian Journal (The Hague) Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies (London) Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente (Rome) Journal Asiatique (Paris) Journal of the American Oriental Society (New Haven) Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient (Leiden) Journal of Indo European Studies (Washington, D.C.) Journal of the K. R. Cama Oriental Institute (Bombay) Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia (Canberra) Journal of Near Eastern Studies (Chicago) Journal of the Numismatic Society of India (Benares) Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (London) Kartir Ka'bah of Zardusht at Naqsh-e Rustam Kuhns Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachwissenschaft (Göttingen) XVI Abbreviations MIA Materialy i Issledovaniya po Arkheologii SSSR (Moscow) MMAI Mtmoires de la mission archiologique en Iran (Paris) MDAFA Mtmoires de la dtltgation archMogique francaise en Afghanistan (Paris) MP Middle Persian (Pahlavi) MSS Münchener Studien zur Sprachwissenschaft (Munich) NC Numismatic Chronicle (London) NNM Numismatic Notes and Monographs (ANS) (New York) NP New Persian NTS Norsk Tidsskriß fer Sprogvidenskap (Oslo) OAW Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften (Vienna) OLZ Orientalische Literaturzeitung (Berlin) OP Old Persian OS Orientalia Süecana (Uppsala) PAW Preussische Akademie der Wissenschaften (Berlin) PO Patrologia Orientalis (Paris) PW Pauly Wissowa's Realenzyklopädie der Altertumswissenschaft (Stuttgart) RIzA Revue des hudes Armtniennes (Paris) RHR Revue de l'histoire des religions (Paris) RN Revue numismatique (Paris) RSO Rivista degli Studi Orientali (Rome) SA Sovetskaya Arkheologiya (Moscow) Sb Sitzungsberichte SHAW Sitzungsber. der Heidelberger A.W. (Heidelberg) SWAW see Sb., WAW SI Studia Iranica (Paris) SKZ Shapur Ka'bah of Zardusht SPA Survey of Persian Art, ed. A. U. Pope (Oxford, 1939) TP Toung Pao (Leiden) TPS Transactions of the Philobgical Society (London) UCLA University of California in Los Angeles VDl Vestnik Drevnei Istorii (Moscow) WAW Wiener Akademie der Wissenschaften (Vienna) WZKM Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes (Vienna) XPf Xerxes, Persepolis inscription f in R. Kent, Old Persian (New Haven, 1953) ZA Zeitschrift für Assyriologie (Berlin) ZDMC Zeitschrift der Morgenldndischen Gesellschaft (Wiesbaden) ZU Zeitschrift für Indologie und Iranistik (Leipzig) CHAPTER I GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEY The scholarly investigation of the geography of the Iranian plateau and Central Asia is relatively recent. Until the beginning of systematic collections of data on temperatures, water utilization, soils, and the like, geographical questions were mostly discussed by travellers and amateurs. Historical geography, on the other hand, was primarily the concern of academics who rarely if ever ventured into the field, and consequently misconceptions and gaps in knowledge abounded. Because of the Strategie importance of Persia and Afghanistan, primarily British and Russian officers, but also others, sought to map the entire area at various times, and the result is today we have aerial photographs and maps of considerable detail. It is not possible to review all of the relevant geographical literature, but those works which aid the Student of history will be mentioned under the three geographical headings of Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia. Literature: Iran, generali The general gazetteer prepared by the army under the direction of Gen. Husain 'All Razmarä' in ten volumes Farhang-e Joghräflyä-ye Iran (Tehran, 1950-54), lists the towns and villages in each province, giving the location, population, main language, rehgion, prineipal occupatio™ and industries, and similar information. Although in need of correction this collection of information is surpassed only by the comprehensive gazetteer of villages, based on the census of 1966, the Farhang-e Abädl-hä-ye Kishvar, of which 27 volumes have appeared in Tehran beginning in 1969. Another gazetteer in English based on the above, as well as on the British India Office archives is less comprehensive but useful. 1 Perhaps the most comprehensive textbook on the geography of Iran is the three-volume work of Mas 'od Kayhän, Joghräfiya-ye mufassal-e Iran (Tehran, 1 937), but now see E. Ehlers, Iran, Grundziige einer geographischen Landeskunde (Darmstadt, 1980). For the historical geography of Iran, we have F. Justi, Beitrage zur alten Geographie Persiens, Zwei Abtheilungen (Marburg, 1869), 56 S., who tried to identify place names in the Avesta with those of Classical and Islamic geographies. W. Tomaschek concentrated on Classical place names, especially in the Tabula Peutingeriana, a world map probably made by a Roman called Castorius in the third Century but preserved in a thirteenth-century copy. He also identified many sites with place names in Arabic geographies. 2 The most erudite and produetive historical geographer, however, was Joseph Marquart (later changed to Markwart) who clarified many identifications of site names in ancient Iran in his publications. 3 His commentaries to an edition and translation of an Armenian geography attributed to Moses of Chorene were perhaps his most valuable contribution to the historical geography of the entire Iranian world. 4 The old Geographie der Griechen und Römer of Konrad Mannen, fünfter Theil (Leipzig, 1829), is still useful. Sources: The classical books relevant to historical geography are first, Herodotus, with the useful Lexicon to Herodotus by J. E. Powell (Hildesheim, 1966), based on the edition of Hude (Oxford, 1926). Then we have Ptolemy in three editions by C. F. Nobbe (1 843 ; reprinted Hildesheim, 1 966), F. G. Wilberg (Essen, 1845) and C. Müller (Paris, 1883), which is the basic work on place names in the pre-Christian east. The 'L.W. Adamec, ed., Historical Gazetteer o/Iran, von Iran, 2 Hefte (Göttingen, 1 896) ; "Beiträge zur 1 (Graz, 1977) and foll. Geschichte und Sage von Eran," ZDMG, 49 2 W. Tomaschek, "Zur historischen Topogra- (1895), 628-70, as well as his A Catalogue of the phie von Persien," Sb WA W,\02 (1883), 146-231, Provincial Capitals of Eranshahr (Rome, 1931). and 108 (1885), 583-652, issued in book form in 4 Eriiüahr nach der Geographie des Ps. Moses 1972. Xorenac'i, Abh. GWG (Berlin, 1901). 3 Especially his Untersuchungen zur Geschichte Chapter I Parthian Stations of Isidore of Charax, ed. by C. Müller in Geographi Graeci Minores (Paris, 1 855) and in Frg. Hist. (Dritter Teil C, Zweiter Band) has a list of towns on the silk road to the east. The geography of Strabo, written about the time of Christ, with several editions in the Loeb Classical Series, as well as the Teubner edition by A. Meineke (Leipzig, 1853 foll.), contains much information on Iran and the Caucasus. Pliny's Natural History is less valuable, but also has interesting details about lands of the east, and both Strabo and Pliny give place names and Information older than their own times of writing. 5 For the Sasanian period the number of geographical sources increases but the quality does not, for the vanous cosmographii in the Geographi Latini Minores give very little information on the east. 6 The historian Ammianus Marcellinus, especially in book 23, mentions the provinces and cities of the Sasanian Empire. 7 Useful for details about place names and peoples are the lexicon of Hesychius (fifth Century) where some Persian and 'Scythian' words and names are explained, the geography or Ethnika of Stephan of Byzantium (sixth Century), and the dictionary of Suidas (tenth Century). 8 The anonymous geographer of Ravenna (seventh Century) based much of his work on the Tabula Peutingeriana of Castorius and does not add much on the east. 9 A secondary source on Armenian place names is a useful reference work for that region. 10 Talmudic geography is of minimum value to our concerns, although the Talmudic dictionary of Aruch contains interesting items, especially for the Sasanian period. 1 ' Syriac sources also are not particularly helpful, although the corpus of Nestorian synods with the locations of bishoprics, as well as the acts of martyrs, occasionally give geographical information not found elsewhere. 12 Thus, it is obvious that the historical geographer of pre-Islamic Iran must rely on items of information from many and varied sources. Not only the works mentioned above must be considered but the results of archaeology as well, which bring new materials for our understanding of the past almost yearly. For example, the site of the Parthian capital of Hekatompylos was not estabhshed, until a survey of the area and excavations showed that it was the Islamic site of Qumis between present-day Damghan and Semnan. 1 3 It is obviously impossible to give a bibliography for all the surveys and site excavations which have some relevance to historical geography. The yearly survey of excavations published in the Journal Iran, however, gives a good picture of work in that country since 1965. This is paralleled by publications of the annual symposia on archaeological research in Iran organized by the Iranian Centre for Archaeological Research in Tehran, since 1 972, as well as the Journal Bastan Chenassi va Honar-e Iran, also printed in Tehran. By far the most detailed sources of geographical information for the ancient as well as medieval periods are the geographies in the Arabic or Persian language. Fortunately, a comprehensive survey of the sources relevant to western Iran was made by Paul Schwarz, to which one may add a few items which were not known to him. 14 The Hudüd al-'älam is perhaps the most important new source, especially for eastern 5 Plinii Naturalis Historia, ed. by C. MayhofT (Dresden, 1905; reprinted Stuttgart, 1967); also Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, Mass- London). 6 A. Riese, ed., Geographi Laiini Minores (Heil- bronn, 1878; reprinted Hildesheim, 1964) esp. 45, 61, 74. 7 Ammianus Marcellinus, ed. by W. Seyfarth, 4 vols. (Berlin, 1968-71), and in the Loeb Classical Series. Both have a translation as well as Latin text. K. Latte, ed., Hesychii Alexandrini Lexicon, 3 vols. (Copenhagen, 1953, 1966, 1977); A. Mein- ecke, ed., Stephan von Byzanz Ethnika (Berlin, 1849; reprinted Graz, 1958); Ada Adler, ed., Suidae Lexicon (Leipzig, 1928-35), 4 vols. J. Schnetz, Itineraria Romana II: Ravennatis anonymi cosmographia (Leipzig, 1940) trans. by Schnetz, Ravennas Anonymus: Cosmographia, in Nomina Germanica, 10 (Uppsala, 1951). H. Hübschmann, "Die altarmenischen Orts- namen," IF, 16 (1904), 197^90; also issued as a book in 1969. The book by A Neubauer, La geographie du Talmud (Paris, 1 868), is still useful, as is A. Berliner, Beitrage zur Geographie und Ethnographie Babylo- niens (Berlin, 1884). For the Talmudic geography of Mesopotamia the best work is by J. Obermeyer, Die Landschaft Babylonien im Zeitalter des Talmuds und des Gaonats (Frankfurt, 1929). See also Additamenta ad Librum Aruch Completum, ed. by A. Kohut (Wien, 1937; reprinted New York, 1955). 1 2 J -B. Chabot, Synodicon Orientale (Paris, 1 902) ; G Hoffmann, Auszüge aus syrischen Akten persischer Märtyrer (Leipzig, 1880), and O. Braun, Ausgewählte Akten persischer Märtyrer (Kempten- Mumch, 1915). 1 3 J Hansman, "The Problem of Qumn,." JRAS (1968) 111-40. 1 •* P. Schwarz, Iran im Mittelalter (Leipzig, 1927-36) The book of G. LeStrange, Lands ofthe Eastern Caliphate (Cambridge, 1905; reprinted 1930), is less detailed but useful. The Istoriko- geograficheskii obzor Irana (St Petersburg, 1903, of Bartold, reprinted in his Sochineniya, 7, Moscow, 1971) contains much material of pre-Islamic geography, but it is especially valuable for Afghanistan, below. The value of Islamic sources for ancient history is shown by such publications as Geographica! Survey 3 Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia. 15 The second source, previously known from quotations in Yaqut's geographical dictionary and elsewhere, was found in a manuscript in Meshhed, Iran and published twice. 16 A later source The Jahän-näme contains little new except a few items, such as the building of a long wall in Gurgan by the Sasanians to protect settled people from raids by nomads.' 7 Finally, local geographies and histories occasionally give items of interest. The bibliographical references to the most important books below refer to pages in Storey's Persian Literature, a bio-bibliographical survey in its enlarged Russian translation. 18 The oldest is the history of Qom (p. 1008), which contains Information about the Arab conquests and di visions of land and irrigation. The Qualities of lsfahan, a similar book, existed in Arabicand in an old Persian translation (101 1-1 2), and histories ofYazd (1021), and especially the Färs name of Ibn al-Balkhl, which contains much Information about the geography of Fars in Sasanian times (1027), are to be noted. The city histories of Baihaq and of Nishapur in Khurasan (1041 , 1044), and Herat in Afghanistan (1043, 1046) have items of geographical interest, whereas the city histories of Kerman are less useful (1056-63). The local history of Tabaristan (present Mazandaran) is important for ancient geography and history (e.g. the letter of Tansar), while other books on the Caspian Sea Coast provinces are less important (1071-77). The local history of Seistan is an important source book for the historical geography, as well as history, ofthat province (1078-81), but its legends obscure much of the history. The same is true of the local history of Shustar in Khuzistan (1082). Azerbaijan and Kurdistan have a number of local histories (such as the Sharaf-näme, 1097), but they help little with the ancient history or historical geography of the respective regions. Finally, European travellers from the time of Marco Polo occasionally provide geographical information relevant to ancient times not found elsewhere. A survey of such accounts may be found in a book by Alfons Gabriel, 1 9 but his book contains errors and has an insufficient bibliography hence must be used with caution. There are also general bibliographies of Iran which are useful to consult. 20 Literature: Afghanistan, general: Parallel to Iran, there exists a gazetteer in Persian as well as a Pashto edition, the Qämüs Joghräßyä-ye Afghanistan in four volumes and several reprintings in Kabul (first ed. 1952). The English language parallel is the Historical and Political Gazetteer of Afghanistan, ed. by L. Adamec in six volumes, five of which have appeared. 21 A general, physical geography of Afghanistan is the work by Johannes Humlum, La geographie de Y Afghanistan (Copenhagen, 1959). On the historical M. Streck, Die alte Landschaft Babylonien nach den Vorderasiens," in 10. Internationaler Kongreß für arabischen Geographen (Leiden, 1900). Namenforschung, (Vienna, 1969), 123-30 15 Text, ed. by ManQchehr Sotodeh (Tehran, 20 Y. M. Nawabi, ed., A Bibliography oflran, 2 1340/1962), trans. with notes by V. Minorsky vols. (Tehran, 1969 and 1971); A. Abolhamid and (London, 1937). The MS is now in Leningrad and N. Pakdaman, Bibliographie francaise de Civilisation was published in facsimile by V. Bartold (Lenin- Iranienne, 3 vols. (Tehran, 1972-74); A. Kazemi, grad, 1930). "Addenda" to the book were pub- Iran Bibliographie, Deutschsprachige Abhandlungen, lished by V. Minorsky in the BSOAS, 17 (1955), Dissertationen, usw. (Tehran, 1970). In Persian are 250-270. the valuable Fihrist Kitäbhäye chäpl Farsl, ed. by 16 V. Minorsky, ed., Abu-Dulaf Mis'ar ibn Kh. Moshär, 5 vols. (Tehran, 1972-77) an index of Muhalhil's Travels in Iran, circa A.D. 950 (Cairo U. printed books, as well as the Fihrist-e maqalat-e Press, 1955) and P. G. Bulgakov and A. B. Fürst, ed. by I. Afshär (Tehran, 1961), which is an Khalidov, eds., Vtoraya zapiska Abu Dulafa (Mos- index of articles published in Persian from 1910- cow, 1960). 58, Two other works in Persian by I. Afshär are 17 Fol 1. 19a, line 23 of Muh. b Najib Bakran, useful, the Bibliography of Bibliographies on Iranian Dzhahan-name, ed. by Yu. Borshchevskii (Mos- Studies (Tehran, 1964), and Directory for Iranian cow, 1960), also ed. by M. Amin RiyähT (Tehran, Studies (Tehran, 1971). Other bibliographies exist 1964), 82. m profusion, but noteworthy is W. G. Oxtoby, Storey's work was published in London in Ancient Iran and Zoroastrianism in Festschriften fascicules (1927-72), and the enlarged translation (Pahlavi University, Shiraz, 1974), and the Russian Persidskaya Literatura, ed by Yu. Bregel and Yu. language Bibliografiya po geografii Irana by M. P. Borshchevskii in 3 vols. (Moscow, 1972). Petrov (Ashkabad, 1955), an annotated A. Gabriel, Die Erforschung Persiens (Wien, bibliography. 1952). There is not space here to mention many 2I The three provinces or areas covered in the special, detailed studies on historical geography, three published volumes are Badakhshan (Graz, but the articles by W. Eilers on this subject should 1972) Farah and Southwestern Afghanistan (Graz, be noted, "Der Name Demawend," /lO, 22 (1954), 1973) and Herat and Northwestern Afghanistan 267-374 and 24 (1956), 183-224, and "Zur (Graz, 1975), all compiled from British-Indian Ortsnamengebung und Ortsnamen-Forschung gazeteers. 4 Chapter I geography of the area, the same sources mentioned above for Iran also apply to the east, but the works of Markwart, notably his Wehrot und Arang (Leiden, 1 938), are particularly useful for this part of the world. A special study of Ptolemy's geography by Italo Ronca, and the relevant chapters of Bartold's Istoriko- geograficheskii obzot Irana are noteworthy. 22 Also V. Bartold's Turkestan down to the Mongol Invasion (London, 1968) Covers northern Afghanistan as well as Central Asia. Sources: In addition to the Classical sources listed for Iran, especially Herodotus, Strabo, Pliny and Isidore, particular mention must be made of the historians of Alexander's campaign, for they give a few items of geographical Information not found elsewhere. 23 Unfortunately, Indian texts give us no help, and even the geography of Varahamihira, except for names of tribes in the north west of the subcontinent, is too vague to be of much value. 2 * More informative are Chinese sources, especially the life and the travels of Buddhist monks or laymen such as Fa-hsien (c. 400 B.c.), Sung-yUn (c. 518) and especially Hsüan-tsang (629 B.c.). 25 These travel accounts, however, frequently give us names which are difficult to identify in non-Chinese texts. In addition to the accounts of travellers, the dynastic histories of China also have a modicum of geographical information about lands comprising present-day Afghanistan. Most of the sections about Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia in those texts fortunately have been translated into European languages thus making them available to those who do not read classical Chinese. The oldest account comes from an embassy sent by the Chinese court starting about 138 B.c. headed by Ch'ang Ch'ien, whose account was incorporated in the history of the former Han dynasty (Ch'ien Han Shu). 26 The annals of the later Han dynasty, the Hou Han Shu, do not add much to the account of the western regions in the annals of the former Han. 27 Later dynastic histories such as the Wei-Ho and the Chou Shu, give additional information. 28 Even later Chinese sources are still useful for the earlier historical geography of the western regions (in Chinese eyes), such as the voyage of another Buddhist monk Huei- cha o about 726 A.D., and the later dynastic histories of the Sui and Tang. 29 The same geographical books in Arabic and Persian, mentioned above, also contain information about Afghanistan, but the Hudud al-ä'latn is especially detailed. Since the mountainous regions of Afghanistan were converted to Islam long after the Arab conquests in Iran, several later histories relating to Afghanistan are more valuable for the earlier historical geography than one would expect. These are the 22 Italo Ronco, Ptolemaios, Geographie 6, 9-21, Ostiran und Zentralasien (Rome, 1971). See also A. Berthelot, L'Asie ancienne centrale et sud-orientale d'apres Ptolemke (Paris, 1930). 23 The principal sources are Arrian, Diodorus Siculus and Quintus Curtius, all available in either the Loeb or Teubner series of Classical texts. In the appendices to W. Tarn's The Creeks in Bactria and India (Cambridge, 1951), many geographical questions are discussed. 24 H. Kern, ed., The Brihat Sanhita, Bibliotheca Indica, 48 (Calcutta, 1865), also ed. by S. Dvivedi (Benares, 1895-7), Sanskrit Brihatsamhitä . Trans, into English by Kern in JRAS, new series 4 (1 869), 430-79; 5 (1870), 45-90, esp. eh. 14 on the division of the globe 81-86; 6 (1872), 279-338; 7 (1874), 81-134. 25 Classical Chinese texts are available in many printings and only translations are mentioned here. For Fa-hsien and Sung-yUn see S. Beal, Travels of Fah-hian and Sung-yun (London, 1869), also his translation of 77ie Life of Hiuen-Tsiang (London, 191 1). The best translation of Sung-yUn, however, is by E. Chavannes in the BEFEO, 3, no. 3 (Hanoi, 1903). For Hsüan-tsang's travels the translation by T. Watters, On Yuang Chwang's Travels, 2 vols. (London, 1904) is better than Beal's (London, 1884). 26 The Ch'ien Han Shu, relevant chapters have been translated by J. J. deGroot in Chinesische Urkunden zur Geschichte Asiens, die Westlande Chinas in der vorchristlichen Zeit (Berlin, 1926), 9- 19. Also trans. by F. Hirth, "The Story of Chang K'ien," JAOS, 37 (1917), 89-162. 27 E. Chavannes, "Les pays d'Occident d'apres le Heou han Chou," TP (1907), 149-234. The translations of Iakinf Bichurin into Russian of this and other Chinese accounts are outdated: N. Ya. Bichurin, Sobranie svedenii o narodakh obitavshikh v Srednei Azii, 3 vols. (Moscow, 1950-53) also his Sobranie svedenii po istoricheskoi geografii vostochnoi i srednoi Azii (Cheboksarai, 1960), both reprints. The same is true of the old French translations of Chinese texts by S. Julien. 28 E. Chavannes, "Les pays d'oeeident d'apres le Wei-lio," TP (1905), 519-71; R. A. Miller, Accounts of Western Nations in the History of the Northern Chou Dynasty (Berkeley, 1959). 29 For the monk see W. Fuchs, "Huei-cha o's Pilgerreise durch Nordwestindien and Zenral- Asien um 726," Sb PAW, 30 (1938), 426-69. For the histories, the collection and translations in E. Chavannes, Documents sur les Tou-kiue (Turcs) Occidentaux (St. Petersburg, 1900; reprinted Paris, 1946), esp. the discussion of sources on the "western countries", pp. 99-100, is very useful. Geographica Survey 5 history of Gardlzland that of JazjänT, both of whom were natives of the area. 30 There are no extant local histories of Kabul, Qandahar, Ghazna, Bamiyan or other cities, although Balkh has a local history which gives very little ancient history or topography of the surroundings. 31 Finally, European travel accounts occasionally contain items of value for the historical geography of the land. Archaeology has been the monopoly of the French until after World War II, and the series MDAFA contains much valuable Information, while the latest information about archaeology may be found in the Journal Afghanistan, published in English or French by the Historical Society of Afghanistan. Several bibliographies of Afghanistan exist which are useful for specific references in modern literature, and together they offer good coverage of writings on the land. 32 Literature: Central Asia, general : There are no gazetteers as above, but rather lists of place names as in B. Volostnov, Slovar geograficheskikh nazvanii SSSR (Moscow, 1968) and S. V. Kalesnik, Entsiklopedicheskii Slovar geograficheskikh nazvanii (Moscow, 1973). For each of the Transcaucasian and Central Asian republics of the USSR there exists a general geography, in the series Souetskii Soyuz, and some of these books have been translated into English in abbreviated form, but only the Russian Originals should be consulted; for Uzbekistan, see Korzhenevskii, N. L., Uzbekskaya SSR (Moscow, Geografgiz, 1956); for Turkmenistan, Z. G. Freikin, Turkmenskaya SSR (Moscow, 1957). and for Tajikistan, I. K. Narzikulov, Tadzhikskaya SSR (Moscow, 1956). 33 For older works see the bibliography in I. M. Kaufman, Geograficheskie Slovari i bibliografiya (Moscow, 1964). Sources: The same Classical sources which have been mentioned above are also relevant for Central Asia, especially Herodotus, Strabo and Ptolemy. Particularly to be noted for this area is Ctesias, who constantly must be checked, however, with other sources. 34 Among secondary publications, the works of Markwart are indispensable for anyone studying the historical geography of Central Asia. In addition to Wehrot und Arang (Leiden, 1938), the continuation ofthat book, printed in two articles, as well as an earlier study of Tomaschek, are noteworthy. 35 The Islamic and Chinese sources for the historical geography of Central Asia are the same as those mentioned for Afghanistan. The pioneering work of V. Bartold, Turkestan down to the Mongol Invasion, as well as Minorsky's notes to his translation of the Hudad al-'älam, are both very informative. For archaeology in Central Asia and the Transcaucasus, the yearly reports of field work, Arkheologicheskie Otkrytiya, ed. by B. A. Rybakov for the year 1975 (Moscow, 1976), as well as the Journal Sovetskaya Arkheohgiya, are indispensable reference works. Most of the republics have their own surveys of archaeological work done within the borders of the republic every year, as, for example, Arkheologicheskie Raboty v Tadzhikistane, vypusk II (Dushanbe, 1975). Other publications of value for the geography of Central Asia are the series of the Vostochnaya Komissiya geograficheskogo Obshchestva SSSR, called Strany i Narody Vostoka, vol. 1 6 of which (Moscow, 1 975) is devoted entirely to the Pamirs, also the Trudy and the Materialy of the Khorezmskoi Ekspeditsii and the same for Turkmenistan in the Yuzhno-Turkmenistanskoi 30 'Abd al-Hayy Hablbl, ed., Zain al-akhbär of 33 There are other books in series with useful GardTzI (Tehran, 1969), esp. the final chapters; he information, such as the general survey of each also edited the Jabaaat-e Naslrl of JnzjänT (Kabul, republic, e.g., D. A. Chumichev, Tadzhikistan 1965) in two vols., the second with notes. (Moscow, 1968), on climate, physical features, 31 See the Fadäi'l-e Balkh, ed. by 'A. HablbT production, etc. Also the Atlas Tadzhik SSR (Tehran, 1972). The contemporary book on (Moscow, 1 968) has historical, as well as contem- Qandahar by Muh. Wali Dzalmai (Kabul, 1973) porary, maps. The Atlas of Uzbekistan, on the does give geographical information, but it is other hand, is quite poor. written in Pashto. 34 See F. W. König, Die Persika des Ktesias von 32 T. I. Kukhtina.ed., Bibliografiya Afghanistana, Knidos (Graz, 1972), and several articles by I. V. literatura na Russkom Yazyke (Moscow, 1 965) ; W. Pyankov in the VD1, such as "Svedeniya Ktesiya o Kraus, ed., Bibliographie der Afghanistan-Literatur vladeniyakh Bardii na vostoke Irana," no. 4 (1961), 1945-1967, Teil 1, Literatur in Europäischen 98-103, "Istoriya Persii Ktesiya i sredneaziatskie Sprachen (Hamburg, 1 968), and Teil 2, Literatur satrapii Akhemenidov," VDI, no. 2 (1 965), 35-50. in persischer Sprache und Paschtu, ed. by G. Knabe 35 Markwart, "Die Sogdiana des Ptolemaios," (Hamburg, 1971); D. Wilber, Annotated Bibli- Orientalia, 14 (1945), 123-49,and 15 (1946),286- ography of Afghanistan (New Haven, 1968); E. 323; W. Tomaschek, "Zentralasiatische Studien" Naby, Recent Books about Afghanistan 1968-1973 Sb WAW, 87 (1877). (Afghanistan Council, The Asia Society, New York, 1973). 6 Chapter I arkheohgicheskoi kompleksnoi ekspeditsii. 36 Central Asia is also well-represented in the series Matetialy i issledovaniya po arkheologii SSSR. The vast field of archaeology, of course, cannot be covered and individual publications will be mentioned in the succeeding chapters relative to particular questions. City histories are also of value for the historical geography of these lands, and the most famous in Central Asia is the history of Bukhara by Narshakhi in Persian (Storey-Bregel, 1108), while the counterpart for Samarqand, known as al-Qandiyya (1112) does not contain pre-Islamic information as does Narshakhi. Other local histories of Bukhara or Samarqand are too recent to have information relevant to ancient history or geography. The memoirs of the first Moghul emperor, Babur, contain a geographical sketch of the Ferghana Valley and surroundings (828, 1 187). Other texts, unfortunately, are of little or no value for ancient times. A word should be added about maps, since now very detailed aerial maps exist for most of Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia, but, unfortunately, access to them is frequently difficult. For example, the photomaps of Afghanistan, prepared for the government ofthat country by Fairchild Aerial Surveys of Los Angeles (or Teledyne Geotronics), have a scale of 1 : 50,000 and show surprising details, but they are not available for general use. A stereo-topographic survey of Afghanistan in 1959, produced maps of 1 :100,000, printed in 1960. For ordinary purposes, however, maps of 1 :1 ,000,000 are adequate, and these exist in many editions for the entire area. The various Soviet republics have such maps, published by the Glavnoe Upravlenie geodezii i kartografii gos. geologicheskago komiteta SSSR, in Moscow in the 1960's, while the U.S. Army Map Service, Corps of Engineers has available a series of world road maps. The German Army maps, made in the 1930's are also very good for topographical details over the entire area. Unfortunately, no good atlases or series of maps on the ancient history of Iran, Afghanistan or Central Asia exist, and many ancient names cannot be identified with present sites, but at least we are much better informed about geography today than only a few decades ago. THE ENTIRE AREA It is no exaggeration to say that rugged mountains and barren deserts have conditioned the lives of Iranians on the Iranian plateau and in Central Asia perhaps more than have similar conditions for other peoples. For the mountains and deserts have divided and separated the people more than rivers or lakes, and consequently many peoples, many languages and dialects and ways of life have developed in isolated Valleys. Geography is vitally important for a study and understanding of this part of the world. A common feature of most of the areas under discussion here (modern Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan) is that they all are on a plateau or series of plateaus, the middle parts of which have the lowest altitudes, while the highest mountain ranges are on the peripheries. Rivers and streams drain into the central depressions, frequently forming salt lakes or dried lake beds which are deserts today. The greatest contrast in height and depth is found between the highest peak of the Elburz ränge, Mt. Demavend (5604 m.) and the Caspian Sea, less than 100 km. to the north, which is below sea level. Both the Elburz ränge in the north and the Zagros ränge to the west, branch off from the Caucasus in the northwest of Iran, the former extending to the east and the latter to the southeast, with many Valleys and mountain offshoots. In the east the Elburz ränge becomes lower with one series of mountains continuing into Afghanistan, while another branch, of less altitude, extends south to the depression of Seistan. The main characteristic of the Iranian plateau is the drainage of rivers into salt lakes 36 The southern Turkmen expeditions have a tematike yuzhna-Turkmanistanskoi arkh. komp. eksp. bibliography of writings about them from 1949- Akademii Nauk Turkmen. SSR (Ashkhabad, 1970). 69, Perechcn ' opublikovannykh rabot i materialov po Geographica Survey 7 or into the sands in the interior. Other than the Caspian Sea, the largest lake in the world, the sah lake of Urmia (formerly Rezaiye) is the main place of drainage for streams in Azerbaijan. Other lakes are seasonal, spreading over large areas at the end of Winter and almost vanishing at the end of summer. Such are the Darya-ye Namak (Salt Lake) east of Qom, the Bakhtegan lake south of Persepolis and Maharlu lake south of Shiraz. In the east, the Hamun in Seistan receives the water of the Helmand River, while other seasonal lakes are much smaller. It is possible that in antiquity all over Iran more water was available than in recent times, and certainly in many regions, such as the mountains of Fars, the Vegetation and number of trees were greater than today. But on the whole the land is much the same today as it was 3000 years ago, in both temperatures and landscape. Water and Vegetation are and were more plentiful in Azerbaijan than elsewhere, except on the Caspian Sea coast, and the land becomes more arid as one goes south and east, where extensive irrigation was and is necessary for cultivation. The creation and extension of the Underground canal system for irrigation, called qanat in Iran and karez in Afghanistan and Central Asia, developed probably at the beginning of the first millennium b.c., according to some archaeologists, enabled people to move out upon the plains from mountain Valleys, thus enabling a larger population to develop. 37 It is conceivable that the spread of the Iranians on the plateau was aided by the qanat irrigation System, but in any case the spread of both occurred roughly at the same time. Afghanistan and Central Asia have much the same geographical features as Iran, except the eastern part of Afghanistan, which lies in the drainage zone of the Indus River basin. Yet even here, in the relation of the mountain highlands of the Hindukush ränge to the plains of India, we have a parallel with the Zagros ränge in the west and the plains of Mesopotamia. Internal lakes, into which streams drain, are fewer, smaller and generally higher in altitude in Afghanistan than in Iran. In that part of Central Asia where Iranians in the past established extensive Settlements (present Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan), rivers, on the whole, drained into the Caspian or Aral Seas. North of these three areas streams fed the seasonal Lake Balkash and the deep Issyk Kul. The vast steppe lands to the north, however, placed limits on Iranian settlement in that distant region. The general picture of the entire area of Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia is the same for all, mountains on the edges and in the middle lands sloping from the mountain ranges, with drainage into internal seas, lakes or marshes. Deserts and general aridity also characterize the entire area, which, for the most part, has a Continental climate, except for the narrow bands of land which are adjacent to the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf, or the plains of India. Since geography has played such an important role in the history of this part of the world, a more detailed local survey is appropriate. We Start with the area of present Iran, then Afghanistan, and finally Central Asia. 7 On the origins of the important qanat System, Annales: honomies-societe's-cwilisations, 18 (Paris, see P. W. English, The Origin and Spread of 1962), 499-520. B. Brentjes, "Studien zum Bewäs- Qanats in the Old World," Proceedings of the serungsackerbau," Schriften zur Geschichte und American Philosophical Society, 112 (Philadelphia, Kultur des alten Orients, 11, AF, 1 (1974), 53-4, 1 968), 1 70-81 , and H. Goblot, "Dans l'ancien Iran, suggests that qanats are an Urartian discovery. les techniques de l'eau et la grande histoire," g Chapter I IRAN Since Persis (OP Parsa, NP Fars) was the center from which both the Achaemenid and the Sasanian dynasties arose, we can Start with the geography of this part of Iran. Fars can be described best as a series of Steps leading from the Persian Gulf to the central deserts of Iran, with the largest and most fertile step or piain being that of present Marvdasht where the ruins of Persepolis stand. It was in the rieh Valleys running northwest to southeast between ridges of the Zagros ränge, that the human resources were found several times to expand and create empires. The average annual rainfall of 350 mm. at Shiraz, compared with over a thousand mm. along the Caspian Sea coast, indicates the relative aridity of the south. Nonetheless, the altitude of the mountain Valleys, plus water from melting snows provided sufficient water for irrigation, thus enabling a sizable population to live in the broad Valleys. The mountains between Pasargadae and Abadeh (the latter still included in Fars) in the past have provided a barrier for Communications with the north. The salt and swamp depression, leading from east of modern Abarqu southeast to the pass east of Darab, also provided a natural barrier isolating Fars from the rest of the plateau. The boundaries of Fars, of course, varied at different times because of political events, more than sketched above, but the geographical boundaries can be determined as encompassing the land between the Persian Gulf and the mountains on the north and the salt depression in the east. The salt depression, of course, was nothing like the central deserts of Kavir and Lut, but it was nonetheless an inhospitable band of land varying from 50 to 100 km. in width and descending to 400 m. above sea level east of Darab. Settlements in Fars, as elsewhere on the plateau, were primarily in oases where water was obtainable for raising vegetables and gardens. These Settlements were either in the warm district (garmslr) or in the cold district (sardslr), aecording to the classical Islamic geographers. By this they meant that a settlement could grow either tropical plants or trees (such as date palms) or temperate ones (apples, pear trees). The oases, of course, could be large or small, but the character of an oasis is determined by the availablility of water. In some plains or broad Valleys a succession of small Settlements or oases flourished, while in others water was led to a central town, and throughout history the site of this town might vary from place to place. The Marvdasht region is really a series of connecting plains separated by individual mountains but not by ranges. In other words, one could travel from Malyan tepe (in the Baida district), the site of the ancient Elamite city of Anshan, to Persepolis, continuing to the Bakhtegan salt lake in the south without crossing any mountain pass. To go to Pasargadae from this piain, however, meant following a river, at times through gorges, to climb to a higher altitude where it was much colder in winter. The piain and rolling hüls around Pasargadae were better suited for shepherds than for settled folk, and this region, in any case, was the last eultivated area before one reached the mountains of Fars to the north, which were not high but wide and with little Vegetation. From Marvdasht (alt. 1737 m.) to the west one descended, passing over mountain ranges, to the next and lower step on the plateau, the present Shiraz- Käwar-Khafr-Jahrum series of plains going south, or Shiraz-Guyum-Ardakan to the north. Again no high mountain passes break up this chain of Valleys or plains, and the drainage of water is also into a salt lake, called today Maharlu, to the south of Shiraz. Geographica Suruey 9 The altitudes of Settlements also are lower towards the south, from c. 2212 m. at Ardakan to c. 1600 m. at Shiraz and 1065 m. at Jahrum. Three side plains were located southeast of Maharlu lake, that of Sarvistan (alt. c. 1645 m.), Fasa (c. 1560 m.) and Darab (c. 1 1 88 m.). The altitudes are important to show the descent from a higher northern part of the step to a lower one. The next step towards the Gulf was down to the plains of Firuzabad (c. 1350 m.), Kazerun (c. 815 m.), Fahliyan (886 m.) and even lower, Behbehan (335 m.), actually in Khuzistan province, where the greatest altitude, unlike the other steps, is reversed, descending from south to north. After this, we find mountain ranges going down to sea level on the Persian Gulf. Only the coastal piain of Borazjan-Bushire is wide enough for extensive Settlements, depending primarily on the date palm as their major agricultural product. In the south of Fars a few isolated Valleys, which have never supported a large population, have served as way stations for merchants travelling from the Gulf to northern centers. The most important valley is that of Khunj-Ivaz— Lar (909 m.) where even today local dialects are spoken, an indication of its isolation from the rest of Fars. Thus, Fars itself is isolated on all sides, from the mountains rising from the Gulf to the great altitude drop in the Bandar 'Abbas depression east of Darab and the sah desert band east of Abarqu and north and east of Darab. The cohesion of this part of Iran, seen also in the dialects which constitute a unity with modern Persian, strikes the traveller in comparison with other parts of the country. None of the rivers here are navigable, and mountains dominate the landscape. Also the people, especially in villages, seem less variegated than elsewhere in Iran, probably the result of the isolation. Finally, because of the variety of climate, altitudes and large tracts fit only for herding, traditionally Fars has been a province with the greatest variety of migrating nomads in all of Iran. Nomadism seems to have flourished here from early times, and the relatively short distances from summer to winter quarters, just as on the eastern rim of the plateau in Afghanistan and the plains of India, have encouraged the development of nomadic life. The same Situation, of course, also obtained in the present day province of Khuzistan where nomads moved in the summer from the plains of Mesopotamia onto the Zagros ränge, and this has been a constant feature of the history of this province. The navigable Karun River, widest in Iran, flows through the province, but it must be remembered that the land to the south of Ahwaz, to the Gulf, was not occupied in historic times, except along the river banks, whereas north of Ahwaz the land was fertile and heavily cultivated. A number of tributaries of the Karun make Khuzistan a well-watered province. Here was located the Elamite city of Susa, and other ancient towns, and since this region is an extension of the plains of Mesopotamia to the east, influences from the west always have been strong. The wide mountainous tract to the north and east of Khuzistan is Luristan, where the population is and was different from the people on the plains. Luristan, however, was not like Fars, with wide and long plains between the mountains, but rather many small and narrow Valleys with a variety of Settlements separated from each other. Also roads pass through Luristan, connecting the plains with the plateau, corridors of trade. Thus, the geography of Luristan, unlike Fars, was not conducive to the unity of the people inhabiting this large area. Furthermore, control of Luristan from the outside was always difficult and nominal. 10 Chapter I The only centers of population which could expand, were in Valleys on the edges of Luristan, such as present Borujird. Khurramabad, on the other hand, was important rather for its Strategie location on a trade route to the plains of Khuzistan. Settlements might vary in location frorn age to age, but there was not much livable space between the mountains for great displacements of people. Even as today, Luristan in the past provided summer quarters for the inhabitants of the piain seeking to escape the excessive heat. We find a similar Situation in the northern Zagros mountains, in Kurdistan and Azerbaijan, while the ancient road from Babylon to Khurasan in the east, sometimes called the 'Silk Route,' was a dividing line between Luristan and Kurdistan. The latter, comprising the mountainous areas from Kermanshah north to Lake Urmia at present shows an interesting linguistic division between Kurdish and Turkish Speakers. In the mountains to the west of the valley of the Simin and Zirineh Rivers, where the present-day towns of Mahabad, Saqqiz and Bijar are found, the population is Kurdish- speaking, while in the lower areas, the line of towns from present Miyandoab south through Takab, and in the mountains to the east, the population is Turkish-speaking. It is doubtful whether this present split represents an ancient division rather than being the result of political and other factors. One may rather consider the entire area of Kurdistan and Azerbaijan as a geographic whole, with more of a significant geographical division existing in the mountains between the Van and Urmia lakes than between the Valleys inside of Azerbaijan. Geographically speaking, lake Urmia can be considered a link rather than a barrier between the eastern and western parts of Azerbaijan, and the land along the western shore of the lake from Urmia through Salmas, then north to Khoi and Maku presents no great geographical barrier to the movement of peoples. It is curious that, regardless of political controls and divisions, the ethnic boundary between Armenians and Iranians, in Sasanian times if not earlier, was the line of hüls separating the present district of Urmia from Salmas, and generally this seems to have been the border between the Urartians and the Manneans before the Coming of the Armenians and Iranians. It must be remembered that routes of communication in antiquity did not necessarily follow modern highways, since wheeled vehicles were very little in use in Iran; instead pack animals, such as donkeys, mules and cameis, carried merchandise over mountain passes and plains. Nonetheless, the pack animals followed the lines of least resistance, and the modern road from Mt. Ararat and Maku in the northwest through Tabriz, Mianeh, Qazvin, Tehran, Semnan and to Khurasan, was the main trade artery together with the branch which descended from the plateau at Hamadan through Kermanshah to the plains of Mesopotamia. Since these were also the routes of invasion and conquest from earliest times, the populations along these routes were variegated and did not present the same unity of peoples along them as, for example, the inhabitants of Fars. Control of the 'Silk Route' to the east and of the branch through Azerbaijan to the Black Sea, would ensure control of most of the Iranian plateau, and this control was necessary to maintain an empire, or even unity over the plateau. In Azerbaijan present Settlements along the route, such as Marand, Tabriz, and Mianeh, were also ancient centers, showing the continuity of routes from antiquity. Other towns such as Maragheh, Ardabil and Ahar are not on important routes of communication but owed their importance on the whole to agriculture. It is Geographical Survey li richer in Azerbaijan than elsewhere on the plateau because of the relative abundance of Underground water, as well as streams from melting snow on the mountains, not to mention the soil itself, in many places lava from now extinct volcanoes. One area of Azerbaijan is different from the rest, and that is the low-lying steppe of Mughan, which served in later times as a winter camping ground for the Mongols and Turkish nomads. This lowland, which continues north across the Aras River, was the division in the northeast between Iranian Speakers and the land and people known as Aghvan to Armenians, Arran to the Arabs and Albania to the Greeks. Since this was non-Iranian land in the north we need not describe it. The eastern boundary of Azerbaijan was not the Caspian Sea but rather the high mountains along the coast with a narrow band of coastline which is part of the Caspian provinces, with a landscape very different from the rest of Iran. Those provinces are Talysh, Gilan and Mazandaran. The coastal area of Gilan, including Iranian Talysh, is roughly 225 km. long from north west to southeast and the width varies from 1 5 km. or less in the Talysh area of Astara to over 100 km. by Rasht. The actual piain, however, excluding foothills, is even narrower, varying from a few hundred meters near Astara to 45 km. at Rasht. On the Caspian side of the Elburz mountains are many trees, thick underbrush, called locally a jangal. To the east both water and Vegetation decrease, but many streams descend from the mountains to the Caspian, making Communications along the shore difhcult. Just as in the west the delta of the Safid Rud and its tributaries provided a flat agricultural area for development, with its center at Rasht, so in the east the Haraz and Babol Rivers with many tributaries made the piain of Mazandaran a center of population. But in the east, unlike the west, the piain continues further, to the east of the Caspian Sea, forming the wider piain of Gurgan, ancient Hyrcania. Mazandaran and Gurgan were linked in history, and both were open to invasion from the steppes of Central Asia. The jungles of well-watered Gilan and Mazandaran give way, however, to the forests of the hüls of Gurgan, and the mountains to the south did shield the inhabitants of the Caspian provinces from penetration from the south. Archaeology has uncovered remains of ancient cultures in sites such as Marlik, Kaluraz and Kalardasht, located in the northern foothills, or even in the higher Valleys of the Elburz mountains. It is unlikely that the marshes and jungles of the plains were much inhabited in early times, but the hüls were fertile and watered, enabling people to live there. It has not been possible to determine by archaeology when the Caspian plains were settled, but probably by the Achaemenid period Settlements were being established on the plains. Much like India, the lowlands of the Caspian were invaded, but the reverse, an expansion from the lowlands to the mountains and onto the plateau, was rare. The southern sides of the Elburz mountains on the plateau are the opposite of the north where winds drop their moisture, as they try to cross the lofty ränge. The aridity of the southern slopes is progressive, however, for the further south one goes from the Elburz the less moisture is found. Therefore, the band of land from the mountains, one might say from Hamadan through Qazvin, Tehran to Semnan and Damghan, is, and has been, the most practical route of communication from west to east. Settlements are found on the route where water is available, and this is the main reason for the continuous existence from ancient times of a town at Hamadan, where 12 Chapter I Springs and streams from Mt. Alvand bring water. Likewise at Qazvin not only do streams bring water from the nearby mountains, but the Strategie location as a crossroads to the Caspian provinces, to Azerbaijan, to Hamadan and to the east, insures the continuous existence of a town from antiquity. Further, at Semnan but especially at Damghan, which is probably a much older site, the presence of water enables Settlements to flourish. North of Damghan the copious spring, today called Chashmeh-ye 'Ali, undoubtedly provided water for early settlement on the piain, first at Hekatompylos (present ruins of Qumis) and later at Damghan. Thus along the trade route to the east, access to water provided the means of settlement. The same is true of the road south to Fars along the edge of the Kavir salt desert. At Kashan the spring of water at Fin, in the mountains to the southwest of the present city, provided a similar basis for ancient settlement as at the area of Damghan. On the edge of mountains with streams leading down to the central salt depressions of Iran, ancient man established himself. The large oasis of Isfahan, however, was watered by the Zayandeh River. All of the prineipal Settlements were and are about 1000 m. in altitude or higher, for the depressions where streams on the interior of the plateau debouched are salt marshes where life is not possible. The main settled part of the western Iranian plateau, comprising the area of Hamadan-Qazvin-Tehran-Isfahan, was frequently under a single political administration, since there were no great obstacles to communication between these cities. The southeastern part of Iran, however, is more difhcult of access, and is also more arid. The same pattern of settlement prevailed here as in the north; wherever streams descended from the mountains, or springs existed, settled human life was possible. The mountains of the center of the land, however, are not as high as the Elburz or Zagros ranges. The present city of Kerman lies 1860 m. above sea level and is separated from the Lut desert to the north by a ränge of mountains, while a former capital of the province, Sirjan, is 1650 m. high. Because of the altitude, summers are not so intolerable as one might expect in an area in the south. Because it is south, however, in the lowlands date palms, mango trees and other tropical plants may be found. East of present day Kerman city, however, the land slopes to 1000 m. at Bam and then much lower to the east of Bam in the desert sands. Historically, as well as geographically, the Lut desert and the sands to the east of Bam have divided the Iranian plateau into its western and eastern parts, the latter of which continues into present Afghanistan and Pakistan. The only parts of the eastern part of the modern country of Iran which sustained settled populations in the past are Seistan and the Bampur valley of Baluchistan in the south. Seistan is the large piain into which the Helmand River from the mountains of Afghanistan empties, and it lies under 1000 m. above sea level, and in parts even down to 300 m. The wind is especially strong here and a local summer wind of '120 days' shapes the sand and creates dunes. But the overflow of water from the Helmand in the spring creates large reed marshes or shallow lakes, called hamun or "piain." The number and size of these hamuns varies aecording to the season and also depending on the amount of water brought by the Farah and Helmand Rivers from the snow on the mountains. The Seistan depression is large in area, most of which lies within the borders of present Afghanistan. To the north of the Seistan depression, and east of Qaen, is a similar but considerably smaller depression called the Namaksar where salt marshes or lakes block Communications Geographica Survey 13 between east and west. Here, as usual on the plateau, Settlements are at high altitudes to the west of the depression, with Birjand 1490 m. and Turbat-e Haidariyeh 1370 m. It is clear that human habitation in antiquity as today flourished primarily on streams on the slopes of mountain ranges, for the drainage basins of small streams were saline. The large basin of Seistan, however, was an exception, since the water from rivers was ample enough to provide a source of livelihood in fish and fowl, as well as water for irrigation. Nonetheless, Seistan always must have fluctuated between years of plenty and years of scarcity, with salinity an ever present threat to overcome. A similar Situation may be found in Baluchistan where the drainage of several small rivers, such as the Bampur River, is into the salt lake of Jaz Muryan. In antiquity, as at present, Settlements were found along the rivers, the Halil River to the west, descending from the Kerman mountains, and the Bampur in the east. In neither, however, did any centers of population exist, since the land was too barren and unproductive to sustain many people. The Makran mountains down to the coast are about as unhospitable a landscape as may be found anywhere on earth, and not until the Indus River Valley in the east can any extensive land for cultivation be found. One may characterize all of Baluchistan, from the Kerman highlands to the Indus River, as a kind of refuge area where people retreated, either driven out of more favorable land, or simply fleeing to maintain a free and unattached life, albeit one of great hardships. The only trees to be found are palm trees in oases, together with mangroves, and occasionally tamarisk and other bushes elsewhere. The climate is exceedingly hot in the summer and is not conducive to any human activity. The coastal plains, varying in width from a few kilometers up to 100 at Bushire and a similar extent at Bandar 'Abbas and Minab, usually have had a minimum of contact with the interior, but rather communication has been across the sea. Fishing and date palms provide sustenance for the small population able to eke out a livelihood from the surroundings. The mountains and deserts which separate the coasts from the towns on the interior of the plateau are formidable barriers to commerce and Communications, and only at Bushire and at Bandar 'Abbas have seaports existed which served the hinterland as outlets for trading goods. Just as the southern ports have served as entrepöts for seaborn trade, so on the northeastern frontier of Khurasan towns on the edge of the desert have served as places of entry for nomads and merchants with caravans coming across the Kara Kum desert. The Valleys between the two ranges of mountains, the Turkmen or Kopet Dagh ränge in the north, forming the present boundary between Iran and Turkmenistan, and the southern Khurasan or Binalud ränge north of Nishapur, are relatively fertile and well watered by Underground canals from the mountains. Human settlement in this region is old, and locations of ancient towns are almost predictable, as for example, at Tus or Meshhed, or at Isfarain, a fertile valley in the mountains. The mountains of Khurasan are not high and passes through them are frequent. On the northern slopes of the Turkmen ränge lies the ancient Parthian city of Nisa, near present day Ashkabad, and seemingly from ancient times a settlement in this region (as at Anau) has served as a center of trade along an east-west axis. Southern Turkmenistan, both geographically as well as historically, is an extension of the Iranian plateau in the north, and the same features of aridity and Settlements where water is found apply here. 14 Chapter I The natural resources of Iran are many, but in antiquity few were exploited. In antiquity copper was mined, one might better say stripped from on, or just below, the surface, in the central deserts of Iran at Anarak and north of Kerman. Metallurgy developed in Iran early with alloys of copper, such as bronze, soon superceding copper. Tin was mined in Azerbaijan near Tabriz while lead, zinc, and iron were found in the mountains of Khurasan and Kerman. Gold and silver were also mined in antiquity, all of which made Iran a source of metals for craftsmen all over the Near East. Local craftsmen made Iran famous for its luxury arts and crafts throughout history, and textiles, rugs and ceramics were items of trade in the past as at present. Wood too was important for the crafts as well as for building, and one may assume that the mountain slopes were more covered with trees in antiquity than today, although no great changes in climate or water supply can be detected. The area of present day Iran is vast with many differences in climate and soil, from the jungles of Gilan to the lifeless mountains and deserts of Baluchistan. On the plateau the climate is Continental with cold winters and hot summers, and settled life flourished in sheltered Valleys where a water supply was available. Only on the edges of the plateau did this pattern vary. On the south Caspian coast and in Khuzistan ample rainfall enabled rice and other subtropical foodstuffs to grow. Yet the intense summer heat in Khuzistan makes any activity there virtually impossible for months of the year. The southern seacoast, extending to the Indus River, is too arid to produce anything except bare subsistence for a small population. On the plateau we find what one may describe as oasis Settlements, either a series of small oases, or villages or urban centers with surroundings, such as Isfahan or Shiraz. The urban center may be more or less stationary because the water supply is constant, such as in the city of Hamadan. Or the city may shift its location over centuries, such as Nishapur. Also the names of cities appear and disappear or change. Sometimes the name of a town vanished while the district retained the name of the town, such as Qumis (Komisene) in Khurasan. Identifications of archaeological sites thus present problems, although, as noted above, the possibilities of ancient settlement were little different from what they are today. Nonetheless the very number ofthose possibilities in each Valley or piain is not small, since present day villages were once large towns, and cities of today were once villages. Possibly nowhere on earth do we find evidence of the ebb and flow of history, the rise and fall of cities, with consequent deserted ruins, so prominent on the surface of the soil, as in Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia. When the soil becomes too saline or the water table sinks, people will abandon a town or village, and the mud walls and ruins of houses will remain visible for years or even centuries. Sometimes entire cities, like Bam east of Kerman, were abandoned, providing tourist sites at the present time. Nowhere does the phrase — vicissitudes of time and the changes of fortune - seem more apt in its visible evidences than in this part of the world. AFGHANISTAN The extension of the Iranian plateau to the east ends in a great mass of mountains, which like the Zagros ränge in the west, has been a refuge area for many peoples. The geography of what is today Afghanistan and the western borderlands of Pakistan, for our purposes can be best understood as the area of four drainage Systems where Geographica! Survey 15 agnculture and settled life for little more than a handful of people were possible. The mountains, from which all rivers take their sources, in the center of the country and in the east, have inhibited close contacts between the various parts of the country which, in any case, is a political creation of recent times. The Hari River with its principal city of Herat, loses its water in the sands now in the Turkmen SSR. Similar to the Khurasan province of Iran, historically Herat usually has been part of a western kingdom or empire, rather than of the east. On the other hand, Herat has served as a pivotal area for trade and invasion routes from the north to the southeast, to the plains of the Indian subcontinent, as much as a Station on east-west trade routes. The Valley of the Hari Rud is fertile, and it has been a source of wealth for the inhabitants enabling them to develop in the past a center of civilization in this region. The central mountains have been a barrier for Communications between Herat and the Kabul valley in the east, which is revealed in culture by the Persian orientation of the former and the Indian for the latter. To the south, the road to Qandahar and thence to India crosses barren plains and rivers, but there is no formidable barrier to contacts, either between Herat and Seistan, or Herat and Qandahar. To the northeast of Herat, over a low ränge of mountains, lies the district of Badghis with the Murghab River, also draining north, but into the Merv oasis. This district, at present called Qala-ye No after the main town, is primarily an excellent pastureland with some fertile Valleys, but which could never support a population comparable to the Hari Rud valley. If it were not for the summer wind of '120 days,' summers in Herat would be intolerable, since the low altitude of the city (c. 690 m.) would not provide relief from the hot sun. Other ancient places of settlement in the area included Fushang (today: Zendajan), some 45 km. to the west of Herat on the river, Aspozar or Isfizar (today: Shindand or Sabzevar) south of Herat, and Merv-e Rud (today: Bala Murghab) on the river of the same name. One may presume that ancient and modern centers of population differed little in their locations on this part of the Iranian plateau. The second system of drainage in Afghanistan empties the present Farah, Khash and Helmand Rivers, as well as smaller streams, into the perennial lakes or hamuns of Seistan. The Helmand is a 1300 km. long river, and in the spring it carries a large volume of water along its course. We have already mentioned Seistan in the discussion of Iranian provinces, and if the Afghan region is added, as it should be from an historical viewpoint, the entire area was very extensive and a center of civilization from ancient times. Seistan was larger than the comparable Merv and Bukhara oases in the north, and irrigation was widely practiced here in antiquity. The lower Helmand River basin was much more cultivated than it is today, but one must go up the river to the district of Qandahar and the confluences of the Arghandab, Tarnak and other rivers with the Helmand, to find comparable extensive cultivation and centers of population. On both sides of the lower course of the river are deserts, and there is no reason to suppose that in antiquity the cultivable land was much more extensive on either side of the river than it is today. The name Helmand, (Avestan: Haetumant) means 'rieh in dams,' an apt description of a river which even today is the source of irrigation for a large expanse of land. The Valleys of the many rivers and streams which descend southward from the central mountain massif are also fertile and produetive, and one may suppose that this area was the homeland of the Pashtun or Pathan tribes to be discussed in the next chapter. The district of Qandahar, 16 Chapter I however, not only maintained contacts with Seistan down the river, but also with Ghazna, 'the treasury' and Kabul. In antiquity the Qandahar-Ghazna route was on the border between Iranian- and Indian-speaking populations. Stnctly speaking, the third drainage System of Afghanistan, the Kabul River and its tributaries, in ancient times was part of the Indian sphere of influence rather than the Iranian, and the river ltself was part of the Indus River System. There are three large Valleys which have been centers of settlement according to archaeologists, the Panjsher with the Koh-e Daman Valley, the Kabul and the Logar Valleys. The first Valley is the highest in altitude (c. 2800 m.), and lt lies north of the Helmand watershed as the first valley of the Kabul River basin. The Kabul Valley (alt. c. 2200 m.) was important from ancient times as the crossroads of routes from north and south, and on the edge of the descent to the plains of India. The mountains to the^east of Kabul quickly give way to lower altitudes, and the piain of Nangrahar (or Jalalabad) averages about 600 m., very hot in summer. To the north of Kabul the valley of Koh-e Daman is lower than Kabul, and with an average altitude of 1600 m., protected by the high Hindukush mountains to the north, the climate is also milder. Other, narrower Valleys, such as the Ghorband and the high Bamiyan valley (c. 2800 m.), were less populous in antiquity than Koh-e Daman. The ethnic populations of these areas will be discussed in the next chapter, but suffice it to say that in all of them mixtures of Iranian and of Indian Speakers occurred in ancient times. The high mountains of the Hindukush and the narrow Valleys of Nuristan (formerly Kafinstan), have created many refuge areas where people have fled from invasion or persecution, a paradise for hnguists and anthropologists. Mining was practiced in the Hindukush mountains in antiquity, and the principal source of lapis lazuli was in Badakhshan on the northern slopes of the mountains. The northern slopes of the Hindukush, which is the watershed between the Kabul and Oxus River basins, have many fertile but narrow Valleys, through which streams descend to the Oxus or Amu Darya. But it is the plains of Turkestan which were covered with many Irrigation canals in older times, and which provided cultivation adequate to support a large population. The altitude of the piain of Turkestan varies from 350 to 400 m., a considerable drop from the mountains to the south, and it is in these plains that ancient cities existed where today their counterparts of Sheberghan, Aqcha, Mazar-e Sharif and Kunduz flourish. The largest city on the plains was Balkh, called 'mother of cities' by the invading Arabs, but today it has been replaced by Mazar-e Sharif. Many streams from the mountains do not reach the Oxus but are either used for irrigation or simply evaporate and vanish. The land on the southern banks of the Oxus on the whole is flat and sandy, while on the northern, present Soviet side, cliffs and mountains predominate. To the west, the plains of Turkestan become the Kara Kum desert, while to the east the mountains of Badakhshan lead to Wakhan and the Pamirs, where only hardy nomads can eke out an existence. The central mountains of Afghanistan, where the four river Systems take their rise, have never been centers of population, and only the Bamiyan valley has had sizable permanent Settlements in the past, for it was situated on a route leading from Balkh over the mountains to Kabul. In summary, one may conclude that settlement patterns in the area of present-day Afghanistan were concentrated in the hüls and plains Geographica Survey 11 around the central mountains, which were well watered, such as Seistan, Herat, Qandahar and the plains of Turkestan, except for the mountain Valleys around Kabul, which combined provided sustenance for a large population, hence a base for power for a kingdom. The mountains to the east are parallel to the Zagros mountain ränge on the western side of the plateau. In both many narrow Valleys and series of mountain ranges have provided regions of retreat or refuge for various peoples, and both are the farthest extent of Iranian-speaking peoples, to the lowlands of India in the east and to Mesopotamia in the west. Like the Zagros, the eastern mountains of Afghanistan were formerly more wooded, but the lack of rainfall and the extremes of temperature with a severe Continental climate all over the plateau, never permitted the growth of population similar to the Indus, or Tigris-Euphrates lowlands. The people of the lowlands were rarely tempted to venture far into the mountains, whereas the rieh, alluvial plains were always an attraction for the hardy inhabitants of the highlands. The relative inaccessibility of the sea coasts from the plateau did not induce the Iranian peoples to become seafarers, and neither the Caspian nor the Persian Gulf with the Arabian Sea played an important role in history for the peoples of the plateau, and Central Asia was even more isolated from the sea. CENTRAL ASIA A comparison of the altitudes of the prineipal cities at once reveals that Turkestan or Central Asia lies off the Iranian plateau. In the west the Caspian Sea depression extends across the Kara Kum and Kizil Kum deserts, which are really one desert separated by the Oxus River, to the mountains which descend from the Pamirs and the T'ien Shan ränge to the northeast. Ashkabad, capital of the Turkmen republic and near ancient Nisa, is 240 m.; Merv is slightly higher while Khiva in the delta of the Oxus is less than 1 00 m., and Bukhara is similar to Merv. To the east altitudes rise and Samarqand is almost 900 m. in some areas of the extended city, but Tashkent is only 455 m. An extension of lowlands to the east lies between mountains in the fertile Ferghana valley where Leninabad (former Khodjent) is 400 m., Kokand 396 m., Andijan c. 450 m., and Margilan 576 m. This valley provides the easiest access from the west over the mountains to Chinese Turkestan and the city of Kashgar. Just as the mountains to the south of the Oxus have many Valleys descending to the river, so do the mountains of present-day Tajikistan to the north. The Hissar-Alai mountain ränge has three main rivers which water narrow but fertile Valleys, the Surkhan Darya, the Kafirnigan and the Vakhsh. The last is the longest and takes its origin on the Alai plateau which provides a trade route to Chinese Turkestan, as well as excellent pasturage for the flocks and horses of nomads. In history the lands watered by the three rivers have been more closely tied to the plains of Afghan Turkestan than with Samarqand or Bukhara. The climate is also milder in winter here, protected by mountains to the north, than it is on the open areas to the west subjeet to winds blowing from Siberia. Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, lies 824 m. high and has hot summers but mild winters. The great mountain complex of the Pamirs, with many glaciers, provides water for three great rivers, the Indus to the south, and the Oxus and Jaxartes (Syr Darya) to the west, not to mention streams flowing eastward into Chinese Turkestan. 18 Chapter I The delta of the Oxus River was an important center of culture in the past (Khwarazm), but not the delta of the Jaxartes. Khwarazm (present Khorezm) is the low-lying land south of the Aral Sea mostly on the west side of the Oxus River. The eastern bank is more hilly than the opposite bank, and water for irrigation is taken from the river predominantly on the western side. Archaeologists have found ancient remains here, and one may infer that an early center of civilization flourished in this fertile region. The question of the ancient course of the Oxus River has never been conclusively resolved. For there are those who still claim that it emptied into the Caspian Sea at times, flowing into a depression known as Sarikamysh and then down a Channel called the Uzboi, even though there is no evidence that the Oxus did flow into the Caspian Sea in ancient times. The Situation in prehistoric times is unknown, and accounts of the river changing its lower coutse in the Islamic period are uncertain. In any case, the center of Khwarazm was located on the river over a hundred kilometers from the Aral Sea, below any turning offto the Caspian Sea, which appears unlikely in the historical period with which we are concerned. The antiquity of settlement in Khwarazm is matched by the Merv oasis, with the added ad van tage of lying on the important trade route from Iran to Central Asia and China. Its location seems to have made this oasis on the Murghab River more important than the lower course of the Hari Rud (called the Tejend), which also lost its water in the desert, although the town of Sarakhs on the latter was similar to Merv on the Murghab. Water being the key to life in the deserts of Central Asia, river Valleys are natural places for Settlements, but the rise of towns on them is usually determined by their location on trade routes. Merv, situated in the Kara Kum desert, was the stopping place for caravans plying between the Iranian plateau and Bukhara and the Zarafshan valley. The oasis of Bukhara, like that of Merv, utilized the water of a river, here the Zarafshan, before it disappeared in the sands, and like Merv, the rise of Bukhara must have followed the development of trade. The prosperity of the Merv oasis, the Bukhara oasis, and many other sites in Central Asia, depended on the efficacy of the irrigation Systems. In fact, so important is this all over this area, as well as Iran and Afghanistan, that the ancient Iranians may be called the practitioners of an irrigation civilization par excellence. It was extensive development and expansion of irrigation Systems which brought prosperity and civilization to the Settlements such as Merv, Bukhara and Samarqand, although all three owed their rise to their locations on trade routes. One of the ancient centers of settlement in Central Asia was the Ferghana Valley, a rieh area enclosed by mountains to the north, east and south, some 300 km. long and 70 km. wide, watered by the Jaxartes. To the west is a narrow desert strip called the Hungry Steppe,' some 7 km. wide, which continues into the larger Kizil Kum desert; so the Ferghana valley is virtually an isolated Valley varying from 350 to 900 m. in altitude. The relatively low altitude, as well as the mountains, protect the valley from the cold north winds of winter to which Tashkent and Bukhara are subjeeted. The middle of the valley has much barren steppe land, but the foothills of the mountains are relatively rieh in verdure. Archaeologists have reavealed very early Settlements in the valley, and the existence of various minerals in the surrounding mountains Geographica Survey i9 undoubtedly further enhanced the attractions of the irrigated land as a good place to settle, for mining was also practiced at an early date. To the north of the Ferghana valley, and in the foothills to the east of the Kizil Kum desert was the oasis of Chach, today Tashkent, which was also settled in early times, although probably not as extensively as either the Ferghana valley or Samarqand. To the east of Chach the mountains hindered both Communications and settlement such that the main road to the east ran north skirting the mountains, and then turned east over low passes to the Talas River valley. Again skirting the Kara-tau and Ala-tau mountain ranges, the road continued eastward towards the Altai Mountains. The vast steppes of northern Central Asia and southern Siberia were traversed by Iranian nomads called by a generic term, Sakas, when we first hear of them in the sixth Century b.c. But here too, as in the south, the Valleys of the Chu and Ili Rivers had Settlements from early times. Not only did Iranian nomads reach the Altai mountains, but they also spilled into Chinese Turkestan, which, before the Turkic expansion, was in great measure Iranized. Today only some 20,000 Iranian Speakers survive in the Sarykol valley of the Chinese Pamirs with the principal town of Tashkurghan. The northern and southern sides of the Taklamakan desert in Chinese Turkestan were inhabitated by Iranians, as well as others, and traces of ancient Settlements have been found on dried-up stream beds far into the desert. The extreme aridity of the entire area makes any settlement entirely dependent on irrigation, and in the southern rim of the Tarim Basin, as it is called, the only oasis of importance is Khotan because of two rivers which bring water down from the Kunlun mountains to the south. The Kunlun mountains and the Tibetan plateau made Communications with the south almost impossible, and only two arduous routes to the west were important in history. The first, and most used, northern route we have briefly mentioned above. It followed the Surkhab (Turki: Kizilsu) River through the Alai plateau over the mountains to Kashgar. The southern route followed the Wakhan corridor in present Afghanistan through the eastern Pamirs to the valley of Sarykol. The easiest access to the Tarim basin of Chinese Turkestan was from the north over several passes of the Tien Shan mountains. The eastern part of the Tarim, on the borders of China, comprises a sah desert, called Lop Nor, once a prehistoric sea, stretching almost 300 km. in length. Human habitation was always at a minimum here. On the northern side of the Tarim, however, several oases have flourished in history, such as Aqsu, Kucha and Turfan, probably because water is more available from streams descending from mountains to the north, and there is more fertile ground, not as eroded as the characteristic loess earth of the south. The reason why Chinese Turkestan has been included in the geographical survey of ancient Iranian civilizations is that Iranian Sakas lived in the oasis of Khotan and vicinity for centuries before becoming absorbed by Turks, and the northern string of oases formed a trade route to China over which Sogdian merchants travelled and made Settlements. The oasis of Turfan has yielded valuable documents in the Sogdian, Parthian and Middle Persian languages, of inestimable value in many fields. We will return to this in the chapter on demography. This survey of the lands where Iranians lived in the past indicates the common features of terrain in Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia. We must repeat that 20 Chapter I mountains, deserts and oases, with Settlements based on irrigation, are the hallmarks of life in this part of the world. There was rarely any excess of agricultural produce, or rather foodstuffs, to trade; rather minerals and objects of craftsmanship, such as textiles and carpets, were the mainstay of trade from ancient times. Also the difference between the dweller in an oasis, and one on the bleak steppes, mountains or deserts, was always marked. The contrast also between the verdure of a well-watered oasis, which seemed a haven of security, and the forbidding land outside, was sharp, and this conditioned human attitudes about nature and the land in which the Iranian lived. Extremes of temperature and frequent earthquakes, flash floods, and other ra vages of nature, tested the endurance of humans, and left them ever ready to migrate to the more fertile and less harsh lowlands of India or Mesopotamia. If anything has conditioned the lives of Iranians, it is this sharp contrast in nature, between the, huge, arid, barren, forbidding mountains and deserts and the irrigated garden surrounded by mud walls to keep out the sand and the encroachments of a hostile outside world. The word 'paradise' is Iranian in origin, and it originally meant an enclosed garden where the ruler hunted his favorite game which had been introduced into the enclosure for that purpose. From this geographica! survey of Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia, it is clear that there could be neither unity nor large populations here like the Nile and Tigris- Euphrates River basins. Vast areas, for the most part, could only be ruled for a short time by either nomadic or tribal states, or by some kind of feudal alliances. The Problems of communication and holding allegiances were enormous, yet some sort of adherence or allegiance to Iranian culture permeated the entire area, at least until the expansion of the Turks changed much of the demography. The conflict between steppe and sown area also has been a thread running through the history of this part of the world. In general one may say that geography and natural conditions have always played an important role in this vast area, and nature has not been predictable or gentle. The earthquakes and other natural catastrophes are constant features of this entire area, so man has lived in the shadow of an unpredictable nature over millennia of years. For the history of culture and civilization, however, the means by which people overcame their isolation and traded with each other, exchanging ideas as well as articles of trade, was of primary importance. River Valleys, passes over mountains and watering places in the desert assumed a greater importance than in other regions of the globe. This is why an understanding of geography, which might not be so relevant to the study of the history of others, in the case of the lands occupied by Iranians is of paramount importance, and in the pages to follow constant reference will be made to the geography of the area. CHAPTER II DEMOGRAPHY Anthropologists have made many studies of towns and villages in Iran, Afghanistan and Soviet Central Asia. Linguists have investigated varieties of dialects, but ancient historians have been overwhelmingly concerned, on the whole, with events reported by chronicles or other written sources, perforce mainly concerned with the royal courts or more rarely with religious leaders or intellectuals including poets and men of letters. We should remember that few written records of the ancient past are concerned with the life of the common folk, and even among them, nomads or villagers are rarely mentioned, civilization and writing being bound to the urban environment. Nonetheless, populations did change with rather important conse- quences for the history of the entire area. One may divide people in the Iranian cultural area between settled people, nomads, and mountaineers, plus urban dwellers, although other patterns of Classification might be made. The modes of life of these four divisions have been constant throughout history although the people who followed the various ways of life have not remained static. To understand the past of the common folk we must consider the present and then frequently interpolate from know to unknown. That is why anthropological and even sociological studies, as well as linguistic research, must be heeded by anyone trying to recover the past of this part of the world. A survey of relevant bibliography shows many gaps. Lilerature : Iran, General: There is no comprehensive survey of the peoples of Iran except in general books on the country which include chapters on demography. Usually these accounts are brief and inadequate, but one should be mentioned, since it is more comprehensive than others: N. Y. Kislyakov, ed., Narody Perednei Azii (Moscow, 1957), 173-308, dealing with the non-Turkic population of Iran. Individual studies of both settled and nomadic peoples exist; two brief chapters, on the 'people' (318-55) and 'distribution of the population' (356-93) are relevant to our concern in Persia, Geographica! Handbook Series, Naval Intelligente Division (London, 1945). Few of them have any relevance to pre-Islamic times; some, however, do provide interesting Information which can be interpolated back to the past, for example the census. The Iranian Statistical Centre in Tehran is in charge of the results of the census; the first real census was made in 1956 and published in 1 10 parts in Tehran beginning in 1961, while the next census, of 1966, is still being printed. Several general studies on the population of Iran have appeared; F. Firoozi, "Demographie Review, Iranian Censuses," The Middle East Journal, 24 (Washington, 1970), 220- 28, and a populär discussion by H. Goblot, "La strueture de la population de i'Iran," L'Ethnographie, 57 (Paris, 1964), 33-54. Before the 1956 census most statistics on population were mere guesses. While reliable figures are lacking the present locations of Settlements and eulti vation can provide clues to past settlement and population patterns, for the land and availability of water have not changed much over the centuries. It is not germane to our task to list studies of physical types or races in Iran, since mixtures of cranial types and skeletons are found in the earliest excavations, and only extensive comparison of these with modern skulls might give us an idea of significant racial changes in Iran's history. Very roughly, one might say that today in the northern part of Iran brachycephals with curved 'Armenoid' noses are more common than in the south where narrow-faced dolichoeephalics may predominate, and this seems to have been true of the past as of the present. On the physical anthropology of Iran at present see H. Field, Conlributions to the Anthropology o/Iran, Field Museum of Natural History, vols. 29-30 (Chicago, 1939; reprinted 1968). Most publications of archaeological excavations in Iran have a section on skeletal 22 Chapter II material, and one general survey of ancient man, based on remains from Tepe Hissar is by W. M. Krogman, "The peoples of early Iran and their ethnic amliations ," American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 26 (Philadelphia 1940), 269-308. For earlier man see C. S. Coon, "Iran," in H. Vallois, Catalogue des hommes fossiles (Macon, 1953), 267-70 and M. Cappien, The Iranians ofthe CopperjBronze Ages, H Field Research Projects (Miami, 1973), 60 pp. The only discussion of peoples in western Iran in early historic times is the study by I. M. Dyakonov, "Narody drevnei prednei Azii." in Predneaziatskii Elnograficheskii Sbornik, 1, Trudy Institut Etnografii, 39 (Moscow, 1958), 18-39. Many publications exist on vanous tribes or small groups living in Iran, but the majority of settled population has received httle attention insofar as questions of ethnogeny are concerned. The main Iranian tribal people are the Kurds, and several books discuss their origins and early history, such as it is known, as B. Nikitine, Les Kurdes (Paris, 1956) and esp. O. Vilchevskii, Kurdy, Trudy Instituta Etnografii, 67 (Moscow, 1961), 165 pp., which is concerned with the origm ofthe Kurds. A special sect ofthe Kurds is the subject of S. S. Ahmed, The Yazidis, their life and beliefs, H. Field Research Projects, no. 97 (Miami, 1975), 485 pp. A large bibliography on the Kurds is useful also for ancient questions: S. van Rooy, International Society of Kurdistan Bibliography, 2 vols. (Amsterdam, 1968). See also N. A. Aleksanian, Bibliografiya Sovetskoi Kurdskoi Knigi 1921-1960 (Erevan, 1962). The Lurs to the south of the Kermanshah-Hamadan road, are not as well studied, as the Kurds, but we ha ve some information on them in Persian Publications: 'Ali Muh. Sakl, Luristän (Khurramabad, 1343/1969), and H. Izädparrah,/ir/j<}r-e bästänl ve tarlkhl Luristän, 2 vols. (Tehran, 1350/1972 and 1353/1975), concerned with the antiquities and history of Luristän as well as the present population. Anthropological articles and monographs exist on the Kurds and Lurs, which may be found in the bibhographies above. The peoples of the Caspian Sea coast, Talysh, Gilan and Mazandaran, had and have dialects and characteristics different from the rest of Iran. On the people of Mazandaran consult a series of monographs in Persian on villages and districts from east to west, beginning with Alasht by Hüshang Por KarTm, pubhshed by the Ministry of Culture and Art (n.d., c. 1 976), Yüsh by Situs Tshbäz (University of Tehran, 1342/1964), Öräzön byjalal Äl-Ahmad (Tehran, 1954), and Feshendak by H. Pur KarTm (University of Tehran, 1341/1971). All of these deal with anthropological, linguistic, folkloric and other matters. For material remains along the entire Caspian coast we have a series of volumes by ManOchehr SotDdeh, Az Astära tä Astäräbäd (Tehran, 1 349/1 971 , and foll.). Other references may be found in works on dialects of this region, on which see below. The Encyclopaedia of Islam (old and new editions) has information and bibliography on individuals, places and tribes. The southern tribes of Iran, which are not Turkic, have been studied by anthropologists presenting material of interest for an historian; cf. D. Ehmann, Balftiyaren (Wiesbaden, 1975), and V. V. Trubetskoi, "Bakhtiary," in M. S. Ivanov, ed., Etnicheskie protsessy i sostau naseleniyakh v stranakh Prednei Azii (Moscow, 1 963), 1 41 -72. Further see F. Barth, Nomads of South Persia, The Basseri Tribe (Oslo, 1 961 ) ; V. Monteil, Les tribus du Fars (Paris, 1966); and M. S. Ivanov, Plemena Farsa, Trudy Instituta Etnografii, 43 (Moscow, 1961); R. Löffler, "Die materielle Kultur von Boir Ahmad, Südiran," Archiv für Völkerkunde, 28 (Wien, 1974), 61-1 42; and in Persian, ManOchehr Lam a, Farhang-e 'ämyäneh-e 'ashatr Buyer Ahmedl ve Kohgilüyeh (Tehran, 1 349/1 971 ). On the primitive people of Bashakird, to the west of Baluchistan, see 1. Gershevitch, "Travels in Bashkardia,"JJMS, 46 (1959), 216-24. A mountain group in southwest Iran are Les Papis by C. G. Feilberg (Copenhagen, 1952). Other references may be found in the works listed. To the southeast, the chief group of Iranian nomads are the Baluch who extend to the Indus River. On them see M. G. Pikuhn, Beludzhi (Moscow, 1959), and on the northernmost group E. G. Gafferberg, Beludzhi Turkmenskoi SSR (Leningrad, 1 969). Many publications from Pakistan exist on the Baluch, such as Muh Sardar Khan Baluch, History ofthe Baluch Race and Baluchistan (Karachi, 1958), but most are of httle value for our purposes. A non-Iranian people, and possibly among their predecessors in Baluchistan, are the Brahuis, a Dravidian-speaking folk, a few villages of whom exist today in Iranian Seistan ; see G. H. Srasser, "Brahui in Persien," Bulletin of International Committee on urgent Anthropological and Ethnological Research, 2 (Vienna, 1959), 97-98. Perhaps the most important element for differentiating people, language, fortunately needs few references, since surveys and bibhographies exist on all ofthe Iranian languages; see "Iranistik, erster Abschnitt, Linguistik," ofthe Handbuch der Orientalistik ed. by B. Spuler (Leiden, 1 958) ; further T. Sebeok, ed , Current Trends in Linguistics, 6 (The Hague, 1 970), 1-135, and the useful handbook by I. M. Oranskii, Vvedenie v iranskuyu filologiyu (Moscow, 1960), trans. into French by J. Blau, Les langues iraniennes (Paris, 1977). Needless to say, much information on ancient languages can be found in modern dialects, not to mention relatively new fields such as glottochronology or areal linguistics. Finally, a bibliographical note on handicrafts and technology and plants may be useful. Fortunately a handbook by H. E. Wulff, The Traditional Crafts of Persia (M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1966), also has Demography 23 3 large bibliography of relevant literature. The first chapter is on metallurgy in ancient Persia, on which cf. T. Wertime, "Man's First Encounters with Metallurgy," Science, 146, no. 3649 (1964), 1257-67. The classic works by B. Laufer, Sino-lratiica, Field Museum of Natural History publication 201, vol. 15 (Chicago, 1919), discusses plant borrowings, and this is supplemented by E. H. Schaefer, The Golden Peaches of Samarkand (Berkeley, 1 962). Dictionaries of plants and trees, animals and minerals, in Persian or Arabic, contain archaic words and Information about them. The Kitäb al-jamählr (Hyderabad, 1355/ 1936) of al-BlrOnT, is perhaps the most famous book on minerals. While such works may seem to have little connection with ancient Iran, they are similar to Pliny's natural history, which contains items of historical significance. It must be remembered that unlike Greek or Roman history with a plethora of sources, we must use every piece of information in the little known east to attempt to reconstruct the scantiest of history. Literature: Afghanistan, general: Studies on the people of Afghanistan and north west Pakistan are mostly concerned with linguistic minorities such as the peoples of the Pamir or Hindukush mountains, especially the Kafirs or Nuristanis. Several bibliographies are of great aid to the researcher which have been listed already in the first chapter on geography. Several general handbooks, including detailed chapters on the population, languages, etc., are W. Kraus, ed., Afghanistan, Erdmann, Ländermonographien, 3 (Tübingen, 1 972) ; D. N. Wilber, ed., Afghanistan (New Haven, 1 962), and L. Dupree, Afghanistan (Princeton, 1 973) ; each of which has a different viewpoint. Old works such as H. W. Bellew, The Races' of Afghanistan (Calcutta, 1880), may contain interesting items, but on the whole they are out of date. A special bibliography exists on Nuristan by S.Jones, An Annotated Bibliography qf Nuristan (Kafiristan) and the Kalash Kafirs of Chilral (Copenhagen, 1966). On the Kafirs, see the work of P. Snoy, Die Kafiren (Universität Frankfurt M., 1962), and further his "Nuristan und Mungan," Tribus, Nr. 14 (Stuttgart, 1965), 101-48. In the same issue, pp. 11-99, consult F. Kussmaul, "Badaxsän und seine Tagiken." Studies of various languages in Afghanistan are listed in the same works, noted above, for the languages of Iran. Many scattered articles on various aspects of Afghanistan's ethnography , as well as history, numismatics, and others, are photographically reproduced in the Journal Afghanistan, published by the Historical Society in Kabul. On physical types see G. F. Debets, The Physical Anthropology of Afghanistan, trans. by E. Prostov (Peabody Museum, Cambridge, Mass., 1970). Since Afghanistan has not had a proper census much work remains to be done in demography, as well as ethnography, cf, however, L. Dupree, "Settlement and Migration Patterns in Afghanistan", Modern Asian Studies, 9 (1975), 397-413. On the nomads of Afghanistan see C. Jentsch, Das Nomadentum in Afghanistan, Afghanische Studien 9 (Meisenheim, 1973), also B. Glatzer, Nomaden von Charjistan, Beiträge zur Sudasienforschung, (Heidelberg, 1977). Other studies, on Turkic or Mongolian peoples of Afghanistan are not germane to our task here. Literature: Central Asia, general : Many Soviet publications have been devoted to the ethnogeny of the peoples of Central Asia and the Caucasus, and it is not possible to mention more than the most helpful general studies, many of which contain detailed bibliographies. Consult H. Field, Bibliography of Soviet Archaeology and Physical Anthropology (Miami, 1972). The series Narody mira, etnograficheskie ocherki, ed. by S. P. Tolstov, 2 vols. (Moscow, 1962-63) is especially useful for Central Asia and for the Caucasus, 2 vols. (Moscow, 1961-62). M. S. Andreev, N. S. Kislyakov and others were especially interested in the ethnography of the Tajiks and wrote several articles about them; cf. vol. 1 of Narody Srednei Azii (Moscow, 1 962), 701-3. On the mountaineers of Tajikstan see O. E. Agakhanyants, Bibliografiya Patnira, 1 (Dushanbe, 1968). Such works as Tafiki Karategina i Darvaza by N. Y. Kislyakov and A. K. Pisarchik (Dushanbe, 1976) contain much interesting material for historians. Consult also the various publications of the USSR Academy of Sciences such as Sovetskaya Etnografiya and Trudy Instituta Etnografii, especially the Sredneaziatskii Etnograficheskii Sbornik II, no. 47 (Moscow, 1959) where noteworthy is the article by L. F. Monogarova, "Materialy po etnografii Yazgulemstev," 3-94. Further see H. Field, Contributions to the anthropology ofthe Soviet Union (Smithsonian miscellaneous collections, vol. 1 10, no. 13, Washington, 1948), and his Contributions to the physical anthropology of Central Asia and the Caucasus (Peabody Museum, Cambridge, Mass., 1968). The areas now occupied by Turkic-speaking peoples, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhastan, and Kirghizistan, were once peopled by Iranians, so we are more concerned with archaeological remains of the ancient inhabitants than the present population. The results of archaeological expeditions are especially valuable, and the Khwarazmian expedition led by S. P. Tolstov plus the Southern Turkmen complex expedition, begun by M. E. Masson, have been especially noteworthy. See, for example, T. A. Trofimova, Drevnee naseleniye Khorezma, po dannym paleoantropologü (Moscow, 1959). 24 Chapter II THE ENTIRE AREA All of the people of present Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia can be simply divided into settled people and nomads, with various degrees of settlement and nomadism- pastoralism represented. Since the geographical features of this vast area, including the availability of water, have helped to determine in no small measure the population distribution in historical times as well as the present, the life-styles of the present people can throw light on the past. On the other hand, in any particular region it is frequently not possible to ascertain whether the population in the past was definitely nomadic or settled, or predominantly one or the other. The previously held supposition of some anthropologists that early man was first a hunter, then a herdsman and finally a settled farmer in a temporal progression, is not accepted today. The change from a pastoral to an agricultural use of land, or the reverse, can be observed in recent times, and must have been true in antiquity. The falling of a water table or salinization of farm land causes the abandonment of a village, while the persistence of a few years of drought in one area can change a flourishing oasis into a desert. Therefore, in regions which did not have a regulär and abundant supply of water, changes in ecology must have occurred many times in the past. Certainly one of the prime tasks of governments in this part of the world has been to organize, regulate and promote the use and distribution of water. Of the three requirements, land, water and manpower, necessary to insure any flourishing culture on the Iranian plateau, water has been the most diftlcult to supply, and this has been true from antiquity. Throughout history the stronger have displaced the weaker in possession of good, watered land, and the weaker people either coexisted with their masters, or they moved to less desirable 'refuge' areas in the mountains or deserts. Settled oases, which were and are the dominant places of settlement over most of the plateau, presumably were early mixed in population. From the dawn of history we find a differentiation of labor in Settlements, and one of the clearest groups, distinct or apart from the rest of the populace, were the smiths or metal workers. They had probably evolved from potters, who found that high temperature fires made glaze on pottery, and then experimented with other media. In any case, a caste of smiths seems to have developed in the Near East who were different from the local populations. Otherwise, specialization of functions or labor does not seem to have produced separate castes or the like. We may presume that people in the ancient Near East were separated by different languages or ways of life rather than by profession. Since nomads or mountaineers have not left records one must project backwards from known situations of later times. For example, much of the land on the plateau, other than barren deserts or mountains, is not fit for agriculture but only for grazing. So it was also in the past, and the conflict between the steppe and the sown area dates from the unrecorded past. Since not only history but writing itself is a product of settled life, the pastoralists remain on the dim fringes of Settlements, little recorded and hardly appreciated. Consequently, our picture of the past is one-sided in many respects, and one can only note the continued existence of nomads and pastoralists, who usually appear in records only when they mount massive raids on the Settlements which suffer from their depredations. Demography 25 The routes of trade or the movement of peoples have been exceedingly constant throughout the history of Iran because of the dictates of geography and water. Thus, the easiest route of access from the Mesopotamian lowlands to the plateau has been the present route of Khanaqin, Kermanshah, Hamadan to Tehran, and then east to Khurasan. There are other routes over the Zagros Mountains from the west, but they are more arduous and were much less used than the principal route through the Kermanshah area. The Assyrians and succeeding conquerors saw the need to control this route as a key to rule over any pretended empire. A map showing the routes, which have followed essentially the same passes through the mountains, shows the primacy of the Kermanshah route, which is also well watered. One may presume that along this route, as well as others, Settlements arose which began to trade with each other. At all times, of course, minor variations in Settlements, as in the routes themselves, have taken place, but the main lines of communication have remained constant. Another feature of the plateau, which should be mentioned, is the great variety of fruits and agricultural products which grow in relatively small geographical areas. Because of the altitude, it is possible in many places to find apples, pears, and other fruits of a temperate zone in the mountain Valleys, while a few kilometers distant, in an oasis protected from winds and cold, date palms and citrus fruits will flourish. This variety was always a feature of some mountain areas of Iran, and it in a sense parallels the people who may be very different from each other yet living only a short distance apart. Similar conditions obtain in Afghanistan and in Central Asia, but on the whole not so variegated as in Iran. Although local specialities of crafts as well as produce distinguish one area from another, the unity of the entire Iranian area in modes of life and responses to nature appears throughout history. Rather, the unity is one of similar diversity in response to the changes in landscape and availability of water and other natural phenomena. This is best observed in the different linguistic groups which exist later, especially before the expansion of Turkic Speakers, beginning in the tenth Century of our era. Even though many people did adopt new languages, the basic population continued to be the same though mixed with newcomers. There is no better way to distinguish people than by the languages they speak, but one must not neglect the settled-pastoral differentiation, and both are followed here in a survey of the entire Iranian area. IRAN Fars exemplifies the diversity of nomad and peasant, mountain and desert and other contrasts, perhaps better than any other province of Iran. From the present population of the province one must exclude Arabs who came after the Islamic conquest and the Turks, such as the Qashghai nomads. Today the Arab-speaking population along the shores of the Persian Gulf is sparse, and in antiquity the numbers must have been less. There has always been, it seems, contact across the Gulf, so some mixtures of populations would be expected. Since Elamitc clay tablets have been found in the region of present Bushire, it would be natural to assume the existence of early Elamite Settlements along the coast. Unfortunately, we know too little about the Elamite language to even speculate about borrowings or influences from Elamite on certain dialects of Fars as opposed to others. We may suggest that the population of the coast 26 Chapter II was engaged in fishing as well as transit trade and commerce with the interior, while the date palm, as across the Gulf, was the local staffof life for them. Since the coastal piain is narrow and the mountains behind it are barren and lacking in verdure and water, this area never enticed large nomadic tribes to spend winters here with their flocks. The coastal Settlements were usually dominated by governments on the plateau, and the poverty of the coastal people kept them from playing a significant role in history. There are many ancient remains on the next step up onto the plateau to Kazerun, evidence of a flourishing area as early as Elamite times. The Elamites probably occupied most of the Valleys and plains which extend from the northwest to the southeast, and it would be natural to assume that ancient pastoralists at times followed these Valleys down to the rieh alluvial plains of Mesopotamia for the winter. Much has been written on the far-flung ancient trade connections, which brought, for example, lapis lazuli from the mountains of Afghanistan as far as Egypt in early times. This has been adduced as evidence for very distant contacts between traders, but it is misleading. True, some hardy traders in antiquity may have traveled enormous distances like Marco Polo in later times, but they like he, were rare exceptions. Most trade was usually a process of exchange from one local group to another rather than a direct long distance contact between the consumer and producer. Wares usually were passed from one merchant to another, although sometimes they did travel long distances. Likewise, the presumed migrations of peoples over vast distances were probably even rarer than long voyages by merchants, and changes in material eulture on the plateau are much more likely the result of diffusionary influences or even internal stylistic development, rather than the intrusion of a new population. Great movements of peoples like the Arabs and Turks in more recent times or the Iranians onto the plateau were probably just as few in prehistoric as in historic times, and one must be careful about the attribution of a change in pottery designs to a mass invasion. Also the movements of people noted above were the migrations of nomads or pastoralists, who were rarely great originators of complex, new eultures as compared to the settled folk. The upper steps of the Zagros ränge, known today as the sardslr 'the cold zone' were eminently suited for pastoralists, and we may assume that much of Fars, such as the present areas of Pasargadae and Abadeh were very sparsely settled before the Coming of the Iranians. It is not the purpose of the present volume to discuss archaeology, which is covered in Barthel Hrouda's Vorderasien, Handbuch der Archäologie, (München, 1971), but since almost all of our evidence of pre-Archaemenian Iran is from archaeology, it cannot be ignored in presenting a background for the historical periods. The material remains in prehistoric southern Iran point to an Elamite oecupation of much of the area. It is, of course, impossible to determine whether the people of the mountainous areas of Fars were the same as those in the Valleys and plains, but the extensive survey of the Marvdasht piain, where Persepolis is located, by William Sumner shows a unity in the extensive oecupation of all parts of the plains from very early times. 1 From surveys, based primarily on surface potsherd finds, 1 W. Sumner, Cultural Development in the Kur the Persepolis Piain and Shiraz Area," Iran, 6 River Basin (Ann Arbor, Michigan 1972), Univer- (1968), 168-70. sity Microfilms. Also see P. Gotch, "A Survey of Demography 27 similar occupation periods have been found elsewhere in Fars, especially in those oases where one would expect a continuous occupation, such as Fasa and Darab. 2 Unfortunately some areas of Fars province archaeologically are virtually terra incognita, such as the districts of Lar-Khunj and Ivaz in the south, and the Farrashband-Kazerun valley west of Shiraz. There is no reason, however, to assume that the population of these areas was dirFerent from that of the large Marvdasht piain. One may suppose that some tracts of lands which are occupied today or were in the early Islamic period, in antiquity were either empty of people or sparsely settled. Further, since trade was an important factor in the development of civilization, it is not fool-hardy to conjecture that the people of Fars early traded foodstuffs and animal products between the inhabitants of the cool and warm zones of the province, with little need or even incentive to go beyond the provincial borders. The distribution of Iranian dialects today in Fars may provide an indication of settlement patterns in antiquity. The most obvious and distinctive dialects are those spoken in the mountainous area of southern Fars, the dialects of Laristan. It is significant that many of these dialect Speakers are today Sunni Muslims, separated from the Shiite majority of Persians. Religious difference surely contributed to the maintenance of these dialects as much as geographica! isolation, but whether the difference between the people of Laristan and others in Fars is a phenomenon of Islamic times, or has antecedents in the pre-Islamic past, cannot be determined. Perhaps all that can be said is that given the geographical isolation of Laristan, an ancient differentiation of population in this part of the province, compared to other areas, would not be unexpected. Here mixtures of peoples, including some negroid strains, especially along the coast, took place in antiquity as well as Islamic times. It should be noted that the existence of an Iranian dialect spoken in Oman today, Kumzari, indicates the two-way traffic of peoples moving across the Gulf in the past. 3 One would expect the Zagros mountain ränge to contain pockets of linguistic differences from Standard Persian, but by now most of these have been lost, although it must be admitted that little investigation has been made of possible survivals. One of these is the dialect of Davan, a village in the mountains northeast of Kazerun. 4 This is not the place to go into the peculiarities of dialects, but historically one may propose dirFerent strata or waves of Iranian dialects which spread over Fars province, absorbing pre-Iranian tongues completely. The north western part of Fars province has rugged mountains and here live today Luri-speaking tribes, the Boyer Ahmad and Kohgiluye. Strictly speaking they are mountaineers, even though transhumance is practiced by many of them. The way of life of these contemporary people can have differed little from that of the their ancestors. 5 It is significant to note that Islamic geographers of the tenth Century, writing in Arabic, mention the existence of the Khuzi language in these mountains, which has been interpreted as a continuation of an ancient Elamite dialect. 6 Today the 2 P. de Miroschedji, "Poteries Elamites du Fars H. Mahamedi, "Three Iranian Dialects of Fars, Oriental," Bastan Chenassl va Honar-e Iran, 7-8 Davani, Avazi and Koroshi," Iranian Studies, 14 (Tehran, 1971), 60-67. (1982). Note that the people of Davan are Shaikhis, B. Thomas, "The Kumzari Dialect of the a special sect of Shiite Islam. Shiluh tribe," JRAS (1930). 5 See Löffler, supra, Boir Ahmad, 62-141. G. Morgenstierne, "Stray Notes on Persian 6 References in Schwarz, op. eil. [eh. 1, n. 14], Dialects, "NTS, 19 (Oslo, 1960), 123-29, and 406. 28 Chapter II language of the Boyer Ahmad tribes can be called a Luri dialect, quite close to Persian, and thus this northern part of Fars province is really part of the mountainous area of Luristan. It is possible that the Lurs, like the people of Laristan in the south, and others in mountainous areas, represent the vestiges of the first wave of Iranians who invaded the plateau and whose dialects were replaced in the Valleys and on the plains by New Persian. An indication of this hypothesis, but no more than that, is the common vocabulary of Luri and Laristan dialects, where certain common words and usages are not found in Persian. 7 The fact that New Persian is a wedge between these outlying dialects is best explained by the wave hypothesis, that an earlier substratum of Iranian dialects was gradually replaced by a standardized New Persian dialect, but the time when this occurred is unknown. In any case, we may assume a parallel earlier process whereby the original Iranians in Fars province gave their tongue to the autochthonous inhabitants in the first millennium B.C., whereas the mountain areas retained their original language and customs longer than the plains. The plains of Khuzistan from the earliest times were bound to the neighboring mountains of Luristan in a symbiosis of peoples. Not all of the population practiced a yearly migration to the mountains in the summer and to the flatlands in the winter, however, but enough of them did to mix the population such that Khuzistan was different in this respect from the lands to the west, in the basin of the Tigris and Euphrates. Contact between the peoples of Mesopotamia and Khuzistan was much easier than between mountains and piain, and certainly much exchange of culture took place, but nonetheless the special relationship with the mountains from whence the Elamites probably originated, made Khuzistan quite different from Mesopotamia. The interchange of products between the cool mountains and the hot plains was ancient in origin and continued throughout millennia. Many fruits and flowers were given to their western neighbors by the people of the plateau, and just the later Iranian words in Semitic languages alone such as Aramaic warda, 'rose,' testify to the exchange. Likewise, the time of the introduction of the date palm to the warm oases of southern Iran is unknown, but it is generally agreed that the earliest cultivation is found in southern Mesopotamia. Thus the ancient exchanges, though undocumented, can be assumed as a continuing process. So the geographical unity of Khuzistan with Mesopotamia, at least from the economic point of view, made less sense than the connection between the lowlands of Khuzistan and highlands to the east, and the occupation of both areas by Elamites, or at least Elamite culture, is understandable. It is true that the mountain ranges are very rugged and difficult of access, but this did not deter either merchants, or peoplejust seeking to escape the heat of summer on the plains. Surely ideas and artifacts were exchanged in this area from ancient times. The location of the mountain ranges, generally in a north west— southeast direction, made descent from the plateau to the plains easier southward from Luristan than directly west to Babylonia. The inhabitants of Luristan were those mountain dwellers who had most continuous contact with Khuzistan. In the many Valleys of Luristan one may postulate an early Iranicization of the original inhabitants who were For example, the word for 'stone' is bard both others. Many words and expressions are not in Luri and Laristan dialects, also 'large' gap and pecuhar to these two groups of dialects, however, gapu respectively, 'egg' xa and xag, and many but they are not used in Persian. Demography 29 probably a mixture of Elamites, Quti or Guti, Kassites and others. The predominantly pastoral economy of the Lurs today must have been similar over millennia, and a multitude of small Settlements was the rule, rather than any large cities in the region we call Luristan. The Lurs years ago were usually divided into two groups, the large (buzurg) and the small (kuchek) Lurs, the former located roughly to the southeast and east of the Ab-e Diz and the latter to the northwest and west of the upper reaches ofthat river. The small Lurs were divided primarily into two geographical areas, Pish-e Kuh (before the mountain) and Pusht-e Kuh (behind the mountain), the ränge being the Kavar or Kabir mountains. The former region includes the chief city of Khurramabad, but today much of the population in the northern Valleys, up to Kermanshah speak Lakki dialects which are south Kurdish dialects. The Pusht-e Kuh population lives in wilder surroundings and has been less studied than their northern cousins. The Luri dialects generally spoken here merge with southern Luri of the Lur-e buzurg. The main tribes are the Mamasani, Kohgiluye, Boyer Ahmad and Bakhtiyari, the last formerly divided into the Haft Lang and the Chahar Lang. Whether the present divisions of the Lurs reflects an ancient ethnic differentiation is unknown, but it is not improbable, for the rugged geography of Luristan alone would make it an excellent divided refuge area. The present linguistic picture does not help us with reconstructing the past. As noted, Speakers of Lakki dialects in northern Luristan are probably relatively late intruders, as are the Kurds in their homeland to the north of the Kermanshah- Hamadan road. One may assume that the ancient population must have been as divided as the present, but there is some archaeological evidence that at least culturally the area did have a unity. Also the Iranicization of the ancient peoples of Luristan- Guti, Lullubi, Kassites and others seems to have been uniform, in that ancient difFerences do not appear in the modern dialectology or ethnography of Luristan. 8 In other words, Luristan as an entity, with a common culture and group of dialects, is an ethnographic as well as a geographic and historical reality. The origin of the word Lur is uncertain, but folk tradition claims it comes from the gypsies or Luris brought from India by the Sasanian king Bahram Gör, as reported in Firdosi's Shahname, to bring music to the common people of Iran. Usually these itinerant musicians are called Luli, but it is possible that the name is a transfer to the inhabitants of the mountains. In any case, the word is not an ancient designation for the land or its peoples. Whereas the Lurs and their dialects are closely related to the Persians of Fars province, and naturally belong to the southwestern branch of the Iranian peoples, the Kurds are more complicated and their relations are much in dispute. It is generally accepted that the Kurdish language in its two major divisions of Kurmanji (northern) and Sorani (southern) is related to eastern and central Iranian dialects, thus indicating an eastern origin in respect to the geographical position of Kurdish today. 9 The 8 On Luristan and Luri dialects see the works of Windfuhr, "Isoglosses: A sketch on Persians, Hamid Izadpanäh, esp. his Farhange Luri (Tehran, Parthians and Medes," AI, Hommages et Opera 1 343/1 965), and 'Ah ftasan, Gozäresh-e Govlshha- Minora Monumentum H. S. Nyberg, 2 (Leiden, ye Luri (Tehran, 1342/1964). 1975), esp. 470-71. 9 See the survey, with references of G. L. 30 Chapter II Median dialects which were absorbed or supplanted by Kurdish dialects may be considered as represented today by Zaza and Gorani, both of which, however, were heavily Kurdicized. The process of Kurdicization of both the Gorani Speakers (now living in the mountains north of the Kermanshah-Hamadan road) and of the Lakks (south of the road) must have slowly proceeded throughout the Islamic period. 1 ° The Zaza Speakers in Anatolia also have a tongue different from Kurmanji and Sorani, even though one cannot thereby connect closely Zaza with Gorani. The native designation of the Zaza language as Dimli has been interpreted as Coming from Dailami, a Caspian dialect spoken by the Dailamis, who expanded from the Elburz mountains to the upper Zagros mountains, in the eleventh Century. 1 i Whether this is true or not, the great dimculty in separating various Iranian dialects and languages from each other in the general area of Kurdistan is obvious, since many strata and overlays have occurred because of migrations or forced settlement of groups from elsewhere. Just as in the Hindukush mountains of the east, so here too we find an ethnographic and linguistic museum of various peoples, again both refuge areas. In Kurdistan, as in Luristan, it is hardly possible to draw ancient conclusions from the present distribution of dialects or religious sects, except to note that geography also here plays an important role in determining where different peoples live and lived. The land dictates either agriculture in the Valleys or pastoralism on the slopes of the mountains, and it is possible that the extensive spread of pastoralism is the result of the spread of Iranian-speaking tribesmen into those areas. Of course, we have r/o written or archaeological evidence for this supposition, but the Iranicization of the northern Zagros ränge may well have proceeded from occupation of pastoral meadows to the settled agricultural land. 12 Obviously the process of Iranicization took time, but the lack of any apparent ethnic or linguistic unity in ancient northwestern Iran, not to speak of a political empire, probably aided the spread of Iranian speech. Together with several presumed confederations of tribes, the Iranian dialects seem to have presented a greater unity among the invaders than was found among the aborigines. All indications from Assyrian sources, which teil of Assyrian forays upon the Iranian plateau from the beginning of the first millenium B.c., reveal a diverse linguistic, cultural and presumably ethnic, mosaic among the aboriginal population here. Also we may further presume that the Iranian dialects were spread over relatively large expanses of territory and were insofar mutually intelligible that one might conclude that Iranian easily became a kind of linguafranca not only for Iranian pastoralists, but also for the settled people on the plateau with whom the Iranians came in contact. As mentioned above, we may further infer that the Kurds are still in the process of expansion from the highlands into lowland villages of the piain of Urmia and elsewhere, whereas the Zaza and Goran are remnants of a settled 10 G. B. Akopov, "Kurdy-gurany," Strany i Persische Forschungen (Berlin, 1930), 14-17, and narody blizhnego i srednego vostoka 7, Kurdove- in the same series his Mundarten der Zizi (Berlin, denie, Akad. Nauk Armyanskoi SSR (Erevan, 1932), 2-6. 1975), 164-65. i^Cf. the discussion in Vilchevskii, op. cit. 1 ' On the Goran and Zaza see K. Hadank, supra, Kurdy, 25-39. Mundarten der Güran of O. Mann's Kurdisch- Demography 31 Iranian-speaking population which had settled in mountain villages before the Kurdish expansion. 13 Azerbaijan, strictly speaking, comprises the Valleys and plains between the mountains of Kurdistan in the west to the Elburz mountain ränge descending to the Caspian Sea in the east. Even today in the western highlands, where the towns of Sanandaj, Bijar, Sakkiz and Mahabad are located, the majority of the population is Kurdish-speaking, whereas just to the east, in the lower lands, between the towns of Takab and Miyandoab the population is Turkish-speaking. Does this present division correspond to an ancient one? On the basis of scanty source material it is not possible to say whether present divisions could reflect earlier ethnic or linguistic differentiation; the differentiation, generally speaking, would be between predomi- nant pastoralists in the mountains and agriculturists in the lowlands. In the Assyrian annals, the area comprising the present province of West Azerbaijan was divided between the Urartians in the north and Manneans to the south of Lake Urmia, while the area of Urmia itself was probably a place of mixture. No ancient information is available, however, on the mountain-lowland division, for possibly relevant names in the ancient geographers Strabo and Ptolemy cannot be localized. The lake was perhaps the best known landmark of Azerbaijan, called the lower sea of Nairi by the Assyrians and later the lake of the Mantiane (Manneans) or the "blue" lake (Kabodän) and also Chaechist by the Iranians. 14 Many scholars have tried to identify the place names and tribal names in Assyrian sources but most of the localizations are only guesswork. The general reconstruction of the historical geography of Azerbaijan by I. M. Dyakonov, Istoriya Midii (Moscow, 1956), 87-93, is accepted by most scholars with modifications made by L. Levine, "Geographical Studies in the Neo-Assyrian Zagros," Iran, 1 1 (1973), 1—28 and 12 (1974), 99-122. According to Dyakonov, the area called Sangibutu by the Assyrians was the contemporary fertile Khoi-Marand area, which was conquered by the Urartians in the ninth Century b.c. To the east of this region was the valley of the Kara-su, a southern tributary of the Araxes River which was later occupied by a people called by Classical authors the Cadusii. The identification of other localities or tribes in the Assyrian sources is fraught with many difficulties and reveals the complexity of the historical geography of the land. While there is no evidence of ethnic or linguistic unity among the pre-Iranian population of Azerbaijan, we may guess that some of them had relations with small groups of Caucasian peoples of today who in ancient times extended farther to the south. Thus, the ancient Albanians who lived in present day Soviet Azerbaijan, may have been the descendants of what might be called linguistically Caspian peoples living on the western and southern shores of the sea, whereas to the west was the 1 3 Cf. Hadank, loc. eil. [n. 1 1 ]. The Mukri Kurds Kurdish dialects are different from those to the who today oecupy the area of Mahabad and south in Sanandaj and Kermanshah, and this Sakkiz, may have migrated from Iraq in the 17th division may possibly represent an ancient division Century according to O. Mann, Die Mundart der of peoples. Mukri-Kurden, 1 (Berlin, 1906), xviii. The Mukri l4 Strabo XI, 523 and XI, 529. ^2 Chapter II Hurrian-Urartian and possibly Mannean linguistic group. 15 We do not know how far to the north Elamite dialects or related languages extended, nor indeed how many other tribes or peoples existed, speaking tongues different from the two main groups in western Iran. In any case, at the time of the expansion of the Iranians we may presume that western Iran was dominated by the Elamites in the south and Urartian- Hurrians in the north. To the east, however, we have no sources other than archaeology. Archaeology has revealed highly developed cultures in the south Caspian Sea regions, as early as the second millennium B.C., at sites such as Marlik and Kaluraz in Gilan. 16 Archaeological surveys have indicated that the Gilan piain probably was not settled before the Parthian period, and that all ancient sites are located in the foothills of the Elburz mountains, none of them of great size indicating a sparse population. 17 Since no early second millennium or earlier pottery or other ancient objects have been found in Gilan or western Mazandaran, we may conclude that the Iranians were the first people to settle in the south Caspian plains in any numbers. In the Talysh provinces, however, especially in the Soviet Union, ancient graves have been found dating from the second millennium B.c. Presumably the descendants of these people were the Cadusii, about whom we know little more than their name. Yet Strabo (XI, 508) associates them with the Anariaki or "non-Aryans," and we may suppose that the Cadusii were non-Iranians and related to the Albanians or people of Arran, as it was called in the Islamic period, who were then Iranicized. The plateau where today are located the cities of Tehran, Hamadan and Isfahan, was the center of Iranian settlement, but who were the aborigines here whom the Iranians conquered or absorbed ? We know from archaeological excavations at sites such as Tepes Giyan, Hissar and Siyalk that there existed cultures before the coming of the Iranians. The Iranicization of the central plateau seems to have been so complete that no conclusions may be drawn about the ethnic or linguistic nature of the autochthonous population. Pottery and other remains do not help in this regard, but we may suppose that the population on the plateau was sparse, for as mentioned previously, techniques of irrigation such as the Underground water Channels are not attested before the first millennium B.c., which enabled agriculturists to extend cultivation into the plains and deserts, thus opening virgin tracts of land to settlement. 18 On the other hand, some oases have lost their water supplies and have become desert, as at ancient sites such as the graves of Shahdad in the Lut desert to the northeast of Kerman where pre-Islamic remains have been found. 19 Who were these pre-Iranian people? We may suppose that the inhabitants of the areas to the south and The close relationship of Urartian and " Ibid., plus A. Hakemi, "Excavations in Hurrian has been established, but with no written Kaluraz, Gilan," Bulletin of the Asia Institute of remains of the Manneans, the nature of their Pahlavi University, 3 (Shiraz, 1973), 1-3. language is conjectural. See I. M. Dyakonov, ' 8 See eh. 1 , n. 37. Yazyki Drevnei Prednei Azii (Moscow, 1967), 19 Cf. M. A. Kaboli, "Shahdad in the Third 113-20. Millennium B.C." (in Persian), Proceedings of the Cf. Hrouda, op. cit., [p. 26] Vorderasien, 248. Und Annual Symposium on Archaeological Research Although the graves may extend into the first in Iran (Tehran, 1974), 1-9, and reports by A. millennium and the period of Iranian invaders, the Hakemi at the Vllth International Congress of art forms are autochthonous. Iranian Art and Archaeology at Munich in 1976. Demography 33 east of the Lut desert in Kerman, Seistan and Baluchistan may have been related to each other and possibly to others both to the north in present Turkmenistan or to the southeast in Pakistan. 20 Certainly trade existed from a very early period, even in luxury items such as lapis lazuli from Badakhshan in Afghanistan, for it has been found in early graves in Mesopotamia. 21 The urban Settlements, however, must have been small and few, first merely as suppliers both to peasants and to pastoralists, and then developing into Centers where craftsmen produced their wares as specialists. It is important to remember in the history of Iran that although agriculturalists and pastoralists represented two different and sometimes inimical ways of life, a third factor, urban dwellers, were important in their own right. Invaders or nomads usually tried to control the towns of a land, where they interacted with townspeople. On the whole they despised the villagers and did not intermarry with them. The towns were stages where events were enacted and records were compiled, so history is their story. Unfortunately we know very little about large Settlements on the Iranian plateau in ancient times, and even less about the composition of the population of those centers. There were many racial types as seen from wide, long and other types of skulls from burials, and one may presume that mixtures of populations had been occurring since palaeolithic times. One must constantly re-emphasize the vital importance of water to any life, settled or nomadic, especially in eastern and southeastern Iran, which were barren wastes, and archaeology reveals constant attempts at building dams or cisterns to preserve every drop of the precious fluid. 22 Under difficult physical conditions the transient nature of Settlements in eastern Iran and Baluchistan is not surprising, since settlement patterns followed the availability of water and the rise or fall of the water table. One should not expect many large towns in the east, and it would seem that pastoral and nomadic life was dominant here, except in the province of Seistan where the Helmand River provided water for extensive agriculture. Today the population is a mixture of Persians, Pashtuns, Baluch and even Brahui, and we may presume that the region was also mixed in antiquity. The Brahuis, who speak a Dravidian language, were either ofFshoots of a wandering Dravidian tribe from the Deccan, or they represent an ancient branch of Dravidians, who may have come from the sub-continent at the end of the fourth millennium B.c. The latter theory is generally accepted today, because of the archaic nature of Brahui among the Dravidian languages. 23 If this is the case, then the proto-Brahuis may have been the dominant people in Baluchistan and even Sind when the Aryans expanded. Whether they were the inhabitants of Mohenjo-Daro and carriers of the Indus civilization, probably destroyed by the Vedic invaders of India, is uncertain. Although the Iranian-speaking Baluchis came from the west in Islamic times, before their arrival other Iranians had mixed with the Brahuis, as can be seen from archaic 20 M. Tosi, "Shahr-i Sokhta: a charge and a Phases of its Trade," Iraq, 30 (London, 1968), 29- chance for urban archaeology," in F. Bagherzadeh 30. ed., Proceedings of the Ist Annual Symposium of 22 Cf. J. T. Maruchek, "A Survey of Seasonal Archaeological Research in Iran (Tehran, 1973), 1- Occupation Sites in Northern Baluchestan," in 5; also his "A Topographical and Stratigraphical Baqerzadeh ed., Proceedings of the IV th Annual Periplus of Shahr-e sukhte, "Proceedings ofthe IVth Symposium on Archaeology (Tehran, 1976), 272. Annual Symposium (Tehran, 1976), 43. 23 M. S. Andronov, Yazyk Braut (Moscow, 21 G. Herrmann, "Lapis Lazuli: The Early 1971), 12-13, with a bibliography. 34 Chapter II Iranian borrowings in the Brahui language. 24 Also the extent of Brahui Settlements in early times cannot be determined, but one reason they have not been absorbed by the Baluchis was the primarily nomadic-pastoral way of life of the latter as contrasted with the settled Brahui of Kalat and elsewhere. If much of the Iranian national epic, as preserved in Firdosi's Shahname, can be traced to Seistan, then the identification of the Brahuis as the Turanians of the Epic might be considered. It would seem, however, that other peoples also lived in this desolate part of Iran, and today's dialects may indicate also an earlier linguistic division. In the highlands of Bashakird (or Bashkard) to the northeast of Minab live primitive agriculturists speaking Iranian dialects, while to the east in the lowlands of Bampur and beyond live Baluchis, most of whom are nomads or semi-nomads. Along the coast are fishermen, a medley of races including Negritoes, and negroids, the former from Malaysia to the east and the latter from Africa. One cannot teil whether they are relatively recent arrivals brought as slaves, or whether they (especially the Negritoes) may represent an ancient strain in the population. 25 Classical authors teil of fish-eaters (Ichthyophagi) and other folk living along this coast, but their ethnic or linguistic identity, of course, cannot be determined. In early Islamic times the people of the interior of Bashakird and Makran were called Qufs and Balüs by Arabic authors, the former presumably mountaineers and the latter pastoralists. 26 Again the differentiation of peoples by their mode of livelihood is striking, and a possible ethnic differentiation in antiquity is possible. Today, of course, all of the population speak Iranian languages or dialects, and we may assume that the Iranicization of the earlier inhabitants was not a prolonged process. 27 Along the southern coast only the harbors at Bandar 'Abbas and Tiz-Chahbahar offered access to an interior which could export products, in the former case Sirjan and the province of Kerman, and in the latter Bampur and the Saravan regipn of Baluchistan. Finally, a few words about the population of the central deserts of Iran may aid us in placing these people in the history of Iran. Inasmuch as the domestication of the camel long preceded the arrival of the Iranians on the plateau, we may presume that the oases of the central deserts of Iran had been long occupied, at least as way stations on trade routes from east to west, and the archaeological finds at Shahdad in Kerman, mentioned above, would tend to substantiate this hypothesis. Unfortunately no excavations or even archaeological surveys have been carried out in any of the oases, but Ptolemy (VI, 5, 1) mentions a district of Parthia called Tabikene, which one supposes is the desert area of Tabbas. Also Stephan of Byzantium, in his Ethnika mentions the Tabenoi as a people living in the desert of Kerman, so we may assume that the oases were inhabited. The numbers of people living in such isolated places even today is small, and in antiquity it cannot have been more, so we may suppose that the early inhabitants, like today, made their living on date palms and as watering places for Caravans. It should be noted that ancient copper mines have been found in 24 A. V. Rossi, "Iranian Elements in Brahui," Bosworth, The Kufichis or Qufs in Persian AION, 31 (1971), 401. History," Iran, 14 (1976), 9-17. 25 Cf. Pikulin, supra, Beludzhi, 31. 21 Cf. the various articles of I. Gershevitch on 26 B. Spooner, "Kuch u Baloch and Ichthyo- the dialects of Bashakird (or Bashkardia) listed in phagi," Iran, 2 (London, 1964), 53-59, and E. Bosworth, op. cit. [n. 26], n. 20. Demography 35 the central desert near Anarak, and one may further suggest that this area was one of the sources for the metal in antiquity. 28 The population probably did not differ from the settled people in the Qom and Kashan areas to the west. Tepe Siyalk is not far from the copper mines. In summary, the population of Iran in antiquity seems to have followed much the same pattern as in the recent past. Where pastoralists roamed, conditions of geography and hence life have little altered, and where villages barely maintained an existence with scarce water supplies, conditions have remained much the same without great changes. The mountains were refuge areas with little contact from one Valley to another, and peasants were oppressed either from the towns or from the pastoralists (or nomads), and sometimes from both. There were three centers which could be unified and provide bases of power or expansion, Fars province in the south, Azerbaijan in the north, or the central plateau area of Hamadan-Tehran-Isfahan. Other parts of Iran were either dependent on one or more of these areas, or lived in relative isolation. But from very early times trade and commerce were important across Iran, as well as inside, and the age-old invasion route into Iran from Central Asia was used by nomads seeking better pasture lands. Since the pattern of migration seems to have been invariably from east to west, we should turn to the east and north to examine the inhabitants of those areas. AFGHANISTAN As an extension of the plateau to the east, conditions of life in Afghanistan are similar to those in western Iran, although in the east water is scarcer and the mountains are higher than in the west. The inhabitants of Herat, stretching to ancient Bactra (Balkh) on the east, were an extension of the population of the present-day Iranian province of Khurasan, and from the time of the Achaemenid Empire these 'upper provinces' had a unity, probably ethnic as well as cultural. As usual, it is in the mountains that one finds small groups of people the very existence of whom can perhaps teil us about the settlement or movement of peoples in the east. For a pre-Indo-Aryan population, we should consider the Burushaski people of Hunza, Pakistan, for they, like the Brahuis to the south, may be yestiges of an earlier population which was much more widespread than today. Unlike Mesopotamia, the vast subcontinent of India has very few ancient written records which can be used for historical purposes. Consequently there is no information about the past of the Burushaski Speakers whose language has no relation to its neighbors of the Iranian, Indian or Tibeto-Burman families. 29 The pre-Aryan past of the east is much darker than in the west, and just ns the proto- Brahui hypothesis is guesswork for the southern part, so that of proto-ßurushaski Speakers is hypothetical for the northern part of the Indo-Iranian borderlands. It must be remembered that nomadism and semi-nomadism are much more widespread in 28 'Wertime,op.cit.supra,Metallungy, 1257-67. 29 On the Burushaski language see D. L. R. Other mines, dating from the Bronze Age, have Lorimer, The Burushaski Language, 3 vols. (Oslo, been found near the city of Qom; cf. H. Holzer, 1935), and H. Berger, Das Yasin-Burushaski Ancient Copper Mines in the Veshnoveh Area, (Werchikwar), (Wiesbaden, 1974). Kuhestan-Qom," Archaeologica Austriaca, 59 (Vienna, 1971), 10-11. 36 Chapter II eastern than in western Iran, and the settled folk in the east have been more subject to domination by tribes than in the west. Whether proto-Burushaski Speakers were nomads who were pushed into the mountains by invading Indo-Aryans, or whether they were always settled mountaineers cannot be determined. In the east, unlike the west, traces of the first wave of Indo-Aryans, comparable to those in the Mitanni confederation in the west, still survive. These are the present Speakers of Dardic and Kafir (Nuristani) languages. The Dardic peoples today live in the mountainous northeastern part of Afghanistan and the northwestern part of Pakistan and India. The languages occupy a position between Indian and Iranian, and in spite of disagreements about the origin of these languages, all investigators agree that the Dardic languages can be considered a separate group of Indo-European tongues with features particular to that group. 30 In the old religion and folklore of the Dardic peoples one can find many features which support the thesis that these people were much more widespread in the past than today, and that they represent the remains of the earliest wave of Indo-European Speakers who entered the plains of India. 31 If we assume that linguistically this Suggestion makes sense, then these pre-Vedic Aryans may have carried a distinctive black pottery with them as proposed by R. Ghirshman. 32 We may assume then that these early Indo-Aryans were pushed into the mountains by the Vedic Aryans invading India from the north west about the twelfth Century B.C.; but did the Dardic Speakers constrain the aborigines to retreat even further, so that today we only have the Burusho, the Burushaski Speakers, as their remnants? If this is true, there seems to have been relatively less absorption of the previous inhabitants by newcomers than in the west. For we must remember that the final movement into the Indo-Iranian borderlands, in Islamic times, is the expansion of the Iranian Pathans or Pashtuns from their homeland in the mountains of Afghanistan onto the plains of the northwest subcontinent. The Pathans are organized tribally and rule present Afghanistan. They are the pastoralists par excellence of the Indo-Iranian borderlands, practicing an annual migration to the highlands of Afghanistan in the summerand to the lowlands in the winter. Herodotus (IV, 44 and VII, 67, 85) mentions the land of Paktyia and the Paktyes living near Kabul, which may be the ancestor of the name Pakhtun or Pashtun, used by the nomads. The Pathans expanded from their homeland in the Sulaiman mountain ränge onto the plains only in the aftermath of the Mongol invasions in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries of our era, and it would seem that the Pashtu language is today still expanding in Pakistan. Legends linking the Pashtuns to the Hephthalites or to the Khalaj Turks may reflect a northern origin, although nothing eise can be said about their ongins. 33 Pashtu, probably, has absorbed other 30 On the Dardic languages see D. I Edelman, also his Die Sprache von Sau in Ostafghanistan Dardskie Yazyki (Moscow, 1965) with an exten- (Munich, 1967), ll,andK.Jettmar,Di'eÄf%'o«e« sive bibhography, and on the inhabitants P Snoy, des Hindukusch (Stuttgart, 1975). Die Kafiren (Frankfurt, 1962), 10, and G. G. 3: R. Ghirshman, L'han et la Migration des Indo- Morgenstierne, "Die Stellung der Kafirsprachen," aryans et Iraniens (Leiden, 1977), 68-69. Irano-Dardica (Wiesbaden, 1973), 327-43 " G. Morgenstierne, in Iranistik, Handbuch der 31 G. Buddruss, "Zur Mythologie der Prasun Orientalistik, (Leiden, 1958) 169, also his Parachi Kafiren," Paideuma Festschrift für H. Lommel, and Ormuri [n. 35, infra], 8. (Wiesbaden, 1960), 207, with Vedic parallels. Cf. Demography 37 Iranian Speakers in Afghanistan as well as Indic and Dardic Speakers in Pakistan, and two survivors of older Iranian languages, now almost wholly engulfed by Pashtu, are Parachi and Ormuri, the former of which is still spoken in a few isolated villages of the Hindukush mountains north of Charikar, while the latter is still spoken by a few people in the Logar Valley south of Kabul and in a village in Wazirstan, Pakistan. It is fascinating that both of these languages show many features in common with Persian, and they have been designated as southeast Iranian relict languages. 34 Unfortunately it is not possible to determine when the ancestors of the Parachi and Ormuri Speakers arrived in the mountains of Afghanistan, and exactly what relationship they had to the Pashtuns. If the relations between their tongues and New Persian could be clarified, the proto-Parachi and Ormuri Speakers might have been an intrusion from the west in historic times. Or they might have been the original Iranian invaders into a Dardic-speaking area in very early times. A few concurrences in vocabulary between these languages and Brahui, Baluchi and Pashtu indicate little more than geographic proximity and complex borrowings which cannot be tied to historical events or even to the movements of peoples. 35 When we turn to the Pamir languages, their isolated geographic location, north of the Hindukush, has caused much inter-borrowing, making reconstructions of etymologies and family relationships difhcult. While some scholars have sought to derive one or more of the Pamir languages from the Middle Iranian Khotanese Saka, it seems better, from what little we know, to speak of an unknown proto-Pamir language as the ancestor of the present Pamir languages. 36 At least some difFerentiation has been made among the Pamir languages, and the Shughni group of languages (Roshani, Bartangi, Sarykoli, and Yazghulami) seems to constitute one family, while Munjani, Wakhi, Ishkashmi, and other little known languages, constitute other families or relationships. 37 When such words for 'sun,' as Ishkashmi remuz and Sanglechi ormözd (from ancient Ahura Mazda), and Munjani mlra from Mithra, occur in the Pamir languages, it readily will be seen that the folklore and beliefs of the Pamir peoples, as well as their languages, have interesting implications for reconstructing the past of the east-Iranian world. Whereas the Pamir languages cannot be considered as descendants of any known ancient Iranian language, the language of the Yaghnobis, today less than two thousand, living in an isolated mountain valley a hundred kilometers to the north of Dushanbe, Tajikistan, is descended from a Sogdian dialect. The Yaghnobis are the last remnants of a once populous folk who inhabited the valley of the Zarafshan River, where the cities of Bukhara and Samarqand are located. Until fragments of manuscripts from Chinese Turkestan written in the Sogdian language were deciphered and identified in the beginning of the twentieth Century, it was not known what kind of a language Yaghnobi was. 38 But Yaghnobi and the Yaghnobis 4 Morgenstierne, Iranistik, Loc. eil. on linguistic Shughni Group (Wiesbaden, 1974), with an grounds, suggests that Pashtu may have originally extensive bibliography. come from the north. 37 Cf. T. N. Pakhahna, Pamirskie Yazyki Morgenstierne. Indo-Iranian Fronlier I.an- (Moscow, 1969), 9-10. guages, 1, Parachi and Ormuri (Oslo, 1929), 13, 38 See A. Khromov, Yagnobskii Yazyk (Mos- 3 "- cow, 1972), with bibliography. Morgenstierne, Etymological Vocabulary oflhe 38 Chapter II are important not only from the point of view of linguistics but also for anthropology and folklore. 39 The Sogdian language first gave way to Persian, and then in many parts of Russian Turkestan Persian/Tajiki was supplanted by Turkic languages. In reconstructing the life of the common folk of Central Asia before the Arab conquests, the Yaghnobis can be helpful, especially in comparing words used today with Sogdian. It must be emphasized that Islam and the new Persian/Tajiki language have both greatly influenced the Pamir peoples and the Yaghnobis such that it is very difficult to unpeel the accumulation of centuries to try to recover the past. The Yaghnobis, of course, are not the only Iranian Speakers in Central Asia, for the vast majority are now Tajiki/Persian Speakers, who mostly live in Tajikistan, with its capital Dushanbe. In antiquity the people of Tajikistan were called Bactrians, and they extended also to the south of the Amu Darya into Afghanistan where their main city was located, the present-day ruins of Balkh. So the ethnographic, if not also linguistic, unity of the Bactrians living south of the Hissar mountain ränge, seems apparent from earliest times. To the north of the Hissar ränge lived the Sogdians, mostly in what is now Uzbekistan. Just before the Arab conquests, we infer that Buddhism was the dominant religion and culture of the Bactrians, while a local form of Mazdaism or Zoroastrianism seems to have been prevailing among the Sogdians. But the Sogdians, an active trading folk, had trading colonies as far to theeast as China and Mongolia, and many religions, including Christianity, Manichaeism and Buddhism, were populär with the Sogdians. The Sogdians also were very mixed ethnically because of their Strategie location, as were their cousins in Khwarazm, the land on the lower course of the Amu Darya south of the Aral Sea, who spoke a language different from Sogdian. Although the Tajiki dialects of today, unlike Yaghnobi, are descended from New Persian, nonetheless many Sogdian survivals may be found in them, distinguishing Tajiki from Persian spoken in western Iran. Many studies of Tajik folklore and anthropology, as well as dialectology, help us further to reconstruet the past of that part of the world, especially old forms of family relationship and social life. 40 The Turkic Speakers, Uzbeks, Turkmens and others, are of lesser aid in reconstructing the past, since they have added a layer of Turkic traditions >and practices to that of the Tajiks, and are thus further removed from the culture of the ancient inhabitants of the land. Only in Turkmenistan are, and were, nomadism and pastoralism dominant over the settled life, and so in antiquity the steppes of Dahistan, to the east of the Caspian Sea, also supported a nomadic population. According to Classical authors in antiquity here lived the Massagetae, an Iranian people who raided settled lands to the south as did the Turkmens in recent times. Again, here as in Iran, climatic conditions have not changed much since antiquity. Paleoanthropology teils us that the population of Central Asia in antiquity was much the same as the south of the Amu Darya with mixtures of long-heads and mesoeephalics; while possible connections with the south may be found in certain 39 M. S. Andreev, Malerialy po etnograßi Yag- works on the folklore of the peoples of the Pamirs noba (Dushanbe, 1 970). and much research has been done on various Tajiki 40 The Institute for the study of the Pamirs in dialects and folklores. Dushanbe has published a number of valuable Demography 39 cranial types similar to the Dravidians of India. 41 Man, of course, lived in very early times in Central Asia, for Neanderthal remains have been found there, including the skeleton of a boy of eight or nine years old. 42 It is unnecessary to go back into prehistory, however, since neither cranial types nor various prehistoric artifacts aid in the reconstruction of later history. Suffice it to say that archaeology is yearly revealing very early Settlements in Central Asia before the expansion of the Indo- European-speaking peoples from south Russia, and the pattern of life found there is much the same as in western Iran, with the settled population more numerous than the nomad-pastoralists, except in Turkmenistan. To the north of the present Tashkent area, however, the steppes were dominated by nomads. The Kara Tau and Kirghiz (formerly Alexandrovskii) ranges were the dividing line between the oases towns of Russian Turkestan (today the Soviet republics of Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) and the vast steppe lands of present Kazakhastan and Kirghizia. The population of the steppes when we first learn about them, was naturally nomadic except in the southern forested Valleys of present Alma Ata and Frunze. To the far north were the forests and tundra of Siberia, the domain of hunters and fishermen. Mobility was the key to life on the steppes, and the almost paramilitary Organization of the tribes who roamed here, made them formidable opponents of any settled folk. Slowly archaeology is also uncovering the material civilization of nomads whose culture was more complex than hitherto supposed. We should pause to consider briefly the origins of pastoralism. When we think of pastoralists as horse-riding nomads, it refers to historic times, for even the early Indo-European migrants were chariot-riding invaders into India, as also the Myceneans into Greece. The use of horses primarily as riding animals rather than pullers of wagons cannot date much before the middle of the second millenium B.C., and it took a long time before riding displaced the use of horses as draught animals. On the other hand, true nomads could hardly exist without the use of horses primarily for riding, and this suggests that nomadism is a relatively late and sophisticated development of a pastoralism based on the use of wagons to follow the herds. 43 Wherever and whenever the domestication of the horse took place, possibly in the Near East, it was nonetheless the Indo-European-speaking peoples who later utilized the horse more than any others, and it surely contributed to the spread of those peoples. The Indo-Europeans in the course of their wanderings, with chariots and wagons, may have learned that riding was more efficient than chariots, especially in combat. 44 In any case, the first horse-riding nomads in history were the Iranian 41 T. A. Trafimova, Drevnee Naselenie Khor- Central and Eastern Europe," American Schools of ezma po dannyin paleoantropologii (Moscow, 1 959), Prehistoric Research Bulletin, 25, Peabody Museum 1- (Cambridge, Mass., 1968), 5-7. 42 For a bibhography of works on the Neander- 44 W. Brandenstein, "Das Pferd - eine Haupt- thal site of Teshik Tash in Uzbekistan by A. P. frage der indogermanischen Altertumskunde," Okladnikov, see Istoriya Vzbekskoi SSR, 1 (Tash- Mitteilungen der anthropologischen Gesellschaft in kern, 1955), 12-15 and 532 Wien, 92 (1962), 30-33; and J. F. Downs, "The 43 Cf. F. Hancar, Das Pferd in prähistorischer und Ongin and Spread of Riding in the Near East and frühhistorischer Zeit, Wiener Beiträge zur Kul- Central Asia," American Anthropologist, 63 (1961), turgeschichte und Linguistik, 1 1 , (Vienna, 1 956) ; 1 1 93-1 203. and S. Bökönyi, "Data on lron Age Horses of 40 Chapter II Scythians, or Sakas as the Persians called them, and they are found already into the first millennium b.c. The Scythians extended eastward to the forest lands of the Altai mountains and Mongolia, and it seems that the Turks and Mongols, who were originally forest dwellers, learned horse-riding from the Iranians. 45 The Scythians were carriers of a dynamic 'animal style' in their metalwork and on textiles, such as those preserved in the tombs of Pazyryk in Siberia. 46 In Siberia and the Altai mountains the Iranians mixed with Mongoloid peoples from the east, but the steppes were occupied by Iranian nomads throughout the first millennium b.c. Karl Jettmar has proposed, however, that horse-riding became dominant in Turkmenistan about 1200 b.c. and afterwards was carried first to India and then north ward to the steppes where previously agriculturalists had been dominant. 47 He further postulates a change from settled life to a half-nomadic pastoral existence and then suddenly to füll nomadism, with large flocks and groups of warrior nomads. A comparison with the change in life-style of the American Indians after the introduction of the horse to North America, from a settled existence to buffalo-hunting nomads in the füll light of history, can be instructive. 48 It would seem that the movement of peoples beginning about 1000 b.c. was the result, in large measure, of a great expansion in the use of the horse, first pulling carts and chariots and then as cavalry. We may conclude that from the period of earliest records in Iran, we find Iranian nomads in the steppes, and they were much later succeeded by Turks and Mongols. At the present time one small group of Iranian Speakers remains from the once widespread Iranian world of the steppes. These are the Ossetes who today live in the Caucasus north of Tiflis, with their center at Ordzhonikidze (formerly Vladikavkaz). The Ossetes whose language has two dialects, a more archaic Digor, and the majority speaking Iron, are a classic refugee people. Although greatly influenced by their Caucasian neighbors, in customs, costumes and even language, it is generally agreed that they are descendants of the Alans, one of the Sarmatian peoples who ruled the south Russian steppes before the expansion of the Turks. 49 Because the Ossetes are the only living representatives of the northern Iranians, their language, and especially their folklore, has been studied to find ancient Iranian, or even Indo-Eu^opean, features which survived in the refuge area of the north Caucasus. 50 The material culture of the Ossetes, however, is overwhelmingly Caucasian, since the Iranians settled down here so many centuries ago. 51 Although these northern Iranians were historically very important for the history of Eurasia, their impact on the Iranian plateau, the core area for this book, was only sporadic. Their history is only tangential to the history of the south, and we must omit any detailed discussion of them. 45 See O. Lattimore, "The Geographical Factor 48 Ibid, 217. in Mongol History," Geographical Journal, 91 49 On the origin of the Ossetes cf. the results of a (1938), 8. Conference on Proiskhozhdenie Osetinskogo Naroda 46 On the finds of Pazyryk, see S. I. Rudenko, (Ordzhonikidze, 1967), where all points of view Frozen Tombs of Siberia (London, 1970), and S. V. about the origins of the Ossetes were aired. Kiselev, Drevnyaya Utoriya Yuzhnoi Sibiri (Mos- 50 See, e.g., G. Dumezil, Legendes sur les Nartes cow, 1951). (Paris, 1930), 9; also his Le livre des heros (Paris, 47 Die frühen Steppenvölker (Baden-Baden, 1965), 11-12. 1964), 215. 5i 5^ B A Kaloev, Osetiny (Moscow, 1971). Demography 4\ CONCLUSIONS We may summarize recent work on the ethnology and anthropology of the Iranian areas briefly. In the realm of physical anthropology and the study of crania, the presence of Negrito elements in southern Iran and Bachichistan, as well as Dravidian types in Central Asia in ancient times leads to the supposition that the pre-Aryan inhabitants of the Iranian plateau did in fact leave clues to their identity, but work in this domain has only begun. For example, no synthesis has been made, as far as I know, of the copious skeletal material from archaeological excavations, to portray the physical characteristics of the population in any area over a time period. Whether we can have any meaningful analyses of racial types in the history of the Iranian world remains to be seen, but at least overall syntheses are first needed. Studies on the dynamics of pastoral-settled occupation of land, and on types of coexistence have clarified the relationships of peoples with different ways of life. 52 As part of this question, investigations on the domestication of the horse have been mentioned as an important development in the early history of the Iranian world. The domestication and use of the camel was presumably less important here than it was in Arabia and North Africa, but the camel, like the horse and donkey, enabled man to go longer distances and to cross hitherto impassable deserts. Whether the camel was the decisive factor in causing the inhabitants of the Iranian plateau to abandon wheeled vehicles, as a recent study claims, is perhaps exaggerated. 53 It would seem rather, that the wheel had lost its importance long before the Sasanian era, as suggested in the study, and that the horse and donkey participated with the camel in relegating the wheel to inemciency over the mountains and deserts of the Iranian world at least as early as the Achaemenids. One must always ask whether any contemporary model of ways of life can be projected profitably into an explanation of the past, ignoring changes in religion, culture, etc. For the vast majority of people throughout history the needs of survival, of economics, were far more important than intellectual activities, and continuity in nature, as well as way of life among the Iranians, suggests that contemporary studies of settlement and pastoral patterns do have great relevance to understanding the past; but in the part of the world we are discussing, the reverse is also true. Unfortunately we know very little about the instabilities of societies in the past which arose from failures to maintain subsistence levels. How many years of drought in a given area caused the inhabitants to move, or to change their way of life? It would seem that districts which could be characterized as frontier areas, on the margins of richer agricultural lands, were the prime centers of instability and were the scenes of transfers between settled and pastoral folk. Central Asia has been called the arena where tribal states ruled over vast distances, but only for relatively short periods of time, and this pattern overlaps as well into Iran and Afghanistan. On the whole, Cf. the works by F. Barth, such as his Indus 53 R. Bulliet, The Camel and the Wheel (Cam- «nd Swal Kohistan (Oslo, 1956), his Ethnic Groups bridge, Mass., 1975), 175. <">d Boundaries (London, 1969), and W. Irons and N - Dyson-Hudson, eds., Perspectives on Nomadism (Leiden, 1972). 42 Chapter 11 people who lived in fertile oases, or Valleys copiously watered by rivers, were stable and did not seek greener pastures elsewhere. Although history in this part of the world has been concerned with empires and kingdoms, many significant events, as for example the migration of the Baluchis, are tied to such matters as drought or plagues of locusts. Therefore, it behooves the historian to consider the contributions of the anthropologists and folklorists to our understanding of the past. In recent years the ancient and medieval city has caught the imagination of many scholars with the result that a plethora of studies and Conferences devoted to the city has appeared. The oasis character of the Iranian world insured an early development of town life, and Soviet scholars have contributed much to our understanding of the Central Asian city, as well as to settlement patterns on the Iranian plateau. 54 The archaeological work in Central Asia, and in eastern Iran, at sites such as Shahr-i Sukhte in Seistan and Tepe Yahya in Kerman, has revealed ancient and extensive trade connections hitherto unknown. ss Eastern Iran and Central Asia are now revealed as separate cultural areas and not provincial extensions of western Iran. Furthermore, the oases of the plateau and Central Asia can make a claim to having been early centers of civilization, parallel to the river Valleys of the Indus and Tigris-Euphrates, where the earliest written records have appeared. On the other hand, it must be emphasized that the oases could never vie with the great river plains in productivity, population, hence in historical importance, but they are also not to be compared with the primitive Settlements of northern Europe. Finally a word must be said about the achievements of linguistics in recent years, which have revolutionized our view of the Iranian peoples. Not only have documents in several eastern Middle Iranian languages, Khwarazmian, Sogdian, Khotanese-Saka, and Kushano-Bactrian, revealed a rieh, new east-Iranian world, but also studies of modern dialects have shown the complexity of the movement of tribes, the resettlement of villagers far from their homeland and a host of cultural problems in the development of the languages and dialects. As more and more data aecumulates, our guesses about the Solutions to problems become more educated, and lacunae of the past are gradually filled. Pioneering work in deeiphering Khwarazmian was made by W. B. Henning, and before him F. W. K. Müller for Sogdian. 56 Khotanese-Saka was elueidated by the early work of Leumann, Konow and Bailey. 57 The latest Middle Iranian language to come to light was Kushano-Bactrian, which was studied by Maricq, Henning and Benveniste. 58 We now know that Khwarazmian had a long 54 See especially the collection of articles in Müller, "Handschriften - Reste in Estrangelo- both Antkhnyi Corod (Moscow, 1963), and Schrift aus Turfan," Abh.PAW (Berlin, 1904). Drevnii Voslok, Goroda i torgoulya (3-2 mill. B.c.) 57 E. Leumann, Zur nordarischen Sprache und (Erevan, 1 973), for the Near East, N. Pigulevskaja, Literatur (Strasbourg, 1 91 2) ; S. Konow, in A. F. R. Les villes de l'itat Uanien aux tpoaues parthes et Hoernle, Manuscripl Remains of Buddhist Literature sassanides (Paris, 1963), for Iran, and A. M. found in Eastern Turkestan (Oxford, 1916); and Belenitskii, ed. Srendnevekovyi gorod Sredttei Azii H. W. Bailey in many articles in the BSOS and (Leningrad, 1973), for the Islamic period of books, beginning in 1935. Central Asia. 58 A. Maricq, "La grande inscription de Kan- 55 For Central Asian archaeology see G. Frum- lshka," JA, 246 (1958), 345-440; W. B. Henning, kin, Archaeology in Soviet Central Asia (Leiden, "The Bactrian Inscription," BSOAS, 23 (1960), 1970). 47-55; E. Benveniste, "Inscriptions de Bactriane," 56 See W. B. Henning, "Über die Sprache JA, 249 (1961), 113-52. der Chvarezmier," ZDMG, 90 (1936), *30-34; Demography 43 history, first written in a modified Aramaic aiphabet; then it was written in Arabic characters down to the Mongol conquests. Sogdian was written in its own aiphabet, derived from Aramaic, or in a special Manichaean aiphabet, or in a Syriac Script, resp. in texts of three religions: Buddhism, Manichaeism and Christianity. Kushano- Bactrian, written in a modifed Greek aiphabet, survived into the Islamic period, when it was replaced in writing by new Persian in Afghanistan or by Indian tongues to the east. All contemporary Iranian languages and dialects are either unwritten, or have recorded literatures only from the nineteenth Century, save Mazandarani which was recorded in the Arabic aiphabet just prior to the Mongol invasions, and Pashtu and Kurdish, both of which are later in being written. G. Morgenstierne classified the Indo-Iranian languages of the frontier areas, while many Soviet scholars, beginning with 1. 1. Zarubin brought the Pamir languages into an orderly Classification. In the investigation of Ossetic, pioneer scholarly work was done by V. Miller and many, especially V. Abaev, have continued his work. One may say that progress in understanding the Iranian world in all of its aspects has been remarkable in the past sixty years, and the most exciting discoveries have come in the east, in Afghanistan and Central Asia, revealing much hitherto unknown information, and the new developments are the result largely of field work. In the twentieth Century new technologies of recording, photography, transportation, etc., have opened areas to investigation which formerly had been difficult of access. The results of archaeology, anthropology and dialectology, all field work, have amply justified efforts, time and money put into them. Without the raw material from the field, cabinet scholars would not have data on which to base their studies. The combination of field and desk work is even more essential, in my opinion, than the study of both past and present in the understanding of the Iranian world, or any part of it. Because of both the unity and the continuity of this world, perhaps more than anywhere eise, a Renaissance approach to Iranian Studies still has a value for all who venture onto the manifold and specialized branches ofthat world. This is why, in my view, the study of the pre-Islamic past of the Iranian world must begin with an appreciation not only of the complexities ofthat study, but also with a survey of disciplines such as anthropology and linguistics, which in other areas are of less importance to the reconstruction of the picture of the past. In the Iranian area all of this, and more, does indeed have relevance to how we seek to understand the past, and also it does aid us to appreciate the present and the future. CHAPTER III PRE-IRANIAN HISTORY OF THE PLATEAU AND CENTRAL ASIA Liieralure: The history of the Near East in the pre-Median period is well covered by the Cambridge Ancienl History, especially vol. 2 (Cambridge, 1 973). On Iran see especially Chapter 7 by W. Hinz "Persia, c. 1 800-1 550 B.c.," Chapter 1 6 by R. Dyson "The Archaeological Evidence of the Second Millennium B.c. on the Persian Plateau," Chapter 29 by R. Labat, "Elam, c. 1600-1200 B.c.," and his Chapter 32 "Elam and Western Persia, c. 1 200-1 000 B.c.," plus R. A. Crossland "Immigrants from the North," Chapter 27 ; with bibliographies on the Hurrians. The book by I. J. Gelb, Hurrians and Subareans (Chicago, 1944) is useful as a general survey, but consult also D. O. Edzard "Hurriter" in Reallexikon der Assyriologie (Berlin, 1 975) sub Hurriter. The problem of the Ur-Heimal of the Indo-Europeans has a huge bibliography with much controversy , but a consensus has been reached that the homeland must have been in the vast steppes of South Russia and Siberia. Many linguists such as Brandenstein and archaeologists such as Gimbutas, believe the homeland can be further defined as the general lower Volga River region (cf. their articles in A. Scherer, ed., Die Urheimat der Indogermanett, Wege der Forschung, 166 (Darmstadt, 1968). Cf. also B. Schlerath, Die Indogermanen, das Problem der Expansion eines Volkes im Lichte seiner sozialen Struktur, Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft, 8 (Innsbruck, 1973). Also of interest is P. Thieme, Die Heimat der indogermanischen Gemeinsprache, AAWM, no. 1 1 (Mainz, 1953). All of the scholars quoted, however, are cautious about defining a homeland. The main dispute, is between linguists and archaeologists, since the Identification of certain types of burial (kurgans) as Indo-European, is not accepted by everyone. See R. Schmitt, "Proto-Indo-European Culture and Archaeology : Some Critical Remarks," JIES, 2(1 974), 279- 88, and the reply by M. Gimbutas, 288-89. It is generally agreed, however, that the unseparated Indo-Iranians must have had close contacts with the early Finno-Ugrian peoples because of very old borrowings into the languages of the latter. Cf. A. J. Joki, Uralier und Indogermanen, Memoires de la Societi Finno-Ougrienne, 151 (Helsinki, 1973). Soviet archaeologists have come to the conclusion that the center of the Indo-Iranians should be sought near the southern Urals, and this is not contradicted by linguistic data. Cf. K. F. Smirnov and E. E. Kuzmina. Proiskhozhdenie Indoirantsev v svete noueishikh arkheologicheskikh otkrytii (Moscow, 1967), esp. 51-52. On the Andronova culture, the archaeological name for the presumed Indo-Iranian culture in Kazakhastan, cf. K. Jettmar, "Mittelasien and Sibirien in Vortürkischer Zeit," in Handbuch der Orientalistik, Altaistik, Geschichte Mittelasiens (Leiden, 1966), and G. Frumkin, Archaeology in Soviet Central Asia (Leiden, 1970), eh. 1. On the southern connections of this and other cultures see V. M. Masson, Srednyaya Aziya i Drevnii Vostok (Moscow, 1964), 184-85, and his Central Asia, Turkmenia before the Achaemenids, with V. I. Sarianidi (London, 1972), esp. 150-54. A survey of archaeological work to the west, in European Russia, may be found in M. Gimbutas, "Proto-Indo-European Culture: The Kurgan Culture during the Fifth, Fourth and Third Millennia B.c.," in C. Cardona and H. Hoenigswald, eds., Indo- European and Indo-Europeans (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1970), 155-98. Archaeological, primarily pottery, evidence for the Indians (or Indo-Aryans) on the Iranian plateau in the second millennium B.c. has been assembled by R. Ghirshman in L'Iran et la migration des Indo-aryens et des Iraniens (Leiden, 1977), who proposes an early migration of the former from Central Asia, but a later one from the north Caucasus for the Iranians. The Caucasian migration of Iranians is rejeeted in favor of a Central Asian path by T. C. Young.The Iranian Migration into the Zagros," Iran, 5 (London, 1967), 1 1- 34, and other archaeologists. No agreement seems possible, although the Central Asian route seems more plausible. With the Coming of the Indians to the subcontinent and the Iranians to the plateau, the Vedas, especially the Rigveda, and the Avesta, join archaeology as two written sources, but their historical Interpretation and attempts to find archaeological parallels to the texts are fraught with problems. An indispensable handbook to work on the Avesta is B. Schlerath's Awesta-Wörterbuch (Wiesbaden, 1968), while the old work of W. Geiger, Ostiranische Kultur im Altertum (Erlangen, 1882) is still useful as an attempt to relate the Avesta to history and geography. For bibliographies see my The Heritage of Persia, second edition 46 Chapter III (London, 1976), 303-05. Finally, a linguistic attempt to put the migration of the Indians into historical perspective is T. Burrow, "The Proto-Indoaryans," JRAS (1973), 121-40. RECONSTRUCTIONS A half a Century ago it would have been possible to begin the history of the Iranians with the cuneiform records of the ninth Century B.c. which give Iranian names for persons met by Assyrians in their campaigns to the east. It is clear that the Iranians, when they reached the plateau, came upon natives who were at various stages of culture and with different ways of life. In western Iran before the Coming of the Iranians, the Hurrians had descended to the plains in the north, while the Elamites were dominant in the south. Whatever other groups existed, we may speak of the Hurrian (and later Urartian and Mannean) sphere in the north, and the Elamite (together with Kassite) realm of the south. The former is more difficult to understand, but we must discuss both before turning to the Iranians. From the third millennium B.C. Akkadian cuneiform tablets mention the Hurrians, first in the highlands to the east and later in northern Mesopotamia, Syria, and even Anatolia. Just as the 'Fertile Crescent' of Mesopotamia and Syria was the goal of Semitic invaders from Arabia, so it was also the field of expansion for immigrants from the eastern highlands, throughout history. And just as various Semites such as the Akkadians and then the Arameans spread over Mesopotamia, especially in the south, so did the Hurrians, especially in the north. If we use the term Hurrian in its widest sense, as a generic term for all of the peoples in northwestern Iran speaking related languages, there are three states which are recorded in history, the Mitanni confederacy, which flourished in northern Mesopotamia in the middle of the second millennium b.c., and the states of Urartu and of the Manneans, both of which flourished in the first part of the first millennium B.C. Other peoples such as the Lullubi and the Guti or Quti, mentioned in earlier cuneiform records, surely continued to exist in Kurdistan of today, but they seemingly had little or no political influence. The Mitanni are important as the Hurrian kingdom in northern Mesopotamia where the first Indo-Iranian names appear in history. Much has been written about the undoubtedly small group of Indo-European Speakers who appeared from the east.just as other early Indo-European speaking peoples, the Hittites, Luvians, and others appear in Anatolia, probably at an earlier period. Much has been written also about the names of the deities in a treaty between a Hittite ruler Suppiluliumas I and a Mitanni king Kurtiwaza, which deities now everyone agrees are to be identified with Indian Indra, Mitra-Varuna and the Näsatyäs. Likewise the terms for the training of chariot horses by a Mitanni called Kikkuli, found in a manual written in cuneiform Hittite, point also to a language used by some of the Mitanni which can be called an archaic Indian dialect of the Indo-European family. la Other words in a Kassite glossary and Hurrian cuneiform texts from a site called Nuzi, attest to the presence of Indo- European Speakers in the Near East in this early period. It is not the intention here to discuss any of the words, whose etymologies are much disputed, but to draw u M. Mayrhofer, Die Indo-Arier im alten Vordera- Vorderen Orient - Ein Mythos?, SWAW, (Vienna, sie n (Wiesbaden, 1 966), and his sequel Die Arier im 1 974), 294. Pre-Iranian History ofthe Plateau and Central Asia 41 historical conclusions from the undeniable presence of Indo-European Speakers in Mesopotamia who came from the east. From the outset, it can be accepted now that those Indo-European Speakers were Indians, yroto-Indians, or Indo-Aryans (to be distinguished from Dravidians or other Indians), whatever one may wish to call them; they were neither Iranians nor unseparated Indo-Iranians. This general opinion is shared by scholars who hotly dispute the etymologies of various words such as Kammenhuber, Dyakonov, and Mayrhofer (cf. bibliographies of works in Mayrhofer, Die Arier, supra). The second point, that these Indians were not a group who came westward from India but rather an offshoot of probably the first migration of Indo-European Speakers from Central Asia into eastern Iran or Afghanistan, is also generally accepted by most scholars. Further conclusions are rarely drawn, except the obvious one that these Indians, even though they may have been a ruling class ofthe Mitanni, were soon absorbed into the local populations of Mesopotamia and Syria. Unfortunately, we do not have the data to come to any more conclusions, but the important question one would ask is, what is the story of these Indians in Iran? Either they were only a small spearhead of a tribe which wandered from the east across Iran to Mesopotamia, or they were only that group of Indians who moved away from other Indians on the Iranian plateau down to the plains of Mesopotamia. If the former were true, the Indians must have been an unusual military band with a superior technology of war chariots which enabled them to cut through other peoples in Iran to penetrate like a mobile army to the plains of Mesopotamia. If the Indians of Mitanni were only part of a much larger group of Indians on the Iranian plateau, one would expect some traces of them in Iran. Also, in either case, the split between the Indians and Iranians must have occurred much earlier than hitherto supposed, and presumably in Central Asia not in Iran or Afghanistan. These two questions are related to each other, and we must examine both of them. The latter problem has been much discussed by both archaeologists and linguists because it is part of the Indo-European problem about which there is an enormous literature. Here too there is now a consensus that the homeland ofthe Indo-European peoples was in south Russia, while the Indo-Iranian branch was located in the northeastern part ofthat general homeland. This is, of course, all hypothetical, but it is the most likely theory. Also, the Indo-Iranians probably were the last, or one ofthe last, of the Indo-European peoples to move from the homeland, and the movement was to the south and east. The difficulty of attaching archaeological finds to linguistic data plagues everyone seeking to reconstruct the movement ofthe Indo-Iranians, but a general acceptable hypothesis is that the Separation ofthe Indians from the Iranians took place in Central Asia, or even more to the north, and the Indians moved southward in the first half ofthe second millennium B.c. This admittedly is imprecise, but it is not possible to go into further details given the State of knowledge at present. At the same time one must account for the existence ofthe Dardic languages today and other facts, so an attempt at explanation should be made, always remembering that we are not dealing with factual data but surmises. Ghirshman reconstructs the movement ofthe Indians as follows 1 : the place from 1 Op. eil. [eh. 2, n. 32], 18. 48 Chapter III which they dispersed was Gurgan and Turkmenistan where they had settled in the third millennium b.c. Coming from the north. He bases the settlement of Indians on the presence of grey or black pottery which replaces earlier painted pottery, accompanied by clay idols, highly stylized "violin-shaped" female figurines. Together with these two features, chariots drawn by horses and small trumpets in gold or silver complete the list of components identifying the Indians (or Indo-Aryans). Where these features occur in excavations, according to the author, we should expect to find Indians. These criteria force the author to bring the Indians to the southeast corner of the Caspian Sea already at the end of the fourth millennium b.c. Such an early date is surprising though not impossible. The first criterion for the presence of Indians is the grey or black pottery. But this pottery is also associated later with Iranians at sites such as Hasanlu south of Lake Urmia in Azerbaijan, presumably with a Mannean (Mannai) population. 2 The distribution over time and Space of grey or black wäre obviously precludes the incorrect syllogism that where this wäre occurs we must have Indians. To turn to the "violin-shaped" female figurines, a special style centered on Turkmenistan can be argued, but the existence of similar figurines from the Indus valley to Mesopotamia from ages long before the Indo-Iranians appeared also cannot be denied, and an extensive survey of such figurines does not support Ghirshman's hypothesis. 3 Horses and chariots also do not inspire confidence in his theory, since at Uruk from the end of the fourth millennium, the character for a four-wheeled vehicle is recorded in cuneiform and the domestication of the horse is also early there. 4 This leaves the trumpet, and the evidence brought by Ghirshman for the Indo-Aryan origin of this is the borrowing of it by the Egyptians, possibly from the Mitanni. In other words, none of Ghirshman's arguments are convincing; on the other hand all of them conceivably may be attributed to Indo-Aryans if this term is stretched beyond the usual conception of these people. All of this brings us back to philology and how the Indians came to the Near East. What happened to the Indians who did not descend to the plains of Mesopotamia as a component of the Mitanni? As mentioned, either the Mitanni Indians were an isolated band who wandered far to the west leaving no remnants behind them in Iran, or they were only a small part of a larger group in Iran, and if the latter where are their traces? If traces are to be found, they should exist in the mountain refuge areas where the remnants of the Indians survived while the rest were absorbed by their cousins, the Iranians, who came later. T. Burrow, who adheres to this view, even suggests that the name Urmia (for town and lake) goes back to a Sanskrit word ürmi "wave." 5 This is unlikely, however, since in the Urartian language a number of place 2 See E. Porada, The Art of Andern Iran (New Reports of the USSR delegation to the 8th York, 1965), 108, and R. H. Dyson, "Problems of international congress of pre- and proto-historic Protohistoric Iran as seen from Hasanlu," JNES, 24 sciences in Beigrade, 8-9. More detailed and with a (1965), 211. large bibliography is her article "Rasprostranenie V. M. Masson and V. I. Sarianidi, Sredneasiats- konevodstva i kulta konya v iranoyazychnykh kaya Terrakota epokhi bronzy (Moscow, 1973), plemen Srednei Azii," in Srednyaya Aziya, ed. by especially eh. 4 B. G. Gafurov and B. A. Litvinskii (Moscow, 4 E. E. Kuzmina, Earliesl Evidence of Horse 1 977), 28-52. Domestication and Spread of Wheeled Vehicles in 5 T. Burrow, "The Indoaryans," JRAS (1973), Connection with Problem of time and place of the 139 formalion of Indo-European Unity (Moscow, 1971) Pre-Iranian History of the Plateau and Central Asia 49 names begin with ur-, and Urmia, being in Mannean territory, is more likely a word from their language than from Sanskrit. Likewise the etymology of Mazandaran as containing the name Indra, a Vedic deity, proposed by Burrow, does not inspire confidence. 6 What is needed are some names which are indisputably Indian, such as the Mitanni deities. Unfortunately, etymologies of names are subject to as much dispute among linguists as the historical significance of pottery types among archaeologists, and none of the names suggested as being of Indian origin, Bagdatti and Artasari, Bagbartu, etc. can be definitely assigned an exclusively Indian etymology. 7 So in the realm of linguistics we depend on impressions, which suggest an Indian presence on the plateau or in the mountains of Iran, but there is no data available to confirm these impressions. If we follow Burrow in his discussion of devs in Mazandaran, again we are in the realm of conjecture, for the use of the term dev, in a favorable sense, does not assure us that Indians were present, in Opposition to the Iranian or Zoroastrian condemnation of the devs, and their worshippers. The devs could, of course, refer to non-Aryan deities and names found in the Caspian region later, such as Devsalär 'leader ofdevs,' Devdäd Theodore,' etc., do not necessarily point to Indians or even to Iranians who did not follow the condemnation of the daevas and daiva worship. On the other hand, the Indians of the Mitanni people must have existed, so the theory of a first wave of Aryans as manifested in these Indians or proto- Indians, before the coming of the Iranians, is not at all far-fetched. The existence of the Dardic languages in the northeast of the Iranian area would also point to an early wave of Indo-European Speakers into this area. The extreme dimculties of comparing contemporary languages with an ancient language of over three millennia ago (the Indic of the Mitanni) is obvious, and further comparison with the religion of some of the Dardic people (the deity Imra as Indra, and the like) with the Vedic deities of Varuna, Miträ, etc. can lead to no certain conclusions, but rather little more than a subjective intuition that the remote ancestors of the Dardic peoples had some relations with the Indians of the Mitanni. There is, it seems, no objection to the proposition that when the Iranians came upon the plateau they were not the first Indo-European Speakers that the autochthonous population had encountered. Surely the Indian layer on the substratum, however, was not very numerous, and in places it must have been absorbed early by the natives. The only traces of the Indians which may have survived could be the daiva worship (not devil worship), primarily in the Caspian provinces, which withstood the Zoroastrian reform of the ancient religion of the Indo-Iranians. As we shall see, a Zoroastrian reform is the easiest way to explain most of the divergences between the Iranians and the Indians in religion. THE NEAR EAST AT THE TURN OF THE MILLENNIUM Whatever the role and importance of the Indians in the Near East had been, by the year 1000 b.c. the autochthonous people were organized into small states or tribes in western Iran, according to cuneiform sources. Elam was in decline, since it had S. Kiyä, Shähnäme ve Mäzandärän (Tehran "Weiteres zur Urgeschichte der Inder," KZ, 55 1353/1975), 32 (1927), 75-103, especially 100. 7 Burrow.op. dt. [n. 5], 140; and P. Kretschmer, 50 Chapter III suffered greatly at the hands of the Babylonians over a Century previously. The Kassites long before 1000 b.c. had been absorbed in Mesopotamia, although in the Zagros mountains, present southern Luristan, they continued to live, and many of the 'Luristan' bronzes were found in graves here. Known to the Greeks as KoaaaToi, to the Latin authors as Cossaeans (both with variants) and in cuneiform sources as Kassa, this Zagros people are mentioned as late as Alexander's conquests. To the south of them, also in the mountains lived the Uxii or Ov£ioi (with variants), hwz' in the Talmud (but applied to the plains as well as mountains), Hüzäye in Syriac, and Khuzistan of today with its capital Ahwäz (Arabic pl. oihwz). These tribal peoples owed no allegiance, or only temporary, nominal fealty to Elam or other later states. In Persis to the south were primarily Elamites with their principal city Anshan Qiodie Tepe Malyan), and to the north of the Kassites apparently were various peoples who are not clearly identifiable in the cuneiform sources. Whether the ancient, Quti/Guti, or other peoples still lived in the Zagros mountains at the beginning of the first millennium B.c. is uncertain, but surely their descendants were there. It is clear, however, that no states or tribes were either dominant or expanding in this area at this time, but this was to change greatly with a series of events which seems to have occurred in the first centuries of the millennium - the expansion of Assyria and Urartu, and, of course, the Iranians over the plateau. If we only had information from the first Century of the millennium, some of the later changes in states and peoples might be explicable, but one can only guess at the forces at work which changed this part of the ancient world. Assyria had expanded, especially to the west, under Tiglath-Pileser I (c. 1116-1090 B.C.) but after his reign had soon returned to the size of its homeland in northern Mesopotamia. Babylon likewise was in a State of decline, and the apparent reason for the decline of both powers was the spread of the Arameans into Mesopotamia. Many small states of these invaders from the desert were created, but they never united into a strong kingdom. Instead they gradually gave their language to the settled folk and fused with them. The spread of the Arameans and their language Aramaic was paralleled by the expansion of the Iranians, and incidentally also of a much more widespread use of iron and steel. 8 Whether the Iranians were carriers of this expanded metallurgy is doubtful, but they could have utilized it well in their expansion. We return to the question of the Iranians who spread from their homeland much later than their cousins, the Indians. The Iranians, we have mentioned, remained in Central Asia and continued the tradition of the Andronovo culture after the Indians had moved south. It is interesting to note that ancient Iranians in Central Asia, and presumably extending into European Russia, did have contacts with the Finno- Ugrian peoples, but not apparently with the Baltic Speakers. 9 These observations, based on linguistic data, coincide with archaeological finds of the Andronovo culture in Kazakhastan. Since the widespread (over both space and time) black or grey pottery is no useful index of the presence of either Aryans or Iranians, what were some other See C. A. Singer, A History of Technology, obugrischen Sprachen (Budapest, 1972), esp. 33-34; 5 vols. (Oxford, 1954-58); and R. J. Forbes, and P. Arumaa, "Baltes et iranicns," Sludi Linguis- Sludies in Ancient Technology (Leiden, 1955- tici in onore di Vitlore Pisani (Brescia, Paideia, 58). 1969), 73-90, esp. 89-90. E. Korenchy, hanische Lehnwörter in den Pre-Iranian History of the Plateau and Central Asia 51 features of the culture of the early Iranians? Just as with pottery one must be careful in attributing types of burial and features of material culture exclusively to Iranians, for they too could be borrowed or adapted by other peoples. Burials in kurgans, a large mound with a room for the body and burial objects, and interment of horses with the dead chieftain or warrior, are two features of the culture of the Andronovo people. 10 Can one maintain that wherever these two features are found Iranians are present, or that they are exclusive to the Iranians? In any one of these two cases, the migration of Iranians through the Caucasus to northwestern Iran can be proposed, since kurgan burials have been found in Soviet Azerbaijan near sites such as Mingechaur and Kirovabad. 1 ' The use ofkurgans persisted into historic times and the dating of graves without inscriptions is particularly difFicult, since presumably the early Iranians were nomads or semi-nomads who both adopted and gave ideas, making difficulties in entangling origins. There is no reason why Iranian bands should not have gone down the western shores of the Caspian Sea, as well as through Central Asia. And, whereas the possible traces of an Iranian migration from the north to Azerbaijan and south are difFicult to find, in Central Asia archaeological indications for a migration are more promising. In Central Asia the archaeological trail of Iranian migrations, as of any migrations of tribes, has not left clear traces. Soviet archaeologists, however, have opened new vistas on ancient Central Asia, and although excavations at Kyuzeli-Gyr in Khwarazm, Afrasiyab I in Sogdia, Elken tepe in Turkmenia, Yaz II in the Merv oasis and Kobadian I on the north bank of the Oxus River in southern Tajikistan have revealed similar pottery from the immediate pre-Achaemenid period, the earlier centuries are not at all uniform. 1 2 All attempts to establish the material culture of the ancient Aryans on the basis of archaeological finds, including types of burial, metal objects and the like, have failed to establish an overall accepted reconstruction of the expansion of the ancient Iranians. One feature which may confuse archaeologists is that cultural objects may go the opposite direction from a nomadic invasion or a movement of peoples. Indeed, it is likely that many aspects of early Iranian settled civilization, including city or town structures, came from Mesopotamia or at least from south to north rather than the reverse. 13 The direction of influence is always difFicult to discern especially in early periods of history. It is not possible here to discuss the many ramifications of Central Asian archaeology, the comparative stratigraphies of such key sites as Anau and Namazga tepe in Turkmenistan, and the many other excavations which have given us a picture of Central Asia difFerent from the old view of the area as a wide expanse of steppe lands sparsely inhabited by nomads. Although deserts do occupy much of Central Asia, elsewhere the fertility is great, as Quintus Curtius, historian of Alexander the Great, noted, "the land of the Bactriani is of a manifold and varied nature. In one part Smirnov and Kuzmina, supra, Protskhozh- Drevnezemledelcheskaya kullura Margiany, MIA 73 •k"'«. 6. (Moscow, 1959), 218 pp. A French summary of For a bibliography see K. V. Trevor, Ocherki the book by Ghirshman may be found in IA, 4 Po isiorii i Kulture Kavkazskoi Albami (Moscow, (1964), 69-84. 1959), 36. iJCf. V. M. Masson, "Problema drevnego A good survey of the pottery of the various goroda i arkheologicheskie pamyatniki severnoi sites with historical notes is in V. M. Masson, Baktrii," Dreunyaya Baktriya (Leningrad, 1974), 8. 52 Chapter III many trees and vines produce plentiful and mellow fruits, frequent streams irrigate the rieh soil, the milder parts of which they sow with grain, the rest they leave for pasture for the flocks." 14 There is no evidence of any large political entity in Central Asia before or at the time of the expansion of the Iranians, and one would not be expected so early. From excavations and from the Avesta, as well as the parallel Vedas, however, a tentative coneeption of the life of the early Iranian tribes may be reconstrueted. The picture of early Iranian life by Geiger still retains interest for the Student even though some of his nineteenth Century romantic coneeptions or ideas about race seem misplaced today. 15 The ancient Iranians were both conversant with agriculture and, of course, with pastoralism; at least the vocabulary indicates both forms of life. Likewise the tribal nature of Iranian society is implied by the aecounts of Herodotus and other Classical writers which conform to all we know about it. There are no indications of a developed town life among the early Iranians, and we may assume that they encountered relatively undeveloped urban societies, and only in some of the oases of Central Asia and on the Iranian plateau. 16 For a long period of time the Iranians probably remained in Central Asia and eastern Iran with little contact to the west where settled eultures did flourish. We infer this since the Avesta shows no evidence of any contact with the states or civilizations which existed in western Iran or Mesopotamia. Although the 'urban revolution,' to use an expression of Gordon Childe, had not oecurred in the areas where the early Iranians first lived before spreading over the plateau, some Settlements even previous to the Coming of the Iranians did exist in Central Asia. 17 Trade and commerce, as noted above, had been active for many centuries if not millennia before the Coming of the Iranians, but Settlements for the produetion of objeets were few and small.' 8 In oases such as Herat and in Seistan small centers probably existed, but we need more archaeological work to give us a clear picture of their extent and nature. Anthropologists and sociologists have proposed many criteria for the development of urbanism, or for the distinetion between an urban and an agricultural civilization, and modeis have been created to apply everywhere. One or more of the modeis may fit the case of the Iranians, but from the only sources we have, archaeology and the ancient religious writings, again the dominant pastoral society of the early Iranians is what strikes one's attention. It was an heroie, tribal society probably similar to the life of the Pathans or Pashtuns today on the Afghan-Pakistan borderlands. The exploits of warriors and sacrifices to the gods were two important activities we infer from the Avesta. Controversy has not subsided over the theories of Georges Dumezil regarding Indo- 14 Hisforyo/Vl/e.vWer(VII,4,26),ed.andtrans. Evolution of Urban Society (Chicago, 1966); R. by John C. Rolfe, 2 (London, 1962), 159. Tringham.ed., Urban Settlements (Warner Modu- 15 W. Geiger, Ostiranische Kultur im Altertum lar Publications, Andover, Mass., 1973); R. (Erlangen, 1882). Braidwood and G. Willey, eds., Courses Toward 16 See V. M. Masson, Srednyaya Aziya i Drevnii Urban Life (Chicago, 1962), and R. M. Adams, Vostok (Moscow, 1964), 454-56. 'The Origins of Cities," in C. C. Lamberg- 17 V. G. Childe, "The Urban Revolution," in Karlovsky, ed., Old World Archaeology (San The Rise and Fall of Civilizations, ed. by C. C. Francisco, 1972), 137-43. Lamberg-Karlovsky (Menlo Park, California, ,8 Cf. J. A. Sabloff and C C. Lamberg- 1974), 6-14. An immense literature exists on the Karlovsky, eds., Civilization and Trade (Albuquer- beginnings of urbanism; cf. R. M. Adams, The que, N. M., 1975). Pre-Iranian History of the Plateau and Central Asia 53 European, and, of course, early Iranian society and religion. Indeed in the Iranian field scholars are sharply divided on the theory or on its relevance to an understanding of ancient Iranian society. Briefly Dumezil claims that Indo-European society had a tripartite division based on a conscious ideology found nowhere eise in the world. Although the division of people into priests, warriors and common folk may have existed elsewhere, only the Indo-Europeans developed this ideology as a fundamental basis of both their religion and their society. 19 In this division of society, which reflects the division of the gods, there is a further subdivision of magical and juridical aspects of the three functions. Thus, among the Indians, the gods Mitra and Varuna were the deities of the priests, the highest function of sovereignty, and this corresponded to Vohu Manah and Asa in Iran, two of the AmSsa Spentas "holy immortals" or archangels in the Zoroastrian religion. Although the Zoroastrian reform of the ancient religion of the Iranians changed the roles of the ancient Indo- Iranian deities, Dumezil nonetheless finds a continuation of the ancient Indo- European ideology in Zoroastrianism with a Substitution of characters for the original roles. Almost everyone concedes that a tripartite division of society is almost a natural differentiation in ancient societies everywhere, the only argument concerning Dumezil's theory is the conscious, overwhelming importance of this ideology and its ramifications for the Indo-Europeans. It would fit in well with the caste system of India or the division of society into three classes in Iran, but the significant ramifications of this are difficult to find. To say that one important result of the division of society was the Männerbund or group of young warriors, upholders of the second function of force or military power, does not single out Indo-European society as greatly different from other societies. If the young men of the Indo- Europeans had better weapons or horses than the young men of another group, one can only say that in a conflict the former would win. Just how far one can use the later Turkification of Azerbaijan or Anatolia as a model for the earlier expansion of the Iranians is subject to dispute, but the process by which local people adopted the language of their conquerors must have had some analogies in both cases. If there had been a clear tripartite ideology among the Indo-Europeans including the early Iranians, it is nowhere proclaimed or spelled out in the sources. It may well have been understood by everyone thus obviating any need to explain or propound it, but it is surely not found in unequivocal fashion in any sources. 20 To return to the Iranians, regardless of how profound a meaning the tripartite divisions of the cosmos and society had for these people, the rites and incantations used to propitiate or implore the deities for aid must have survived from the hoary Indo- European past, with possible additions or changes according to new circumstances of life or contact with other peoples. On the other hand, in religion conservatism is the rule, and an examination of the text of the Avesta does not reveal any autochthonous elements. This suggests that the ancient Iranian beliefs were perhaps closer to the The Output of Dumezil is prodigious, but The New Comparative Mythology (Berkeley, 1973), smce he insists that one read only his latest works, and in G. J. Larson, ed., Myth in Indo-European see hh Mythe et epopk, 3 vols. (Paris, 1968-73), and Antiquity (Berkeley, 1974). his earlier L'idMogie tripartite des Indo-Europlens 20 Most divisions of any kind can only be dual (Bruxelles, 1958). An analysis of his work, or tripartite, or multiples thereof, so the peculiarity including critics, may be found in C. S. üttleton, of such Classification is not apparent. 54 Chapter III general Indo-European religious milieu than the religions of many other daughter linguistic groups. By the time the Iranians spread over the plateau, however, we may say that the social and moral aspects of the deities in their pantheon were paramount, and the functions of the gods were more important than identifications with forces of nature. Thus Mithra (Vedic Mitra), while associated with or even identified as the sun, was more the god of respect for contracts and oaths among the Iranians, which was part of the responsibility of humans to follow or to have fta (Skt.) or ala (Avestan). This important concept in the religion of the Indians and the Iranians which has been well elucidated by Mary Boyce as the concept of order in its widest sense - cosmic, social - and the order of sacrifice, plus truth among men, was the basis of the philosophy of life of the ancient Indians and Iranians. 2 1 The pantheon of the Iranians presents a problem with the name of the highest god Ahura Mazda 'Lord Widsom,' seemingly an epithet. Although much controversy exists about the origin and identification of Ahura Mazda, it is generally accepted that this deity is somehow related to the Indic Varuna. Just how the Iranian Varuna lost his position and Ahura Mazda assumed the role of chief god for the Iranians is an enigma, but Boyce proposed that Varuna was tied to another deity of the waters Apäm Napät, and whereas in ancient India the figure of Apäm Napät receded and Varuna remained important, in Iran the reverse happened. Further, in Iran Ahura Mazda assumed the role of Varuna, while Mithra/Mitra remained important for both Iranians and Indians. 22 There is much discussion among scholars about the various roles of the deities in the pantheon of the ancient Iranians, and here is not the place to investigate such details, but rather the role of religion in the life of people and related problems concern the historian. In both India and Iran hymns were sung to the deities as part of the ritual or sacrifice, and the hymns were passed on from priest to priest from hoary antiquity. If anything, the Iranians were more universal than the Indians in their objects of praise or worship, for in the Avesta we find praise for plants, animals, mountains, rivers, the days of the year, and in fact much of creation is revered (e.g., Yasna 17, 17). We do not find the transposition of identities of one deity to another in the Avesta as in the Rigveda of India. Thus in RV I, 94, 13 Agni is identified with Mitra and in RV II, 1 , 3 with Indra and Visnu, but in Iran we do not find this in the hymns. It is difficult to know what has been changed or added in later times to the text of the Avesta, but such additions seem to conform to the spirit and continuity of the ancient religion. In fact, the "long tradition" daraya upayanä is mentioned several times in the Avesta as something to be revered (Y. 17, 13, etc.). Repetition of formulae is also a constant feature of the Avesta, and the only important changes or additions to the ancient religion probably were made by Zoroaster. Before turning to the prophet, however, one may mention several features of the religion which seem to have been in Operation before Zoroaster. One was surely ancestor worship, found all over the world of the Indo-Europeans, and in the Avesta a special Yast 13 is devoted to the spirits of the departed including animals, birds, etc. (verse 74). Prayers to mountains, rivers, the elements (fire, wind, water, etc.) have been mentioned, and we shall meet this feature again below in considering the 21 Boyce, A History ofZoroastrianism.l (Leiden, 22 Ibid., 48-52. 1975), 27. Pre-Iranian History of che Plateau and Central Asia 55 cuneiform tablets in Elamite from Persepolis. Ritual punfication and ablutions were probably also a part of the religion of the ancient Iranians, and in later times fire occupied a special place in the worship of Zoroastrians. The eclipse or rise of certain deities, the dropping of names for epithets, and the changes in functions of certain spirits, in both India and Iran, all have provided scholars with much material for speculation. Fortunately, the detailed account of the gods of pagan Iran by Boyce obviates the need to comment on these religious and etymological questions. 23 It should be noted that the demons and evil forces in the world were as innumerable as the good spirits, and it seems that at times propitiation of demons in many forms was as much a part of some rituals as were the hymns and ofFerings to the benevolent spirits. Also noteworthy is that legends in the Avesta about ancient heroes blend with those of the gods. Obviously all things in life, health and sickness, poverty and wealth, and many more, were bound to religion in words and deeds, hymns and sacrifices. Belief in an afterlife also was a feature of ancient Iranian religion, but burial customs as recovered by archaeologists are notoriously dimcult to interpret as reflecting theological or eschatological beliefs ofthose who practiced them. Whether the rulers or aristocracy espoused different means of disposal of a corpse than those of common folk is not easy to determine, but archaeology indicates that many of the early Iranians buried their dead in the ground. 24 In this connection the ancient rite of the horse sacrifice (RV I, 162) the aivamedha, the skeletons of which have been found by archaeologists in graves in south Russia in later Scythian times, indicates the importance of burial for at least kings and warriors. For both Indians and Iranians horses and chariots were important, as.we find in the Vedas and Avesta (Druäspä Ya$t I, 2; Mithra Yak, 10-11, etc.). Furthermore, the horse was a symbol or incarnation (avatar) of various deities, including Tistriya, the star Sirius (Yast, 8, 46). It was a feature of both Indian and Iranian religious belief that epithets and symbols were interchangeable among the deities, and thus a picture of a universal or even syncretistic pantheon of deities, overlapping each other's functions and domain, is revealed. This should have enabled the Iranians to integrate local spirits or deities of other peoples, such as those of the Elamites, into the vast Iranian pantheon. Probably only later did real syncretism become fashionable, when the gods of the Greeks were identified with Iranian deities. Obviously what we have preserved of the ancient Iranian and Indian religions is the priestly traditions, what one might call scholastic traditions, reflecting the beliefs, rituals and legalities of one group over the millennia. The mythology of the Avesta may well have been understood differently by priests than by the common folk, who were surely more inclined to magical interpretations of hymns, special incantations to ward off evil, and less formal interpretations of the meanings of sacrifices and litanies than those of the priests. The cult of haoma (Skt. soma) which produced ecstasy in the participants who drank the draught prepared from the plant, whatever it was, necromancy, divination and other populär manifestations of the supernatural, were probably more important for the common folk than the elaborate hymns to the gods and the rituals which were the specialty of Ibid., 22-84. of graves in those places and times when Iranians It is difficult to assign certain graves to were living indicates that some Iranians buried Iranians, and to distinguish between nomadic and their dead. settled burial customs. Nonetheless, the existence 56 Chapter III priests. The Avesta, as we have it, in general shows the result of much priestly preoccupation with the text, and rather than devote more space to continued discussion of the religious beliefs of the ancient Iranians, which have exercised generations of scholars in Iranian matters, let us turn to the society and perhaps political order indicated by the religious texts. From the absence of words and expressions for city or even State in the Avesta, one may conclude that early Iranians lived in a tribal society based on the extended family. In both the RV (e.g., I, 96, 3) and the Avesta (Yast 8, 56; Yast 13, 10) the Aryan tribes or Aryan lands are mentioned, indicating a strong sense of solidarity and difference from the subjugated peoples. The family (Av. nmäna) and clan or extended family (vis) were the basis of authority in ancient Iranian society with the pater familias (nmänöpaitt) under the vtspaiti, the clan leader. The zantupaiti, the tribal chief, on the other hand, seems to have represented more than just a larger unit of people, but was also a chief of a district or the land where the tribe had its home. It is difficult, of course, to distinguish between territorial and human units, but the next higher division of society, the dahyu, is apparently a geographical more than a social division, although if one translated this word as 'people' rather than more correct 'country,' the hierarchy in society would be maintained. Beyond this stratification an even higher confederacy of 'peoples' is implied in some parts of the Avesta, notably in Yast 10 dedicated to Mithra, where a chief of some such confederacy is mentioned (verse 18: fratemaöät, and verse 115). Although some scholars have claimed that this means the existence of an empire, I. Gershevitch has convincingly argued that we should rather understand a confederation of Iranian peoples, perhaps headed by a Council with a chief ofthat Council. 25 Perhaps the easiest way to indicate the old Iranian hierarchy of groups is to look at the Old Persian cuneiform inscriptions where the family or taumä (Av. nmäna) is the narrow family of Darius, and the clan, or extended family, would be viO, here Achaemenid (Hakhämanishya) ; the tribe (unattested in OP) would be the Pasargadae, and finally the people or nation (OP dahyu), in the case of Darius, were the Pärsa or Persians inhabiting Persis or Fars. Above this in the case of the Achaemenids was an empire instead of a confederacy as previously in eastern Iran. The Avestan words sästar, hamö-xfadra, xlaya, and others, seem to be epithets of the ruler of the dahyu, or possibly of a chief of the rulers in a confederacy. Later, in western Iran, of course, different concepts of rule developed with the Achaemenid Empire, which will be discussed below. In addition to the political hierarchy above, there existed the social division already mentioned, between priests, warriors and common folk (Yasna 40, 3). Caste divisions, as known in India (Skt. värna), are not found in Iran, and the special position of the priests later, an exclusive and hereditary Situation, was surely the end result of priestly endeavors to exalt their own standing. As in most tribal societies, presumably also among the ancient Iranians, the young warriors of the tribe were of prime importance. Much has been written about the Old Persian word marlka, usually translated as 'menial' or 'servant,' although the Interpretation of this as the young 25 1. Gershevitch, The Avestan Hymn to Mithra synonym, cannot be discussed here, but the picture (Cambridge, 1959), 296-99. The relation of the of the hierarchy is unchanged. Gathic term SoiOra (Skt. ksltra) to zantu, possibly a Pre-Iranian History of the Plateau and Central Asia 51 warrior of a tribe makes more sense. 26 Whether the young Iranian warriors followed special cults apart from the rest of the people, as suggested by Wikander, is possible, but any definite Information about them is lacking. 27 Priests, on the other hand, dominate the scene in the religious writings which have survived, again probably a distortion of their real Status in the society of the time. There are many words denoting priests but one of special concern to us is kavi, a word with a long tradition in Iranian languages, but which originally probably meant a seer or wise man as in India. 28 Somehow and somewhere in eastern Iran the kavis seem to have attained temporal power and started dynasties of rulers in small areas. At least this is the easiest interpretation of the title at the time of the prophet Zoroaster, to whom we must now turn. The figure of Zoroaster is at the core of the Avesta but his life and times are anything but historical, since legends have accumulated about him throughout the ages. Most scholars now agree that the place of Zoroaster is in eastern Iran because of the language of the Avesta and the geographical knowledge found there, both of which refer to the east. To narrow the geographical limits further is difficult, but the view of Henning that Herat and Merv was the most likely candidate for the area of activity of the patron of the prophet Kavi Vishtaspa has much to commend it. 29 Because of the shifting of place names by the movement of people any geographical identifications must be subject to great scrutiny, and no real determination of the place of Zoroaster's activity is possible. The closeness of the Khwarazmian language of later times with the two dialects of the Avesta, Gathic and the dialect of the rest of the Avesta, was shown by Henning, although he cautioned that Khwarazmian cannot be considered a descendant of Avestan. 30 The movement of the Iranian Sakas in the first centuries b.c. to Seistan probably contributed to legends about Zoroaster's activities in their new home, while those traditions assigning the prophet to Azerbaijan are even later in origin. Thus we can only say that somewhere near the Herat area would be a likely place for the area where Kavi Vishtaspa flourished. The date of Zoroaster has produced much controversy, some scholars such as Herzfeld assigning the prophet to the time of Cyrus with the assumption that Vishtaspa is to be identified with the father of Darius who bore the same name. 31 Others adopted the tradition of some later Zoroastrian writings that the prophet lived 258 years before Alexander," a tradition whose reliability was ably defended by Henning. 32 His principal argument was the likelihood that any fabricated number would have some magical or other, perhaps historical, overtones, whereas 258 had none and therefore should be considered reliable. This date was accepted as genuine in Sasanian times and was reported in the later Arabic writings of al-BifünT, Mas 'üdland others, even though the interpretation of "before Alexander" was much disputed. 33 Cf. Frye, supra, The Heritage of Persia, 55. of articles, ed. by B. Schlerath, Zarathustra 27 S. Wikander, Der Arische Mannerbund (Lund, (Darmstadt, 1 970). 19 ^8). 30 Henning, op. eil., 44-45. On the term see Boyce, op. eil. [n. 21 ], 1 1 , and 3 ' E. Herzfeld, Zoroaster and his World (Prince- ^«shevitch, op. eil. [n. 25], 185. ton, 1947), esp. 161 and 204. W - B - Henning, Zoroaster (Oxford, 1951), " Op. eil. [n. 29], 40-42. 43. His name probably means 'one who can handle "See S. Shahbazi, "The 'traditional date of cameis well', an appropriate name for eastern Iran. Zoroaster' explained," BSOAS, 40 (1977), 29- On the prophet and his message, see the collection 30. 58 Chapter III Among some scholars, however, the origin or significance of the number which was passed to posterity was disputed, and Shahbazi suggested that the date "258 years before Alexander" was taken by Zoroastrian priests from Babylonian sources, which would have played down the reigns of the early Achaemenid kings, Cyrus, Darius and Xerxes, who conquered or suppressed uprisings in Babylonia, whereas Artaxerxes I, who had several Babylonian wives, does appear in the Zoroastrian tradition. 34 On the basis of a Babylonian origin for the year 258, Shahbazi finds that 539 B.c., the date of Cyrus' conquest of Babylon, is 228 years before the Seleucid era, plus 30 years for the prophet's life before he received a call to propagate the good religion. The Babylonian origin for the dates of early Zoroastrian tradition is an interesting Suggestion which at the least Supports an older date for Zoroaster. To go further and date Zoroaster at 1080 b.c., on the basis of a Statement of Xanthos of Lydia and the Khwarazmian calendar is perhaps overly bold, but the traditional date has now been seriously challenged. 35 Inasmuch as centuries are but as a day for prehistoric times, it is hardly possible to assign even a Century for Zoroaster's activity, and Boyce's "about 1 500 b.c., or even earlier," places perhaps too much weight on the hoary antiquity of both the Gathic dialect and on archaic rites and the contents of the hymns. 36 To give a date to Zoroaster, even in a certain Century, is hazardous. Since Zoroaster is probably to be dated in prehistoric times and placed in eastern Iran, the continuity of his teachings, the basis of the religion we call Zoroastrianism, throughout so many centuries to the present is most striking. This is not to deny changes in the religion, but his personality and teachings must have made a powerful impact on his contemporaries to have survived. Many scholars have suggested that Zoroaster was a traditional priest who broke with the ancient religion and became a monotheist. There is nothing, however, to suggest that the prophet did more than inject his own moral and ethical ideas into the ancient religion of the Iranians seeking thus to reform it. At most he could be characterized as advocating monolatry, since in the Gathas he appeals to Ahura Mazda, although other deities are assumed to be helpers of the great god, while followers of the evil spirit Angra Mainyu (MP Ahriman) are not denied existence by the prophet. This is not the place to discuss the doctrine of the six AmSsa Spentas, helpers of the creator Ahura Mazda, or of the ethical dualism and the choice of man, but we must seek to recover the historical significance of the Zoroastrian reform of the old religion. From the Avesta it is clear that Zoroaster had no easy time propagating his ideas. The turning point came when Kavi Vishtaspa accepted his teachings, but this led to many conflicts which are indicated in the Yasts. Possibly one reason for the slow propagation of the faith was that Vishtaspa seems to have been the last of his dynasty. Perhaps the initial establishment of the faith by the sword was followed by a more pacific spread by priests, since Yasna 42, 6 honors "the return of the priests (äthrauan), who go (to those) afar who seek asa (truth, nghteousness) in (other) lands." The FarvardTn Yast 13, 94 speaks of the spread of the Mazdayasnian (Mazdä-worshipping) religion all over the u Ibid., 32 Jf M. Boyce, A Persian Slrotighold of Zoroas- 35 Ibid. 34 See also Boyce, op eil. |n 21], 17, irianism (Oxford, 1977), 17 189-91, with other arguments for a very early date. Pre-Iranian History of the Plateau and Central Asia 59 world, and the many personal names, as well as place names, must have been real, although they cannot be identified. Verse 143 speaks of the jravahs or spirits of asa believing men and women of the Aryan, Tüira, Sairima, Säinu, Dänu and other lands which are honored in prayer. The persons mentioned as belonging to these groups or lands have Iranian names yet there must have been something to separate them, since only the first are particularly mentioned as the Aryans. In the Iranian epic tradition the Tüira, Sairima, and Säinu were identified as descendants of three brothers Erech, Salm and Tue, Iranian counterparts of Biblical Shem, Harn and Japheth. The Sairima have been identified as Sauromatae in South Russia by Marquart, while the Dänu with the Dahae of Classical sources to the east of the Caspian Sea. 37 The Säini are enigmatic while the Tüira or Türa present many problems, since they became known as the enemies of the Iranians par excellence in the epic tradition, and with the advent of the Turks in this part of the world they were identified with the ancient Tür people, who may have been originally an Iranian tribe which actively combated Zoroaster's teachings. The district of Turan (Kalat in present day Baluchistan) may reflect a movement of the Türa to the south, but it is of interest that it is today oecupied by Dravidian-speaking Brahuis, who seem to have fallen into the same category as the Turks to the north, both enemies of the Iranians. All attempts to relate the Avesta, or the ancient Iranian epic tradition as found in the Shahname of Firdosi, to historical events in eastern Iran have failed, since there is nothing other than the Avesta itself as a source. Poetic fiction and tales are so mixed with what might have been fact in the Avesta that it is not possible to distinguish them from each other, but Mary Boyce is probably correct in saying that "both secular and priestly traditions transmitted by minstrel poets as well as by religious schools," mixed with superstition and tales are found, and this mixture has been transmitted down to the present. 38 We cannot dwell on the basic features of Zoroastrianism, perhaps easily characterized as a threefold division of ethics (speaking, thinking and doing good), the correct Performance of acts of sacrifice, and the keeping of the laws of purity, all of which will help the individual to secure salvation in the world to come. The cosmic history, or the "world year" of the Zoroastrians, however, should be mentioned since it does figure in problems of chronology connected with the Zoroastrian sources. The origins of the "world year" divided into periods of a millennium each are uncertain, but Babylonian preoecupation with astronomy, mathematics and chronology suggest the lowlands as a possible place of origin. 39 Some Iranian sources give the number of millennia as nine, others as twelve, but there are further disagreements on the significance of the various periods of three thousand years each. The first period is said to be creation in the spiritual (menög) State, followed by the second period of creation of the physical universe (gitig), and in the third period Ahriman launches an attack and brings sickness and death, but at the end of this period of strife Zoroaster is born, and he reeeives his revelation at the very beginning of the 31 J 38 [ 39 - J. Marquart, EranSahr (Berlin, 1901), 155. late development in time speculation, but such [n- 36], 108. ideas were prevalent. Cf. "Berossos," by C. F. The exaet form of the Zoroastrian 'world Lehmann-Haupt, Reallexikon der Assyriologie, 2 year' is not attested in Babylonia and it may be a (Berlin 1932-), 9-11. 60 Chapter III fourth period. 40 Again it is not possible to follow the variations in prophecies about the last period of existence, but it had a cyclic character with good and evil times. The idea of one savior and then another, one every millennium, also developed in Zoroastrianism, together with apocalyptic ideas and the final judgment when good conquers evil. Beliefs in the world periods not only influenced ideas of chronology, but later prophets of doom or salvation appeared throughout the history of Iran exercising mfluences on the common folk. It should be remembered that we are talking about prehistory when history is only latent, or a history to be induced from few traces left by peoples, and those often of an enigmatic interpretation. Our reconstructions are based on surmises, and it is thus necessanly an impressionistic view which is presented. Any kind of quantitative history or 'manifest' history based on specific historical sources is impossible and probably always will remain so. The added accumulation of potsherds or other objects of material culture can only go so far in aiding our reconstruction of the past, and to reconstruct history from the Avesta is more like using the Book of Psalms rather than the historical books of the Old Testament as a source for recreating a history of the Israelites. Even the threefold division of society for that ancient period must be inferred, since there is no explicit Statement of this. We can make some guesses about the early history of Zoroastrianism, but they remain only surmises. Although the Gathas of Zoroaster usually speak in generalities about good and evil, Yasna 46 is more specific about the prophet himself : 'To what land to flee, where to flee shall I go? They keep (me) away from my own (family) and my friends. Neither the Community has satisfied me nor the deceitful rulers of the land." He continues to mention those who helped him in his need, Fryäna the Türa and Kavi Vishtaspa. This information has been amplified by later traditions which teil of the tribulations of the prophet and struggles to establish acceptance of his teachings. Just how much can be read into the early struggles of the faith, a conflict between settled herders and agriculturists who followed Zoroaster, and nomads who rejected him, is impossible to determine, but conflict there was. On an ideological or religious basis, it was probably primarily between the Zoroastrians who worshipped Ahura Mazda with his Amasa Spentas and the old daeva (Indian deva) worshippers, for whether it was Zoroaster who initiated the Opposition between good ahuras and evil daevas, or that he only emphasized what already existed, this Opposition has been a fundamental difFerence between the Indians and Iranians. Surely some Iranians did not follow Zoroaster's reform but rather opposed him, since daeva worshippers are mentioned in later sources, including the Old Persian inscriptions. Since the history of Zoro- astrianism has been recounted in great detail by Boyce, it is unnecessary to repeat controversies over interpretations of details of the religion. Suffice it to say that for centuries the Zoroastrian faith had to combat Opposition and in the process it codified lts own rites, rituals and beliefs into a way of life which held the Zoroastrians together down to the present. 40 The MP texts about the world era are translated in and discussed by R. Zaehner, Zurvan (Oxford, 1955), 95-100. Pre-Iranian History of the Plateau and Central Asia 61 ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND EXTRA-AVESTAN EVIDENCE A passage in Herodotus (III, 117) says that a certain piain in Asia surrounded by a ring of hüls in which five passes may be found, used to belong to the Khwarazmians, but now to the Achaemenids. Further, that piain was located on the boundaries of the Khwarazmians, Hyrcanians, Parthians, Sarangians and Thamanians. The last but one may be identified with the people of Drangiana (medieval Zranka) and the last with people living to the east of Seistan. From the words "used to belong to the Khwarazmians," scholars beginning with Marquart have deduced the existence of a large Khwarazmian State. 41 There is no tangible evidence, however, for the greater Khwarazmian empire, and the further supposition that Herodotus refers to an extensive irrigation System in the piain, thus requiring the existence of a centralized State, is unwarranted. It is true that archaeologists have uncovered ancient Settlements on the Murghab and Tejend Rivers, but again no evidence for a large State is available. 42 The results of archaeological investigations show rather the absence of urban centers, which would not suggest an ancient centralized State in the east. In Khwarazm itself archaeological work has revealed the existence of fortified living quarters or even villages from very early periods, but they teil us nothing of the political Situation in that area. 43 On the other hand, many scholars believe that the ancient homeland of the Iranians, called Airyandm vaejah (Iranian region), is to be identified with Khwarazm, which is in accord with lists of place names in the Vendidad 1, 2 (see also Yast 5, 17, etc.). 44 While this may be true, as the natural geographical halting place of tribes moving from the north, the place of Khwarazm in the Zoroastrian tradition is unclear, for we cannot determine later changes made by priests in the tradition. The various Iranian tribes must have dispersed from the land north of the Oxus River to the lands where we hear of them later, not all, however, moving at the same time. To the east went the Bactrians, probably the easternmost group of Iranians at this time. They may have displaced older Indo-Iranian or Dardic peoples living on the plains of modern Afghan Turkestan, such that remnants of these earlier peoples are today found only in the mountains. The legends associating Zoroaster with Balkh (ancient Bäxtri-) seem to be late in appearance and have no discernible historical basis. The name is derived from the river Bactrus (from Pliny, Nat. hist. VI, 48, 52) which means 'the bestower, distributer' according to Marquart. 45 Both the origin and the etymology of the name, however, are open to question, since it is uncertain whether the name is parallel to other Old Iranian tribal names such as Mäda or Pärsa, or if it is an autochthonous geographical name. If it is in fact originally a river name, it would parallel Harahuvati or Arachosia and Haraiva or Herat. The existence of a large 41 J. Markwart, Wehrot und Arang (Leiden, 44 Marquart, Eranlahr [n. 37], 118, 155, and E. 1 938), 8-1 2, and in other writings. Also Henning, Benveniste, "L'Erän-Vel et l'origine legendaire des »pat. [n. 29], 42. Iraniens," BSOS, 7 (1934), 265-74, and A. V. I. Sarianidi, "Pechati-Amuleti Murgabs- Christensen, Le premier chapitre du Vendidad et kogo stilya," SA, 1 (1976), 42-68, with further l'histoire primitive des tribus iraniennes (Copen- bibliographical references. hagen, 1943), 66-67. 43 S. P. Tolstov, Auf den Spuren der altchoresmi- 45 J. Markwart, A Catalogue of the Provincial sehen Kultur (Berlin, 1953), esp. 103-12. Capitals of Eränshahr (Rome, 1931), 34. 62 Chapter III Bactrian State before the Achaemenids also has been surmised by many scholars, but this assumption is even more tenuous than that of a Khwarazmian empire. Whatever the political realities in eastern Iran and Central Asia, we may conclude that the various oases must each have had a political Organization based on the clan or tribal structure of the Iranians, but beyond a possible confederation of such oasis states we are not justified to go, at least on the basis of the scant source material which exists. If we assume the existence of one or more confederations of oases with princelings, another question to ask is whether there was a solidarity on inner tribal lines only, or whether supra-tribal groups existed. That is, were the Bactrians only united among themselves in some kind of a Bactrian kingdom, or did the Bactrians and Sogdians, or others, have a large confederation of several tribes? Again, there is no evidence which can provide a satisfactory answer. If we remember, however, that the confederation of the Medes first came into being only at the end of the seventh Century B.C., most likely because of the threat of Assyrian conquest, the existence of a parallel eastern confederation seems unlikely. The later satrapy lists of the Achaemenids cannot be used profitably for a reconstruction of past combinations of lands or peoples. In short, we cannot find evidence for the existence of any large State or even confederacy in eastern Iran or Central Asia before the Median and Achaemenid empires. We have mentioned that Harahuvati (Skt. SärasvatT), the name of a river probably the present Arghandäb and/or the Helmand, gave its name to the district of Arachosia, present Qandahar. In the early first millennium B.C. Iranians probably were mixing with Indians and pre-Indo-European peoples in this border area with India. Around the lake where the Helmand River empties, Iranians also must have mixed with a settled autochthonous population which had been engaged in trade and agriculture long before the Coming of the Iranians. Archaeological excavations at Shahr-e Sukhte, and other sites in Seistan, confirm the antiquity of Settlements and of extensive trade relations at an early period. 46 We can only speculate on the process whereby Iranians spread over Seistan, which, we remember, had the name Zranka in Old Persian, possibly the name given to the unusual mountain plateau in the middle of the lake today called Kuh-e Khwaja. 47 It should be noted that the names of Iranian peoples found in the Old Persian inscriptions are a mixture of tribal and geographical names, and do not represent a catalogue of various Iranian tribes who settled down after their migrations. Also it is difficult to determine whether names of peoples found in Classical sources from this part of the Middle East are Iranian in origin, or non-Iranian, and many explanations of names such as Derbikes, a tribe east of the Caspian Sea, the Tapuri, in the Elburz mts., and others, do not inspire confidence. Historically one would expect Iranian and autochthonous peoples to co-exist for long periods of time in any area until the Iranians eventually became dominant, at least in giving their language to others. Archaeology is slowly Alling gaps in the picture of the material culture of the ancient Iranians, but problems of connecting the discovered material culture with Iranian-speaking peoples are many and complex. There is as yet no consensus on those 46 M. Tosi, "Excavations at Shahr-i Sokhta," 47 G. Morgenstierne, "Notes on Balochi Ety- Iran, 10 (1972), 174-75; 11 (1973), 204, and mology," NTS, 5 (1933), 43. succeeding numbers. Pre-Iranian History of the Plateau and Central Asia 63 aspects of life which can be called distinctively Iranian. Whether the future will soon see a breakthrough in this regard remains to be seen. In conclusion, the exceedingly scant source materials from eastern Iran and Central Asia, with a consequent general reconstruction based primarily on archaeology and stories in the Avesta and later Zoroastrian traditions, plus the epic, give us a hazy and very impressionistic picture of the pre-Achaemenid history of the entire area. It is only with the formation of the Median State that we can say that pre-history passes to history. CHAPTER IV MEDES, SCYTHIANS AND EASTERN RULERS Literalure: Linie archaeological work has been done on Median sites, and the written sources are most scanty. The literary sources have been assembled by I. M. Dyakonov in Istoriya Midii (Moscow- Leningrad, 1956), 485 pp. while I. Aliev in his Istoriya Midii (Baku, 1960), 360 pp. concentrates on archaeology, and especially the ethnogenesis of the Medes. Since the appearance of these two works, both of which have ample bibliographies of former publications, work on the Medes has been conspicuous by its absence. The populär work by W. Cullican, The Medes and Persians (London, 1965), 190 pp. adds nothing and emphasizes art and architecture. Archaeology is still all-important for the early history of the Medes and several sites are presumably Median, notably Tepe Nosh-e-Jän near the modern town of Malayer south of Hamadan. For a series of reports on succeeding yearly excavations headed by D. Stronach, see Iran, 16 (1978), 1, note 2, for a bibliography; the date when the fort and temple complex flourished was established from about 700 to 600 B.c. Unfortunately no inscriptions have been found which would give us information about the settlement, and we must rely on the material temains to reconstruct a picture of this Median settlement. Two other sites with Median strata are Bäbäjän Tepe near Harsin to the west of Nüsh-e Jan in Luristan and Godin Tepe near Kangavar. For the former see C. Goffin Iran, 16 (1978), 29, note 1 , where a bibliography of former articles on the site is given, and for the latter see T. C. Young and L. D. Levine, The Godin Project: Second Progress Report, Royal Ontario Museum of Art and Archaeology, Occasional Papers No. 27 (Toronto, 1974). The discovery in 1967 of a large palace with a columned hall at Godin Tepe, together with the fort at Nüsh-e Jan, indicated both the monumental tastes of Median rulers of this period and their quest for security from enemies. Comparisons of architectural features such as the narrow Windows or 'arrowhead' slots in the wall show the widespread use of common motifs in western Iran, and the central position of the Medes in the give-and-take of such features. It is, of course, in the present State of knowledge, and before excavations at Hamadan, not possible to assign to the Medes any role of innovation in such features. Suffice it to say that the Medes participated in the general cultural milieu of the eighth Century B.c. which seems to have been dominated not only by the political power of Assyria but by Mesopotamian culture. Assyrian cuneiform sources do not give much direct information about the Medes, for only in the campaigns of the Assyrian kings to the east do we find mention of the Medes, first in the time of Shalmaneser III (Salmanasar) about 835 B.c., on which see Die Welt des Orients, 2 (1955), 156. The geography of Media in ancient times has been studied by L. Levine, "Geographical Studies in the Neo- Assyrian Zagros," Iran, 11 (1973), 1-27 and 12 (1974), 99-124, and he convincingly argues that the horizons of Assyrian conquests must be greatly limited, since they did not at any time cross the Alvand mountain ränge west of Hamadan. References to texts and translations of Assyrian texts relevant to the Medes may be found in the footnotes to Levine's article, especially pp. 1 06-1 1 9. To the publications of the Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, texts and translations by D. D. Luckenbill (Chicago, 1926-27), and the Prisms of Esarhaddon and of Ashurbanipal by R. Campbell Thompson (London, 1931), add the articles of E. Michel on "Die Assur-Texte Salmanassars III." in Die Welt des Orients, 1 (1947), 67 foll., and D. J. Wiseman, "The Vassal-Treaties of Esarhaddon," Iraq, 20 (1 958), 1-99. Other references may be found in Levine. In addition to the Assyrian sources one should mention Herodotus and Ctesias, Xenophon in his Cyropaedia, as well as the Anabasis (e.g., III, 4, 1 1 ) and stray remarks in his Hellenica (as 1, 2, 19). Later texts, such as Eusebius, who gives a list of Median kings, copy the earlier sources and add little to our knowledge, while II Kings 17,6 and 1 8, 1 1 merely teil us that after the conquest of Samaria in Palestine by the king of Assyria (Sargon II), about 721 b.c., he deported the inhabitants to the 'cities' of the Medes. The Medes, curiously, are not mentioned in Urartian inscriptions. This is all of the literary evidence we have now, about the Medes, and it seems that only archaeology can provide additional information to reconstruct more of their history. What follows is a survey of our State of knowledge. (Other references may be found in the footnotes.) 66 Chapter IV THE FORMATION OF THE MEDIAN EMPIRE The expansion of the Medes, indeed of all of the Iranian peoples in western Iran might be compared in analogy with the expansion of the Turks in Azerbaijan in the eleventh and twelfth centuries A.D. Probably, just as in the case of the Turks, so in this early period other Iranians migrated into the northwestern part of the plateau, together with the Medes. This would account for the early appearance of the Parsua in this area. In the Urartian inscriptions, the same land is mentioned as Barsua, devastated by King Menua and later by Argishti, son of Menua, from the first part of the eighth Century b.c. 1 The location of Parsua on the southern shores of Lake Urmia had been generally accepted by scholars, but already in 1 962 1 had suggested rather "a district of imprecise location north of modern Kermanshah" as the location of Parsua (Akkadian: Parsuas). 2 In 1974 L. Levine reviewed the literature on the subject and came to the same conclusion, but he narrowed the area of Parsua to the Mahidasht, or the piain to the northwest of Kermanshah. 3 The question of the identity of the inhabitants of Parsua, however, remains. Were they the ancestors of the same Persians who moved south to the present province of Fars, which bears their name, or were they a splinter group of Persians who wandered westward from the main body moving south? Ghirshman in many writings supported the view that the Iranians came to Iran over the Caucasus route from south Russia and the Parsua of cuneiform inscriptions represents a stage of the march of the Persians to the south. Dyakonov, on the other hand, suggested that the words Parsa, Parsua and Parthia were three forms of an Old Iranian parsava 'rib, side, frontier,' and all three were on the frontiers of Media, hence, it was a common name to those peoples who settled on the frontiers of the central Medes. 4 Other etymologies have been proposed but none help us with the identification of the Parsua. Since this northern Parsua is different geographically from the southern Parsa (Parsu in the Akkadian versions of the OP inscriptions), one would normally surmise they were two groups of the same people, were it not for the temporal as well as geographical Separation of the two. The first mention of the Parsua in Assyrian records is also from the time of Shalmaneser III (858-824 b.c.), when in his twenty-fourth year of rule he received tribute from twenty-seven kings of the land of Parsua. 5 Notices of this Parsua continue until the time of Sargon II (722-705 b.c.) when they cease. As far as I know, there is no reference to the northern Parsua after his reign. From the time of Sennacherib (705-681 b.c.) until the rise of the Achaemenids we find reference to the Par-su-ma-as or Parsu (both presumably for Parsua) only in the south. The name is mentioned together with Anshan or Anzan and other allies of the Elamites, in the eighth campaign of the Assyrian king against Elam. 6 Obviously, if the name 1 G. A. Melikisvili, Uranskie klinoobrazny and Babylonia, l (Chicago, 1926) 206 The use of nadpisi (Moscow, 1960), 138-40 and 218-20. For the word 'king' for these local chiefs is normal for a discussion of the historical implications see N. V. the ancient cuneiform records. Arutyunyan, Biainili (Urarlu) (Erevan, 1970), 6 Luckenbill, The Annais of Sennacherib (Chi- 134-35 cago, 1924), I, 143. A discussion of the different - Op. eil. [ch 3, n. 26], 47. forms of the name in cuneiform, and an etymol- 1 L Levine in Iran, 12 (1974), 112 ogy, are found in Herzfeld, op eil 2 [ch. 3, n. 31], Dyakonov, Isloriya Midii (Moscow-Lenin- 727-29, but one must be cautious in using grad, 1956), 69. Herzfeld's works since they mix brilliance and 5 D. D. Luckenbill, Ancienl Records of Assyria nonsense. Medes, Scythians and Eastern Rulers 61 disappears from the north and then reappears a few years later in the south the natural conclusion is that the inhabitants moved from the north to the south, but this is not necessarily true. We might also suppose, for example, that some, perhaps only a few, of the Persians in the north left to go south, or as the number of Persians in the south swelled, the name was transferred even though no great movement of peoples took place. In any case, Parsua in the north disappears from history at the end of the eighth Century b.c., and the name is ever afterwards applied to the province today called Fars. For a lengthy discussion on the Parsua question see Grantovskii. 6 * Here all occurrences of the name are mentioned, even possible references in Classical sources to them on the southwest shores of the Caspian Sea, as well as Indian sources referring to them to the west of the Indus River. Without investigating all possible references, many of which are ambiguous, it would seem that members of the Parsa tribe of Iranians were widely scattered, whether before the Achaemenid period or during it is not possible to determine. The Medes, although first mentioned c. 836 B.c., later than the Parsua, soon became more important for the Assyrians. Herodotus (I, 101) mentions six tribes of the Medes, the Bousai, Paretakenoi, Strouxates, Arizantoi, Boudioi and Magoi. Of the six, the Paretakenoi are mentioned elsewhere (Polybius 31,11; Arrian 3, 1 9 ; Curtius 5,13; Strabo, 1 5, 732), and it seems they lived around modern Isfahan and to the south of it. An Iranian etymology could be reconstructed from this name, but etymologies are always hypothetical, and unless they give information in a larger context little can be derived from them. 7 The name Arizantoi has an obvious Iranian etymology 'Aryan clan' but again it teils us nothing. The Magi, on the other hand, present a problem since it is the same name as the later priestly caste, and we cannot determine whether originally they were a tribe of Medes who performed priestly duties, as the Levites among the Israelites, or that Herodotus is mistaken. Whether the Magi were centered around Rhages, modern Tehran, because of the religious epithets given to it in the Avesta, implying a special place in Zoroastrian tradition, again is pure conjecture. How much the Medes mingled with the local population as compared with the Persians in the south, is also open to speculation. In any case, we may assume that the people called the Medes had a number of tribes and they settled in various parts of western Iran. From Assyrian annals it is clear that these early Iranians on the plateau were not united, but lived under minor chieftains, whom the Assyrians called kings ($ar). We have already mentioned that in the reign of Shalmaneser III (c. 834 b.c.) he received tribute from the kings of Parsua and in his thirtieth and thirty-first years he marched against them and punished them. It was not long after this time that Urartu became a major power and rival of Assyria under King Menua (c. 810-786 b.c.) and Assyria was put on the defensive in the east until the revival of Assyrian power under Tiglath- Pileser III ( c . 745-727 b.c.). This monarch penetrated deeper onto the Iranian plateau than his predecessors, and he received gifts from the chiefs of the Medes as far as Mt. Bikni. 8 Much has been written about this mountain which has been identified as Mt. Demavend, but an identification with Mt. Alvand near Hamadan, or another peak of ' E. A. Grantovskü, Ranyaya Isloriya Iranskykh kanu, etc., cf. Sumer, 7 (1956), 1-2. On the lernen (Moscow, 1970), 133-83. * etymologies of the names of the Median tribes see There were several Assyrian forms which Herzfeld, op. eil. [eh. 3, n. 31], 724-26. probably represented this name Pariakku, Parila- 8 Luckenbill, Records [n. 5], 281. 68 Chapter IV the Zagros chain, seems more likely. 9 The Assyrian contacts with the plateau were at first raids for booty, but then they developed into overlordships through tributaries. There is no evidence that in the many Valleys and plains of western Iran the Assyrians sought direct rule through Assyrian governors and permanent garrisons. Local rulers instead were made Assyrian vassals. Epithets given to the Medes in Assyrian inscriptions such as 'mighty Medes' or 'distant Medes' do not imply any political or ethnic differentiation among the Medes, although it is clear that the Assyrians regarded the Medes as powerful adversaries even before they united to form a State. But the Assyrians had other problems in the east. An old enemy again measured strength with the Assyrians, and the annals of the Assyrian kings are now filled with accounts of expeditions against Urartu. Already in the thirteenth Century B.C. Assyrian sources mentioned the Urartians as strong opponents of Shalmaneser I. (c. 1272-1243 b.c.). 10 First a union of tribes, in the land between the three lakes, modern Van, Urmia and Sevan, this area became the center of a powerful kingdom, the Ararat of the Bible. The various forms of this name, as well as other designations of Urartu, are discussed by Melikisvili 13—22, and Piotrovskii 33, but, contrary to several scholars, there is no connection between the names Urartu and the word 'Hurrian.' The early expeditions of the Assyrians against the Urartians in the succeeding reigns ofTiglath-Pileser I (c. 1114-1076 B.C.) Assur- bel-kala (c. 1073-1056 b.c.), Adad-nerari II (c. 911-890 b.c.), Tukulti-ninurta II (c. 889-884 b.c.) are somewhat monotonous in their formulae of victories and booty secured. Both the early Assyrian and Urartian states had periods of alternate flourishing and decay in this time, but we cannot follow the histories of these peoples. Under Assur-nasirapal II (c. 883-859 B.c.) Assyria revived its imperial ambitions, and it is under his successor, Shalmaneser III, as we have noted, that both Parsua and the Medes first appear in Assyrian annals. At the same time Urartu experienced a revival and soon disputed control over lands on the Iranian plateau with Assyria. Unfortunately, it is not possible to determine the succession and length of reigns of the Urartian kings from Assyrian sources, but the names Aram and Sarduri are mentioned as royal opponents of Shalmaneser III. The Assyrians seem to have had the upper hand until the reign of the Urartian king Menua (c. 810-786 B.c.) who built many fortresses to defend his land against the raids of Adad-nerari III (810-783 b.c.). The small states and towns between the two powers, however, suffered most, for they were the objects of conquest and domination by both sides, and it is very difFicult to determine the extent of either Assyrian and Urartian rule on the plateau at any time. Much has been written about the geography of place names on the plateau conquered by, or merely reached by, Assyrian armies. The mother of Adad-nerari III may be identified as the famous Semiramis (Shammuramat), who for a time acted as a regent for her son, but the legends about her in Ctesias, Moses of Chorene and elsewhere unfortunately cannot be used for any historical reconstructions. 1 ' Under her and her son, Assyrian armies raided the plateau many times, but afterwards the power of 9 Levine. |n 3j, 1 1 9. ' ' On the ramifications of the legend see W. 10 For the history of Urartu see G. A. Mehkis- Eilers, Semiramis, SWAW, 274 (Vienna, 1971). vili, Nairi-Urartu (Tbilisi, 1954); B. B. Piotrovskii, Vanskoe Tsarswo (Moscow, 1959); and Arutyun- yan, op eil. [n. 1] Medes, Scythians and Eastern Rulers 69 Assyria seems to have suffered a setback for we do not hear of any other expeditions to the east. The next revival of Assyrian expansion to the east under Tiglath-Pileser III (745-727 b.c.) appears to coincide with a movement of peoples on the Iranian plateau and a resurgence of the Elamites, under a series of rulers such as Shutruk-Nakhunte II (c. 717-699 B.c.). Inner conflicts, however, kept the Elamites weak, and their main arena of activity, as far as the sources reveal, was in Babylonia. As mentioned, in the north the Urartians under King Menua had begun to expand to the south and west, and under Argishti I, son of Menua (c. 786-764), they conquered a confederation of towns in the vicinity of modern Erzurum and exacted tribute. 1 2 In the inscriptions of the Urartian kings, copying Assyrian prototypes, booty and tribute are described in detail, while the burning of cities and taking captives was recorded by both Assyrians and Urartians. The early period of the expansion of Assyria onto the Iranian plateau, from c. 900- 825 b.c. has been characterized by Levine as an attempt to control or even monopolize trade and trade routes to the east, while the next period to 744 B.C. saw the rise of a competitor, Urartu, also interested in Controlling trade especially in the northern part of the plateau. 1 3 Certainly trade, or perhaps also the amassing of booty, an important source of gain in the ancient world, must have played an important role in the foreign policies of both Assyria and Urartu, but other factors including a quest for fame, may have spurred the rulers to conquest. Whereas Tiglath-Pileser III directed his armies along the Khurasan road through modern Kermanshah and many times overran Parsua and received tribute from the Medes, Sargon (722-705 B.c.), turned to the north. Both rulers, however, departed from the ancient custom of turning local rulers into vassals and instead put Assyrian governors in control of newly conquered areas. 14 The policy of the Assyrians seems to have shifted from nominal control through vassals to direct rule over the trade routes to the east. Horses were important items of trade but also cattle, sheep, lapis lazuli and other semi- precious stones, and other wares, were sought by the Assyrians. In 715 b.c. Sargon captured a local Median chief called Dahyuka, together with his family, and deported them to Hamath in Syria. This is the first mention of the name which appears in Herodotus as Deiokes, who presumably was intriguing with Manna or Urartu against the Assyrians. 15 Much has been written about the identity of the Dahyuka of Sargon's annals, but most scholars agree that he cannot be the founder of Median unity as stated by Herodotus. 16 Herodotus (1, 102) says he ruled for fifty-three years and was succeeded by Phraortes, who ruled for twenty-two years, followed by Cyaxargs, forty years, and then Astyages, thirty-five years. If one figures backward from the date of the rise of Cyrus, then Deiokes should have ruled c. 728-675 B.C., but Problems arise in the chronology. Several scholars have investigated the rise of the 1 2 Melikisvili, op cit. [n. 10], 234-35. Arutyun- ,4 Luckenbill, Records 1 [n. 5], 281 ; 2, 29. yan, op. cit. [n. 1], 186. This is the beginning of ,5 Ibid., 2, 28. For a discussion of the name, cf. R. Urartian expansion. Schmitt, "Deiokes," Anzeiger der phil.-hist. Klasse L. Levine, "East-West Trade in the Late Iron der Österreichischen Akademie der Wiss. 110 Age : a view from the Zagros," Le plateau iranien et 1 973), 1 37-47. lAsie centrale des origines ä la conquite islamique, l6 Acc. to Grantovskii, op. cit. [n. 6a] 251, the colloques internationaux du CNRS, no. 567 (Paris, Dahyuka captured by Sargon was ruler of Misi, a ''), 171-79. province of Manna. 70 Chapter IV State of the Medes, but no one has reached a satisfactory conclusion ; one Suggestion has it that Phraortes should change places with Deiokes. 17 The Cimmerian and Scythian invasion of northwestern Iran, however, further complicates the picture. CIMMERIANS AND SCYTHIANS The Cimmerians lived north of the Caucasus mountains in south Russia and probably were related to the Thracians, but they surely were a mixed group by the time they appeared south of the mountains, and we hear of them first in the year 714 b.c. after they presumably had defeated the Urartians. 18 Rusa, son of Sarduri, who ruled c. 735-713 B.C., was the Urartian ruler who sufFered at the hands of the Cimmerians, and then from Sargon H's famous campaign of the eighth year of his rule when the Assyrians marched through Parsua, the Mannai country and defeated the Urartian army with its allies of local rulers around lake Urmia. 19 The following march of the Assyrian army through Urartian territory, plundering and burning, Struck a significant blow at the expanding Urartian kingdom, which caused a temporary decline in its power. It was mainly the loss of allies and territory in what is today Iranian Azerbaijan, however, which proved more damaging to Urartian power. The decline and fall of Urartu, however, was gradual. Under Sennacherib (Sinaherib), 705-681 b.c., tribute from the far-away Medes, "whose name no one among the kings, my fathers, had (ever) heard" was received, and they were made tributary. 20 This king, however, had to turn his attention from the north to the south, for the Babylonians and Elamites had united against the Assyrians. Elam had the support of Parsua (now in the south) as well as Anzan (Anshan), perhaps used as Synonyms, one Iranian and the other Elamite, for the same area, but they lost to the Assyrians. 21 The Urartians under Argishti II (713-685 b.c.) then took advantage of Assyrian preoccupation in the south to extend their influence, if not outright conquests, to the Caspian Sea. 22 They never regained their earlier influence south of Lake Urmia, however, and the next ruler Rusa II (685-645 b.c.) turned his attention to the west in Asia Minor. The position of the Cimmerians in the great power struggle between Assyria and Urartu is not easy to determine, but it seems that they moved westward against Phrygia and into Cappadocia, from whence probably the name Gomer came into the Bible and Gamirk ' in Armenian. After the Cimmerians, however, came the Scythians. Herodotus (1, 103-04) says that the Scythians had driven the Cimmerians out of Europe and then followed them, but more to the east they encountered the Medes, whose nascent kingdom they destroyed, and then they ruled for twenty-eight years (106). One problem in the Assyrian sources is the term Ummän-manda used, apparently , for any barbarians in the north and east in Assyrian eyes ; so it is difficult to R. Labat, "KaStariti, Phraorte et les debuts de Royal Correspondenee of the Assyrian Empire, 1 l'histoire Mede," JA, 249 (1961), 3. In the same (Ann Arbor, 1930), no. 12. The form of the name issue of the JA E. Cavaignac writes "A propos du in Assyrian is Gi-mir-ri. debut de l'histoire des Medes," 153-62. 19 Cf. Arutyunyan, op. eil. [n. 1], 300 foll. 18 Pinches in JRAS (1913), 609, and I. M. 20 Luckenbill, Annais [n. 6], 29, 68. Dyakonov, "Assiro-Vavilonskie Istocniki po istorii 21 Ibid., 88, 91. Urartu," VD1, 2 (1951), 339, also L. Waterman, 22 Arutyunyan, op. eil. [n. 1], 322. Medes, Scythians and Eastern Rulers 71 teil whether Medes, Cimmerians or Scythians are meant. The movements of various peoples to the north and east of the Assyrians at this time are impossible to trace, but the entire period can be characterized as one of change and displacement of ethnic eroups, mostly nomads moving into settled lands together with the rise and fall of alliances and allegiances. Already under Sargon we hear of a Median chief called in Akkadian Uksatar who sent tribute to the Assyrians. His name could be an apocopated form of *Huvaxstra in Iranian, or Cyaxares in Herodotus, but he was probably not related to the dynasty which later united the Medes, since the name must have been fairly common among them. 23 During the reign of Sennacherib Median chiefs, however, were undoubtedly extending both Median rule and Median Settlements on the plateau. The Mannai were brought under Assyrian control by Sennacherib, but they were soon to pass under Median suzerainty in the time of Asarhaddon (681-669 b.c.), successor to Sennacherib. We can dimly discern the process of consolidation of Median power on the plateau, for soon old names would vanish to be replaced by Median names. In this process undoubtedly much of ancient traditions and practices would be preserved but integrated into a new Median society and culture. The movement of peoples to the north and east of Assyria continued under Asarhaddon, who was worried about them. The name Kastariti is mentioned in oracle texts of Asarhaddon together with Cimmerian and Mannai troops. 24 The Scythians also appear in the texts, called IskuzajUquza, or in the annals of Asarhaddon Aikuza, and a Scythian chief Ispaka, ally of the Mannai, is mentioned later in the sources. 25 In Herodotus (1, 103) Madyes, son of Protothygs, a Scythian king, is said to have invaded Media, and it is interesting that we find in an Assyrian source the name Bartatua (or P-) who sought the hand of the Assyrian king's daughter in marriage. 26 Although it is unrecorded, he was probably successful, since the Scythians seem to have become allies of the Assyrians for a period of time. The further history of Scythians and Cimmerians in Anatolia is outside the scope of this book, but in Iran we hear no more of the latter while Scythians, called Saka in Iranian, were probably soon absorbed by their kinfolk, the Medes. The presence of the Scythians on the northwestern part of the Iranian plateau, however, has been traced in material remains from archaeological excavations, especially in the hoard from Sakkiz and in Hasanlu. 27 One feature of material culture peculiar to the Scythians, and the Cimmerians, in this period is a three-lobed arrowhead, which has been found in many excavations and graves from south Russia to Media. This type of arrowhead has been studied by many scholars, the most recent summary of the evidence appearing in 1977. 28 This, together with 23 Grantovskii, op. cit. [n. 6a], 316. literature, see A. Godard, Le trisor de Ziwiyi 24 G. A. Knudtzon, Assyrische Cebele an den (Haarlem, 1950) esp. 125, and R. Ghirshman, The Sonnengott, 2 (Leipzig, 1893) no. 1. Trans, in I. M. Arts of Ancient Iran (N.Y., 1964), 98-125; R. D. Dyakonov, "Assiro-va vilonskie istoeniki po Istorii Barnett, "The Treasure of Ziwiye," Iraa, 18(1 956), Urartu," VDI (1951), no. 2, 3, 4. 111-16. For Hasanlu see the bibliography in 25 Dyakonov op. cit. [n. 24], no. 35. For a Porada, op. cit. [eh. 3, n. 2], 264. discussionofthe names Scyth-Saka-Ashkuz and the 28 S. Cleuziou, "Les pointes de fleches 'scythi- miswriting Ashkenaz see I. M. Dyakonov, Istoriya ques' au proche et moyen Orient," Le plateau iranien MM" [n. 4], 243. et l'Asie centrale, CNRS (Paris, 1977), 187-99, 6 Dyakonov, VDI (1951), [n. 24], no. 29. with an ample bibliography. See also B. B. Pio- The treasure of Sakkiz has produced a large trovskii, Vanskoe Tsarstvo (Moscow, 1959), 240. 12 Chapter IV horse burials in kurgans, seems to identify the presence of nomads among the population, whereas the question of the originators of the notorious animal style' in bronze and other metals is more controversial. As evidence accumulates it is clear that the nomads had a great influence on the artistic tastes of the settled people of Iran, even though the actual presence of the nomads in any one area may be uncertain. It seems clear that Transcaucasia and Iran had much in common as far as iron weapons, horse trappings, horse burials, and even pottery, are concerned in the first half of the first millennium B.C. This is not unexpected, for obviously the rise of iron must have replaced bronze prototypes all over the area but hardly before the ninth - eighth centuries B.c. Whether nomads for the most part caused this homogeneity of culture in Transcaucasia and in Iran is uncertain, but they obviously contributed to it. 29 The question whether the Scythians, in their invasion of Iran from the north followed the same path as the Medes and Persians earlier, cannot be answered, but the Scythians, we can surmise, according to archaeological evidence, did follow the western shore of the Caspian Sea to the south. An earlier influx of Iranians by the same route has not been found. Herodotus (1, 106, also IV, 12) writes that the Scythians ruled over Asia for twenty- eight years until Cyaxares and the Medes killed (their chiefs) at a banquet and recovered their independence. There is no evidence elsewhere for this Statement, but at the same time there is no reason to doubt the power and rule of the Scythians, since material traces of them are plentiful, while the Assyrians under Assurbanipal (668- 632 or 626 b.c.), son and successor of Asarhaddon, did not rule the country of the Mannai or much eise on the northern part of the plateau. By the end of the reign of Asarhaddon much of Assyrian authority may have been eroded, but at least many chieftains concluded vassal treaties with him, promising to continue to support his son and successor. 30 The treaties mattered little, for it was during Assurbanipal's reign that Assyrian power drastically declined and the Medes became the real heirs of the Assyrian position first on the Iranian plateau and then elsewhere. The powerful northern enemies of the Assyrians, however, were to suffer first from the changes. THE END OF URARTU Enough inscriptions now have been recovered to reconstruct the succession of the last kings of Urartu after Rusa II. Urartu was on the defensive and hardly able to maintain a semblance of past glory under Sarduri III, son of Rusa, who was in turn followed by another Sarduri IV then Erimena, whose relationship to the former kings is unknown. Erimena was succeeded by his son Rusa III, after whom a final ruler either called Rusa IV or Sarduri IV appears in texts. 31 In spite of many uncertainties about the succession of rulers, it seems that the kingdom of Urartu feil to the Medes probably in the time of Cyaxares about the turn of the seventh Century b.c. The 29 Well documented in M. H. Pogrebova, Iran i ■>' N. V. Aroutiounian, "La derniere periode de Zakavkaz'e v rannem zheleznom veke (Moscow, l'histoire d'Urartu," ^4/4H, 22 (1974), 428, wherea 1977), esp. 168-73. bibliography is given including the differences in D. J Wiseman, "The Vassal-Treaties of views between the author and I. M. Dyakonov. Esarhaddon," Iraq, 20 (London, 1958), 13 (also Here we follow Aroutiounian. separate publication). Medes, Scythians and Eastern Rulers 73 capital city Tuspa, (modern Van) was captured about 609 b.c. probably by the Medes, according to Dyakonov. 32 Archaeology fortunately has not only recovered Urartian inscriptions, but also has given us a good picture of Urartian architecture, town planning and defenses. The prominence of Urartian massive stonework had an influence on later Achaemenid as well as on Armenian architecture. 33 It was not only the Medes, however, who dealt a blow to Urartu in the south, but also the Scythians and other invaders from the north, who destroyed many towns of northern Urartu, including Teishebaini, present Erevan, about 590 B.c. 34 The real heirs of the Urartians, however, were neither the Scythians nor Medes but the Armenians. Much has been written about the origin of the Armenians, but an attractive attempt to identify the Armenians, who today call themselves Hayk ' , as descendants of people living in the territory of Hayasa, north of Assyria, has not been generally accepted. 35 The Indo-European Armenian language does seem to be related to the Thraco-Phrygian group of languages, which implies a movement of people from west to east through eastern Anatolia, although the ethnic composition and dates of movement are unknown. Dyakonov has suggested that the word Hay- was used by the Urartians for westerners who had belonged to the Hittite empire (khattini) and the country west of the Euphrates was Khate, which the Arameans to the south called *Armina, which term then was later borrowed by the Persians. 36 He concludes that the Armenians were the result of a mixture of the inhabitants of the Urartian kingdom, which included Hurrians and Luvians as well as Urartians, together with Indo-European speaking proto-Armenians who may have been a mixture of people called Mushki and others who belonged to the Thraco-Phrygian linguistic family, plus some Scythians and others as well. 37 We may conclude that the Armenians expanded to much the same geographical extent as the Urartians, and the Armenian language eventually was adopted by the old Urartian population. When Darius in the Old Persian version of his Behistun inscription mentions Armenia, the Elamite version has the same, whereas the Akkadian has the older Urastu, an acknowledgment of continuity and conservatism in Babylonia. Much controversy has existed over the role of Urartu in the development of Achaemenid culture, together with the debate on the route followed by Medes and/ or Persians onto the Iranian plateau. Obviously, if one or both of the great Iranian tribes had come over the Caucasus, the Urartian influence on the later customs, 2 I. M. Dyakonov, "Poslednie gody Urartsogo 34 V. V. Piotrovskii, Karmir Blur (Leningrad, Gosudarstva," VDI, no. 2 (1951), 29-39. This is 1970), and Arutyunyan (Harut'eunean), op. cit. [n. also the opinion of W. Kleiss, "Zur Ausbreitung 1], 334. Urartus nach Osten" Istanbuler Mitteilungen, 19/20 35 G. B. Djaukyan in Istoriya Armyanskogo (1969-70), 135. Naroda (Erevan, 1951), 25, and his "The Hayasa Cf. W. Kleiss, ed., Bastam (Berlin, 1979), and Language and its Relation to the Indoeuropean his Topographische Karte von Urartu (Berlin, 1976). Languages," AO, 29 (1961), 353-405, esp. 398. The excavations of Karmir Blur (Red Hill) at 36 I. M. Dyakonov, Predistoriya Armyanskogo Erevan by B. B. Piotrovskii and K. L. Ogenesiyan Naroda (Erevan, 1969), 231-36. His surmises go u V ^ Erevan ' l 95 °-55) have produced much on farther than others and may be accepted until the material culture of the Urartians. See also the shown to be in error. results of excavations in the picture album of K. 37 Ibid., 243. On the whole, this work by Hovhannisean, Erebunii Orsnankarnera, The Wall- Dyakonov is the most acceptable study of the Pamtings of Erebooni (Erevan, 1973). origins of the Armenians. 74 Chapter IV institutions and culture of the Iranians would have been overwhelming. W. Kleiss, the expert on Urartian architecture and archaeology in Iran, has shown the Urartian influences on Achaemenid stone structures such as the Zendan at Pasargadae and the Ka 'bah of Zoroaster at Naqsh-e Rustam. 38 He described specific details of architecture in a convincing attribution of Urartian influence, whereas previously R. Ghirshman in a more impressionistic manner had claimed an Urartian origin for the cyclopean architecture and platforms of Masjid-e Sulaiman in Khuzistan and at Pasargadae. 39 Given the architectural connections, and perhaps the borrowing of the title 'king of kings' by the Achaemenids from Urartu via the Medes, does this justify what Ghirshman called an Irano-Urartian 'koine' implying a fusion at least of the cultures of the two peoples, if not more? 40 The answer to this question lies with future archaeological finds to determine the path of the Iranians onto the plateau and their spread over it. Since the Medes were the first to form a centralized State in northwestern Iran, however, borrowing from their northern neighbors the Urartians would not be unexpected. Specific points of influence, however, are very difficult to establish, and one must be content at present with the probability of borrowings, which by no means 'prove' that the Iranians came over the Caucasus to the plateau. THE FALL OF ASSYRIA We have already mentioned the chronological problems which arise with the early Median kings. The chronology of their rule proposed by Labat, combining Herodotus and meagre Akkadian sources, on the whole has been accepted by most scholars with the first ruler after an uncertain Deiokes being Phraortes (OP Fravartis, Akk. Parumartis, Elamite Pirrumartis), who ruled c. 647-625 or 623 b.c. during the Scythian domination 41 This ruler probably is the same as the Kastariti of the annals of Asarhaddon, and the difference in names can best be explained as the former being his personal name and the latter his 'throne' name, meaning 'possessing a kingdom,' Iranian *Xsa9rita. The name Kastariti, however, appears only in the omen texts of Asarhaddon, and this has caused some scholars, such as Dyakonov, to postulate an earlier rule for Phraortes from c. 675-653 B.C. followed by the Scythian Interregnum of 653-625 42 It is, of course, possible that Phraortes did have a very long rule from c. 675-625 B.C., including the Scythian domination of northwestern Iran, but it may be another person according to Labat, and without new sources it is 38 W. Kleiss, "Zur Rekonstruktion des urartäi- 41 Labat, op. cit. [n. 17], 3. The lengths of rule of sehen Tempels," Istanbuler Mitteilungen, 13/14 the Median kings are derived from Herodotus and (Berlin 1963-4), 12-14. The false Windows and the absolute chronology from euneiform records the crenated stone tops to the massive, Square interpolated with Herodotus. On the unreliability temples are the chief points of resemblance. of Herodotus on the Median kings see R. R. Helm, 39 Ghirshman, op. cit. |n. 27], 296. "Herodotus' Medikos Logos and Median History," 40 The title 'king of kings' had existed all over Iran, 19 (1981), 85, 90. the ancient Near East, but in the seventh Century 42 1. M. Dyakonov, Istoriya MUH [n. 4], 266, B.c. it seems to have been in vogue only in Urartu, 282. according to written records; cf. Frye, "The Charisma of Kingship in Ancient Iran," IA, 6 (1964), 111-15. Medes, Scythians and Eastern Rulers 75 not possible to reconstruct a satisfactory chronology of the early Median kings. We can only surmise that the Median State came into formation during the time of Phraortes in the middle of the seventh Century b.c. although Dyakonov would date the declaration of independence of Phraortes from Assyrian rule to the year 673 b.c. 43 With the next ruler we are on firmer ground, for Phraortes may have been killed by the Assyrians according to Cavaignac, but in any case he was succeeded by Cyaxargs (OP *Huvaxstra, Akk. Umakistar). 44 Herodotus (1, 106) said that he ruled forty years, but this was most hkely after the Scythian domination, and not before it as the historian thought. According to Herodotus (1, 103) Cyaxares was the first ruler to divide an army according to weapons used, separating lance bearers from bowmen and the like. This information cannot be correct as stated, and one should ask what the historical reality behind it is. As Dyakonov persuasively argued, it is probably the change from a force of tribal levies to a regulär army which led to the remark of Herodotus. 45 Assyrian sources, unfortunately, do not help in elucidating the rise of the Median State, for during the reign of Assurbanipal Assyria fought many times against Egypt, Babylonia, Arab tribes, and Elam, not giving much attention to the Iranian plateau. Elam was destroyed as an independent power under Assurbanipal, and so too was the kingdom of the Mannai. 46 One may conjecture that the destruction of both Elam and the kingdom of the Mannai by the Assyrians, together with the fall of Urartu gave the Iranians a chance to assert their power, which was soon feit by their neighbors after the death of Assurbanipal. A strong ruler, Nabopolassar, became king of Babylon about 626 B.c., so Assyria was in danger from the south as well as from the Medes to the east. Unfortunately, we have no information, literary or archaeological, about events on the Iranian plateau in this period and cuneiform records also teil us little about Mesopotamia, so we are reduced to conjecture. 47 Just as we may assume that with the destruction of the power of Elam, Persian leaders took their place in Fars, if not also elsewhere, so we may conclude that the Medes Consolidated their State at the expense of the Mannai, and of course of various Iranian tribes. It is quite possible that Cyaxargs subjected the Persians in the south to Median rule in the period around 625 b.c. as Herodotus (I, 102) suggests. We must stress again that all is conjecture and must be fitted into a time scale which does not clash with earlier and later data. 48 Luckily for the years just before and after the fall of Nineveh we do have important cuneiform sources in the British Museum which give a summary of principal events relating to Assyria in the period Ibid., 266. Such precise dating on the basis of ment of the army of the Achaemenids was ascribed oracle texts, however, is not convincing. to Medus, presumably a Median king in the mind E. Cavaignac, "Sur un passage de la tablette of the poet. B.M.25 127," Revue d'Assyriologie, 51 (1957), 28- 46 Luckenbill, Records, 2 [n. 5], 328-29. The "• The tablet is füll of lacunae, and relevant to the Mannai were made subject to the Assyrians and Medes it only has, "he turned his face towards thus lost their independence. Nineveh," followed by uncertain accounts of 47 Apparently Nabopolassar began hostilities skirmishes. Nowhere is a proper name mentioned, against Assyria shortly after his accession and there and Cavaignac assumes that 'he' refers to the was constant fighting; cf. S. Smith, Babylonian Assyrian king, and the skirmishes refer to Phraor- Historical Texts (London 1924), 23. «s, following Herodotus. 48 D. Stronach, "Exca vations at Tepe Nash-i Jan 45 Dyakonov, lstoriya Midii [n. 4], 295. In 1967," Iran, 7 (1969), 6, reviews several opinions Aeschylus, The Persians, verse 765, the establish- of events during this period. 16 Charter IV of its fall. 49 It is not possible here to give an account of the rise of Babylonian military might and the decline of the Assyrian forces, but the steady advance of the Babylonians year by year against Assyria is well chronicled. In 61 5 B.c. the old capital of Assyria, the city of Aisur, was besieged but not taken by the Babylonians, and in October of the same year the Medes raided the province of Arraphu (modern Kirkuk). 50 The following year the Medes after marching to Nineveh turned south and captured Assur which they plundered. Then, in the translation of Wiseman, "[The king of Ak]kad and Cy[axar]5s met one another by the city. They established (an alliance) of mutual friendship and peace. [Cyaxarjes and his army returned to his land." 51 Although the text is poorly preserved for the events of the year 612, it is clear that in the summer the capital Nineveh feil to the Babylonians and Medes and the Assyrian king was killed, while his city was plundered, after which the Medes departed. Another Assyrian king proclaimed his rule in the town of Harran and with Egyptian aid maintained his independence until the summer of 610, when the Babylonian and Median allies captured the city. Skirmishes continued between the Egyptians and Babylonians until the Egyptians were defeated at a battle of Carchemish in 605 and peace was established for a time; thus the long domination of Assyria in the Near East came to an end. REMAINS OF THE MEDES Very little has survived which can be confidently attributed to the Medes, and excavations of Median sites are few. Until the present site of Hamadan, ancient Ecbatana, is excavated we must rely on the small fortress-site of NOsh-e Jan, and a series of rock-cut tombs or other sites with possible Median layers or influences such as Godin Tepe and Bäbä Jan Tepe. Fortunately the 'Median' rock-cut tombs have been discussed in detail and only a few remarks may be of interest here. 52 The live principal tombs which have been dated to Median times, and are said to be tombs of Median princes, are Kizkapan in Iraqi Kurdistan, Ferhäd ö SirTn at the village of $ahna near Kangavar, Fahräqäh (or FakhrTqah some 10 km. northeast of Mahabad) near the village of Andarqäsh, Dukkän-e Däüd, 3 km. south of Sar-e Pul 2ohab, and Sakawand or Ishaqvand, 3 km. north of Deh-e Nö, which village is 18 km. southwest of HarsTn. 53 Because of the poor stone carving on all of these, relative to the impressive Achaemenid tombs at Persepolis and Naqsh-e Rustam, it was generally thought that the above tombs were Median in date. Von Gall, however, convincingly argued that all of them are rather attempts to copy royal Achaemenid tombs and are to be dated to the late Achaemenid period, although they may well be the tombs of local Median 49 Cf. D. J. Wiseman, Chronicks of Chaldaean storming of Nineveh to Manda tribes led by Kings 626-556 b.c. (London, 1956). Arbakes rather than to Medes, is unacceptable. 50 Ibid., 13 and 57. The Mannai fought for the 52 H. von Gall, "Zu den 'Medischen' Felsgrä'bern Assyrians. On the Mannai prisoners of the in Nordwestiran und Iraqi Kurdistan," Archäolo- Babylonians see p. 55. Dyakonov, Istoriya Midii [n. gischer Anzeiger, 81 (1966), 19 foll. 4], 304, thinks this defeat of Mannai forces gave 53 I give official and local names and geographi- Cyaxares the opportunity of incorporating their cal locations of several of the sites since many who land in his domains. have written about them are either vague or 51 Wiseman, op. cit. [n. 49], 59. The attempt of erroneous in these matters. König in op. cit. [eh. 1, n. 34], 42, to ascribe the Medes, Scythians and Eastern Rulers 77 chiefs. 54 With the tombs unable to serve as evidence for Median work, we turn to the Zendän-e Sulaimän, the remarkable crater at Takht-e Sulaiman in Azerbaijan, which was undoubtedly a holy site, for around the conical mountain, which was filled with water at this early period, houses, or rooms for piligrims or priests had been built. The high terrace on one side seems to confirm Herodotus (1, 131) when he said that the Persians do not erect statues to the gods, temples or altars, and they offer worship to Zeus and other deities on the tops of mountains. The pottery found here, however, mostly dates from the eighth Century b.c., and the excavator believes the Zendän was a Mannai site which was destroyed by the Medes. 55 After a survey of a small site northeast of Maku near a village called Pul-e Dast, Kleiss remarked that "der Bau in Corbulaq[ist] bis heute das einzige Gebäude im Nordteil von Iranisch-Azerbaidjan, das von den Medern errichtet worden ist." 56 In a building there he was able to find an early prototype of the court-ayvan plan of later Iranian buildings. When we turn to the artistic finds from Hasanlu and Ziwiye, it seems that again they are remains of the Mannai, with possible Scythian (or Median?) influences on the style. 57 In the art it is clear that the two primary strains are influences from the ancient Near East, from Assyria in particular, and the nomadic or 'Scythian' style. What we are unable to discover is the relation of Median art to this "Scythian' style, and one may tentatively conjecture that the Medes, in their early spreading over central and northwestern han, hardly could be distinguished from Scythians by the local, settled population. The Median tribes undoubtedly absorbed much from the settled cultures of the Mannai, Urartians, Caspians, and other peoples, and in culture as well as political supremacy, they were the heirs of these peoples as the Persians were of the Elamites in the south. Unfortunately we know very little about the composition of the population on the Iranian plateau at the time of the fall of Nineveh. Presumably the population had been mixed to a great extent, for one reason by the policy of the Assyrian kings to deport rebellious peoples and settle them in widely scattered parts of the Assyrian domains. From the Bible (Kings II, 17, 6 and 18, 1 1) we have noted that Sargon II, and presumably Sennacherib, both deported Israelites to the 'cities' of the Medes. Others must have feit the wrath of the Assyrians in a similar manner, and the brisk trade quite likely also brought about a small movement of peoples. The spread of qanat irrigation technology must have opened new areas to cultivation on the plateau, and one may assume an increase in the population. Dyakonov is probably correct in denying the existence in Media in this period of great latifundia where large numbers of slaves were needed, and although the Medes may have brought captives home from the Assyrian wars, there is no evidence of any large-scale displacement of peoples. 58 That various peoples maintained their identities after the fall of Nineveh is suggested by the book of Jeremiah 51, 27-28, where the prophet speaks of the kingdoms of Ararat (Urartu), Minni (Mannai) and Ashkenaz 54 von Gall, op. cit. [n. 52], 38. R. M. Boehmer, "Volkstum und Städte der 55 W. Kleiss, Zendan-i Sulaiman, die Bauwerke Mannäer," Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäotogi- (Wiesbaden, 1971), 68. Urartian temples and sehen Instituts, Abteilung Baghdad, 3 (Berlin, others were also placed on heights. 1964), 11 foll. 56 Kleiss, "Zwei Plätze des 6. Jh.s v. Chr. in 58 Dyakonov, Istoriya Midii [n. 4], 312. The Azerbaidjan," AMI, 9 (1976), 116. Medes did not follow the Assyrians in this regard. 57 Porada, op. cit. [eh. 3, n. 2], 108-36. See also 78 Chapter IV (Scythians) with the kings of the Medes, opposing Babylon. Presumably this passage refers to the time after 597 b.c. when the Babylonians took Jerusalem. If any credence is to be given this Statement, we may suppose that the Median State was really more of a confederacy of various rulers than a centralized monarchy. From the excavations at Nush-e Jan Tepe, and from Assyrian representations of Median towns on reliefs, it is clear that Settlements were highly fortified, a necessary precaution during the long period of Assyrian raids on the plateau and tribal warfare. Archaeology suggests that fortified areas were abandoned or allowed to decay after the fall of Assyria. 59 For any picture of Median State or Society in this period, however, we are obliged to interpolate from later sources, such as the inscriptions of the Achaemenid kings, and read back into Median times certain inferences. For example, the Greeks borrowed the word 'paradise,' or royal park, from the Medes and not from the Persians, since the form of the last word is with a -z, *daiza instead of Persian *daida (in Ehmite /par-te-taf). This implies that the Medes had created the enclosed royal hunting park before the rise of the Achaemenids. Probably the group of Iranian tribal warriors had given place to a professional army, or at least a royal guard. Dyakonov would see in the Behistun inscription of Darius (II, 16), speaking of the Median army kära Mäda haya vidäpatiy äha, "the Median people which was in its domain(s)," a reference to the landed nobility on its lands, while the kära haya upä mäm äha "the people which remained with me (Darius)" was the professional army and court nobility. 60 Whether this presupposes a division of the Median nobility under Cyaxargs, or his successor, into landed nobility and court nobility is questionable. It is perhaps better to admit the lack of information about the Medes and reserve discussion of later sources for later history. EXPANSION OF THE EMPIRE Herodotus (1, 134) said that the Medes ruled over their neighbors, who in turn ruled over those farther away, which has been interpreted as meaning that the subject peoples ruled themselves, sending tribute to the Medes, whereas under the Achaemenids the system of satraps (usually Persians) was introduced. 61 As Dyakonov aptly observed, the references to 'kings' under the Median king in both Jeremiah (25, 25 and 51,11 and 28) and in a cuneiform text, implies a system of vassal rulers rather than a centralized State. 62 Since the OP title xläyaßiya xHäyadiyänäm 'king of kings' is probably Median in origin, though the Urartians and others used the title long before the Medes, obviously the king of the Medes was the overlord of other rulers. 63 What areas did the Medes rule? To the east we have no sources to answer this question but 59 See D. Stronach, "Excavations at Tepe Nush-i 62 Dyakonov, op. eil. [n. 4], 336. Jan," Iran, 16 (1978), 9-10. On Bäbä-Jän Tepe see " Cf. R. Schmitt, "Königtum im Alten Iran," the same issue, 41^12. Saeculum, 28 (1977), 386 and for the etymology, 60 Dyakonov, Istoriya Midii [n. 4], 332-34. It is O. Szemerenyi, "Iranica V," AI, 5, Monumentum also dubious to assign the OP word spada 'army' to H. S. Nyberg, 2 (1975), 313-23. Szemerenyi is the Medes and kära 'people, horde,' to the Persians, wrong, however, in asserting that the title 'king of cf. Handbuch, 144, lahma for reference to kings' was used by the late Assyrian kings. It is etymologies. really found in the titulary of the early Assyrian 61 W. W. How and J. Wells, A Commentary on kings, not those against whom the Medes fought. Herodotus, 2 (Oxford, 1964), 115. Medes, Scythians and Eastern Rulers 79 otily surmises. The tribes of the Medes already have been mentioned, and the Paretakeni were those whose center was present Isfähan, apparently extending into the desert on the east of Tabbas (Curtius V, 13, 2). Whether the Orthokorybanti, mentioned by Herodotus as one of the contingents in the army of the tenth satrapy of the Achaemenids (III, 92), were the 'high hat' Scythians who maintained a separate identity in Media, is unknown, but a reasonable surmise. 64 Did they have a king who eave fealty to CyaxarSs or did they merely send tribute as more distant peoples? We can only conjecture that the tribes of the Medes were directly under CyaxarSs whereas others were more independent, such as the Persians. The Persians, we are told by Herodotus, the Old Persian inscriptions, and a passage from a prism of ASurbanipal, had kings going back to an eponymous ancestor Achaemenes (OP Haxlmanis). 65 Whether there were two kings in Fars is unknown but not improbable in light of the genealogy of the early Achaemenid kings following two lines after Teispes (OP CispiS). 66 One may further speculate that the line of Cyrus had its center in Pasargadae, his later capital, white his brother Ariaramnes (OP Ariyärämna) had his center to the southwest. We do not know when these local kings submitted to Median overlordship, before or after the fall of Nineveh, but probably under the rule of Cyaxares. Other Iranian tribes to the east are more problematical. In Kerman lived a Persian tribe, the Germanioi or Kermanioi (Herodotus 1, 125), which name some scholars have connected with the word 'German', while others have proposed various etymologies for it. 67 Presumably when Fars submitted to the Medes so did Kerman. In Seistan, ancient Zranka or Drangiana, one may guess a Median control, but again there is no evidence, and the same is true for various tribes which lived in the southeastern part of the Iranian plateau and which cannot be identified, such as the Outioi, whom Herzfeld confidently identifies with OP Yautiyä, NPjut orjut and Arabic Zutf 'gypsies.' 68 Whoever the inhabitants of the desolate Stretches of the southeastern Iranian plateau were, any central control from western Iran must have been weak, as it has been throughout history. Much has been made of a passage in Herodotus (III, 1 17), speaking of the area of the present lower Harl Rüd which has been identified as the Akes River of the historian. 69 The Khwarazmians ruled this piain which was on the borders of the lands 64 Dyakonov, op. cit. [n. 4], 338. His etymology, 66 V. I. Abaev, "Iz Iranskoi Onomastiki," meaning 'fairy' or supernatural beings is less Istoriya Iranskogo Gosudarstva i Kullury, ed. by likely than 'mountaineers,' proposed by Eilers, B. G. Gafurov (Moscow, 1971), 269, Supports the "Demawend," [eh. l,n. 19], 348, since the name is reading Cispis, while W. Hinz, Neue Wege im also applied to people in Central Asia. Allpersischen (Wiesbaden, 1973), 25, upholds the 65 In the fragment of prism from Babylon of the reading CaispiS. More weight aecrues to Abaev in year 639 b.c., line 7 says that Cyrus, king of (the this controversy. land) Parsumas, heard of the great victory of 67 Cf. C. Bartholomae, "Iranisches," ZU, 4 Assurbanipal over Elam and sent his eldest son (1926), 185, who thinks of a foreign word, Arukku to Nineveh with tribute. This Cyrus whereas Eilers, "Demawend" [eh. 1, n. 19], 184, should be the grandfather of Cyrus II, the founder gives a bibliography of discussions of the name of the Achaemenid dynasty. Cf. E. F. Weidner, which he considers Iranian. "Die älteste Nachricht über das persische Königs- 68 Herzfeld, Zoroasler, 2 [eh. 3, n. 31], 733. haus," Archiv für Orientforschung, 7 (1931), 4 and 69 W. B. Henning, Zoroasler, Politician or Witch- 6. Dyakonov, op. eil. [n. 4], 349, explains the name Doctor? (Oxford, 1951), 42, where reference is Arukku as Iranian *Ar(ya)uka. given to Markwart. ov Chapter IV of the Khwarazmians, the Hyrcanians, the Parthians, the Sarangians (in Seistan) and the Thamanians (in Arachosia?). From this sentence W. B. Henning concluded, "We can thus be fairly certain that there was a State in eastern Iran which centered around Marv and Herat and coexisted with the Median Empire; which was led by the Khwarazmians and abolished by Cyrus, who deprived them of their southern provinces, whereupon they gradually retired to their northern possessions along the River Oxus." 70 He further puts Vishtaspa, the patron of Zoroaster, as the last ruler of this State, thus giving the prophet a fixed time and place. This implies no Median overlordship in this part of the east, a position opposed by Dyakonov and others. 7 * These are interesting surmises, but they remain no more, and only new found inscriptions can resolve the question. The likelihood of some kind of Median hegemony exists, but how far it extended or its nature is unknown. Just as with the eastern Iranians, so in the Caspian area, the extent of Median rule is impossible to determine. Since Median armies went far into Anatolia and, as we have mentioned, probably put an end to Urartu, then most likely areas of easier access, such as Khurasan, submitted earlier to Median rule. Only by interpolating between earlier Assyrian and later Persian rule can we come to some appreciation of the Medes where we have virtually no sources. For example, as Dyakonov points out, Achaemenid satrapies were both larger and more independent than Assyrian provinces, so he proposes that the Median satrapies (for the form of the word 'satrap' is Median and not Persian) were between the two in size and independence. 72 Such impressionistic views of the Medes, unfortunately, at present are all we have in reconstructing the past of the Medes. ART AND MATERIAL CULTURE From the domain of art and archaeology we gain some impressions of the Medes and, as mentioned, their dependence on the culture of the Urartians, Elamites, and others of the ancient Near East is great. From representations on Assyrian reliefs some scholars have concluded that early Persian soldiers wore feather headdresses, or that Medes invariably wore tall, round feit hats and trousers. Again, unluckily, there are no identifying inscriptions so the designations are speculative. If we could be sure that certain figures were Medes, then something could be said about the costumes, but since styles change, it is not easy to assign decorative features to the Medes and to no one eise. There is little point in repeating such Statements as, "Just as the Medes probably handed down to the Persians the elements of Scythian art which they had absorbed or obtained independently through eastern connections, so they must also have been the middlemen for the continuation in Achaemenid art of other stylistic traditions which prevailed in Iran in Median times;" 73 or, "we know next to nothing about Median architecture." 74 It is clear that without extensive excavations in Hamadan, on the site of the Median capital of Ecbatana, there is little hope of progress in our knowledge of the material culture of the Medes. 70 Ibid., 42-43. Dyakonov, htoriya Midii [n. 4), 403-12, with the 71 Isloriya Midii [n. 4], 357-58. Suggestion that the 'animal style' in bronzes was Ibid., 361 . Median by origin. "Porada, op. eil. [eh. 3, n. 2], 140. Cf. 74 Ghirshman, op. eil. [n. 27], 87. Medes, Scythians and Eastern Rulers 81 RELIGION The Zendän-e Sulaiman, probably a site of the Mannai, has been mentioned, and presumably a fire altar has been found in a room with high walls in the fortified site of Nüsh-e Jan, but this is all the material evidence we have for the religion of the Medes. A fire cult was no monopoly of the Medes, so the presence of an altar in excavations does little in explaining the uses and beliefs connected with it; even the Hittites had a fire cult. 75 Since the discovery of a fire altar in an excavation gives few details about the religion practiced at the site, we turn as usual to Herodotus, who says (1, 131) that the Persians (and presumably also the Medes) have no images, temples or altars (sie) ; they worship in the open air on mountain tops and kill their sacrifices in a place free from pollution, but one of the Magi must be present and chant a hymn. Further (I, 140), the Magi expose the bodies of the dead to birds of prey, and they kill crawling creatures, as snakes and scorpions. Much has been written about this Information of Herodotus, and the question of the religion or religions of the various Iranian peoples is always bound to a comparison of Classical sources with the Avesta and more recent Zoroastrian practices. Herodotus, of course, lived long after the fall of the Median kingdom, so, as usual, one must interpolate backwards. The three forms of disposal of the dead, cremation, exposure or burial have been found in excavations in various parts of the Iranian world, although cremation, unlike among Hindus and Vikings, is rare in Central Asia and unattested on the plateau. 76 Since exposure of the dead body has been a feature of the Zoroastrian religion for almost two millennia, there is no reason to rejeet Herodotus' assertion that this is a practice especially of the Magi. The desire not to pollute the earth with decaying matter seems to be the prineipal reason why a priesthood would enjoin their followers to adopt exposure in place of former burial in the earth. Since in a passage of Xanthos (FHG 1, 42 and Frg. Hist. III c. 2), the prohibition against cremation is attributed to Zoroaster by the Persians, one may aeeept this as an early Zoroastrian practice, however, frequently breached. No matter when the Magi adopted the reforms of the prophet, they were priests from early times, perhaps a tribe of the Medes as Herodotus says, or a priestly caste just among the Medes and then among other Iranians. In any case, we can safely assume that the Magi held a prominent place among the Medes as Interpreters of dreams and auguries, as well as fulfilling their priestly funetions, for the word 'magic' comes from their name. 77 The process by which the Magi became the Zoroastrian priests is much disputed and the early periods of their activity remain dark. 78 THE LYDIAN WAR AND FALL OF THE MEDES The marriage of a Median princess to Nebuchadnezzar, son of the Babylonian king, before the fall of Nineveh was part of the Joint strategy of the two allies against the 75 V. V. Ivanov, "Kult Ognya u Khettov," (Moscow, 1963) 127-33, and the following article Drevnii Mir, Festschrift for V. V. Struve, ed. by N. by G. P. Snesarov, 134-40. Pigulevskaya (Moscow, 1962), 271-72. Fire is 77 For anetymology of magMj as 'powerful, etc.' used in Hindu ntuals and elsewhere. see J. Pokorny, Indogermanisches Etymologisches 76 For the discovery of funeral urns in ancient Wörterbuch, 1 (Bern, 1959), 695. This is not Central Asia see Y. A. Rapoport, "Some Aspects of aeeepted by E. Benveniste, Les Mages dans fanden the Evolution of Zoroastrian Funeral Rites," Trudy Iran (Paris, 1938), 20. 25 Mezhdunarodnogo Kongressa Vostokovedov, 3 78 Cf. Boyce, op. cit. 1 [eh. 3, n. 21], 10-11. 82 Chapter IV common Assyrian foe. 79 Afterwards, however, one cannot speak of an alliance of the two for tensions developed over the boundaries and spheres of influence. While the Babylonians were conquering Syria and Palestine, driving out Egyptians, the Medes extended their rule in eastern Anatolia, where they came into conflict with the Lydian kingdom with its capital at Sardis. We do not know the circumstances leading to the war between the Lydians and the Medes which Herodotus (I, 74) teils us lasted five years until the famous battle of the eclipse of the sun on 28 May 585 b.c. after which peace was made through intermediaries, the ruler of Cilicia, called Syennesis, and the Babylonians. The Halys River or present Kizil Irmak formed the boundary between the two states and Aryenis daughter of Alyattes of Lydia (ruled c. 617-561 B.c.) was married to Astyages, son of Cyaxares, as a sign of alliance. 80 The Babylonians, however, cannot have regarded the growing power of the Medes with anything but dismay and led to the construction of a defensive wall north of Babylon, and predictions on the fall of Babylon by Isaiah and Jeremiah. Herodotus (1, 106) assigns forty years to the rule of Cyaxares while, Eusebius (Frg. Hist. IIB, Nr. 250) gives thirty-eight, but such numbers, in these and other ancient sources, cannot be substantiated and can only be reported as fitting the general framework of chronology. He was followed by his son Astyages, about whom we find much folklore and fable, relating primarily to the rise of Cyrus. 8 ' We have conflicting information about the family of Astyages in various sources. Herodotus (I, 107 foll.) says that Astyages had a daughter called Mandane about whom he had a dream that she urinated and flooded all of Asia. Astyages became fearful and instead of giving her in marriage to a Mede, gave her to Cambyses of Persis, from which union Cyrus was born. But Astyages later had another dream, that from the womb of his daughter a vine grew which overshadowed Asia. Then he ordered one of his nobles Harpagos to kill the boy, but Harpagos instead gave him to a shepherd called Mitradates and his wife Spako, which is the Median name for dog. 82 The woman substituted her dead child for Cyrus and raised the baby as her own. Years later the royal blood of Cyrus became manifest and Astyages found out about him, then received him into his household, but he punished Harpagos by killing his son and serving him to his father at a banquet. Then the king sent Cyrus to Persis to his real father and mother who received him and, after hearing his story, let it be known generally that he had been saved by a dog. To shorten the story, Harpagos, bent on revenge, later persuaded Cyrus to revolt against Astyages, and during a battle he led the Medes to desert and support Cyrus which gave the victory to the Persians. 79 See Wiseman, op. cit. [n. 49], 15. for -w-. The aecount of Ctesias as found in 80 The Lydian character of the names of the Diodorus Siculus (II, 32, 6) is fantasy. king and his daughter are asserted by L. Zgusta, 8 - The name Mitradates is given as Atradates by Kleinasiatische Personemiamen (Prague, 1964), 55, Ctesias in Nicholas of Damascus (Frg. Hist. II, teil 103 but no etymologies are given. The war A, 361), and in Strabo (729) the name of Cyrus between the two may have been started by Median himself is given as Agradates, probably a mistake claims to rule over the Scythians in Cappadocia. for the same name as that found in Ctesias. Cyrus 1 On the etymology of his name *fiti-vaiga was a noble and not the son of a shepherd. The "brandishing a lance," see Herzfeld, op. cit. [eh. 3, n word for 'dog' is correct and much has been 31], 1, 90, and E. A. Grantovskii, op. cit [n. 6a], wntten about it. 330. In Akkadian he is called Istumegu with -m- Medes, Scythians and Eastern Rulers 83 This is the Cyrus saga, with parts of the myths of the Indo-European peoples inteerated into it. It is not necessary to discuss the variants of the myth by Ctesias and the account of Justin's epitome of Pompeius Trogus, which follows Herodotus, or other more apocopated parts of the story of the rise of Cyrus, since the saga has been discussed in much detail elsewhere. 83 Binder has convincingly indicated that the various elements in the saga such as the abandonment of a royal child and its nourishment by an animal (dog, wolf, eagle or cow) are very widespread motifs relevant to the founder of a new dynasty, and probably bound to ancient rites of nomadic young warrior fraternities {Männerbünde) on the steppes of Central Asia. 84 To go further, however, and draw cosmogonic and far-reaching conclusions on the religious significance of the myths is hazardous, even though one may accept the premise that the stories are much more than just tales or literature but do have cultic and ritualistic origins. The saga of Cyrus must have been attached to his birth and ancestory soon after his death, for the life of Cyrus became an almost mystic symbol for later rulers of Iran. The testimony of Plutarch (Life of Artaxerxes, 3) that a new Persian king had to be initiated into his new position at Pasargadae by following a ritual of wearing Cyrus' robe and eating the simple food which Cyrus ate, indicates the great respect for tradition of the Iranians and the value of the saga as more than a tale. Since a later writer, Aelian (hist. anim. 12, 21) says that Achaemenes, ancestor of Cyrus, as a child was nourished by an eagle, we can see the extension of the variants of the myth backwards in time, as well as forward to the Arsacid and Sasanian founder legends. The Shähname, of course, has many variants of the story of the abandonment of a child and its rearing by an animal. I have called the elements of the motif of the founder of a new dynasty in Iran part of the charisma of Persian royalty which has the following components: royal blood in descent from the previous dynasty, upbringing with common folk undergoing hardships, recognition of the charismatic 'royal fortune,' called xvarsnah in Avestan or later farn or farr, in the youth, and his overthrow of the ruling tyrant to usher in a new age. To use the saga for a reconstruction of history, however, is an uncertain and difficult undertaking, even though it obviously contains much of value. The sifting of fact from fiction in the saga requires external sources, which unfortunately give us little more than a sequence of a few events. 85 So even when source material is available, it is often so mixed with fable and fantasy as to be suspect. The terse Akkadian account of the defeat of Astyages goes as follows, "[Sixth year • . . King Ishtumegu] called up his troops and marched against Cyrus, king of Anshan, in order to me[et him in battle]. The army of Ishtumegu revolted against him and in fetters they de[livered him] to Cyrus. Cyrus (marched) against the country Agamtanu; the royal residence (he seized); silver, gold, (other) valuables . . . of the 83 Cf. A. Bauer, Die Kyros-Sage und Verwandtes Si Binder, op. eil. [n. 83], esp. 29, 45, 58. See also (Vienna, 1882), 86 pp.; G. Hüsing, "Beiträge zur R. Frye, The Charisma of Kingship in Ancient Kyros-Sage" OLZ, 1903-06 (reprinted as a book- Iran," [n. 40], 40-46. •et, Berlin, 1 906), 1 59 pp. ; and finally with ample 85 The Greek didactic treatise by Xenophon, the bibliography, G. Binder, Die Aussetzung der Cyrcpaedia, is likewise difficult to use as a source of Königskinder Kyros und Romulus, Beiträge zur history, although he, like Herodotus, says that klassischen Philologie, 10 (Meisenheim, 1964), esp many stories circulated about the life of Cyrus. 17-28, 175-82. 84 Chapter IV country Agamtanu he took as booty and brought (them) to Anshan." 86 Another Akkadian source simply says that Cyrus "made the Guti country and all the Manda- hordes bow in Submission to his feet," while a text describing Nabonidus' desire to repair the temple of Sin the Moon deity at Harran mentions how Cyrus, king of Anshan, vassal of the king of the Manda-hordes, with a small army will overthrow the far-flung Medes and take Astyaggs to his land as a prisoner. 87 From these sources we may conclude that Cyrus defeated Astyaggs in battle, and the Median army revolted against Astyaggs delivering him to Cyrus who plundered Ecbatana and took Astyaggs as a prisoner to Persis. If this battle took place in the sixth year of the reign of Nabonidus, as one text says, then we may date it 550-549 b.c. It is much better to follow contemporary Akkadian sources, sparse though they may be, than the embellished tales of Herodotus, Ctesias and their successors, who collected their stories from various sources, including tellers of tales. Their general accounts, however, do not contradict the cuneiform sources and this much we accept. The theory that the royal house of Media was related to Zoroaster's family has been proposed and elaborated by several scholars. 88 The reason for this assertion is found in Ctesias, who gave the name of the first husband of the daughter of Astyaggs as Spitamas, and later the name of the magus whom Darius killed, not Gaumata or Bardiya, but Sphendadatgs, both of which names belong in the family of Zoroaster. Herzfeld (p. 51) concludes that Zoroaster is to be identified as Spitakgs, son of Spitamas and Amytis, daughter of Astyaggs. If the Median royal houses were in any way connected with Zoroaster, however, we would have heard of this directly in the sources and not in certain names which modern scholars use to support their theories and reject others as fantasy. Ancient authors have suffered from modern interpreters who praise and use them when it fits their fancies, and then condemn and reject those same authors when their information conflicts with modern hypotheses. The name Spitäma does appear in various sources, including probably a cuneiform tablet (Herzfeld, 48), but this in no way allows us to infer the connection of Zoroaster with all or any of the names, if they are historical. Furthermore, whereas no one should ignore the long continuity of families as well as traditions in Iranian history, to base far-reaching theories on the basis of names or etymologies alone is fraught with misconceptions. It is quite possible that Astyages had no son to succeed him, but it is also possible that the ancient Iranian kingly saga demanded a blood link between Cyrus and the daughter of the last king of the Medes. 89 Although the next empire of the Achaemenids came to be called one of the Medes and the Persians, at the beginning of the rule of the Achaemenids, the Persians were 86 Trans by A. Leo Oppenheim, with the Pyankov, "Borba Kira II s Astiagom," VDl, no. 3 lacunae in the Akkadian text shown by brackets (1971), 16-37. Some of his conclusions, e.g., p. 23 and additions of the translator in parentheses, in that Astyages came from Susa to Pasargadae to J. B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texls fight Cyrus, are hardly acceptable. He also makes (Princeton, 1955), 305. httle reference to the cuneiform sources. 81 Ibid., 315. The archaic reference to Guti and 88 Herzfeld, op. eil. 1 [eh. 3, n. 31], 48; Manda-hordes (Ummänmanää) is characteristic of Dyakonov, Istoriya Midii [n. 4], 415-16. Babylonian sources. On the Harran text see S. 89 The fact that the Median rebel against Darius, Smith, Babylonian Historical Texts (London, 1924), in his Behistun inscription (II, 13, or par. 24) 44. The best survey of Classical sources on the claimed to be of the family of Cyaxares and not of battle between Cyrus and AstyagSs is by I. V. Astyages is interesting in this regard. Medes, Scythians and Eastern Rulers 85 exempt from taxes while the Medes paid as other subjects did (Herodotus III, 89, 97). Medes raised several revolts under Achaemenid rule, as we shall see, but the revolts may be attributed to the general oppression of the people by their rulers rather than to an ethnic antagonism. Gradually the Medes and Persians, as well as other Iranians, became mixed, which was in part a result of the world empire of the Achaemenids. CHAPTER V ACHAEMENIDS Literature: Our sources for the early Achaemenids are more abundant than for any period of the early history of Iran until the Sasanian period. In the last four decades the results of the excavations at Persepolis have enormously enriched our knowledge of the Achaemenid court. The monumental three volumes by E. Schmidt, Persepolis (Chicago, 1 953, 1 957, 1970) are the basic handbook for the site, but the epigraphical finds of Elamite tablets and Aramaic inscriptions have produced three books, G. Cameron, Persepolis Treasury Tablets (Chicago, 1948), R. T. Hallock, Persepolis Fortification Tablets (Chicago, 1969), and R. A. Bowman, Aramaic Ritual Textsfrom Persepolis (Chicago, 1970). The articles which these works have engendered, plus new Elamite tablets, would require an enormous bibliography. To select those especially noteworthy we may mention the articles, "Persepolis Treasury Tablets Old and New," and "New Tablets from the Persepolis Treasury," by Cameron in JNES, 17 (1958), 161-76 and JNES, 24 (1965), 167-92, and especially Hallock's The Evidence of the Persepolis Tablets," The Cambridge History of Iran, 2 (Cambridge University, Middle East Centre separate publication, 1971), 31 pp. Many articles have been written elucidating various details of the tablets. For a bibliography of articles up to 1970 see W. Hinz, 'Die Quellen,' in G. Walser, ed., "Beiträge zur Achämenidengeschichte," in Historia, 1 8 (1 972), 5-1 4. Since this publication, the following can be added for the Elamite tablets: I. Gershevitch, "Iranian Nouns and Names in Elamite Garb," TPS (1969-70), 165-99,, his "Amber at Persepolis," in Studia Classica et Orientalia Oblata, 2 (Rome, 1969), 167-251, "Island-Bay and the Lion," BSOAS, 33 (1970), 82-91, and "The Alloglottography of Old Persian," TPS (1979), 114-90. The many publications of M. Mayrhofer, especially in the realm of onomastica, fortunately are listed in his Ausgewählte Kleine Schriften (Vienna, 1978), and all Iranian names will be treated in the various fascicules of his forthcoming Iranisches Personennamenbuch, but until then see his Onomastica Persepolitana (Vienna, 1973), 358 pp. For a bibliography of Old Persian see Mayrhofer's, "Das Altpersische seit 1964," in W. B. Henning Memorial Volume, ed. by M. Boyce and I. Gershevitch (London, 1970), 276-98, and succeeding notices in the list of his own publications above. Further Hinz's Wege [eh. 4, n. 66], 174 pp. deals with the Elamite tablets as does his article, "Achämenidische Hofverwaltung," ZA, 61 (1971), 260-311, and "Die elamischen Buchungstä'fekhen der Darius-Zeit," Orientalia, 39 (1970), 421-40, and finally his Altiranisches Sprachgut der Nebenüberlieferungen (Wiesbaden, 1975), 303 pp. A series of articles by R. Schmitt mostly regarding Iranian terms and names in the Elamite tablets have appeared; for a bibliography of his articles and others relating to philological questions, for the most part, see the bibliography in M. A. Dandamaev, Persien unter den ersten Achämeniden (Wiesbaden, 1976), 257- 62. For the Aramaic inscriptions on the green chert mortars, pestles and plates from Persepolis a large literature exists, among which we may mention P. Bernard, "Les mortiers et pilons inscrits de Persepolis," Sl, 1 (1972), 165-76; B. A. Levine, "Aramaic Texts from Persepolis," JAOS, 92 (1972), 70-79; J. Naveh and S. Shaked, "Ritual Texts or Treasury Documents," Orientalia, 42 (1 973), 445-57; j. A. Delaunay, "A propos des Aramaic Ritual Texts," AI, 2 (1974), 193-21 7, and K. Kamioka, "Philological Observation on the Aramaic texts from Persepolis," Orient, 1 1 (Tokyo, 1975), 45-66. Most scholars now agree that the texts on the objeets are not ritual texts but are records of the manufacture of the objeets and their presentation to Achaemenid officials; further they were made in Arachosia (modern Qandahar area). The purpose of the mortars and pestles was hardly just to press grapes or grind spices, but was probably for the haoma ritual, part of the ancient Indo-Iranian religion, and apparently practiced by some Iranians in the Persepolis area. One of the most important new inscriptional sources for early Achaemenid history was the discovery of the quadri-lingual (OP, Akkadian, Elamite and hieroglyphic Egyptian) inscription on the statue of Darius I in Susa in 1973, and an entire issue of the Cahiers de la dükgation archeologique francaise en Iran, 4 (Paris, 1974) is devoted to the statue, as well as articles in JA (1 972). Other discoveries of new inscriptions were merely copies of inscriptions already known; cf. B. Gharib, "A Newly Found Old Persion Inscription," IA, 8 (1968), 54-69, and W. Hinz, "Eine neue Xerxes-Inschrift aus Persepolis," in his book Altiranische Funde und Forschungen (Berlin, 1969), 45-51. 88 Chapter V Perhaps the most important epigraphical material for Achaemenid history, however, comes from inscriptions in Aramaic and in Greek found outside of Iran, but giving valuable Information about the administration of the empire. It is, of course, impossible to list the numerous publications on Aramaic, but a bibliography by J. Teixidor appears regularly in the Journal Syria called "Bulletin depigraphie Semitique." The ongoing Neue Ephemeris für Semitische Epigraphik by R. Degen (Wiesbaden, 1972-) is a handbook of Aramaic inscriptions to be consulted for all Aramaic inscriptions. Of special importance are the Aramaic papyri from Egypt of the satrap Arsames under Artaxerxes I and Darms II published by G. R. Driver, Aramaic Documenls of the Fifth Century B.C. (Oxford, 1957), and E. G. Kraeling, The Brooklyn Museum Aramaic Papyri (New Haven, 1953), which Supplement the old collection by A. Cowley, Aramaic Papyri qfthe Fifth Century B.C. (Oxford, 1923) ; cf. B. Porten, Archiuesfrom Elephantine (University of California Press, 1968) and J. Naveh and S. Shaked, "A Recently Published Aramaic Papyrus (from Berlin)," JAOS, 91 (1971), 379-82, as well as P. Grelot, Öocuments aramtens d'Egypte (Paris, 1972). The Aramaic sources give us Achaemenid titles and names as well as other information. Excavations in Anatolia, notably at Xanthos in Lycia and at Sardis, have given us new Greek epigraphical remains from the Achaemenid period. Especially interesting is the trilingual inscription of Pixodaros, satrap of Lycia, in Greek, Lycian and Aramaic; see the CRAI (1974), 82-93, "Le st£le trilingue recemment Ai couverte au Letoon de Xanthos," by H. Metzger, to be published in füll in vol. 6 ofFouilles de Xanthos. For Sardis see L. Robert, Nouvelles inscriptions de Sardis (Paris, 1964). The fragmentary Greek inscriptions from Persepolis unfortunately add little to Achaemenid history; cf. G. P. Carratelli, "Greek Inscriptions of the Middle East, Persepolis," EW, 16 (1966), 31-34. They are probably marks by masons. Numismatics and inscribed seals enter the repertoire of sources on the Achaemenids. A survey of the coinage may be found in D. Schlumberger, L'argent grec dans l'empire achimenide, in MDAFA, 14 (1953), 55-57. Since that time we have S. P. Noe, Two Hoards qfPersian Sigloi, NNM, 1 36 (1956). Further articles on satrapal issues may be found in the excellent yearly bibliography Numismatic Literature published by the ANS in New York. The far-flung circulation of coinage with Greek legends in the Achaemenid Empire is now assured. Achaemenid seals and sealings are also a source for history, and the continuity of earlier commercial practices into the Achaemenid period is revealed by the clay sealings. On them see my "The Use of Clay Sealings in Sasanian Iran," AI, Varia 1976, 5 (Leiden, 1977), 117-24, for general remarks on earlier sealings. The article by C. J. Gadd, "Achaemenid Seals," SPA, 1 , 383-88, is still valuable as are the articles by G. M. A. Richter and H. Seyrig in Archaeologica Orientalia in Memoriam Ernst Herzfeld, ed. by G. Miles (New York, 1952). The seals and sealings, especially those from Persepolis, provide material for reconstructing the material culture of the Achaemenids as well as their artistic achievements. Archaeology, of course, provides the basis for the dating and attribution of most aspects of material culture, and in addition to the volumes of Schmidt on the excavations at Persepolis mentioned above, the two volumes of Ann Britt Tilia, Studies and Restorations at Persepolis and Other Sites of Fars, ISMEO (Roma, 1 972 and 1 978), and the book by D. Stronach, Pasargadae (Oxford, 1 978), 312 pp., are significant. Work at Susa, the winter capital of the Achaemenid kings, continues, and results are published in the Cahiers of the French delegation in Iran and elsewhere. Fortunately, a classified and detailed yearly bibliography of the archaeology of Iran appears in AML Journals which contain articles on the Achaemenids or related Iranian subjects are lran,JNES, IA, SI, VDI, Persica, EW and Orientalia, while the various general Oriental Journals published in different countries, all must be surveyed for articles relating to the Achaemenids. In addition, Archaeology, Archeologia Viva, Iraq, Syria, Sumer, Afghanistan, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Sovetskaya Arkheologiya from time to time have articles relating to the Achaemenids. Especially noteworthy was the series Acta Iranica (AI), published in Leiden, and the yearly reports on excavations in Iran, published in Tehran, plus the proceedings of the International Congress of Iranian Art and Archaeology. The Classical sources for the Achaemenids are well known: Herodotus, Xenophon, especially his Anabasis, Ctesias, the Alexander historians, especially Arrian, Curtius, Diodorus Siculus, together with Plutarch's life of Artaxerxes, Aeschylus, The Persians, Ptolemy for historical geography, and, of course, later authors such as Strabo, Pliny, as well as fragments of minor Greek writers. The Old Testament (esp. Esther, Ezra and Nehemiah) also provides some information about the Achaemenids, as do late fourth Century Aramaic papyri and coins from Palestine; see P. W. Läpp, Discoveries in the Wädt ed-Däliyeh, Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research (Cambridge, Mass., 1974), 17-30. At any time the spades of archaeologists may uncover material which will greatly change our views of Achaemenid history, although on the whole we may expect confirmation of what the literary sources we now have teil us. (Additional bibliography will be found in the footnotes.) Achaemenids 89 CYRUS AND THE FOUNDATION OF THE EMPIRE We have already discussed briefly the Cyrus legend and the Parsua, but a few additional remarks about Fars before Cyrus may help elucidate the circumstances of the founding of his empire. The question of whether after the Landaufnahme by the Persian tribes in Fars, rule was divided into two collateral families of children of Achaemenes has been proposed by many scholars on the basis of the split genealogy of the Achaemenids after Teispes. It is more likely, however, given the nature of tribal societies and the broken mountains and Valleys of Fars, that even after Teispes not just two but many tribal chiefs or 'kings' existed in Fars, and it was probably only under Cyrus the Great that they were all united under him as head of the Achaemenid clan of the Pasargadae tribe. Whether the process of unification followed much the same pattern as later under Ardashir, founder of the Sasanian dynasty, is, of course, unknown but not improbable. Although Xenophon (Cyropaedia, I, 2, 5) says the Persians were divided into twelve tribes, which number appears for other purposes in Xenophon, one should rather follow Herodotus (1, 1 25), who says there were many tribes, but he only names ten, including the Pasargadae, Maraphi, and Maspi. The first presumably lived around the capital of Cyrus and we may presume that the site took its name from the tribe. 1 The second had several prominent representatives mentioned by Herodotus (IV, 167; see also Aeschylus, The Persians, 778) attesting the reality of the tribe, while the third, according to Herzfeld, is preserved in a tribal name of the Lurs at the present time. 2 The name is also conceivably to be found in the province of Massabatike or Messabate between Khuzistan and Fars. 3 The other tribes mentioned by Herodotus are more problematic, for of those he calls settled and agriculturists, the Panthialai, Derousiai and Germani, only the last can be located in present Kerman. Herzfeld suggests that the first have their name preserved in the modern town of Fahliyan, but his etymology is unconvincing, even though the area must have been settled by one of the Persian tribes. 4 The Derousiai are not mentioned elsewhere, and it is not possible to locate them. For want of anyone in the present Fasa-Darab-Jahrum area of today, this tribe might be consigned to somewhere in that expanse, but this is mere surmise. The rest of the tribes Herodotus calls nomadic Dahi, Mardi, Dropiki and Sagarti, all of whom are found elsewhere on the plateau, or rather they are primarily elsewhere rather than solely in Fars. This argues for the correctness of the historian's assertion that they were nomadic, and also for the possible Persian-Central Asian (Sogdian) linguistic connections. The first are mentioned by many Classical authors (see PW) as living primarily east of the Caspian Sea, and the Dropiki or Derbikes are 1 Many etymologies of the name, both ancient 2 E. Herzfeld, Zoroaster, 2 [eh. 3, n. 31], 729. and modern, have been proposed, most of them 3 For references see Mannen, op. cit. 2 [supra, eh. reviewed by Stronach, Pasargadae (Oxford, 1978), 1 , p. 1 ], 356. 280-82. Perhaps the most plausible is by Bailey: 4 Herzfeld, Zoroaster, 2 [eh. 3, n. 31], 731. The 'the Persian settlement.' (in D. Stronach, op.cit. 281, etymologies proposed by him in The Persian footnote 17) W. Hinz, Darius und die Perser Empire, ed. by G. Walser (Wiesbaden, 1968), 298, (Baden-Baden, 1976), 58, says the word was are interesting but unconvincing. Median in origin *Pätragadä, meaning "robbers' nest," not a likely name for a tribe. 90 Chapter V located there as well. The Sagartians, who probably lived on the edges of the central desert near Yazd, were said by Herodotus (VII, 85) to be Persian in speech. The name is found in the Behistun inscription (II, 79), and a revolting Sagartian claimed to be descended from the Median kings. The Mardi present problems since they are found in so many places (see PW) in Armenia, Hyrcania and Media as well as in Fars. There is no compelling reason to call them a clan instead of a tribe and equate the name with the Maraphi as Herzfeld does. 5 Another presumably tribal name rather than a geographical designation, which Strabo (XV, 727) mentions, is Patishuvari(i) on the tomb of Darius, showing a spear bearer called Gobryas, as being a Pateisxoreis. Nothing eise is known about them except the speculation among modern scholars that they were not a tribe but a clan, or that the name is the same as Pasargadae. 6 One may count the various tribes as part of the Persian folk or people, a branch of the Iranians, who settled in the south and who gradually assimilated with the pre-Iranian settled population. As usual, the tribes lost their importance in the course of settlement and the extended family, or clan, and the large unit of the 'people,' now identified with the land they occupied, became important. This is not to deny the existence of tribal areas unsuited for other than a pastoral life, but history was made primarily by the settled folk, without whom the pastoralists hardly could have existed. It was in such a Situation, the settling of the Persian tribes and their mixing with the original population, that Cyrus was able to unite his people and lead them to victory over the Medes. 7 We have already mentioned the Nabonidus chronicle which teils of the defeat and capture of Astyages by Cyrus. Whatever the facts about the desertion of the Median army to Cyrus, the latter must have been in a strong position to challenge his lord. One question which arises is the extent and power of vassal rulers in the Median Empire and in Fars before Cyrus. Cyrus in an Akkadian inscription says, "I am Cyrus, king of the world, great king, legitimate king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four rims (of the earth), son of Cambyses, great king, king of Anshan, grandson of Cyrus, great king, king of Anshan, descendant of Teispes, great king, king of Anshan, of a family (which) always (exercised) kingship." 8 If we compare this with the Statement of Darius (Behistun I, 6-11) that from long ago his family had been kings; eight had been kings before him, then obviously we can accept two lines of kings in Fars. Probably the Achaemenids ruled the most productive parts of the province — the two plains where Persepolis and Pasargadae were located. Did other 'kings' rule in the smaller oases of present Darab, Fasa, Shiraz and others? Presumably the chiefs of the various Persian tribes in their expansion over the 5 Herzfeld, op. cit. 1 [eh. 3, n. 31], 70. Hinz, op. Arlaxerxes I, 2), an Elamite name, or Kuru, an eil. [n. 1], 104, claims that the Kurds are ancient Indian name meaning 'blind.' Cf. in detail descendants of the Sagartians, which is purely W. Eilers, "Kyros, eine namenkundliche Studie," guesswork. BZN, 1 5 (1 964), 1 80-236. J. Harmatta, "The Rise 6 Cf. R. H. von Gall, "Persische und Medische of the Old Persian Empire," AA, 19 (1971), 7-8, Stämme," Proceedings of the Ist Annual Symposium eritieized the various theories and convincingly ofArchaeological Research in Iran (Tehran, 1972), 2. claimed all early Achaemenid royal names could 7 The name of Cyrus has reeeived many be explained as Iranian. His further assertion that etymologies from 'son' as Luri kur proposed by they are eastern (not western) Iranian names, V. I. Abaev, "K etymologii drevnepersidskikh however, makes little sense for that early period. imen," Etimologiya, 1965 (Moscow, 1967), 289- 8 L. Oppenheim's translation on p. 316 of 91, to 'fire' or 'the sun' (Ctesias in Plutarch's Pritchard, op. eil. [eh. 4, n. 86]. Achaemenids 91 province did maintain separate domains until Teispes divided the age old center of Pars, Anshan, between his sons Cyrus and Ariaramnes. The Achaemenid kings apparently were long-lived as well as capable since they brought all Persians under their banner, just how or when is impossible to say. 9 Possibly the Median system of rule favored a pyramidical structure of the allegiance of small rulers through a provincial king to the central court in Ecbatana, a nascent satrapal and feudal System. Harmatta, on the basis of presumed Median titles and bureaucratic offices in the Old Persian inscriptions, plus the passage in Behistun (1, 64—5) where Darius restored what Gaumata supposedly destroyed, concluded that the Median state was a more centralized State than the Achaemenid empire. 10 He further asserts that the Achaemenid kings established military fiefs in royal domains and gave them as payment for military Services to the generals of their armies, whereas the Median kings had direct bureaucratic control over their royal lands. This is a plausible theory if by no means stated in any source, but in any case one might expect the Medes to have developed a more imperial government structure than the Persians at this time. We will examine briefly the question of military fiefs below. Suffice it to say that the Persian tribes rallied around Cyrus, whereas some of the Medes deserted their king. Whether those who deserted to Cyrus were disgruntled aristocrats who opposed the centralizing of power in the hands of Astyages is pure speculation. The length of time of hostilities between Medes and Persians is difficult to determine since Herodotus (I, 127-28) implies two battles in the last of which Astyages was captured. The sequence of events may be constructed as follows: about 559-558 b.c. Cyrus became king. Dandamaev claims he at once rebelled against the Medes, but this is unlikely. 11 Rather his early years probably were spent in consolidating his power in Fars. Two Akkadian sources contradict each other on the chronology. One, the 'Sippar' cylinder, about the repair of the temple to Sin the moon god in Harran by Nabonidus, said, "When the third year came to pass, he (Marduk, god of Babylon) made rise against them (Ummän-manda or Medes), Cyrus king of Anshan, his young servant, and he (Cyrus) scattered the numerous Ummän-manda with his small army and captured Astyages, king of the Ummän-manda and brought him in fetters into his (Cyrus') land." 12 The 'Nabonidus' chronicle, however, claimed this took place in the sixth year of Nabonidus. Tadmor has convincingly demonstrated that one should accept the date given by the Nabonidus chronicle and not the 'dream' text of Sippar, since such 'dream' texts, as well as poetry, had different objectives than a chronicle. 13 So we may date the overthrow and capture of Astyages 9 If Cyrus I is the ruler who sent his son as a ' 2 Translation in S. Smith, Babylonian Historical hostage to the Assyrians c. 639 B.c. then Cambyses Texts, 44, rev. by L. Oppenheim in H. Tadmor, Imust have had a long life, given the datesof Cyrus "The Inscriptions of Nabunaid: Historical Ar- H. Furthermore, Xerxes (XPf, 15-27) says that rangement," Assyriobgical Studies, 16 (Chicago, both his grandfather Hystaspes and his greatgrand- 1965), 351. father Arsames were alive when his father Darius l3 Tadmor, op. eil. [n. 12], 352-54. The verse became king! It is by no means impossible for aecount of the same time period, with many several generations to span a large extent of time, lacunae, trans. by S. Smith, Babylonian Historical but his Statement is nonetheless remarkable. Texts, 86-91 , and in Pritchard, op. cit. [eh. 4, n. 86], 10 J. Harmatta, "The Rise of the Old Persian 312-15, cannot be used for chronology. Empire", AA, 19 (1971), 14-15. M. Dandamaev, "Politische und wirtschaft- liche Geschichte," Historia, 18 (1972), 16. 92 Chapter V at 550/549 b.c., but we still do not know when hostilities began or how long they lasted. Although frequently asserted, there is no evidence that Cyrus made an alliance with Nabonidus, ruler of Babylonia, against Astyages. If an alliance were made by Cyrus with anyone against Astyages, it would have been more likely with other Iranian peoples or tribes than with the Babylonians, although the accounts of Classical authors are not reliable in this matter. 14 What is certain is that Cyrus plundered the treasury of Ecbatana and took the spoils to Fars, perhaps to his new capital at Pasargadae. The fate of Astyages according to Herodotus (I, 130) was to live with. Cyrus until he died, or he was banished and accidentally killed later (Ctesias, para 5). Neither the Cyrus saga, Xenophon's Cyropaedia, nor any source, says that Astyages was executed by Cyrus, so we may suppose he was treated well. After this conquest Cyrus had to insure fealty of his new Median subjects to himself and the Persians (Justin 1, 7, 2). Whether at this time Cyrus undertook expeditions to the east beyond the borders of former Median control is unknown but not improbable. What we do know, however, is the outcome of the war with Lydia in the west. According to the 'Nabonidus Chronicle' in the ninth year of his reign (547 b.c.), "in Nisan (April-May) Cyrus, king of Persis, called up his army and crossed the Tigris below the town Arbela. In the month Ayar (May-June) he marched against the country Lu . . . killed its king, took his possessions, put (there) a garrison of his own. Afterwards, his garrison as well as the king remained there." Much controversy has raged about the identity of the country name beginning with Lu-, many scholars suggesting Lydia, in spite of the testimony of Classical authors that the king of Lydia was not killed by Cyrus. 15 Hinz proposed to read Su- and reconstruct Suhi, a district on the middle Euphrates, but this emendation is not generally accepted. 16 Another Suggestion, that the word for 'kill' (col. II, 17-idük) can also mean 'beat' or 'crush' militarily, would bring the Akkadian source in line with the other sources. Again, we have only Herodotus (I, 75-91), among the Classical writers, who gives a detailed account of the fall of Lydia to Cyrus. According to the historian, hostilities were opened by Croesus, the Lydian king, by crossing the Halys River which had been the boundary with the Median State to the east. Cyrus marched to meet the Lydians, but in a hard fought battle neither side was victorious. Croesus went into winter quarters at his capital Sardis with the intention of renewing the war in the spring with the aid of the Egyptians and Ionians. Cyrus, however, did not wait but came to Sardis and after a skirmish besieged Croesus in his capital and after fourteen days captured it. At first Cyrus prepared a pyre for the defeated monarch but after lighting it he changed his mind; the fire was extinguished and Croesus was taken as a prisoner into Iran. 14 See the discussion in I. V. Pyankov, "Borba Chronicle and the Fall of Lydia," AJAH, 2 Kira s Astiagom," VDI (1971), part 3, 16-36 and (1978), 97-116, with no definite conclusion. 83-93. ' 6 Hinz, op. cit. [n. 1 ], 97. The exact location of 15 According to Dandamaev, supra, Persien, 95, Suhi is uncertain, but presumably it was in some "Laut babylonischen Quellen sei Kroisos mit dem way either tributary to or under the rule of Tode bestraft worden." His plural is unwarranted, Babylonia. Cyrus would have crossed the Tigris to for the only Babylonian text which is relevant is the go west in any case, whether against Suhi or Lydia, one under discussion. The Greek texts are Hero- so neither that sentence nor the date (usually dotus, Ctesias and their successors. On the reading interpreted as 547 or 546 B.c.) helps us to decide of the chronicle see J. Cargill, "The Nabonidus exactly where Cyrus went. Achaemeniäs 93 Greek vases showing Croesus on the pyre do not contradict the account of Herodotus, as implied by some scholars. 17 Much has been written about the first contacts of the Persians with the Ionian Greeks, but Cyrus clearly did not put much weight on their importance after the fall of Sardis, for there is no reason to doubt Herodotus (1, 153) who says that Cyrus left the conquest of the coastal Ionian cities to a general, while he himself, with Croesus, went to Ecbatana, to prepare for the conquest of Babylonia, the Bactrians, Sakas, and Egypt, which problems were more on his mind. The Ionian cities, as well as Caria, Lycia and Phrygia, were conquered by two Median generals, first Mazares and, after his death, Harpagos, according to Herodotus. The Greco-Persian wars, and relations between the two, were long regarded as a conflict between democracy and autocracy, but this simplistic view has long been abandoned. It is not the purpose of this work to repeat what H. Bengtson has already described, but some of the events seen from the Persian rather than the Greek side may change our traditional views of history based on both sources and prejudices from one side alone. 18 First, changes in the administration of the far west of the Achaemenid Empire were not made overnight, but were developed over much time; most of them, as we shall see, were initiated by Darius and his successors. Second, Anatolia was not Greek territory, and the Ionians themselves were invaders and colonizers, not always a boon and blessing to the natives as frequently has been proclaimed. Third, the vacillations and changes, alliances and policies of the Ionian coastal cities, frequently the result of extensive bribery, do not present an edifying picture of the Greeks. Just as all Greeks did not follow Athens, so not all Achaemenid governors or satraps did what the court at Persepolis ordered. This does not mean that Greeks were satisfied under Persian rule, any more than were the Egyptians or others, but the relative loyalty of the Ionian Greeks compared, for example, to the Egyptians, to Achaemenid rule bears inves- tigation, which we will attempt to explain after a survey of the later fortunes of the empire. Cyrus probably turned his attention to the east after the conquest of Lydia, in the years 546-539 b.c. Herodotus (I, 177-78) says that while Harpagos ravaged the 'lower' parts of Asia, Cyrus conquered 'upper' Asia, all of its peoples and not except- ing any, after which Cyrus turned his attention to the Assyrians (meaning the Babylonians). This usually has been interpreted to mean that Cyrus conquered the eastern regions before his advance on Babylon, but Khlopin has argued that the words of Herodotus only refer to Asia Minor and not to the east. 19 On the basis of the 17 Xenophon, Cyropaedia, VII, 2, 3, has nothing 18 H. Bengtson, Griechische Geschichtes (Mu- about the pyre nor does Ctesias, 4. All agree that nich, 1977), 130-31. The Interpretation of Greek Croesus was well treated by Cyrus. The scenes on actions as part of a great power struggle between the amphorae, however, show Croesus immolat- Carthaginians in the west and Persians in the east ing himself, probably merely following a canon of with the Greeks defending liberty between the art. Cf. J. D. Beazley, Altic Red-Figure Vase-Painters two is an example of imposing modern concepts (Oxford, 1963), 238; on a poem regarding this on the past thereby distorting our understanding. scene see S. Smith, "Illustrations to Bacchylides," ,9 I. N. Khlopin, "Baktriiskü pokhod Kira II," Joi/rna/o/"He;/e«iV:SfM 267,andJ.G. AF, 1 (1974), 208. Pedley, Ancient Literary Sources on Sardis (Cam- bridge, Mass., 1972), 41. y« Chapter V revolts against Darius mentioned in the Behistun inscription, he further claims that only Parthia and Hyrcania had been under Median rule, since both areas supported the Median rebel against Darius while Bactria, Arachosia, Sogdia, and other areas in the east remained true to Darius, evidence of their prior Submission to Cyrus as part of a Bactrian kingdom conquered by Cyrus. Again, the truth cannot be determined and other sources, such as Xenophon, Berossus, or Justin do not help in this regard. 20 No one disputes the conquests of Cyrus in the east and in Central Asia, because of the town of Kureskhata (Latin: Cyreschata), medieval Kurkath, and the story of the Arimaspi in Central Asia as supporters of Cyrus, but the question is when did he conquer them? 21 Since the conquest of Babylon took place in October 539 B.c. it is not easy to believe that Cyrus spent several years without any activity simply resting in palaces on the Iranian plateau. Just how much territory he conquered in the east before Babylon and how much just before his death unfortunately cannot be determined. The fall of Babylon was an important event in world history. Many inscriptions of Nabonidus, last king of Babylonia, are known and a fairly detailed account of his stay in the north Arabian oasis of Taima, until about 540 b.c., his building activities, and reconstruction of the temple to the deity Sin in Harran, can now be reconstructed. The Babylonians were unhappy with their ruler and in the famous cuneiform 'Nabonidus' chronicle we hear the story: "In the month Tashritu when Cyrus attacked the army of Akad in Opis on the Tigris, the inhabitants of Akkad revolted, but he (Nabonidus) massacred the confused inhabitants. The fourteenth day, Sippar was seized, without battle. Nabonidus fled. The sixteenth day, Ugbaru governor of Gutium (hodie west Kurdistan) and the army of Cyrus entered Babylon without battle. Afterwards Nabonidus was arrested in Babylon when he returned (there) In the month of Arahsammu, the third day (29 October 539 b.c.) Cyrus entered Babylon ; green twigs were spread in front of him — the State of 'peace' was imposed on the city." 22 Akkadian sources teil us how Nabonidus did not come to Babylon for the new year's festival in honor of Marduk until the year before the fall of the city. The great 'Median wall' between the two rivers at Sippar did not halt the invaders, and many captive peoples in Babylon looked upon Cyrus as a deliverer. Certainly Isaiah (eh. 35, 40-55) and Ezra (eh. 1) testify to the high regard held for the Persian conqueror by some of his new subjeets. Cyrus regarded himself as a legitimate ruler of Babylonia and performed ritual acts in a temple of Marduk to conciliate the citizenry, and if we are to believe the cuneiform sources he did just that. These sources, however, 20 Contrary to Dandamaev, supra, Persien, 96. (1947), 163-66 (also Strabo, 517) and for the The use of the word kotoo 'lower' or 'seaward' Arimaspi seeDiod, XVII, 81, also in Aman VI, 24, Asia, isambiguous;inHerodotusit wouldseem to Curtius (VII, 3), etc., although their location is refer to the coastal areas of Asia Minor, while the uncertain. Accounts of the meeting between Cyrus rest of Asia would be the east, and not just the and Zoroaster in eastern Iran, as several scholars mountainous areas of Anatolia as opposed to the have proposed, is only fascinating fantasy. coast. Earlier.thehorizonsoftheGreeksmay have 22 Pntchard, op. cit. [eh. 4, n. 86], 306. The been limited such that Asia meant only Anatolia, Cyrus cylinder (ibid., 315-16) has much the same, but by the time of Herodotus (e.g., I, 4) Asia with many praises for Cyrus and his close represented much more. relationship with Marduk the god of Babylon. On the city (today Ura-tyube) cf. references The new inscriptions of Nabonidus from Taima in E. Benveniste, "La ville de Cyreschata," JA relate to his stay there. Achaemenids 95 m ay be propaganda documents for Cyrus; the account in Herodotus (1, 189-191) teils how Cyrus after a long siege changed the course of the river (Euphrates, sie) and entered the city by a trick, a good story but unacceptable as history. After the conquest of Babylon, "all the kings of the entire world from the Upper (Mediterranean) to the lower (Persian Gulf) Sea, those who are seated in throne rooms, (those who) live in [other types of building as well as] all the kings of the West land living in tents, brought their heavy tributes and kissed my feet in Babylon." 23 Thus, Cyrus became the heir of the Babylonian kings in the allegiance of the peoples of the 'Fertile Crescent' to the borders of Egypt. From Akkadian business documents it is clear that Cyrus introduced no great changes in the economy or the practices of his new subjeet peoples, and no aecounts of rebellions or resistance to Cyrus have been found, rather local officials, prices, etc. continued much as before Cyrus. 24 From Akkadian sources Dandamaev has concluded that Cambyses, son of Cyrus, was made king of Babylon shortly after the conquest, but then was removed and finally reinstated about 530 b.c. shortly before the last campaign and death of Cyrus in the east. 25 Undoubtedly in the years after the fall of Babylon, Cyrus was involved in the consolidation of the 'Fertile Crescent,' as well as other parts of the empire before an attack on Egypt. Because of the raids of nomads against the Settlements in the northeast of his empire Cyrus had to undertake an expedition against the Massagetai, who roamed east of the Caspian Sea. In a battle against them he lost his life in the summer of 530 b.c. 26 The 'Cyrus Saga,' of course, relates the events leading to his death, but doubtless many versions of his end existed. According to Herodotus (I, 205-15) Cyrus crossed the Araxes River to fight the queen of his opponents. Much has been written about this river, some claiming it to be the river of the same name in Transcaucasia, but Pyankov in a series of articles convincingly identified it as the lower Oxus by the Aral Sea, and he has elueidated the various versions of the war. 27 First victorious, Cyrus was subsequently defeated and slain, but his body presumably was secured by the Persians and brought to Pasargadae for burial. If we aeeept Herodotus (1, 214) that Cyrus had reigned twenty-nine years, he was about sixty-nine when he died, and Cambyses sueeeeded him, with no Opposition that has been recorded, at the end of August 530 b.c. according to Akkadian documents. Cyrus has an excellent reputation in history, apparently well deserved. 28 It is generally agreed that Pasargadae was his capital, for this is the only site which has inscriptions with his name. The inscriptions there have raised many problems about Ibid., 316. several scholars have proposed ; see W. B. Henning, 24 Cf. Dandamaev, supra, Persien, 99. Zoroasler [eh. 3, n. 29], 23, n. 2. The name might be Ibid., 102, and note 406 with sources. It is interpreted as 'great Getae'. quite probable that Ugbaru, Commander of the 27 I. V. Pyankov, "K Voprosu o marshrute army that entered Babylon, held the title 'king of pokhoda Kira II na Massagetov," VDI (1964), part Babylon' under Cyrus until his death a short time 3, 115-30; "Khorasmii Gekateya Miletskogo," after the conquest. Cf. W. H. Shea, "An unrecog- VDI (1972), part 2, 2-21, and "Massagety nized vassal king of Babylon in the early Gerodota," VDI (1975), part 2, 46-70. Less likely Achaemenid period," Andrews University Seminary is an identification of the river as the Jaxartes as Series, 9 (Berrien Sorings, Michigan, 1971), 113 does Hinz, op. cit. [n. 1], 118. foll. 28 Herodotus (III, 89) writes the Persians say arius was a huckster, Can /rus a father," while Xenopl getai is not related to 'fish eaters,' or 'great Sakas,' as continuous eulogy of Cyrus. The date is from Akkadian documents; see "Darius was a huckster, Cambyses a despot but Dandamaev, supra, Persien, 103. The name Massa- Cyrus a father," while Xenophon's Cyropaedia is a 96 Chapter V the origins of the Old Persian cuneiform writing System which has a large literature and many partisans of the view that the Old Persian System of writing existed long before Darius. 29 The linguistic, artistic, archaeological and historical arguments advanced by those scholars who support the antiquity of the System of writing would require volumes to elucidate, but the inscriptions of Cyrus at Pasargadae using the first person Singular pronoun provide the primary textual basis for the position that the Old Persian cuneiform writing existed before Darius. Others are just as vehement in defending the thesis that Darius invented the System of writing, based primarily on a famous 'letter' of Themistocles and paragraph 70 of the Behistun inscription. 30 The 'letter' mentions gold and silver vessels in Greece inscribed "with the old Assyrian letters, not those which Darius, father of Xerxes, recently wrote for the Persians." 31 Without going into further discussion, a compromise between the two camps may be reached in proposing that Cyrus, or someone even earlier than he, may have ordered work begun on a System of writing for Iranian comparable to Akkadian and Elamite, but it came to fruition only under Darius who surely had more inscriptions written in it than anyone eise, and he let this be known throughout the ancient world. To return to Pasargadae, archaeologists have determined that Cyrus did build an acropolis with massive stonework, and the basic ideas for the masonry probably came from Lydia and Ionia since masons' marks here are duplicates of those found at Sardis. 32 This would indicate a date for the building activity at Pasargadae after the conquest of Lydia. Cyrus' tomb and his palaces show similar influences from the west, although the end result is a unique blend, the beginning of Achaemenid art and architecture so often characterized as syncretic. While the remains at Pasargadae are at present not as impressive as those of Persepolis, with their original gardens and water courses Pasargadae bespeaks the character of Cyrus as reported in Classical sources, whereas Persepolis is ostentatious and more in character with Darius and his successors. CAMBYSES AND THE 'USURPATION' OF GAUMATA Cambyses is known in the sources for his conquest of Egypt, already planned during the lifetime of his father. 33 It already has been mentioned that, according to Akkadian 29 More recent discussion on the pre-Darius writing System was introduced by Darius is W. origin of the System of writing are: I. M. Hinz; cf. especially his "Die Entstehung der Dyakonov, "The Origin of the 'Old Persian' altpersischen Schrift," AMI (1968), 95-98; also J. Writing System," in Boyce and Gershevitch, eds., Harmatta, "The Bisutun Inscription and the supra, Henning Volume, 98-124, who argues for a Introduction of the Old Persian Cuneiform Median origin of the writing System. In this he is Script," AAH, 14 (1966), 255-83; C. Nylander, followed by R. Ghirshman, "A propos de lecriture "Who Wrote the Inscriptions at Pasargadae," cuneiforme vieux-perse," JNES, 24 (1965) 244- Orienlalia Seucana, 16 (1967), 135-80, and others. 50,J. Kurylowicz, "Zur altpersischen Keilschrift," 3I C. Nylander, "AZEYPIA FPAMMATA, in his Esquisses Linguistiques (Cracow, 1960), 274- Opuscula Atheniensia VIII," Ada Institut) Athen- 79 and with a detailed summary and bibliography iensis Regni Sueciae, 14 (Lund, 1968), 1 19-36. The by P. Le Coq, "Le probleme de lecriture Greek text is «p'ols iiriye/pairTat tö 'Aoovpta cuneiforme vieux-perse," AI, 3 (1974), 25-107, ra n-aAaid ypap.pM.ra, oi>x ä AapeTos 6 Trar-qp and esp. R. Schmitt, "I. Forschungsbericht, Altper- Eip£ov flepoais evayxos eypatl>c. sische Forschung in den Siebzigerjahren," Kratylos, 32 Stronach, Pasargadae [supra, n. 1], 20-21. 25 (1981), 1-66. "The name in OP, Kambujiya, has been 30 The main partisan of the position that the explained as borrowed from a people on the Indian Achaemenids 91 sources, it seems that Cambyses was made king of Babylonia by his father then removed and finally reinstated. His mother Kassandane, according to Herodotus (II, 1), was the daughter of Pharnaspes, an Achaemenid (III, 2), and he had a brother Bardiya, whom the Greeks called Smerdis, plus several sisters, Atossa and Roxane, who died in Egypt (according to Ctesias, 12). Cambyses is supposed to have married his sisters, as well as Phaidyme daughter of Otanes, son of Pharnaspes (Herodotus III, 68). Two remarks may be made, first that succession under the Achaemenids did not follow the law of primogeniture but the ruler designated whomsoever of his sons he wanted to succeed him, and second, this is the first account among the Persians of next-of-kin or brother-sister marriage, which has aroused much controversy in Zoroastrian circles. 34 Next-of-kin marriage was fostered by later Zoroastrian priests but, according to Herodotus (III, 31) Cambyses' desire to marry his sister was against the law, but the royal judges told him another law permitted the king to do what he wished, so he married his sisters. Since the Greeks regarded next-of-kin marriage as disgraceful and against the law, and since Herodotus gives a most hostile Greco- Egyptian, and perhaps a special Persian account of Cambyses, it is not unexpected that this sin should be laid upon the Achaemenid ruler. 35 Incest did and does occur, but among the Persians it is asserted that the practice was recommended as part of their religion. We shall examine this later under the Sasanians, but must be careful in ascribing a later religious injunction to the Achaemenid period. In any case, at that time the practice is not attested elsewhere. Early in 525 b.c. Cambyses invaded Egypt, several years after mounting the throne and after establishing his authority over the empire. We have Egyptian sources which do not corroborate the long and critical account of Herodotus (III, 1—38), rather it seems clear that Cambyses was accepted as a new pharaoh of the twenty-seventh dynasty, and he respected local traditions and honored the Egyptian religion. Like his father in Babylon, so Cambyses in Memphis kept the previous administration intact, only bringing Achaemenid garrisons into the land. 36 Foreign mercenaries such as the Jews of Elephantine Island in the Upper Nile continued to serve now new masters. frontier, the Kambojas, in the same way as later trans. A. S. Way, 2 (London, 1965), 428-29, in a Roman appellatives such as 'Germanicus,' by J. speech of the Spartan Hermione to Andromache, Charpentier, "Der Name Kambyses," ZU, 2 an Oriental slave. The special Persian account (1923), 140-52, and followed by V. Abaev in about the misdeeds of the king is traced to the Elimologiya 1965 (Moscow, 1967), 291-92. See tribal Persian aristocracy, inimical to the central- also K. Hoffmann, "Vedische Namen," Wörter und ized despotism of Cambyses, acc. to Dandamaev, Sachen, 21 (1940), 146. This explanation, how- supra, Persien, 156. ever, ignores the fact that there were at least two 36 The best account of this period is by G. P. rulers called Cambyses, and both are hardly Posener, La premiire domination perse en Egypte derived from the same source, while the activities (Cairo, 1936), followed faithfully by F. K. Kienitz, of Cambyses I in the east are both unattested and Die politische Geschichte Ägyptens vom 7. bis zum 4. unlikely. Jh. vor der Zeitwende (Berlin, 1953). On the 34 The practice of appointing the first son born Elephantine garrison see B. Porten, Archivesfrom after his father became ruler did occur, but not as Elephantine, 421 pp. with bibliography. That an iron-clad rule. For next-of-kin marriages Cambyses dated his regnal years by the Egyptian among the rulers, the Elamite matriarchate may method and from the beginning of his reign, not have provided a model. his invasion of Egypt, has been shown by K. M. T. 35 See H. Diels/W. Kranz, Fragmente der Vor- Atkinson, The Legitimacy of Cambyses and sokratiker, 2 (Berlin, 1951-52), 408, the Dissoi Danusas Kings of Egypt," JAOS, 76 (1956), 167- Logoi or Dialexis. See also Euripides, text and 70. 98 Chapter V Expeditions up the Nile into Ethiopia and westward to the oasis of Amon were not successful according to Classical authors. The reasons for the later Egyptian denigration of Cambyses probably can best be explained by the reduction in revenues and land imposed on the temples of Egypt by Cambyses, and this action may have been provoked by an uprising in Egypt following his return from Ethiopia. 37 Cambyses was also disparaged by the Greeks for his fratricide, and even in Plato's Laws (III, 694) the decline of the empire under Cambyses was attributed to the lack of discipline and pampering of princes when young. Further, according to Plato, Cambyses killed his brother through envy that his brother was equal to himself, and then through drunkenness and debauchery he lost his throne to the Medes, led by a eunuch who despised the stupidity of Cambyses. Plato probably gives a Version current in Greece at the time, but this does not conflict with the account of Darius in his inscription on Behistun (I, 26-27). The account of Herodotus also does not conflict with the story given by the Behistun inscription, and to paraphrase the two, this is the combined account. Cambyses had a brother called Bardiya (Smerdis in Greek), both of the same mother. After he became king Cambyses murdered his brother but kept it a secret. When Cambyses was in Egypt a Magian called Gaumata (Herodotus says he had the same name as Bardiya) revolted and proclaimed himself Bardiya the true brother of Cambyses. The heart of the empire, Persis and Media, as well as other lands, supported the rebellion against Cambyses, but the latter died from a wound on the way back to Persis from Egypt. 38 According to Herodotus the new king was very populär since he instituted reforms, remitted taxes for three years, and in general was liked. He continues that only a few noble Persians suspected that the new king was in truth an imposter and he teils several stories about this discovery and the plot to overthrow him. The Behistun inscription is more laconic and simply relates that Darius with a few men attacked Gaumata and killed him with his chief followers. He then says that he restored property which had been confiscated and reestablished the people in their positions and over their property as it had been before the Usurpation. 39 Afterwards he goes into great detail in the Behistun inscription about the various uprisings all over the eastern part of the empire which he had to suppress. Curiously nothing is said about rebellions in Egypt, Palestine or Anatolia in the inscription although they can hardly have remained completely loyal to Darius from the outset. In any case, such is the famous story of Darius' rise to power and the overthrow of pseudo-Bardiya, for both Herodotus and the Behistun inscription proclaim the Usurpation of the Magian. Just how far one can interpret the struggle which brought Darius to power as a conflict of different interests or classes, or even ethnic differences 37 Posener, op. cit. [n. 36], 170, n. 6, and Kienitz, 39 The translation in appendix 2 is mainly based op. cit. [n. 36], 59, with references. on R. Kent, Old Persian (New Haven, 1953), 119- 38 Much has been written about this, but most 20. Paisiyähuväda has been identified as the present scholars agree it means he died a natural death district of Fasa in Fars by J. Hansman, "An (from an accident acc. to most Classical sources), Achaemenian Stronghold," AI, 6 (Monumentum and not suicide, or other. Dandamaev, supra, H. S. Nyberg 3) (1975), 304, while Herzfeld, Persien, 146-51, devotes a long, detailed discussion Zoroaster [eh. 3, n. 31], 1,205, identifies Sikayau- to this and concludes it meant Cambyses reeeived vati with Sikawand near Kermanshah, which is his just dues' (accidental death) for his bad probably Sagvand in Luristan, an unlikely behavior. identification. Achaemenids 99 rather than as a purely personal clash, is difficult to determine. Plato and others speak of the episode of the pseudo-Bardiya as an attempt to reassert Median preponderance over the Persians in the empire. It is curious in the history of Iran that when we have a primary source such as the Behistun inscription, many scholars do not believe the account of Darius but consider him a rebel against the true Bardiya. 40 The truth is that again we do not know and can prove nothing one way or the other. It would be impossible to even merely enumerate the pros and cons of both sides, but the partisans of Darius' mendacity cite the following arguments against him: (1) The accounts of Ctesias, Herodotus, Behistun and others have too many inconsistencies to be plausible and the story is too contrived to be believed; no one like the 'false' Bardiya could live for five or more years without being 'discovered.' The last argument is unconvincing, however, since no one claims that the Magian proclaimed himself to be Bardiya as soon as the latter was murdered. If he fooled people, it was only from the time of his revolt to his death, which as we know from Akkadian documents was from March to 29 September 522 B.c. (2) Aeschylus (774-77) consideres Mardis/Mardos (Bardiya) the rifth legitimate king of the Achaemenids. (3) Herodotus (III, 72) claims Darius approved of lying, and in the Behistun inscription Darius speaks so much of 'the lie' that one is hard pressed to believe his integrity. Many more persuasive arguments have been advanced, none of which, however, 'proves' the position. The proponents of Darius' veracity assert that (1) The main sources should be believed unless proved to be false. (2) The second false-Bardiya in Persis after the death of Gaumata (Behistun III, 21-52), a certain Vahyazdäta, caused much trouble, and he hardly would have also proclaimed himself Bardiya if something had not been wrong about the fate of the true Bardiya. (3) Comparisons with other false claimants in Iran's history such as the Safavid Isma'li II, are made by proponents of Darius' veracity, and there are also other arguments. 41 As remarked, not one of the arguments clinches the case one way or the other, but some details command more agreement than others. For example, the role of the Median Magi as opposed to Persians, or the slaughter of the Magi commemorated in a festival after the death of Gaumata, cannot be taken seriously or productive of any policy, or as enlightenment of the historical record. 42 Religious questions will be discussed below. More interesting is the Suggestion of Dandamaev that Cambyses was disliked by the Persian aristocracy for his tendency to centralize power in his hands at the expense of the nobility, and that Gaumata/Bardiya sought the support of the people against the nobility which led to his overthrow and the "support of the nobility was for Darius." 43 The revolts against Darius then were 'populär' revolts against the 40 It is not possible to list those for and against convinced many, otherwise he would not have the veracity of Darius in his inscription. Danda- been successful against many odds, and it would be maev, supra, Persien, 120; A. T. Olmstead, History difficult to prove that he lied. of the Persian Empire (Chicago, 1948), 93, and 42 Dandamaev, supra, Persien, 143-45, has con- others are contra. Hinz, op. cit. [n. 1], 132-33; S. vincingly downplayed these facets of the story, Shahbazi, Darius the Great (Shiraz, 1971); 7-11, though the anniversary of the killing of Gaumata Herzfeld, op. cit. [eh. 3, n. 31], 2, 205-09, and or Bardiya apparently was celebrated as somehow others support the veracity of Darius. connected with the Magi, and Dandamaev's 41 E.g., the difficulty of uniting six noble dismissal (138-39) ofthisasa mere eoineidence of Persians against a legitimate Achaemenid king, the killing of Gaumata/Bardiya with the festival of Bardiya brother of Cambyses. All arguments, bagayaiii is unconvincing. unfortunately, are subjeetive. Obviously Darius 43 Ibid., 157-67. 100 Chapter V aristocracy headed by Darius, and Dandamaev translates an OP word vi&äpatiy as simply 'house' in the Behistun inscription (II, 16 and III, 26), thus "the Median people, which were in (their) houses," and the "Persian people, which were in their houses," revolted against Darius, while the professional army and the aristocracy supported him. Note that this proposition is based primarily on the interpretation of one word, which is by no means universally accepted. 44 On the other hand the reasoning of Dandamaev is attractive; in effect it goes somewhat as follows: the centralized army of Cambyses returned to Iran to suppress a Usurpation either by Bardiya or Gaumata, who was populär among most of the subjects of the empire, especially since a moratorium of three years on the payment of taxes had been declared (Herod., III, 67). 45 Then Bardiya/Gaumata seized the property of the Persian nobility, who presumably were in the army of Cambyses, and destroyed the sanctuaries of these nobles, whatever they were. So Darius and the other Persian nobles, who supported him, killed and overthrew the usurper, and then restored the privileges and sanctuaries of the nobility. This explanation of the conflict between the central government (of Cambyses and the usurper) on the one side and Darius and the landed nobility on the other, does make a consistent sense, but it is again only a conjecture, but perhaps better than other surmises. This further implies that Darius was more the head of an oligarchy rather than an all-powerful potentate, and the correctness of Dandamaev's proposal can be measured only by the consequences or aftermath of the accession to the throne to which we must now turn. The rebels whom Darius had to suppress were mostly those who sought to reestablish their local independence, and only one Vahyazdäta in Persis, by proclaiming he was Bardiya son of Cyrus, made pretensions to the Achaemenid throne. One was a local chieftain in Merv whom Darius, in order to increase his importance, raised to the rank of 'king' in Margiana (DB IV, 24). Two, Phraortes and Cissantakhma, claimed descent from the Median ruling house; further two, Nidintu- Bel and Arakha, each claimed to be the son of Nabonidus, last king of Babylon, while the Elamites were more rebellious than any other people mentioned in the inscription, their third rebellion occurring in 520 b.c. Several remarks come to mind; first, all the revolts take place in the heartland of the empire, on the plateau or the Mesopotamian piain. None of the revolts in the western possessions are mentioned in the Behistun inscription, although (II, 7) Egypt is recorded as a rebellious land. It may be that the inscription was intended primarily for the Iranians, who seem to have been the principal and most dangerous rebels, such that Darius' first year could be called 44 The Akkadian Version of the above passage, rebel, which implies a struggle for power rather not fully known to Dandamaev when he wrote, than a people vs. aristocracy struggle. says. "all the Persian troops who had previously 45 If Bardiya revolted against his brother, some come to me to the palace of Babylon from Anshan reason must have induced him to this action, and revolted from me and went over to Vahyazdäta." furthermore the main army was with Cambyses. Cf. E. von Voigtlander, The Bisulun Inscription of Herzfeld, Zoroaster [eh. 3, n. 31], 1, 208, gives Darius the Great Babylonian Version (London, different motives for dirferent revolts, including 1978), 59. The text also could be translated "the the east Iranian revolts directed against the strict Persian troops as many as had been collected in the centralization of the Achaemenids. As noted, the house of Babylon from Anshan." This means that revolt of Vahyazdäta in Persis, claiming to be the Persian troops who had come to join Darius at Bardiya, at least indicates great uncertainty in the Babylon instead returned to Persis and joined the minds of the people about Bardiya. Achaemeniäs 101 one of civil war. Second, the rebels claimed legitimacy by family connections with dead rulers; whether they actually did have legitimacy or were liars according to Darius, they surely were all taking advantage of the end of the family of Cyrus and the Usurpation of Darius (in their eyes). So, whether Bardiya was really himself or Gaumata using his name, many people thought a legitimate ruler had been killed by Darius, a usurper, and the Behistun inscription is Darius' greatest Propaganda device against this position. The civil war then appears to have been more a struggle for local autonomy or personal competition with Darius for power rather than a series of battles embodying social classes or interests, as Dandamaev perceives. It was a time of confusion and one can well imagine that Persian troops on the way from Fars to Babylon, when they heard that someone calling himself Bardiya was raising a force in the homeland, would return to their homes to support one known for his remission of taxes and his benevolence, rather than to support a relatively unknown Darius. 46 Again, there are so many possibilities of interpretation of motives that it becomes an exercise in futility to seek to divine the true intentions of the actors in the drama. Two other passages in the inscription relevant to the motivation for revolt, however, have been much discussed. After the overthrow of Bardiya/Gaumata, Darius says he rebuilt destroyed sanctuaries and returned to the people the fields, herds, slaves and houses which had been taken from them. 47 Why would Bardiya/ Gaumata destroy sanctuaries and confiscate property, and whose property? Since Darius restored everything as it had previously existed, it would seem that Bardiya/ Gaumata indeed had sought to change the Status quo, which was then restored by Darius. Were the sanctuaries those dedicated to many minor or local deities, whom Bardiya/Gaumata sought to replace by a more restricted devotion to one deity? If Bardiya/Gaumata revolted from Cambyses, the revolt was also against the army generals with Cambyses, who had received fief lands from Cambyses. 48 The easiest explanation of the actions of Bardiya/Gaumata is that he gathered supporters and confiscated the property of the supporters of Cambyses, most of whom would be military officers. Then he destroyed their sanctuaries, but this action is unclear. Were many of the officers devotees of a cult to Mithra or to a Männerbund fraternity? Was this action primarily religiously or politically motivated? We do not know, but we may believe Darius when he claims to have restored everything as it was previously; but was the second passage of the inscription a return or something new, the elevation of his accomplices to a special standing? The privileges of the Persian nobility existed before Darius, but it is possible that the seven great families of Iran, which we often meet in later sources, began with 46 As a matter of methodology, one should von Voigtlander, op. eil. [n. 44], 55, has "I gave aeeept any additional Information in one of the back to the army the herds, the flocks, the fields, linguistic versions of the Behistun inscription, (and) the hired workers, (comprising) the 'bow' since it adds information which easily could have estates which that Gaumata, the Magian, had taken been omitted from the other two languages since it from them." The qaSti 'bow' estates were fief lands was considered insignificant. Thus, the fact that the given to military officers in lieu of Service. Persian troops from Anshan (Fars) were on the 48 Attested in Babylonia already in the first year way to Babylon, only in the Akkadian Version, of Cambyses, 529 B.c. Cf. Dandamaev, "Die would likely only interest the Babylonians; Lehnsbeziehungen in Babylonien unter den ersten therefore it should be believed since it only adds Achameniden," Fesischriß für Wilhelm Eilers,ed. by and does not contradict. G. Wiessner (Wiesbaden, 1967), 36. The Akkadian Version, in the translation of 102 Chapter V him. 49 His six helpers are listed in the inscription, in Herodotus and by Ctesias. In Behistun IV, 80-88 we have: O.P. Vindafarna son of Väyaspära Akk. Vintaparna son of Visparu Utäna son of Thukhra Vittana son of Sukhra Gaubaruva son of Marduniya Gubaru son of Marduniya Vidarna son of Bagäbigna Vidarna son of Bagabigna Bagabukhsa son of Dätuvahya Bagabukshu son of ZätOa Ardumanis son of Vahuaka Ardimanis son of Vakhku The Elamite Version is either illegible or it copies the OP. Herodotus (III, 70) has 'IvTaxplpvqs, OrävrjS, Fwßpv-qs, 'Y86pvr)s, Meyaßv^os and ^Aoirad-ivrjS, while Ctesias (14) has ^AraxpdpvTjs, , Ov6n the minds of the Achaemenids. See discussion directly with mainland Greece. and bibliography in H. Bengtson, op. cit. [n. 18], 156—61. 106 Chapter V progressed the Greek mercenaries became the professional core fighting force of the Achaemenid army, while Persians lost both their ability and their will to fight. 63 But in Darius' time they were still good soldiers, though poor sailors. Darius, even in his old age, was determined to counter-attack Greece by land, and began preparations for a long campaign, but Egypt rebelled in 486 and in the same year in November Darius died, according to Akkadian documents. 64 REORGANIZATION OF THE EMPIRE Darius seems to have been the first of the Achaemenid great kings to take a 'throne- name' since his meant 'possessing good(-ness),' and his successors also selected throne- names. 65 Whether his own name was Spentadäta, which Ctesias (frg. 10) claims was the real name of Gaumata, is impossible to determine. 66 If we consider the etymology of Xerxes (OP KhSayärsari) as 'ruling over heroes' and Artaxerxes (OP Artakhssasa) 'having just rule,' the religious nature of them is apparent, but it is interestirig that only the names Darius and Artaxerxes were taken by the later kings of the dynasty. 67 The names were a proclamation of the right to rule, but by their own qualities, as well as by divine Intervention, as found in the inscriptions, where we see that it was by the will of Ahura Mazda that rule was bestowed on the kings. The king was the supreme arbiter, above all men, and his exalted position was proclaimed by court ceremonies, especially by proskynesis, which meant kissing the king's feet for servants, to a cheek kiss for the nobility. 68 The title 'kings of kings,' as already noted, was probably used by the Medes, although only its phonetic form suggests this, since no inscriptions of the Medes have been found. 69 The crown prince was obviously next in court, but some scholars have confidently postulated the existence of an Institution of double kingship under the Achaemenids. 70 Why one should confuse the 'Institution' of 63 By far thegreatest number of Greeks serving feld, op. cit., 1 [eh. 3,n. 31],97,'whocommandsthe the Achaemenids named in the sources were in right will,' and Kent, op. cit. [n. 39], 182, 'hero military Service. Cf. J. Hofstetter, Die Griechen in among kings' (unlikely). The name 'Xerxes' was Persien (Berlin, 1978), 216 pp. only used once. Cf. K. Hoffmann, "Altpers. 64 R. A. Parker and W. Dubberstein, Babylonian afuuäyä," Corolla Linguistica, Festschrift F. Sommer Chronology (Providence, 1956), 17. (Wiesbaden, 1955), 85, n. 15. 65 It is interesting that in Aramaic documents, 68 Cf. J. Hofstetter, "Zu den griechischen dated c. 480 B.c., the name is drwi, later became Gesandschaften nach Persien," Historia, Einzelschr- dryws" (also in the Bible), and for Darius II we have iften 18 (Wiesbaden, 1972), 106, with further dryhwS or drywhwS, thus the later the time the bibliography. The kings were not divinised, as longer the name, contrary to what one would some have thought. On proskynesis see F. Altheim, expect. On throne-names see R. Schmitt, "Thron- Geschichte der Hunnen, 2 (Berlin, 1960), 125-52. namen bei den Achaimeniden," BZN, 4 (1977), 69 Szemerenyi, op. cit. [eh. 4, n. 63], 321, claims 422-25, who convincingly suggests that Darius that the Medes did not use the title since they were innovated the practice of throne-names as part of under the suzerainty of the Assyrians and could not his overall policy to raise the place of kingship in use such a proud title. After 612 B.c., in any case, the eyes of his subjeets. Herzfeld, op. cit., 1 [eh. 3, n. this Statement is nonsense, if not previously as well. 31], 1, 89-99, first proposed the idea of 'throne Although the title Sar-sarräni i'king of kings' is well names.' attested among the Old Assyrian kings, we do not 66 Herzfeld, op. cit., 1 [eh. 3, n. 31 ], 95, identifies find it attested for the neo-Babylonian kings. Cf. Darius with the son of the Vishtaspa who was a M.-J. Seux, Epithhs royales akkadiennes et sumer- patron of Zoroaster, the Isfandiyär of Firdosi, iennes (Paris, 1967), 318. which is unlikely. 70 Ibid., 365, and from the artistic side see H. von 67 On other etymologies for Xerxes, see Herz- Call, "Die Kopfbedeckung des persischen Ornats," Achaemeniäs 107 crown-prince with the idea of a dual kingship I do not understand, for neither a crown-prince nor an 'advisor' to the king, or chief minister, or whatever he may be called, can be designated a 'double king' as we find among later Turkish kingdoms of Central Asia, or in ancient Sparta. If there was no institution of a 'double king' in ancient Iran, then did the crown prince have a special title? In Akkadian we have the term for 'crown prince* mär larri used of Asarhaddon and Assurbanipal, but whether this was also used of other sons of the king as well as (or only) the crown prince is unknown. 71 Many scholars have mistakenly assumed that the co-regency of king and crown prince at the end of the king's reign is proof of the institution of 'double kingship,' but this practice of associating one's successor in rule as a kind of apprentice is found throughout the history of Iran, and elsewhere in the world, and should not be confused with an institution of 'double kingship.' 72 Likewise the office of 'second to the king,' a major-domo or top minister of court, is normal throughout history, and again does not mean co-king. Was there a 'second' or assistant to the king under the Achaemenids? Again no title is attested, but in later Parthian and Sasanian times, we do find a title bidakhsh which may go back to an Old Iranian *dvitiya-khfaya - 'ruling as second,' with an extensive literature about it. 73 It is uncertain, however, whether the notices about a 'second' after the king refer to a title in the governmental Organization or in the court, or to an honorary appellation given to a favorite of the ruler. In either case it does not refer to the crown-prince, who was surely the real 'second' after the ruler, and there is no title attested in the sources. Greek authors, however, imply that a title ^tAiap^os, 'a thousand leader,' meant 'second* (after the king), although this is probably by origin a military title, the equivalent of Iranian *hazärapati-, attested in languages other than Old Persian. From researches of Marquart and Junge it seems that the chiliarch, as Commander of the royal guard and probably also of the 'immortals' (royal guard), did act as an usher of persons who wished to speak with the ruler and consequently could be regarded as a kind of minister of court or prime minister by the end of the Achaemenid dynasty. 74 Thus the power of the chiliarch grew as time progressed with both executive orders and AMI, 7 (1974), 157-59 and especially P. Cal- (Vienna, 1938), 114-15. Akkadian documents meyer, "Synarchie," AMI, 9 (1977), 63-68, who confirm the association of the king's son as writes, "Das persische Doppelkönigtum ist also von successor, but never as co-king with the same titles Dareios I/Xerxes I bis zu Artaxerxes II/Dareios as his father. When Xerxes says (XPf) that Darius belegt." And not afterwards? had other sons but made him 'greatest' madiita after 71 Seux, op. cit. [n. 69], 160. It was also used in himself, this is hardly a title. In India the crown late Akkadian documents for Cambyses and in the prince was called yuvaräja 'young king,' but again time of Darius II, so it continued in use, but, of no 'double' kingship. course, we still do not know whether it was used 73 W. Hinz, Altiranische Funde und Forschungen exclusiuely for the crown prince or for other (Berlin, 1969), 153, note 22, where further princes as well. For the designation of Cambyses as bibliography may be found. The expression 'after 'king's son' as recognition that he was his father's seif also implying second authority, is a later successor, see W. Dubberstein, "The Chronology development. of Cyrus and Cambyses," AJSL, 55 (1938), 417- 74 For references see J. Marquart, Untersuchun- 19 - gen zur Geschichte von Eran (Göttingen, 1896), 57- 72 The co-regency of Cambyses with Cyrus, 63; E. Benveniste, Titres et noms propres in Iranien before the latter lefton his eastern campaign which ancien (Paris, 1966), 67-70; and J. Junge, "Zur led to his death, has been taken wrongly by many Stellung des Chiliarchen der kgl. Leibgarde im as proof of the existence of an institution of 'double Achä'menidenstaat," Klio, 33 (1940), 13-38. kingship'; cf. F. W. König, Der Falsche Bardija 108 Chapter V control of finance under him, as well as control over the court and protection of the person of the ruler. If we may assume, as Junge argues, that the chiliarch did become 'second' after the king, then we may conclude that any expressions denoting 'second' were not official titles in the government but rather appellations, either bestowed by the ruler or current among the people as a matter of designation of the great power of an official, second only to the ruler. 75 We cannot clearly discern whether there was a bipartite or even a tripartite division of authority in the Achaemenid Empire, as appeared later in the history of Iran. The three parties wielding power were the court, the bureaucracy (perhaps including priests) and the army. Inasmuch as the chiliarch combined military and administrative functions, as did the satraps, we may assume such a mixture in other high offices. At the court of the great king, several positions of influence stand out from the time of Darius. One was the 'bow carrier' uassabara and the other the 'spear bearer' arstibara of Darius, both 'honorary' appellatives given to close friends of the ruler, who might be considered as his bodyguards and confidants. 76 At the court royal princes, of course, had great influence simply as members of the royal family (Aramaic BR BYT, O. Iran. *visapu\}ra) and other nobles (ämäta), both Iranian and non-Iranian, gave advice to the king. We do not know whether a Council of advisors, perhaps the six helpers of Darius in his time, existed as a kind of cabinet under later Achaemenids, for there is again no evidence. Perhaps there was an informal, indefinite group of advisors, the 'drgzry' or *handarzakara?. of Daniel III, 3, who may have been part of a hierarchy of friends around the king. Greek sources have much Information about confidants of the king but the Greek words may apply to Greek interpretations rather than Persian realities, especially when the Persian words for the Greek terms do not appear anywhere. The Greeks, for example, speak of institutions called 'the king's friends' (piXot and 'the king's benefactor' £vtpyirt)s, these latter according to Herodotus (VIII, 85) called in Persian opooäyyai. 11 There may have been divisions in the category of 'friends,' some greater (Diodorus XV, 10, 3), others lesser, as well as different degrees of closeness to the king among the kinsmen of the ruler. The eunuchs, harem ladies, princesses (duxsi), made of the court a large collection of people using their influence on the ruler. 78 Also probably connected directly with the court were the famous 'eyes and ears' of the king (Xenophon, Cyrop. VIII, 2, 10-12) which have produced a large literature. 79 It seems we are dealing with a chief overseer, the 'eye,' and many spies of the king, the 'ears,' who reported to him about affairs in the 75 W.Hinz, "Achämenidische Hofverwaltung," ZDMC, 117 (1967), 131. The identification of ZA, 61 (1971), 303 proposes a title *vi$a-palis (piXos in Iranian as Gathic rvaBa- by Herzfeld, op. 'Hofmarschall,' for the second in authority, as a eil., 1 |ch. 3, n. 31], 155-56, is unconvincing. More continuation of Akkadian rabekalli 'palace chief.' hkely is dauilar, or another word. His theory in Alliranische Funde und Forschungen 78 Cf. Benveniste, op. eil. [n. 74], 49-50. One [n. 73], 63-68, that this officer was always a Mede should not forget the education of young nobles is unacceptable. It is possible that the chiliarch later and princes at the court (Xenophon, Cyrop. VIII, 6, took over the duties of an earher majordomo, but 10 and Plato, Alcibiades, 121-22) since the strict again there is no evidence. Persian rules of raising the young impressed the Hinz, Wege, [ch 4, n 66], 57-59, interprets Greeks. Unfortunately, sources are lacking on the first as 'clothes carrier' who carries the bow and details of the education. arrow for Darius at DNd. 7 » On the ocp^aX/xös ßaaiXevs see Herodotus I, For an etymology of this word possibly 114, Plutarch, Arlaxerxes 12, 1, Aeschylus, 979, mcaning 'widely known,' see R. Schmitt, "Me- etc. Among the possible Iranian words proposed disches und persisches Sprachgut bei Herodot," for the 'eye,' are the following: *spasaka, äxSa, Achaemenids 109 empire, especially in the provinces, independently of the governors and military Commanders, in other words a secret Service of spies reporting directly to the court. Every official, courtier, indeed theoretically everyone, was a bandaka or 'slave' of the king, but the word was used probably more as a form of address than anything eise. 80 There is another word anusiya 'follower,' which seems to have been mis- understood by the Greeks who translated it as dtMvaro? 'immortal,' for the royal guard, which was theoretically maintained at the same size at all times. 81 Information was brought to the king by the famous postal System, which was not new but was reorganized by Darius, with the main artery of Communications the 'royal road' from Sardis to Susa (Herod. V, 52). Other roads also existed, especially a continuation of the 'royal road' from Susa to Persepolis and Pasargadae, traces of which have been found by archaeologists. 82 According to Herodotus these roads were measured in parasangs (c. 6 km.), and he describes the stations and System of couriers on the royal road (VIII, 98). 83 The Achaemenids were also active in the construction of bridges over rivers, in the use of boats for commerce and Communications, as well as fire signals for the latter. 84 Although all of this activity was not solely for the benefit of the king, his Orders played a dominant role in the creation of the system of transportation and communication. The Elamite tablets from Persepolis have not only given an enormous increase in Old Iranian onomastica but also new Information about the chancellory, the Organization of work, and religious practices in the homeland of the Achaemenids. The chiefof court or major domo at Persepolis under Darius was a certain Farnaka until 497 B.C., followed by Abisvanta to 484 b.c., then Dargäyus to 482, Rtatakhma to 466 followed by Rtasura. 85 The picture of a complex bureaucracy with many ofhcials is clear from the tablets, but it is not possible to put them in a hierarchy or order. The *kasaka, *didlka or *dltaka, *patyaxla-\ cf. A. pecially in regard to the mythological and Pagliaro, "Riflessi di etimologie iraniche," Rendi- religious ramifications. conti della classe di scienze morali, Accademia 81 Cf. Pagliaro, op. eil. [n. 79], 151. Nazionale dei Lincei, Serie 8, vol. 9 (Rome, 1954), 82 Stronach, Pasargadae [supra, n. 1], 166-67, 133-53, with references; also H. Lommel, "Die and M. T. Mostafavi, "The Achaemenid Royal Späher Varuna und Mitra," Oriens, 6 (1953), 323, Road," A Survey ofPersian Art, 14 (Oxford, 1967), who proposed *spadaka. Further W. Hinz, Altira- 3008-10, who traces the road through modern niscltes Sprachgut der Nebenüberlieferungen (Wies- Firuzabad, ignoring the Anshan-Pasargadae part of baden, 1975), 105. Another title in the Elamite the road, which is far to the north and thus con- tablets from Persepolis has been reconstrueted as tradicts the southern path proposed by Mostafavi. *apiy-äxüa-pä Controller of the overseers'! by M. 83 On the etymology of parasang see H. H. Mayrhofer, "Die Nebenüberlieferung des Altwest- Schaeder, Ungarische Jahrbücher, 15 (Berlin, 1935), iranischen," Archiv für Orientforschung, 25 (1974- 563, and for the word ayyapos 'postal Courier' see 77), 182. The 'eye' may well have been a 'chief R. Schmitt in Glotta, 49 (1971), 97-100. inspector' for the king. 84 Acc. to S. Mazzarino, "Le vie di communica- The ears cora or gaulaka are found in an zione fra impero Achemenide e mondo Greco, La Aramaic papyrus as gw!ky\ A. Cowley, Aramaic Persia e il mondo Greco-Romano, Acc. Naz. dei Papyri of the Fifth Century B.C. (Oxford, 1923), Lincei (Rome, 1966), 75-83; the Greeks learned 99-102, and may be spies. Cf. H. H. Schaeder, much from the Persians in matters of Iranica, AGWG, 1 (1 934), 3-24. It is also possible communication. that these terms are Greek misunderstandings of 85 See Hinz in ZA, 61 (1971), 308. There were Offices which did not exist. many scribes and assistants busy in the chancellory For a discussion of bandaka see Geo Widen- with a complex procedure of dietating, engraving 8ren,"Lesymbolismedelaceinture,"M,8(1968), and registering clay tablets in Akkadian and 133-46. The remarks on marlka 'member of a Elamite, as well as scribes writing Aramaic on Männerbund' should be read with caution, es- parchment. HO Chapter V divän (Olr. *dipi-päna) or chancellory of later times surely goes back to an Achaemenid prototype, and in Persepolis many titles have been found for persons in the bureaucracy, the treasurer *ganzabara (attested in Aramaic and Elamite), his assistant the upaganzabara, then the jramätar and theframäna-kara both in charge of, or directors of, work, the bäji-kara 'tribute collector,* the *hamära-kara 'tax collector,' the *gjdapaü 'foreman' over workers, the raucapäna overseer of daily rations,' and many other omcials. 86 It is difficult to separate from each other the functions of many of these omcials and to determine who controlled what, for example, who could use the king's seal, for there were many copies of the seal used by various omcials. Another question is how much the Organization of omcials at Persepolis was common to other sites such as Susa, or Babylon, and how much was duplicated in the provincial Organization. On the whole, it seems that the provincial courts tried to copy the imperial court, but there were obviously differences in various parts of the empire, but we have no direct Information about this and subjective impressions may give false ideas if used as proven fact. When we turn to the provincial Organization, in spite of copying from a central model, the variety rather than uniformity of institutions is striking. Two questions which may be elucidated are the role of local dynasts in the provincial Organization of the empire and the subdivisions of the satrapy. A few local rulers like the Syennesis of Cilicia, probably the personal name of the ruler in the time of Cyrus which then became a hereditary appellation, the ruler of Paphlagonia (Xenophon, Cyrop. VIII, 6, 7-10) and others held special positions in the empire because of their aid to Cyrus, or otherwise. In the revolt of Cyrus the younger against his brother Artaxerxes II, however, the Syennesis lost his throne for support of the younger Cyrus and his place was taken by a Persian. 87 Many local princes such as those of the Phoenician cities, Tyre, Sidon, Byblos, etc., tyrants of the Ionian cities, as well as the kings of Caria, Cyprus and other areas in the north and east where we have no information, were on the whole hereditary or at least in some tributary or vassal relationship with the Persians. What Darius did was to create twenty great satrapies over many of the local rulers, according to Herodotus, but this was not an innovation, rather a reorganization of the multifaceted parts of the empire which had existed under Cyrus and Cambyses. The former had divided Lydia into two satrapies with capitals at Sardis and Daskylion, and other changes had occurred until Darius' reform of the satrapies which we find in most detail in Herodotus (III, 89-94). The word 'satrap' was frequently used in Classical sources both for the governor and sub-governor as well. 88 86 See the books of Bowman, Cameron, Hai- See also the references in R. Schmitt's survey, lock as well as the bibliographies of articles about "Forschungsbericht" [n. 29]. The fluctuation of the Elamite and Aramaic sources in M.Mayrhofer, titles and Offices is revealed in the Persepolis "Neuere Forschungen zum Altpersischen," in Elamite tablets; see R. Hailock, "The Evidence of Douum Indogermanicum, Festgabe für Anton the Persepolis Tablets," CHI, 2. Scherer (Heidelberg, 1971), 41-66. There were.of 87 Cf. W. Judeich, Kleinasiatische Studien (Mar- course, other officials as well as various designa- bürg, 1892), 209, and the detailed article on tions of them. One official the *padpabaga 'Satrap' by F. C. Lehmann-Haupt in PW. provided provisions for the road for other officials, 88 On the etymology of the word 'protector of while various inspectors undoubtedly existed, but the kingdom,' see the detailed exposition of R. one must not confuse Synonyms, or public as Schmitt, "Der Titel 'Satrap'," Studies in Greek, opposedto official usage, asdoesj. Harmatta, "The Italic, and Indo-European Linguistics offered to L. Rise oftheOld Persian Empire," AAH, 19(1971). Palmer, ed. by A. M. Davies and W. Meid Achaemenids 111 Much has been written about the lists of lands or people in the OP inscriptions, the reliefs of tribute bearers at Persepolis, and the names of satrapies in Classical sources, many authors seeking to reconcile the three. 89 It is clear that the inscriptions speak of lands or peoples of the empire rather than satrapies (the word 'satrapy' is not mentioned), whereas the tax-list of Herodotus is defective; but it is possible to secure a measure of agreement of the various sources for the satrapies of the empire from the time of Darius to the end of the empire. Persis (Pärsa) was the homeland, especially supplying soldiers and bureaucrats, and it extended to the ocean on the south and included Kerman in the east. Although uncertainty exists about the eastern borders of the satrapy, it would seem that thoughout most of the period it included most of modern Kerman, although Alexander found a satrap of Kerman which implies a Separation of the eastern part of Persis before the fall of the Achaemenids. Pasargadae (*pärsa-argada 'settlement of Persians') and Persepolis (OP Pärsa) were the two capitals, the older and the younger. 90 Media (Mäda) was not free from taxation but nonetheless held a special position, since the Medes and Persians were associated together in the minds of other peoples of the empire (e.g., Esther 1, 19, Daniel VI, 8, 15). The satrapy of Media extended to the upper Tigris in the west and in the east to the 'Caspian Gates,' located east of modern Tehran, to Persis to the south and Armenia to the north, for it seems that Darius instituted a satrapy of Armenia, separating it from older and 'greater' Media. The Armenians are mentioned in the various lists of peoples in OP inscriptions, and they are represented on reliefs at Persepolis, but the northern extent of the Armenian satrapy cannot be determined, for the Georgians, Albanians and other peoples of the Caucasus Mts. apparently were never integrated into the empire although some of the Caucasian tribes were according to Herodotus (III, 94). The peoples of the south Caspian Sea coast were at some time separated from Media and made into a satrapy, probably after Xerxes, but at all times central authority was difficult to maintain in this area. Another important satrapy was Elam or Khuzistan (OP Huza) with its capital Susa, probably absorbed by Cyrus after his conquest of Babylon, which maintained its old boundaries of lowlands and mountainous regions to the time of Alexander. The eastern Iranian provinces and India present problems of geographical (Innsbruck, 1976), 373-90. The Persian rather Cameron, "The Persian Satrapies and Related than Median form of the word is found in OP Matters," JNES, 32 (1973), 47-56. For the khshassa-pävan which implies an Achaemenid Classical sources see the detailed article on 'Satrap' origin rather than a Median origin of the word. In by Lehmann-Haupt in PW, and for a synthesis E. the OP inscriptions we find dahyu- 'land' and not Herzfeld, The Persian Empire (Wiesbaden, 1968), the word 'satrapy.' Darius' attempt to separate the 288-365, comparing lists of Hekataios, Herodotus, military from the civil functions of the satrap was the OP inscriptions, etc. G. Walser follows unsuccessful later, while the number of satrapies Herzfeld in his "Missing Peoples in the Persepolis increased as time went on. Diodorus (XVIII, 5-6 Procession," Proceedings of the Fiflh International and 39) gives the satrapies at the end of the empire, Congress of Iranian Art and Archaeology, 1 (Tehran, but this list must be used with caution. 1972), 372. 89 On the reliefs see G. Walser, Die Völkerschaf- 90 Of the many etymologies proposed for len auf den Reliefs von Persepolis (Berlin, 1966), and Pasargadae, that of H. W. Bailey mentioned here is W. Hinz, "Die Völkerschaften der Persepolis- the most convincing; cf. Stronach, Pasargadae Reliefs," Altiranische Funde und Forschungen [n. 73], [supra, n. 1 ], 280-81 . 9 5-l 13. On the OP inscriptions see G. C. 112 Chapter V identification. Parthia, to the east of Media, included Hyrcania (OP Varkana) modern Gurgan ; thus it comprised the modern provinces of Khurasan and Gurgan with a capital at Zadrakarta near the southeastern shore of the Caspian (Arrian, III, 25) and possibly a second capital in the east, although Herzfeld's assertion that *Tausa (Tös) was that capital finds no echo in any Classical source. 91 The Suggestion of Pyankov that Parthia was ruled by a hereditary dynast instead of an appointed ruler on the basis of Ctesias, is not at all convincing. 92 Hyrcania was probably made into a separate satrapy under Xerxes (Herod. VII, 62), possibly because of its importance as a border province against nomads, but at the end of the empire it and Parthia were reunited (Arrian III, 8, 4). The Gils and Cadusians may have been united with Hyrcania at times, but we do not know. The Khwarazmians are placed in the same satrapy as Parthia by Herodotus (III, 93), presumably reflecting the time of Darius, whereas later they are separate, and by the end of the empire they were independent. This may well reflect their movement from the region of the Murghab River north to the Aral Sea, and for a time they seem to have comprised a separate satrapy. The belief that the Oxus River once flowed into the Caspian instead of the Aral Sea is not attested for historical times by archaeologists, so the Kharazmians are not to be placed on the eastern shores of the Caspian. The Sogdians most of the time were joined to the satrapy of Bactria, as was also Margiane or Merv, in the time of Darius, although later Margiane was joined to Aria (Herat). The satrapal capital was at Bactra, modern Balkh, with another center at Marakanda (Samarqand). 93 The independence of local lords in Sogdiana is attested by the fighting which Alexander did there; unfortunately we cannot say when Sogdiana was a separate satrapy and when combined during the Achaemenid period. Aria (OP Haraiva), although included in the large east Iranian satrapy of Parthia and Khwarazm by Herodotus (III, 93), was thereafter made into a separate satrapy with its capital Artacoana (with many variants) probably near the site of modern Herat. 94 Drangiane (OP Zranka) apparently was joined with Aria for tax purposes (Strabo X, 516), although Herodotus (III, 93) puts the Zarangians (also with S-) together with inhabitants of the central deserts of Iran through Baluchistan to the ocean. At the end of the empire Drangiane was together with Arachosia under one satrap acc. to Arrian (III, 2, 1), while the name of the principal city is Greek Prophthasia in Strabo (514 and 91 Herzfeld, op. cit., 318. His corrections of wards in time by Ctesias is to be regarded with Arrian and Ptolemy may be correct, but Tüs was great suspicion. not an important center. Although some sources 9i The etymology of Samarqand proposed by imply that Hyrcania was detached from Parthia A. Pagliaro, "Cyrus et l'empire Perse," AI, 2 and attached to Media it is impossible to trace (1974), 6, zamar kanta 'dug in the earth' is changes in the boundaries of satrapies which lasted unconvincing since the latter part really meant short times. On Jews deported to Hyrcania see J. 'town,' to be sure from the root 'to dig,' but the Marquart, Fundamente israelitischer und judischer former part was a proper name or appellation Geschichte (Göttingen, 1896), 30. rather than a common noun. See also 1. V. 92 1. V. Pyankov, "Istoriya Persii Ktesiya T Pyankov, Drevnyi Samarkand v izvestiyakh antich- Sredneaziatskie Satrapi Akhemenidov," VDI, 2 nikh avtorov (Dushanbe, 1972), 59 pp. (1965), 43. Ctesias gives no list of satrapies but 94 W. Tomaschek in PW etymologizes the rather peoples ruled by the Achaemenids from the name as arta-käuano 'righteous kavi-iike' or 'royal,' time of Artaxerxes II, and any projection back- which also does not inspire confidence. Achaemenids 113 723) which teils us nothing. 95 Arachosia (OP Harahuvati) was an important satrapy which probably had an Achaemenid garrison town for guarding the southeastern frontier of the empire, at least in the later period of the empire when India had fallen away from Achaemenid rule. Stephan of Byzantium and other Classical sources knew that the land was named after the river, but the capital before Alexander is not known, although the fortress of Arshada is mentioned in the Behistun inscription. Northeast of Arachosia the hilly region of Sattagydia (OP ©atagu-) and the lowlands of Gandhara (OP Gandara) may have been joined to Paropamisos, the center and eastern part of modern Afghanistan extending into Pakistan, which was a satrapy under the early Achaemenids. 96 It later broke or drifted away from Achaemenid rule, and when Alexander came there was no Achaemenid satrap to oppose him. When the satrapy of India dropped from Achaemenid rule is impossible to determine but probably towards the end of their rule. Gedrosia (OP Maka), or present Baluchistan, extending to the west, possibly extending over the water to Oman, was never firmly under Achaemenid rule, and it is doubtful whether it ever was a separate satrapy, although for Herodotus (III, 94) it is his seventeenth satrapy. 97 In the west of the empire the satrapies are much better known. The 'Fertile Crescent' was at first united under one governor and comprised Babylonia and Assyria (which once had extended from northern Iraq to Egypt), and the Arabs of the north Syrian desert were included (OP Arbaya). This lasted throughout the reigns of Cyrus and Cambyses, and the neo-Babylonian kingdom was retained as a unit with two parts officially - Babylonia, and the west or Ebirnari (or Aramaic: Abr Nahara) over the river.' 98 The name 'Assyria' and its derivative 'Syria' have caused much dimculty because of changing geographical designations throughout history, but when Darius or Xerxes divided the 'Fertile Crescent' into two satrapies the old usage of 'Assyria' for the western part, as well as the homeland of Assyria, was retained, as we see from the OP lists of Darius and Xerxes; this western part the Greeks and others called Syria. Boundaries were adjusted from time to time but the division between Mesopotamia and Syria remained to the end of the empire, and even on the relief of 95 Two etymologies have been proposed for 97 Many attempts to interpret the lists of lands Zranka, one 'sea-land' by W. Tomascheck sub and peoples in the OP inscriptions are misleading, Drangiane in PW, followed by Herzfeld, and such as G. S. Akhvlediani, "Drevne persidskoe another by G. Morgenstierne, comparing Baluchi Maciya-i Gruzinskoe mesx-," Trudy 25 Mezhdun- drang 'precipice,' referring to the island mt. of arodnogo Kongresse! Vostokovedov, 2 (Moskow, Kühe Khwäja in the Hamun lake, NTS, 5 (1932), 1963), 373, where the author identifies Maka as 43. 'Georgians' in the Caucasus! 96 Herzteld, op. cit.. 342, identified Sattagydia 98 Cf. O. Leuze, Die Satrapieneinteilung in with the Punjab, 'land of seven rivers.' Since the Syrien und im Zweistromlande von 520-320 (Halle, figures of the Gandharan, the Sattagydian and the 1935), 1 17-43; H. Bengtson, Kleine Schriften zur Indian are almost the same on the reliefs at Alten Geschichte (München, 1974), 83-100. For a Persepolis, showing persons from hot lands (see comparison with the names of satraps at the end of Walser, op. cit. [n. 59], 53-55), one would infer the empire, see H. Berve, Das Alexanderreich that all inhabited the plains of the subcontinent, (München, 1926),pa«im. Marquart.op. «r. [n. 91], and probably parts of both the Gandharans and 75, asserted that 'Abr Nahara was called Arbaya Sattagydians did, but one must be careful in by the Achaemenids, but the OP lists were of drawing conclusions from the reliefs alone. To peoples and not satrapies. identify Sattagydia solely with the Punjab is unwarranted. The hill country to the west is more likely, since it is hot in summer. 114 Chapter V thronebearers on the tomb of Artaxerxes II or III the OP text only speaks of the Babylonian and Assyrian, the latter surely for what moderns would call Syrian. One capital of the satrapy across the river' was probably near Aleppo as we may infer from Xenophon, Anabasis (1, 4, 10), or at Tripolis on the sea, although there seem to have been several seats of authority for the huge region, Damascus being one of them at least for a time." Egypt's boundaries were always fixed by geography, although the southern extent of Achaemenid rule up the Nile varied throughout the period of the empire. Memphis was the capital, and the Achaemenids were integrated into Egyptian culture as pharaohs of a new dynasty. Fortunately we have more documents from Egypt (and Babylonia) than elsewhere in the empire, but we cannot transpose the Egyptian Organization to other parts of the empire. Under the satrap was the head of a notne with the Iranian title frataraka, the equivalent of Greek v-napxos, although, as mentioned, the latter word was also used for the satrap. Under thefrataraka was the chiefof a district, the hpthpC (*haftaxupätä) in Aramaic, which has been etymologized as the head or protector of one of seven districts, and both of these titles were found in Persis after the fall of the Achaemenids. 100 In Egypt perhaps the hptfypt ' was head of a topos or toparchy 'county,' although sometimes it seems that thefrataraka was more like a toparch. Just as Babylon had revolted in the early years of Xerxes' reign and had been brutally suppressed, also Egypt revolted already before Darius died, but Xerxes put down the Egyptians and changed the tolerant policy of his father into one of control with severity, as Herodotus (VII, 7) says, with Achaemenes, brother of Xerxes, as satrap. On the reliefs of tribute bearers at Persepolis and in the OP inscriptions appear the Ethiopians (OP Küsha) and the Libyans (OP Putäya), but it is uncertain whether they were part of the satrapy of Egypt, or more likelyjust tributaries as Herodotus (III, 13) says. In any case, both were on the fringes of the empire and at times did not even send tribute to the great king. The people of the north Syrian desert have been mentioned, but there is no evidence that the Arabs of Arabia were under Achaemenid rule. The Hebrews in Palestine, on the contrary, were usually loyal supporters of the Achaemenids even in times of trouble when Egypt or Syria was in revolt, and the Old Testament books of Esther, Ezra and Nehemiah, though not to be treated as history, indicate a closeness of the two. The diaspora of Jews throughout the empire, from a military garrison in Elephantine, an island on the Upper Nile, to exiles in Hyrcania, probably aided their standing with the Persian overlords. 101 Samaria was a hyparchy under the satrapy, and the names of the sub-governors of Samaria from c. 460 to the 99 Cf. K. Galling, Studien zur Geschichte Israels Egypt under Cambyses was Aryandes, under im persischen Zeitalter (Tübingen, 1964), 192, Darius it was Pherendates, for Xerxes his brother argues against Aleppo and Damascus as capitals, Achaemenes, then followed the Egyptian revolt and for sites on the coast. In Phoencia, the cities of put down by Megabyzes. Under Artaxerxes I we Tyre.Sidon, Byblos and Arados were four separate find Arsames as satrap after which a new revolt principalities in a special relationshipto the empire. broke out in 404 B.c. which led to independence 100 W. B. Henning, "Ein persischer Titel im until 343 B.c. when Artaxerxes III retook Egypt Altaramaischen," In Memoriam Paul Kahle (Berlin, and installed another Pherendates as satrap fol- 1968), 138—45, and M. N. Bogolyubov, "Titre lowed by Sabakes and Mazakes. honorifique d'un chef militaire Achemenide en l0 ' Galling, op. cit. |n. 99], 165-84 on Ezra and haute-Egypte," AI, 2 (1 974), 1 09-1 4. The satrap of the Achaemenid governors. Achaemenids 115 end of the empire can be reconstructed thanks to new Aramaic documents. 102 The satraps of the land 'across the river' (Syria and Palestine) cannot be determined as in the case of Egypt, but some names do appear in the sources such as Tattenai in Ezra (V, 3) under Darius and part of the reign of Xerxes, Megabyzes under Artaxerxes I, Belesys I under Darius II, Abrocomas under Artaxerxes II, acc. to the Anabasis of Xenophon 1, 3, 20 (see also Diodorus XIV, 20), although he may have been only the sub-governor of Phoenicia, Belesys II under Artaxerxes III (Diodorus XVI, 42) and Mazaios, first satrap of Cilicia then of all Syria, under Darius III. 103 For Asia Minor the list of satraps of Lydia and 'on the sea' (Daskylion) is difficult to reconstruct, for here, more than anywhere, the joining and separating of territories, plus the uncertainty in the use of the term 'satrap' for large provinces and for rulers of subdivisions of provinces as well, greatly complicates the picture. After the revolt of Cyrus the younger against Artaxerxes II, the province of Cilicia was taken away from the ruler Syennesis, and given to a satrap, although provincial coins Struck later indicate a certain continuation of independent tendencies under the Iranian satraps Datames and Mazaios. 104 Noeldeke gave a tentative reconstruction of the hereditary post of satrap of Daskylion beginning with Pharnakes followed by Artabazos then Pharnabazos, but Mitrobates and Otanes should be added to the list, and the list cannot be checked for authenticity. 105 It was different in the important satrapy of Lydia, with its capital at Sardis, for Sardis was really the Achaemenid center for Asia Minor, and we find a succession of satraps, frequently the same persons as the commander-in-chiefs of Achaemenid armies in the west (Greek Kapavos). Beginning with Harpagos under Cyrus, Oroites (Herod. III, 126) under Cambyses, we find an Artaphernes under Darius, perhaps for a time Mardonius under Xerxes, and under Artaxerxes I, Pissuthnes, followed by Tissaphernes, Cyrus the younger, then a certain Droaphernes who left an inscription probably dating from 367-366 b.c. 106 Then we find Tithraustes, Tiribazos, Struthas, Tiribazos again, Autophradates, and under Darius III Spithridates, with dates and sequences, as usual, uncertain. In Asia Minor there were many local dynasts in Cappadocia, Paphlagonia, Lycia and elsewhere, either under satraps or in direct relations with the central government. The boundaries of such areas, as well as those of the satrapies themselves, varied throughout the history of the empire. From the names of the satraps mentioned above, it is clear that Persians, and especially nobles related to the king, were the great majority. Indeed, by the end of the empire, the domination of Persians had become l02 ftiU,210:Mithradates,Rechum,SanballatI, legend tdnmw?); cf. G. F. Hill, Calalogue of the his son Delaia, Sanballat II, Hananiah, and Sanbal- Greek Coins in the British Museum, Arabia, lat III, to use Galling's transcriptions. Mesopotamia and Persia (London, 1922), cxli; J. There are uncertainties of time and extent of de Morgan's reading, op. cit. [n. 103], 50, is wrong. rule; cf. Leuze, op. cit. [n. 98], 1 53-63. The identity 105 Article in PW 'Daskyleion by Rugge. The ofthe coins of Vfemic, supposedly Struck atSinope, names of the satraps of Daskylion and Sardis, as and the Abrocomas of Syria is disputed; see J. de well as the Commander of Achaemenid forces in Morgan, Manuel de Numismatique Orientale, 1 the west, are offen confused in the sources. M " S ' 1923 ~ 26 )- 53 - ° n the name Tattenai see ' 06 Cf. L. Robert in CRAI (Paris, April 1975), io1 Uart ' 0p ' " L f n - 91 1- 52 - 308 - The name *druva-farnah would mean collo- For the coins of Mazaios (Aramaic legends quially 'solid luck,' but it might be an appellative '* Y) and his predecessor Datames (Aramaic instead of a personal name. 116 Chapter V well established everywhere. One may guess that noble families proliferated and intermarried, with family members holding high positions throughout the empire, and genealogies of some of the noble families reveal the interconnections. 107 This nobility held the real power in the empire, but the bureaucracy was also important, especially in regard to financial matters. The later Seleucid administrative division of satrapy, hyparchy and toparchy probably was inherited from the Achaemenids, and the main function of the subdivisions of the province was to collect taxes. 108 Taxes were mostly in kind, even after the introduction of coinage in the empire by Darius about 490 B.c. as we learn from the Elamite texts of Persepolis. 109 The Situation at Persepolis may have been unique, since there we find a hierarchy of treasurers, sub-treasurers, those who apportioned salaries, others who authorized travel rations, foremen (Elamite kurdabattis, OP *grdapati-) and many others. The impact of the introduction of a money economy into the empire must have had far-reaching consequences for the growth of trade as well as the stability of the empire, and the reduction of all goods to a common money denominator by royal edict was an event in world history of great significance. 1 10 Only the great king Struck gold coins, called stater by the Greeks, for the Iranian word daric (c. 8.4 gm. in weight) was probably named after Darius, rather than from a word for 'gold.' Silver was also Struck by satraps or by generals for use in war, to recruit mercenaries or for rewards, or bribery. If a satrap Struck gold coins, as in the satraps' rebellion in the time of Artaxerxes II, it was a sign of revolt. Herodotus (III, 90 foll.) teils us that taxes were reckoned in talents, a Greek unit of weight, but the Iranian System is difficult to reconstruct exactly. A *dänaka was 1/8 of a silver shekel or aiyXos (c. 5.6 gm.) a word the Greeks borrowed from a Semitic language as did the Persians; twenty of them equaled a gold daric, and ten shekels in weight made one weight of a karsha, an OP word. 1 1 1 The relation of gold to silver was about 13j :1, but it varied as did indeed the weights and measures in various parts of the empire. In spite of the introduction of coinage by Darius, it did not develop and receive wide acceptance any more than the Old Persian cuneiform writing, for the coins usually were accepted only for their metal content and not for any nominal value given to them. Later in the empire Greek coinage became populär, even more than the local satrapal coins of Cilica, Phoenicia or Asia Minor, such that the Attic coinage became 107 Cf. F. W. König, "Altpersische Adelsge- Dandamaev,"Forced Labourin Achaemenid Iran, schlechter," WZKM, 31 (1934), 309; 33 (1936), AF, 5 (1975), 74 55; 35 (1938), 35; also see F. Justi, Iranisches "° Cameron, supra, Treasury Tablets, 1—4. The Namenbuch (Marburg, 1895), 398-99. word *ganza, usually translated as 'treasury,' 1 ° 8 Usually the OP *hamärakara collected the ob viously means 'storeroom' where wine, oil and taxes and dehvered them to an OP *ganzabara other commodities were stored and not just 'accountant,' and the *dipi-bara 'scribe' recorded the precious metals or objects. transactions. Other words denoting similar func- "' On therelationshipof*rfdfidfe/> eil |n. 32|. 1 33, but in the east we find 57 few eitles founded by him unless their names were l " lor referenees to elay tablcts see 5> A. I'alhs. changed by later rulers "Tlie History of Babylon 53S-93 B(..." in Swditi On Seleueia, sourees, etc , see Tseherikower, Orienltilia loani Petersen, ed by F. Hvidberg i'/» dl |n 15|, 90 The prodigious activity of eity (C'openhagen, 1953), 282 Alexander the Great and the Seleucids 153 foundations, but the Seleucids were more interested in trade and commerce, is very attractive and convincing. 37 Antioch on the Orontes and Seleucia on the Tigris were the two most important foundations of Seleucus, Controlling the 'Fertile Crescent,' but other cities were completed along a line of Communications to the east. The process of settlement in the east must be inferred from Information on city foundations in Syria and the west, since there is no information in the sources about eastern cities. The excavation of a Hellenistic city on the banks of the Oxus River in Afghanistan called today Ay Khanum, however, has provided most welcome information to compare with cities in the west. Ay Khanum at first was tentatively identified with the city of Eucratideia, named after the Greco-Bactrian ruler Eucratides (Strabo XI, 576 ; Ptolemy VI, 11,8) which would date its founding in the third Century, but it seems that it had an earlier foundation perhaps from the time of Seleucus I. 38 In any case, there was a Hellenistic city on the upper Oxus River where the Kokcha joins it, and the remarkable Greek inscriptions, the theatre, gymnasium, agora and city plan which have been recovered by the archaeologists, all emphasize the thoroughly Greek character of the settlement. One inscription, among others, implies that a certain Clearchus, who wrote books as well as epigrams, one of which is on the base of a stele from the site, travelled from Delphi in Greece to this outpost in the east. 39 Hermes and Herakles are mentioned in another inscription, further evidence of the profoundly Greek character of the city. Apparently later, perhaps c. 1 50 b.c. in the Greco-Bactrian period, a (royal) court was added in the city, unusual for Hellenistic cities. The discovery of small fragments of philosophical papyri in Greek also attest to the strong Greek intellectual presence in a city far from Greece, but above all it indicates that the settlers were not just military colonists, but cross sections of all of the population were represented in the Hellenistic colonization of the east. 40 Seleucus followed Alexander in many respects, one of which was the policy of sending expeditions to far away provinces to learn about the limits of his domains. Patrokles was a Greek high official in the court of Seleucus who explored the coasts of the Caspian Sea, perhaps seeking water routes to the east since he also sailed in Indian waters (Strabo II, 69, 74; and Pliny VI, 58). A general of Seleucus, called Demodamas ot Miletus, may have led an expedition across the Jaxartes River at the end of Seleucus' reign (Pliny VI, 49) and Megasthenes, followed by Daimakhos (or Demimakhos) maintained an embassy at the Mauryan court of India on behalf of Seleucus, and it would seem that in spite of the ceding of territory to the Indians by Seleucus friendly ■ ' Tschenkower, op eil [n. 15]. 169. 1977 ä AT Khanoum," CRAl (avril-juin, 1978), L. Robert apud V Bcrnard. I'oiiillcs d'Ai 458, adds that Clearchus of Soloi, who visited Ay Minimum. MDAFA. 21, 1 (1973), 217-22. call» Khanum about 300 B.c and was a follower of Kineas, probably from Thessaly, the founder of the Anstotle had two elegaic Couplets of preeepts at city.smce a Greek inscription has been found there. Delphi erected in the temenos of Kineas in the city. presunubly o\er the tomb of Kineas, m the agora •*" Ibid. 459-60 On funerary jars the names »t Ay Khanum. and Robert suggests the town was Lssamos and lsidora (worshipper of Isis?) were •'" Alexandria founded by the conqueror, al- found. and the dedication of the gymnasium was though previously (p 210) he lud attributed the niade by two brothers Triballos and Strato, toiindmg to Seleucus 1 possible of Thracian origin. 1' Bcrnard, "Canipagnc de fouilles 1976- 154 Chapler VI relations were maintained between the two empires. 41 The amount of land ceded is unknown, but since Megasthenes had served in the satrapal court of Sibyrtios in Arachosia before being sent on the mission we may suppose that Arachosia probably was not included in the territory ceded by Seleucus to Chandragupta, although this province may have been conquered by Asoka, grandson of Chandragupta, since his inscriptions are found there. 42 These inscriptions, in Aramaic and in Greek, are fragments of copies of several of the edicts of Asoka, who was converted to Buddhism, and they give us an interesting picture of the population ofthose areas, once part of Alexander's empire and then under the Mauryas. 43 There were three groups in Arachosia, if we follow the inscriptions, Greco-Macedonians, Iranians who used Aramaic as their written language, and Indians. The Iranians may well be those people called Kambojas associated with the Greeks in the thirteenth rock edict of Asoka. Their location and the meaning of the word Kamboja are much debated, but it is at least agreed that they were Iranians living to the northwest of the sub- continent. 44 In the eyes of Indians, the Greeks (Yonas or Yavanas from Ionia) and the Iranians were associated, and this is a good characterization of the eastern Seleucid domain, a dual control. In addition to gathering information about his domains, Seleucus realized that it would be impossible to govern the east from Antioch on the Orontes, so he followed Antigonos in appointing a co-ruler of the east, in this case his son Antiochus, c. 294 or 293 b.c. 45 Seleucia on the Tigris became the eastern capital, the seat of Antiochus. According to Bengtson, the leading authority on the Organization of the Seleucid State, there were three categories of subjects of this State, the local dynasts, the cities and the ethnt, or 'peoples,' a division inherited from the Achaemenids. 46 The ethnos should 41 On Megasthenes the works ofj W McCrm- har, see F. R. Allchin and N. Hammond, 'l'he die, Amieitl India as Described by Megasthenes and Archaeology of Afghanistan (London, 1978), 192- Arrian (London, 1877), and Ancient India as 98, with bibhography. Described in Classkal l.iterature (Westminster, 44 V. S. Agrawala, India as Known to Pänini 1901) are still useful as reference works, but there (Lucknow, 1953), 48, identifics them asGalchasof are many books on the relations such as O. Stein, the Pamirs, which is unhkely. E. A. Grantovskn, Megasthenes und Kautilya (Vienna, 1 922) ; cf. Will, "Plemennoe obedinenie Parca-Parcava," in Istoriya supra, Histoire politique, 237-38 for sources and i Kultura Drevnei Indii, ed. by W. Kuben and V. discussion. Struve (Moscow, 1 963), 72-77, concludes that the 42 Although Appian (Rom Hist , Syr , 55) says Kambojas hved in Arachosia and in the Ghazna Seleucus ruled to the Indus River, there is no area The Parsu of Panini he identifies as ancestors indication how long he ruled m the east It is not of the Pashtuns or Afghans. unlikely that Chandragupta's son Bindusära ex- 4S Under Antigonos first Peithon (c. 323-316 panded the Mauryan empire as did Asoka in his B.(.) and then Nikanor (315-312) had served as early years, so the Suggestion above has much to stratCgos (or general-governor?) of the Upper commend it. On a possible ma'rnage between provinces The title is equivalent to satrap, of Seleucus I and an Indian princess, see J. Seibert, course, with more einphasis on the nuhtary side. Historische Beitrage zu den dynastischen Verbindun- but whether any real control was exercised by him gen in hellenistischer Zeit (Wiesbaden, 1967), 3. over the satraps of the farthest east is dubious. 4-1 For a description of the vanous inscriptions. 46 H Bengtson, Die Strategie in der hellenisti- l'ul-e Darunta in an Indian Prakrit language sehen Zeit, 2 (München, 1944), 3, and his Grie- (Aramaic aiphabet) and in the Aramaic language, einsehe Geschichte [ch 5, n. 1 8|, 438, supplanting E. two Aramaic inscriptions from the Laghinan Bikerman, I.es Institutions des Seleucides (Paris, valley, a bihngual Greek and Aramaic mscription 1 938) and M. Rostovtzelf, 'l'he Social and liconomic near Qandahar, an Indian Prakrit (Aramaic llistory ofthe Hellenislie World, 1 (Oxford, 1941). aiphabet) and Aramaic language bihngual from 423-542 Qandahar, and a Greek mscription from Qanda- Alexander the Great and the Seleucids 155 . the Old Persian dahyu- 'land' mentioned frequently in the Old Persian inscriptions. The Achaemenid city, OP vardana, did not have anything like the importance of the oolis of Hellenistic times, and it is hazardous to assert that cities on the Iranian plateau before Alexander had the same Status as Mesopotamian cities, while the latter also must not be confused with the megalopolis Babylon, or with other cities of a millennium earlier. The last category, the dynasts, were at first local rulers who had been absorbed into the empire without fundamentally losing their positions. Later, in the Achaemenid Empire and under the Seleucids, friends of the ruler, generals of the army and others received land with various privileges from the ruler, and some became the equal of local dynasts in wealth and authority. Land acquired by temples, through gift or purchase grew in size and independence under the Seleucids, but the degree of control which local governors, or the central court, exercised over temples undoubtedly varied considerably in different parts of the Seleucid domain. Likewise the control over cities by the central government varied considerably, even though de jure a polis might be regarded as independent and free. In practice the ruler had the most to say about the government of a city, although clashes over authority with the provincial government also occurred in many cities. It seems that the word ethne, used in Egypt and elsewhere, is very rare in a Seleucid context where instead olröiroi, which would somewhat correspond to the Old Persian word for 'land,' appears, but the expression does not necessarily mean the equivalent of 'satrapy,' although it sometimes does. 47 The territorial division of the Seleucid State at first followed the satrapal divisions of the Achaemenids and Alexander, but in time the satrapies were divided and more of them were created. In the east, however, Persis, Susiane and Media remained much as they were, while further east a progressive loss of territory occurred, first Arachosia, then Bactria and Parthia. Azerbaijan and Armenia, although at times nominally subject to the Seleucids, were really independent in practice. In regard to nomenclature, all scholars agree that the Greek sources are imprecise and contradictory, and the titles 'satrap and 'strategos' have caused dispute, but Bengtson's Suggestion that the latter title is used only in the western part of the empire as a synonym for the former, and that after Antiochus III the term strategos is more often used in place of 'satrap is convincing. 48 The provincial sub-divisions also cause trouble, for the terms hyparchy, toparchy, eparchy and meris or /i.€ptSapx ia appear in the sources. Tarn suggested that the Seleucid satrapy was divided into eparchies, which in turn were divided into hyparchies, while Altheim proposed a fourfold division: satrapy, meris, hyparchy and toparchy, the last also called stathmoi, but Bengtson's proposal that there was only a threefold division of satrapy, hyparchy and toparchy, with a rare meris in between a satrapy and a hyparchy and headed by meridarch only in the far east and in Palestine, here borrowed from the Ptolemies, fits the evidence better than the other theories 49 It is clear that the subdivisions were not uniform throughout the Seleucid domains, but we can say that the satraps in the east continued Bengtson, Strategie [n. 46], 1, 10-11. Geschichte Mittelasiens im Altertum (Berlin, 1970), Ibid., 48-51. Ibid., 30-38; W. W. Tarn, "Seleucid-Parthian ies," Proceedings of the British Academy, 16 (London, 1930), 24-33; F. Altheim and R. Stiehl * 8 Ibid., 48-51. " 325 The / term chiliarchy also appears in an 49 Ibid., 30-38; W. W. Tarn, "Seleucid-Parthian mscription'from Sardis, but not in the east (Tarn, Studies," Proceedings of the British Academy, 16 op. cit. [eh. 1, n. 23], 28). 156 Chapter VI in the Achaemenid tradition of being miniature kings with courts copying the central court. Certainly in Bactria and Parthia the satrap wielded military as well as political power. In the west, on the other hand, the central army and constant warfare with the Ptolemies, and with the Antigonids of Macedonia and others, gave the military element a preponderant role in the running of affairs. Revolts in the eastern satrapies seem to have followed a similar pattern as in the Achaemenid Empire, but under the Seleucids they eventually succeeded in detaching large parts of the empire from the central authority. 50 Just as the Achaemenid king and Alexander had their 'friends' at court, so did the Seleucids, and undoubtedly the change of rulers brought great changes in satrapal appointments and new individuals to the fore. Since the Seleucids were continually engaged in struggles in the west the generals (stratlgoi) at court became very important. In the east loyalty to the Seleucid government was based mainly on the kötoucoi or military colonists who were also the founders of the cities. The relation of these colonists to the satrapal Organization is unrecorded, but possibly they had the same relation to the satrap as did the cities in Syria and Asia Minor to the Seleucid king, quasi-independent, yet usually following his Orders. The various combinations of central and provincial troops and Commanders in the west throughout the Seleucid period do not concern us, rather only the domains of the governor-general of the east, a kind of co-regency, which is not to be confused, however, with the institution of double kingship such as two Spartan kings or two consuls in Rome. The east, after Seleucus had appointed his son as co-regent, was the land east of the Euphrates and included Mesopotamia, but it is not known where Antiochus spent much of his time as co-regent, presumably on the plateau. Margiane, or the Merv oasis, was surrounded by a wall of 1 500 stadia (over 300 km.), and a city named Antiocheia was founded by Antiochus at some time (Strabo XI, 516; Pliny VI, 47). It may have been a rebuilding of a city founded by Alexander but destroyed by nomads, according to Pliny, but this was surely only one of the foundations of Seleucus or Antiochus in the east. As noted, it would seem that the prime motivation in the founding of cities in the east was to secure the line of Communications and trade from the lowlands of Mesopotamia to Bactria and farther east. One study of this period emphasizes the Iranian reaction against Hellenism, which is contrary to the majority of writings which emphasize the spread of Hellenic culture in the east. 51 Eddy suggests that on the plateau Persis was the satrapy which opposed Hellenism the most, while Media and Bactria less so. He neglects the simple but striking fact that most of the Hellenistic city foundations of the Seleucids were in Media and on the route to Bactria, and out of the way areas were not exposed to Hellenistic culture to the same degree. The theory of a strong religious Opposition to the Seleucids, based on the close connection between the Achaemenid royal house and Zoroastrianism, with a twin motivation, restoration of Iranian rule and religious supremacy, is attractive but not necessarily universally valid. For not only the The process of breaking away in many cases is httle or no evidence, however, to support any may have been gradual, first a removal of central theory for the unconditional breakaway of satraps. officials in the province, followed by a reduction On the Achaemenid provincial divisions, see J. of military levies and tribute to the central court, Junge, "Satrapie und natio," Klio, 34 (1942), 49. then a vassal Status and finally independence. There 51 Eddy, supra, King is Dead, 75-100. Alexander the Great and the Seleucids 157 tolerance of the Hellenistic rulers towards local religions and cults, but the conscious identification of Greek with Oriental deities, the oft-described Hellenistic syncretism, cannot be ignored as a factor of conciliation. In the religious domain it appears that the westerners were more the learners and adapters, and there is little evidence of clashes to be found in the sources between Hellenic and Oriental religions. But again conditions surely varied in different parts of the Seleucid realm, which we should examine, beginning with Susiane. Susa remained as important a city under the Seleucids as it had been under the Achaemenids, and the first Seleucus renamed it Seleucia on the Eulaios (River) and it became a full-fledged Greek polis with the features of a Hellenistic city with magistrates, gymnasium, etc. 52 The large number of copper coins, first introduced by Seleucus I, found in French excavations over the years, assure us that Susa was an important mint for the Seleucids, and even before them, while Greek inscriptions from Parthian times indicate the strong persistence of Hellenism into the Christian era. Susiane was undergoing a Semiticization as well as a Hellenization under the Seleucids, and the native Elamites maintained their language and culture primarily in the mountains to the east, in what came to be called Elymais. The plains of Susiane were an extension of Mesopotamia, and the coins found at Susa from Characene or Mesene, at the mouth of the Tigris-Euphrates, attest the close commercial relations between the two areas. 53 Since the Seleucids were interested in trade and commerce and founded cities on the Persian Gulf, such as Ikaros on the island of Failaka near modern Kuwait, and Charax, founded by Alexander, we may assume that Susa formed part of that complex of Hellenic Settlements which remained loyal to the Seleucids long after the Parthians replaced them on the plateau, and Hellenic influences remained strong afterwards. There is no need to repeat the ample survey of the Greek inscriptions and names from Susa, which indicate a Hellenic domination of the local government throughout Seleucid rule, at least until the year 164 b.c. date of the death of Antiochus IV. Even afterwards, until the Elymaians captured the city about a.D. 45, the Greek language and Greek laws and institutions flourished at Susa. 54 From the Greek inscriptions and the coins we also see the Greek gods worshipped in the city, with Artemis and Apollo predominant, perhaps in the ofFicial cult of the Seleucid dynasty, although other deities appear on the coins infrequently such as Athena, the Dioscuri, Hermes, and perhaps Zeus and Herakles (Le Rider, p. 289). Nanaia of Susa, to be identified with Iranian Anahita, is mentioned in several inscriptions but the identification with Artemis seems to be a development of Parthian times (Le Rider, p. 295). The process of absorption of the Hellenic elements On the history of the city under the Seleucids 53 On the location of Charax see J. Hansman, **Le Rider, op. cit. [n. 25], 274-93. Le Rider ably "Charax and the Karkheh," IA, 7 (1967), 36-58. defends the naming of the city as "Seleucia' by For a history of Characene cf. S. A. Nodelman, "A Seleucus Iagainst Tarn whofävors Antiochus 111 as Preliminary History of Characene," Berytus, 13 the ruler who made it a polis. The further (1959-60), 83-121. The name Elymais comes Suggestion (p. 281) that colonists from Ephesus from Elam. were settled at Susa, because the local goddess 54 Le Rider op. cit, 287. The expansion of rice anaia was later identified with Artemis of culture and vine culture in Susiane (the latter tphesus, is attractive. One should note that dimcult on the hot plains) is attributed to the Macedonian names also occur there. Macedonians by Strabo (XV, 732). 158 Chapter VI in Susa was long, and here, more than elsewhere on the plateau, except perhaps Bactria, the influences of Hellenism survived. On the plateau in the mountains of Elymais, we have no sources from the period of Seleucid rule to indicate either the degree of Hellenization, undoubtedly much less than in Susiane, or the extent of Seleucid control. Later Elymais became an independent State, but under the early Seleucids we can only surmise that local cult- shrines existed in the mountain Valleys, as they did later, but central Seleucid control was almost non-existent. Persis, the favored homeland satrapy of the Achaemenids, however, presents problems for we do have equivocal information which is differently interpreted. As far as one can determine, Persis, with Persepohs, was under Macedonian rule to at least the early part of Seleucus' reign, mainly because of a few of his early coins found at Persepolis and also his coins found at Pasargadae. 55 How long loyalty to the Seleucids lasted is difficult to determine, for the senes of local coins Struck in Persis indicates an early rejection of Seleucid rule, which is not unexpected since Persis was the one province of the Achaemenid Empire which formerly did not pay taxes and where local Opposition to the conquerors would develop since memories and imperial Achaemenid traditions were strong. An inscription in Aramaic letters of not later than the third Century b.c. on the tomb of Dariusat Naqsh-e Rustam has caused much controversy, because it is preserved in an extremely miserable condition, and many fanciful readings of words based on the line drawings made by E. Herzfeld have obscured rather than aided an understanding of the inscription. 56 If the inscription does have (or rather had) the name slwk or 'Seleucus' in the second word of the fourth line as Henning proposed, then the inscription should be dated probably in his reign rather than at the end of the Achaemenid period. 57 The reason for such an unusual or unique inscription in a form of Old Persian but in the Aramaic Script escapes us, but it might be explained as an attempt of local lords to preserve some memory of the Achaemenid kings. If Seleucus himself had ordered such an inscription, one would have expected a Greek Version or an inscription only in Greek, as those from parts of altars or bases of statues from a temple in the piain at Persepolis dating from the Seleucid period. 58 If slwk is not the name of Seleucus 1, then the inscription might date 55 Cf. E. Schmidt, op. eil., 2 [eh. 5, n. 141], 1 10- destroying some vestiges of letters on the friable 1 4 ; G. C. Miles, Excavalion Coins from the Persepolis surface of the stone, it is not possible to control his Agion.NNM, 143(1959), 1,19; D. Stronach, op. sketches. Nonetheless, an examination of the eil. [eh. 5, n. 1], 198. Diodorus (XIX, 48, 5) surface and photographs reveals the inadvisability mentions a 'near revolt' of the Persians when of relymg implicitly on his drawings. Antigonos replaced Peukestas as satrap of Persis, -" W B. Henning, "Mitteliranisch," in HO. and Thespios their leader was executed by Iranistik (Leiden, 1958), 24. Traceson the stone are Antigonos. Later Diodorus (XIX, 92, 5) says that not now observable, so one must aeeept the the troops loyal to Antigonos wem over to reading of Henning, the most remarkable epigra- Seleucus, the last we hear of Persis in the sources. phist in lranian studies. The reading sarüka 56 Published by E. Herzfeld, Allpersische In- 'prineeps for slwk by G. Ito, "Gathica," Orient, 12 sr/ir./ren (Berlin, 1939), 12, Tafel IV; the interpre- (Tokyo, 1976), 58, is intriguing, although the tations by F. Altheim, Wellgeschichte Asiens im W ord would mean rather 'fortress' or 'tower'; cf. griechischen Zeilaller, 1 (Halle, 1947), 37-39, Frye, "The 'Aramaic' inscription on the Tomb of repeated in his Die aramäische Sprache unter den Darius," 1A, 17 (1982), 85-90. Achaimeniden (Frankfurt/M, 1963), 10-12, and *» E. Herzfeld, An Archaeological History of Iran elsewhere, are dubious. Since Herzfeld made a (London, 1935), 44 He says the mscriptions were paper squeeze of the inscription, in the process not from a Greek temple but a temple to the local Alexander the Great and the Seleucids \5$ from late Achaemenid times, which would make more historical sense than a Seleucid date. The coins of the frataraka 'governor' of Persis are also enigmatic at least in their dating and significance. Generalizations from the presence or absence of coins at excavation sites are always tentative, but they may indicate a certain historical Situation, so an examination of coins found in excavations at Persepolis, Pasargadae, Qasr-e Abu Nasr, and Susa can give us some information. No coins of Persis have been found at Susa or at Pasargadae, which does indicate that the realm of circulation of the coins was small. The two small hoards from Pasargadae have coins of Seleucus I but no later Seleucids, while the coins from Persepolis have only one Seleucid example but many frataraka coins. 59 This would further imply that Pasargadae rather than Persepolis was the Seleucid center in Persis and that Persepolis may have been a local center, the two existing in some sort of modus vivendi until the local dynasts established a treaty or vassal relationship with the Seleucids. From the coins found in excavations in Fars province, and from the bazaars of Shiraz, it seems that the only Seleucid coins current in this province were those of Seleucus I, and one small hoard from the piain near Persepolis indicates that the coins of the local dynasts in Persis followed immediately after those of Seleucus I. 60 The local coins were inscribed with Aramaic legends, unlike other coins in this period which were all in Greek, and the Persis coins show a development over a long period of time in several phases. The earliest coins have the legend in Aramaic prtrk ' zy %y "governor of the gods,' or on 'behalf of the gods.' The title 'frataraka' is enigmatic, but it is attested in Aramaic papyri found in Egypt from the Achaemenid period, and the office in Egypt was just under the satrap and included military as well as civil jurisdictions. The etymology of the word is uncertain, but it may mean 'the first' (after the satrap) and thus be appropriate for a similar office in Persis. 61 We do not know whether the first coins gods, although reasons are not given. The short 60 E. T. Newell, The Coinage of the Eastern inscriptions are simply the following: HAIOY; Seleucid Minis (N.Y., 1938), 159-60. As far as I A BHNAE BAZIAEIAE; AIOE MEHE- know the only Seleucid coins found in the bazaars TOY; APTEMIAOE; and AnoA[AO], all are Alexander type coins and rarely Seleucus I. The on small slabs of stone. There is no indication of two stränge gold coins supposedly from the Oxus assimilation with local deities or syncretism in treasure, now in the British Museum, may be these inscriptions. forgeries; at least no. 4 pl. XXVHI of Hill, op. eil. 59 Cf. G. K. Jenkins ajWStronach, op. cit. [eh. 5, [eh. 5, n. 104] does not inspire confidence in its n. 1], 185-98; G. Miles, Excavation Coins from the authenticity. Coin no. 6, obv. has a head like those Persepolis Region, NNM, 143 (1959), 1-23, with on the early coins of Persis while the rev. has the further references on page one. At Qasr-e Abo quadriga of coins of Andragoras. No other Nasr (Old Shiraz) one bronze coin of Seleucus I speeimens of these coins have been found, so they was found and a copy of a hemidrachm of cannot be used as well-known coin issues. Alexander the Great, as well as eleven coins of 6I For a discussion of the title and bibliography Persis, cf. G. Miles apud R. N. Frye, Sasanian see P. Naster, "Note depigraphie monetaire de Remainsfrom Qasr-i Abu Nasr (Cambridge, Mass., Perside," IA, 8 (1968), 74-80. It is important to 1973), 26. The existence of a mint in Persepolis or note that one and the same man is called segan (in Pasargadae is by no means clear, since those coins Aramaic 'governor") and frataraka in the Elephan- attributed to a mint in Persis may in fact be issues tine documents; cf. B. Porten, Archives from of Susa. Cf. A. Houghton, "Notes on the Early Elephantine (U. of California Press, 1968), 48, and Seleucid Victory Coinage of 'Persepolis'," Schwei- Grelot, Documents aram. d'Egypte (Paris, 1972), 75. zerische Numismatische Rundschau, 59 (Bern, 1 980), 4. 160 Charter VI were Struck by independent princes or simply vassals of the Seleucids, perhaps similar to the family of Atropates in Azerbaijan, but if we follow the evidence of the coins alone we could say that after Seleucus I, in Persis we find only local dynasts who issued coins with Aramaic legends, and on the reverses of the coins was a structure with either the horns which existed on the parapet of the palace of Achaemenid Persepolis above the plains, or a crenellated stone, also found on the top of buildings at Persepolis above which was the 'Ahura Mazda' symbol (or the king's 'glory"), and beside the structure an Achaemenid (war) Standard. All of these Symbols indicated a continuation of the royal and religious traditions of the great kings in their homeland. The numismatic evidence seems clear, but unfortunately it does not tally with literary sources. Polybius is the main source, and he teils of Alexander a Seleucid governor of Persis at the accession of Antiochus III in 223 b.c. (V, 40, 7). After the suppression of a revolt by Molon, satrap of Media and brother of Alexander, the latter committed suicide, and later Antiochus III, on his way back from India c. 205 b.c., stopped in Kerman, but nothing is said of Persis (XI, 39, 13). Most scholars have considered this sufficient evidence to propose the continuation of Seleucid rule in Persis at least until the end of the reign of Antiochus III. Before the eastern expedition, in the battle of Raphia of Antiochus III against Ptolemy V of Egypt (c. 217 b.c.) Persian bowmen served in the Seleucid army (V, 79, 6). Two notices in Polyaenus, Strategika (7, 39 and 40), refer to Persis but with no dates. In the first a certain Seleucid general Seiles under one of the kings called Seleucus massacred 3000 rebellious Persians, and later a certain "Oßoptfls led the Persians to a massacre of 3000 colonists (kcltoikoi), and this latter event has been identified with a Vohubarz, second frataraka of the series of Persis coins. Another event, mentioned by Pliny (VI, 152) is the victory of Numenius, the governor of Mesene under Antiochus, over the Persians in a sea battle in the straits of Hormuz off the coast of Kerman, but we do not know which Antiochus is meant, in this case possibly IV. All of this has led some scholars to propose that Persis only became independent after Antiochus III, with the two events mentioned by Polyaenus and Pliny 's remark coming later. 62 How do we reconcile the numismatic data with the Statements by Classical authors? There are two Solutions; either Seleucid control rose and feil from the time of Seleucus I, which might fit with the different series of coins of Persis, or there may have been a parallel rule, either in different geographical parts of Persis, the Seleucids in the north and Persians in the south, or a concurrence of Seleucid and Persian rule where a Seleucid satrap ruled together with a local dynast. The title of the Persian dynast could imply a division of authority between a Seleucid civil governor and a religious, Oriental local ruler who, nonetheless, had the right to strike coins for the province. The absence of Seleucid coins in Persis, while in other parts of Iran they are found, mitigates against accepting a füll Seleucid control with the dating of the rule of the local dynasts only after Antiochus III. 63 It is possible that 62 H. H. Schmitt, Untersuchungen zur Geschichte B.c. This is hardly acceptable, for the coins must Antiochos' des Großen und seiner Zeit, Historia, cover a longer period of time. Einzelschriften, Heft 6 (Wiesbaden, 1964), 46-50, 63 On Seleucid copper coins found in Media see and esp. Stiehl in Altheim, Hunnen, 1 , [eh. 5, n. 68], M. A. Stein, Old Routes of Western Iran (London, 379, who puts the rule of the frataraka dynasty in 1940), 304-04, and Newell, op. cit. [n. 60], under Persis less than 50 years, between c. 1 87 and 1 40 'Ecbatana.' Alexander the Great and the Seleucids 161 the Seleucid kings, at least from Antiochus I through III, had an agreement with the local dynasts of Persis, allowing them to strike their own coinage, and to give only nominal allegiance to the Seleucids, who nonetheless did maintain a presence in the person of a satrap appointed by the king. Since the province was very dimcult of access because of mountains on all sides, and not lying on important trade routes, this picture may be accurate. Unfortunately, we do not know the locations of Seleucid city foundations in Persis, but Tarn has argued that the most important, Antiochia, was on the coast near present Bushire. 64 The remark by Strabo (XV, 736) that the Persians in his time had kings subject to other kings, formerly to those of the Macedonians but now to the Parthian (kings), perhaps provides the answer, namely that the dynasts of Persis who issued their own coins were really vassals of the Seleucids. The names of the early rulers of Persis were not Achaemenid names; those came much later in the series which we will examine when the Persis dynasts were under Parthian hegemony. The early coins show on the obverse a head facing to the right with a distinctive headdress covering ears and hair, unlike any previous royal headgear but similar to heads on some satrapal issues of the Achaemenid period, which may be an indication of the Status in which the dynasts regarded themselves. 65 The legends on the coins are extremely dimcult to decipher and many letters cannot be distinguished from each other, for on several specimens of the earliest coins from the series, one scholar read bywrt, while another read bgkrt (the latter more likely as an Iranian name) with his successor bgdt 'god given.' 66 However the dispute over the date of these coins may be resolved, it seems clear that the coins of the first series, using the title frataraka, imply the Subordination of a dynast to a higher sovereign, and whether this first happened after Seleucus I or Antiochus III is at present unknown. The second series of these coins show a change in headgear and a degeneration of the reverses, but more important is the change in title to MLK' 'king,' and old Achaemenid names such as Darius (d\yw) and Artaxerxes (\tx$tr) appear on the coins, while the final series takes on the characteristics of Parthian coins. It is clear that after the reign of Seleucus I, Persis was not securely under Seleucid rule, but a füll independence of the province seems possible only after Antiochus III. If the coins of Persis were Struck only after that time we must suppose more than a Century of no coinage in the province after Seleucus I, and a corollary would be that only the Greco- Macedonian settlers used the coins of Seleucus I while the local population did not, and only later did they accept their own local coinage, but this is unlikely. It is safe to assume that in the province of Persis old imperial memories, rather than traditions, 64 Tarn, Alexander, 1 [n. 6], 257; Greeks [eh. 1, 66 The first reading was by Hill, op. cit. [eh. 5, n. n. 23], 418. This is a plausible Suggestion since, as 104], clxv and 196; the second by Allotte de la we shall see later, Antiochus III probably launched Fuye, Mordtmann and others; cf. de Morgan, his expedition against Arabia from this city - a NuniismatiqueJelaPerseanlique(Pms,1927), i55- seaport. 79. On some coins we seem to find prs prtrk ' 'Persis 65 de Morgan, Manuel, 1 [eh. 5, n. 103], 50, fig. frataraka.' 29. See also P. Naster, "Fire-altar or Fire-tower on the Coins of Persis," Orientalia Lovaniensis, 1 (1970), 125-29. 162 Chapter VI were preserved but romanticized and distorted, whereas elsewhere in Iran the past did not weigh heavily, if at all, on the local population. 67 Kerman or Carmania was an eastward extension of Persis, although it was separated from Persis by deserts and mountains and did not have the isolation which Persis did. Communications with Media were easier than with Persis, and when we hear that Antiochus III in the fall of 206 B.c. reached Kerman Coming from his eastern campaign (Polybius XI, 39, 13), we are not told how he returned to Seleucia, nor do we hear of a Seleucid satrap in Persis at this time, then one can only speculate on the relation of Antiochus III to the local population. Pliny (VI, 115) says an Antiochus built a town to the west of Pasargadae, which Antiochus we cannot say, but probably II, while Antioch in Persis was built by Antiochus III about 205 B.C. and, as noted, has been located near present Bushire. 68 If this location is correct, it teils us nothing about Seleucid control in the interior of Persis, for the sea coasts were surely under Seleucid rule for a long time. It must be remembered that Antiochus III lost his life while attempting to plunder a temple in Elymais in the summer of 1 87 b.c. and by that time Seleucid hegemony in Persis and Elymais must have been most tenuous if existing at all. 69 To turn to the north of Iran we find more traces of the Seleucids, both in monuments and in coinage, than in Persis. The two stone columns and stone bases possibly of a temple at Khurhe (near Mahallät) date from Seleucid times, as does the late relief of the reclining Herakles from Behistun. 70 In 193 b.c. Antiochus III instituted a cult for his wife Laodice as recorded in a Greek inscription from Nihavend, and another inscription on the relief of Herakles dates from 148 B.c. Other remains of the Seleucid occupation of northern Iran are few, but so are the non- Hellenistic remains such as the rock tombs of Kizkapan in Iraqi Kurdistan, which show as much Hellenistic influence as the frataraka figures on the door jamb from Persepolis. Farther to the north, in Azerbaijan and in the Caspian provinces both Hellenistic cultural influences and political control were much less than in Media. All indications point to Hamadan as the summer residence, and Seleucia as the winter capital, of the Seleucid co-ruler, the governor-general of the 'upper satrapies,' who was the crown prince Antiochus under Seleucus I beginning from the year 294 or 293 B.c. We do not know whether succeeding crown princes automatically occupied this high post in virtue of their being successors to the throne, but we may assume several of them did. 71 Antiochus III, we have seen, assigned Molon to this The only certain archaeological remains town but had been driven out may be compared from this period in Persis are the hardly visible with I Maccabees 5, where the town is called figures on a door jamb ofa temple near Persepolis; Elymais! Whatever the reality behind these cf. E. Schmidt, op. eil., 1 [eh. 5,n. 141],figs., 16-17; reports, they show the loss of Seleucid rule there R. Ghirshman, Iran, Parlhians, and Sassanians 70 All bibliographic references to archaeological (London, 1962), 26, fig. 34. sites and monuments may be found in L. Vanden For the text see C. B. Welles, Royal Berghe, Bibliographie analytique de 1'archMogie de Correspondence of the Hellenistic Period, (New l'lran arteten (Leiden, 1979), and references will be Haven,1934)31/2.Tarn,Greefej[ch.l,n.23],418, made to this work. Seleucid copper coins have for identification of this town with Bushire; see been found near Harsin and elsewhere in Media; also H. H. Schmitt, op. cit. [n. 62], 14. see Stein, op. cit. [n. 63], 304-07. 69 The report in II Maccabees, 9, 1-2, that 7I Bengtson, Strategie, 2 [n. 46], 83-85, gives a Antiochus IV had entered Persepolis and tried to survey with references. rob the temples there and take possession of the Alexander the Great and the Seleucids 163 position, and later another rebel against the Seleucids, called Timarkhos, was also probably the governor-general of the 'upper satrapies.' As time progressed, however, the area of the 'upper satrapies' diminished, and we cannot determine the extent of Seleucid rule in each of the provinces in the east. Azerbaijan, or Atropatene, named after the satrap Atropates, was no more part of the Seleucid realm than Persis, and the same lack of information about a Seleucid satrap, relationship to Media or vassal Status, makes any precise determination of rule impossible, but the area was hardly under direct central control of the Seleucids (Strabo XIII, 523). The summer capital of Azerbaijan was Gazaka or Ganzaka 'the treasury' probably located near modern Miandöäb, while the winter capital of Phraaspa or Fraata was near modern Maragheh. 72 When Antiochus III invaded the area and then made peace, the local dynast who continued to rule was called Artabazanes, a member of the same family as Atropates. The isolated Caspian Sea coastal area, as frequently throughout its history, was independent of control from the plateau. THE FALL OF THE SELEUCIDS AND THEIR HERITAGE From the coins minted in the eastern part of the Seleucid empire, one tentatively may trace the decline of Seleucid control on the Iranian plateau. If the observations about the coins by Newell are accepted, Antiochus first Struck coins in the chief city of Bactria after he had been made ruler of the eastern satrapies, and the coins should date after 289 b.c. 73 The change in weight Standard from Attic to 'Indian' in a second series of such coins does not mean that the coins were Struck in India but rather in an area of eastern Standard weight in which India was included. The series of Seleucid coins Struck in Bactria ends with Antiochus II and naturally blend into issues of the first independent ruler, Diodotus, first with the name of Antiochus and then his own name, indicating the stages of transition to independence probably after the death of Antiochus II in 247 b.c. (Newell, p. 249). To conclude questions of coinage, one group of enigmatic coins does not fit into any series we know; the name in Greek on the obverse of the coins showing a bust of someone in a helmet copied from that of Seleucus I, without a title, is in the genitive, Uaxpvrov, with weight based on an Indian rather than Attic Standard. 74 In spite of the frequent identification of the name on the coin with an Indian ruler Sopeithes, a contemporary of Alexander the Great, this is hardly possible from a numismatic point of view. The mint should be in Bactria, or possibly at Kapisa in the Hindukush, but the dynast or satrap on the coin from the style of the coin should have lived about the time of Seleucus I or later. His coins may be compared with those of Andragoras, satrap of Parthia who became independent in the time of Seleucus II. Uncertain mints in the east, unfortunately, cannot help us with a chronology of Seleucid rule in various provinces such as Aria (Herat), Seistan or others, mainly 72 See V. Minorsky, "Roman and Byzantine R. B. Whitehead, "The Eastern Satrap Sophytes," Campaigns in Atropatene," BSOAS, 11 (1943), Numismatic Chronicle (1943), 60-72. See also C. 263. Kirkpatrick, "Some New Coins of Sophytes," 73 Newell, op. cit. [n. 60], 230. Numismatic Circular (London, Oct. 1973), 373, 74 All the literature on Sophytes is collected by where 19 coins are listed. 164 Chapter VI because the mint sites cannot be located. From all the coins, however, it is clear that Seleucid rule came to an end in eastern Iran more or less with the death of Antiochus II, if not before, and only the expedition of Antiochus III to the east briefly restored Seleucid rule. It is also evident that the mints in Hamadan and Bactra were the two important, continuous mint sites in the east, an indication of Seleucid interest in Controlling the trade route from the plains of Mesopotamia to Central Asia. 75 The existence of coins with the names Sophytes, Andragoras, and in Aramaic wMw{r) 'Vaxsu' or 'Vaxsuvar,' without titles indicates a gradual process of the loosening of ties with the Seleucid court. 76 The existence of this rare Aramaic legend on the coins raises the question of the position of Aramaic in the Seleucid realm. Greek was the omcial and dominant written language of the Seleucid empire, but Aramaic continued in use especially in the outlying provinces or principalities such as Armenia, Sogdiana, Khwarazm, or Persis, while Asoka, the Mauryan ruler (c. 273- 232 B.c.), as we have seen, considered Greek and Aramaic the two languages of the inhabitants of the Qandahar region, although in Laghman, east of Kabul, only Aramaic was deemed sufficient to record his Buddhist edicts. Did the Seleucids have a dual chancellery, using both Greek and Aramaic as omcial' languages? There is no evidence, other than bilingual inscriptions, for the use of Aramaic by the Seleucid government except to communicate with the literate local population or with independent or semi-independent satraps or dynasts. We may conjecture that Greeks and Macedonians living in a polis or in a settlement in the east at first followed the usual pattern of ruling colonizers; they did not learn the local language as much as the local population had to learn Greek. Since most of the Greek colonies in the east were set up near native towns or villages, and Seleucid cities seemingly were not so clearly divided between colonists and natives as in Egypt, this made the process of Hellenization, and the opposite as well, progress more quickly than in the Ptolemaic kingdom. 77 Obviously this is not the place to discuss Seleucid institutions, for even Information about military colonists (katoikoi), land grants (kleroi), or ethnic groups in a town (politeumata) comes from the western part of the Seleucid realm, and it is hazardous to transfer a Situation in Anatolia to one in Merv, for example. 78 Certainly in Bactria military colonies were numerous, composed of retired soldiers and their families, as well as civilian colonists brought from the west and given land by the government. The military colonial origin of the majority of city foundations in the east is clear, but we have no information about how different groups of people lived in them and how they reacted together. How many Greeks and how many Orientais lived in one or another colony escapes us, as do the reasons why some became poleis 75 That Seleucus founded cities along trade now in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, routes is stated by Libanius, Oral. 11, 1 00. Cf. indicates a mint master rather than the name of a G. M. Cohen, The Seleucid Colonies, Hisloria, city. Cf. Houghton op. eil. [n. 59]. Einzelschriften, 30 (Wiesbaden, 1978), 83-84. " Cohen, op. eil. [n. 75], 52-54, 72-83. He Strategie considerations were also important in the characterizes Seleucid cities (p. 41) as "Greek in founding of colonies. character but distinctly cosmopolitan in 76 On the coins with Aramaic legends see A. R. population." Bellinger, "Coins from the Treasure of the Oxus," 78 One must neither use ancient Greek political ANSMN, 10 (1962), 67. The existence of two theory for the Hellenistic age, nor confuse the Aramaic letters on a 'victory com' of Seleucus 1, western part of the Seleucid realm with the east. Alexander the Great and the Seleucids 165 while others did not. One may attribute loyalty to the Seleucids not only to the feeling on the part of the Greco-Macedonian colonists that it was to their interest, indeed their need to survive, to support the house of Seleucus, but also to the policies of conciliation and even syncretism in religion, and in customs, which brought support from the local population. Undoubtedly Greek legal practices, institutions of city life and much more, had a lasting influence on the local peoples under Seleucid rule, but to trace or disentangle the connections is hardly possible. The Seleucids had successfully assumed the imperial mantle from Alexander and the Achaemenids, and the Iranians rather than supporting this, merely accepted it while turning their attention to local afFairs. There was no imperial pretender around whom all Iranians would rally to oust the conquerors. Furthermore, since the Greco- Macedonians were tolerant and did not disrupt native religions but rather fostered them in the past tradition, they did not encounter any populär movements to overthrow the Seleucids but only local or tribal revolts which did not pretend to imperial claims of power. The danger to Seleucid rule did not come from these threats from natives, but rather from its own satraps or dynasts when they feit that the Seleucid central government was weak, and it was the time for them to assert claims of independence. The central authority was upheld essentially by a mercenary professional army, which when well paid was more than a match for local contingents. Inasmuch as the rule of the Seleucids was highly personal the court and the 'friends' of the king were very important. Just how much of the court in Antioch was mirrored in the court of the governor-general of the east is difficult to determine, but one may assume that under Seleucus I, when his son Antiochus was ruler of the east (c. 294-281 b.c.) the court of the east was a copy of that in the west, but afterwards we have no Information even to hazard a guess. One may only conjecture that after or even during the reign of Antiochus I the east lost any parity it may have had, for the energies of the later Seleucid kings were directed to affairs related to the Ptolemies and to Asia Minor, while the east fended for itself. Under the governor- general of the 'upper satrapies,' how was Iran ruled? We cannot determine whether the political theory whereby the Seleucid realm was divided into vassal kings (ßaoiAels), vassal dynasts (Suvöcrrai), cities and peoples (edvirf) had any reality in Iran, but all categories existed there. 79 Under the kings we could place frontier lords, who were really independent and only paying lip Service to Seleucid overlordship, or even that being fictional, such as Chandragupta under Seleucus I, the kings of Khwarazm in Central Asia and possibly the rulers of Armenia. Under the second category one might put the frataraka of Persis and later Andragoras and even Diodotus of Bactria, but this is simply conjecture, the need to find someone to fit into the second group. Cities in the east are a problem since we only have archaeological evidence for them, but it would not be amiss to suggest that they had less autonomy than those of Asia Minor, or Seleucia on the Tigris. Although some of these cities during the later Seleucid period were almost independent and in the Status 79 On the theory see E. Meyer, Blüte und descnbmg different elementsof power and author- Niedergang des Hellenismus (Berlin, 1925), 43, and ity, and may have had little or no application to Rostovtzeff, op. eil., 3 [n. 46], 1440, n. 277. This reality. In the east we simply do not know. theory may only have been a general way of 166 Chapter VI of allies of the king, it is doubtful if any of the cities on the Iranian plateau were independent of the satraps in the areas where they were located. 80 There is no reason to believe that Ay Khanum on the Oxus, for example, had the same relation to the local satrap as some of the allied cities of Asia Minor had to later Seleucid rulers. This does not mean that the cities in the east had no internal autonomy; they probably collected their own taxes to remit to a central government, and they had their own Greek forms of government. Just how the king's or satrap's representatives meshed or clashed with local authorities is unknown. The relationship of land tenure and land ownership to cities and other institutions of the central government also must be surmised. In addition to old Achaemenid 'royal' domains which were given to Greek colonists, retired soldiers, or left in the hand of an original Iranian landlord, some lands were granted by the king directly to a city or a colony. Temple property in the early years seems to have been little touched by the king, although later in the Seleucid period sequestering of temple property by the government or king was not uncommon. There is also no evidence of attempted 'Hellenization' by force in Iran, as under later Seleucid kings in Palestine/^ and if sources from Babylonia provide a model for non-existent sources in Iran, theri we may infer a Seleucid tolerance, if not patronage, of temples and religions in the east. 81 The existence of rieh and powerful temple complexes in Iran, as existed in Babylonia, is unattested, although shrines and sanetuaries existed, and the architectural remains of what may have been temples in Khurhe and Kangavar show Greek styles and influences. Were such struetures built by and meant only for the Greco-Macedonians, or did Iranians partieipate in the worship of Herakles, Dionysius and other Greek deities? What seems to have happened was the adoption of certain Hellenic traits, stories, or even practices in the religion of the Greeks, by Iranians into the Zoroastrian religion without, however, direct 'conversion' or even the adoption of foreign names. Thus Rustam, probably originally a Saka hero later adopted by all Iranians, took on some of the traits of Herakles without becoming the Greek hero in name or religious content. It is, of course, misleading to speak of one 'Greek' religion or one 'Iranian' religion, since there undoubtedly were many local eults and variant forms of religious rituals and practices among both peoples. Since both peoples were heirs of a common Indo-European religious, as well as linguistic, background such identifications as Helios or Apollo with Mithra and Herakles with Verethragna at Commagene in Asia Minor must have existed elsewhere. Just how much Zoroastrianism clashed with the Greek religion, but especially with the Hellenistic ruler eults, we cannot say. Whether Iranians distinguished between Greeks and Macedonians, or Hellenized Asiatics is also unknown, but unlikely. In fact, our lack of Information from Iran in this period is especially frustrating, because we must rely on Babylonia or Bactria to give possible parallels. In Babylonia Seleucia was a Greek polis while Uruk was a native city, and 80 Certam cities. such as Seleucia on the Tigris, s ' See Rostovtzeff, op. eil , 3 [n 46], 1 427. There o\erstruck imperial coins indicating some kind of is no evidence that the Seleucids killed native independence, and if the cities did this we may priests and destroyed temples, and if it happened lnrer that satraps in the east did the same, in the case the motivation was pohtical rather than religious, or Sophytes, Andragoras and others Cf. Bikerman as far as we know. op (it |n. 46]. 226 Alexander the Great and the Seleucids 167 excavations have been made at both. 82 It is clear that at both cities Seleucid coins were current; Greek inscriptions on seals and bullae are found; Greek officials were present in both, and other features of Hellenism were present in both. But Uruk had a temple to the God Anu, identified with Zeus, and all of the cuneiform documentation shows a traditional native life in füll vigor, while Seleucia was founded as a Greek city without local elements. Ay Khanum was apparently like Seleucia, but in time all of the towns became mixed in character if not in institutions. Some natives were proud to become 'Hellenized,' others were not. Some aristocratic Iranians became 'Hellenized,' as did their descendants who became 'Westernized' in recent times. In the end native culture and values absorbed the 'Hellenization,' but it took a long time and the tenacity of Greek culture was remarkable, especially the Greek language and institutions, for the Greek cities continued to exist late into Parthian times still holding on to civic organizations, gymnasia, theatres and such features of Hellenistic civilization which did not interfere with the religious and domestic life of the mass of the population. For native customs and traditions prevailed in time over the laws and institutions grafted onto the ancient lands by the Seleucid kings. The peasantry, the vast majority of the population, continued to exist, little changed by the Hellenism of the cities. We do not know of conflicts between the countryside and the cities, not to mention the role of nomads, but one may assume that under the Seleucids there was less of this conflict between different groups of the population than in other periods of Iran's history, although such conflicts may well have contributed to the fall of the Seleucids. Little has been found about monetary policies of the Seleucids, but again, by comparison with other areas such as Babylonia and Syria, one may project into Iran a picture of a great expansion of trade and commerce on the Iranian plateau with the Seleucid policy of founding cities and continuing coinage started by Alexander on the Attic Standard. Most trade in the east was in luxury goods, such as spices, gems, and textiles, for the east was largely self-sufticient in foodstufFs, unlike Greece, but no doubt the extension of the use of coinage into areas which previously had known only barter and the expansion of contacts with foreign lands greatly influenced Iran and Central Asia as it did the rest of the Hellenistic world. The introduction of the Seleucid calendar to all parts of the empire, rules and regulations on banking, and many practices of which we have virtually no information, all indicate that the early Seleucid period was one of Organization and development, expansion of trade, and in general of great prosperity. 83 But it did not last, mainly because of the continual warfare between the Seleucids and the Ptolemies and between the Seleucids and 82 For the vjrious reports on Uruk (modern eil ,2 |n. 46], eh. 8. It isimpossible todomorethan Warka) sce the references in B. Hrouda, Vordera- touch the many activities in the Seleucid period sien I, Handbuch der Archäologie (Munich, 1971), which brought Greece and India in contact, not to 292-93 On Seleucia sec W van Ingen, Figurines mention countries in between. Travelling artists, froin Seleucia on the Tigris (Ann Arbor, Michigan, musicians and players as well as merchants moved 1939) with an extensive bibhography. On the eults great distances in the Seleucid period. Cf. The it Uruk sce 1V1 Rutten, Contrats de l'epoque l:\cavations at Dura-Europos, Ninth Season, pre- Seleucide (Paris, 1935), 28, 37 and 52, for an hminary report, ed. by M. I. Rostovtzeff, 1 (New assimilated eult of the king. Haven, 1944), 264. 83 See the excellent summary in Rostovtzeff op 168 Chapter VI various Hellenistic states of Greece and Asia Minor. It began already in the time of Antiochus I. Antiochus I, after the death of his father, probably never returned to Iran, for he had to fight many battles especially in Asia Minor, revolts in Syria and wars with the Ptolemies, although in the decade before his death (271-261 B.c.), he may have gone to the east after Babylon where he was in 268 B.c., during the crisis when Antiochus had his eldest son Seleucus killed, and a younger son Antiochus II became crown prince. The latter, after the death of his father, had to fight much and often against the Egyptians and others, while it seems that affairs in the east were neglected even more by Antiochus II than by his predecessors. The satrapies of the east were left to fend for themselves, and one may conjecture that sentiments for independence from central Seleucid authority were not slow to appear and by 246 b.c., the death of Antiochus II, de facto independence was moving to complete Separation. Under Seleucus II, who had to fight for his throne in the west against his half brother supported by the redoubtable Ptolemy III, the eastern part of the Seleucid realm began to disintegrate. It is significant that in the mint of Bactra the coins of Antiochus II are followed bf coins with his name but with the head of Diodotus, presumably satrap of Bactria, and finally the same type coins with the legend BAZIAEQE AlOAOTOY. 84 This implies that the break with the Seleucids took place after the death of Antiochus II in the reign of Seleucus II. Just who was governor-general of the eastern provinces at this time, or whether the orfice had lapsed, we do not know. About the same time we may suppose, a certain Andragoras, usually identified as satrap of Parthia, issued coins without a title, indicating a continuing nominal allegiance to the Seleucids. Since a Greek inscription with the same name, not a satrap but a lesser officer, has been found in Hyrcania (Gurgan), but from an earlier period before 266 B.c., it is possible that we have the same person, who later became satrap of Hyrcania or of Parthia. It is also possible that the coins with the name Sophytes, without title mentioned above, also are from this period, with Sophytes as a lesser satrap somewhere in the east. This would mean that the eastern satrapies as a group reacted against Seleucid domination and central weakness about the same time, the beginning of the rule of Seleucus II. While this is only a hypothesis, it Covers our known data better than any other surmise and may stand until further evidence invalidates it. Seleucus II was in no position to move eastward to recover lost Seleucid lands until he was dnven from Asia Minor by a great defeat at Ankara, probably c. 239 B.c., but then he had to reorganize his forces in Syria and Mesopotamia. So his campaign to the east must have been sometime, as a guess, between 230 and 227 b.c. 85 The inability to assign coins of Seleucus II to a definite mint in eastern Iran (Newell vacillates between Hekatompylos and Herat), combined with the paucity of sources (Strabo XI, 514, and Justin XLI, 4, 8-10; 5, 1) prevents us from reconstructing events in the east. Strabo says the Parthians fled before Seleucus into the desert and Justin claims the Parthians 84 On the Bactrmn coins see Newell, op eil. (n 85 On the dating and a good discusion of this 60], 247-49; on the coins of Andragoras see R. period, see Will, supra,Histoirepolilique, 1,278-81, Ghirshman, "Jhe tetradrachme d"Andragoras," in with an ample bibliography. Near Eastern Numismalics, Studies in Honor of George C. Miles, ed. by D. K Kouymjian (Beirut, 1974), 1-8 Alexander the Great and the Seleucids 169 defeated him. In any case, Seleucus II was not able to restore rule over the east, and no more Seleucid coins were minted in the east, although Antiochus III did strike coins at Hamadan, the last vestige of a continuing Seleucid presence in Iran. After a short rule, Seleucus III was succeeded by his brother Antiochus III, and the fortunes of the Seleucids seemed to revive as do our sources. Antiochus at the death of Seleucus III was in the east, although Polybius (V, 40, 5) does not say he was governor- general of the upper provinces as many scholars have assumed. The historian continues that after becoming king he entrusted the rule of the upper parts to Molon, satrap of Media and his brother Alexander in Persis. This implies that only Media (minus Azerbaijan) and Persis (probably minus most of the southern part of the province including Istakhr-Persepolis) remained under Seleucid control at the accession of Antiochus III. We are not concerned with actions at the Seleucid court or in the west which may have influenced Molon to revolt, the news of which came to Antiochus in the summer of 222 b.c., but only with events in Iran. Molon issued coins at Hamadan and then at Seleucia on the Tigris probably in the fall of 222, after Molon had defeated two generals sent against him by Antiochus, who was busy in Syria fighting Ptolemy IV. The exact time when Molon took the title of king and Struck coins cannot be determined, but the number of coins which have survived suggests that Molon took the title shortly after his revolt, which only lasted two years. Did he consider himself almost a co-king, as governor-general of the upper satrapies,' or was his pretension even greater from a mere satrap to be Seleucid king? We must examine the title of governor-general of the upper satrapies' to determine what it was, since some scholars claim that there were two governors-general, one in the east and one in the west from the beginning of Seleucid times. 86 There is no evidence for such a post, which we may call a viceroy of the east, in Achaemenid or Alexander 's time, and the first intimation of such an office is under Antigonos, but it is uncertain whether a purely military central command is intended or a viceroy. Antiochus was certainly that exalted in the latter part of his father's reign, and this is the first attested office of viceroy, and the 'capital of the east,' Seleucia on the Tigris, became the seat of Antiochus (Appian, Syr. 62). After this time there is no evidence for such a viceroy until the time of Antiochus III when the evidence is unclear, but from a passage in Livy (XXXV, 13, 5) that the eldest son of Antiochus III about 193 b.c. was sent by his father ad custodiam ultitnarum partium regni, many scholars have asserted that the son was made viceroy of the east, but this is again only inference. Finally, one of two inscriptions from Nihavend speaks of a certain Menedemos as (o) iiri tcöv avco oarpaireicöv at the end of the reign of Antiochus III or more likely under Seleucus IV, his successor. 87 The same title is found later, so one may ask whether this particular title, as opposed to the viceroy (compare Antiochus in the reign of Seleucus I), was not a creation of the administrative reforms of Antiochus III. As Bengtson has suggested, control of each province in the east was put 86 Bengtson, Griechische Geschichte [n, 46], 439. 87 L. Robert in Hellenica, 8 (Paris, 1949), 23, and According to Bengtson, Strategie [n. 46], 86, and 9 (1950), 73. Another inscription on a rock relief Will, op. cit., 2, 1 0-1 1 , Antiochus held the post of of a reclining Herakles reads virep T7js KXtofievov governor-general of the east until he delegated the tov ini rütv ävü> oarpaTreiüiv awrripias, which post to Molon on becoming king, but there is no gives pause to any inflated conception of such a direct evidence, only inference. title at the late date of 148 B.c. 170 Chapter VI under a general (arparty/os) who took over the functions of a civil governor (satrap). 88 A further inference from this is the systematic division of the former satrapies into smaller units, although this process may have been begun earlier, and became progressive through time. In the east, however, the last great expedition of the Seleucids, under Antiochus III, although it for a time restored some allegiance to the Seleucids, did not reverse the process of disintegration. After the end of Molon's revolt in 220 and the Submission of a local Median dynast called Artabazanes by Polybius (V, 55, 2), Antiochus III had to return to Syria and the west to settle affairs, but about 212 b.c. he began his famous expedition to the east. First he went against Armenia, which included present-day northern Iranian Azerbaijan, and he was successful in restoring the allegiance of Xerxes the local prince of western Armenia (center in Sophene) (Polybius VIII, 23) as well as others, but later Antiochus sent two generals, Artaxias (Artases in Armenian) and Zariadris (Zareh in Armenian) to rule eastern and western Armenia, both of whom became independent after the battle of Magnesia in 189 b.c. Securing tribute from this expedition, Antiochus now prepared to emulate Alexander in the east. By 209 he w£s campaigning in Parthia, after first Stripping a temple in Hamadan of its precious metals to help pay for his expedition (Polyb. X, 27, 1 3) . How much one can add to the short account of Polybius is uncertain, but it seems that peace was made in which the Parthians recognized in some way the suzerainty of Antiochus III, and the road eastward was free. Antiochus continued against King Euthydemus of Bactria, who first opposed him with a large force on the Arius River, which is probably the present Hari Rüd, an indication of the westward expansion of the Bactrian kingdom. After defeating the Bactrian cavalry Antiochus marched to Bactra and besieged Euthydemus in his capital, but after a long siege peace was made, the conditions of which, however, are unknown. 89 Then Antiochus crossed the Hindukush mountains, made peace with a local Indian potentate and having obtained tribute and elephants, returned to the west by Arachosia, Drangiane (Seistan) and Kerman where he spent the winter, and Polybius gives no more Information about his expedition to the east. From the lack of Information several scholars have inferred that the three provinces mentioned above were ruled by satraps loyal to the Seleucids, and Antiochus returned via Persis which was either loyal or forced to reacknowledge Seleucid supremacy. 90 There is no evidence at all that Arachosia and Drangiane were 88 Bengtson, Strategie [n. 46], 2, 1 44-98, and his Media, one can unterstand how as late as 1 48 B.c. Griechische Geschichte [n. 46], 439. Note that the the inscription from Behistun could still speak of concept 'upper countries' (or satrapies, or lands) is 'the upper satrapies,' and mean only a small area to Iranian in origin, possibly used first under the the west of Hamadan. Achaememds as Khurasan and farther east, while 89 Polybius XI, 39, says Euthydemus persuaded under the Seleucids the concept meant the Iranian Antiochus that both would suffer if nomads took plateau From the Iranian viewpoint it is difficult advantage of their quarrel to invade the land, so to conceive of 'the upper lands' as including the peace was made and a daughter of Antiochus was plains of Mesopotamia, although the Seleucids may given to Demetnus the son of Euthydemus. Will, have later thought this. I suspect, however, that the Bengtson and Schmitt have little to add or to expression simply meant the chief governor in interpret from Polybius, while Justin is of little charge of the satrapies on the plateau, which by the help. time of Antiochus III meant simply Media and the 90 Schmitt, Antiochus III, 82; Will, supra, northern lowlands of Persis. As the new satrapies Histoire politique, 1, 53. It is, of course, quite became subdivisions of the former satrapy of possible that thefrataraka ruler of Persis was treated Alexander the Great and the Seleucids 1 71 ruled by Seleucid satraps, but north western Kerman, as an extension of Media, might well have had a Seleucid governor. It does not follow that Antiochus returned to the west through the heart of Persis, for the easiest route would have been, as it is now, to Yazd, Isfahan and to Hamadan, not directly to the west over desert and mountains to Persepolis. Although there is no evidence for Antiochus' taking the route from Kerman to Hamadan, it is an alternative to the usual assertion that all of Persis was a satrapy of the Seleucid Empire at this time and that the coins of the frataraka are all later than this time. As mentioned above, I suggest that Persis must be divided between the northern lowlands (Yazd- Abadeh of today) and the highlands of Persepolis and the south, which could explain the supposed rule of frataraka and Seleucid satrap in one province. The fact that at the end of the 'Anabasis' of Antiochus III he is found in a town Antiochia in Persis, probably on the Persian Gulf, according to an inscription dated 205 b.c. addressed to magnates of the city of Magnesia on the Meander River in Asia Minor, only supports the contention that Antiochus was in this site in preparation for an expedition against Arabia. 91 In any case, the position of Persis cannot have been radically different from other outlying provinces of the Seleucids where Antiochus wisely realized he could no longer rule directly with the resources he had. He might win battles, but continuous rule would be difficult if at all possible. The great expedition to the east undoubtedly did re-establish Seleucid prestige and even tribute and allegiance, as Polybius says, but times had changed since the first Seleucus. After the defeat of Antiochus III by the Romans at Magnesia in the beginning of 1 89 B.c., it is difficult to believe that any of the agreements to pay tribute to Antiochus III remained in force in the east save in Media which was always the center of Seleucid power and authority for the east. For the Iranians, as for Euthydemus and others, the expedition of Antiochus to the east probably was regarded as an attempt to obtain booty and to forge alliances which might be of use to the Seleucids in the future, but the last was a vain hope. Antiochus III plundered a temple at the beginning of his expedition, and to pay reparations to the Romans he lost his life in attempting to plunder a temple at Elymais on July 3 or 4 of the year 187 B.c. 92 Under his successor Seleucus IV we hear nothing of the east, and with his assassination in September 175 B.c. a younger son of Antiochus III assumed the throne after having spent more than a decade as a hostage at Rome. 93 One problem in the sources with Antiochus IV is either a confusion of events with those of his father, or an actual intention on the part of Antiochus IV to follow the footsteps of his father. Just as Antiochus III, his son in 166 or 165 invaded Armenia and forced Artaxias, who earlier had declared his independence from the Seleucids, to submit and pay tribute. Afterwards he went to the Persian Gulf and was active there restoring cities and campaigning. He then entered Elymais to plunder a temple, as had his father, but in the same way as Euthydemus and other kings of place at this time seems to have started from the east, and Antiochus did traverse the Persepolis- Antiochia in Persis. Persian Gulf route on his way from Kerman, but 92 On the death of Antiochus 111 and the this again does not assure us that a Seleucid satrap parallels with that of Antiochus IV, with sources, ruled the Persepolis region, which I consider most see Will, supra, Hisloire politique, 2, 200-02. unlikely. 9i Comparable to the study on Antiochus III by 91 For the inscription see Welles, op. cit. [n. 68], Schmitt is the book by O. Morkholm on Antiochus 24, 32-34, and for a commentary Will, op. cit., 2, IV o/Syria (Copenhagen, 1966), esp. 166-80, for 55. The expedition against Gerrha which took his eastern campaign. 172 Chapter VI perhaps this time in vengeance for his father, but according to the sources he was repulsed and left for Media but died of illness on the way at the end of 1 64 B.C. The elaborate hypothesis of Tarn that Antiochus IV intended to restore the empire of Alexander the Great with a two-pronged attack on the Parthians by himself from the west and by his supposed cousin Eucratides from Bactria is amply criticized by Morkholm, to which I have nothing to add, except to underline the complete lack of evidence for any grand strategy, not to mention Seleucid family relationships. 94 The notice of Phny (VI, 152) about a governor of Mesene called Numenius under King Antiochus who won a sea battle off the straits of Hormuz and then a land battle, has been placed in the time of Antiochus III or IV, but whichever, it is only an isolated incident in the many battles fought by the Seleucids. We next hear of the east with a revolt of a certain Timarkhos, who was governor of the 'upper provinces,' at this time little more than western Media, against Demetrius the Seleucid ruler from 162-150 B.C. The coins of Timarkhos are all from Hamadan according to Le Rider, and in the prologue to Pompeius Trogus (Hb. 34) he is called 'king of Media.' 95 Even though he sought alliances with King Artaxias of Armenia and others, he was defeated and kilfed by Demetrius in 160 after extending his rule in Mesopotamia. The much reduced 'upper provinces' continued under Seleucid rule throughout the reign of Demetrius to 1 50 B.c. and then under Alexander Balas who had been brought to power by Rome and her allies. The coins of Alexander Balas Struck at Hamadan did not last more than two or three years (150-148 or 7 B.c.), when his coins are followed by those of Mithradates I. So the governor-general of the 'upper provinces' Kleomenes, who in the Herakles Behistun inscription is called 'saviour,' probably defeated a Parthian force in one battle but lost the province shortly thereafter. At the beginning of July 141 b.c. the Parthians are in Babylonia, according to cuneiform documents. For a short period Demetrius II regains not only the plains, but invades Media where he is defeated and captured by Mithradates I at the end of 140. All Seleucid possessions in the east were lost, but in 130 B.c. Antiochus VII, brother of Demetrius, launched an expedition which not only recovered the lowlands with Seleucia and Susa, but he may have also estabhshed some sort of control in Media. Demetrius was released by the Parthians to stir up trouble for his brother Antiochus, but the latter was utterly defeated and killed by the Parthians in 129, and this is the complete end of Seleucid rule in the east which, however, lasted more than a Century and a half. THE HERITAGE OF HELLENISM The hentage of Hellenism in Iran and Central Asia is difficult to judge, but some general remarks can be made. Just as under the Arabs centunes later, the conquerors relied on control of the cities on the main trade routes to the east to maintain their control, and where there were no cities, they both founded military garrisons. There were not enough Greco-Macedonians, or Arabs later, to occupy all cities, but only the Strategie Settlements, beginning with Ecbatana— Epiphaneia— Hamadan and surround- mg Media in the west, and continuing to the east with Rhaga-Europos-Rayy, were " 4 Tam, op eil, |ch 1, n. 23), 187-91, and c ' 5 Le Rider, op eil. [n. 25), 332, and O. Seel.ed., Morkholm, op eil |n. 93), 172-80. Pompeius Trogus, Fragmenla (Leipzig, 1956), 162. Alexander the Great and the Seleucids 173 held as the key to control of the route to the original 'upper satrapies.' Margiane- Antiocheia-Merv was always an important center connecting Khurasan with Central Asia and Bactria. Bactria became the center of Hellenism for eastern Iran and Central Asia as Media was for western Iran, and in Bactria the Seleucids built the largest number of Settlements in the east. Along this west-east axis other centers were established as Herat and Hekatompylos, but other important Settlements were made away from this axis in Qandahar, at Alexandria at the foot of the Hindukush north of Kabul, and in Sogdiana, but the Media-Bactria line was of paramount importance, as the Seleucids did not maintain their rule in Qandahar and probably only sporadically in the Hindukush area and Sogdiana and other parts of Central Asia. Nonetheless, in the cities and Settlements the Greek language, institutions and culture reigned supreme. From the excavations of Ay Khanum on the Oxus River, we can see a piece of Greece transplanted to Bactria, with no mixture of local influences, and the only fusion which took place under the early Seleucids was that of Macedonians and Greeks, or other colonists from Asia Minor or the west, such as Thracians, all of whom adopted Greek culture. This at first was the ruling class and the natives did not participate after the death of Alexander except as they too became Hellenic in culture, but even this process took time. The Hellenistic world of the Seleucids was one of mercenary armies and loyalty to the person of the ruler, who relied on his colonists for support as the latter looked to the king for protection. The rule of the Seleucids depended on the loyalty of this ruling class, and where it was strong, as in Media and Bactria, allegiance to the house of Seleucus developed almost into a religious feeling of colonists towards the ruler as their saviour in time of attack. So we find cities giving titles to the Seleucid rulers, which has been often described as the Hellenistic ruler cult, and which legitimized the absolute power of the ruler, although this dynastic cult in the cities should be distinguished from the apotheosis of the dead king by his successor who dedicated temples and Services to the deified ruler. 96 Natives in cities and Settlements surely participated in the ruler cult, but hardly the masses in villages or on the land, or nomads. Likewise, under the Seleucids Greek culture remained almost the monopoly of the colonists and their descendants, and art and architecture were produced by city artisans for the ruling class. At the same time the cities were the centers of culture and were bound to the rulers, and both provided examples or modeis for others to follow. The 'Hellenization of the east can be seen best under the Parthians, the heirs of the Seleucids, both culturally as well as politically. It was really after the fall of the Seleucids that the effects of Hellenism penetrated every where, but, of course, then in an ever more diluted or syncretic form. Since in political Organization the Seleucids, on the whole, followed the Achaemenids in the east, there was little original Greek contribution in this domain, as far as we can see, except for elements of polis Organization, which was new to the Orient. 97 Unfortunately we have absolutely no Information about the numbers of 96 Every book on Hellenism discusses it; cf. 91 The Greek polis has receivedmuch attention; Bikerman,op.rif.[n.46],236;F.Taeger,Oi iS- H < uJ UJ os u-, O UJ ►J ffl < H 03 o « 2e i I E. ^ in ^ rt a L) n) a. » ~ rs 4J -n — ! CB E > y = §1 •ö E 2 fc§ o «. O 3 o 3 S-S E o" 5 < > — T3 < E > -a < E > «•SU s s — V oo a. a, a. Ji t/> oo oo < < d. § s-j? J3 •» .s -t; a. 3 co < C CL, « SP o E j- o « O ü ü a. o -o OD O > CA < es ü j, £ *- <-> c 2 C 2 O c n ~ « « E > Greco-Bactrians, Sakas and Parthians 197 and Dobbins. 55 General works by Narain, Tarn and Van Lohuizen-de Leeuw are not so useful as the detailed articles in establishing a chart of the rulers. 56 The chart below is obviously most tentative, since absolute chronologies in the east elude us; furthermore no two numismatists would agree on all dates and geographical extent of rules as proposed here, while Parthian or Saka vassal relationships are very difficult to discern simply from coins. At least from Indian sources we can distinguish between Sakas and Pahlavas, or Parthians, and we may assume that these two peoples, closely related to each other, divided the rule in the eastern part of the Iranian world. The relationship between Maues and Azes is unknown as is any connection between the Vonones group and Azes, but it is important to remember that the Sakas came into India probably as a tribal invasion or expansion, whereas the Parthians more likely came as a conquering army. Since the Parthian kingdom itself was feudal with semi- independent dynasts under the titulary rule of one king, it is not possible to determine the inter-relations and allegiances of the names we find on coins. We omit the names and titles of later Saka rulers in Western India, such as the Kshatrapas; their proliferation indicates a fragmentation of rule in the east. Likewise, titles have been omitted, for the pretensions of minor rulers to grandiose titles confuses attempts to arrange relationships according to titles, even though the changing titles do seem to indicate relationships between probable contemporaries. THE PARTHIANS IN THE EAST Literary sources are very sparse, and they are not unequivocal, but we have already mentioned probable conquests of Mithradates II in the east. Then come the Saka invasions. Several coins of Gotarzes I (c. 90-80 B.c.) have the names of mints written in füll in Greek: Areia, Traxiane (present Sarakhs?) and Margiane, indicating Parthian rule over those areas. 57 Next we hear in Lucian (Makrobioi, 15) that Sinatruces, king of Parthia, was placed on the throne by the Sacaraucae when he was eighty years old and he then ruled for seven years. This Statement implies an importance and power for the Sakas in the eastern part of the Parthian realm in this period. Thereafter we hear no more evidence of direct Parthian rule in the east, so we must turn to the coins, and we find first those of Vonones and his Saka successors. 58 55 The sources for this reconstruction are same authors, plus others by A. N. Lahiri and D. Jenkins/Narain, supra, Coin-types; Jenkins, "Indo- Bivar, may be found in the bibliographies of the Scythic Mints," JNS1, 17 (1955), 1-26; D. above. MacDowall, "The Dynasty of the Later Indo- 56 J. E. Van Lohuizen-de Leeuw, The "Scythian" Parthians," NC (1965), 137-48, and his article in Period (Leiden, 1949) and a long review of it by JNSI, 29 (1968), 24-48; M. B. Mitchiner, Indo- A. L. Basham in BSOAS, 15 (1953), 80-97. Greek and Indo-Scythian Coinage, 3 (London, 57 D. Sellwood, /l/i Introduction tothe Coinageoj 1976), a detailed compilation of coins; B. N. the Parthians (London, 1971), 80, and W. Wroth, Mukherjee, An Agrippan Source - A Study in Indo- Catalogue of the Coins of Parthia, in The Greek Parthian History (Culcutta, 1969); Simonetta, op. Coins of the British Museum (London, 1903), 140, cit. [n. 9], 154-83, and his "La monetazione Indo- n. 1. Partica ed il suo significato per la cronologia dei 58 The name Vonones (probably Parthian: Kushana," Rivista Italiana di Numismatica, 73 lerne« 'star name?'; cf. F. W. K. Müller, "Ein (Milan, 1971), 33-47; K. W. Dobbins, Coinage Doppelblatt aus einem manichäischen Hymnen- and Epigraphy ofthe Sakas and Pahlavas (Canberra, buch," Abh.PAW [1912], 35) was held by several Ph.D. thesis, 1 972) to be published in Islamabad in Parthian kings, but his successors have Saka names : future. Until then see his book Saka-Pahlava Spalahora and Spalirises, from späda 'army' with Coinage (Varanasi, 1973) 193 pp. Articles by these the characteristic East Iranian d > 1. 196 Chapter VII u B O o CS D < 8 t/5 z o u z o Q w 1/5 < CO ^__ or> 'c UJ v H •£ 9 'S Z « < 2 § 1 3 6 _ „'S- a =s 3 ^ 8. 5 E.2 ? o n T3 y5 < e > o o g I Q <-> s tu o > !a P -^ e "> w O C ü =3 - 2- » ö - JS Qu */> _2 CL. f — z£<2<(äi<< CQ < E §"> < > g-8 J 5 a < w o ■7 e O 2 "2 ■*= £ * S I SC/)«««, 1/5 1/5 1/) < < £ o c o O o -o c o Ü o -o c o O o ; -o : c . o i Ü < E > T3 < E > < E > Ü JS J2 " s O J? CQ ■>> J2 TD O "« SP S 1/5 rt .2 °- > t/5 i/i X! 8 1 a. o -a 5 t-i o 5 3 < 0- c o O a. o <^S X *> c *> ^ s S C u £ g % s o J* o (/) us .* E Greco-Bactrians, Sakas and Parthians 191 and Dobbins. 55 General works by Narain, Tarn and Van Lohuizen-de Leeuw are not so useful as the detailed articles in establishing a chart of the rulers. 56 The chart below is obviously most tentative, since absolute chronologies in the east elude us; furthermore no two numismatists would agree on all dates and geographical extent of rules as proposed here, while Parthian or Saka vassal relationships are very difficult to discern simply from coins. At least from Indian sources we can distinguish between Sakas and Pahlavas, or Parthians, and we may assume that these two peoples, closely related to each other, divided the rule in the eastern part of the Iranian world. The relationship between Maues and Azes is unknown as is any connection between the Vonones group and Azes, but it is important to remember that the Sakas came into India probably as a tribal invasion or expansion, whereas the Parthians more likely came as a conquering army. Since the Parthian kingdom itself was feudal with semi- independent dynasts under the titulary rule of one king, it is not possible to determine the inter-relations and allegiances of the names we find on coins. We omit the names and titles of later Saka rulers in Western India, such as the Kshatrapas; their proliferation indicates a fragmentation of rule in the east. Likewise, titles have been omitted, for the pretensions of minor rulers to grandiose titles confuses attempts to arrange relationships according to titles, even though the changing titles do seem to indicate relationships between probable contemporaries. THE PARTHIANS IN THE EAST Literary sources are very sparse, and they are not unequivocal, but we have already mentioned probable conquests of Mithradates II in the east. Then come the Saka invasions. Several coins of Gotarzes I (c. 90-80 b.c.) have the names of mints written in füll in Greek: Areia, Traxiane (present Sarakhs?) and Margiane, indicating Parthian rule over those areas. 57 Next we hear in Lucian (Makrobioi, 15) that Sinatruces, king of Parthia, was placed on the throne by the Sacaraucae when he was eighty years old and he then ruled for seven years. This Statement implies an importance and power for the Sakas in the eastern part of the Parthian realm in this period. Thereafter we hear no more evidence of direct Parthian rule in the east, so we must turn to the coins, and we find first those of Vonones and his Saka successors. 58 55 The sources for this reconstruction are same authors, plus others by A. N. Lahiri and D. Jenkins/Narain, supra, Coin-types; Jenkins, "Indo- Bivar, may be found in the bibliographies of the Scythic Mints," JNSI, 17 (1955), 1-26; D. above. MacDowall, "The Dynasty of the Later Indo- 56 J. E. Van Lohuizen-de Leeuw, The " Scythian" Parthians," NC (1965), 137^*8, and his article in Period (Leiden, 1949) and a long review of it by JNSI. 29 (1968), 24-48; M. B Mitchiner, Indo- A. L. Basham in BSOAS, 15 (1953), 80-97. Greek and Indo-Scythian Coinage, 3 (London, 57 D. Sellwood, An Introduction to the Coinage of 1976), a detailed compilation of coins; B. N. the Parthians (London, 1971), 80, and W. Wroth, Mukherjee, An Agrippan Source- A Study in Indo- Catalogue of the Coins of Parthia, in The Greek Parthian History (Culcutta, 1969); Simonetta, op. Coins qfthe British Museum (London, 1903), 140, cit. [n. 9], 154-83, and his "La monetazione Indo- n. 1. Partica ed il suo significato per la cronologia dei 58 The name Vonones (probably Parthian: Kushana," Rivista Italiana di Numismatica, 73 wnwn 'star name?'; cf. F. W. K. Müller, "Ein (Milan, 1971), 33-47; K. W. Dobbins, Coinage Doppelblatt aus einem manichaischen Hymnen- and Epigraphy ofthe Sakas and Pahlavas (Canberra, buch," Abh.PAW [1912], 35) was held by several Ph.D. thesis, 1 972) to be published in Islamabad in Parthian kings, but his successors have Saka names : future. Until then see his book Saka-Pahlava Spalahora and Spalirises, from späda 'army' with Coinage (Varanasi, 1973) 193 pp. Articles by these the characteristic East Iranian d > 1- 198 Chapter VII How can we interpret the legends on the coins? Presumably if we find the title 'king of kings' on an eastern coin this would indicate complete independence from the Parthian great king, but the use of other titles, such as BACIAEYZ METAC, does not thereby imply a vassal relationship. Coins with two names, one in Greek on the obverse and Kharoshthi on the reverse apparently do show a subordinate relationship such as coins of Indravarma and Aspavarma who are called strategos the Greek word for 'general' in the Kharoshthi Script, but with 'great king of kings Azes' in Greek on the obverse. On the other hand, we have 'great king of kings Orthagnes' in Greek on his coins, but on the reverse the same in Prakrit and Kharoshthi Script with the name Gondophares, which has elicited many theories on the relationship of the two. Chance remarks in Classical or Indian sources can be enigmatic as well. We have mentioned the Parthian Stations of Isidore in which all the land to and including Arachosia is said to be under imperial Parthian rule, but the reality of such rule in the time of Isidore, who probably lived in the first Century of our era, is dubious. Likewise the accounts of a king called Phraotes, who presumably ruled in Taxila, mentioned in the life of Apollonius of Tyana by Philostratus (II, 42), have been used variously to reconstruct a history of north west India even though the moralistic and legendary nature of the work is apparent. 59 Another source is the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (Para. 38), which notes that the town of Minnagar, near the mouth of the Indus River, was subject to Parthian princes who were constantly driving each other out of it. From this remark we may infer merely that in the lower Indus valley area Iranian chiefs fought with each other, but beyond this we cannot go, for Saka lords might well be confused with Parthians in this period by a foreigner. Indian sources, such as the Jain legend on the origin of an era ascribed to Vikramäditya on his defeat of the Sakas, are even more unreliable or unusable than the Classical sources, in spite of attempts to use them as historical. 60 Chronologies with precise years of reign of various rulers should be rejected when presented as fact; they should be regarded only as guesses, some obviously quite fanciful, for only a relative chronology on very general lines can be accepted at this time. The question of eras, however, will be discussed under the Kushans. Vonones, it seems, was the first independent ruler to issue coins, possibly in Seistan but more likely in Arachosia; associated with him was either his real brother or one who had an honorary title of just brother of the great king' as written in Kharoshthi on the reverse of coins of Vonones. This latter person had a Saka name Spalahora, and he was succeeded by his son Spalagadama, who like his father kept the name Vonones in Greek on the obverses of some of his coins; but on other coins, presumably later, we find in Greek the name Spalyrios with the title 'just brother of the king.' 61 What "Herzfeld, "Sakastän" [n. 28], 113, identified South Asian Documenls on the Old Saka Era this Phraotes as an epithet apratihata 'triumphant,' (Varanasi, 1973), 89-93, with good reasons. of Gondophares, which was rejected by Van " Cf. Jenkins/Narain, supra, Coin-types, 3-4. Lohuizen-de Leeuw, op. cit. [n. 56], 360, although The names have been given Saka etymologies by Tarn, op. cit. [eh. 1, n. 23], 341, accepted it. 1t is H. W. Bailey, "Ambages indoiranicae," Annali, better not to use Phraotes as an historical ruler Istituto Orientale di Napoli Sez. Ling. I, 2 (1959), when no coins of his have been found. 130-32. Vonones has been identified as a member " As Altheim, op. r/r. [eh. 6, n. 1 9], 61 7 ; cf. also, of the Parthian Suren family by Tarn, op. cit., [eh. but more cautiously, Tarn, op. cit. [eh. 1, n. 23], 1, n. 23], 344, and others, and this may be so, but 335, and rejected by B. N. Mukherjee, Central and hardly his Saka successors. Greco-Bactrians, Sakas and Parthians 199 do these titles mean? Attempts to explain the name of Vonones on the coins as an appellative for Mithradates II are based on a false etymology for Vonones 'the victorious' and are to be rejected. 62 The importance of the nephew of the king as his successor, however, is a widespread though not obligatory practice in Central Asia and is known from the Parthians to the Qarakhanid Turks of the eleventh Century, to mention only two peoples where the practice of succession is attested. 63 Unfortunately, only brief notices exist of the Parthian 'brother of the king,' and no conclusions can be drawn about the nature of the institution or practice, and we have no sources other than the coins from the east. 64 Whether the institution of 'brother of the king' was similar to, or the equivalent of, a later title found in Iran, 'second' in rule after the king, is unknown, but obviously the problem of succession must have been important, especially in a nomadic society where life could be precarious and any institution of a vice-king or even sub-king would insure continuity. 6S Thus, because of this alone it is extremely difficult to reconstruct a history of the rulers in the east solely from coins. It seems that after the rulers Vonones and his true or honorary brother Spalahora, followed by Spalagadama and then Spalyrios, who may have been the brother of Spalagadama, we have a certain Spalirises, who also calls himself 'brother of the (great) king,' but which king? Since he also Struck coins with the legend in Greek 'great king Spalirises' on the obverse and in Kharoshthi on the reverse the same in the name of Azes, either a family connection or a political connection of the two may be presumed. Then, since Azes strikes some coins with Azilises, a continuation of rule if not in the same family at least in the same system of succession may be assumed, which seems to be difFerent from that of the Bactrian- or Indo-Greeks or of the later Kushans. The existence of a second Azes seems assured by the coins. On the other hand, when one ruler overstrikes another's coins, it usually is a sign of defeat or conquest of the lands of the overstruck ruler, although it may mean Usurpation or a similar act when we find a Spalirises overstrike on a coin of Spalagadama and Spalyrios, and then of Azilises on coins of Spalirises and also on coins of Azes I. 66 With a new ruler, probably first in Arachosia, called Gondophares, we find some hints of his rule in sources other than coins, but great controversy has raged over his identification with the king Gaspar (with many variants) in Christian tradition. 67 62 Dobbins, Coinage and Epigraphy [n. 55], 53- 65 Cf. Frye, "Remarks on Kingship in Ancient 54, while Herzfeld, op. cit. [n. 28], 96, identifies Iran," AAH, 25 (1977), 78-82, with further Vonones with the Parthian great king of the same references. name, and calls himamember of the Suren family. 66 On overstrikes conveniently see Dobbins, Joint coins of Azes and Vonones, contrary to Coinage and Epigraphy [n. 55], 169-71, as well as Herzfeld, apparently do not exist. other numismatic literature of Simonetta. 63 This is not the place to discuss theories of 67 Discussed with references in Van Lohuizen- matrilineal as opposed to patrilineal descent and de Leeuw, op. cit. [n. 56], 353-55, also by Konow, whether they played a role in the practice under op. cit. [n. 53], xliii. The name is attested elsewhere, discussion, as Herzfeld, op. cit. [n. 28], 94-95, as early as the Behistun inscription. It is possible believes, noroftanistry aspracticedby the Irishin that a certain Orthagnes was the predecessor of their kingship. The subject of tanistry has many Gondophares, or he may have been later. Some ramifications. scholars have proposed that Orthagnes is an epithet 64 On the Parthians, see Altheim, op. cit. [eh. 6, of Gondophares since the name appears only in n. 19], 621, and N. Debevoise, A Political History Greek while Gondophares appears in Kharoshthi. o/Parthia (Chicago, 1938), 40. 200 Chapter VII This has been used to date Gondophares, but it can only be used roughly, for the tradition of St. Thomas itself must be later, but how much later? Following the principle that in such a legend as that of St. Thomas and his journey to India the reference to the name of Gondophares is not simply gratuitous, then no matter what the date of the legend, it seeks to pin the journey to a historical reality, and this fits well with the assumed dates of Gondophares solely on the basis of coins. From the distribution of find spots of coins of Gondophares, it seems that he ruled from Seistan to the Punjab, a large empire. He introduced a symbol or coat of arms on his coins ö which is found also on the coins of his successor Abdagases, who on some of his coins in Kharoshthi has 'son of the brother of Gadaphara,' thus presumably the nephew of Gondophares. The enigmatic coins of Sasa or Sasas do not have this symbol, although the Kharoshthi legend on some of his coins mentions his father's name Aspabhata, and on others we find Gudaphara, presumably the same name as Gondophares, but with no relationship implied. 68 The symbol appears again much later as the coat of arms of Shapur I the Sasanian where it is represented on his horse-covering on the relief of Ardashir at Firuzabad, and it is impossible to discover whether the symbol is a family sign (of the Suren family) to which the Sasanians might have been attached, or there is some other connection between Gondophares and the Sasanians. In any case, it does not appear in the east again. 69 Other coins are not easily arranged in a sequence. For example, we have coins of Indravarma, who calls himself son of Vijayamitra, followed by his son Aspavarma, who bears the Greek title strattgos, but the Greek legend has 'great king of kings Azes,' probably an Azes II. 70 Since their coins are found in northwest India, mostly from the Taxila mint, they were probably governors of, and after, Azes II. Since coins of Gondophares were copied after his rule, the existence of a second Gondophares may be postulated. Even more enigmatic are those who Struck imitations of the coins of Hermaeus, one of the last Greek kings of the Paropamisos, for it would seem that these chiefs or kings, perhaps Sakas, continued to strike imitations of Hermaeus down to the expansion of the Kushans in the first Century of our era. It is clearly impossible now merely on the basis of coins to determine which Saka or Indo-Parthian ruler seized which area from the other, or from a Greek ruler, and how long it was held, although numismatists have endeavored to do this on the basis of monograms and find spots. With the discovery of more hoards and more excavations, however, the Statistical probabilities would rise for identifications. Some coin issues are especially illusive, including two series of a certain Arsaces, or perhaps two rulers with the usual name for Parthian kings on their coins. Another is Pakores, both series of which ruler cannot be simply western Parthian issues, Jenkins/Narain, supra, Coin-types, 18-20. or possibly that Gondophares, or a successor, Many scholars have assumed that the name, written countermarked various coins which were current. as Sasasa, must be Sasan, but Scythian names Sasa Cf. E. J. Rapson in the Cambridge History of India, 1 or Sasas from South Russia exist; cf. Zgusta, op. eil. (Cambridge, 1 922), 578. [n.53], 142. Dobbins.op.cif. [n. 55], 124,identifies 70 Jenkins/Narain, supra, Coin-types, 23. The Aspabhata as Aspavarma, which is unproven. relation of this Azes II with Gondophares is The Gondophares symbol is found counter- unknown, but maybe there is some connection Struck on some coins of the Parthian king Orodes I through the satraps Indravarma and Aspavarma, (c. 90-77 b.c.) and Artabanus III (c. A.D. 12-38), although they may simply be satraps, first under which indicates either a family usage (as the Suren) Azes II and then under Gondophares. Greco-Baclrians, Sakas and Parthians 201 however, since they have Kharoshthi legends on the reverses. Since Pakores overstruck a coin of an early Kushan ruler Soter Megas, he should be placed late in the first Century A.D. 71 Likewise the coins of Sanabares, with Parthian letters on some of his coins, present many problems, but since his coins have been found far to the north in Merv and Herat, we may regard him as a Parthian sub-king or independent ruler, and he should not be considered as belonging to the group of Gondophares. 72 This by no means exhausts the names of rulers or coins. To summarize the period from the fall of the Greek kingdoms north of the Hindukush, one must at the outset say that conjectures abound, and one can only hope to present a picture which is generally correct, although the details will change with new discoveries, mainly inscriptions or coins. The Greeks, although they relinquished their rule of domains to the north of the Hindukush to nomadic invaders, did so probably not in a swift but rather a prolonged process. Greek kings continued to rule in the mountains and in north west India after 130 B.c., when Sakas came there from Seistan and Arachosia, although some may have come from the north, from Sinkiang. The accession date of Maues, apparently the first Saka king who issued coins in the northwest of the sub-continent, is unknown but 90-80 b.c. is a likely surmise. Somewhat later, about 80—70 b.c. to use decades, Vonones ruled as an independent Parthian king in Seistan and Arachosia. Since coins of Maues are not found in the last two areas, we may regard the two rulers as contemporaries, though possibly only overlapping a few years in their reigns. How to crowd the many Greek kings into northwest India, Gandhara and the Paropamisos before this time is a difficult problem. From the number and find spots of their coins, Apollodotus, Archebius and Hermaeus were the most important of the last Greek rulers. The last named had his coins copied extensively, and one may postulate rulers of a local kingdom or kingdoms in the mountains who continued the traditions of this final Greek king in their area, sometimes probably acknowledging the overlordship of a greater Saka or Parthian king who, though he issued his own coins, may have allowed the local population to continue with traditional coinage. There may have been Saka chiefs who issued the pseudo-Hermaeus coins, as Dobbins suggests, but simply the local population might be better candidates. 73 There also may have been a revival of Greek power in some limited areas of eastern Afghanistan and northwest India with names on coins such as Telephus, Hippostratus, Strato, and of course Apollodotus II. Further Greek rule in the Punjab also has been assumed. The Sakas, having ended Greek rule, in turn were dominated by Parthian rulers beginning with Gondophares in the first part of our era. Since the Parthians were mixed with Sakas, they probably provided a ruling class, if not a ruling bureaucracy too, for the area extending from Seistan up to the Punjab. From the north, the Kushans, who had Consolidated their power under a series of capable rulers, became the rivals of the Parthians and eventually swept various rulers aside to form a large empire. The legacy of the Greeks was carried by the Kushans perhaps more than by the Sakas, who had already influenced the Kushans 71 A. Simonetta, "An Essay on the so-called have the Gondophares symbol but one similar *Indo-Greek' Coinage," EW, 8 (1957), 53, plate 3. though not to be confused with it. The various 72 Cf. K. W. Dobbins, "Sanabares and the reconstructions of numismatists are intriguing but Gondophares Dynasty," NC, series 1 1 (1971), 140. frequently go far beyond the evidence. The Sanabares coin, contrary to Dobbins, does not 73 Dobbins, op. cit. [n. 55], 128 et passim. 202 Chapter VII with their Iranian 'steppe culture.' The Parthians, to the west, at this time were weak and could neither oppose the Kushans nor help their brethren in Arachosia and in India, and we may suspect that the eastern part of imperial Parthian dorriains, such as Seistan and Merv, were independent under Sanabares and his successors. We do not know what happened in Arachosia after the first Century A.D., but Kushan authority seems to have extended over this province, if one judges by the number of Kushan coins found there. 74 The debasement of silver coinage after the reign of Azilises may reflect an economic decline in this part of the world. The economic importance of Seistan, Arachosia or the Kabul area in comparison with Gandhara and the Punjab should not be overestimated, but after Azilises, debased coinage was the rule until the imperial Kushans installed a gold Standard. Seistan probably remained independent down to the Sasanian conquest, if we consider the coins of Arda Mitra to be prototypes of early Sasanian coinage. This will be discussed in the chapter on the Sasanians under the early eastern expansion of the Sasanians. In any case, the Kushans became the heirs of the Greeks and Sakas in the east, as the Sasanians did of the Parthians in the west. One must not forget that this period of the history of eastern Iran, Afghanistan and northwest India, as in Iran proper, was one of independent 'sub-kings' and satraps, a 'feudal' society with much warfare and lack of central control. This is in contrast to the rise of Rome and the formation of the Roman Empire, but as frequently in history, this lack of centralized rule should not be interpreted as a period of cultural decay and unproductivity, for the material remains of the Sakas are impressive, especially the tombs of the Saka princes, such as the six kurgans of Tilla Tepe in northern Afghanistan where over 20,000 pieces of gold objects, such as buttons, pendants, plaques and weapons have been found. Although these tombs may belong to early Kushan princes rather than Sakas, it is impossible to differentiate the two. 75 In the tombs gold coins of the emperor Tiberius (a.D. 14-37) and a silver coin of Mithradates II of Parthia have been found, but so far no Greco-Bactrian or Kushan coins. The artistic finds, however, reveal widespread connections with Chinese, Indian, Greek, Saka (or 'Steppe') art, and the local art productions of Bactria, all evidence of a wealthy and ostentatious society. The art of these nomads, however, in spite of its striking but eclectic nature, was not the art of a mighty, centralized empire as that of the Achaemenids. Not only was the architectural grandeur of the Achaemenids missing, but the variety rather than the uniformity of smaller arts emphasizes the contrast with the imperial art of their predecessors. Of course, after the Achaemenids the entire east had been conquered by Hellenism, which was similar to modern 'Westernization,' but as today so then it was more or less limited to the upper classes. Some have equated the nomadic invasions with a revenge or a barbaric conquest of Hellenism by old Iranian culture, but if accepted, this could only be true 74 D. W. MacDowall and M Ibrahim, "Pre- 75 Cf. V. I Sannidi, The Treasures of Golden Ulamic Coins in the Kandahar Museum," Afghan Hill," ASA, 84 (1980). 125-31 . Greek inscriptions Studks, 1 (1978), 71-73. Overstrikes of coins of on a ring and gold bowl, lvory combs from India, Gondophares on those of pseudo-Hermaeus, and Chinese mirrors, and Sibenan or 'steppe' gold by Kujula Kadphises on coins of Gondophares plaques, all remind one of later finds from Begram, mdicate a close temporal span as well as geographi- ca! contiguity of all of them Greco-Bactrians, Sakas and Parthians 203 in western Iran, or more particularly in Persis where Achaemenid traditions or memories were preserved. In the east the nomadic rulers adopted and adapted Hellenistic culture in its manifold aspects, and just as much later after the Arab conquests, so too after the nomadic conquests, including the Parthians, a new oecumenical culture was created in the east, primarily a Greco-Iranian syncretic culture with the three elements of Greece, nomadic Iran, and the ancient Near Eastern legacy of the Achaemenids fused. It was the merit of D. Schlumberger to have emphasized this syncretic art in his writings. 76 Before him the attention of art historians was riveted to the prolific production of Gandharan art, for other than coins it was the Buddhist art of northwest India which gave evidence of Hellenism in the east. The problem, as seen in the past, was how to join the marvelous Greek coins of Bactria, which vanished after 1 30 B.c., in the minds of the investigators, to the profuse manifestations of western Classical influence in that Buddhist art of the Kushans and after, mostly dating after the second Century of our era. 77 There was a hiatus of several centuries, and Alfred Foucher tried to bridge this gap in excavations in Balkh, while others tried elsewhere, yet the gap remained, such that Foucher despaired and began to speak of the 'Bactrian mirage' of Hellenism in the east. This led others to postulate a new Roman impulse on the Kushans and the designation of Gandharan art as a Roman provincial art, and the nomads were forgotten, since they obviously had little to contribute. The art of Gandhara will be discussed under the Kushans, but here suffice it to note that excavations at Ay Khanum have revealed a flourishing Greek culture and art in Bactria, while Surkh Kotal has given us a Greco-Iranian syncretic art, the early Kushan syncretism without Buddhism and Indian influences of later periods. So a link has been found in the culture of the nomads, primarily the Sakas, and its fusion with the settled culture which the nomads found in Bactria and elsewhere. One tends to view history in terms of power which then is equated with civilization. The Achaemenid Empire, Alexander, then the Seleucids, the Roman Empire, the Sasanians, and the comparatively recently discovered Kushans in the east are the foci of historical surveys, and other periods are considered barbaric, periods of decline or inactivity. This view, of course, has much to do with the absence of sources or imposing monuments left to posterity, but it neglects the changes among the populace in favor of stability and the ability of centralized governments to control and organize masses of people to build a pyramid, a Persepolis or a Roman forum. Just to mention art, it is questionable whether Roman copying of Greek art in the service of the empire was more true to the genius or spirit of Greek art than the populär (or non-imperial) adaptations of it in the east. The syncretic Greco-Iranian art of the Sakas and other nomads, although frequently depicted as stereotyped, can be characterized as more dynamic than the slavish copying of Greek prototypes by imperial Romans. There is no evidence, but one may suggest that the tribal Councils of nomads had more in common with the agora of a Greek polis in Bactria than with the ancient Near 76 In several articles, but see especially his 77 A populär but interesting survey of ideas L'Oriem Hellenist, (Paris, 1969), introduction and about Gandharan art is given by Wheeler, op. eil. 40 -58. [n. 37], 149-71. 204 Chapter VII Eastern theories of monarchy, or even with Roman imperial institutions (not republican). Since our sources are so meagre there is no documentation for this other than the evidence of material culture, but it is certainly worth considering the possible role of east Iranian or Central Asian influences on the history of the entire Near East, and not just western Iran. The role was important not only in the syncretic Greco- Iranian art of the west, but also in ideas from this part of the world which came to the west through the intermediary of the Parthians, to whom we now turn. CHAPTER VIII THE PARTHIANS ON THE PLATEAU Lilerature: The relatively recent but now classical work by N. Debevoise, A Political History ofParthia (Chicago, 1938) has not been superseded, for newer general books such as M. A. R. Colledge, The Parthians (London, 1967) or his Parthian Art (Ithaca, N.Y., 1977), with a large bibliography, or G. A. Koshelenko, Kultura Parfii (Moscow, 1966), add little to the work of Debevoise, except in the realm of art and culture. Monographs and articles on special subjects, especially Roman-Parthian relations, however, have added to our knowledge of the foreign aflairs of the Parthians, while the results of archaeological excavations, as usual, provide new sources to augment our picture of Iran under the Parthians. It must be noted, however, that most of the excavations are not in Iran but outside the geographica! boundaries of the present country. The sites and materials are as follows: 1. Nisa, near Ashkabad in Turkmenistan, was excavated by the Southern-Turkmen Combined Archaeological Expedition from 1948 to 1961, and many Parthian ostraca as well as material remains were uncovered. For a bibliography on the finds at Nisa see I. M. Diakonoffand V. A. Livshits, Parthian Economic Documents from Nisa, Gl, Plates I — III, and Texts I (London, 1976-80), and M. E. Masson, Perechen opublikouannykh rabot i materialov po tematike YuTAKE (Ashkabad, 1970), a bibliography of over 500 items. 2. Kuh-e Khwaja in Seistan. For a bibliography on the surveys of M. A. Stein and E. Herzfeld see L. Vanden Berghe, Bibliographie analytique de VarchSologie de I'Iran ancien (Leiden, 1979), 28-29. The fragmentary wall paintings found here are important for Parthian art, but they have been lost. 3. Kangavar in Media. The work of Kambakhsh-Fard and his articles relating to it may be found in Vanden Berghe, op. cit., 142. The temple of Anahita is the signiftcant Parthian survival here, but later Sasanian changes or additions to the site have confused the picture. 4. Bard-e Nishandeh and Masjid-e Sulaiman in Khuzistan. The work of R. Ghirshman culminated in two volumes on Terrasses Sacries, in MDAFI, 45 (Paris, 1976). The two sites are remains of the kingdom of Elymais rather than Parthian, and the inscriptions are in a Semitic language rather than Parthian. Cf. Vanden Berghe, op. cit. 85-88. 5. Shahr-e Qumis near Damghan. The Parthian capital of Hekatompylos has been surveyed with sondages by D. Stronach and J. Hansman. For a bibliography see Vanden Berghe, op. cit. 25-26. There are other minor sites in Iran, usually large sites with a Parthian Stratum, and excavated or surveyed major towns influenced by the Parthians, or under their rule, are located outside of the boundaries of the present country, mostly in Iraq. Among them are Hatra, Nippur, Assur, Uruk, and in Syria, Dura Europos and Palmyra, on which see Vanden Berghe, op. cit. 259-60. For Soviet works on the Parthians see T. N. Zadneprovskaya, "Bibliographie de travaux sovietiques sur les Parthes," SI, 4 (1975), 243-60. The works of Koshelenko are especially noteworthy, since he is the foremost Soviet specialist on the Parthians See also the bibliography on archaeology in succeeding issues of AMI. As with the Greco-Bactrians and Sakas, numismatics is of paramount importance in establishing the order of the Parthian kings, but it is more complicated than in the east because the quasi-title 'Arsaces' is used on most coins and not the personal name of the rulers. Other than Vanden Berghe, op. cit., 262-68, see A. M. Simonetta and D. G. Seilwood, "Again on the Parthian Coinage from Mithradates II to Orodes II," Quaderni ticinesi di numismatica e antichita classiche (Lugano, 1978), 95-119, and bibliography. The articles on the beginnings of Parthian history, frequently repetitions, by J. Wolski, are too many to list, but see one of the latest, with bibliography of others, "L'origine de la relation d'Arrien sur la paire des freres Arsacides, Arsaces et Tiridate," in Studies in the Sources on the History of Pre-Islamic Central Asia, ed. by J. Harmatta (Budapest, 1979), 67-74. The booklet by B. P. Lozinski, The Original Homeland of the Parthians (Mouton, The Hague, 1959), is unfortunately unusable. Parthian inscriptions have not been assembled in a corpus, but a bibliography for them may be found in P. Gignoux, Glossaire des Inscriptions Pehlevies et Parthes (London, 1972), 43-44, to which may be added Das Parthische Felsrelief, Sarpol-i Zohab, Iranische Denkmäler, Lieferung 7 (Berlin, 1976), 16. 206 Chapter VIII The prime literary sources for the Parthians are chapters 41 and 42 of Justin's epitome of Pompeius Trogus, Apollodorus of Artemita (most as found in Strabo) and Arrian's Parlhika, both in Frg. Hisl. 156 and 779 respectively, as well as the Parlhian Stations of Isidore. The many Classical sources on Roman- Parthian military and diplomatic relations are listed by Debevoise, to which work the reader is referred. EXPANSION OF THE KINGDOM Information on the origins of the Parthians comes from Justin (XLI, 1) who says they were originally exiles from Scythia, and Strabo (XI, 515) who says Arsaces was a Scythian man with the Aparni, a part of the Dahi, nomads who lived along the Ochus (lower Oxus) River, who invaded Parthia and conquered it. He continues that some say he was a Scythian while others claimed he was a Bactrian who fled from Diodotus and raised a revolt in Parthia. Arrian (and his successor the Byzantine writer Syncellus) teil a story about two brothers, Arsaces and Tiridates, who were insulted by the (Seleucid) satrap of Parthia. So they plotted with five companions and overthrew him thus freeing the Parthians. 1 The parallel of Arrian's account with the story of the plot of Darius against Gaumata is evident, but whether the whole story really has a mythological basis relating to the Discorides, or heavenly twins, as Wolski suggests, is uncertain. 2 The details of the lives of the early kings are clouded, but first we should ask if the story of the (A)parni invasion is believable and if there is any reason for their migration southwards into the Seleucid domains in the third Century B.C. The reality of the (A)parni is indicated not only by the mention of them in Strabo, in Ptolemy and in Justin (in the form Sparni) but also by the Middle Persian text called the Bundahishn, which says that one of the offspring of Sam 'gave the governorship of Aparshahr to Aparnak. Aparshahr is thus named because it is the land of Aparnak,' 3 Furthermore, Henning sought to trace east Iranian 'Parni' words in Armenian borrowings from Parthian, a west Iranian tongue, as well as elsewhere. 4 Thus we may accept the migration, more likely than an invasion, of the Parni south from the area of Khwarazm into Parthia in the first part of the third Century B.C. The explanation of the name as 'mountain dwellers' and then their identification as inhabitants of the 'upper lands' (satrapies), later Aparshahr, is hardly correct though ingenious. 5 Reasons for the migrations of nomads could be many, drought, a search for better pasture lands, or political pressure. It is possible, as suggested by F. Koske, either that northern Parthia, from the Caspian Sea through present Turkmenistan to 1 Frg. Hisl., Arrianos 156, 858-59. The vari- 4 Henning, "Mitteliranisch" [eh. 6, n. 57], 93-94. ations in the name of the satrap have been discussed 5 By Eilers, "Demawend" [eh. 1, n. 19], 347, frequently by Wolksi. 373, n. 244. Abarshahr, later the Nishapur area, 2 Wolski, supra, l'origine, 71-73. He is convinc- can be well derived from 'the upper lands,' but the ing in his rejeetion of Arrian as a reliable source for Aparni are another problem, and they surely are the origin of the Arsacids. not attested as 'mountaineers.' The identification of 3 Ch. XXXV, 43^14, in the edition of B. T. the Aparni with the later Avars, proposed by W. Anklesaria, Zand Akäslh (Bombay, 1956), 299, Haussig, Theophylakts Exkurs über die skythi- where the translation is wrong, the correct word sehen Völker," Byzantion, 23 (1953), 329, is not being Aparnak, our Aparni. acceptable either historically or linguistically. The Parthians Ott the Plateau 207 Merv, was never held by the Seleucids, or that under Antiochus I short-lived forts to control the area were abandoned, and the whole territory was soon independent. 6 It is difficult to determine how much territory the Seleucid satrapy of Parthia did include, but in any case, it is reasonable to suppose that the northern desert areas and Khwarazm were not controlled by the Seleucids but did maintain an independent existence. From Soviet archaeological excavations we know that not only the area of Khwarazm, south of the Aral Sea, but also the land to the east on the Jaxartes River contained towns and Settlements as well as nomads in the period after Alexander's expedition. The names of various tribes which survive in Classical sources have been a great source of confusion and dispute among scholars, especially etymologies of names such as Massagetai, Derbikes, Apasiakai, Sacaraucae and others. 7 It is not possible, in the present State of our knowledge, to assign to a Khwarazmian State of this period the Apasiakai, as S. Tolstov does in various publications. 8 Also the identification of the state of K'ang-chü in Chinese sources, in this period located in the Talas and lower Jaxartes region, with either the Sacaraucae, or other peoples, is hardly possible with our lack of written sources. It is also not possible to assert that the expansion of the K'ang-chü drove the Parni south, and since information about the K'ang-chü is so little and shadowy, a proper history of this part of the world cannot be reconstructed. 9 Obviously the Jaxartes basin and other areas of western Turkestan were not just barren Stretches of desert with a few nomads roaming over them, and Settlements of Iranian Speakers existed there, but we know little about them, and they seem to have had little influence on the movement of the Parni to the south into the province of Parthia (Khurasan). Here we encounter the enigmatic Andragoras, who Justin (XLI, 4) says was the governor of Parthia, and he was overthrown and killed by Arsaces. The literature on the subject has been collected by Wolski, who correctly points out that the name is Greek, and there is no evidence that it is a translation of an Iranian name. He further suggests that his unique gold coin is a commemorative issue either at the time he declared his independence from the Seleucids, or simply a later emission by the 6 F. Ya. Koske, "Plemena severnoi Parfii v borbe 8 S. P. Tolstov, Drevnii Khorezm (Moscow, s makedonskim zavoyevaniem," VDI, part 1 1948), 244, and in English with amplifications, (1962), 113-25. He dwells mostly on Alexander's "Scythians of the Aral Sea area and Khorezm," campaigns in Central Asia, and archaeological XXV International Congress ofOrientalists, Trudy, 3 evidence, but the assertion that the entire area was (Moscow, 1963), 157-63. Whether the Apasiakai not under Seleucid rule may be too sweeping a are to be identified with the Pasiani as Tolstov, generalization. 1 62, followed by Daffina, supra, Immigrazione, 57, 7 A summary of some of the etymologies may assert, is also uncertain. be found in Daffina, supra, V Immigrazione, 54-60. 9 The identification of the K'ang-chü with Bailey, among others, in many articles, has Kaxäyai Ekv&cu on a map (but not in the text) connected saka + rauca with Chinese Sai-wang of Ptolemy, or with Kangha in the Avesta or later 'Royal Scythians,' the Mas-Sak (Massagetai) with Kang-diz is hypothetical. See Markwart, Wehrot 'great Saka'; cf. his latest aecount in "North-Iranian und Arang [eh. 3, n. 41 ], 1 88, and B. A. Litvinskü, Problems," BSO/1S, 42(1979), 207. Etymologies "Das K'ang-chü-Sarmatische Farn," CA], 16 are always elusive and only concern us when they (1972), 250-52, with further references and cause a revision of history or relate to other bibliography. matters. 208 Chapter VIII Parthians to show their connection with the Seleucids and Alexander the Great. 10 The authenticity of the coins being subject to doubt, their minting as com- memorative pieces at the time of Andragoras seems more reasonable than the postulation of a later Propaganda reason. More than the problem of Andragoras, however, the chronology of the early Parthians has produced a controversial hterature. Wolski has marshalled many arguments to show that the Parthian revolt occurred in 238 B.C. in the reign of Seleucus II, but neither he nor anyone eise has satisfactorily explained the 'later' adoption of an Arsacid era beginning in 247 B.C. rather than in 238. ' ' Yet Wolski presents the following chronology: first invasion of the Parni into Iran c. 280 B.C.; the Parni under Arsaces conquer Astauene (hodie Quchan) c. 250; crowning of Arsaces in the capital of Astauene, Asaak (or Arshak), according to Isidore of Charax (11) in 247 b.c.; revolt of Andragoras, satrap of Parthia, 245 B.C.; Diodotus proclaims his independence in Bactria, 239 B.C.; death of Andragoras and the taking of power in Parthia of Arsaces 238 B.c. ; conquest of Hyrcania by Arsaces in 235 B.c. 1 2 The first date was found by Wolski to be the time when Merv and Herat were devastated by nomads at the end of the reign of Seleucus I, who sent a general Demodamas to punish them. The nomads were the Parni, a division of the Dahi who at this time were moving from the north towards the Caspian Sea. 13 The second date is a plausible guess, for the process of expansion of the Parni must have taken time. The first Arsaces deserved to have his name honored, 14 as later Caesar and Augustus in the Roman Empire, for he probably transformed the marauding bands into a kingdom. Controversy exists, however, about the succession of early Parthian kings. Fortunately, new, contemporary sources, the Parthian ostraca of Nisa, have been added to the Classical sources. On one ostracon we find in the year 157, Y/fe MLK* BRY BR[Y ZY pryp]tk BRY '#Y BR[Y ZY] Vife or '91 B.c. King Arsaces, grandson 10 J. Wolski, "Andragoras etait-il Iramen ou Hyrcania, but the rest of them extend to the land^ Grec?" SI, 4 (1975), 166-69. The name is attested parallel to Aria (Herat). He continues that they in Greek papyri from Ptolemaic Egypt, and one overran Hyrcania, Nisaia and the plains of the can think of no reason why an lraman would seek Parthians, implying raids. Although Nisaia is the to translate his name into Greek. Wolski convinc- land on the northern edge of the Kopet Dagh ingly identifies the Andragoras ofthisperiod with ränge, lt may have been considered part of the the name of a high official in a Greek inscription richer Valley of Astauene to the south, where from Gurgan under Antiochus I, and he convinc- Arsaces was probably crowned, in a town named ingly rejects the histoncity of the Andragoras after him, as Wolski proposes. Strabo (XI, 511), mentioned by Justin (XII, 4) as satrap of Parthia however, says that the Aparni made war, then under Alexander. The coins of Andragoras present peace and war again with the settled people, a more similar problems to those of Sophytes and both hkely course of events than any planned conquest. may be contemporary satraps of c. 250 B.C. This account is repeated with additions in his 11 Cf. J. Wolski, "L'Historicite d'Arsace I er ," "Arsace I er , fondateur de letat Parthe" [n. 1 1 ], 1 59- Historia, 8 (1959), 235, and his "Arsace Ier 99. fondateur de letat Parthe," AI, 3 (1974), 197. 14 The older form of the name 'Arsaces,' Arsu '• Wolski, "Der Zusammenbruch der Seleuki- for Artaxerxes II has been found in Akkadian; cf. dcnherrschaft in Iran im 3. Jh. v. Chr.," in Altheim, A. Sachs, "Achaemenid Royal Names in Babylo- op. cit [eh. 7, n 1], 253-54. man Astronomical Texts," AJAH, 4 (1979), 133- 13 Ibid., 205-07. Strabo (XI, 511) says that the 35. Aparni, part of the Dahi, are situated dosest to The Parthians on the Plateau 209 of Phriapatius, son of the nephew of Arsaces.' 15 The editors of the ostraca (Note 15, pp. 20—21) reconstructed the early genealogy of the Arsacids as follows: 16 Arsaces Tiridates I Artabanus Phriapatius Mithradates - Arsaces (Gotarzes) but Koshelenko proposed a new theory of descent: Arsaces 1 1 (Tiridates not king) 1 1 Arsaces 11 l x (not king) 1 Arsaces III (Phriapatius) 1 1 Arsaces IV 1 Arsaces V Arsaces VII 1 X (Phraates I) (Mithradates I) 1 (Artabanus I) 1 1 Arsaces IX Arsaces VI Arsaces VIII (Phraates II) (Mithradates II) The name Phriapatius may appear in another ostracon, but the inscription is damaged and incomplete and seems to say only that an Arsaces in the year 180 (of the Arsacid era = 68-67 b.c.) was a descendant of Phriapatius. 17 The latter was obviously an important king in the dynasty, and there is every reason to identify him with the third king of the Parthians, but why was he more important apparently, in the ostraca inscriptions, than his predecessors? The proposal of Koshelenko answers this question, and his Suggestion in regard to the Tiridates problem does attempt to reconcile Justin (Trogus) with Arrian (and Syncellus), and as such is a good guess. Otherwise we must believe either Arrian or Justin, since they conflict. The name Artabanus for the second 15 I. M. Dyakonov and V. A. Livshits, Doku- menty iz Nisy Iv. do n. e. (Moscow, 1960), 113 and plate. The brackets are smudges on the ostracon and within them are reconstructions. This is a stränge ostracon with only these two lines, whereas other ostraca are accounts of quantities of wine from vineyards in various estates. The expression BRY 'liY BRY, the Parthian form of these Aramaic masks being unknown, is attested only here. 16 See the remarks of G. A. Koshelenko, "Genealogiya Pervykh Arshakidov," in B. G. Gafurov, ed., Istoriya i kuhura narodov Srednei Azit (Moscow, 1976), 34. This follows Justin (XLI, 5) who says that Arsaces II was also called Arsaces and was followed by Priapatius. A bibliography on this ostracon is given on pp. 36—37. 17 I. M. Dyakonov and V. A. Livshits, "Novye nakhodki dokumentov v Staroi Nise," Prednea- ziatskü Sbomik, 2 (Moscow, 1966), 143, n. 28, and plates 10 and 10a. The historical interpretation of these documents may not be as much as the editors suggested, especially in regard to the genealogy of the Arsacids. Altheim, op. cit. [eh. 6, n. 19], 446, gives Arsaces I two sons, one Arsaces II and the other the father of Phriapatius. 210 Chapter VIII or third ruler of the Arsacid dynasty is not attested, and if one follows Justin, the son of Arsaces I could be assigned that name. With Phriapatius, however, we are on firmer ground, and one may assign his rule to the aftermath of the invasion of Antiochus III from whom Arsaces (II according to Justin, III according to Arrian) fled. After the retreat of Antiochus III, the Parthians seem to have turned their attention to the east against the Greco-Bactrians. Justin (XLI, 5), however, ascribes the conquest of the Mardi, on the southeastem shores of the Caspian Sea, to the short reign of Phraates, eider brother of Mithradates I, and this would be an expected expansion of Parthian authority at this time. We have already seen how several provinces were wrested from the Greco-Bactrians, but under Mithradates I Parthian expansion to the east is unclear. In Media the Situation is also unclear, even more so after the discovery of a Greek inscription on a relief of Herakles near Behistun, speaking of Cleomenes a satrap of the upper provinces' in 149-48 b.c. 18 The easiest explanation of this is to assume that the Seleucid satrap of Media, Timarkhos, lost some territory in the area of present Tehran (Rhages) and farther east to Mithradates, while the Seleucid reconquest did not recover this land but maintained rule in Ecbatana. 19 According to Justin (XLI, 6) Mithradates had to fight many times in Media, and it is conceivable that the Seleucids held only the city and the lowlands, to the west of Ecbatana, at the time the relief of Herakles was carved. 20 Since the earliest Babylonian documents dated in the name of Arsaces begin in 141 B.c. after the defeat of the Seleucids in Mesopotamia, we may assume an interval of time of several years for the Parthians to move from Media to Mesopotamia and to the capture of Seleucia. The defeat of Demetrius II the Seleucid ruler was not accomplished in one battle or the conquest of Mesopotamia in one campaign, and the advance of Mithradates apparently was not swift. 2 ' It generally has been supposed that the Parthian king was called away to Hyrcania, as Justin (XLI, 6) teils us, after which Demetrius II was captured by a general of Mithradates and sent in captivity to Mithradates about a year later in 140-139 B.c., but the Parthian king only lived another year himself after having secured the Submission of Elymais. 22 For further information we must turn to the numismatists, some of whom assert that only under Mithradates I did the Parthian rulers begin to strike coins, and all earlier attributions are false. The problem with early Parthian numismatics is that, unlike the coins of Bactria and northwest India, only the name or title Arsaces appears on the coins and identities must be established by style, the busts, or figures and titles. Le Rider argued that since the Dahi, of whom the Parni were a branch, served in the army of Antiochus III, according to Polybius (V, 79) and Livy (37, 40), therefore the Arsacid rulers were vassals of the Seleucids and did not have the right to strike coins until Mithradates I Cf. chapter on the Seleucids, and esp 2 ' For references cf. Debevoise, op. eil. [eh. 7, n. Morkholm op. eil. [eh. 6, n. 93], 178-80 64], 22-23. The coinage of Seleucia indicates that The renaming of Rhagai-Europos to Arsakia Mithradates Struck coins there the first time only may have oecurred under Phraates I; cf. M.-L. for a year; cf. Le Rider, op. eil. [eh. 6, n. 25], 361- Chaumont, "fctudes d'histoire Parthe II," Syria, 50 62. (1973), 204. " On these events see Will, supra, [eh. 6, n. 32], At this time on the plateau Bacasis or Vagasis 2, 343-44, with references; also Debevoise, op. eil. could have served as satrap of Media under [eh. 7, n. 64], 24-25. Mithradates I, according to Justin. The Parthians on the Plateau 211 who liberated the Parthians from this Status. 23 Other numismatists support a coinage going back to the first king, although they admit that the number of coins greatly increases under Mithradates I. 24 It is difficult to support the thesis that until Mithradates I the Parthians were only vassals of the Seleucids and had no right to mint coins, while the Dahi mercenaries of Antiochus III give no indication of Parthian Submission to the Seleucids. As we have seen in the previous chapter, both the Parthian king and Euthydemus of Bactria made treaties with Antiochus III, not as submissive vassals, but as allies. With the withdrawal of Antiochus III from the east and his defeat by the Romans at Magnesia in 1 89 B.c., it is difficult to believe that the Parthians continued to act as subjects of the Seleucids. The symbolism on early Parthian coins of the seated royal archer on the reverse has been explained as the giving of the bow, as the symbol of authority, to the king from the gods, a practice attested for the Sakas, and this would not suggest any position as vassals of the Seleucids. 25 The questions which early Parthian rulers Struck coins and where the mint sites were located have not been answered, but inasmuch as mints do not require heavy equipment, but are even mobile, the location of a mint at Nisa, Asaak or Dara in the north Parthian homeland is not impossible. 26 The conquests of Mithradates I brought the Parthians from a small kingdom in the east to a position of power in the arena of the Near East, but after the Parthian king's death in 138 b.c. a campaign of recovery of eastern domains by Antiochus VII began. Mithradates I had Struck in Seleucia on the Tigris coins with the term philhellene, probably as a sign of conciliation with the Greek population, and possibly as a sign of a special relationship ofthat great city with the Parthian conqueror. 27 Parthian rule in Seleucia continued after the death of Mithradates under Phraates II until Antiochus VII appeared, after consolidating his position in Syria and the west. This was not until 131 B.C., however, as can be determined by cuneiform documents from 23 Le Rider, op. cit. [eh. 6, n. 25], 315-22, with of this, is convincing. For an etymology of the references to previous scholars, such as J. de name Sinatruces see Henning, "Mitteliranisch" [eh. Morgan and E. T. Newell (with certain reserves). 6, n. 57], 41, n. 1. The attribution to the mint at Ecbatana of issues of 26 On these towns see Chaumont, op. cit. [n. 1 9], Mithradates I, with the title 'great king,' may be 197-222. It is hardly possible to trace a succession attributed to the conquest ofthat mint site c. 150- of Parthian capitals from Asaak, Dara, and Nisa 147 b.c. through Hekatompylos, Arsakia-Rhages to Ecba- 24 Cf. Wroth's catalogue of the British Museum tana as the progress of Parthian arms to the west and A. Simonetta, "La monetazione Partica dal 247 since the 'capital' in the period before Mithradates al 122 a.C," Rivista Italiana di Numismatica, 16 II changed considerably, and we are unsure which (1968), 20-25; M. T. Abgarians and D. G. city was a capital and which just an important Seilwood, "A Hoard of Early Parthian Drachms," center. NC, 11 (1971), 115-18, and G. A. Koshelenko, 27 Cf. R. H. McDowell, Coins from Seleucia Ott "Neketorye voprosy rannei istorii Parfii," VDI, no. the Tigris (Ann. Arbor, 1 935), 218, and Sellwood, 1 (1968), 53, and his "Monetnoe delo Parfii pri op. eil. [eh. 7, n. 57], 38. The copper coinage issued Mitridate I," Numismatika i Epigrafika, 10 (Mos- by Seleucia under Parthian rule indicates a greater cow, 1972), 81, hold to an earlier coinage for the autonomy for the city than it had under Seleucid Parthians. control; see also McDowell, Slamped and Inscribed 25 D. S. Raevskii, "K voprosu ob obosnovanii Objectsfrom Seleucia (Ann Arbor, 1935), 6, and Le tsarskoi vlasti v Parfii." in B. G. Gafurov, ed., Rider, op. cit. [eh. 6, n. 25], 373. On the coinage of Srednyaya Aziya v drevnosli i srednevekove (Mos- Seleucia under Mithradates see Koshelenko, op. cit. cow, 1977), 81-87. His analysis of the archer-chief [n. 24], 100. among the Scythians, and the Parthian counterpart 212 Chapter VIII Mesopotamia. 28 The exact time of the march of Antiochus VII into Mesopotamia is difficult to establish, but if his entry into Seleucia was in 130 after winning three battles against Parthian forces, presumably in northern Mesopotamia, we may suggest that the reconquest of Mesopotamia took a number of months in 130 B.c. As the sources say, many local princes joined Antiochus who took the title 'great' king in honor of his victories. 29 The continued campaign against the Parthians on the Iranian plateau has presented some discord in the interpretation of meager sources. It is not possible to determine when precisely Demetrius II, who had remained in Parthian captivity so many years, was released by Phraates, while other details are also disputed. Coins from Susa indicate that in the year 130-129 that city reverted from Parthian to Seleucid allegiance and apparently many areas on the Iranian plateau also threw away their fealty to Phraates for Antiochus VII. 30 One extensive study of the Parthian campaign of Antiochus argues that he went as far as the homeland of the Parthians and it was there that he wintered and then lost his life in the early spring of 1 29 b.c. 3 ' This is unlikely, since Ecbatana is neither mentioned in any source, nor were any coins of Demetrius or Antiochus VII Struck there, which seems odd if the latter actually wintered in the homeland of the Parthians. Refusing the offer of the Parthians to negotiate peace, Antiochus, probably in Media, was surprised with a small body of his troops and either was killed or committed suicide. 32 Seleucid control disintegrated and the Parthians re-established their rule. Phraates appointed a certain Himerus, a Greek to judge by his name, governor of Babylonia and left for the east where the Central Asian nomads, we have seen in the last chapter, threatened Parthian rule. 33 According to Justin (XLII, 1), Phraates had hired Saka mercenaries for his war against Antiochus, but the swift demise of the latter obviated any need for the Sakas who were not paid, and rose against Phraates. The latter moved against them with Greeks and others from Seleucid forces now incorporated in his own army, but these on the first occasion abandoned Phraates who was killed by the Sakas in 128 B.C. The nomads were powerful, for the uncle and successor of Phraates, Artabanus lost his life fighting them in 123 B.C. 34 There is no information about the State of affairs in the east after Artabanus, but one may presume that for a while Parthian prestige was at a low ebb. In the west, however, we are better informed not only because of literary notices, 28 See references in Debevoise, op. cit. [eh. 7, n. he does not use Parthia or Parthuaia, but always a 64], 29, n. 3. plural ii< TIäp9(uv for 'from Parthia' and eis Ibid., 32. I7äp&ovs 'into Parthia.' Athenaeus, Deipnosophis- 30 Le Rider, op. eil. [eh. 6, n. 25], 377-78. No tue (XII, 540) uses the more likely term 'Media' coins of Antiochus from the mint of Ecbatana, instead of Parthia. however, have been found. 32 Fischer, op. cit. [n. 31], 46, favors the suicide 31 T. Fischer, Untersuchungen zum Partherkrieg report. Whether Ecbatana became a Parthian Antioehos' VII., (Ph.D. thesis, Tübingen, 1 970), 39. capital in the time of Phraates is also uncertain. His insistence that in Josephus the term Parthyene 33 Debevoise, op. cit. [eh. 7, n. 64], 35, follows means the homeland of the Parthians while Parthia Diodorus (XXXIV, 21) and Posidonius in calling or Parthuaia meant the whole empire, and Himerus an Hyrcanian, which is possible, but his Antiochus went into the former, is questionable. name is Greek, attested in Papyrus from Egypt and Actually Josephus, Am. Ind. XIII, 253, uses the he then would have been a Greek settled in former, on this one occasion, in an offhand remark Hyrcania or a native who took a Greek name. that Demetrius was released at the time that 3i There is no reason to rejeet the Statement of Antiochus invaded Parthyene, whereas elsewhere Justin (XLII, 2) that he died fighting the Thogarii The Parthians on the Plateau 213 but also cuneiform records and a more ample coinage aid in the reconstruction of history. After Antiochus VII lost his life Seleucia and much of Mesopotamia reverted to Parthian rule. But the weakness of the Seleucids had not only induced Bactria, Parthia and much of the Iranian plateau to secede from Seleucid rule, but also parts of Mesopotamia became independent or semi-independent. In the south the kingdoms of Characene and of Elymais make an appearance on the scene at this time and there is no reason to suppose that in the east there was more centralized control over Seistan, Kerman and elsewhere than in Mesopotamia. The Parthian State did not disintegrate, however, and the reign of Mithradates II (123-c. 87 b.c.) marks a high point in Parthian central power. He reconquered Babylonia, which had at first maintained a quasi-independent position under Himerus, who seems to have oppressed the local population greatly according to Justin (XLII, 1) and Diodorus (XXIV, 18). The former opinion, according to coins supposedly Struck by Himerus, that he became an independent king of Babylonia, is no longer accepted. 35 The sequence of events is uncertain, but it would seem that Hyspaosines, the ruler of Characene at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, although he fought Himerus and others, did not occupy either Seleucia or Susa, both of which, according to the coinage, remained in Parthian hands. 36 Just how much Mithradates had to reconquer is difhcult to determine, but probably not as much as hitherto assumed. He did, of course, defeat and secure the Submission of Characene, and overstrikes of Mithradates on the coins of Hyspaosines exist. He took the title 'king of kings,' the first Arsacid to do so, and he is pictured on his later coins wearing a distinctive crown or tiara. Whether this indicates a new order of government of the Parthians with vassal states and semi-independent cities such as Seleucia and Susa is unknown, but at some time, perhaps under Mithradates, the Parthian State became a loose empire rather than a tribal kingdom, which question will be examined later. The long rule of Mithradates II, in any case, was a time of consolidation of Parthian institutions as well as expansion. For the first time we hear of Armenia, where after the fall of Antiochus III, according to Strabo (XI, 528) two of his generals carved out kingdoms for themselves, 'Greater' Armenia under Artaxias (ArtaSes in Armenian), and another centered on Sophene and the upper Euphrates area under Zariadres. 37 Antiochus IV invaded 'Greater' Armenia and secured the Submission of Artaxias (corrected to Thocarii) as Tarn, Seleucid-Parlhian Hvidberg (Copenhagen, 1953), 289-90. He well Studies (London, 1930), 13-14 does. This Arta- may have destroyed the city of Babylon, but banus is sometimes called Artabanus II, and if the Hyspaosines is mentioned as ruler there in 127- second ruler of the dynasty Arsaces II had the name 1 26 B.c. in a cuneiform tablet ; cf. Fischer, op. eil. [n. Artabanus, he was obviously the first. We do not 31], 19, for references. know, however, and without evidence it is better 3 * Le Rider, op. eil. [eh. 6, n. 25], 382-83, and to call the uncle of Phraates by the numeral one. Fischer, op. eil. [n. 31 ], 58-59, for other references. The passage in the prolegomenon to book 41 of See also H. Klengel, "Babylon zur Zeit der Perser, Tragus (ed. by O. Seel in Leipzig, 1955) has the Griechen und der Parther," Forschungen und following: successores (of Arsaces I) deinde eius Berichte, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 6 (1962), Artabanus et Tigranes cognomine Deus, a quo subaeta 40-53. est Media et Mesopotamia, which is quite unreliable. 3 "' On this period of Armenian history see Ya. 35 For his position as king see S. A. Pallis, "The A. Manadyan, Tigran Vtoroi i Rim (Erevan, 1943), History of Babylon 538-93 b.c.," in Studia 18-21, with references to Polybius and other Orientalia, hanni Pedersen septuagenario, ed. by F. sources. 214 Chapter VIII which lasted only until the death of Antiochus. 38 According to Diodorus (XXXI, 27), Artaxias became an ally of Timarkhos, the rebel Seleucid governor of Media, but we do not know of the rewards or land ofFered to Artaxias for his support, although if we follow Strabo the areas under the rule of Artaxias included much of present Iranian Azerbaijan around Lake Urmia. Artaxias was followed by his son Artavazdes, and it was against him that Mithradates II of Parthia led an army and secured his Submission. The date of this expedition is unknown, but presumably it was near the beginning of the reign of Mithradates, for the future Tigranes the Great was taken as a hostage by the Parthians. According to Appian's Roman History (Syriern Wars, 48) Tigranes was the son of Tigranes, and the question arises whether the father ever ruled as Tigranes I and just what his relation was with Artavazdes. The latter may have been his uncle, and Tigranes I may have been put in power by Mithradates II while holding his son as a hostage, but these are mere surmises. 39 What seems certain is that under Mithradates II the first contacts between Rome and Parthia took place about 92 B.c., but which apparently led to no treaty between Sulla, the governor of Cilicia at that time, and Orobazes, ambassador of Mithradates. 40 This will be further discussed below. The last years of rule of Mithradates II are uncertain, and numismatists have argued about his successors, calling this the 'dark age' of Parthian history. 41 Since their many and varied arguments cannot be discussed here, only a summary of views will be attempted, with some preliminary observations on the coins, based primarily on the research of Seilwood and Simonetta. In the coinage of Mithradates II we find a change in the reverse sides from an archer sitting on the omphalos, which was probably inspired by the Seleucid use of the omphalos, to an archer sitting on a throne, which was followed by all subsequent Parthian drachms. From euneiform tables we infer that between 110 and 109 b.c. the title of Mithradates II was changed from 'Arsaces, king' to 'Arsaces, king of kings,' and by 91 b.c. his name disappears from Babylonian documents. In 87 b.c. the Seleucid ruler Demetrius III Eucaerus was sent as a prisoner to the Parthian king, who may have been Mithradates II. 42 In 91-90 b.c. Gotarzes is 38 Boundarystonesofthis king have been found vol. 6 NC (1966), 15-40; K. W. Dobbins, The in Armenia written in Aramaic similar to Successors of Mithradates II of Parthia," series 7, Achaemenid chancellory practice. In them he is vol. 15 NC (1975), 19-45; D. Sellwood, "The called Artaxerxes son of Zariadres of the Orontid Drachms of the Parthian 'Dark Age'," JRAS (Ervanid) family;cf. A. Perikhanian, "Les Inscrip- (1976), 1-25; N. Waggoner, "The Coinage of tions arameennes du roi Artaches," REA, 8 (1971), Phraates III of Parthia," in D. K. Kouymijian, ed., 1 69-74. Apparently he ordered a measuring of Near Eastern Numismatics, etc. in Honor of George land in 1 79 b.c. C. Miles (Beirut, 1 974), 1 5-26 ; and Simonetta and 39 Marquart, EränSahr [eh. 3, n. 37], 173, Sellwood, supra, "Again Coinage", 119, with suggested that Mithradates I of Parthia fought bibliography. against Artavazdes, but this period of history is * 2 Sellwood, op. eil. [n. 41], 6; Simonetta and lacking in sources. Manadyan, op. eil. [n. 37], 26, Sellwood, supra, "Again Coinage", 104, and suggests that Tigranes I preceded Tigranes II, his Debevoise. op. eil. [eh. 7, n. 64], 50. The sources are son, as king. not certain that the ruler to whom Demetrius was 4 On the sources, and for a good analysis see J. sent was Mithradates, in spite of Simonetta's Dobias, "Les premiers rapports des Romains avec assertion. Later tetradrachms, which were Struck les Parthes et l'occupation de la Syrie," AO, 3 only at Seleucia, do give personal names and dates (1931), 218-21. of Parthian rulers and are thus invaluable for A. M. Simonetta, "Some Remarks on the identification of rulers. Arsacid Coinage of the Period 90-57 B.c.," series 7, TTie Parthians on the Plateau 215 mentioned in cuneiform tablets as king, but he did not rule more than a year, for succeeding dated tablets until 87-86 b.c. mention an 'Arsaces who drove out Gotarzes,' who is not further identified but may be identified as Orodes I. Then a tablet dated 80-79 b.c. has an 'Arsaces who drove out Orodes,' who is probably the Arsaces called ''Philopator on his coins. Opinions based on coins alone may be widely divergent. For example, countermarks of a certain Otannes on coins of Sinatruces and Phraates III have been assigned to a satrap of the Parthians in Persis, functioning as an intermediary between the Persis rulers Autophradates II and Darius II, by Koshelenko, while Simonetta makes Otannes a last Iranian independent ruler preceding Gondophares, the Indo-Parthian ruler. 43 A badly damaged relief with a Greek inscription at Behistun has been restored in the second line as reading 'Gotarzes, satrap of satraps, the great king Mithradates,' in the nominative instead of expected genitive case. 44 The first line mentions another name, perhaps the one who ordered the relief carved in the time of Mithradates and of Gotarzes, with the unique title not found elsewhere. It has been proposed that the Gotarzes of this inscription is the one mentioned in cuneiform tablets from Babylonia, which may be true, but we have no information regarding his relationship with Mithradates or with Orodes I, presumably his Opponent. In this period of confusion Tigranes II of Armenia expanded his power and domains against the Parthians and exacted revenge for the losses suffered by Armenia. Tigranes II had been held as a hostage but then was placed on the throne of 'Greater' Armenia by Mithradates. Either after the death of Mithradates or during his last years, Tigranes not only took back seventy Valleys which the Armenians had been forced to cede to Mithradates, but he also secured the Submission of the rulers, or satraps, of Atropatene (Azerbaijan) and Gordyene (Upper Tigris), as well as parts of Mesopotamia, and western lands with which we are not concerned, according to Strabo (XI, 532). Tigranes apparently raided almost as far as Ecbatana and took the title 'king of kings,' which the Parthian kings in that time did not hold according to their coins. This State of affairs must have lasted until about 68 b.c. when Lucullus, the Roman general, took Nisibis, although, since Tigranes was much occupied in the west, he (Tigranes) may have lost territory to the Parthians earlier. The Situation must have been confused and bad for the Parthians, such that Sinatruces or Sanatruk, presumably an Arsacid prince, was brought to the throne by the Sacaraucae about 77 b.c., but it is not known whether the nomads were asked by Sinatruces to aid him or whether they took advantage of the chaos to push their own interests. Since he was reportedly eighty years old, he must have been closely related to one of the former Parthian kings, otherwise a younger man would have been more appropriate. He 43 G. A. Koshelenko, "Drakhma Sinatruka s 45 The main source are the Makrobioi (Ps. nadchekankoi Otany," Numismalika i Epigrafika, 9 Lucian) 15; for a discussion of this passage see (1971), 33-37, and Simonetta/Sellwood, supra, Daffina, supra, Immigrazione, 75-76. After Sina- "Again Coinage", 107. Koshelenko bases his truces the significance of Parthian numismatics surmise on the cap or bashlyk worn by Otannes and changes from an exclusive source to one in support his name, which he claims is found only in Fars in of literary notices. ancient sources. This is most dubious. 44 E. Herzfeld, Am Tor von Asien (Berlin, 1 920), 35-39. 216 Chapter VIII ruled about seven years, and his coins are found in Susa, as well as elsewhere, an indication that he recovered most of Iran, including Babylonia, for the Parthians. With the accession of Phraates III, son of Sinatruces, sometime between 70 and 68, for the actual date of death of his father is uncertain, the history of Parthia becomes connected with Roman history, and the sources increase considerably. Also from the time of Phraates, we may suggest that institutions are fixed and the next two and one half centuries down to the fall of the Parthians are filled primarily with internal struggles for supreme power, and with the external wars with the Romans. The eastern frontiers seem to have been more or less stable, especially with the rise of the Kushans and their creation of a centralized State; thus Roman-Parthian relations are of paramount importance. It seems appropriate that before discussing this com- paratively well-known phase of Parthian history we should examine the structure and institutions of the Parthians as far as we can reconstruct them. THE ORGANIZATION OF RULE The position of the Parthian king in the eyes of his subjects probably changed as the empire grew out of a small State with a background of nomadic traditions of rule. The ideology of kingship would be composed of three traditions, or rather an amalgam of the nomadic (development of Indo-Iranian concepts), Greek, and ancient Near Eastern (primarily Achaemenid) traditions. 46 It is, of course, difficult to disentangle the three, but elements of all appear in Parthian royal ideology, as much as it can be determined from coins (legends as well as crowns), from a few details in literary sources, and from our knowledge of both earlier and later practices and beliefs in Iran, or those of neighboring peoples. The nomadic, or what might also be called Indo- Iranian, beliefs probably included the concept of the royal^r« or 'glory' which was so prominent among Iranian peoples everywhere. The belief in the investiture of the chief of a tribe with a bow by a deity, as pictured on the earliest coins, has been mentioned, and one may elucidate here briefly the idea of the royal 'glory' or 'fortune.' Much has been written about the farn, its etymology and meaning, but here we are only interested in any significance it had for the Parthian rulers. 47 At the outset one should note the existence of names with farn in them on the ostraca from Nisa such as Prnliw, Prnbg and Mtrprn, literally 'the glory of Mithra.' 48 The farn is an ancient concept, and in the Avesta we hear of the farn or 'glory of the Aryan lands' (Yast, 19, 57 and 64 foll.), whereas later we learn of the^är« of the 'king of kings' or the farr-e izadl or 'divine farn as found in the Shähnäme, and this farn is the guide of the king in his rule. 49 When Taeger says that the Parthian kings had a dynastic eult It is interesting to see the same tripartite "Av. xvaranah," Bulletin of the Society for Near division applied to architecture, based on rehgious Eastern Studies in Japan, 17 (1974), 75-86, English beliefs, by G. A. Koshelenko, Kultura Parfii summary p. 183, where the word is connected (Moscow, 1966), 33. with 'eating.' On the chansma of the king see F. The fundamental work on the word and its Taeger, Charisma, 1 (Stuttgart, 1957), 304-431. etymology is by H. W. Bailey, Zoroastrian Problems 48 For references see Litvinskii, op. cit. [n. 9], 2, in the Ninth-Century Books, 2nd ed. (Oxford, 50. 1971), 1-78 and xvii-xl; J. Greppin, "XvarSnah," 49 For a study of the concept in the Shähnäme see JIES, 1 (1973), 232-41, with references to articles Manuchehr Khudäyär MahabbT, Farr-e yazdän dar byJ.Duchesne-Guilleminandothers.Cf. E. Imoto, ta'rlkh-e adyän (Teheran, 1972), 1-42. For a The Parthians on the Plateau 211 without a noumenal or divine character, this is true if he is refuting the divinization of the ruler, but it is not so if one considers the^är« as a divine concept. 50 The dynastic cult, or the cult of ancestors, may be characterized as the same as the Hellenistic cult of dead heroes, combined with an ancient and widespread cult of ancestors, to make a royal cult, the implementation of which was coterminous with the state's boundaries. The Seleucid and Greco-Bactrian kings' use of the epithet #eo? on coins apparently was bound to the title or office of king, or to the institution of kingship, and was not a personal divinization, and this was the same for the Arsacids. 5 ' The Hellenistic ruler cult was adopted by the Parthians, but probably not at the beginning of their rule, when Central Asian or tribal notions of kingship were predominant. So we may conjecture that Arsaces I convinced his friends that the royal jarn had descended on him and his family, which was destined to rule an even larger area than at the commencement of his rule. Obviously power and success in conquest were elements in the rise of the Parthians. In time, Achaemenid concepts of kingship joined the ancient practices and beliefs together with the heritage of Hellenistic kingship of the Seleucids. This may be seen in the adoption of the title 'king of kings' by Mithradates II and by his use of a distinctive crown or tiara instead of the usual diadem of the Hellenistic rulers. Koshelenko has described the development of Parthian ruling ideology on the basis of their coins, first with the simple name Arsaces without a title, which he claims shows that Arsaces like Diodotus did not revolt against the Seleucids but simply took over the right of coinage because of the absence of Seleucid authority. 52 Also the existence of an ever burning fire in the town of Asaak where Arsaces I was first proclaimed king, as attested by Isidore of Charax 1 1, suggests that the act of proclaiming a king had a religious significance. One could also suggest that the formation of a royal ideology began with Arsaces I, who must have had a strong personality to have given his name as a title to all succeeding Parthian kings. This fact in ltself attests to the importance of a royal family or royal clan of the Arsacids in the political ideology of the Parthians. The protocol of crowning of the king was undoubtedly also developed over time, usually with the head of the Suren family in the capacity of the one who put the crown on the king's head. 53 discussion of the concept of Jarn in Iran and H. Dörrie, Der Königskult des Antiochos von neighboring concepts see F. Dvornik, Early Chris- Kommagene, Abh. GWC, 60 (1964), 236 pp. lian and Byzantine Political Philosophy, 1 (Cam- 52 G. A. Koshelenko, "Tsarskaya vlast i ee bridge, Mass., 1 966), 85. For Hellenistic influences obosnovanie v rannei Parfii," in B. G. Gafurov, ed., and a discussion of headgear, see Ritter, op. eil. (eh. lsloriya Iranskogo Cosudarslva i Kullury (Moscow, 6. n. 28], 27-30, 125. 1971), 213. 50 Taeger, op. eil., 1 [n. 47], 432. The concept of " On the crowning of vanous kings, with Jarn was more than a mere chansmatic exaltation sources, see Ritter, op. cit. [eh. 6, n. 28], 168. Trajan of the king (p. 402) but was similar to Greek tu^t; crowned his own Arsacid candidate for the and Sofa. Neither the Indo-European ramifica- Parthian throne in Ctesiphon, but this only indi- tions of the concept nor the religious implications cates the symbolic importance of the ceremony. of kingship can be discussed here, for which see G. For the crowns see H. von Gall, "Beobachtungen Widengren, "The Sacral Kingship of Iran," Nutnen, zum arsakidischen Diadem und zur parthischen Supplement 4 (Leiden, 1959), 424-55. Bildkunst," Istanbuler Mitteilungen, 19/20 (1969- 51 Taeger, op. cit., 329, 333, 432. Herakles, a 70), 299-318, and for the curious crown of divinized hero, was made the ancestor of the Phraates III see J. Sugiyama, "Some Problems of Seleucids. As Taeger aptly says, the Hellenistic Parthian Kings' Crowns," Orient, 9 (Tokyo, 1973), ruler cult had many opponents but hardly any 31-41. martyrs (p. 307). On the Hellenistic ruler cult see 218 Chapter VIII Much has been written about the Institution of 'double kingship' in Iran, but it seems that the association of the son (crown prince) or successor of the king with the ruler to insure continuity has been mistaken for the Institution of two kings, as in ancient Sparta and elsewhere. 54 In any case, there is no evidence for an institution of two kings among the Parthians, even if etymologically the title of bidakhsh, which we meet below, meant 'second king,' which itself is uncertain. 55 The formulae and protocols of rule were highly developed under the Parthians, but so were they under the Roman emperors. How much of the hyperbole of kingship, such as the comment of Ammianus (XXIII, 6, 6) that the Parthians worshiped Arsaces as a god, can be believed as real and how much of it is political Propaganda is difficult to determine. With Mithradates II, however, we can see the evidence of such political propaganda on his coins and with his title. It is unlikely that his reign marks a change in political ideology different from the past; rather a significant progress in the continuing evolution or development of an ongoing Parthian royal protocol and belief is indicated. The Usurpation of the title 'king of kings' by the Armenian Tigranes II is only an indication of the realities of power and the importance of the developing Parthian ideology in regard to kingship elsewhere in the Near East. The aristocracy and its assumption of titles paralleled the ideology of kingship but changes took place to a greater extent in this domain. Presumably the Parni, when they moved into Parthia, were still in a form of society characteristic of steppe tribes similar to the Indo-Iranian period. The division of that society into the classic tripartite warriors, priests and the rest of the people, we may assume, had developed towards a more differentiated class System of nobles of various grades, with common folk also divided according to professions and beliefs. Likewise we may assume a continuation of the heritage of the tribe, clan and family Organization of pastoral societies. The mixture of old and new in the case of the Parthians produced a knightly or feudal class, each member of which was called äzät, which, as Perikhanian has shown, should not be confused with the word meaning 'free,' although the two later did fall together. 56 The family of the king had a special position, especially the crown prince or heir apparent, the vispuhr, but as mentioned, the royal family of the Arsacids all participated in the heritage or patrimony of the ruler, and this special position, as argued by Perikhanian, was called väspuhrakänih (pp. 19-21). The proliferation and differentiation of titles in the Parthian court cannot be dated any more than changes in functions or the use of honorifics as well as titles. For example, the Parthian title *pa(äyrlw, attested in Syriac, Sogdian and at Hatra, may well have been coined by the Parthian kings to designate either a regent or the successor to the throne, but it may have been, on the other hand, an honorific designation rather than a fixed title 54 Cf. Frye, "Remarks" [eh. 7, n. 65], 78-82, for 56 A. Perikhanian, "Notes sur le lexique iranien further references. et armenien," REA, 4 (1 968), 5-30. The secondary 55 Szemerenyi "Iranica V," [eh. 4, n. 63], 391. meaning of väspuhrakän as princes who were not The etymology, meaning 'second ruler,' is no sons of the king has only confused the matter. Note assurance of the existence of such an office; rather also that a feminine form *vi$duxta 'princess' is one would expect this originally to be an presumed for Parthian by Perikhanian. appellation given to a confidant or a close friend of the king regardless of office. The Parthians on the Plateau 219 in a hierarchy or Organization. 57 As the Parthians expanded, they encountered all kinds of principalities, city states, or other forms of rule which had evolved under the Seleucids, or which had come into existence when Seleucid rule weakened or collapsed. If we may take Armenia as a kind of 'microcosm' of the Parthian 'macrocosm,' then the remark that Armenia was a collection of royal domains, military viceroyalties, separate principalities and temple lands may be applied with even more cogency to the Arsacid kingdom. 58 Furthermore, titles which appear in the Parthian east may not have had any currency in the western part of the territories ruled by the Arsacids. For example, the term kanärang or käradranga, which we shall discuss in the chapter on the Kushans, is not found in the west. We may suppose that the Parni aristocracy intermarried with both the local, settled Parthian aristocracy, as well as with any Greek or Macedonian aristocracy. By the end of the second Century b.c. they were also undoubtedly mixed with local Iranian upper classes, not to mention any Saka or other intruders. As Wolski has convincingly shown, after the consolidation of the Parthian State on the basis of tribal support of the king, in its expansion the ruler, following Hellenistic tradition, had to engage mercenaries to further his ambitions. 59 Until the first Century B.c. the mixed Parthian aristocracy and the mercenaries fought together for common booty and for the ruler, but later internecine struggles between various pretenders to the throne supported by difFerent groups of the aristocracy were endemic. As the boundaries of the Parthian State became fixed, especially in the west by the Roman Empire, revenues and booty based on an expansionist policy greatly declined, and the influence of the ruler feil as that of the aristocracy rose. For more than two centuries Parthia was on the defensive, for on the whole the Romans were aggressors in the wars between them. One may describe a change in Parthia in the first Century b.c. as a transition from the old world of the Hellenistic monarchies to a new 'feudal' age, which is the picture of the Parthian State given by Classical sources. The Parthian aristocracy became wealthy and powerful as the influence of the king sank. At the same time the traditions, protocol and nominal allegiance to royalty were preserved and even fostered. 60 Society became more fixed in various classes and hierarchies. The upper nobility, many of whom were relatives of the king, were given provinces to govern, as were brothers or immediate members of the king's family. 61 The relationship between these governors and a court nobility is unknown, and it is unwise to project backwards information from the Sasanian period except to the 57 For references see D. Harnack apud Altheim, in Armenia parallels Parthia, but one should not op. cit. [eh. 6, n. 49], 516-19. Gershevitch proposed assume that the Situation in Armenia was a carbon the form *patägrlu>, which is preferable to copy of Parthia. Harnacks' *paigtab. His further Suggestion that the 59 J. Wolski, "Le röle et l'importance des Parthian word is a calque on Greek SiaSoxos may mercenaires dans letat Parthe," IA, 5 (1965), 107. be true, but the latter was hardly a real title in 60 Cf. J. Wolski, "L'aristocratie parthe et les Hellenistic times. Other than the vispuhr, usually commencements du feodalisme en Iran," IA, 7 written as BR BYT', we find 'princess' visduxta (1967), 133-44, with further references. (BR BYTH) and the general designations "hiynd 61 E.g., Vologeses gave the governorship of 'prince,' iftvtwy 'lord,' as well as other words for the Media to one brother Pacorus and Armenia to rulers. another brother Tiridates, acc. to Tacitus, Annais 58 R. H. Hewsen, "Introduction to Armenian (XV, 2). The Greek pcyujTÖ.v€S corresponds to Historical Geography," REA, 13 (1979), 96. Much the wuzurgän. 220 Chapter VIII period just before the end of Parthian rule. We may suppose, however, the existence and power of the class of great nobility, the Sasanian wuzurgän, attached to court and having a high position in society because of relationship to the king and presumably owning extensive lands. The governors of large provinces, the hStrdrn or shahryärän, were the equivalent of small kings, while the majority of the nobility were small landowners, the äzätän, or liberi of Latin sources, who brought foot soldiers with them from their lands when called to support the king in war. Much has been made of a Senate or Council of Parthian nobles and priests who supposedly elected the king from the Arsacid family in the last two centuries of Parthian rule. Wolski has shown that this is a mistaken assumption on the part of Greek and Latin authors. Rather, the nomination of the ruler at times in the last two centuries of Parthian rule followed a long existing institution and should not be attributed to a new institution, a Senate which arose as a result of the weakness of the rulers and competing claims of various princes to the throne. 62 The privileges and the ranks of the aristocracy were strictly arranged, but no noütia dignitatum has survived, except in Armenian, for the later Arsacid court ofthat land. 63 It is quite possible that lists of military as well as civil positions existed for various provinces or lands in the Parthian kingdom with coats of arms for each dignity, as in the case of the late Roman Empire. 64 We cannot reconstruct the order of ranks in the Parthian court from the titles found in inscriptions, usually in the frontier areas such as Dura Europos or Hatra, but several of the positions mentioned in the inscriptions may throw some light on the Parthian nobility. We find a general word Itwtwy 'lord' possibly used as a general term of address for a member of the nobility. Those who were at court as friends and even bodyguards of the king probably had special designations such as rtfiwdr, the nohadares of Ammianus (14, 3), the 'first' or 'top friends' of the ruler. 65 These seem to have comprised a small top class of nobility, rather than the word being either a civil or military title. Civil and military titles, usually held by the nobility, will be mentioned below. In Armenia later the peasants seem to have been distinguished from the town plebes, and one may presume similar conditions in Parthian territories, but it is questionable whether the lower classes were subdivided into any kind of semi-legal ranks similar to the nobility. 66 In cities, especially those which continued their Hellenistic Status of a 62 J. Wolski, "Remarques cntiques sur les Benveniste, [eh. 5, n. 74), 20, emphasizes the institutions des Arsacides," Eos, 46 (Wroclaw, correspondence between Parthian hwtwy and 1954), 60, and K. H. Ziegler, Die Beziehungen Greek Kvpios. The group of 'friends' of the zwischen Rom und dem Partherreich (Wiesbaden, Hellenistic kings undoubtedly was paralleled in 1964), 16. Parthian times. On the early predecessors of the 63 M.-L. Chaumont, "L'ordre de preseances ä la 'friends' see G. Widengren, Der Feudalismus, im cour des Arsacides d'Armenie," JA, 254 (1966), alten Iran (Köln/Opladen, 1969), 38-43. 471-97. Undoubtedly one could interpolate from 66 Perikhanian, op. cit. [n. 56], 13, where the this hst to a similar one in Iran under the Parthians, Sinakank' 'peasants' are distinguished from the called a gähnämak or 'book of ranks,' but details are famikk' 'plebes', but Widengren, Der Feudalismus, lacking. 123, and his "Die Begriffe 'populorum ordo' und 64 Cf. O. Seeck, ed., Notitia Dignitatum (Frank- 'ram', n Festschrift Walter Baetke (Weimar, 1966), furt/M, 1962, reprint of 1876 original), XXII for 384-87, claims that the ram were peasants on royal coats of arms, and 77-80 for the dux Mesopotamiae. domains and thus in a separate class, but his further 65 Discussed with references by Harnack apud assertion (p. 387) that they possessed horses and Altheim, op. cit. [eh. 6, n. 49], 537-40. Note that followed the entourages of nobles is most question- The Parthians on the Plateau 221 polis, differentiation according to professions did exist, but it does not seem to have been a social class division as among the nobility. When we turn to slaves and servants, the sources are silent, but some inferences can be made from words found in inscriptions, or in Armenian and later Middle Persian texts. The Armenian word ansahrik, which seems to be Parthian in form, originally meant a foreigner, probably taken in warfare, and it may have preserved this meaning throughout the Parthian period, for in the Sasanian period it probably feil together with the common word for any slave, bandag. 61 The legal position of slaves varied in different areas, for the Parthians did not Institute a uniform System wherever they ruled but allowed local differences to exist. The word pariütär (MP paristär), meaning a maid-servant, in the Parthian period referred to a hierodule, dedicated to Service in a temple, but the extent of such 'slavery* is unknown either geographically or numerically. 68 The vt$ak or 'house slave' was universal but unfortunately nothing is known about them. The vineyard ostraca from Nisa and parchments from Avroman teil us nothing about the Status of slaves or serfs in the dastkirt, the estates or patrimonies of the nobility. 69 Slavery was widespread, especially in Babylonia, and while we hear of manumissions which made slaves free (äzät), the number of slaves was always large. The Organization of the provinces was perhaps even more complicated than under the Seleucids and Achaemenids. The size of the satrapy had declined, but not so far as in the Sasanian period, when a satrapy was only a town with surrounding villages and lands. 70 The Parthians on the whole left the local lords and local administration intact when they conquered lands. In their homeland, however, the Parthian kings and nobility owned much land, as we see from the ostraca of Nisa, and royal estates must have been large here. Whether Parthia had a special position, free from taxes as Fars was at the beginning under the Achaemenids, is unknown but unlikely. Likewise, along the road from Khurasan through Rhages and Hamadan, i.e. Media, down to Seleucia, where Seleucid control had been centered, we may presume that able. His elaboration of the concept ram, as the meanings of dastkirt. For a summary of meanings corps of mounted peasants, is unconvincing in and references to previous articles, see Perikhan- "Recherches sur le feodalisme iranien," OS, 5 yan, op. cit. [n. 68], 458-60, where the religious (1956), 99. factor of dastkirt as a 'trust' or as a 'creation,' is 67 Cf. A. G. Perikhanyan, "K voprosu o discussed. The Semitic mask for the Parthian word rabovladenii i zemlevladenii v Irane parfyanskogo is BN' (comp. Aramaic BNH) which implies the vremeni," VDI, no. 1 (1952), 13-27. On Armenia property of inheritance. See also G. Kh. Sarkisian, see S. T. Eremyan, "O rabstve i rabovladenii v "O dvukh znacheniyakh termina dastakert v drevnei Armenii," VDI, no. 1 (1950), 12-26. The rannykh Armyanskikh istochnikakh," in Ellenisti- use of the word bandak and bandaklfi 'slavery' in cheskii Blizhnii Vostok, Vizantiya i Iran, Festschrift Parthian could also mean something like 'submis- for N. Pigulevskaya (Moscow, 1962), 97-101, sion' to a king or a lord. Usage changed over the with much the same double meaning for the term centuries. in Armenia as in Iran. 68 See A. Perikhanyan, Sasanidskii Sudebnik 70 It is clear that the hltrp or PtfT ' of the Nisa (Erevan, 1973), 534-35, with further references. ostraca, like the dyzpty or 'commandant of a There were many kinds of dedications of 'slaves' to fortress' were not titles of great officials or nobles, temples, and this kind of slavery, of course, was not See I. M. Dyakonov and V. A. Livshits, Parthian ordinary slavery. Cf. P. Koschaker, Über einige Economic Documents from Nisa, I (London, 1980), griechische Rechtsurkunden aus den östlichen Rand passim. The fact that Classical sources continue to gebieten des Hellenismus, Abh. der Sächsischen AW, use the word 'satrap' for governors and also for 42 (Leipzig, 1931), 76. almost any orTicial, seems to indicate a generahza- 69 Much has been written about the different tion of the term. 222 Charter VIII the Parthian king took over the role of the Seleucid ruler and appropriated the Seleucid crown lands for his own, so Media was probably ruled like Parthia. We are told that the Parthian Empire consists of eighteen kingdoms, according to Pliny (VI, 112), eleven of which are 'upper' and seven of which are 'lower,' here meaning those on the plateau and seven in the plains of the 'Fertile Crescent.' On the plateau, other than Parthia and Media, there were probably several kingdoms subject to the Parthians in Armenia, Hyrcania, Azerbaijan (Media Atropatene), and possibly one in the mountains of Tabaristan. In the south we know of the kingdoms of Persis and Elymais, but Kerman may have been another independent area, with Seistan at some times under Parthian rule and in other periods independent or subject to rulers in India. Although eleven 'kingdoms' on the plateau cannot be identified, it is possible that Pliny is reporting accurate information. In the lowlands we know of the kingdom of Characene in the land called Mesene (Aramaic: Maisän) at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. North of Mesene was the central part of the land between the two rivers, ancient Babylonia, but called Beth Aramäye literally 'house of the Aramaeans' in Aramaic or Syriac and Asüristän in Parthian. This rieh province, like Parthia and Media, was governed directly by the Parthian kings who maintained their winter residence on the plains, while in the summer they moved to the plateau. The great city of Seleucia had maintained a special Status until Vologeses I built a competing city Vologesia to outrival Seleucia, which will be mentioned below. The area to the northeast of Seleucia, including the Diyala River basin and present Sulaimania, was called Beth Garmai in Syriac, Garmikän in Middle Persian, and the capital was Karkha de Beth Slök (in Syriac) modern Kirkuk. 7 ' This kingdom existed down to the coming of the Sasanians, when it was joined either to the central province of Asüristän or to the kingdom of Adiabene to the north. Adiabene, or Hadhyab in Syriac and in Parthian, called Nodshirakan by the Sasanians, from which Armenian Norshirakan is derived, was the land between the Greater and Lesser Zab Rivers with Arbela as its capital. 72 Little is known about Adiabene in Parthian times except the conversion of a queen of the country and her son Izates to Judaism, and later Izates was rewarded by Artabanus III for supporting his claim to the Arsacid throne by the grant of some land to the northwest, including Nisibis, to Adiabene. 73 In this extension of the domain of Adiabene, to the west and 7 ' The Middle Persian form was reconstrueted city made by the Natunians,' and later abbreviated by Marquart, op. eil. [eh. 3, n. 37], 21, and is to Shahrqird a site on the route from Baghdad to probably the glmykn, as well as the form glmykc'n Mosul. This seems correct although the location of in thePaikuhinscnptionofNarseh.andonasealof the town near Kirkuk, thus strictly not in the British Museum ; cf. W. B. Henning, "Notes on Adiabene, is curious The later deformation of the the lnscnption of SäpOr," in the Professor Jackson name in MP, using the name Ardashlr, founder of Memorial Volume (Bombay, 1954), 50. In addition the Sasanian dynasty, into Nöd ArdashTr(akän) is a to the sources given by Marquart see J. F. Fiey, case of 'folk etymology' becoming official. Hen- Assyrie Chretienne, 3 (Beirut, 1968), 11-145. ning, "Mitteliranisch," [eh. 6, n. 57], 45. Kirkuk probably was founded by Seleucus, the 7i On this see J. Neusner, "The Conversion of town of Seleucia of Pliny (VI, 117), while the Adiabene to Judaism," Journal ofBiblical Literature, pcople, called Garamaioi, are noted by Ptolcmy (I, 83 (1964), 60-63, and his "Shorter Note," in 12,5 and VI, 1.2). Numetl, 13 (1966), 144-50. On the historical " In an inscription from Hatra, the name is geography of this area in the Parthian and Sasanian written ntwn'iry ', which J T. Mihk in "A propos period see L. Dillemann, Haute Mhopotamie d'un ateher monetaire d'Adiabene," RN, 3 (1961), Orientale et pays adjacenls (Paris, 1962), esp. 105-29. 51-82, has identified as Natunia, plus iaro-kerta as The Parthians on the Plateau 223 northwest, that land, called Beth Nuhadra in Syriac, with its center in the piain of ancient Nineveh, capital of Assyria, was absorbed. Neither under the Parthians nor under the Sasanians does this area of Beth Nuhadra, on the frontier of the Roman Empire, seem to have had a local dynasty ; rather it was a military province governed by a Nohodar presumably a confidant of the king given a military command. In the flat land to the west of it was the desert and the province called Beth Ar(a)bäye in Syriac (in Middle Persian Arbayastän and in Armenian, Arvastan) the chief town of which changed; at one time it was Nisibis. But at the end of the Parthian period, the kingdom and city of Hatra embraced the term Ar(a)bäye. Hatra only expanded in the last Century of Parthian rule and feil to the Sasanians in the last year of Ardashir's reign. Since the frontier fluctuated between the Romans and Parthians, the history of the rise and fall of minor principalities or the complicated changes in their boundaries cannot be followed. Other areas which in the Seleucid period were either provinces or separate principalities, and which may have preserved some independence into the Parthian period, were Sophene (Armenian Cop'k'), Zabdicene (Syriac: Beth Zabdai; Armenian: Zaudek'), Gorduene (Syriac: Beth Qardu; Armenian: Korduk') and others located in the mountain Valleys to the north of Mesopotamia. 74 Since they were not integrated into the Parthian Empire but were usually under Armenian rule, or independent, they need not be further considered since they have little relation to the history of Iran except in the wars with Rome. Obviously there were many changes not only in the administration of various provinces and principalities. The re vision of boundaries is difficult to follow, also on account of the changing fortunes of war in the land between the two rivers. As noted, the satraps were no longer the governors of huge lands such as Babylonia in the Achaemenid period, and we may assume that the subdivisions of the former large territories were not governed by officials called satraps, but the governors of large provinces, in continuation of the Seleucid tradition, were called strategos in Greek. In Parthian the equivalent term was probably hhrdry or shahrdär, with a general meaning of 'holder of the realm' or 'sovereign.' Under the governors were satraps, as we see from the Nisa ostraca. There were many officials under the satrap, especially accountants to care for the revenues, '/imrfer, the hamarkär. The chief collector of taxes was an important official called hrkpty, or \kpty and hrgwpt in Parthian, an office formerly mistakenly interpreted as argbad or 'fortress Commander.' 75 For the Parthian period we have no Information about the position of the chief tax collector in the hierarchy, but presumably it was not high and only under the Sasanians does the office gain in importance. 74 Names of Seleucid provinces, however, do " Much has been written about the argbed; ct. not teil us whether local princes ruled in them or my remarks apud C. B. Welles, The Parchments and Seleucid governors. The area about Nisibis was Papyri, The Excavations at Dura-Europos (New called Mygdonia, after the river, by the Greeks Haven, 1969), 111-12, to be corrected and but does not seem to have been an independent superseded by the above; also Szemerenyi, op. cit. principality, and the same is true of Apolloniatis on [eh. 4, n. 63], 366-75. the Diyala River, nearby Sittacene, and others. Information on native names and changes in administration is extremely sparse. 224 Chapter VIII When we turn to the army, our sources are also deficient, and the temptation to turn to earlier Achaemenid or later Sasanian times to reconstruct the Parthian army should be resisted, for the Achaemenid Organization broke down with the ever greater use of mercenaries, also a feature of the Seleucid kingdom. We may assume, however, that some sort of decimal Organization of the army continued under the Parthians, and that there was an army Commander, spdpty or spähbad, especially in time of war, and that the cavalry, the VfeVy, was especially important, as we know from Classical sources. In the frontier areas, such as Nisa, we find the military titles of mrzwpn 'margrave' and dyzpty 'fortress Commander,' the former probably the officer in charge of the frontier troops, while the latter was the officer in charge of a fort, as the name says. 76 From Classical sources we learn that the cavalry tactics of attacking and then feigning retreat, with the famous arrow shot, the 'Parthian shot,' turning in the saddle while fleeing, made a great impression on the Romans. When Justin (XLI, 2) says that fifty thousand cavalry opposed Marc Antony, of which only four hundred of them were free men (liberi), he means that the nobles only numbered so many. Although it may have seemed to Outsiders that the common soldiers were like slaves, they were more like followers or even serfs of the nobility. The feudal nature of Parthian society must have evolved throughout the course of history, but there is no evidence of the peculiarly Western European form of vassalage, and all that went with it. The Parthian form of 'feudalism' seems simpler, with the followers, or the peasants in villages belonging to a lord, supplying troops when needed. Sources for further speculation are lacking. A loan document from Dura-Europos may throw some light on Parthian political and military provincial Organization. It gives the titles and honorifics of two officials, one military and one civil, but it must be remembered that Dura was located on the frontier, even though the document itself is not directly from the frontier area. A certain Phraates, a eunuch, and hargbad or 'tax collector,' and one of the people' (at the court of, or in the entourage of) Manesus, son of another Phraates, who was governor of Mesopotamia, Parapotamia as well as Arabarkhos, or 'ruler of the Arabs,' made a loan to another person. One of the witnesses was Metolbaessa, Commander of the local garrison. The governor held not only the civil office, but had another title which is damaged in the parchment, which was restored as one who receives taxes, but this is uncertain. 77 In any case, both the Commander of the garrison and the governor carry honorifics, the former belonging to the (order of the) 'first and chiefly-honored friends and bodyguards' (presumably of the king), while the governor belonged to 76 For the titles and bibhography, see the 11 M. I. Rostovtzeff and C. B. Welles, "A glossary of P Gignoux, Glossaire des lnscriptions Parchment Contract of Loan from Dura-Europus Pehlevies et Parthes (London, 1972). The title on the Euphrates," Yale Classical Studies, 2 (New ptykwspn'paygöspän'or'padhöspan'is uncertain, for Haven, 1931), 51. The restored title TTapaXr)Trrr]s in Sasanian times it seems to have meant a 'gatherer for one's seif,' has not been found 'governor-general' of a number of provinces, or elsewhere. If the word is not Greek, it might be a the officer in charge of the armiesof one of the four parallel to slrategos, like PHT', but I have no quarters or frontiers of the empire In Parthian Suggestion which would fill the gap in the times it may have meant the same as 'governor,' or parchment. Cf. H. Bengtson, Die Strategie in der more likely the same as marzban, 'warden of the Hellenist. Zeit II 2 (1964), 279-280: irapa.7Ta.TTOv marches,' but we cannot determine thejurisdiction (Enns-lin and Mlaker). of the official. The Parthians on the Plateau 225 the (order of the) batesa and the äzätän or nobility. 78 Just what batesa means is uncertain, but I would like to suggest that it does not mean the title byfhS (bidakhsh) with many forms, but is rather related to the Middle Persian word p'thfdy (padehshäy) 'having rights by authority,' a civil honorary order of nobility. 79 The bidakhsh is more military in character than civil. Much has been written about this title found in many sources, and no matter what the etymology, the historical importance of this title in Parthian times was not that of a 'second king,' or second in line of succession, but rather the representative of the king, and since we find the title mostly used on the western and northern frontiers of the Parthian domains, we may conjecture that this official was originally the king's representative at the courts of the sub-kings or 'vassal' rulers. From later usage in Armenia and Georgia the term may have already developed in Parthian times to a meaning of 'warden of the marches,' or so mething similar to the mrzwpn (marzban), although the functions of both offices were undoubtedly more than simply military commands. 80 It is virtually impossible to distinguish orhcial designations from populär usage or Synonyms in nomenclature, as we have seen with the Parthian words for 'prince,' 'lord,' and others. A word such as prmtr (framatär) Commander,' which was civil, however, rather than military, gives no clue to his functions, but we may conjecture it was the equivalent of modern Persian-Arabic ra"ls, or 'director' of any civilian Institution. As noted, the values or meanings of titles changed over centuries, and what may have existed in early Parthian times frequently was either a memory or altered in significance by the time of the Sasanians. Certain constants can be recognized, however, and one may postulate the continuous existence of a village chief under the Parthians as the basic office of authority. 81 Above the village chief was a district or provincial chief of the rwdyst^g (NP rOstä) who was called a 'satrap' (hhrp or PUT*), while above the satrap was the ruler of the {ihr, the shahrdär, the local potentate, corresponding to the Achaemenid satrap and the Sasanian öständär or head of a large province. 82 When we come to the Sasanian period more sources aid us, but for the Parthians these three divisions in the hierarchy of civil Jurisdiction were the most widespread, although, as usual, exceptions probably did occur under the Parthians as at other times. 78 Cf. Welles, op. eil. [n. 75], 115-16. My side' (see n. 76) may have been a synonym for remarks in "Some early Iranian titles," Oriens, 1 5 marzban, but in Parthian times we have no sources, (1962), 352-54, are still valid regarding parallels and a reading backwards from the Sasanian period and honorifics as well as offices in spite of attacks may be misleading. by F. Altheim/R. Stiehl, Die Araber in der alten 81 The Parthian word for 'village' is found only Welt, 1 (1964-69), 635-38, or Szemerenyi, op. rif. in the Aramaic logogram QRYT' in the Nisa [eh. 4, n. 63], 371. They mistakenly assumed ostraca, which has been interpretedas * Nisy (Moscow, 1960), 24. The 240. curious appearance of the name Sasan apparently as l05 G. Koshelenko and O. Orazov, "O pogrebal- a deity, in the Parthian ostraca from Nisa, in nom kulte v Margiane v Parfyanskoe vremya," Compounds such as Säsänbökht, Säsändät, indicates VDl, 4 (1965), 42-56. In the footnotes further a wider pantheon, or even a cult of divinized references to ossuaries and other burials may be ancestors, than we know from later times. See found. See also Y. A. Rapoport, "Some Aspects of V. A. Livshits, "Parfyanskii teonim Said«," P/$me/!- the Evolution of Zoroastrian Funeral Rites," and nye pamyatniki i problemy istorii kultury narodov G. P. Snesarov, "The Mazdeist Tradition in the vostoka, ed. by P. A. Gryaznevich (Moscow, Burial Customs of the Peoples of Central Asia," 1977), 93-97. in Trudy XXV Mezhdunarodnogo Kongressa Vos- 1 0i See G. Widengren, "Quelques rapports entre tokovedov, 3 (Moscow, 1963), 127-40. juifs et iraniens ä lepoque des Parthes," Vetus The Parthians on the Plateau 233 the culture and practices of the Sasanians was Parthian in origin and the former have received credit for innovation, when they really were building on the past of their enemies whom they successfully sought to denigrate. WARS WITH ROME The Classical sources on Parthia naturally deal mostly with the wars between the Romans and Parthians, although some information about internal affairs or dynastic quarreis is recorded. The accounts are, of course, partisan and must be used with care, but at least the general course of the struggles between the two powers and the outcomes of such contests are usually reliable. On the whole, the Romans had the upper hand, especially in the time of the empire when Parthian central authority had been weakened and local rulers had asserted more authority than in the first two centuries of Parthian rule. Phraates III saw the fall of Tigranes II the 'Great' of Armenia and Mithradates of Pontus to superior Roman arms and the generalship of Lucullus, but it was not until Pompey replaced Lucullus that the Romans were able to impose a peace on the area. The Classical sources on the diplomacy and intrigues between Tigranes the younger, son of Tigranes the Great of Armenia, and Phraates have been well summarized by Debevoise, making repetition here unnecessary. 106 Tigranes and Phraates composed their differences after their ambassadors met Pompey in Syria in 64 b.c., and it seems the boundary between the Armenian and Parthian states was drawn between the northern border of Adiabene and Nisibis, while Syria was annexed by Rome. Phraates was murdered in 57 b.c. by his sons Mithradates and Orodes (wrwd), and the former apparently seized power only to be ousted by his brother, who after much fighting succeeded in capturing and executing Mithradates in 54 B.c. The following year the new Roman governor of Syria, Crassus, with overweening arrogance, attacked the Parthian domains and lost his life as well as his legions at the battle of Carrhae in May 53 b.c. With one stroke the position of the two antagonists changed, for the well-nigh invincible Romans were stunned by the great losses, and the Parthians became the champions of anti-Roman groups every where in the Near East, especially the Jews and some peoples of Anatolia. We are not concerned here with the change in Roman thinking about the east, but about Parthian reaction to the victory. The Parthians, contrary to what one might except, did not take advantage of the victory, for we hear only about raids into Syria with no thought of immediate conquest. Time was secured for the Romans who proceeded to consolidate their position in the east. It is from this period that the letters of Cicero, appointed governor of Cilicia in 51 b.c., give insights into the changed attitude of the Romans towards the Parthians. The Romans now realized they had a formidable foe, able and willing to challenge Roman domination of the east, although their cavalry tactics belied any intentions to permanently occupy settled areas. The need or desire to make a treaty between the two hostile powers, however, does not seem to have occurred to either side until the Roman civil war brought Pompey to seek an alliance with Orodes, the Parthian king (Cassius Dio, XLI, 55), but nothing happened since Julius Caesar triumphed over his rival. Caesar made extensive preparations for a war ,0b Op. eil. [eh. 7, n. 64], 70-5, and in more detail, Dobiää, op. eil. (n. 40], 228^*2. 234 Chapter VIII of revenge against the Parthians, but his murder ended such plans. 107 The conflict between the Republicans and Marc Antony and Octavian changed the picture, for Cassius, governor of Syria, took the side of the Republicans and sought support from Orodes (Cassius Dio, XL VIII, 24) and according to several sources Parthians fought against Octavian at the battle of Philippi in 42 B.c. 108 Antony took up the task of mobilizing for an expedition against Parthia, but while he was in Egypt the Parthians invaded Syria under Pacorus, son of Orodes, together with Labienus, the envoy of Cassius who had remained at the Parthian court. After initial successes they divided forces, Labienus moving into Asia Minor and Pacorus south into Palestine. Many local rulers broke with Rome and joined the Parthians and in Jerusalem Antigonus, nephew of Hyrcanus the high priest, was made king by the Parthians while Hyrcanus was carried a prisoner to Parthia. 109 Roman power reached its lowest ebb in the east, but soon the tide turned. Antony's general P. Ventidius Bassus in 39 b.c. defeated and killed Labienus, who had taken the title itnperator, and the following year Pacorus too met his death at the hands of the same general. 1 10 Antony came to Syria to restore Roman authority and in 37 B.C. Jerusalem feil; Antiogonus was killed and Herod was put in his place. Elsewhere pro-Parthian rulers were punished, and the Romans regained their former position. It is, of course, unknown whether Orodes had any dream or plan of re- establishing the Achaemenid Empire, but this was the only opportunity given to the Parthians in their history to extend their sway beyond the Euphrates to the Mediterranean Sea. Undoubtedly many of the inhabitants of Syria and Asia Minor welcomed the Parthians, but large numbers, perhaps the majority, wished to remain under Roman protection. In any case, the Parthians failed, and Orodes renounced his throne to his son Phraates IV, who then killed his father and brothers. Some Parthian nobles fled to the Romans, including a prominent general called Monaeses (mnyS) whom Antony hoped to use as a friendly claimant to the Parthian throne, but Phraates persuaded the deserter to return, and Antony seeing his chances diminished proposed a peace with Phraates, seeking the return of the Standards lost by Crassus at Carrhae as well as war prisoners. Phraates refused, and Antony made preparations to attack Parthia through Armenia. 1 1 ' The war between Antony and Phraates involved Armenia and Median Atropatene, and in this direction the Romans advanced as far as the capital called Phraaspa identified as modern Maragheh. 1 1 2 The king of Armenia, 107 For an extensive survey of the sources on ius" (Sb. Akad. d. Wiss., München, 1974, Heft 1) Caesar's preparations see Debevoise, op. cit. [eh. 7, and "Marcus Antonius, Triumvir v. Herrscher d. n 64], 106-07. On the relations of this period see Orients" (München, 1977), 184 foll. For all of the Ziegler, op. cit. [n. 62], 32-34. wars see A. Günther, Beitrage zur Geschichte der 108 Debevoise, op. cit. [eh. 7, n. 64], 108, for Kriege zwischen Römern und Parthern (Berlin, sources. 1 922), 1 36 pp. Coins attributed to Pacorus suggest 109 Ibid., 13. The events of this period are a coregency with his father. discussed in detail by A. G. Bokshchanin, Parfiya i ' ' ' On the attempts at peace see Ziegler, op. cit. Rim, 2 (Moscow, 1 966), 90-99. The overthrow of [n. 62], 36-44. the Hasmonaean house by the Idumaeans in ' ' 2 V. Minorsky, "Roman and Byzantine Cam- jerusalem cannot be discussed here. paigns in Atropatene," BSOAS, 11 (1944), 258- 1,0 On the Roman actions see H. Buchheim, 61, with references to sources. Perhaps this is a "Die Orientpolitik des Triumvirn M. Antonius," Middle Iranian form *Jräh-äspa, but the location is Abh. Heidelberger Akad. der Wiss., 3 (1960), 75-77 conjeeture. L; H. Bengston. "Zum Partherfeldzug des Anton- The Parthians on the Plateau 235 Artavazd, abandoned Antony and the ruler of Azerbaijan, also called Artavazd, who had been quarrelling with Phraates IV, became reconciled with the Parthians against the common foe. The result was a disastrous retreat of the Romans with great losses, but after the departure of Antony, Phraates and Artavazd, king of Azerbaijan, again quarreled, after which Artavazd then sought the support of the Romans. Plans were made for a new invasion of Parthian domains by Antony but instead he only entered Armenia and deposed the king in 34 b.c. and brought him and his family to Alexandria as captives. Antony entered the eastern game of marriage alliances to strengthen his position, offering his young son Alexander to the daughter of the king of Azerbaijan, after having first considered a marriage into the Armenian royal house. In general he distributed territories to dynasts who would support him, such as Cappadocia to Archelaus and Sophene to Polemo, according to Cassius Dio (XLIX, 32). The intermarriages between the minor courts under Roman control paralleled those under Parthian influence, and the picture resembles that of Europe in the nineteenth Century, when the royal houses were filled with intermarriages. In 33 B.c. Antony and Artavazd of Azerbaijan defeated the Parthians, allied with Artaxias, the new ruler of Armenia and a son of the deposed king. But after Antony had to withdraw all Roman troops for his war with Octavian, his ally in turn was defeated and fled to the Romans (Cassius Dio, LI, 16). Roman power and influence again sank in areas to the east of the Euphrates River, but so volatile was the power structure in the east that Phraates was not able to take advantage of the Roman civil war between Antony and Octavian. Instead he was faced with a revolt led by a certain Tiridates who Struck tetradrachms at Seleucia calling himself both 'friend of the Romans' and 'philhellene.' 113 Even though he may have hoped for Roman aid to maintain his position, the victor at Actium did not support Tiridates, and he had to flee before the forces of Phraates, and took refuge in Syria in 26 b.c. (Cassius Dio, LI, 18). Octavian, now called Augustus, prepared for war, but then peace was made, and the Roman Standards lost by Crassus and Antony were returned in 20 b.c. by Phraates, and the Romans celebrated this event by erecting a triumphal arch in Rome. 114 Roman policy had vacillated between the creation of Roman provinces in the east to the installation or recognition of client kingdoms, but Parthia favored the latter course. Antony's policy of supporting pro-Roman dynasts was followed by Augustus, and he preferred intrigue and rewards and punishments with client dynasts rather than military action to extend Roman frontiers. In Armenia, for example, a pro- Roman party was probably encouraged to ask Augustus for a new king, and the future emperor Tiberius escorted Tigranes, the younger brother of Artaxias, to Armenia with Roman troops to install him on the throne. Fortunately for the Romans, Artaxias was murdered and Tigranes II was accepted by the Armenians and Romans thus averting a civil war. In an inscription at Ankara Augustus says that he made Armenia major into a province but 'he preferred to hand it over to Tigranes to 1,3 Seilwood, op. eil. [eh. 7, n. 57], 167-68. See 64], 141, n. 58; he Stresses the importance of this also H. Dessau, Prosoprographia Imperii Romani act for the Romans. On the treaty between the (Berlin, 1897-98), T 175. Romans and Parthians see Ziegler, op. cit. [n. 62], 114 References in Debevoise, op. cit. [eh. 7, n 45-51. 236 Chapter VIII rule.' 1 ' 5 About the same time the son of Artavazd of Azerbaijan, called Ariobarzanes, succeeded to the throne in that kingdom at the whim of Augustus according to his inscription (para. 27), but in reality Roman influence had little to do with this succession. Archelaus of Cappadocia was a Roman client, and after the settlement of the Armenian succession he, probably because of his Cooperation with the Romans, received Armenia Minor, the land around Melitene (Malatya) from Augustus. Archelaus' wife was probably a princess of the Median royal family, an indication of the dynastic connections in this time. Armenia, although in the eyes of Augustus a client State, in reality was to prove a headache for the Romans, since pro-Parthian sentiments were strong, and the Parthians remained as influential as the Romans in influencing Armenian affairs. Augustus had sent a slave girl called Musa to the Parthian king, who managed to influence Phraates so much that he raised her from concubine to queen, and she secured the right of succession for her young son, born while she was a concubine, and the sending of other sons of Phraates to Rome for education, although the Romans considered them as hostages. 116 The Augustan peace gave a great impetus to merchants, and commerce flourished across the Euphrates, the boundary between the two states. The small trading states, such as Palmyra and Hatra, perhaps profited more than the two central great powers, but prosperity was manifest everywhere. The death of Tigranes II of Armenia some years before 6 b.c. almost interrupted the peace, for the Armenians raised the son of this Tigranes with the same name, and his sister- wife Erato to the throne without the approval, tacit or direct, of the Romans. Augustus, however, accepted the fact, but about 6 B.C. he apparently tried to impose another king on Armenia called Artavazd, possibly a brother of Tigranes III (Tacitus, Annais, II, 4). This move failed, since the pretender died, and Tigranes then did send gifts to Augustus to conciliate him (Cassius Dio, LV, 9), and the Romans accepted him. After Tigranes III died fighting 'barbarians' about A.D. 2 (Cassius Dio, LV, 10a), his sister Erato could not hold the throne. If we follow the Res Gestae (para. 27), after the death of Tigranes III Augustus gave Armenia to Ariobarzanes, king of Media Atropatene (Azerbaijan), and after his death to his son Artavazd. He continues that when Artavazd was murdered after about two years of rule in a.D. 6 he sent Tigranes IV, a grandson of Herod the Great of Judaea by his son Alexander, to Armenia. Thus we see that the intervention of Augustus into the internal affairs of the small kingdoms of this area respected dynastic ties among them, as it generally ignored the wishes of the people. Augustus seemed to have followed a policy of strengthening the related dynasties, even though he may have thought he was dividing them. At the same time, unsuccessful rulers who fled to Roman protection were well received by Augustus, and in his Res Gestae (para. 32) he mentions Artaxares of Adiabene, as well as Artavazd of Media and others, who took refuge as suppliants of the Roman emperor. A similar policy was followed by the Parthians, although we do not have the sources in this regard. 115 T. Mommsen, Res Gestae Divi Augusli " 6 Ziegler, op. cit. [n. 62], 52, and Debevoise, op. (Berlin, 1883), par. 27. Tindates II should really be cit [eh. 7, n. 64], 144, for sources. III, but Tindates the 'Great' is usually called I, so we use II here. The Parthians on the Plateau 237 Phraates IV died, possibly poisoned, in 2 B.C. and was succeeded by his widow Musa who married her son Phraataces, and issued a Joint coinage, the only such example in Parthian history. The Parthians did not support Phraataces, however, and in A.D. 4 he fled to Syria where he vanishes from the scene. 1 ,7 He was followed by Orodes III who Struck tetradrachms alone and had a very short reign and was assassinated. The Parthian nobles sent envoys to Rome to obtain another son of Phraates IV, who had been sent there, to be their ruler, and Vonones the eldest was sent home in A.D. 8. His Roman ways did not appeal to the Parthians, and a claimant to the throne, Artabanus from Hyrcania, led a revolt against Vonones, who at first was successful and Struck coins with the legend conqueror of Artabanus,' but Artabanus prevailed and drove Vonones out of the land. Vonones fled to Armenia where Tigranes IV had been deposed, and the throne was vacant. For little more than a year Vonones occupied the throne of Armenia, until Artabanus threatened an invasion and Vonones left for Roman exile in A.D. 16 (Tacitus, Annais, II, 1-4). The Romans, however, were not ready to abandon Armenia to Orodes son of Artabanus, so the new emperor Tiberius sent his adopted son Germanicus in A.D. 18 with an army to install Zeno, son of Polemo king of Pontus, as king of Armenia, with the new name Artaxias, and from 1 8 to 24 peace prevailed in Armenia, as well as between Rome and Parthia which gave Artabanus the opportunity to consolidate his rule. 118 Our sources give little Information about internal affairs in Parthia, but the coinage of Artabanus may reflect a turning point in Parthian history, for the epithet 'philhellene' which had appeared on the issues of previous kings was omitted on some issues, presumably late tetradrachms. This could signify an emphasis on an Iranian reaction to the Romanized Vonones whom Artabanus defeated, but it would be wrong to conclude solely from the coins that Artabanus followed an anti-Hellenic movement, since later coins return to the epithet which persisted down to the end of the dynasty. Artabanus, however, was from a collateral branch of the Arsacid family and thus represents a change from a pro-Roman to an independent Iranian policy for the Parthians. Josephus (Antiquities, XVIII, 48) says Artabanus was king of Media, while Tacitus (Annais, II, 3) says he grew up among the Dahi, to the east of the Caspian Sea where his family had marriage connections. Kahrstedt goes to great lengths to prove that Artabanus was not king of Atropatene but of Hyrcania. 119 Certainly Artabanus, according to our sources, took refuge and secured support in the east when pressed by Vonones and later rebels, but he also could have held kingship in 117 Acc. to the Res Gestae (par. 32), he took years in the period A.D. 15-18 and perhaps fled to refuge with the Romans. See also Josephus, Jewish Parthia where he reappears at the head of a Antiquities, XVIII, 42, where he attributes the Parthian army to avenge the murder of his uprising of Parthians to revulsion over the brother. SeeP. Asdouian, Die politischen Beziehun- mother-son marriage. That Musa allowed herseif gen zwischen Armenien und Rom (Venice, 1911), to be deified is suggested by a ring from Anatolia 81. This is uncertain, however, and conjectural. where she is identified as Thea Urania, perhaps to ' 19 U. Kahrstedt, Artabanos 111 und seine Erben be identified with Anahita in Iran. Cf. R. Zahn, (Bern, 1950), 12-16. In his arguments for Hyr- "Ein kleines historisches Monument," Anatolian cania as the homeland of Artabanus he is Studies presented to Wm. Ramsay, ed. by W. H. convincing but not so in including Carmania or Buckler (Manchester, 1923), 454-55. greater Kerman as the other area of support for 118 The history of Armenia is confused in this Artabanus as a dual kingdom. period. Orodes may have ruled Armenia for a few 238 Chapter VIII Atropatene for a short period, since the local dynasty seems to have either died out or was replaced. In any case, Artabanus after defeating Vonones put his eldest son on the throne of Atropatene, which bound it closer to Parthia. The period from the accession of Artabanus to the end of Parthian rule is one of conflict followed by conciliation and then new hostilities with Rome. As many modern scholars, as well as ancient authors, have remarked, the Romans now considered the Parthians worthy opponents, and treaties between the two parties in 20 B.C., in A.D. 1 between Caius Caesar, grandson of Augustus, and Phraataces, in a.D. 18 or 19 between Artabanus and Germanicus, nephew of Tiberius, and in A.D. 37 between Artabanus and L. Vitellius, Roman govemor of Syria, all testify to the political equality of the two opponents. 120 Most of the reign of Artabanus was spent in restoring prestige and authority to the central government, and on the whole he was successful. In Armenia, however, at the death of Zeno-Artaxias in 34, Artabanus installed his son Arsaces as king, and Tiberius sent a counter-claimant Tiridates, of the family of Phraates. Tiridates shortly died, and the Romans turned to Mithradates, brother of Pharasmanes, king of Iberia (Georgia), persuading him to seize the Armenian throne after the murder of Arsaces. Mithradates was successful and defeated the Parthian force led by another son of Artabanus, Orodes, who was killed. Mithradates then ruled Armenia amidst constant intrigues and warfare until 47. Artabanus at this time lost his influence, and a revolt of nobles caused Artabanus to flee to the east, as he had done in the time of Vonones (Tacitus, Annais, VI, 36). Again the Romans sent a pretender to the Parthian throne, Tiridates grandson of Phraates IV, across the Euphrates where he was crowned king. But Artabanus was able to return and Tiridates fled to Roman territory, and the peace of A.D. 37 was the result. This did not end internal problems for Artabanus, and the rest of his reign was troubled by the unrest of the nobility such that on one occasion Artabanus had to take refuge with Izates II of Adiabene, a client king. At the death of Artabanus, central power and authority had been shattered, and constant bickering for the throne followed him. The weakness of central authority which even an energetic ruler like Artabanus could not overcome became the hallmark of later Parthian history. The flights of Artabanus to Hyrcania and his restorations cannot have contributed to the stability of the State, and territory, or at least Jurisdiction over some areas, was lost in the east as well as the west. The district of Herat may have been lost to Gondophares in the reign of Artabanus, for his coins predominate among the Parthian coins overstruck by Gondophares. 121 At the same time that Parthian central authority suffered, Parthian princes were installed as client rulers in various areas and thereby Parthian influence was spread through intermarriage more than conquest. But the client princes had equal claim to the Parthian throne, and civil wars became endemic. 120 On the treaties cf. Ziegler, op.cit.[n. 62], 48- gases, who revolted against Artabanus and sup- 64. Most of the provisions of the agreements ported Tiridates, with the Indo-Parthian ruler of stressed the return to a Status quo after hostilities, the same name is most unlikely. Also his Statement and the Euphrates border of the Romans remained that under Vologeses I Persis was lost by the constant, whereas Armenia continued to be an area Parthians makes little sense; Persis continued as a of discord. client State to the end of the dynasty, even though 121 Kahrstedt, op. dt. [n. 119], 34-35. All of in some periods Parthian influence was stronger Kahrstedt's surmises, given as history, need not be than in others. The striking of coins is no sure sign accepted; for example, the identification of Abda- of absolute independence. The Parthians on the Plateau 239 At the death of Artabanus, presumably his son Vardanes succeeded him, although his descent is uncertain as is that of his rival Vologeses I. Coins fail us, primarily because the city of Seleucia, with dated tetradrachms, had revolted in the last years of Artabanus, and we do not know when Vardanes or Gotarzes ruled there. 122 Civil war, interspersed with truces, lasted until 47, when Vardanes was murdered, and Gotarzes became sole ruler. Some of the Parthian nobles, headed by a member of the Karen family, opposed Gotarzes and turned to Rome, asking that Mithradates (called Meherdates, the current pronunciation, by Tacitus), son of Vonones and grandson of Phraates, be sent to be king. He was defeated and captured by Gotarzes, however, and the outside threat ended. On the death of Gotarzes in 51 by disease or accident, he was succeeded by Vonones, who had been ruler of Atropatene, according to Tacitus (Annais, XII, 14, 7), but who ruled a very short time and was followed by his son, Vologeses 1. His brother Pacorus became king of Atropatene, and he determined to put another brother Tiridates on the throne of Armenia, which had become vacant by the murder of Mithradates in 52. Vologeses was successful, but Rome was aroused, and the new emperor Nero, who succeeded Claudius in 54, sent an experienced general Co. Corbulo to retrieve Roman prestige; for the ebb and flow of Roman— Parthian relations, especially in regard to Armenia, mostly concerned a matter of honor for the respective parties rather than actual gain or loss of territory, since neither side was able to incorporate Armenia as an integral part of their own domains. The struggle on the frontiers of the Roman and Parthian empires was to continue through Byzantine and Sasanian times to the coming of Islam, a period of more than half a millennium, and the two arms of the 'Fertile Crescent,' Syria and Iraq, although united in language and culture, were to develop different traditions, one looking to the west and the other to the east. In Classical sources we find references to the desire of the Iranians, first Parthians then Sasanians, to reach the Mediterranean and restore the empire of the Achaemenids, even though any memory of the Achaemenids was becoming hazy for the Iranians. The war between Vologeses and Corbulo was complicated for the Parthians by revolts in the east, according to Tacitus (Annais, XIII, 7 and 37) by a son of Vardanes and the Hyrcanians. This latter revolt was serious, and ambassadors from the Hyrcanians came to Corbulo, and the revolt seems to have resulted in a kind of independence for that eastern region from direct Parthian control (XV, 2). In 58 Corbulo, however, drove Tiridates from Armenia, although hostilities did not end, for Tiridates continued to struggle, supported by his brothers Vologeses of Parthia and Pacorus of Atropatene. The Romans, however, installed Tigranes, great-grandson of Archelaus of Commagene, as their king of Armenia, and Tigranes in 61 launched his own invasion of Adiabene which provoked a countermove by the Parthians. After much fighting, a peace was arranged in 63, and the conflict came to an end with the understanding that Tiridates would be recognized as king of Armenia, but that he would receive a crown from Nero in Rome, an indication of a nominal Roman 122 Josephus, Antiquities, XX, 3, 4, implies that Gotarzes, as Josephus says, then the struggle Vardanes immediately succeeded Artabanus, his between Vardanes and Gotarzes could have been father, while Tacitus, Annais, XI, 8, suggests that an attempt of the Arsacid ruler of Atropatene to Gotarzes succeeded Artabanus on the throne. If take over the central power. Vologeses, from Atropatene, was a brother of 240 Chapter VIII hegemony over Armenia, but in reality it meant little. The trip of Tiridates to Rome and the celebrations which took place there in 66 were recorded by Dio Cassius (LXII) and Tacitus (XVI, 23), and they heralded a peace between the Romans and Parthians which lasted for half a Century. 123 Rome had failed to impose its will, perhaps not understanding fully the importance of local loyalties to the intermarried royal houses of the principalities in this part of the Near East. Perhaps Roman supply lines and difficult logistics made Roman attempts either to make Armenia a province of their empire or a client State with a Roman-appointed ruler unfeasible, but, in any case, Corbulo was the agent of the change in Roman policy. The marriage ties of Parthian and Armenian nobility certainly did not help the Roman cause in Armenia or in other frontier states. The later Roman answer to Parthian inter-family connections in the east, the conferring of Roman titles of general, Senator or consul on local dynasts, also failed to win support, and the Arsacid family connections in the courts of Armenia, Adiabene and others were to prove more important. From notices in Tacitus and Cassius Dio about Hyrcanian embassies to the Romans, modern authors have deduced the existence of a Roman client State in the east. 124 More likely is simply the Opposition of local inhabitants to demands of the Parthian king and his refusal to recognize the rights of Hyrcania similar to Atropatene or Armenia. Without Information, it is surely excessive to call Hyrcania a Roman client State because the Hyrcanians sought Roman help. Based on geographical data from Ptolemy and elsewhere, Schur (op. cit., 64-79) constructs a history of two powerful states in eastern Iran, Aria and Hyrcania, which expanded and contracted according to Parthian involvement with Rome. All is conjecture and must be so regarded. The Parthians themselves sought Roman aid against an invasion of the Alans from north of the Caucasus in 75 but it was refused by Vespasian which soured the Roman- Parthian friendship. 1 25 It is not possible to discuss Roman designs for the conquest of the Albanians, and the desire to open a land route to India over the Caspian through Hyrcania, if the Romans really had such extensive plans, but the Parthians in this period were hardly as isolated and reduced to a small area of rule as some scholars have proposed. 126 Vologeses rather increased his authority and prestige compared to his predecessors; he founded a city Vologesia as a rival to Seleucia and was interested in promoting trade. 127 He has been characterized as an anti-Hellenic king who promoted an Iranian cultural reaction solely on the basis of Aramaic letters appearing upon a few of the coins he Struck, which is hardly strong evidence for a reversal of policy, since his coins continue with the legend 'philhellene.' Likewise the possible 123 For details of this period see W. Schur, Die l25 Ziegler, op. eil. [n. 62], 80. Orientpolitik des Kaisers Nero, Klio Beiheft, 15 '"Schur, op. cit. [n. 123], 80-85. Romans did (Wiesbaden, 1923), 29-32. Schur does not sub- reach the shores of the Caspian as a Latin scribe to the theory that Tigranes was put aside by inscription of the XII legio Fulminata from the the Romans because he could not command time of Domitian (81-96) indicates. See K.Trever, support among the Armenians, but this seems to Ocherki po istorii i kulture Kavkazskoi Albanii have been the case, for the Roman or Augustan (Moscow, 1959), 342-46. The significance of this policy of imposing a Roman vassal in Armenia was inscription, however, should not be inflated, for a failure. Cf. Ziegler, op. cit. [n. 62], 75-77; conquests of Domitian so far east are unknown in Kahrstedt, op. cit. [n. 119], 83, and others. literary sources. 124 Schur, op. cit. [n. 123], 37-38; cf. Josephus, 127 A. Mariq, "Vologesias, Temporium de Ctesi- Wars, VII, 245. phon," Syria, 36 (1959), 271. See n. 91. The Parthians on the Plateau 241 attribution to this king of the collecting of the fragments of the Avesta in the later Middle Persian book the Denkart also does not mean such a change. The Romans evidently had a great respect for Vologeses, since they expanded the System of roads and fortifications in Syria under the Flavian emperors who succeeded Nero. 128 The end of the reign of Vologeses, however, is unclear, for the coins seem to incidate a conflict with a Pacorus, whose relationship to Vologeses is unknown, but the latter's coins end about 78 or 79, while coins of Pacorus begin about the same time. 129 An unresolved numismatic problem is the existence of coins with the name Vologeses but with a completely different bust and crown than the usual issues of Vologeses. Some numismatists have postulated another Vologeses, a rebel against Vologeses I, while others have attributed the coins to a later king with the name Vologeses. 130 A later Byzantine source, Zonaras (XI, 18 or 578 C), mentions a Parthian king Artabanus as ruling Parthia at the time of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79, but he is mentioned nowhere eise, although coins have been attributed to him. One incident mentioned by the sources is that of the pseudo-Nero, a Roman who claimed to be the murdered emperor, but who had to take refuge with the Parthians. This did not serve to improve relations between the two powers, and continued fortification of Roman border territory, the limes, did not augur well for future peaceful relations between the two. The balance between the powers was to be upset by Trajan who became Roman emperor in 98. In Parthia Pacorus had a long reign not free from trouble, however, of which we have no Information, but the long series of coins indicate a long rule, perhaps to 105, although the end date of his rule is unknown. Internal affairs in the Parthian domains are veiled in this period, but at the time of Trajan's accession in 98, hints in Classical sources indicate internal instability and perhaps even civil war there. A certain Chosroes (hwsrw), perhaps a brother-in-law of Pacorus, issued coins and at the same time so did Vologeses II, whose relationship with Pacorus is unknown. 131 We may only say that the reigns of Chosroes (also called Osroes on coins) and Vologeses were contemporaneous. The pedigrees and the reigns of later Parthian kings are uncertain, and the entire second Century is a 'dark period' of Parthian history since there are no inscriptions, the coins are highly stylized, and the Romans only showed an interest when they invaded Parthian domains. This is why we cannot teil whether there were two rulers called Vologeses in this period, based solely on coins. In the time of Trajan, we hear of a Parthian general Sinatruces, son of Mithradates and father of a Vologeses who received a portion of Armenia to rule from the Romans, according to Cassius Dio (LXVIII, 30), but whether this Sanatruces is to be 1 28 Ziegler, op. cit. [n. 62], 80, for references. and frequently the personal name of the king. The 129 Sellwood, op. cit. [eh. 7, n. 57], 220-26, drachms, which are much more numerous, are proposes two kings of the same name, Vologeses I highly stylized and with several exceptions give no (51-78) and Vologeses II (77-80), on the basis of personal names. Furthermore, local kings in different coin types, but this is hardly enough to Atropatene and elsewhere on the Iranian plateau prove a second ruler at that time. may have Struck coins in Parthian style, so 130 Ibid., 226-28; Debevoise, op. cit. [eh. 7, n. numismatics must be used with care. For a new 64], 214, n. 3. method of identification on the coins see D. G. 131 In relying on numismatics it should be Seilwood "A Die-Engraver Sequence for Later emphasized that only Parthian tetradrachms, Parthian Drachms," NC, 1 series, 7 (1967), 13-28. which were minted at Seleucia alone, give a date 242 Chapter VIII identified with a ruler of the same name in Edessa, c. 91-109 and whether this Vologeses later became Vologeses II (or III) of Parthia is mere conjecture. Names of Arsacid princes do occur in the Classical sources, but it is not possible to make a genealogical table of the Arsacids in this period. The war of Trajan against the Parthians has been studied by many scholars, notably by J. Guey followed by Lepper whose reconstructions generally have been accepted. 132 We are not here concerned with the causes of Rome's aggression, whether economic to control trade routes to the east, or a personal desire of Trajan for fame and glory, or, as suggested only by Lepper, as an attempt to stabilize the frontier by advances into enemy country from the limes which Trajan had continued to build, following the Flavian emperors. Certainly Rome was the aggressor, even though Armenian affairs became a pretext. For Chosroes encouraged one son of Pacorus, Parthamasiris, to replace his brother or half-brother called Axidares in Armenia which happened, but since the latter had the support of Rome, Trajan arrived in the east in 1 14 to begin a war against the Armenians in which he was successful such that Armenia was proclaimed a Roman province. Trajan organized better the limes system, and in 116 he invaded Adiabene and put its king Mebarsapes to night. The land of Adiabene was annexed as well as the entire basin of the Tigris-Euphrates as Maricq has brilliantly shown. 1 33 The Romans, however, were far too extended, even if there was no unified Parthia opposing them, and revolts broke out in 116, and Trajan was obliged to retreat from Ctesiphon which he had captured in 1 1 7. He failed in his attempt to capture Hatra, the caravan city in the desert of Mesopotamia, and shortly afterward he died of illness. We are not here concerned with Roman history, but the farthest advance of the Romans, to the Persian Gulf, under Trajan must have made a strong impression on the Parthians. Some scholars, such as Maricq, have argued that Trajan intended to advance the boundaries of the Roman Empire to the Zagros mountains in the east, a natural barrier. This view, however, conflicts with the activity of Trajan in building roads and forts along the limes of the Syrian desert and upper Mesopotamia, and Lepper's view that Trajan in reality followed a policy of penetration beyond the limes to secure the real borders of the empire, behind the limes, seems more accurate. Trade with the east was surely important, but any plan to incorporate all the land to the Persian Gulf must have seemed unrealistic to many Romans, as it did to Hadrian, successor of Trajan. Perhaps the most important result of the peace of Hadrian was the abandonment of the Trajanic policy of annexation of client states in the east as provinces of the Roman Empire, and a return to the policy of client kingdoms. This gave an opportunity for small trading city-states such as Hatra, Mesene and Palmyra to flourish. 132 J. Guey, "Essai sur la guerre parthique de l3i A. Maricq, "La province d'Assyrie' cree par Trajan," BibliotMque J'htros, 2 (Bucharest, 1937), Trajan," Syria, 36 (1959), 257. Whether most 160 pp., and F. A. Lepper, Trajan's Parthian War Romans thought they could hold the three new (Oxford, 1948), 224 pp., with further references. provinces of Armenia, Mesopotamia and Assyria Lepper systematically analyzes especially the chro- (Babylonia) with the client State Mesene, at the nology of Trajan's campaigns. E.J. Keall, "Osroes : head of the Persian Gulf, is conjectural. Trajan Rebel King or Royal Delegate?" Cornucopiae, 3 must have considered his conquests as permanent, (Toronto, 1975), 17-32, argues that Chosroes while his trip to the Persian Gulf had something of never acted in concert with Trajan but always in the bravado of Alexander the Great. defense of his suzerain Vologeses. The Parthians on the Plateau 243 As noted, the second Century is a dark Century in Parthian history, and the reigns of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Vologeses II reveal no activity on the Parthian frontier. The mention of Bactrian and Hyrcanian envoys in the time of Antoninus indicates the continued independence of Hyrcania from the Parthian central authority while the Bactrians are surely the Kushans. 134 Vologeses III (or IV; c. 147-191) may have taken advantage of the accession of Marcus Aurelius to break the long peace and the fixed frontiers of the Euphrates between the two states, but the apparent reason for the war was his attempt to dislodge a Roman client ruler in Armenia who had been installed by Antoninus about 140. 135 The Parthians were successful in putting a new king on the throne of Armenia, called Pacorus, and in annihilating a Roman army led by the governor of Cappadocia, Severianus. The Romans, however, retaliated, and a strong army soon took the Armenian capital of Artaxata in 163 and replaced Pacorus with a prince, Sohaemus, of the royal family of Edessa and a Roman Senator as well. To the south another army in 164-165 advanced as far as Seleucia which was destroyed by the Roman general Avidius Cassius, while Ctesiphon, the capital, was taken and plundered. Sickness, however, caused a retreat of the Romans, and peace was reestablished in about 166. Under the peace treaty, which is not mentioned by our sources, the old boundaries were rectified a little in favor of the Romans, by making the town of Nisibis and the Khabur River with the Singara mountains (Jibal Sinjar) the boundaries of Roman territory. Armenia's Sohaemus was recognized as king. Peace remained between the two states even when the opportunity to support Avidius Cassius in his revolt against Marcus Aurelius in 175 was presented to Vologeses. The quick fall of Cassius and the Intervention of the Roman emperor in the east to regulate affairs with local rulers, and with ambassadors from Vologeses, strengthened the peace which lasted through the reign of Commodus (180-192). In Parthia Vologeses III seems to have had a rival called Chosroes who is known only by his coins, and he cannot have reigned long even over only a part of Parthia towards the end of the rule of Vologeses. 136 The latter was succeeded by another Vologeses whose relationship to his namesake is unknown. The next to last Vologeses supported Pescennius Niger as claimant to the Roman throne in 193, but the victor was Septimius Severus. The Parthians and their allies, however, in the period of Roman civil war, had taken some territory and towns and refused to return them to Roman rule. 137 Thus Severus crossed the Euphrates in 196 and had some success, but in 196 he was recalled to Gaul by a revolt. Nonetheless, the Romans maintained their eastern boundary of the Khabur and Singara mountains. The absence of Severus emboldened the Parthians to attack, and much territory in Mesopotamia came into their hands. Severus, having settled affairs in the west, returned and invaded the Parthian domains, capturing and sacking Ctesiphon in 198, and Vologeses fled from the city. Again it was not the Parthians but rather the devastated countryside which 134 Envoys came in the time of Hadrian, l36 Sellwood, Coinage of Parthia [eh. 7, n. 57], aecording to the Scriplores Hisloriae Augustae, 281. No mention ofthis Chosroes is found in any Hadrian, 21, 14, and in the time of Antoninus literary source. (Aurelius Victor, De Caesaribus, Epitome 15, 4). 137 By allies, the rulers of Adiabene and 135 For sources see M.-L. Chaumont, Recherches Osrhoene (to the west of Nisibis) are meant. Cf. sur l'hisloire d'Armtnie (Paris, 1 969), 1 5-1 6. Arme- Cassius Dio (LXX V, 1 ). nian history in this period is also dark. 244 Chapter VIII caused a Roman retreat, this time up the Tigris River. A long siege of Hatra in 199 failed, and Severus had to return to Syria and apparently peace was made, based on the Status quo before the war, although sources again do not teil us about a peace treaty. Vologeses died about 207 and was succeeded by his son of the same name, but sometime later Artabanus, another son, contested the throne; the civil war was incited by Caracalla according to Cassius Dio (LXXVIII, 2a). Caracalla looked for fame in conquest of the east, and in 214 he found a pretext in two exiles who had taken refuge with the Parthians, but Vologeses, pressed by internal problems, surrendered the fugitives to Caracalla. The latter, however, was determined to find an excuse for invasion, so when Artabanus gained the upper hand in Parthia in 216 the Roman emperor asked for the hand of the daughter of Artabanus in marriage which was refused by the Parthian king. Caracalla then invaded Adiabene, and Artabanus fled to the east but soon returned to the attack. Caracalla was assassinated, however, in 217, and he was succeeded by Macrinus who sought peace. Artabanus rejected the overture for peace by the Romans and advanced toward Nisibis where an indecisive battle was fought, after which peace was made by the payment of an indemnity by the Romans to the Parthians. The end of the Parthian Empire, however, was in sight, and only the final dates of the two Parthian rulers, Vologeses and Artabanus, are in doubt because of coins which indicate that the former continued to rule until 228 while Artabanus continued to 227. 138 The Parthians were to fall to a new dynasty from Persis, the Sasanians. HELLENISM AND THE IRANIAN REVIVAL The Parthians have long suffered denigration from their successors, the Sasanians, as well as from their enemies, the Romans, and modern scholars usually have followed the ancient sources to give bad publicity for the Parthians as destroyers of the Hellenic heritage of the Seleucids. This reputation is undeserved, for the Parthians were neither enemies and destroyers of Hellenism nor traitors to the Iranian heritage of the Achaemenids and non-Zoroastrians, as has been asserted. For almost half a millennium the Parthians dominated the history of the Iranian plateau, and they finally were recognized as worthy opponents and equals in warfare and diplomacy by the Romans. 139 A review of the cultural achievements of the Parthians is in order. To begin with Hellenism, it must be re-emphasized that the epithet 'philhellene remained on most of the coins Struck by the Parthian rulers to the end of the dynasty, and there is no evidence of either a prolonged or effective policy of attack on Hellenic culture of any of the Arsacid kings. The tradition of independence of those cities called polis was also continued from Seleucid times through most of the Parthian rule. The two most striking examples, of which we have source material, are Seleucia and Susa, both of which issued their own coinage and maintained their own institutions from Seleucid to Parthian rule. The Greek influence in both, quite naturally, became U8 See B Simonetta, "Vologese V, Artabano V son of Artabanus called Artavazd(es) (on the coins e Artavasde." NwiniSHia»'™, 19-20 (Perugia, 1953- read V/fciiic for \twzd) who, according to 54), 1-4. Seilwood, op. cit. [eh. 7, n. 57], dates the Simonetta, ruled after 227 for a short time. coins of Vologeses to 228 but Artabanus only to ' 39 See the convincing arguments of Ziegler, op 224, while he correctly denies the existence of the eil. [n. 62], 140, et passim. The Parthians on the Plateau 245 weaker, as the Hellenic population became absorbed by local people, but Hellenic features nonetheless persisted in these two cities. In December of the year 21 A.D. King Artabanus III wrote a letter to the city of Susa relating to the election of a certain Hestiaios, and, as has been remarked, the letter which is preserved on an inscription is to a Greek po/w, of which the Constitution is Greek, and the administration of the city is Greek. 140 Even though an Arsacid era beginning 247 b.c. was introduced by the Parthians, the Seleucid calendar remained more populär and, just as the native name Susa was used for the city, so also the Seleucid designation Seleucia on the Eulaius River remained in use until the end of the Parthian rule, all evidence of the tolerance for and even support of Hellenism by the Parthian rulers. Shortly after Artabanus, c. 45, the kings of Elymais took the city, and they issued coins in their form of the Aramaic aiphabet and a dialect of the Aramaic language. The rulers of Elymais remained in control of Susa until the end of the Parthian dynasty. An inscription of the last Artabanus, in the Parthian language and aiphabet and dated to 215, found in the excavations, attests a return of the city to Arsacid allegiance. 141 Seleucia on the Tigris did revolt against the Parthians, but it was destroyed by the Romans. In both cities royal and local coinage existed, and it seems as though the Parthians were just as much, if not more, champions of Greek culture as the Romans. In any case, as far as we can see, Hellenism was not proscribed under the Parthians. One subject which has not been touched is commerce and trade, but we have no Information from Parthia proper about such matters; rather the small states of the 'Fertile Crescent' and even the Kushans in the east supply us with some information even though sparse. The Parthians were not great traders or merchants, but they did not by any means follow an anti-commercial policy but rather the contrary. One factor in the decline of Parthia in its last two centuries can be seen in the debasement of the coinage beginning with Artabanus III. Compared to earlier coins not only do the style and quality of the coins suffer, but in the tetradrachms the amount of silver declines. 142 Whether this is the result of the loss of silver mines or, more likely economic crises affecting especially the mint of Seleucia, we do not know. The population and cultivated land of the Susa piain in Parthian times was about three times that of the Achaemenid period according to an archaeological survey. 143 In the Parthian period land under irrigation and cultivation was increased over earlier times but not so much as the maximum use under the Sasanians. Again our sources fail us. The Roman wars undoubtedly adversely affected trade and commerce in the Parthian realm, but central weakness was more important than other factors contributing to the fall of the Parthians. The art of the Parthians has been discussed many times, and it is now generally agreed thatjust as the Parthians did not impose themselves on local rulers and cultures, 140 Le Rider, op. cit. [eh. 6, n. 25], 35-36 and the tetradrachms, see W. Wroth, Catalogue of the 421-22. Coins of Parthia, in The Greek Coins in the British '■" R. Ghirshman, "Une bas-relief d'Artaban V Museum, (London, 1903), lxv, and Seilwood, op. avec inscription en pehlevi arsaeide," Monuments cit. [ch 7, n. 57], 5. Piot, 44 (1950), 97-107, corrected by W. B. u3 R. J. Wenke, "Imperial Investments and Henning in "The Monuments and Inscriptions of Agricultural Development in Parthian and Sasan- Tang-i Sarvak," /IM, 2 (1952), 151-78. lan Khuzestan," Mesopotamia, 10-11 (Florence, ' 42 On the debasement of the coinage, especially 1 975-76), 43. 246 Chapter VIII so in the arts they allowed local schools to flourish. The Arsacid kings were not only 'philhellene' in policy towards Hellenized conquered peoples, but also in the arts, but this early dependence changed in the last two centuries of Parthian rule and we find a 'Parthian' style developing. In painting and sculpture the concept of 'frontality' dominated Parthian art after the beginning of our era. Without discussing many questions about the origins of this style and other features of Parthian art, it should be noted that Parthian art and architecture, such as is preserved, both are 'populär' in the sense that both Achaemenid and Sasanian art are not. 144 Rather in them the overwhelming stamp of the rulers is obvious. The Parthian age was not an 'imperial age' as both Achaemenid and Sasanian, but Parthian remains reflect rather the many currents of culture among the populace. The more that archaeologists uncover from Parthian sites, the more significant appears the importance of the Parthian period as a prelude to Sasanian art, culture and institutions. The Opposition of Hellenistic to the 'Oriental' art of the Parthians has been overly stressed, in my opinion, as has been the dichotomy between 'East and West' represented by Parthians and Romans. This is not to deny the fundamental differences between 'theoretical' Hellenistic and Roman art as opposed to 'theoretical' Parthian art, between representation of nature or realism as opposed to expressionism and stylized art, so ably sketched by Avi-Yonah. 145 The Situation, however, was complex, and the influences of so many peoples such as Armenians, Nabataeans, Mesopotamians and others make the cultural and artistic panorama of the Near East at this time more complicated than the 'Hellenistic- Oriental' division. Perhaps one should look at the last Century and a half of Parthian rule and from the meager sources show the change from an earlier 'Hellenistic' dominated age to one of Parthian autonomy in the realm of culture and institutions. In art the Hellenistic heritage had changed in the first Century of our era from a syncretic Hellenistic-Iranian koint to the Greco-Buddhist or Gandharan art in the east under the Kushans, and in western Iran to a Parthian art with total 'frontality,' portrayal of the 'Parthian gallop' with horsemen in paintings or sculptures, the Parthian costumes and the use of ayvans in architecture and domed vaults, all hallmarks of later Parthian culture. In writing, Greek had lost its predominance, and Aramaic had been replaced by Parthian, a change symbolic of the change from early to late Parthian times. 146 144 On 'frontality' see G. A. Koshelenko, "O 2 (1963), 69-71. In building techniques a differ- frontalnosti v Parfyanskom lskusstve," in Istori- ence between Greeks and Parthians could be arkheolog. sbornik v ehest A. V. Artsikovskogo lllustrated in the use ofpillars; for the former they (Moscow, 1962), 135-36, who Stresses the reli- were fundamental and walls were added to them; gious-ideological changes which indueed artists to for the Parthians walls came first and pillars were stress frontality. Schlumberger, L'Oriem Heüinisi decorations. [eh. 7, n. 76], 198, Stresses the ongin from archaic 146 On Aramaic to Parthian see the discussion in Greek art, while M. A. R. Colledge, Parthian P W.Coxon, The Nisa Ostraca: Ur- Ideographie Art (Ithaca, N.Y., 1977), 143^*4 summarizes Texts?" AAH, 21 (1973), 185-204, and the 'frontality' in this period. On the ancient Oriental examples of late Parthian writing on inscriptions, origin of 'frontality' see M. Avi-Yonah, Oriental p. 56. 'rtbnw MLKyn MLK ' BRY ivlgiy MLKyn Art in Roman Palestine (Rome, 1961), 76-79. MLK'BNYt hnsk ZK ZY hwsk Swi hitrp "Arta- 145 Avi-Yonah, ibid., 10-12. It is not possible to banus King of Kings, son of Vologeses, King of discuss such fascinating topics as round eitles of the Kings built this 'stele' which is of h"'sk, satrap of Parthians and the architectural innovations which Susa," and p. 69 'rsk wlgSy MLKyn M[LK'] are found in the Parthian period. Cf. G. A. 'Arsaces Vologeses King of Kings,' in R. Ghirsh- Koshelenko, "Parfyanskaya fortifikatsiya," SA no. man, Iran, Parthians and Sassanians (N.Y., 1962). The Parthians on the Plateau 241 We have no Parthian literary remains from the Parthian period, but the existence of a large poetic or minstrel oral literature has been cogently proposed. 147 The Iranian national epic as preserved in the Shähnäme of Firdosi is primarily of eastern Iranian origin and incorporates Parthian heroes such as King Gotarzes in the tales which have survived. Yet the epic is not concerned with the wars between the Parthians and the Romans, but with older struggles of the rulers of the east and the struggle between Iran and Turan, the latter an uncertain people and place in the east, but more mythical than real, later identified with the land of the Turks. The traces of Parthian culture and society in later literature such as the Middle Persian text the Draxt l Asürlg 'Assyrian (Babylonian) tree,' and the Yädegär l Zarerän 'Memorial of Zarir,' and the New Persian poem, Vis ü Rämitn, are what one would expect, a heroic, chivalric society which could be called 'feudal' in a general sense. This is also the society and culture depicted in Firdosi's epic, and the heritage is clearly from Parthian times. This society and culture has little influence from Hellenism other than possible borrowings of stories or motifs, of Herakles to Rustam for example, while the Iranian character of the epic is paramount. Thus by the end of the Parthian period the Iranian revival had absorbed Hellenistic elements but existed in its own right in domains of art and culture, not to mention government, religion and society. The history of the Parthians, however, cannot be divorced from that of their powerful eastern neighbors, the Kushans, with their great king Kanishka, or from the history of the small states in western Iran and Babylonia where archaeology has revealed much of Parthian influences, and to these we must now turn. 147 M. Boyce, The Parthian gösan and Iranian "Zariadres and Zarer," BSOAS, 17 (1955), esp. Minstrel Tradition," JRAS (1957), 10-45, and her 476-77. CHAPTER IX THE KUSHANS Literature: Literary sources on the Kushans are almost non-existent, other than brief notices of 'Bactrians' in Classical sources, where the word 'Kushan' does not appear, and in Armenian and Chinese sources, in both of which the identifications of Kushans are highly conjectural.* Indian sources merely mention them in the sub-continent, and we are left with numismatics and a few inscriptions to aid us to reconstruct the history of the most important ancient dynasty in the eastern Iranians world down to the Coming of Islam. The material remains of the Kushans, however, are numerous, especially with the famous and prolific 'Gandharan' Buddhist art which influenced eastern as well as Central Asia. The secondary literature on the Kushans, however, is overwhelming. There have been several international symposia concentrating on the date of Kanishka, but general Conferences on the Kushans have proliferated, the largest having been one in Dushanbe in 1968 which resulted in two volumes, ed. by B. Gafurov Tsentralnaya Aziya v Kushanskuyu Epokhu (Moscow, 1974-75), which summed up knowledge about the Kushans until that time. 1 A Conference in Kabul in November 1978 and another in Delhi in January 1980 (limited to the Kushans in Mathura and India), indicate the general expanded interest in the eastern counterpart of the Roman Empire. Fussman's article in JA has been noted in the chapter on the Sakas, and his assessment of the high value of the general work by B. Ya. Staviskü, Kushanskaya Baktriya (Moscow, 1977) has been confirmed by others. Most late excavations in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan uncover objects from the Kushan period, and they reveal the wealth and prosperity of the Kushan Empire, much more than what was found under their predecessors or successörs. For French excavations in Afghanistan, see the various numbers of the MDAFA and for the Soviet excavations in northern Afghanistan (southern Bactria) see I. T. Kruglikova, Drevnyaya Baktriya, 2 vols. (Moscow, 1976 and 1979). 2 On the site of Bamiyan see Z. Tarzi, L'architecture et le decor ruprestre desgrottes de Batniyan, 2 vols. (Paris, 1977). We may say that the Kushan sites of importance are: Begram Dilberdzhin and Surkh Kotal in Afghanistan, and Dalverzin Tepe, north of the Oxus, and on the Indian sub-continent the twin sites of Charsada, and Shaikhan-Dheri, while Taxila and Mathura should not be omitted, although finds from other periods predominated in the last two. 3 The Journals Afghan Studies, published in London, Afghanistan in Kabul and Aryäna (in Pashto and Persian) in Kabul keep the Student abreast of work in pre-Islamic culture and civilization, while the Journals EW, Afghanistan Journal (Graz) and Journal of Central Asia (Islamabad) *The great inscription at Surkh Kotal, dating Dilberdzhin, 1 (Moscow, 1974) and 2 (Moscow, from the time ofHuvishka, has not been discussed 1977) from the 1970-72 and 1973 excavations in this chapter, since it is reserved for an appendix. respectively. 1 On the Kanishka congresses, see papers in the 3 Bibliography on Begram is found in the JRAS for 1912-14 and A. L. Basham, ed., Papers volumes of MDAFA; on Surkh Kotal see D. on the Date ofKaniska (Leiden, 1968), 478 pp. On Schlumberger, "Le temple de Surkh Kotal," I-IV, one Kushan Conference in Kabul in 1970 see F. JA (1952, 1954, 1955,and 1 964), as well asreports Ayubi, Kushan Culture and History (Kabul, 1971), in CRAI, and "The Excavations at Surkh Kotal," 180 pp. For Soviet contributions to the field see Proceedings of the British Academy, 47 (London, B. Ya. Staviskü, et al, ed., Sovetskaya Arkheologiya 1961), 77-95. The site of Dilberdzhin Tepe has Srednei Azii i Kushanskaya Problema, 2 vols. been mentioned in note 2; for Dalverzin see G. (Moscow, 1968), an annotated bibliography. For Pugachenkova, Les tresors de Dalverzine Ttpi more bibliographies see I. Stwodah and A. Z. (Leningrad, 1978). On Charsada the excavation Modarrissi, Kushans, annotated bibliography, 2 report (with the same title as the name of the site) vols. (Kabul, 1978), and B. N. Puri, Kusanä has been published by M. Wheeler (Oxford, Bibliography (Calcutta, 1977). For a bibliography 1 962), and "Shaikhan Dheri Excavations," by A. H. of Soviet works from the Dushanbe congress to Dani, Ancient Pakistan, 2 (Peshawar, 1966), 17— 1977, see B. A. Litvinskii, "Problemy Istorii i 214. Taxila has been mentioned in chapter seven. Istorii Kultury Drevnei Srednei Azii v Svete For Mathura see K. L. Janert, ed., Mathura noveishikh rabot Sovetskikh Uchenykh," VDI, 4 Inscriptions by H. Luders (Göttingen, 1961), for (1978), 73-92. further references. 2 On earlier work here see I. T. Kruglikova, 250 Chapter IX have articles on ancient Afghanistan from time to time. F. R. Allchin and N. Hammond, eds., The Archaeology of Afghanistan [ch. 6, n. 43], have a large bibliography on the Kushan period. For Tajikistan and Uzbekistan (northern Bactria), and to a lesser extent Turkmenistan and Kirghizia, the Journals of the respective academies of science and universities should be consulted, as well as general works, such as the yearly survey of archaeology in the USSR, published by the Institute of Archaeology in Moscow, entitled Arkheologicheskie Otkrytiya, ed. by B. A. Rybakov. Individual works are mentioned below in footnotes on special problems. ORIG1NS It is now generally aeeepted that the Kushans were one of the tribes kno wn to the Chinese sources as Yüeh-chih who moved from their original homeland on the western borders of Kansu province of China under pressure of their northern neighbors to the west about 175 b.c. There is no reason to doubt this information from the Shih-chi, and the annals of the former and later Han dynasty, although there are points of difference between them. 4 The Yüeh-chih invaded West Turkestan and apparently were among the tribes which brought an end to the Greco-Bactrian rule in that area and northern Afghanistan about 1 28 b.c. as mentioned above. Nomadic invasions of the western lands from Central Asia always carried many peoples along the way, such that frequently a billiard-ball effect was produced with one group impinging on another to send them moving ahead. The Sakas probably were the first nomads to invade the Greco-Bactrian domains but, aecording to Strabo (XI, 51 1), the Asii, Pasiani, Tokhari and Sakarauli took Bactria from the Greeks. Undoubtedly different groups took part in the movement, including Tokhari, who gave their name to the mountainous area of eastern Bactria, later called Tokharistan. 5 Whether some of the nomads spoke 'Tokharian,' the centum Indo-European language, is uncertain but probable, but the local Iranian tongues were adopted by the invaders, although debased Greek continued to be used on coins. The end of the Greco-Bactrians had brought a loss in Classical sources about events in Central Asia, and Chinese sources, unfortunately, are of little aid in reconstrueting the past in this area. For the rise of the Kushans, however, a notice in the Hou (Later) Han Shu is important. It says that: "Formerly, when the Yüeh-chih had been routed by the Hsiung-nu, they moved to Ta-hsia and divided the country into five hsi hou (yabghu): Hsin-mi, Shuang-mi, Kuei-shuang, Hsi (or Pa)-tun, and Tu-mi. More than a hundred years passed, the yabghu of Kuei-shuang, (called) Ch'iu-chiu-ch'üeh, attacked and destroyed (the other) four yabghu, set himself up as king. The kingdom was called Kuei-shuang. The king invaded An-hsi, took the country of Kao-fu. He also destroyed P u-ta and Chi- pin, and completely subjugated them. Ch 'iu-chiu-ch 'üeh died at the age of more than 4 On recent translations of the Chinese sources, dispute over the language and identity of the see E. Zürcher, "The Ylleh-chih and Kaniska in the Yüeh-chih, whether they were Iranian or Tokhar- Chinese Sources," in Basham, op. ci'f. [n. 1], 358-71. ian Speakers, similar to the Wu-sun, Ta-yüan, See also the translations by K. Enoki, in Narain, K ang-chü and others, acc. to Pulleyblank, "Chi- The Indo-Greeks [supra, ch. 7, n. 2], 129-31. Cf. nese and Indo-Europeans," [ch. 7, n. 42], esp. 27- Pulleyblank, "The Wu-sun and Sakas" [ch. 7, n. 36. The latter identifies the Yüeh-chih with the 38], 1 54-60. VctTtot of Ptolemy and Ta-yüan with Tokharians. 5 The controversies over the identifications and H. W. Bailey in many articles Supports the Iranian locations of western place-names in Chinese identity of the Yüeh-chih. sources cannot concern us here, as well as the The Kushans 251 eighty. Yen-kao-chen succeeded him as king. He in turn destroyed T 'un-chu (India) and placed a general to supervise and govern there. Since that time the Yüeh-chih have become most rieh and prosperous. (People of ) many countries speak of the king of Kuei-shuang, but in China they are called Ta Yüeh-chih, aecording to their old name." 6 The interpretation of this passage generally has been that about the end of the millennium a yabghu or chief of one of the five tribes or divisions of territory of the new domain of the Yüeh-chih, called Ch 'iu-chiu-ch 'üeh, who has been identified as Kujula Kadphises, conquered the others and established the Kuei-shuang (Kushan) kingdom. Much controversy has existed over the meaning and location of the people ruled by the yabghus, a Central Asian title, whether they were only tribes or also settled folk. 7 If we aeeept the Statement of the text that over a hundred years after the conquest of Ta-hsia, usually identified as Bactria, the events described happened, then it is most likely by that time the people were settled and mixed, and the notice of the Ch Ve« (Earlier) Han Shu that the five yabghus belonged to the Ta Yüeh-chih, as their subjeets, probably means that the Ta Yüeh-chih included both the tribes with their leaders, and the settled areas over which they ruled. 8 Many attempts have been made to identify the Chinese characters with place names in Central Asia or Afghanistan, but it would seem we have in the text a mixture of place and tribal names, with great difficulties in identification. More likely for identifications than tribes or regions would be an identification of the capital towns of the five yabghus, but even they present great difficulties, since texts in other languages, except Ptolemy's Geography, give us no clues to city names in this region, and Ptolemy unfortunately does not provide parallels to the Chinese place names. From the meager reports of Chinese sources we must turn to the backbone of Kushan studies, as it was in the case of the Sakas, numismatics. Here, the sequence of Kushan coins has been established on the basis of styles and quality of the coins more than on legends. After the fall of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom, 'barbarous' copies of the coinage of Eucratides and especially of Heliocles were Struck in Bactria, but whether north or south of the Oxus River is unknown. 9 Sometime in the first Century b.c., or possibly at the turn of the millennium, probably it was one of the Yüeh-chih chieftains who Struck tetradrachms and obols with a corrupt Greek 6 Zürcher, op. cit. [n. 4], 367; Narain, op. cit. Substitutes the yabghu (meaning either the leader or [supra, ch. 7, n. 2], 131. Differences in translation his clan, or the land he ruled) of Kao-fu for Tu-mi. are minor but interpretations of proper names and The former has been identified as Kabul and the their significance vary widely. latter as Termez (ancient Tarmita). The ancient 7 Cf. the article by P. Daffinä, "The Return of transcriptions of the Chinese characters following the Dead ," EW 22 (1 972) 87-91 , attacking B. N. Karlgren, are given by Zürcher, op. cit. [n. 4], 388- Mukherjee, "The Ta-hsia and the Problem Con- 90. cerning the Advent of Nomadic Peoples in Greek 9 Cf. A. M. Mandelshtam, "K predkushans- Bactria" in EW, 29 (1969), 395^00, both with komu chekan Baten," EV, 17 (1965), 85-91. The further references. The word yabghu is considered special monogram on the copies of Heliocles coins Tokharian, comparing A dialect yapoy, B dialect may have been a mark or tamgha of a nomadic ype 'country' by Pulleyblank, op. cit. [ch. 7, n. 42], chieftain, since it is not found on any Greco- 28, and as Iranian by H. W. Bailey, in "Languages Bactrian coin. It is hardly possible to identify or of the Saka," HO, Iranistik (1968), 136, comparing locate in place or time the enigmatic coins with Parthian ymg 'leader' and the root yam- 'to lead.' debased Greek legends and names such as Hyr- Others erroneously consider the word as Turkic in kodes ; cf. Tarn, Greeks [ch. 1 , n. 23], 301 , n. 1 , and origin. 305, n. 2, for further references. 8 The former Han Shu in the list of tribes Z5Z Chapler IX legend to be reconstructed as TYPANNOYNTOZ HPAOY ZANAB{OY) KOPPANOY (with P for the sound -s-). 10 The title of Heraus or Heraeus is less than a king, of course, but exactly what it meant is uncertain. The name was much disputed because of the variations in corrupt legends, and the name is not found elsewhere unless it is simply a Variation of Greek Heras. The third word, too, is enigmatic, but since the title was given in the first word, we may suggest that Sanab, as in the name Sanabares, is a family name followed by the tribal name of 'Kushan.' In any case, the person seems to have been a Kushan chieftain, and he has been identified as the person of whom a head and statue in clay have been found at the site of Khalchayan on the Surkhan Darya in Tajikistan. 1 ' Just where and how long Heraus ruled is unknown, but the next Kushan ruler of whom we have coins was Kujula Kadphises. His coins are varied in their origins, for he copied coins of Hermaeus, or pseudo-Hermaeus, Gondophares and others, indicating that he followed local usage in his conquests. This ruler is identified as the one called Ch'iu-chiu-ch'üeh (Archaic Chinese reconstruction : k^ug-dz^iög-k^yak), who united the yabghus of the Yüeh- chih, invaded An-hsi (Parthia) and took Kabul from them. 12 This would refer to the Indo-Parthians, about the time of Gondophares. Most scholars agree that Kujula made raids into the lowlands of India and perhaps established rule for some years in various localities, but apparently he abandoned some of his conquests. Since he is said to have lived to an age of eighty years, presumably he had a long reign. Since few of his coins are found north of the Oxus River, and many of his coin-types have Kharoshthi legends as well as Greek, we may suppose that he ruled primarily in southern Bactria, in the Hindukush region and in Gandhara, on the northwest plains of the sub- continent. Kujula probably lived at the same time as Gondophares but how far their reigns and territories overlapped are unknown. The existence of copper coins of Kujula copied from Roman coins of Augustus or Tiberiüs, however, suggests a date for Kujula's reign in the first Century of our era. 1 3 Kujula, however, does not seem to have been more than a conqueror seeking booty, perhaps establishing his rule and then withdrawing, or possibly again returning, and copying the coins of his predecessors in every area which he overran. Inscriptions in Kharoshthi are unfortunately of little help in historical identifications; for example, one from Takht- i Bahi on a stone in the Lahore Museum mentions a prince (Prakrit erjhutia) called Kapa, who has been identified with Kujula Kadphises, but this is most uncertain, as is the date. 14 10 Cf. E. A. Davidovich, Klady drevnykh i perhaps meaning 'younger' or 'shorter,' and Kad- srednevekovykh monet Tadzhikistana (Moscow, phises as *gaSa pisa 'he who is adorned with the 1979), 17-35, with references. See also R. B. throwing club,' see W. Ellers, "Die Namen der Whitehead, "Notes on the Indo-Greeks," NC, fifth Kuschan-Könige," Afljali, Wijesekera Felicitation series, 20 (1940), 120-22. Apparently no copper Volume (Colombo.Sri Lanka, 1970), 119, 126-27. coins of this ruler have been found. H. W. Bailey in "Irano-Indica III," BSOAS, 13 11 See G. Pugachenkova, Skulptura Khalchayana (1950), 396-97, interprets Kadphises as Old Ir. (Moscow, 1971), 57 and plates 61-64, also her "K *käta-paisa- 'of honored form.' ikonografii Geraya," VDI, 1 (1965), 127-36. 13 D. W. MacDowall, "Numismatic Evidence Heraus copied the corrupt tetradrachms of Eucra- for the Date of Kaniska," in Basham, op. cit. [n. 1], tides, as others copied the coinage of Hehocles. 1 44—45. 1 2 For the reconstructed Chinese, see Zürcher, 14 S. Konow, Kharoshthi Inscriptions, Corpus op. eil. [n. 4], 389. On the name Kujula, Ko£o\o, Inscriptionum Indicarum (Calcutta, 1929), 62. The Kushans 253 Inscriptions may have dates but the problem of the eras in which they are dated has plagued scholars for many years, and while relative chronologies can be established for the Kushan rulers, absolute dating eludes us, principally because dates found in the Indian sub-continent cannot be attached to chronologies in the west except by inferences and 'common sense' deductions. The tendency to seek the beginning of an era in an important historical event, or in the crowning of a king, is logical but quite uncertain, since the beginning of the Seleucid era had no such important beginning, at least in the eyes of modern scholars. Perhaps the most generally accepted beginning date of an era is one called the 'Saka' era, which is supposed to have started in the year 78 of our era. When one closely examines how the date 78 was determined, however, one's confidence in the sources for the date, the Buddhist texts, may be somewhat shaken, since the sources are late and are based on a theory of the turning of the wheel of Dharma according to a tradition of a prediction by the Buddha forty years before his death, that five hundred years later the Buddhist law would come to an end. By interpolating dates and Buddhist information Eggermont decided that the Theravadin Buddhists of Ceylon used an era beginning in 483 B.c. whereas the Sarvastavadin school of northern India used one beginning in 383 b.c., and the date of a Council convened by Kanishka, which began a new era after 500 years, took place in A.D. 78. ' 5 Unfortunately, none of the inscriptions informs us which era was used in it for dating, so even if the year 78 were correct, it would not solve most chronological problems of length of rule, because other eras exist in India from this time which cannot be ignored. The Vikrama Samvat, or era of Vikrama, may have been established by a ruler called Vikramäditya who is supposed to have defeated some Sakas in East Rajputana about 57 or 58 b.c., although some scholars believe this to be a late tradition and that originally this era was started by Azes, a Saka ruler. 16 Paleography can aid in dating inscriptions, but the creation of new eras to justify an interpretation of obscure words in an inscription has caused great problems in trying to fix the chronology, and the truth is that we cannot prove the date of commencement of any era. An era older than the Vikrama- Azes era is implied by dated Kharoshthi inscriptions which cannot be dated by the Vikrama era, and this older era has been called the Yavana era by Dobbins (note 16), the Indo-Bactrian era by Bivar, or the 'Old Saka' era by others, and the date of its beginning has been set at 170 or 155 b.c. as well as other dates plus or minus. 17 A third System of time reckoning has been attributed to Kanishka, since all the inscriptions, dated from the 1 5 P. H. L. Eggermont, "The Origin of the Saka bered that references to the Vikrama and Saka eras Era," in Akten des 24. Internationalen Orientalisten- are much later. Kongresses, ed. by H. Franke (Wiesbaden, 1959), 17 A. D. H. Bivar in G. Hambly, Central Asia 540-43, and his "Kaniska, die Saka-Aera und die (London, 1969); 46, and W. E. van Wyk, "On KharosthT-Inschriften," ZDMG, 113 (1964), 559- dates in the Kanishka Era," Acta Orientalia, 5 65. But see other evidence from al-Biruni in n. 17. (Leiden, 1926), 168-70; Mukherjee, op. dt. [n. 16], 1 6 Cf. B. N. Mukherjee, Central and South Asian 32, and 44^15, for further references. BlrunT in his Documents on the Old Saka Era (Varanasi, 1 973) ; book on India (ed. by E. Sachau, 1 886, vol. 2, p. 6) 27-31 , and K. W. Dobbins, "Eras of Gandhara," says the year 400 of the Yazdagird era equals 1088 JOSA, 7 (1970), 257, and n. 24 for further of the Vikrama era and 953 of the Saka era, whence references. Mukherjee's argumentation for a new we arrive at 5-7 B.c. and A.D. 78 resp. for the two era, the Yavana era, beginning c. 170 B.c. (p. 32) is eras. ingenious but unconvincing. It must be remem- 254 Chapter IX year 2 through 98, are in the Kushan period, mentioning rulers from Kanishka through Vasudeva. 18 Other eras may have existed in Central Asia, Afghanistan and northwest India in the pre-Islamic period, but for the history of the Kushans the three eras mentioned above are of importance. Dating according to the regnal year of a king, a widespread practice in this part of the world, also existed, but in the east we have relative and not absolute chronologies, so many problems still exist. It appears that several eras were in use for time reckoning in the east in one and the same region, just as the Seleucid and Parthian eras were used in the western part of the Iranian area, and possibly Kanishka, who was an innovator in many realms, was also the founder of a Kushan era. To return to the date 78 of our era, the beginning of the so-called 'Saka' era, many scholars have identified this date as the same year as the beginning of the era of Kanishka, while others dispute it. The first mention of the Saka era as such, however, is in an inscription southeast of Bombay (Badami) which is dated in the year 500 'from the inauguration of the Saka king.' When it began is not stated. The dates of Kanishka have been the subject of many writings, including two international symposia and the general consensus now is that the beginning of his reign must be not earlier than 78 b.c. and not later than A.D. 150, although the latter date is much disputed. Attempts to place the beginning of Kanishka's rule in A.D. 225 or 278 have not received widespread support. 19 It has thus proved impossible to fix the beginning year of Kanishka's reign, but the turn of the first Century of our era seems to be the period in which Kanishka lived, even though his dates of rule cannot be determined. The inscriptions presumably dated in the era of Kanishka are from the year 2 through 23 in Kanishka's name, year 24 in the name of Väsishka, and years 28 through 60 in the name of Huvishka, and 64 through 98 in the name of Vasudeva, thus spanning a Century. There are problems, including one inscription from the year 41 in the name of Kanishka, but that one may be dated in a different era. The eras mentioned above are those current in this general time period. 20 18 For a hst of the inscriptions see J. Rosenfield, Kharoshthi inscriptions, a 'Yavana' era of 155 B.c., The Dynastie Art of the Kushans (Berkeley, Calif, a Pahlava (or Indo-Parthian) era of 88 B.c. and a 1 967), 264-73. This work is a good reference book Kushan (Kanishka) era of A.D. 103, but this on the Kushans. See also the three appendices to proliferation of eras creates new problems while Mukherjee, op. cit. [n. 16], for additional inscrip- hardly solving old ones. tions. See also B. Kumar, The Early Kusänas (Delhi, 20 The proposal of G. Fussman, "Documents 1973), App. 1. epigraphiques Kouchans," BEFEO, 61 (1974), 41, For the date 225 see R. Göbl, "Zwei neue to date a series of inscriptions with numbers from Termini für ein zentrales Datum der Alten 270 to 399 as dates in the Arsacid era is an Geschichte Mittelasiens, das Jahr 1 des Kusänkönigs ingenious attempt to explain their apparent time Kaniska," Anzeiger der phil.-hist. Klasse der Öster. period as Kushan, but he admits that inscriptions Akad. der Wiss. (Wien, 1964), 137-51, and for found as far east as Mathura would rather imply a 278, E. V. Zeymal, "Nachalnaya data Kanishki-278 Greco-Bactrian era from the time of Diodotus. We g.n.e." in Gafurov, supra, Tsentralnaya, 1,292-301, may, of course, have an Indian era. He gives with references, and the following article by V. G. arguments for the date A.D. 78 for Kanishka. The Lukonin in the same volume, 302-06. A conven- best analysis of chronological problems is by ient survey of the various theories of dating may Zeimal, op. cit. [n. 19], English summary, 136-61, be found in Kumar, op. cit. [n. 18], 58-77, and App. with systematic analyses of available data. His 2, and in E. Zeimal, Kushanskaya Khronologiya conclusion, that Kanishka began his rule in A.D. (Moscow, 1968). A. K. Narain in his article on 278, however, causes many dimculties and is "The Date of Kanishka" in Basham, op. cit. [n. 1], unacceptable. 237-39, proposes three different eras used in the The Kushans 255 While the Kushan kingdom was being Consolidated in the Bactrian region, to the north in the area of present Tashkent and the Jaxartes River another kingdom, called K'ang-chü (K'ang kio) in Chinese sources, was flourishing, but it is not possible to determine what kind of a State it was, a confederation of nomads or a more centralized state of sedentary people. 21 The people who organized this shadowy State may have been Sakas, Sarmatians, or even Wu-sun or Tokharian Speakers, for hypotheses about the nature of the people are many and varied. Unfortunately, the Chinese sources give no information about the K'ang-chü other than the existence of a State to the north of the domains of the Yüeh-chih in western Turkestan, while archaeological excavations only attest the wealth and far-flung connections of the people who lived there, presumably throughout the period of Kushan hegemony to the south. 22 To return to the Kushans, Kujula Kadphises was followed by a ruler who is only called Soter Megas 'great savior' on his coins but has the title 'king of kings' in Greek, higher than Kujula, and whose coins are abundant and found in excavations from northern Bactria to Mathura. Since his issues are varied as well as widely found, this ruler must have been important, and MacDowall has demonstrated from coin types and metrology that this ruler must follow Kujula Kadphises and precede Vima Kadphises while being contemporary, or shortly before, Pakores of the dynasty of Gondophares, since Pakores overstruck coins of Soter Megas. 23 Just who Soter Megas was has been debated, generally with three positions, first that he was Kujula, and his coinage represents a later phase of rule, second, he was Vima in the early years of his reign, or third, he was an independent Kushan sovereign somehow a link between the two Kadphises. 24 The position of the coins of Soter Megas between those of Kujula and Vima is now generally accepted by numismatists, although some would not go as far as MacDowall in calling the unknown ruler the Augustus of the Kushans, who earlier in his reign followed local coinage types and metrology but later issued a general coinage everywhere based on the Attic Standard and using only Greek legends, and paving the way for Vima's reform of the currency. Some scholars have sought a way out of the dilemma by supposing the existence of co-kings, or 'senior' and 'junior' kings, as in the later Roman Empire, but again this is mere surmise 21 On K'ang chü see Litvinskii, "Das K'ang-chü- "Soter the Great - The Last of the Indo-Greek Sarmatische Farnah" [eh. 8, n. 9], 249-53. At times Kings," JNSl, 35 (1 973), 86-89, that the 'nameless K'ang-chü included Sogdiana, but an identification king was the last of the Greek kings with the of the two is improbable. Likewise identifications personal name Soter,' is unconvincing. On a Janus- with Kaxäyai in Ptolemy (VI, 14, 11) or Kang- faced coin of Soter Megas and Vima see NC diz or Kangha of the Avesta help us little. (1892), 71, plate 15, no. 4. On the overstnkes of 22 The profuse use of gold, including a corpse in Pakores onS.M, see A.Simonetta in EW, 8 (1957), golden clothes 'chain or armor' and regalia found 49, plate 3, no. 1. Theories proposing that Soter at Issyk Kurgan near Alma Ata, probably date Megas was a Kushan vassal are unlikely, since his from the third Century b.c. not the fifth, and may coins are so widespread, not to mention his represent the K'ang-chü eulture or its predecessor. pretentious title. Cf. K. A. Akishev, Kurgan Issyk (Moscow, 1978), 24 MacDowall, op. eil. [n. 23], 252, also his 61-78. The Pazaryk burials are also from this article on the same subjeet in JNSl, 30 (1968), 28- period. 48. Overstrikes of coins of Vima by Soter Megas 23 D. MacDowall, "Implications for Kushan complicatethepicture.acc. to A.Simonetta, EW,9 Chronology of the Numismatic Context of the (1958), 171, who prolongs the rule of Vima too Nameless King" in Gafurov, supra, Tsentralnaya, 1 , much. 246-64. The Suggestion of A. N. Oikonomides, 256 Chapter IX without any evidence. 25 Mukherjee, who has written extensively on the Kushans, points out that on a Prakrit legend on one of the coins of Soter Megas we find maharajasa rajatirajasa tratarasa vamasa, the last word of which should be the name Vima, while the first three words would correspond to the Greek legend 'king of kings, savior.' 26 Whether Soter Megas should be identified as the young Vima on the basis of this uncertain Prakrit word is dubious, and judgment may be reserved on the identity or identities of the ruler(s) who issued coins with the legend 'Soter Megas, king of kings.' On the basis of find spots of those coins, however, one may conclude that Bactria, the Hindukush area and Gandhara were ruled by the early Kushan kings, while Arachosia and parts of India were ruled by Indo-Parthian or Saka kings, although Gandhara at times may have been divided between Kushans and others. With Vima Kadphises the great Kushans begin. THE GREAT KUSHANS Vima introduced a gold dinar to the coinage System of the Kushans which had been previously only copper, and he also introduced a new copper tetradrachm, both implying a change in Kushan history. 27 Both the Chinese sources and Indian inscriptions are ambiguous in that no name in them can be certainly identified as Vima Kadphises, and his identification as the son and successor of Kujula Kadphises is not without doubts, but whatever his relation to Kujula and to the person who issued the Soter Megas coins, he seems to have ruled in the last part of the first Century A.D. His relation to rulers such as Zeionises or Jihonika (Prakrit: Jihuniasa) and others who Struck coins may have been that of overlord to vassals, but again we are in the realm of conjecture. To repeat, we do not know whether the Kushans had a System of 'senior' and 'junior' kings like the 'Augustus' and 'Caesar' of the later Roman Empire, as suggested by some scholars to justify seeming conflicts in chronologies (relative, not absolute) of inscriptions and coin types, but satraps and perhaps vassal rulers surely existed. We may say little more than Vima's extensive possessions in India and Central Asia were passed on to Kanishka, the greatest and in a sense most enigmatic of the Kushan kings. Kanishka is generally credited with introducing a new family of Kushan rulers whose names all end in -ishka, for he is followed by Vasishka and Huvishka. This suffix of the Superlative caused controversy, for some scholars proposed a Tokharian origin for it, while others supported an Iranian origin, although all agreed the general meaning of Kanishka was something like 'the youngest.' 28 Whether Kanishka began as a sub-king of Vima in Bactria or Tokharistan with the füll name Mäho-Kanishka (Candra-Kaniska in Khotanese), as Henning (op. cit., 87) suggests, is possible but 25 Göbl, op. eil. [n. 19], 151, n. 2. The existence 27 The name Vima has been explained as ofksatrapas and mahä ksatrapas lit. 'satrap' and 'great 'fearsome' by Eilers, op. cit. [n. 12], 120. On his satrap' in India, as well as the Indo-Parthian title monetary reform see MacDowall, "Weight Stan- 'brother of the king,' may point to the possibility of dards of Kushäna Coinages," JNSI, 22 (1960), 67- a double System of rule under the Kushans, but this 71 . is undocumented. 28 For the Tokharian origin supported by L. 26 B. N. Mukherjee, The Kushäna Genealogy Hertsenberg and V. V. Ivanov, see L. G. Gertsen- (Calcutta, 1967), 54. berg, "Kushanskii i Sakskii," in Gafurov, supra, The Kushans 251 unproven. 29 In any case, Kanishka was remembered in Buddhist sources although in no recognizable historical context; nonetheless some scholars have attempted to derive a chronology from a late mention of Kanishka as the ruler who convened the third Buddhist Council, which reportedly took place five hundred years after the death of the Buddha. 30 Obviously the greatest Kushan king made an impression on Buddhists, for we find traditions in Buddhist texts written in Khotanese-Saka, in Sogdian, and Chinese about his building of stupas (mounds with reliquary) and vihäras (cloisters), while Biruni mentions a King Kanik who built a vihära in Purushävar (Peshawar), an indication of the fame of his constructions. 31 Unfortunately, historical information cannot be found in the Buddhist legends and from the extant coins one may postulate a number of rulers with the name Kanishka, one of whom is mentioned in the poetical history of Kashmir of the twelfth Century, Kalhana's Räjatarangini (Part 1, 168). As usual, coins provide the primary source for our knowledge of Kanishka. He continued the gold coinage of Vima, but he changed the obverses and the reverses on the coins. Vima had been portrayed on obverses seated, or as a bust, or riding a chariot or an elephant, while on all of his reverses the Indian deity §iva was pictured. Kanishka, however, inaugurated on his obverses a new type, a standing figure of the ruler in Central Asian costume with boots and with one hand extended over a small fire altar. This consistency on the obverse was matched by a proliferation of deities on reverses of his coinage, the majority of which are Iranian rather than Greek or Indian. This change in the stance of the ruler with the deities on the reverses, each with its name in Greek characters, supports the theory that Kanishka consciously promoted a pro-Iranian policy in his empire, or perhaps it meant an end to the past and a proclamation of a new policy of tolerance in religions, as well as a change from Greek legends on the early coins of Kanishka to Iranian legends on his later coins. It seems as though Kanishka, while copying Roman modeis in his coinage, and probably in art and other manifestations of culture, nonetheless wished to proclaim a new, imperial age in the east, possibly in imitation of the Achaemenids as suggested by Fussman, but surely with strong elements of the ancient Indo-Aryan culture as preserved by local Iranians or Iranicized nomads of the steppes, Tsentralnaya, 1 , 344—49 (French resume and candra 'raoon' which may also involve a confusion reference to Ivanov), while the Iranian origin was between Iranian mao 'moon' of the Kushan coins upheld by H. W. Bailey, "Kanaiska,"JiMS (1942), and a word based on mau- meaning 'deliverer.' So 16-47, also in Basham, op. eil. [n. 1], 37, by W. B. the assumption that Kanishka was called Mäho Henning, "Surkh-kotal und Kaniska," ZDMC, must be regarded as nothing more than conjeeture. 115 (1965), 82-4, by Livshits and others. V. 30 See F. Wilhelm, "Kanika and Kaniska - Abaev, in "Contribution ä l'histoire des mots," Asvaghosa and Mätrcefa" in Basham, op. eil. [n. 1], Milanges linguistiques offerts a E. Benveniste, ed. by 337-40. M. Moinfar (Louvain, 1975), 7, showed the 31 For literary and archaeological references to widespread Indo-European usage of the suffix. See the buildings in Peshawar, see K. W. Dobbins, The also Eilers, op. cit. [n. 12], 112. Stupa and Vihära of Kanishka l (Calcutta, 1971), 29 On the epithet 'candra' see Bailey, "Kanaiska," esp. 44-54. The fame and vast extent of Kanishka's op. eil., 16, and in his article "Saka Candarno and empire was known to the Chinese Buddhist Surkh Kotal Kara-Lrangga-," in Milanges linguisti- pilgrim of the seventh Century Hstlan Tsang; cf. T. ques offerts a E. Beneviste [n. 28], 33, where he Watters, trans 1., On Yuan Chwang's Travels, 1 suggests that the Khotan-Saka word candarno (London, 1923), 270. 'troop leader' was replaced by Indian Buddhist 258 Chapter IX which the ancestors of the Kushans were. 32 This probably would appeal to eastern Iranians and Indians more than memories of the west Iranian empire of the Achaemenids, although old traditions and stories surely were preserved about them in the east. Hellenistic influences observable in the artistic productions were comparable to those in the Parthian State, but styles and techniques were borrowed from elsewhere in both cases, and in both cases the basic inspiration was Iranian. Under Kanishka, who ruled at least twenty-three years after establishing an era, to judge by dated inscriptions with his name in them, the Kushan Empire probably attained its apogee, although under Huvishka, who ruled from year 28 of the Kanishka era to at least 60, the empire was also far extended. To the north of Bactria, homeland of the Kushans, finds of coins may indicate the extent of the Kushan domination, since no written sources exist and archaeological finds are difficult to connect with the Kushans. A detailed study of early local Khwarazmian copper coinage, and overstrikes on Kushan coins found in excavations within the area of ancient Khwarazm, point to the conclusion that the Kushans neither ruled the area directly nor held it in a vassal relationship ; rather, it would seem that the Kushan coins found in Khwarazmian sites were brought by trade. 33 The Zarafshan basin with its principal city Samarqand also seems to have not been under Kushan rule, although this is uncertain since not enough excavations have been carried out in the ancient city sites occupied by buildings today. Whereas Greco-Bactrian coins have been found in sufficient numbers to postulate their rule in ancient Sogdiana, Kushan coin finds are fewer, although from sites on the Oxus River more have been found. 34 Only one coin of the 'great Kushans' has been found in Samarqand, and the extensive excavations of Panjikant east of Samarqand have yielded only several poor specimens of Kushan coins, which leads one to speculate that direct Kushan rule was absent, or possibly coins were little used and barter was more widely practiced than to the south. 35 Place names such as medieval Kushaniya, northwest of Samarqand, and others, may point to an occupation by the Kushans, but they teil us nothing about the area in the time of the 'great Kushan' rulers. 36 Sogdiana, as noted, may have been part 32 In G. Fussman, "Documents epigraphiques 35 Cf. M. E. Masson, "Po povodu dalekogo Kouchans,"ߣF£0,61 (1974),esp. 50foll.,and his proshlogo Samarkands," in G. A. Pugachenkova, "Le renouveau Iranien dans l'empire Kouchan," in Iz istorii iskusswa velikogo goroda (Tashkent, 1972), Le plaleau iranien et l'asie centrale, colloques interna- 25, and O. I. Smirnova, Katalog monet s gorodishcha tionaux du Centre natl. de la recherche scientifique, no. Pendzhikent (Moscow, 1963), 59-60. 567 (Paris, 1976), 313-22. His emphasis on the 36 M. E. Masson, "K Voprosu o severnykh anti-Greek character of the changes made by the granitsakh gosudarstva 'Velikikh Kushan," in Kushans, in my opinion, is exaggerated, since the Gafurov, supra, Tsentralnaya 2, 42—49 with an few, lf any, Greeks in the empire in the first and English summary. Also the inscription ofShapur at second centuries of our era hardly can have had any the Ka 'bah of Zoroaster implies that the Kushans influence either pohtically or even socially, or did not rule Sogdiana in the middle of the 3rd directly cultural in the Kushan Empire. Century. The Oxus River, however, probably was 33 B. I. Vainberg, Monety Drevnego Khorezma ruled by the Kushans, at least as far as Khwarazm. (Moscow, 1977), 85-89. This study supersedes Cf. V. N. Pilipko, Topografiya nakhodok Ku- older studies which supported the theory that the shanskikh monet na poberezhe Srednei Amudari," Kushans directly ruled Khwarazm, e.g., by Toi- in Istoriya i Arkheologiya Srednei Azii, ed. byO. V. stov, op. cit. [eh. 8, n. 8], 180-84. For further Obelchenko (Ashkabad, 1978), 89-97. bibliography see Vainberg, 193. 34 Cf. V. A. Shishkin, Varakhsha (Moscow, 1963), 229, with other references. The Kushans 259 of the State called K'ang-chü by Chinese sources, the center of which was to the north, but the information is simply not explicit and one can only conjecture. Chinese Turkestan, with more literary fragments than Sogdiana, is also an unknown area in regard to Kushan rule, although Kushan cultural influences, especially through Buddhism, were undoubtedly strong. Commerce was lively between east and west and from India to China through Sinkiang, at least from the time of the Greco-Bactrian State, although actual direct Greco-Bactrian rule in Chinese Turkestan is unlikely. 37 Likewise, for the Kushans no evidence for political rule there can be found, although religion joins trade and cultural contacts as testimony of closer contacts between the Kushan Empire and Chinese Turkestan. Bactrian loanwords in the Tokharian' language (A and B dialects), and the occurrence of the name of Kanishka in a local Tokharian B text suggest a possible rule of the Kushans in the oases northeast of Kashghar. 38 The use of the Kharoshthi script, the expansion of Buddhism to the east, probably in the Kushan period, and other similar indications have induced J. Brough to conclude that the cumulative efFect was not the result of 'influences' but of the political domination of the Kushans over most of Sinkiang including areas far to the east of either Kucha in the north or Khotan in the south, including a State called Shan-shan near the western borders of China proper. 39 If true, it is not possible to do more than guess at a time period or the geographical extent of Kushan rule in Chinese Turkestan, not to mention the nature of such a rule, if it existed, but a satrap or more likely a vassal relationship of local rulers to the 'great Kushans' would be more consistent with what we know of political Organization in that age rather than central control. Evidence for Kushan rule there, however, is only based on inference. Many scholars have argued that the Kushan Empire was primarily an Indian one, since the wealthiest part of it was in the sub-continent. No doubt, the majority of the population was in the lowlands of Gandhara, the Punjab and the Ganges basin, and Indian merchants, Buddhist monks and others from the sub-continent were found all over the Kushan Empire, but the rulers were not Indians, and the bases of rule were primarily Iranian, although as time progressed Indian elements grew in importance. The very name of the last 'great Kushan' ruler Vasudeva, indicates the adherence of this ruler to, or at least a sympathy for, a cult of Vishnu or Vasudeva. The 'great' Kushans ruled at Mathura but the extent of the empire to the east and south is unknown, although from the absence of coin finds one may suspect that Kushan rule 37 J. Harmatta in "Sino-Indica," AAH, 12 more than the official use of an Indian Prakitas an (1 964), 11-15 thinks Greek rule in Sinkiang likely, administrative language there. but only evidence of trade or culture not of 39 J. Brough, "Comments on Third-Century political domination may be inferred. Shan-shan and the Historyof Buddhism," BSOAS, 38 W. Winter, "Baktrische Lehnwörter im 28 (1965), 597. Brough suggests that Kushan rule Tocharischen," Donum lndogermanicum, Feslchrifl probably was quite short, possibly at the endof the für A. Scherer (Heidelberg, 1971), 220-21. The Later Han dynasty in the second or at the same title borne by the king of Kucha in Sinkiang beginning of the third Century, but any Kushan as the 'great Kushan' kings, is a prime reason for the rule there is disputed by B. N. Mukherjee in argument that the Kushans ruled Chinese Turkes- "KharoshthT Documents of Shan-shan and the tan, but this by no means proves such rule, any Kushäna Empire," AAH, 24 (1976), 93. 260 Chapter IX did not extend into modern Bengal or into the Deccan. 40 It seems that after the 'great' Kushans, Kushan rule collapsed in areas to the east and south of Mathura if not in that important city itself, and Näga rulers succeeded them in the Mathura area, whereas elsewhere tribes, such as the Yaudheyas, became the heirs of the Kushans. 41 This does not mean that the Kushans vanished from central India, while some later rulers had high pretensions as heirs of the Kushans, but any rule exercised by later rulers in India claiming to be Kushans was small. The mention of a devaputra, king of kings, of the Kushans in the Allahabad Pillar inscription of the Gupta ruler Samudragupta in the late fourth Century only suggests that a small ruler in central India used a pretentious title, and one may speculate that the term 'Kushan' became almost generic in India after the third Century, much as Classical sources mention 'Bactrians' but never 'Kushans.' 42 Just how long Kushan princes ruled in the western Punjab, Gandhara or elsewhere in the west is unclear, but in the far western regions of their domain the Sasanians became the heirs of the Kushans in the late third and fourth centuries. To return to Kanishka, what more can be said about him in addition to his prominent but unhistorical place in Buddhist tradition, his initiation of an era, and his change of language from Greek to Bactrian in Greek letters, which indicate his other changes in the Kushan Empire, which may earn him the appellation the 'Darius' of his time? Attempts to write a history of the early life of Kanishka, with his original home in Khotan, Chinese Turkestan, and his subsequent conquest of India, based on fanciful Tibetan and Chinese Buddhist works are unacceptable, and we have no evidence at all of his early life or Status. 43 From inscriptions mentioning him we can say he ruled at least twenty-three years after establishing a new era of time reckoning, while suggestions that he was a viceroy of Vima Kadphises before succeeding Vima cannot be proved. The center of his empire was in Bactria, and we may assume that his domains extended north to the Hissar mountain ränge and up the Oxus River, to the west possibly to the area of Herat and, in India, as far east as Varanasi (Benares) where an inscription in the name of Kanishka has been found at Sarnath, and another in the south in Sanchi, perhaps including eastern Malwa, though no evidence exists for rule in the Deccan. 44 Even though the homeland of Kanishka was in Bactria, the Indian part of the empire provided the wealth and power for the development of an impressive civilization, the artistic results of which are known as Gandharan art, discussed below. 40 Cf. B. N. Mukherjee, The Kushäfias and the 4:5 Puri, op. eil. [n. 40], 35-37, with references. Deccan (Calcutta, 1968), esp. 100 and 109, and For a Suggestion that Kanishka may have marched B. N. Puri, India under the Kushättas (Bombay, into Chinese Turkestan against the Han general 1965), 69-76. Coin finds suggest that only the Pan Ch'ao in A.D. 90, see K. Enoki, "Hsieh, Fu- 'great Kushans' ruled some parts of the Ganges Wang or Wang of the Yüeh-shih. A Contribution Valley and later Kushan rulers did not. to the Chronology of the Kushans," in Memoirs of 41 B. N. Mukherjee, The Disintegration of the the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko, 26 Kushäva Empire (Varanasi, 1976), 78, 86-88, and (Tokyo, 1968), 12. This too is based on inference. Puri, op. eil. [n. 40], 76. 44 Cf. Dobbins, op. cit. [n. 31 ], 7 and Mukherjee, 42 For a discussion of the Allahabad inscription The Kushanas and the Deccan, 78, 108. Dobbins, with references see S. Chattopadhyaya, Early 24-32, also describes the 'reliquary of Kanishka' in History of North India (Calcutta, 1958), 147-64, detail, mentioned below. On Kanishka's territories esp. 160. For the use of the word 'Bactrian' for in southern and western India, see the discussion by 'Kushan' see, interalia.ScriptoresHistoriae Augustae, Puri, op. cit. [n. 40], 52-54. Aurelian, 33, 5; Hadrian 21, 14; Valerian, etc. The Kushans 261 Kanishka ruled at least a quarter of a Century, and two inscriptions, one in Surkh Kotal, the other on a reliquary from a stupa in Peshawar, mention him, and since both are probably from a later date they indicate at the least the esteem in which the name Kanishka was held after his time. If we follow dates and names on inscriptions, it seems that Kanishka was followed by Vasishka, who probably ruled from 24-28 in the relative chronology of the 'great Kushans,' but who left no coins in his name, which may indicate a subordinate Status as ruler of only Indian parts of the empire without the right to issue coins. 45 We cannot determine whether the empire was torn by civil war after the death of Kanishka or whether Vasishka and Huvishka were sub- kings, or vassals of Kanishka, but in any case Huvishka (meaning 'the best' or 'the oldest') appears on inscriptions from 28 to 60, and his coinage is plentiful in gold and copper found over the entire empire. His rule of more than thirty years (possibly before 28 and after 60) indicates a stable and flourishing empire. There exists a most enigmatic Kharoshthi inscription from Ära, north of Taxila, dated in the year 41 of Kanishka son of Vajheshka, who not only holds the usual exalted titles of a great ruler, but also a stränge word reconstructed as 'Kaisar,' possibly a copy of Roman 'Caesar'. 46 Many explanations of the Information in this inscription have been proposed, including the existence of a later era of reckoning for the Kushans, as well as a short- lived ruler called Kanishka who usurped power from Huvishka, but from this one inscription no deductions about the succession can be made. The last of the 'great Kushans' was Vasudeva, who from his name, associated with the Hindu god Vishnu, shows an increase in the Indianization of the dynasty. His inscriptions are dated from 67 to 98 of the 'great Kushan' era, although again he may have ruled earlier and later than these dates. The name Vasudeva occurs among later Kushan rulers, and it is sometimes difficult to know to which ruler certain coins with this name refers, and disagreement exists among scholars on the assignment of some of the coins to one or another Vasudeva. Archaeologists agree, however, that the end of the reign of Vasudeva I marked a period of decline in the sites of Bactria, homeland of the dynasty, for traces of ruin in the strata dating to the end of Vasudeva's reign may be found in a number of Kushan sites of northern Bactria. 47 Both from the archaeological evidence and the seeming end of the era of time reckoning founded by Kanishka, with no inscriptions dated after the year 99 of that era, we may conclude that the Century of the 'great Kushans' came to an end. Many scholars have dated this decline with the rise of the Sasanians, which is a good surmise but which leaves us with a latitude of many years in which to try to date the 'great Kushans.' All we can say is that the second Century of our era, when the Parthians were not faring well with the Romans, was the Century of 'great Kushan' flourishing, with exact dates still uncertain. 45 Vasishka, meaning 'most energetic' (accord- op. eil. [n. 18], 59-60, discusses various interpreta- ing toBailey in Basham[n. 1], 38, and Eilers, op.cit. tions of the inscription, not one of them more [n. 12], 1 17), is mentioned in a Brahmi inscription convincing than another. from Mathura dated 24 as mahäräja räjaliräjä 47 See G. Pugachenkova, "K stratigrafii novykh deväputra, not a subordinate title. monetnykh nakhodok iz Severnoi Baktrii," VDI, 46 Konow, op. eil. [n. 14], 162-65. Rosenfield, 3 (1967), 88. AbZ Chattet IX DISINTEGRATION OF THE EMPIRE Shapur, son of Ardashir, in his inscription on the Ka *bah of Zoroaster, says he held in his empire 'the land of the Kushans (line 4 : K ovar)\^(ov i&]vr), Parthian kwSnxkr, MP missing), until in front of (iws €\J,TTpoo&ev) Pashkibur, and up to Kash, Soghd and the mountains of Chach,' which seems to indicate that about the year 265, the Sasanians had in fact secured control of, if not annexed, the Kushan domains up to Pashkibur, Kash, Soghd and the mountains of Chach or Shash. 48 The problems of identifying these places are many, but everyone would agree that Bactria, the homeland of the Kushans, the Hindukush mountains, and probably Kabul and some of the lowlands at Jalalabad and farther, were under some sort of Sasanian control at this time. 49 From what little we know of Indian history, presumably the Kushans continued to rule in parts of the Punjab or Northwest province after the end of rule of the 'great Kushans,' but coin finds on which müch of the history of this period are based are notoriously unreliable, especially after an era of great, imperial expansion when copying of imperial coinage in many areas would be expected. Whether we must postulate a Kanishka III, a Vasishka II, and a Vasudeva II and III among later Kushan rulers is conjectural, but the retreat of the Kushans from regions east of Mathura seems to have begun already in the reign of Huvishka. 50 Just as the archaeological evidence from northern Bactria implies a great decline in Kushan fortunes under Vasudeva I, so the decline of trade between the Roman and Kushan Empires may also be attributed to the end of the reign of Vasudeva. 51 The continued rule of a Kushan king, Vasudeva II, in India after the Sasanian conquest of the western part of the empire has been postulated by several scholars, but it is impossible to do more than surmise the existence of rulers who followed Kushan traditions in coinage and in art, such as statues. The problem of various coins with the name Vasudeva but in different styles points to a copying of Vasudeva coins by others after him, similar to the coins of Hermaeus, last of the Indo-Greeks. Some scholars have proposed two branches of rulers copying Vasudeva coins, one following those coins with a triratna 'three jewels' symbol on them, which eventually were copied by the Sasanian governors of the western Kushan domains in the fourth Century, while the second group of Vasudeva coins with Brahmi akfaras 'syllables' on them developed into coins of the Murundas and Guptas in India. Göbl has developed an elaborate scheme of late Kushan rulers comparable to the late Roman Empire with a senior Augustus and a junior Augustus, as well as a division of the empire into two parts according to the two types of coins, but it is all conjecture. 52 48 The basic publication of the inscription in 50 See Mukherjee, Disintegration [n. 41], 40-42, three versions, Greek, Parthian and defective and Puri, op. eil. [n. 40], 75-76. On Vasishka II see Middle Persian is M. Sprengung, Third Century R. Göbl, "Väsiska II," Anzeiger der phil.-hist. Klasse Iran, Sapor and Kartir (Chicago, 1953) with the der österreichischen Akad. der Wiss. (Vienna, 1966), Greek text ed. and transl. by A. Maricq, "Res 291 -300. His division ofthe Kushan Empire into a Gestae Divi Saporis," Syria, 35 (1958), 295-360, northwest and a southeast kingdom.on thebasisof with further bibliographies. coin types is convincing, but we can do little more 49 On the identification of Pashkibur with than speculate about this. Peshawar or otherwise, see E. Honigmann and A. 51 Mukherjee, op. cit. [n. 41], 51-52. Maricq, Recherches sur les Res Gestae Divi Saporis 52 Ibid., 72-73, 85; Rosenneid, op. cit. [n. 18], (Brüssels, 1953), 101-05, and H. Humbach, 109-12. The existence of copper coins with the "Puspapura = Peläwar," MSS, 23 (1968), 45-48. name Vasu may point to another Vasudeva in the The Kushans 263 At least one can suggest an eastern and a western part of Kushan domains, one on the plains of India and the other centered in Bactria and the Hindukush mountains. In the west, Sasanian relations with successors of the 'great Kushans' are unknown, while in the east the rise of local dynasties of Nägas, Yaudheyas and others in the piain of the Ganges probably brought an end to Kushan rule even earlier than the Sasanians in the west. In between is a blank, and rare coins with difficult legends only ofFer tantalizing fragments for speculation. 53 Sasanian rule in the Kushan heartland is the subject for a later chapter, for the fall of the 'great Kushans' marked the end of a Century of cultural splendor which outlasted the Kushans and had great effects on the Guptas of India, and on minor dynasties in Central Asia. The Kushans in the east were in a sense early counterparts of the Sasanians in the west. The cultural legacy of the Kushans was important not only as a conduit between east and west, but because of its own importance as a source area for the Far East, especially in the expansion of Buddhism and its art. CULTURAL RELATIONS, EAST AND WEST One may see the great influence of the Kushans in political and economic Organization, in art and in religion in this period of Central Asian history. The first is mainly garnered from words in texts, although archaeology may aid in reconstructing political history as well as the flourishing material civilization of the Kushans. In Khwarazm, for example, archaeologists have determined that the period of greatest expansion of the important System of irrigation was the time of the Kushans, irrespective whether Khwarazm was under Kushan hegemony or not. 54 Elsewhere the indications are the same, that agriculture and building flourished. From many inscriptions in India and at Surkh Kotal we learn that the construction, endowment or restoration of wells, water tanks, or irrigation canals were not only pious acts, but essential to the well-being of the population and an important task of the government. The old Greek or Hellenistic city was unlike the Kushan town, for the latter was characterized by strong fortifications and a central citadel, usually with villages outside the walls. 55 Local canons of architecture seem to have reasserted themselves under the Kushans, for the archaeological remains of the Kushan period reveal more Iranian features than Hellenic in the architecture of the Kushans. 56 Peshawar area, as suggested by Mukherjee, but we 55 V. A. Zavyalov, "K kharakteristike vnutren- are really in the dark. R. Göbl has many articles on nei struktury Kushanskogo goroda," and S. R. the late Kushan coins such as "Zwei neue Termini" Pidaev, "K probleme goroda i derevni v Kushans- [n. 19], 139-51, and hisarticlein Basham op. cit. [n. kom obshchestve," in V. M. Masson, ed., Drevnie 1]. Goroda (Leningrad, 1977), 46-49. 53 1t is an almost impossible task to correlate 56 See G. A. Pugachenkova, "Zodchestvo an- coins, inscriptions and art objects, our three tichnoi Baktrii-traditsii i svyazi," in Pichikyan, [eh. sources, and while theories abound, convincing 7, n. 2], 217-22, and other articles in the same proofs of correlation of dates and individual book. Also see the remarks of Pugachenkova on objects, whether inscriptions or coins, are lacking. architecture in I. T. Kruglikova, ed., Drevnyaya Archaeology may in the future aid us, but we need Baktriya (Moscow, 1976), 125-62, with a French some provable correlations with the west to r£sume\ 188-89. See also the bibliography in resolve many problems. Fussman, "Chronique," [eh. 7, Literature], 428- 54 S. P. Tolstov, Po Dreunim Dellam Oksa i 29. Yaksarta (Moscow, 1962), 94-95. 264 Chapter IX Preliminary investigations suggest that the population increased, as well as the expansion of agriculture, which is not unexpected with a flourishing empire such as that of the 'great Kushans. 57 In short, what little evidence exists points to an internal prosperity of the Kushan Empire in its heyday, which is confirmed by the remarkable art finds, especially at the site of Begram, ancient Kapisa, near modern Charikar in the heart of the empire. At Begram French archaeologists unearthed Indian ivories, Chinese lacquer objects, Roman glass, Greek bronze statuettes and plaster medallions and other objects, the provenance of which is uncertain, a tribute to the far-flung commercial ties as well as to the cosmopolitan tastes of the Kushans. 58 The Roman connections of the Kushans have been discussed many times, especially in the realms of art and culture, and we may suppose that the creation of a large and stable empire, at least for a Century, gave a strong impetus to east-west trade and even direct diplomatic contacts, for embassies from the Bactrians (i.e., the Kushans) did come to the Roman Empire in the reigns of Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, but there is no further information about them. One of the achievements of the 'great Kushans' was to establish a stable gold coinage, on the basis of which the copper coinage under Huvishka became increasingly fiduciary in character, as MacDowall has shown. S9 Whether the break- up of Kushan hegemony in India or other factors caused a decline in east-west trade can only be surmised, but again the period of commercial flourishing coincides with 'great Kushan' rule. Although gold coinage was continued by the Guptas in India and by Sasanian governors of Bactria, in the west the coinage became debased and was everywhere replaced by silver and, in general, coinage lost its fiduciary nature and was weighed for value. This, however, is a later story. We have very little information about Kushan political Organization, but one may assume that military ofhcials were prominent in the spread and consolidation of Kushan power. One officer known in later texts as the kanarang is first found in the inscription of Surkh Kotal in the form kara-lrango (with typical east-Iranian /- for d-) which has been etymologized as 'lord of the marches,' or as 'holder or manager of the army,' but whatever the origin of the word, it was probably a high, if not the highest, military office in Bactria, and the title continued in use into Islamic times. 60 We have 57 E. V. Rtveladze, "O chislennosti naseleniya Kushäna Coinages," JNSI, 22 (1960), esp. 68-74, Kushanskikh naselennykh punktov Severnoi Bak- in his article in Basham, op. cit. [n.l], esp. 138-40, trii," in O. V. Obelchenko, ed., Istoriya i Arkheolo- 148, and in his "The Mint Organization of the giya Srednei Azii (Ashkabad, 1978) 107-14. Copper Coinages of the Kushan Dynasty," Proceed- 58 See J. Hackin, Nouvelles recherches archiologi- ings of the Royal Numismatic Society (London, ques ä Begram, MDAFA, 11 (Paris, 1954), 151-56 1 969-70), xc. For Roman-Kushan relations see the for the lacquer, 89-1 50 for Greco-Roman objects, populär account of M. Wheeler, Rome Beyond the and 17-89 on the ivory. Although the Stratum Imperial Frontiers (London, 1955), 115-76, and where these objects were found was dated to the B. N. Mukherjee, The Economic Factors in Kushäna second Century of our era, earlier dates for the History (Calcutta, 1970). objects have been proposed. J. L. Davidson, in 60 For the first etymology, equivalent to NP "Begram Ivories and Indian Stones," Marg, 24 kanarang 'holder of the frontier,' see W. B. (Bombay, 1971),31-45,putstheivoriesinthefirst Henning, "Surkh-Kotal and Kaniska," ZDMG, Century B.c. and proposes the Kushans as collectors 115 (1965), 77-79, followed by Gershevitch, of 'antiquities.' For a good short survey of the while the second etymology is upheld by H. W. Begram find see B. Rowland, Ancient Art from Bailey, "Saka candarno and Surkh Kotal kara- Afghanistan (New York, 1966), 24-28. Irangga-," in Milanges linguistiques offerts ä E. 59 D. MacDowall, "Weight Standards of Benveniste [n. 28], 33-34. The Kushans 265 found no more titles in the Bactrian language, for we have no sources, and to turn to later India or Sogdiana to interpolate titles found in texts there back to Kushan Bactria is fraught with risks. In India, however, one may distinguish between native titles, such as dandanayaka and mahädanfanayaka 'police chief or inspector?' and Iranian titles as kfatrapa (and mahä-) 'satrap', which existed, however, before the Kushans. Also the word shäh (or shao in Bactrian form) is found, possibly the western equivalent of the kfatrapa in the sub-continent. In this realm one may say that continuity with the Saka-Indo-Parthian System of rule seems to have been the characteristic of Kushan rule in India. 61 In Central Asia much has been written about the title yabghu, found in various sources from the Yüeh-chih to the Turks, and although the Altaic origin of the word was strongly defended, it seems now agreed that it is Iranian, from the root yam- 'to lead,' and probably it came to prominence in the steppes of Central Asia remaining a title of nomads, but it is uncertain whether the Kushans were the originators or propagators of the title, although the coins of Kujula Kadphises have the title, and it appears in Chinese sources for the chiefs of the five tribes of the Yüeh-chih. 62 The problems the Kushans had in order to weld their tribal confederation into an empire must have been very great, but the end result was probably a preservation of nomadic norms of rule in Central Asia and an adaptation to local conditions in Bactria, the Hindukush region, and certainly in India. How much of imperial Kushan ideology was preserved after the fall of the 'great Kushans' is dimcult to determine, but one may suggest that the amalgam which held the empire together was provided mainly by the personality of the ruler, for personal allegiance was always the norm for rule and expansion of rule among the peoples of Central Asia, and the Kushans came from Central Asia. It is a mistake, however, to assume that nomads merely copied the settled peoples in building a State; the empires of the Hsiung-nu and much later the Mongols indicate the complexity of nomadic organizations with 'charismatic' ruler clans and a refractory nobility, which had to be welded to settled structures of government. One feature of the nobility, as gleaned from archaeology, was an artificial deformation of the skull, either an indication of rank or class, or only a style among the nobility. 63 We do not know whether Central Asiatic nomadic traditions of double rule, or double kingship, were followed by the Kushans. It is possible, as suggested by numismatists, to explain the great variety of coinage, but there is no evidence that the 'great Kushans' followed this practice. When we turn to Fine Arts, traces of an 'imperial' style of the Kushans are suggested by stone 61 On titles see Puri, op. eil. [n. 40], 79-87; 1943), 82, n. 5. Bailey now proposes a form H. W. Bailey, "A KharostrT Inscription of Seija- *yävuka 'leader' for the word. varma King of Odi," JRAS (1980), 24-29. The "The practice of deformation of skulls, as Kharoshthi form of the Greek word meridarch 'sub- observed on coins and in sculptures, seems to have governor' oecurs as merCakhena in the early been restricted to the nomadic nobility, for the Kushan period in the inscription deeiphered by practice can be found not only among the Kushans, Bailey. In that inscription, line 9, the guiuraka but among Sarmatians, on their skulls in graves in nobles may be royal princes, the vispuhr of the south Russia, and in the north Caucasus. Cf. T. A. west. Trofimova, "Izobrazheniya Eftalitskikh pravitelei 62 See note 7; for the Turkic theory see na monetakh; obichai iskusstvenoi deformatsii Altheim,HHMM«j[ch.5,n.68],310.OntheIranian cherepa," in A. V. Vinogradov, ed., Istoriya origin see H. W. Bailey, "To the Zamasp-Namak Arkheologiya i Etnograßya Srednei Azii, Sbornik v I," BSOS, 6 (1930), 64, and his Zoroastrian ehest S. P. Tolstov (Moscow, 1968), 179-89. Problems in the Ninth Century Books (Oxford, 266 Chapter IX statues of rulers from Surkh Kotal and Mathura, but no overwhelming dominance of the arts by the court, as with the Achaemenids or Sasanians in the west appears. In any case, any imperial art which may have existed was put in the shade by the Buddhist art of Gandhara, although the development of art over the vast area ruled by the 'great Kushans* is uncertain. It is impossible here to go into the many problems of Gandharan art, not the least of which is the chronology of objects. A brief survey of the art Situation tentatively may ofFer aid to an understanding of the developments in the domain of Fine Arts. Generally speaking, four geographical areas should be considered in a discussion of arts under the Kushans, the plains of northern India with a center at Mathura, the Gandhara area of modern Peshawar, Bactria, and finally the steppes of Central Asia. Cultural and artistic trends in these areas may have greatly influenced one another, but they were separate regions, and this is sometimes forgotten by students of the cultures of this vast area. In addition there are primarily two outside influences which must be considered as operative on all four geographical areas, but, of course, with different degrees of intensity. The first is the Near Eastern Achaemenid tradition of art and culture, followed by Parthian adaptations or additions to it, and the second is the Hellenistic-Roman impact, probably in two separated time sequences, the Greeks in Bactria, and then the Roman Empire of the first two centuries of our era. Obviously the Kushans partook of all these influences in the regions under their control, and they were the patrons of artists who carved statues of several rulers at Surkh Kotal and Mathura. Since we are here concerned with Bactria and the Hindukush region, the homeland if not the heart of the Kushan domains, we should concentrate on these regions. Under the Kushans a revival of Iranian elements, both Achaemenid and Central Asian, in architectural decoration, in monumental architecture, as the grand staircase at Surkh Kotal and palaces at Khalchayan and elsewhere, replaces the decaying Greek traditions of Bactria as seen at Ay Khanum. Sculptures are no longer in the round as Greeks made them, but with frontality stressed as well as other canons. Costumes are distinctively Central Asian on statues of Kushan rulers or nobles. So at first we find an amalgam of Greek and Iranian (steppe and Achaemenid) traditions in the art of the early Kushans. In India, both Roman or Roman provincial (Egypt and Syria) influences are met as well as the local Gandharan (local and Saka-Parthian) and Indian styles and techniques from farther east. Contact with Roman culture brought a resurgence of ancient Greco-Roman modeis, such as Greek myths, but it seems as though masters of painting, sculpture and other arts in the Kushan domains copied the modeis without knowing their meaning, e.g., myths depicted in art. The end result, probably beginning at the end of the second or in the third Century, was the change from a Greco-Iranian to a Buddhist art, the famous art of Gandhara, parallel to the change from a Classical to a Christian art tradition in Europe. 64 For Buddhism dominates the art and the culture of northwest India, 64 For a discussion of art problems see Rosen- Kunst der Welt (Baden-Baden, 1970), 79-123,and field, op. eil. [n. 18], esp. 138-253; Schlumberger, on Gandharan art itself, J. Marshall, The Buddhist op. eil. [eh. 7, n. 76], 195-83, 210-14; and the Art of Gandhara (Cambridge, 1960), 1-112. See articles in Pichikyan, op. cit. [eh. 7, n. 2], esp. those also K. W. Dobbins, "Gandharan Art from the by B. I. Marshak, 258-66, and N. Meshkeris, 243- Stratified Excavations," EW, 23 (1973), 279-94, 47. For relations of Gandharan art with that of and for Parthian influences, B. Goldman, "Parthi- Chinese Turkestan see B. Rowland, Zentralasien, ans at Gandhara," EW, 28 (1978), 189-202. The Kushans 267 Afghanistan and into Central Asia at the end of the period of the 'great Kushans' and afterwards. Buddhist art even more than Christian art is repetitious, iconic and ritualistic, unmistakable wherever it is found, but other religions existed in the Kushan Empire, and this brings us to the question of religions in the Kushan Empire. Just as the Roman Empire saw the end of the Classical world and the beginning of a new Christian one, so the Kushan Empire passed from a similar proliferation of cults and sects, of Greek, Iranian and Indian deities, to the new Buddhist world of the east. Unlike Europe, however, Afghanistan and India later saw a resurgence of Hinduism, especially the cult of §iva which resurgence had its roots in the Kushan period. Syncretism was in füll swing before the Kushans, and we find the cult of Vishnu, otherwise called Vasudeva, identified with Herakles in Mathura perhaps as early as the fourth or third Century b.c. 65 With a plethora of local cults in the pre-Buddhist period, the Kushan rulers, like the Roman emperors, sought to instill in all of their subjects a loyalty to the dynasty while not only permitting, but probably also patronizing, many cults. A dynastic cult of the Kushan rulers, probably similar to the emperor cult in Rome, was instituted, and the devakula at Mathura, where a portrait statue of the sitting Vima Kadphises and a standing statue of Kanishka, both in Central Asian costume, were found, was probably a royal sanctuary. 66 Since the rulers had the epithet devaputra, 'son of god,' a temple or devakula to the dynasty would be understandable. Although §iva is prominent on the coins of both Vima Kadphises and Vasudeva I, while under Kanishka and Huvishka a plethora of Iranian, Greek and Indian deities are represented on their coins, we may only suggest that Vima and Vasudeva had personal preferences, since to go beyond this would be unwarranted. Much has been written about the various deities depicted on coins or statues which have been found, but obviously Iranian deities and cults flourished more in Bactria and Indian cults in the Indian cultural area although syncretism and mixtures seem to have occurred everywhere. 67 A sun cult dedicated to Mithra may have flourished under the Kushans, but we have no clear evidence of it, neither in material remains, such as temples, nor in literary sources, such as the much later sun cult of Multan. Given the tenor of the times one may propose that many cults existed under the Kushans as under the Roman emperors of the first two centuries. Burial customs may throw some light on religions, but in northern Bactria Soviet archaeologists have found disposal of the dead in the Kushan period in ossuaries containing bones, presumably after having been exposed, füll burials in coffins, in Chambers or mausolea, usually of brick, burials in large clay jars, occasional cremation and burials in terra-cotta sarcophagi, all of which points to a variety of customs if not necessarily to different peoples or religions in that region. 68 The variety of cults and beliefs is bewildering, and although traces of such cults are 65 Megasthenes' embassy to India is discussed in 136-56; for Central Asia G. Pugachenkova, "O B. C. J. Timmer, Megasthenes en de Indische Kultakh Baktrii v svete arkheologii," VDI, 1 Maalschappij (Amsterdam, 1930) 106-07, and the (1974), 125-35. For Afghanistan, B. Rowland, Besnagar inscription of Heliodorus, in Lüders, "Buddha and the Sun God," Zalmoxis, 1 (Paris, Mathura Inscriptions, [n. 3], 133-34. 1938), 69-84 and H. Humbach, "Vayu, Siva and 66 For the statues, see Rosenfield, o/j. eil. [n. 18], der Spiritus Vivens im ostiranischen Synkretis- figs. 1 and 2, and with agoodsurvey of the Kushan mus," Monumentum Nyberg, AI, 4 (1975), 397- pantheon as found on coins. 408. 67 On the Indian side see Puri, op. cit. [n. 40], 68 Pugachenkova, op. cit. [n. 67], 132-34. 268 Chapter IX found long after the Kushans, that which prevailed was Buddhism and a revived Hinduism in Bactria, the Hindukush area and northwest India, while local forms of Zoroastrianism or Mazdaism flourished in Sogdiana and western Afghanistan. One may suspect that the site of Surkh Kotal or Baghlan in the Hindukush region, which was dedicated to an imperial Kushan cult, as so frequently in this part of the world, retained its hallowed or sacred character, but transferred to new religions as time progressed and the memory of the Kushans faded. We know more about Buddhism than any other religion, for it was in the Kushan period that this religion expanded in Central Asia and China, but side by side with Buddhism, to a lesser degree, went forms of Hinduism. In a series of articles B. A. Litvinskii has outlined the history of Buddhism in Central Asia. 69 It is now generally accepted that Buddhism had reached the Hindukush area in the time of the Mauryan ruler Asoka, since his inscriptions have been found near there, but the progress of the religion to the north, in Central Asia, belongs to a later period. Since Buddhist remains have been found in the oasis of Merv, which according to numismatic data remained under Parthian control and was not ruled by the Kushans, we may assume a Buddhist missionary activity independent of the patronage of Kushan rulers. 70 It is highly probable that the success of Kushan expansion in Chinese Turkestan provided an impetus for Buddhist missionary activities there and towards China. Although Buddhism had adherents in Sogdiana and in Khwarazm, it never gained popularity in these two regions in which local forms of Mazdaism seem to have been predominant. We cannot follow the fortunes of Buddhism in Central Asia, except to say that Bactria became and remained the stronghold of 'Iranian' Buddhism until Islam supplanted it. Monuments of Buddhism in the 'east Iranian' area do show differences from Indian Buddhism and the remains have been studied by archaeologists and art historians, whose opinions, however, do not always coincide. 71 It would seem that the Buddha image was first developed in central India, possibly at Mathura, whence it was brought to the northwest where it was changed and became 'Hellenized' under the Kushans and became the Gandhara style. This style was then in turn adopted by Mathura and also by Bactria, but in India it became more 'Indianized' as time progressed, whereas in Bactria the Gandhara art style became more 'Iranicized.' Likewise Buddhism became 'Iranicized' in Bactria such that both the art and the religion in Central Asia became the inspiration for Chinese and other Far Eastern forms of Buddhism. Different schools of Mahayana Buddhism flourished in Central Asia, probably the most important being that of the Sarvastavadins. It is not possible here to discuss Buddhist doctrines, nor such items as 69 Litvinskii, "Makhadeva i Duttkhagamani, o 71 See esp. A. S. Melikian-Chirvani, "The nachalebuddizmavParfii,"KD/,3(1967),88-90; Buddhist Heritage in the Art of Iran" in W. "Sredneaziatskie narody i rasprostranenie Bud- Watson, ed., Mahayanist Art, Colloquies on Art dizma," in htoriya, Arkheologiya i Etnografii Srednei and Architecture in Asia, 2 (London, 1 972) and his Azii, Tolstov, op. eil. [n. 63], 128-35, and in "Recherches sur l'architecture de l'Iran Bouddhi- English, Ow(/i'ne History of Buddhism in Central Asia que I, Essai sur les origines et le symbolisme du (Dushanbe, 1968), 1-109. stüpa iranien," Le Monde Ironien et l'Islam, 3 (Paris, 70 See V. N. Pilipko, "Parfyanskie bronzovye 1975), 1-61. See also W. Ball, "Two Aspects of monety so znakom -n pod lukam," VDI, 4 (1980), Iranian Buddhism," Bulletin of the Asia Institute, 2 105-24, and G. Koshelenko, "The Beginning of (Shiraz, 1976), 103-43, on caves in Iran. Buddhism in Margiana," AA, 14 (1966), 175-83. The Kushans 269 the popularity of the figure of a lying Buddha in Central Asian Buddhist art, nor the role of Maitreya in Central Asian Buddhism, but when we find terms or concepts in Central Asian, or even Chinese, Buddhism not found in Indian Buddhism, or only attested there later, we may suspect Iranian influences. Since the tide of invasion went from Central Asia to the warm plains of India rather than the reverse, borrowings from Iranian or Central Asian Buddhism into Indian Buddhism are not to be discounted. The figure of Maitreya which apparently appears in India at the turn of the millennium when the Buddhist Pali canon was written, may have been borrowed from the deity Mithra who was populär in Iran and Central Asia, but nothing can be proved. 72 Likewise a 'cult of the book,' pustaka-, a word of Iranian origin, may have come to India from the Central Asian Iranian world. In short, there are many indications for an 'Iranian' school of Buddhism which not only borrowed from India but also returned ideas and practices from Central Asia, especially in the time of the Kushans and later. In summary, the 'great Kushans' played a role on the stage of history in the east as the Achaemenids had done in the west, and the heritage of the Kushans in gold and copper coinage, in the 'Iranicization' of State and society, in the promotion of those features of Buddhism and art which had their origins in the Kushan empire, and also the creation of a system of writing other than Aramaic, based on the Greek aiphabet, for an Iranian language, all attest to the important place of the Kushan Empire as a model for future rulers and dynasties. Only continued archaeology will reveal the material wealth and power of the Kushan Empire, the last great Iranian empire in the east before the Coming of the Turks and then of Islam. 72 Maitreya does not behave like other Bodhi- Buddha, all of which sounds Iranian and non- satvas who follow the original Buddha story, but Indian. On the other hand, the form of the name Maitreya will be born into the Brahmin caste at a in -fr- rather than -thr- or -hr- betrays an Indian future golden age, and a world emperor or rather than an Iranian origin. Cakravartin is necessary as a patron for the future CHAPTER X MINOR DYNASTIES ON THE PLATEAU Literatme: Classical sources are brief notices, mostly in historians of the Roman Empire, and Strabo, supplemented by local inscriptions. The six volumes of F. Altheim and R. Stiehl, Die Araber in der alten Well (Berlin, 1964-69) contain a wealth of scattered information about the pre-Islamic period of this part of the world, but much is unreliable and hard to find in scattered remarks. Their Christentum am Roten Meer (Berlin, 1971-73) also has only scattered remarks on Aramaic and Mandaic inscriptions of interest here. The short survey "Geschichte Mesopotamiens," G. Widengren in HO, 2, Keilschrift-Forschung und alte Geschichte Vorderasiens, 4. Abschnitt, Orientalische Geschichte von Kyros bis Mohammed (Leiden, 1966), 1-31, is a useful guidc to the history of Mesopotamia, but vol. 3 of the Cambridge History o/Iran provides a better survey of this period with bibliographies, while the MMAI vols. 38, G. Le Rider, op. cit. [eh. 6, n. 25] and 45 by R. Ghirshman, Terrasses saertes de Bard-k Nhhandeh et Masjid-i Solaiman (Paris, 1976) contain much general information about Susa and environs in this period. H. J. Nissen, "Südbabylonien in Parthischer und Sasanidischer Zeit," Baghdader Mitteilungen, 6 (Berlin, 1973), 79-86, is based on archaeological surveys, as is D. Oates, Studies in the Ancient History qf Northern lraq (London, 1968), 67-92. Literary sources as noted are few, some remarks in Strabo and Pliny, a notice here and there in Stephan of Byzantium or other later books on geography, and a few inscriptions of Elymais, while archaeology and coinage complete the meagre list. Syriac sources, the Babylonian Talmud and later Arabic books have virtually nothing on the pre-Sasanian period. Specialized bibliographies will be found in the notes to each section. PERSIS The dynasty of thefrataraka in Persis by the first Century of our era had either changed or at least a new title MLK * 'shäh' appears on the coins, and the first ruler with this title seems to have been a certain Darius (d'ryw on the coins). 1 His dates of rule as well as the significance of change in title are uncertain; the coinage might imply the adoption of a vassal Status under Parthian suzerainty perhaps as early as the time of Mithradates II of Parthia, or more likely later, for Strabo (XV, 728) teils us that in his time the Persians had a king of their own, and he was a vassal of the Parthian ruler. Presumably sometime in the first Century b.c. this change took place, although attempts to tie the coins of Persis to the coins of one or another Parthian king in form and style, from Mithradates I to Orodes III or Phraates IV, are too conjectural or subjeetive to assume the role of reliable evidence. 2 The coins of Darius rather appear 1 For the most recent work on the rulers of 2 As suggested by Kahrstedt, op. cit. [eh. 8, n. Persis see P. Naster, "Note depigraphie monetaire 119], 38-39. It is significant that no Seleucid mint de Perside: fratakara.frataraka ou JratadaraT IA, 8 is attested in Persis, and the earliest coins of Persis (1970), 74-80, and his "Fire Altar or Fire Tower do not copy Seleucid coins. Achaemenid satrapal on the Coins of Persis," Orientalia Lovaniensis, 1 issues provide a prototype for the earliest Persis (Louvain, 1970), 125-29, plus G. Ito, "Gathica coins as suggested by de Morgan, op. cit. [eh. 5, n. XIV-XV,"Orie«(, 12 (Tokyo, 1976), 47-66. Hill's 103], 133. Catalogue [eh. 5, n. 1 04] is still the best description of the coins. 272 Chapter X to be a normal development from earlier coins of Persis and the real change to a Parthian style of coinage comes in the reign of wtfrdt or Autophradates, presumably the second ruler of Persis to bear this name, when a change from early 'Persis type' coins to a 'Parthian style' can be seen. 3 One feature of significance is the change in direction of the bust on the coins from facing right to facing left, after Autophradates II, as well as a new crown similar to Parthian crowns, and these may indicate a change in rule from independence to a vassalship under the Parthian kings, but again this is only surmise. 4 This change may be dated to the time of Artabanus III, as Kahrstedt suggests, but we may say that the coins would only corroborate Strabo, that during the last two centuries of Parthian rule, Persis proclaimed its vassal relationship by striking coins on the Parthian model. The coins of wtfrdt are followed by those of Darius king, son of wtfrdt king, and then Wahuxshahr (whwkr) son of Darius, and an Ardashir (Vffi&r) son of Darius, followed by a nmwptl son of Ardashir. Other coins seem to carry the names pkw r, son of Wahuxshahr?, kp't or np't son oinmwpt, several different types with the name Manuchihr {rnnttry?) and one of the last of the series 'King Ardashir son of Manuchihr King.' 5 From the names one may draw several conclusions: first, that old Achaemenid names continued in use in Persis, and if Manuchihr is the correct reading, this is both a populär name in the epic literature of Iran, and also it appears as the name of a local king in Persis who was conquered by Ardashir, founder of the Sasanian dynasty. 6 One feature of the middle group of coins is the different forms of altars on reverses, a continuation of the enigmatic structure or large altar of the earliest coins of the dynasty. This prominence, as well as the Interpretation of the wordfrataraka zsfradadära Tire protector,' gave rise to the belief that pre-Sasanian Persis was ruled by priest-kings. Certainly religion must have been important in Persis, and shrines, possibly built on Achaemenid sites, probably flourished, but a 'priest-dynasty' is unattested. Another feature of the later coins of Persis is the change in aiphabet from the usual Aramaic to a form which can be called the prototype of the later Sasanian epigraphical aiphabet with rounded -m- and distinctive forms of other letters such as -/-, with r and w already falling together. Ardashir's coins are a continuation ofthose of Persis. Beyond these few remarks there is little to say about Persis before the Sasanians, except to credit the unanimous reports of later authors that the province was divided into a number of principalities, the most important of which was probably the one that issued coins at Istakhr near Persepolis, where vague memories of the imperial glory of the Achaemenids lingered in folk tales and in the physical presence of the ruins of Persepolis nearby, and this is 3 Hill, op. eil. [eh. 5, n 104],plate XXXI nos. 14 the series ed. by E. Babelon, Traue Monnaies and 15. The publication by J. de Morgan, op. cit. Crecques et Romaines (Paris, 1927), 342—419, does [eh. 5, n. 103], 270-88, is less reliable. not inspire confidence in some of his readings. The 4 A copper coin, probably of Darius II, the only existence of kings called 'Mtri' (Mihr) and prwlS copper ofthe Persis series extant in collections, was (Piruz) is questionable. On the other hand, the found at the excavations of Tepe Malyan in Fars; bibliography in the book of de Morgan is very see J. M. Balcer, "Parthian and Sasanian Coins and useful. The coinage, it should be noted, was local, Burials (1976)," Iran, 16 (1978), 86-88. for no coins of Persis were found among the 5 Hill, op. eil. [eh. 5, n. 104], 216—44 and plates thousands excavated at Susa over decades, and the XXXIII-XXXVII. The legends, in an uncertain coins are rare. Aramaic aiphabet, are difficult to deeipher and J. 6 In Tabari's history, ed. by M. J. de Goeje, 1 de Morgan, Numismatique de la Perse Antique, in (Leiden, 1879-), 815. Minor Dynasties on the Plateau 273 where the Sasanian dynasty had its roots. According to Tabari (I, 814—5) the ruler of Istakhr was called Gochihr of the family of Bäzrangi, and he was overthrown by Papak, but this is the later story of the Sasanians. ELYMATS This region included the highlands of present Khuzistan-Luristan, where the oil fields of Masjid-e-Sulaiman and others are located, and whereas the coins of Persis early show a use of Aramaic masks in the Middle Persian or Pahlavi System of writing, the coins of Elymais are written in a distinctive aiphabet and the language seems to be an Aramaic dialect. Fortunately, we have several inscriptions in the language of Elymais as well as archaeological remains to assist in reconstructing a history of this region. At once the question of the Elamites arises; what happened to them in the course of history? The Elamites, of which Elymais is a Greek form of the name of the land, were non-Semitic, and their name probably was a Mesopotamian designation, possibly originally meaning 'mountaineers.' By Iranians they were called Khuzi whence modern Khuzistan, but in the period we are discussing they had become greatly Semiticized, especially on the plains. About 140 b.c. the Parthians took Susa from a local ruler called Kamnaskires, the first of his line who threw ofFParthian rule for a short period, but then apparently the Parthians regained their control and a ruler called Okkonapses appears for a few years, if his coin legends are correctly read, while he, in turn, was followed by Tigraios who ruled c. 137—132 b.c. 7 One should distinguish between Susa and surrounding regions on the plains and the mountain area to the east and; while it was relatively easy for the Parthians to reassert their control on the plains, the mountains always remained difficult to rule and more often Parthian hegemony was not recognized there. The kings of Elymais, the mountain regions, are known from their coinage and from stray notices of them in Classical sources, down to the time of the Sasanians, and sometimes they ruled Susa, but more often the Parthians directly ruled the city, as we infer from inscriptions. We hear of kings of Elymais, without any names in Plutarch's life of Pompey (36), and in Tacitus (Annais, VI, 44), only indications of their independence from Parthian rule. Sometimes it seems the rulers of Susa, and/or the mountains of Elymais, fought incursions from Characene to the west, but from the coins one may infer a Parthian control of Susa and environs for most of the period until about a.D. 45 when Elymais extended its rule over Susa. 8 The use of Greek continued as shown by an inscription which is a letter of King Artabanus relating to the election of a certain Hestiaios to a municipal post in December A.D. 21, dated in the Seleucid era, an indication of the continuation of Greek traditions in Susa. 9 Probably in the first Century of our era the use of the distinctive Aramaic aiphabet of Elymais superseded Greek, for later coins 7 G. Le Rider, "Deux nouveaux tetradrachmes 8 Le Rider, op. dt. [eh. 6, n. 25], 408-27, where frappes ä Suse," RN, 6 series, 20 (1978), 33-37. For the change in coinage from copper to debased the best history of Elymais see Le Rider, Suse [eh. 6, silver, and the end of Parthian rule in Susa are n. 25], 353-435. Coins with Greek legends discussed. 'Kamnaskires' and 'Orodes' exist and with the 9 Ibid., 35-36, and 421-22, with further name wrwd (Orodes) in the Aramaic aiphabet of references. Elymais. 274 Chapter X with the names of later rulers called Kamnaskires and Orodes (wrwd) continue down to the Sasanian conquest. It is extremely difficult to sort the rare and usually poorly preserved copper coins of Elymais into a sequence of rulers. Whether the theory of Kahrstedt that under Artabanus III Parthian princes, usually his sons, were installed in Persis, Elymais and elsewhere as part of a scheme for Parthian domination of all the small principalities is valid or not, it is not supported by the coins, at least in the case of Elymais. 10 The second Century, as everywhere in the east, is a blank, and we only learn of a king Nirofar, King of Ahwaz (Khuzistan) whom Ardashir fought, according to Tabari (I, 818), but this name is found nowhere eise. Elymais is richer than Persis in inscriptions and rock reliefs, as well as a complex of places and temples at the present sites of Bard-e Nishandeh and Masjid-e Sulaiman, and both sites have provided rieh material for the art and eulture of Elymais. 1 1 The art might be characterized as 'provincial Parthian,' and its dosest connections seem to be with the art of Hatra. Not only features of costume, hair style, head gear, and the like, correspond to the Parthian age, but frontality and symbolism are characteristic of the art of Elymais as elsewhere in the general Parthian cultural realm. From the statues of Herakles found in the excavations of a strueture at Masjid-e Sulaiman, and elsewhere in Elymais, Ghirshman concluded he had found a temple dedicated to Herakles, who would have been identified with Verethragna, a war deity in the Iranian pantheon, but just as likely is an identification with Rustam in the Iranian national epic, who has many traits similar to Herakles. 12 Undoubtedly Herakles was revered by Greek colonists in Iran in Seleucid times, with a certain amount of syncretism and mixture with local beliefs and traditions; for statues of Herakles have been found elsewhere in Iran from this period. But to go beyond to propose a special and widespread Dionysian eult with various overtones in Parthian Iran is not warranted by the evidence of art and archaeology. Since Susa was strongly Hellenized, and the written language of Elymais was Aramaic, 'western' influences should be stronger here than on the plateau, and, as mentioned, the material remains, especially sculpture, show afhnities with Hatra and Mesopotamia more than with the finds on the Iranian plateau, although it must be emphasized that we have nothing from the plateau to match finds in Elymais such as at Bard-e Nishandeh, Masjid-e Sulaiman, Tang-e Sarvak, Tang-e Butan, Khung-e Nauruzi, and other sites of rock reliefs. 13 The abundance of rock reliefs, some with inscriptions, including the names Kamnaskires and Orodes, indicates both the wealth and the pretensions to eulture by 10 Kahrstedt, op. dt. [eh. 8, n. 119], 46-47. His Butan," JA (1965), 1-9, disputes the readingsof the fancy, like that of Tarn, [eh. l,n. 23], is fascinating inscriptions by Bivar and Shaked, logically but not to be aeeepted as history. proposing place-names for difficult words which 1 ' R. Ghirshman, Terrasses saertes, 1 [supra, should be in the position of place-names, but Literature], 13-51 and 103-32. unfortunately none can be identified. For other 12 Ibid., 1, 100; and 2, plates 70, 71, 86 and 130, Sites see L. Vanden Berghe, "Le relief parthe de plus drawings 23-24. Hung-i Naurüzi," IA, 3 (1963), 155-68, and the 13 For Tang-e Sarvak see W. Henning, "The following article by W. Hinz, "Zwei neuentdeckte Monuments and Inscriptions of Tang-i Sarvak," parthische Felsreliefs," IA, 3 (1963), 169-72, and /!M,2(1952),151-78;forTang-eButan:A.D.H finally E. de Waele, "La sculpture rupestre Bivar and S. Shaked, "The inscriptions atShimbar," d'Elymaide, 1. deux fragments inedits depoque BSOAS, 37 (1964), 265-90. (The Valley in which parthe," Revue d'Assyrwlogie, 69 (1975), 61-79, thegorgeof Butan is located is called Shimbar.) M. for Khung-e Azhdar near Malamir, with Sznycer, in "Les inscriptions arameennes de Tang-i bibliography. Minor uynasiits vn mc i um«« _ _ the rulers of Elymais. 14 If we were to judge by such remains alone, one would conclude that the center of culture, if not of power, in Iran of the second Century of our era, was located in Elymais rather than in Persis or indeed elsewhere on the Iranian plateau. Archaeological surveys in Khuzistan have revealed that the occupation on the land was considerably denser and more extensive in the late Parthian period than was the case in any of the immediately preceding periods, and also for the late Sasanian period. 15 But an expanding agricultural population on the plains was not enough to bring about the economic and cultural flowering of Elymais in the mountains, and one should look elsewhere for additional reasons for the prosperity of the mountain people. One may hazard a guess that the proximity of Elymais to the trading cities of the lowlands of Mesopotamia gave that principality advantages over counterparts on the plateau, which in this period were more 'agriculturally' or perhaps 'feudally' oriented than Elymais. For there is little evidence for flourishing cities on the plateau at this time, and, since town life expands with trade, the success of Elymais and other kingdoms to the west in promoting trade and commerce may have given them a different character than the 'more feudal' principalities on the plateau more directly under the Parthian system of rule. The State of Characene or Mesene at the head of the Persian Gulf was one of the states which owed its existence, as well as its prosperity, to trade. CHARACENE AND THE GULF Strictly speaking, Characene or Mesene (Aramic: Maisän) and the Gulf states are not part of the history of Iran, but, since this area was at times subject to the Parthians and most of the time securely held by the Sasanians, it is proper to at least briefly mention the southern lowlands of Mesopotamia and the commerce in the Gulf. Commerce in the Gulf was very old, but the rise of independent 'caravan' or trading centers in this period, such as the State of the Nabataeans in present-day Jordan, Palmyra in the Syrian desert, Hatra in northern Mesopotamia and Characene at the mouth of the Gulf, indicate a great expansion of trade between the west and east, which furnished luxury goods and spices for the Roman Empire. Undoubtedly the prosperity of the Roman Empire, the discovery of the monsoon winds in the Indian Ocean at the beginning of the Empire, and other factors, all contributed to the expansion of what might be called entrepreneurial commercial activity in the Near East. The trade between the Roman Empire and India has been much investigated and is not our concern, but the Parthians, and especially their 'dient states' in Mesopotamia, were drawn into the network of international commerce. 16 In spite of wars between the 14 The possibility that Kamnaskires is an Sasanian Khuzestan, 150 B.c. to A.D. 640," Elamite word meaning 'treasurer' hence a sort of Mesopotamia, 10-11 (Florence, 1975-76), 98-99, parallel with the fralaraka of Persis, has been 115, 124, 133. suggested by Henning, op. eil. [n. 13], 165. He also l6 A classic workon the caravan cities isbyM.I. raises the possibility that the population of the Rostovtzeff, Caravan Cities: Petra, Jerash, Palmyra, highlands may have spoken a neo-Elamite dialect, Dura (Oxford, 1932). On Roman trade with the while thoseon the plains spoke an Aramaic dialect. east, see the classic E. H. Warmington, The 1 s See R. J. Wenke, "Imperial Investments and Commerce Between the Roman Empire and India Agricultural Developments in Parthian and (Cambridge, 1928). 276 Chapter X Romans and Parthians, merchants continued to ply their wares, a pattern which appeared many times in the long history of the Near East. Characene was a kingdom founded by a governor of Antiochus IV the Seleucid king, called Spaosines son of Sagdodonacus by Pliny (VI, 139), who gives a short history of the town of Charax, founded originally by Alexander the Great. Although some scholars considered Spaosines, or in the füll form Hyspaosines, an Iranian, more likely it is an Arabic or at least a non-Iranian derivation of his name as well as that of his father. 1 7 Coins of Hyspaosines overstuck by Mithradates II of Parthia indicate that the independence of Characene was short-lived and Parthian overlordship replaced Seleucid allegiances. The Greek name Charax meant a camp, presumably with stakes or a palisade around it, while Maisän or Mesene seems to have been the local name for the same area as Characene. The geographical site of the town called Spasinou Charax, as well as a good survey of problems of rivers and canalization, has been determined by Hansman at a site called Naisan, on the Shatt al-Arab waterway to the north of present Khurramshahr, where the Karkhah River in ancient times joined the Tigris- Euphrates. 18 Just how great the influence of Palmyra, and its merchants, was in the second Century in Characene and in trade to India is unknown, but the wide spread of Palmyrene inscriptions, the Palmyrene style of tombs and sculptures, from Merv in Central Asia to Hungary, to the island of Kharg in the Gulf, all show evidence of the great trade connections of the Palmyrenes. 19 The international associations of merchants in the east bringing luxury goods such as pearls from the Gulf, frankincense from Arabia, spices from India and silk from China, elude us, but they surely existed and were more sophisticated than hitherto imagined. Dates and palm trees from southern Mesopotamia were also exported, but they were neither as much in demand nor as profitable as trade in luxury goods. The political history of Characene has been sketched by Nodelman, superseding earlier writings, but some of his suppositions of changes in dynasty and fluctuating allegiances to Parthia, plus the episode of Trajan's trip to the head of the Gulf to visit his ally, the king of Characene, are mostly based on coin types or enigmatic passages in Classical sources, and must be regarded as hypothetical. 20 Late in the first Century silver coinage gives way to bronze, and shortly thereafter Greek inscriptions are replaced by Aramaic, in the distinctive aiphabet of Characene. Undoubtedly there were changes in the ruling family of Characene over the years, but we can only observe the change in style of coinage, where every where in the second Century of our era the Parthian style predominates. The aiphabet on the coins seems to have 17 See E. Merkel, "Erste Festsetzungen im Ahmadjazlra-ye Khärg (Tehran, 1339/1961), 61- fruchtbaren Halbmond," in Altheim/Stiehl, op. cit. 62, 1 1 2-38. See also D. Schlumberger, "Palmyre et [supra. Die Araber], 1, 279, 342. la Mesene," Syria, 38 (1961), 256-60, for 1 8 J. Hansman, "Charax and the Karkheh," IA, 7 inscriptional evidence of connections. (1967), 35-45. He also plausibly determines the 20 S. A. Nodelman, "A Preliminary History of site of the second city of the kingdom Forat or Characene," Berytus, 13 (1959-60), 82-121, Perat de Maishan (in Syriac), renamed Bahman superseding M. J. Saint-Martin, Recherches sur Ardashir by the first Sasanian king, 46-53. l'hisloire et la giographie de la Mhkne (Paris, 1838) 19 J. B. Chabot, Choix d' inscriptions de Palmyre and M. Reinaud, Mimoire sur le commencement et la (Paris, 1922), 142-43; R. Ghirshman, The Island of fin du royaume de la Mhine (Paris, 1861). On the Kharg (Tehran, 1960), 8-9, as well asasummaryof coins see G. Le Rider, "Monnaies de Characene," past writings and archaeological surveys in Jaläl-Al Syria, 36 (1 959), 229-53, with further references. Minor Dynasties on the Plateau 277 more affinities with Palmyrene or Syriac, or even Nabataean, rather than with the script of Elymais seen in slight variations on the various rock inscriptions of Tang-e Sarvak and Tang-e Butan (or Shimbar). 21 The list of kings of Characene given by Nodelman and Le Rider may be accepted as approximately correct in order and dates, although one ruler may be earlier or later than proposed. Dates are based on coins dated in the Seleucid era. Hyspaosines c. 140-122 B.c. Apodakos c. 109-105 b.c. Tiraios I c. 91-89 b.c. Tiraios II c. 79-49 B.c. Artabazos c. 48 B.C. (perhaps the same as Orabzes) Attambelos I c. 47-28 B.c. Theonesios I c. 21-19 b.c. Attambelos II c. 18 b.c.-a.d. 8 Abinerglos I c. a.D. 10—12 (Abinergaos on some coins) Attambelos III c. a.D. 37-43 Theonesios II c. A.D. 45-46 Theonesios III c. a.D. 51 (coin type different from II) Attambelos IV c. a.D. 53-63 Attambelos V c. a.D. 73 (coin type different from IV) g a P Attambelos VI c. a.D. 102-104 Theonesikos IV c. A.D. 110-111 Phobas c. A.D. 117 Meredates c. A.D. 131 Artabazos II c. a.D. 150 (or Orabzes) Abinerglos II c. a.D. 165 Attambelos VII c. a.D. 180 Magha c. 195 A.D. Abinerglos III c. a.D. 210 Before turning to the north, it is useful to summarize the general historical information provided by the coinages of the southern principalities of Persis, Elymais and Characene. First, one should note that a regulär independent coinage apparently existed only in these three southern principalities and not in northern Mesopotamia or in Iran where Standard Parthian coinage held sway. This would indicate more independence for the south, or at least more local control over their trade and economy. Second, Persis coins were only minted in silver, seemingly a continuation of satrapal Achaemenid issues, although the silver became debased in time. As noted, not one Persis coin has been found among the thousands of coins found in the excavations of Susa, and they are extremely rare outside of Persis. One might conclude that the coinage of Persis was an indigenous coinage, based on the satrapal 2 ' P. W. Coxon, "Script Analysis and Mandaean related, but they cannot prove the existence of the Otigins," Journal of Semitic Studies, 15 (1970) 16- Mandaeans or of their script in southern 30, esp. 29. All of the Scripts, of course, are closely Mesopotamia at this time. 278 Chapter X issues of the Achaemenids rather than Seleucid coinage, and it enjoyed local 'prestige' circulation rather than being used in trade and commerce. The coinage of Elymais, on the other hand, began as a copy of Seleucid coinage in silver, presumably with a fairly wide circulation, and by the first Century A.D. it changed to local, copper issues for local use. The coinage of Characene was also in silver, and only by the second Century A.D. did copper predominate. Second, the languages and alphabets used on the coinages of the three principalities reveal a development parallel to the increasing use of copper instead of silver. In Persis, no Greek was ever used on the coins; at the beginning we find 'Reichs-' (or imperial) Aramaic, which changes to Parthian, or a local Middle Iranian form of writing with Semitic ideograms possibly by the first Century of our era, and finally we find at the end of the Persis dynasty a transition to a Middle Persian cursive form of writing, the immediate predecessor of the Sasanian aiphabet used on coins. In Elymais the Greek legends degenerate until replaced by a local aiphabet of Elymais in block letters, without an 'imperial' Aramaic stage. Thus Elymais went directly from a Greek to a local language and aiphabet, probably in the first Century A.D., without the stage of Achaemenid satrapal or 'imperial' Aramaic stage of the coins of the frataraka of Persis. In Susa, however, Greek continued to be used much longer than in the hüls of Elymais. In Characene Greek legends lasted longer than in Elymais, testimony of the more 'international' character of the trade ofthat principality. The local language and aiphabet seem to have come into use only in the second Century of our era, with no 'imperial' Aramaic intermediate phase. The styles of all of the coinages became influenced by Parthian issues, probably beginning in the first Century of our era, but this does not necessarily mean greater central Parthian political control. Rather, economic factors, including the wishes of merchants engaged in international commerce with India and elsewhere in the east, may have been the most important factor in an attempt at some kind of standardization. Ardashir, founder of the Sasanian dynasty, probably understood the financial power of the states on the Gulf, as well as their easy willingness to shift obedience from Parthian to Sasanian allegiance, and this determined his first extensive conquests outside of Persis. The north, especially in Mesopotamia, it seems, had grievances against the Parthians, and the inhabitants of these areas also submitted to the Sasanians, but trade and commerce does not appear to have played as important a role in Adiabene and similar states as in the south. The central part of Mesopotamia, with the winter capital of Ctesiphon, was part of the central or imperial Parthian domains. To the north, however, the existence of a number of client kingdoms is attested in our sources. ADIABENE AND NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA The two areas to the east of the Tigris River which had local dynasties were Garamaea, the inhabitants of which were called Garamaioi by Ptolemy (VI, 1, 2), perhaps descendants of the ancient Guti. The Syriac Christian writers knew the area as Beth Garmai with its capital Karkha de Beth Slok or modern Kirkuk. The Seleucid political divisions of Chalonitis (around modern Hulwan), Apolloniatis on the Diyala River and Sittacene more to the south but at times including Appoloniatis, all had Minor Dynasties on the Plateau 219 been placed under direct Parthian rule, in spite of their changing boundaries. By the last Century of Parthian rule B. Garmai had its own king, but how long the area had been ruled by a local dynasty is impossible to determine. 22 Presumably this area was parallel to Adiabene (Syriac: Hadhyab) ancient Assyria, whose royal house was converted to Judaism at the beginning of our era. 23 At the time of Trajan's invasion of the east a certain Mebarsapes is named as king of Adiabene by Cassius Dio (68, 22), who retreated before the Romans, but under Hadrian he may have returned and recovered his territory. In any case, Adiabene had its own dynasty, even though we do not know what happened there during the Roman invasion of Avidius Cassius in 165, although later in the invasion of Septimius Severus in 1 95 the people of Adiabene fought against the Romans (Cassius Dio 75, 1), and the Roman emperor took the title Adiabenicus, implying a victory. According to the Chronicle ofArbela, the king of Adiabene Narseh had not supported the Parthian king in suppressing a rebellion and consequently was punished by being drowned in the greater Zab river, while his land was plundered by the Parthians. 24 Apparently Adiabene was ravaged by the forces of Caracalla about 216, but the fate of the land and its rulers is unknown. The next information, if it is reliable, comes from the Syriac chronicle (p. 60) which says that Sharat, king of Adiabene together with the king of Kirkuk joined Ardashir and defeated the Parthians bringing their rule to an end. By the time of Shapur (SKZ, Greek line 60), however, we hear of an Ardashir as king of Adiabene, which implies a replacement of the local dynast by a Sasanian prince, not unexpected for Sasanian rule. We have suggested that the boundaries of Adiabene varied over time, but its greatest expansion seems to have occurred under Izates when, after supporting Artabanus III, the latter rewarded the ruler of Adiabene by adding the territory of Nisibis, formerly part of the mountainous area of Gordyene to the north, and this remained part of Adiabene until Trajan's invasion. 25 After the retreat of the Romans, relations between the Parthians and the ruler of Adiabene were strained.as mentioned above, and possibly at this time this frontier area of Nisibis between the Romans and 22 At the beginning of Sasanian rule the ruler of the style is similar to that of Tigranes the Great of the Kirkuk area was called Domitianus according Armenia. The identification of the word 'tlw on a to Msih Zkha, author of Die Chronik von Arbela, statue of a king of Adiabene found at Hatra with transl. by E. Sachau [eh. 8, n. 100], 60. For an Iranian azai 'noble, free,' by J. Teixidor in "The assessment of the reliability of this Syriac chronicle, Kingdom of Adiabene and Hatra," Berytus, 17 with references, see J. M. Fiey, /Issyrie Chretienne 1 (Copenhagen, 1967-68), 3, is unlikely, since an (Beirut, 1965), 41— 42. There isnoapparent reason Arabic root meaning 'noble in origin' is for doubting this incidental remark about Kirkuk questionable. More likely it is merely a proper in the chronicle, since it is not germane to the name with no clear etymology. general narrative. 24 Sachau, Die Chronik, [eh. 8, n. 100], 58. If we 23 The Parthian name for Adiabene was follow Josephus and the Chronicle, Izates was nturn 'hy ' on coins and on an inscription from followed on the throne by his brother Monobazus Hatra, or ntwirkn, reflecting Sasanian and later a Parthian governor called Raqbakt ruled nomenclature, on SKZ. The Sasanians then the land, followed by Narseh and finally Sharat. changed the name to Nöt-ArdashTräkän, after the Lengths of rule are impossible to determine, but name of the first king, but older Natunia is the picture of a local dynasty sometimes puzzling. It is more likely Semitic in origin independent, and at times more subordinate to (perhaps from ntn 'give' > 'dedicated'?) than Parthian overlordship, emerges. Iranian as supposed by J. T. Milik, "A propos d'un 25 For a summary see Kahrstedt, op. eil. [eh. 8, n. atelier monetaire d'Adiabene: Natounia," in RN, 4 119], 58-60. (1962), 51-58. The legend on the coin is Greek and 280 Chapter X Parthians acquired the name Beth Nuhadra. The Parthian title nohodar (Armenian naxarar) was a high rank in the Parthian Organization, perhaps originally a military or court title 'holder of first rank,' and then generalized to mean a member of the top nobility. In any case, this important frontier area was a military district against the Romans, first under the Parthians and then the Sasanians, thus most likely under direct central, military rule. Hatra and the desert between the Tigris and Euphrates became a province of the Parthian domains called Arbaya or land of the Arabs. Thanks to archaeological excavations and the recovery of inscriptions, we know more about the fortified caravan city in the desert than about more fertile lands to the east. Probably founded in the first Century B.c. by Arab nomads, the city became rieh as a fortified trade Station in late Parthian times. It is uncertain whether the first king was called Sanatruq, but later rulers bore this name, and the site became known as Hatra of Sanatruq. 26 Trajan and Septimius Severus both failed to capture the city, but with the fall of the Parthians and the rise of the Sasanians, Hatra changed its policy and became allied with Rome. It was finally conquered by Ardashir in 239 at the end of his reign and was then abandoned. The second Century of our era was the period of greatest prosperity for Hatra as it was for other caravan cities such as Palmyra and towns in Characene, and the eulture of all of these cities was similar with strong Parthian influences regardless of political allegiances. The seeming multiplicity of eults at excavated sites such as Hatra and Warka in Mesopotamia, as well as Palmyra in Syria, has produced almost as large a literature as the statues and art objeets, testimony of the cosmopolitan nature of the caravan sites. 27 At Hatra, in addition to the goddess Allat and other deities, a triad of deities mm our lord,' mrtn our lady' and brmryn 'son of our lords,' was especially worshipped, and these three have been identified as the equivalents of Shamash or Helios, Atargatis or Ishtar and Sin, the moon god. 28 Whether these identifications are valid or not, one may characterize all of the eults at Hatra as Arab or Mesopotamian, and no traces of Iranian influence in religion can be found. Over three hundred inscriptions have been found at Hatra and many fascinating philological puzzles in titles, onomastica and uncertain words have stimulated the efforts of many scholars. From the inscriptions, Fuad Safar has been able to reconstruet a tentative chronology of the reigns of the rulers of Hatra as follows: 29 26 On the ongins of Hatra see Altheim/Stiehl, Identity of the Triad of Hatra," Sutner, 31 (1975), op. dt., 1 [supra, Die Araber], 1, 275-77, with 75-80. On the inscriptions from Hatra see further references. On the rare coins of Hatra with successi ve articles by F. Safar in Sutner and the same Aramaic legends, see J. Walker, "The Coins of by A. Caquot in Syria. Hatra," NC, sixth series, 18 (1958), 167-72. 29 F. Safar, "A Chronological List of the Rulers 27 For deities and eults see H. Ingholt, Parthian and Kings of Hatra," (in Arabic), Sutner, 28 (1972), Sculpturesfrotn Hatra (New Haven, 1954), 10-46, 3-17, and in revised form in English, "The Lords with references, and for art in particular see D. and Kings of Hatra," Sumer, 29 (1973), 87-98. See Homes-Fredencq, Hatra et sei sculptures parthes also A. Maricq, "Hatra de Sanatrouq," Syria, 32 (Istanbul, 1963); and Ann Perkins, T/ie Art ofDura (1955), 273-78, and Altheim/Stiehl, op. eil., 4 Europos (Oxford, 1973). [supra. Die Araber], 1, 263-70. 28 See Wathiq al-Salihi, "New Light on the Minor Dynast ies on the Plateau 281 Nasharyahab c. A.D. 85-105 Worod the lord (mariya) c. 105-115 Nasru the lord c. 115-135 Nasharyahab the lord c. 136-145 Manu the lord c. 146-154 Walgash the lord c. 1 55-1 58, and with the title of 'king of the Arabs' from c. 1 58-1 65 Sanatruq the lord c. 166-7, and with the title 'king' c. 167-190 Abd Samia, king c. 190-200 Sanatruq II, king c. 200-239 Inscriptions in Greek and other languages from Dura Europos, a fortified Roman frontier town, Supplement the information we have from Hatra, and one may suggest that the ruler of Hatra at earlier times held the title of Arab arkhes, or 'chief of the Arabs' under Parthian suzerainty, but later the rulers of Hatra assumed the title of 'king' and became independent. 30 Titles and ranks proliferated among the petty rulers on the frontier, whose favor was sought by both Parthians and Romans, and we may suppose that ranks or honorifics as well as titles were arranged according to a sort of list or Notitia dignitatum, where office, social rank and honorific would be listed according to an order defining the position of a person. An example of different 'titles' would be the loan contract in Greek from Dura of the year 121 in which a certain Manesus son of Phraates held the office of governor (strattgos) of Mesopotamia and Parapotamia as well as 'chief of the Arabs,' and he belonged to the order of high nobility called batesa. As we have seen in a previous chapter, a witness, Metolbaessa, held the office of garrison Commander, but he belonged to the order of 'first and greatly-honoured (appellative) order of friends and bodyguards (of the king)'. 31 On the Roman side of the frontier, grants of titles and honorifics also occurred but perhaps not so lavishly as on the Parthian side. In any case, the client kingdoms of the Mesopotamian frontier on the Parthian side were more often independent than in a 'vassal' relationship to Parthia, except one may suppose that Parthian coinage was legal tender in all of them. The 'forward' policy of Trajan, followed by the Antonine emperors, swung the balance of power to the Romans in the last Century of Parthian rule, and undoubtedly many people in the land between the two rivers at times supported the Romans, or used them as a foil to Parthian overlordship. While the small kingdoms flourished, the Parthians on the whole did not, and the final internecine struggles between the last Artabanus and his rival Vologeses weakened the Parthians, so they were unable to suppress the uprising of the ruler of Persis, Ardashir. 30 For the titles, see C.B.WeWes, The Parchments sense; cf. his "Iranica V" [eh. 4, n. 63], 371, with and Papyri, The Excavations of Dura-Europos (New reference to Altheim. The batesa is probably the Haven, 1959), 110-15, and articlesbyj. Teixidor, same asSyr'nc pefahSä and the pdhfof Hatra (cf. A. "Notes Hatreennes," Syria, 43 (1966), 91-93. Caquot, "Nouvelles Inscriptions Aramaeennes de 31 Welles.op.rif., 116. The protoeol and parallel Hatra (VI)," Syria, 41 [1 964], 256, no. 127),andall between office, rank and appellative or honorific are possibly variant forms of bitaxi, Latin vitaxa, was misunderstood by Ältheim and also by etc. Szemerenyi, whose etymologies, however, make 282 Chapter X To summarize the position of the small states of Mesopotamia, only the most important of which we have mentioned here, the prime importance of trade for all of them impresses one. While central Parthian political hegenomy was greatly weakened by the second Century, a kind of cultural unity among the peoples nominally under Parthian rule existed. Even beyond the political frontiers of the Parthian Empire, in Palmyra, in Roman outposts such as Dura, among the Nabataeans, and others, Parthian modes of dress and art styles were populär. 32 Later Arabic histories charactenze the pre-Sasanian period of the history of the Near East as the time of 'tribal kings,' with an implied derogatory sense. But we have seen how agriculture as well as commerce flourished in Mesopotamia more than in previous or later periods. While great empires attract historians, one may raise the question whether the common folk had more prosperity living under rulers of small units or in great empires. Certainly the evidence we have, small though it is, seems to favor the common prosperity of all more in the time of the 'tribal kings' than later, especially in Mesopotamia, but what of the plateau of western Iran ? THE IRANIAN PLATEAU At the end of Parthian rule Azerbaijan seems to have been an integral part of central Parthian domains, while members of the Arsacid family ruled in Armenia, the southern frontiers of which probably extended to the shores of Lake Urmia. According to Cassius Dio (79, 1) the Romans under Caracalla invaded Media in 216 but nothing is known about the success of Roman arms. In this war of the Romans against the Parthians the Armenian king, Tiridates II son of Chosroes, first supported the Romans but after the death of the emperor changed sides. Previously, in the Roman-Parthian war of 197-200 king Chosroes had supported the Romans, but may have lost his life in prison when Caracalla invited him for a visit and then imprisoned him according to Dio (1 2, 1), although the fate of Chosroes is unknown. Even though Arsacids ruled Armenia, it was an independent kingdom, as was Georgia or Iberia. In Armenia the Greek language had replaced older Aramaic, represented only by a few inscriptions on 'milestones' of King Artashes (c. 189-160 b.c.), but use of Aramaic seems to have died out, and it was fully replaced by Greek. 33 If we can assume that the court and society of Armenia was a copy of Parthia, where we do not have the detailed Information of Armenian sources such as Agathangelos, then we may conclude that the protocols of feudal lords were fixed and respected by the entire 'feudal' society. 34 Just how Armenian feudal lords ranked at the central court of the Arsacids of Parthia or vice versa cannot be determined, but it would seem that books of protocol also were concerned with such problems. 32 For Parthian influenceson the Nabataeans see 169, and for a new inscription, similar to the Nelson G\ueck,Deities and Dolphins (N.Y., 1965), others, see G. A. Tiratsyan, "Estche odna esp. 248-50. Southern Mesopotamia flourished in Arameiskaya nadpis Artashesa I, Tsarya Armenii," this period compared to later Sasanian times, VDl, no. 4 (1980), 99-104. The language can be according to E. J. Keall, "Parthian Nippur and characterized as poor or debased Aramaic. Vologases' Southern Strategy," JAOS, 95 (1975), 34 On the gahnamak or 'order of ranks' in 631-32. Armenia see M.-L. Chaumont, "L'ordre" [eh. 8, n. 33 For the inscriptions, see the bibliography in 63], 471-97. Some of the titles were really A. Perikhanian, "Les inscriptions" [eh. 8, n. 38], honorifics or appellatives. Minor Dynasties on the Plateau 283 The kingdom of Iberia or Georgia, to the north of Armenia, was even more in the Roman sphere of influence than Armenia, but the Georgians seem to have developed their own, native form of the Aramaic aiphabet used in an ideographic fashion as Parthian and Middle Persian. This aiphabet has been found on several inscriptions, probably from the time of King Parsman, who visited Rome in the days of Antoninus Pius (138-161), located in the ancient capital of Armazi. 35 In the Parthian period, unfortunately, little is known of Georgia except through its relations with the Roman Empire which is beyond our concern here. The archaeological finds, in any case, reveal much stronger Hellenistic and Roman influences than Parthian. Questions of the origins of the Caucasian Albanian and the Armenian and Georgian alphabets belong to a later period, while the history of Caucasian Albania is bound to that of Georgia, and only in the Sasanian period do we find more Information about the kingdoms of the Caucasus. Although we have only a few indications of 'coats of arms' or family insignia from the Parthian period, if we interpolate back from the Sasanians, the local noble families did have some of the similar paraphernalia, such as 'coats of arms' as much later in mediaeval Europe. On the coins of the Parthian kings we find special signs as well as on those of Elymais, Characene, Persis, not to mention the Kushans in the east, or on Sarmatian tombstones and art objects from South Russia. Although many of these signs have been described as tribal 'brand marks' or tamghas, it seems clear that in the non-nomadic societies of the Parthians, and the small kingdoms around the central domains, such signs were more likely family crests. 36 From such signs, from art forms and clothes, and from rare notices in Classical sources one may conclude that on the Iranian plateau a feudal form of society prevailed with large landowners and many personal followers, whereas on the Mesopotamian lowlands the more urban culture of caravan cities flourished. Not that the two were completely separated, but the two characteristic forms of society were each suited to the two areas. To the east we are in the dark. What was the political Status of the Caspian provinces, of Hyrcania, modern Gurgan, and farther east, the lowland of Seistan? From the middle of the first Century we begin to hear of ambassadors from Hyrcania to the Romans (Tacitus XIV, 25), but at no time is a king of Hyrcania mentioned, nor are any coins from this area identifiable. Kahrstedt's view that in the second Century Hyrcania was at times either an independent kingdom or on other occasions under Kushan rather than Parthian rule is unsupported by any evidence, since no Kushan coins have been found in excavations in Gurgan, and there is no evidence that Nisa, 35 On the Armazi inscriptions see Frye, "Pahle vi 36 See H. Jänichen, Bildzeichen der königlichen Heterography in Ancient Georgia?" in G. C. Hoheit bei den iranischen Völkern (Bonn, 1956), esp. Miles, ed., Archaeologica Orientalin in memoriam 13-27; and E. I. Solomonik, Sarmatskie Znakt Ernst Herzfeld (N.Y., 1952), 91; and M. H. Severnogo Prichernomorya (Kiev, 1959), esp. 16-21. Bogolyubov, "Po povodu bry i brty v Arameiskoi While one should not confuse these signs with versii Armazskoi bilingvy," in A. H. Kononov, those ofstone masons, the relationship between the Issledovaniya po Filologii Siran Azii i Afriki two could be explained as a common origin of (Leningrad, 1966), 21-24, with further references. family identification. Cf. W. Andrae, Hatra, The chief publication of the excavations at Wissenschaftliche Veröffentlichung der deutschen Mtshketa is by A. M. Apakidze, Mtskheta (Tiflis. Orient-Gesellschaft, 9 (Leipzig, 1908), 29. 1958). Parthian and Roman coins were found, no local coins. ^napier .a the old capital of the Parthians to the northeast, was ever in Kushan hands, and areas to the west were even more unlikely to have been part of the Kushan Empire even at its greatest extent. 37 The independence of feudal lords in all parts of the Parthian Empire was proverbial, and at times in certain areas this independence was greater, while at other times less, but the establishment of an independent State would have been followed by the issuance of coins and other signs of complete Separation from the Parthian Empire, which does not seem to have been the case in Hyrcania. Seistan, the land of the Sakas, at the end of the Parthian period is also enigmatic, and as an example of the equivocal bits of information we have everywhere in the second Century, Seistan is a good example of the paucity and ambiguity of even the few tidbits we have. The first fragmentary notice is in the Arabic history of Tabari (1, 682) that the center of the family of Suren was in Seistan, which was the basis for a highly conjectural essay on the 'house of Suren of Sakastan' by Herzfeld which, however, teils us little about Seistan. 38 Then we have copper Indo-Parthian type coins from this area with the name Arda Mitra, but on some of them Hormizd in Sasanian Middle Persian characters, but these coins are so enigmatic that they cannot be used to postulate a local ruler of Seistan who became a vassal of the early Sasanians, as has been suggested. 39 There is no reason to doubt the provenance of the Suren feudal family from the east, but the whole question of the relation of the Suren to the Indo-Parthian dynasty of Gondophares, or to the Sakas, who gave their name to the province, is obscure. Even more curious is the legendary connection of the Sasanians to the east which we may briefly examine here. Indo-Parthian coins with the Kharoshthi legend Sasasa, or in Greek Sasou (gen.), the name of a ruler whose name has been identified as 'Sasan,' have been mentioned. There is really little reason to connect the two, especially since the Scythian name Sasas is found on inscriptions from South Russia. 40 More intriguing, however, is the legend of Sasan the ancestor of Ardashir, said to have lived in exile in India after Alexander the Great, found in the Pahlavi Kär nämak of Ardashir, in Firdosi's book of kings and in other books of the Islamic period. The fictitious pedigree of the Sasanians, to connect their family with the Achaemenids or the mythical Kayanid dynasty, was undoubtedly a late creation, but with the discovery of Parthian documents from Nisa and elsewhere we gain a new insight into the name 'Sasan.' Livshits has collected all instances of the name 'Sasan' in Parthian, with combinations such as Sasandat 'given by Sasan,' Sasanbokht 'saved by Sasan,' and "Kahrstedt, op. cit [eh. 8, n. 119], 37, 83. No Drouin, "Monnaies sassanides," RN, 3 ser, 13 doubt the Hyrcanians, and others under Parthian (1895), 52, plate 2, followed by E. J. Rapson, rule, revolted many times from central control, "Ancient Coins Collected in Seistan," JRAS but one must not forget the feudal character of (1904), 678-79, and V. A. Smith, Catalogue oj the Parthian rule, and envoys Coming to Rome Coins in the Iniian Museum Calcutta, 1 (Oxford, indicate this independence of action, but not 1906), 221. V. Lukonin, in "Zavoevaniya necessarily the creation of independent states as Sasanidov na Vostoke," VDI, 2 (1969), 25, reads Kahrstedt believes. the legend on a coin in the Hermitage as 'rthütry 38 E. Herzfeld, "Sakastan" [eh. 7, n. 28], 70-85, sk n MLK' "Ardashir, king of the Sakas," which with many interesting observations to be used would make this local ruler one ofthose named in with utmost care. Shapur's KaWi inscription. 39 See D. MacDowall, "The Dynasty of the Later 40 Zgusta, op. cit. [eh. 7, n. 53], 1 42, no. 203. The Indo-Parthians," NC (1965), 145, who calls him name on the coins, ofcourse, might be interpreted the predecessor of Ardashir. First noted by E. as Sasan but it is far from certain. Minor Dynasties on the Plateau 285 comes to the conclusion that Sasan was a minor deity in the homeland of the Parthians. 41 This might help to explain why the dynasty is called Sasanian rather than Papakian, and why the figure of Sasan is important in the founding story of the dynasty. One might guess that Sasan was an important prince of an Indo-Parthian dynasty who came to Persis and became attached to a local dynast called Papak, and together a basis was forged for a successful revolt against central Parthian rule, and then an ancestry was proclaimed which secured the support of many noble families and local rulers who accepted the right of Ardashir to rule asjustified by good family credentials. In the story or legend of the rise of Ardashir, reference to Sasan as an outsider, coming from the east, may contain a kernel of truth, for one would have expected the local rulers of Persis to have preserved some kind of a connection with the Achaemenid family. That they did not, regarding themselves as the issue of satraps, seems credible, and the outside connection was needed to launch the rise to power of the Sasanians. The story of this rise begins the chapter on the Sasanians. 41 V. A. Livshits, "Parfyanskii teonim Sasan," in (Moscow, 1977), 93-97. The examples given by Pismennye Pamyatniki i Problemy Islorii Kultury Livshits leave little doubt that Sasan was a populär Narodov Vosloka, Akad, Nauk Int. Vostokovedenie deity of some sort in Parthia. 284 Chapter X the old capital of the Parthians to the northeast, was ever in Kushan hands, and areas to the west were even more unlikely to have been part of the Kushan Empire even at its greatest extent. 37 The independence of feudal lords in all parts of the Parthian Empire was proverbial, and at times in certain areas this independence was greater, while at other times less, but the establishment of an independent State would have been followed by the issuance of coins and other signs of complete Separation from the Parthian Empire, which does not seem to have been the case in Hyrcania. Seistan, the land of the Sakas, at the end of the Parthian period is also enigmatic, and as an example of the equivocal bits of information we have everywhere in the second Century, Seistan is a good example of the paucity and ambiguity of even the few tidbits we have. The first fragmentary notice is in the Arabic history of Tabari (1, 682) that the center of the family of Suren was in Seistan, which was the basis for a highly conjectural essay on the 'house of Suren of Sakastan' by Herzfeld which, however, teils us little about Seistan. 38 Then we have copper Indo-Parthian type coins from this area with the name Arda Mitra, but on some of them Hormizd in Sasanian Middle Persian characters, but these coins are so enigmatic that they cannot be used to postulate a local ruler of Seistan who became a vassal of the early Sasanians, as has been suggested. 39 There is no reason to doubt the provenance of the Suren feudal family from the east, but the whole question of the relation of the Suren to the Indo-Parthian dynasty of Gondophares, or to the Sakas, who gave their name to the province, is obscure. Even more curious is the legendary connection of the Sasanians to the east which we may briefly examine here. Indo-Parthian coins with the Kharoshthi legend Sasasa, or in Greek Sasou (gen.), the name of a ruler whose name has been identified as 'Sasan,' have been mentioned. There is really little reason to connect the two, especially since the Scythian name Sasas is found on inscriptions from South Russia. 40 More intriguing, however, is the legend of Sasan the ancestor of Ardashir, said to have lived in exile in India after Alexander the Great, found in the Pahlavi Kär nämak of Ardashir, in Firdosi's book of kings and in other books of the Islamic period. The fictitious pedigree of the Sasanians, to connect their family with the Achaemenids or the mythical Kayanid dynasty, was undoubtedly a late creation, but with the discovery of Parthian documents from Nisa and elsewhere we gain a new insight into the name 'Sasan.' Livshits has collected all instances of the name 'Sasan' in Parthian, with combinations such as Sasandat 'given by Sasan,' Sasanbokht 'saved by Sasan,' and 37 Kahrstedt, op. eil [eh. 8, n. 119], 37, 83. No Drouin, "Monnaies sassanides," RN, 3 ser, 13 doubt the Hyrcanians, and others under Parthian (1895), 52, plate 2, followed by E. J. Rapson, rule, revolted many times from central control, "Ancient Coins Collected in Seistan," JRAS but one must not forget the feudal character of (1904), 678-79, and V. A. Smith, Catalogue ofthe Parthian rule, and envoys Coming to Rome Coins in the Indian Museum Calcutta, 1 (Oxford, indicate this independence of action, but not 1906), 221. V. Lukonin, in "Zavoevaniya necessarily the creation of independent states as Sasanidov na Vostoke," VDl, 2 (1969), 25, reads Kahrstedt believes. the legend on a coin in the Hermitage as 'rthUry 38 E. Herzfeld, "Sakastan" [eh. 7, n. 28], 70-85, sk « MUC "Ardashir, king of the Sakas," which with many interesting observations to be used would make this local ruler one ofthose named in with utmost care. Shapur's Ka*bah inscription. 39 See D. MacDowall,"The Dynasty ofthe Later 40 Zgusta, op. eil. [eh. 7, n. 53], 142, no. 203. The Indo-Parthians," NC (1965), 145, who calls him name on the coins, of course, might be interpreted the predecessor of Ardashir. First noted by E. as Sasan but it is far from certain. Minor Dynasties Ott the Plateau 285 comes to the conclusion that Sasan was a minor deity in the homeland of the Parthians. 41 This might help to explain why the dynasty is called Sasanian rather than Papakian, and why the figure of Sasan is important in the founding story of the dynasty. One might guess that Sasan was an important prince of an Indo-Parthian dynasty who came to Persis and became attached to a local dynast called Papak, and together a basis was forged for a successful revolt against central Parthian rule, and then an ancestry was proclaimed which secured the support of many noble families and local rulers who accepted the right of Ardashir to rule asjustified by good family credentials. In the story or legend of the rise of Ardashir, reference to Sasan as an outsider, Coming from the east, may contain a kernel of truth, for one would have expected the local rulers of Persis to have preserved some kind of a connection with the Achaemenid family. That they did not, regarding themselves as the issue of satraps, seems credible, and the outside connection was needed to launch the rise to power of the Sasanians. The story of this rise begins the chapter on the Sasanians. 41 V. A. Livshits, "Parfyanskii teonim Sasan," in (Moscow, 1977), 93-97. The examples given by Pismennye Pamyatniki i Problemy Istorii Kultury Livshits leave little doubt that Sasan was a populär Narodov Vostoka, Alcad, Nauk Int. Vostokovedenie deity of some sort in Parthia. CHAPTER XI THE SASANIANS Literature: The basic textbook on the Sasanians is the comprehensive book of A. Christensen, L'Iran sous les Sassanides, 2nd ed. (Copenhagen, 1944). All subsequent work, including the present chapter, is based on it and our survey of sources proceeds from Christensen. The Classical sources, of prime importance for earlier periods, assume a far less significant role for the Sasanians, giving place to Arabic and even New Persian literature which, even though written long after the fall of .the Sasanian Empire, provide by far the most Information about it. New groups of sources appear, Armenian and Syriac works, the Babylonian Talmud and works in Middle Persian or Pahlavi, the language of the Sasanians, but which are less valuable for the history of Sasanian Iran than one might expect. Chinese and Indian books offer virtually nothing for the reconstruction of the history of Sasanian Iran. Inscriptions in Middle Persian (with Parthian and Greek versions ofthose of Ardashir and Shapur I), as well as later cursive inscriptions on seals, coins and ostraca, are very important as contemporary sources, while art and archaeology also contribute to our understanding of Sasanian Iran. We should remember that Greek and Latin writings are enemy sources, not inclined to enhance but rather to detract from the picture of the Sasanians which they give. Furthermore, for the most part they are secondary sources themselves, pretending to be good literature and only in rare cases are they eye witness accounts. As literary productions, many draw heavily on past writings to interpret their own times, such as Ammianus Marcellinus on Herodotus and others, as shown by K. Rosen, Studien zur Darstellungskunst und Glaubwürdigkeit des Ammianus Marcellinus (Bonn, 1970), esp. 18-19. Also some writers, such as Libanius or Orosius, write for didactic purposes and for their contemporaries rather than attempting to present objectively events for posterity. Nonetheless, the Classical tradition of historical writing, with a sense of the importance of chronology, is matched, or possibly exceeded, only by the later histories in Arabic. Geographica! and other compilations of the Byzantine period, though composed in a Christian milieu with its religious world view, do provide some items of Information on the Sasanians. Writers contemporary with the rise of the Sasanians, on the whole, give little Information beyond mere acknowledgment of the rise of the new dynasty in the east. The early historians in chronological Order are Cassius Dio, Herodian, fragments in Dexippus (Frg. Hist., II A, no. 100), the Scriptores Historiae Augustae, (esp. under Gordian, Valerian by Trebellius Pollio, and later emperors by Flavius Vopiscus), all concerned with Roman wars and relations with the Sasanians. Later sources such as Lactantius' Ecclesiastical History, the chronicle of Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, ed. by R. Helm (Berlin, 1956), and the chronicle of the Caesars by S. Aurelius Victor, the fragments of Petrus Patricius (FHG IV, 184-86) add a few details here and there to the early history of the Sasanians. 1 At the end of the sixth Century Agathias, ed. by R. Keydell (Berlin, 1967), is especially important, since he probably had access to Sasanian archives in Ctesiphon, as well as the opportunity to hear local stories. Some later authors are more detailed, especially about Roman-Sasanian relations, such as Ammianus Marcellinus who took part in the wars against Shapur II. Eunapius ( FHG IV, 7) adds little and Eutropius the same. Such writers as the rhetorician Libanius, and some Christian authors as Theodore of Mopsuestia, contain references to the Persians, but it is impossible to cite all authors who mention the Sasanians, except Procopius, who is valuable for his eye witness account of later wars of the ßyzantines against Kavad and Chosroes. For later periods of Sasanian history, the works of Byzantine historians are especially valuable beginning with Sozomenus, then Zosimus followed by Priscus, Evagrius, Malalas, Syncellus, Theophanes, and especially Menander Protector and Theophylactus Simocatta, the Chronicon Paschale, and even later 1 Editions are found in the Teubner series of Lactantius is found in the Corpus Scriptorum Classical texts (Leipzig and Stuttgart) or in the ecclesiasticorum latinorum, ed. by S. Brandt (Vienna, Loeb Classical Series (London and Cambridge, 1897). Almost all ofthese sources, and others, are Mass.) or fragments in FHG or Frg. Hist. Later notedby A. Christensen in L'Iran sous les Sassanides editions are noted in the text. The text of (Copenhagen, 1944), 74-77. 288 Chapter XI historians such as Nicephorus, Cedrenus, and Zonaras. Other than histories, the Ethnika of Stephan of Byzantium, ed. by A. Meineke (Berlin, 1849), the Suidae Lexicon, by H. Adler and even the Lexicon of Hesychius of Alexandria, ed. by K. Latte (Copenhagen, 1953-66), give random Information about the Persians, although in all much refers to a more ancient period. Geographies too retain old names, and the anonymous Cosmographia and the work of Paulus Orosius in A Riese, Geograph) Latini Minores (Heilbronn, 1878), the Anonymous Geography o/Ravenna.ed. by M. PmderandG. Parthey (Berlin, 1860), the Tabula Peulingeriana, ed. by K. Miller (Stuttgart, 1916), with studies by J. Schnetz on those geographica! works, and his translation of the Ravenna book (Uppsala, 1951), all should be mentioned among the Greek and Latin sources relating to the east Armenian sources are all Christian and give Information about the Sasanians in a religious and an Armenian context, sometimes polemical and apologetic. The earliest, the history of Agathangelos, preserved in a Greek as well as an Armenian version, is typical of the Christian nature of the Armenian histories, all of which proclaim the glories of religion more than recording facts. 2 Faustus of Byzantium gives an aecount of the period from 320-385 but is in many places confused and unreliable. His work is continued by Lazar of P arp until the year 485, while the later period to 591 is covered by the history of Sebeos, and after a gap he continues down to the Arab conquest. A history of the years 439-451 by Elise Vardapet is highly unreliable but gives a feeling of Armenian national sentiments. The book 'Against the Sects' by Eznik of Kolb is valuable for information about Zoroastrianism, while the general history of Armenia by Moses of Chorene has much information about the Sasanians, but it too is a controversial source. Later works in Armenian add little to Sasanian history, but the Armenian geography of a pseudo- Moses of Chorene is important for the historical geography of the empire. 3 Other Armenian books are frequently füll of fancy and are not important for the history of the Sasanians. Syriac sources, though similar, are more important for our topic than the Armenian books. Chronicles are especially rieh in details, especially the controversial Chronicle of Arbela dealing with Adiabene until c. 550, while the Chronicle of Edessa Covers the same period for the city of Edessa Qtodie Urfa). 4 Two other chronicles, one of Joshua the Stylite (or pseudo-Joshua) Covers the years 494-506, while another anonymous one, edited by M. Guidi, teils of events after 590 to the Arab invasion, and both are valuable sources. Other, later, world chronicles, such as that of Michael the Syrian written in the twelfth Century and Bar Hebraeus (Abu M-Faräj) written in the following Century, as well as the eleventh Century chronology of Elias of Nisibis, although containing random details, are all less important for us. More valuable are the acts of the martyrs where many items are found which relate not only to religion but also to legal matters, territorial divisions and similar matters. Among the writers on religious subjeets, Theodore bar Khonai is especially important, while the ecclesiastical-legal volumes, although concentrating on internal matters, do occasionally mention items of value to an understanding of local affairs in this period. 5 Two Christian chronicles preserved in Arabic should be mentioned as having interesting material on Sasanian affairs, the thirteenth Century anonymous Nestorian Chronicle of Seert, ed. by A. Scher PO vols. 4,5,7,13 (Paris, 1 908-1 9) and the chronicle of Eutychius or Sa 'id b. BatrTq, patriarch of Alexandria, who died in 940, ed. by L. Cheikho (Beirut, 1906-09). The only Jewish source which gives details of life under Sasanian rule is the Babylonian Talmud, in - The editions and translations of the Armenian Christensen will be mentioned. On the martyr- sources are given by Christensen, op. eil. [n. 1 ], 77- ologies, see G. Wiessner, Zur Mdrtyreruberlieferung 79. To be added are two English translations by R. aus der Christenverfolgung Schapurs II in Abh. Thomson of Agathangelos (Albany, 1976) and GWG, 67 (Göttingen, 1967). Moses of Chorene (Cambridge, Mass., 1979), and 5 The most useful of the ecclesiastical-legal F. C. Dowsett, The History of the Caucasian compilations is the Synhadusox book ofsynods of Albanians by Movses Dasxuranci (London, 1961). the Nestorian church, ed. and trans. by J.-B. Summary translations of relevant texts were made Chabot [eh. 1 , n. 12], and trans. by O. Braun, Das by K. Patkanian, "Essai d'une histoire de la dynastie Buch der Synhddos (Stuttgart-Vienna, 1900). The des Sassanides," JA (1866), 101-244. law books such as those of Jesu Bokht, Simeon and Ed. and trans by Marquart, Eranshahr [eh. 3, n. Mär Abhä, ed. by E. Sachau, Syrische Rechtsbücher, "]• 3 (Berlin, 1914), should be noted; even though 4 For the texts and translations of the Syriac they provide little historical information, they do texts see Christensen, op. eil. [n. 1], 80-83. Only give information on legal matters. those Syriac texts not mentioned by or known to The Sasanians 289 many editions, and translated into Enghsh, ed. by I. Epstein, 35 vols. (London, 1935—48). This source has been utilized by J. Neusner in his five-volume History qfthejews in Babylonia (Leiden, 1969-70). 1t must be remembered that the Talmud is internal, community-centered and legalistic with only chance references to general Sasaman practices or customs. Middle Persian works, which have passed through priestly strainers reflecting priestly interests, are more in the domain of folklore or epic rather than history, but the Kämämak of Ardashir, which could be classified as a romance, does give much Information about the first ruler of the dynasty, but it must be used with great care. 1t does provide much the same Information as the Shähnäme of Firdosi and other later texts. 6 A historical geography of the provincial capitals of Iran gi ves historical items of Information as well as legendary stories, and it has been translated with a valuable commentary by Markwart. 7 Other small texts such as Khusrö i kavätän ud redak 'Chosroes son of Kavad and his Page,' various books otandarz or counsel to rulers, the genr-e called 'Mirrors for Pnnces,' as well as religious works, all may be consulted for words, customs or the like, but they teil us little about historical events. 8 Arabic and New Persian works, though much later in date than the preceding sources and essentially translation literature, do preserve accounts of Sasanian rulers, customs and practices not preserved elsewhere, but their importance lies in their utilization of official Sasanian records, especially the notorious Xwadäy or Khüdäl nämak, the predecessor of the epic of Firdosi. So much has been written about this prototype of all lslamic information about the Sasanian dynasty that it is superfluous to add more to the literature except to emphasize that many other sources, including oral reports, must have existed to Supplement or parallel the presumed written 'official' history of the Sasanaian court. 9 Text criticism has not progressed to Standards comparable to those we find in Classical studies, and many problems of the transmission of texts remain with Arabic and New Persian sources for the Sasanians. Although Muslim authors are less polemical or apologetic than the Christian writers, they do adapt the information they have to lslamic conceptions of the past, and they do rationahze to understand and Interpret the stories or Information which they pass on to readers of their own time. In the attempt to be orderly and understood, they do change passages in older texts which they did not understand, as Tabari's confusion of the first capture of Antioch by Shapur I with the capture of Valerian, confusion of the deeds of the two Shapurs and others. As Christensen (p. 62) remarked, traces of two Middle Persian books, the Ayen or ewinnämak or 'book of rules' and the Gähnämak 'book of ranks,' left traces in several later Arabic works such as the Kitäb al-fäj of Jähiz and in the works of Mas'odl. Also valuable as a source for the institutions of the Sasanians is the letter of Tansar to the king of Tabaristän,' preserved in New Persian but translated from an Arabic translation from a Middle Persian original. 10 The chief historical work in Arabic is the great history of TabarT, with a Persian translation by Bal'amT which adds to or departs from the original in some passages." Earlier histories are less concerned with pre-Islamic Iran, but those of Ya'qObl, Ibn Qutaiba, and DlnawarT do have matenals not found in TabarT. Other writers, later than TabarT, have Information not found in earlier works ; especially noteworthy are Mas ' üdT in his Muruj al-dhahab and his Kitäb al-tanbih and Hamza Isfahänfs Ta'rlkh sinl muluk, ed. by Iränl TabrTzT (Berlin, 1921) and ed. byj. Sha'är (Tehran, 1968). An anonymous literary text called Nihäyal al-arabß akhbär al-furs wa'l-'arab, although a fanciful literary work, contains details different from TabarT and must be recognized as a different source on the Sasanians. 12 BTrüriT is an excellent source for chronology and holidays, all in 6 For editions anu translations of relevant MP Sadiq, ed., Firdausi Millennium (Tehran, 1944), texts, see Ch. istensen, op. eil. [n. 1], 50-59. 72-75, and for a bibliography consult I. Afshär, 7 Markv.art, Catalogue [ch. 3, n. 45]. Kitäbshinäsl Firdosi (Tehran, 1347/1969). 8 For a hst of all MP writings see J. C. Tavadia, ,0 For text and translation see Näme-ye Tansar Die mittelpersische Sprache und Literatur der Zara- ed. M. Minovi.and M. Boyce, The Letter of Tansar illustrier (Leipzig, 1956), 141 pp. and M. Boyce, (Rome, 1968). The NP text was preserved in the "Middle Persian Literature," in HO, 4 Iranistik Ta'rlkh-e Tabaristän by Ibn Isfandiyär. (Leiden, 1968), 31-66, and her "The Manichaean ' ' The Standard edition of the Arabic is ed. by Literature in Middle Iranian" in the same volume, M. J. de Goeje (Leiden, 1901) and in Persian for the 67-76. The andarz literature is ancient in origin Sasanian period see M. J. Mashkur, Tarjuma-ye and not to be dated only to the end of the Sasanian Ta Vife/i-e Täbarl (Tehran 1337/1959). Empire. ' 2 This Arabic work was described by E. G. 9 Other than the remarks in Christensen, op. cit. Browne in JRAS (1900), 195-259. Cf. Bregel, op. [n. 1], 59-62, consult A. Pagliaro, "Les sources en cit. [ch. 1, n. 18], 716-17. langue pahlavi du 'Livre des Rois' de Firdausi," in I. 290 Chapter XI systematic tables. 13 Other writers such as Ibn al-AthTr and Abu'1-Fidä add virtually nothing to our knowledge ofthe Sasamans. Literary works, however, give much Information but frequently they are idealized, romantic or at least didactic in nature. The epic history of Iran, Firdosi's Shähnäme, belongsin this category more than as a chronicle of events, asdoes thc Churär akhbar muluk al-furs ofThn'ilibl. 14 The vanous 'testament' hteratures, or advice given to Sasanian princes by their fathers, such as the testimony of Ardashir, give interesting details of Sasanian society or court life not found in stones in the books ofandarz, such as the Siyäsat name of Nizäm al-mulk, the Qäbüs näme and others which have collections of stones about Sasanian kings or sages. 1 5 Such stones must be used with great caution as sources for Sasanian times, however, since their purpose is didactic and wntten for their own times. Fmally a host of geography books give us Information about pre-Islamic administrative divisions and practices as well as local information. The most important of these are the general Arabic geographies of Ibn Khurdädbih I$rakhrT(in Persian as well as Arabic) Ibn Hauqal, Ya'qObl, Ibn al-Faqlh al-HamadänT, al- Muqaddasl, Ibn Rustah, the Hudüd al-'älam, with the Persian geography of Fars province of Ibn al Balkhi especially important for that area. 16 Such works as the Mafätih al-'ulüm of al-KhwärazmTand the Kiläb al- wuzarä * wa 1-kuttäb of al-JahshiyärT also contain information in passing about Sasanian administration and taxation. 17 Finally, the category of local histones, such as the Ta\lkh-e Qom, Ta'rlkh-e Slstän, Ta Yffe/i-e T"baristän frequently contain items of local interest, especially about the end of Sasanian and the beginning of Arab rule in the vanous areas. 18 To turn from literature to other sources, here too the number and quantity of inscriptions, papy n or ostraca, coins, seals and art and architectural remains far exceeds earlier periods. It is not possible to give a detailed bibliography of such remains but one may refer to special bibliographies of each category. The Middle Persian and Parthian inscriptions are listed in P. Gignoux, Glossaire des Inscriptions Pehlevies et Parthes (London, 1972), 9-19, to which should be added H. Humbach and P. O. Skjaerv0, The Sassanian hiscription ofPaikuli, 2 parts (Wiesbaden, 1 978), and minor inscriptions as reported in the Journals AMI or SI. For seals and sealings which give information on titles and geographical divisions as well as onomastica, the various catalogues are indispensable: Hermitage - A. Bonsov and V. G. Lukonin, Sasanidskie Gemmy (Leningrad, 1 963) ; British Museum - A. D. H. Bivar, Calalogue ofthe Western Asiatic Seals in the British Museum, Stamp Seals, II : The Sassanian Dynasty (London, 1 969) ; Paris - Ph. Gignoux, Catalogue des sceux camtes et bulles sasanides de la Biblioth^ue nationale et du Musfo du Louvre (Paris, 1 978), as well as relevant volumes of the CII and articles in SI. Coins are covered by R. Göbl, Sasanidische Numismatik (Braunschweig, 1968), with a bibliography and H. Simon, " Die Säsänidischen Münzen des Fundes von Babylon," AI 12, Varia 1976, (Leiden, 1977), 149-337, with an extensive bibliography. The bibliography ofthe archaeology of Sasanian Iran is covered by L. Vanden Berghe in his Archeologie de l'Iran ancien (Leiden, 1 959) and his Bibliographie analytiaue de VarMologie de l'lran ancien (Leiden, 1 979). Especially important for the Sasanian period are the excavations and surveys made at Ctesiphon in Iraq, at Bishapur, Qasr-e Abo Nasr and Firuzabad in Fars, and Takht-e Sulaiman in Azerbaijan. The art of Sasanian Iran has produced a very large bibliography, but especially significant are the following: A. U. Pope, ed., Survey of Persian Art (Oxford, 1938), vols. 1 and 4; K. Erdmann, Die Kunst 1 3 His most important work for our subject is Schwarz, op. cit. [eh. 1 , n. 1 4], in 9 parts. For eastern his Athär al-bäqiyya ed. by E. Sachau (Leipzig, Iran and Central Asia see V. Minorsky, hiudüd al- 1876), trans. into Enghsh (London, 1879), but 'älam (London, 1937) and R. Frye, "Islamic Sources other books also contain information such as his for the pre-Islamic History of Central Asia," in book on India and others, for which see D. J. Harmatta, ed., Prolegomena [eh. 5, n. 139], 221-30. Boilot, "L'oeuvre d'al-Beruni: essai bibhographi- l7 Khwaräzmfs book was edited by G. van que," Melanges de l'institut Dominicain d'etudes Vloten (Leiden, 1895), and a part relevant to oriemales du Caire, 2 (Cairo, 1955). 161-256. ancient Iran trans. byj. M. Unvala in JKRCO, 11 14 Ed. and trans. by H. Zotenberg, Histoire des (1928), 76-110; cf. C. E. Bosworth and G. rois des Perses (Paris, 1900). Clauson, "Al-XwärazmT on the People of Central 1 5 Strictly speaking the 'testaments' are a differ- Asia," JRAS (1965), 1-12. The book of al- ent genre than the andarz literature, but they may JahshiyärT was edited by Mustafa al-Saqfä and M. be taken together. For a discussion and bibhogra- al-Häfiz ShalabT (Cairo, 1938); Cf. J. Latz, Das phy of the genre called 'mirror for princes,' see Buch der Wezire und Staatssekretare von al-Gahiiyari F. R. C. Bagley, trans., Ghazäh's Book of Counsel (Bonn, 1958). for Kings (London, 1964), ix— xxxviii. ' 8 On local histories of Iran consult Bregel, op. 16 A source book for all of the geographers cit., 2 [eh. 1, n. 18], 1008-1107. regarding western Iran with bibliography is The Sasanians 291 Irans zur Zeit der Sasaniden (Berlin, 1943, new ed. Mainz, 1969); R. Ghirshman, Iran, Parthians and Sassanians (London, 1962); E. Porada, Ancienl Iran (London, 1965); V. Lukonin, Persia U,Jrom the Seleucids to the Sassanids (London, 1971); K. Schippmann, Die iranischen Feuerheiligtümer (Berlin, 1971); and for special subjects D. Thompson, Stuccofrom Chal-Tarkhan-Eshqabad near Rayy (London, 1 976) ; I. A. Orbeh and K. V. Trever, Sasanidskii Metall (Moscow-Leningrad, 1 935) ; and C H Sawyer, ed., Sasanian Silver (The University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, 1967). Bibliographies in these books and in SI (Abstracta Iramca) give references to other articles and books on various artistic subjects. The Sasanian period thus has a plethora of sources and hterature compared to earlier periods of history, and footnotes will further elucidate details. The third volume of the Cambridge History oflran is a basic handbook, not altogether replacing Christensen, which also has selected bibliographies for each chapter. ARDASHIR AND THE BEG1NNINGS From the Ka 'bah inscription of Shapur I, we learn that Ardashir was the son of Papak, and a certain Denak was the mother of Papak, but Sasan is simply called 'the lord,' and is not given any relation to Papak. This is an ofFicial record, but many scholars instead have followed TabarT who states that Sasan was the father of Papak and continues the genealogy back to ancient mythical kings oflran, which in ltself makes his Statement suspect. The Bundahishn, a ninth Century Middle Persian religious book says that the mother of Ardashir son of Papak was the daughter of Sasan, who was the son of Vehafrid and continues the genealogy for a few generations. 19 This would make Sasan the father-in-law of Papak, which is more likely than him being his father The epic story as found in Firdosi, in the Kämätnak, and in a derogatory Greek version by Agathias and elsewhere, has Sasan marry Papak's daughter, who then bore Ardashir, which is also possible, but we cannot determine the truth of one or the other version. Obviously Sasan was important, since he gave his name to the dynasty, and we have seen how the name is found in Parthian times presumably as a minor deity. Perhaps Sasan gave legitimacy to the new dynasty by his presumed connections to the Parthian and possibly the Achaememd royal families, but in any case Ardashir was legally the son of Papak a local king in Persis who proclaimed his independence from the Parthians, probably at the time of the invasion of Mesopotamia by Septimius Severus. An inscription on a stone pillar in Bishapur gives a date as follows: '(In the) month of Fravardin (of the) year 58, (of the) fire of Ardashir year 40, (of the) fire of Shapur, which is the king of fires, year 24.' 20 This suggests that fifty-eight years before the 19 Ch. 35, TD 2 ms. p. 232. B. T. Anklesaria, TabarT claimed. Long ago Mordtmann in "Perse- Zand Akäslh (Bombay, 1956), 297, translates this politamsche Münzen," Zeitschriftfür Numismatik, 4 passage as 'Ardashir-i Papakan, whose mother was (1876), 186, believed that a certain Tiridates, Papak's daughter.' Anklesaria thus follows the epic which name he read on a coin, was the father of tradition and Zoroastrian adoption customs, im- Papak, and he thought Armenian sources support- plying that Sasan was the real father of Ardashir, ed his Identification, which they do not. but his father-in-law had the right by adoption to 20 Text and translation in R. Ghirshman, call Ardashir his own son through his daughter. "Inscription du monument de Chäpour I er ," Revue The only problem with this theory is the existence des Ans Asiatiques, 10 (Paris, 1937), 123-29, and of an older 'brother' of Ardashir called Shapur, by O. Hansen, "Epigraphische Studien," ZDMG, known from coins as well as written sources, and 92 (1938), 441-42. V. Lukonin in "Monnaie the Zoroastrian adoption practice should apply d'Ardachir 1 et l'art omciel sassanide," in 1A, 8 only to the eldest son of the daughter. Other (1968), 106, n. 2, translates this as "The month of Arabic and Persian sources also call Ardashir the Fravardin, the year 58 (of the) fire; Ardashir, year son of Sasan, but the confusion in the sources only 40 (of the) fire of Shapur; of the 'royal fires,' year indicates that Sasan was not the father of Papak, as 24." I cannot follow this interpretation. 292 Chapter XI inscription was carved an era was created for the beginning of the Sasanian dynasty, perhaps the year Papak declared bis independence from the Parthians, which would be approximately 205-206 for the first date, 224-225 for the second, and 240- 241 for the last, and the date of the carving of the inscription would be 263- 264, which would not conflict with archaeological data, and each date would represent the lighting of a royal fire in a temple beginning the reign of a new ruler. The earliest archaeological remains of Ardashir, the real founder of the dynasty, are at Firuzabad, which was called Ardashir Khwarreh 'the glory (or fortune) of Ardashir,' the naming or re-naming cities in such a fashion being a practice which was followed by his successors. TabarT and other sources say that Ardashir was sent to Darabgird where he became governor ofthat district, but it was at Firuzabad, called Gur, meaning a ditch or excavation and not a grave, according to Hamza al-I$fahänT, that Ardashir built his capital. 21 He had to subdue the local lords and forge an allegiance to himself, but he succeeded so well he was able to challenge Artabanus, the Parthian king of kings. Papak was not succeeded by Ardashir, however, but by his (eldest?) son Shapur, mentioned in inscriptions as well as on coins. According to TabarT Ardashir did not wish to recognize Shapur as king, and the latter assembled an army to punish Ardashir, but in Persepolis a piece of the structures feil on him killing him, after which Ardashir assumed the position of successor to Papak. There is no way to confirm this story, but in the inscription of SKZ and Paikuli the legitimate succession of the dynasty is from Papak to Shapur to Ardashir. Many scholars have written about the date of accession of Ardashir to the throne considering this to have taken place after his defeat of his Parthian overlord or even after Ardashir's capture of Ctesiphon. The date of accession more likely would have been the lighting of his 'royal' fire after the death of Shapur, but a later date for a 'coronation,' different from the date of accession causes difficulty in determining the first regnal year of early Sasanian kings. 22 The year 224 seems now to be the most likely date for the accession of Ardashir, when a fire, possibly in a temple in the town of Istakhr, was lighted to begin his reign. The course of events in the early years of Ardashir is unclear in many details, but the defeat and death of Artabanus was surely the turning point in the rise to power of the Sasanians, yet even afterwards Ardashir had to fight a number of battles, since the Parthian realm was not unified under either Artabanus or Vologeses, both of whom 21 Hamza, ed. (Berlin, 1921), 33. Ibn al-Faqih, positions see W. B. Henning and S. H. Taqizadeh, Kitäb al-buldän, ed. by M. J. de Goeje (Leiden, TheDatesof Mani'sLife,"/lM,6 (1957), 106-21. 1885), 198, says Ardashir built Gür (Jür) on the Much has been made of Joint regency or co-kings model of Darabgird, and even today the plans of in ancient Iran, but there is no evidence for this two round cities can be observed. Today the institution other than the association of the crown fortress Qalä-ye Dukhtär, high above the gorge prince in rule at the end of the reign of the previous with the road and river, emphasizes the defensive ruler. Cf. M.-L. Chaumont, "Coregence et avene- mentality of Ardashir in protecting his small ment de Shähpuhr I er ," in Mimorial Jean de realm. Menasce, ed. by Ph. Gignoux (Louvain, 1974), 22 It is not possible to list even part of the 133-46, and Frye, "Remarks" [eh. 7, n. 65], 78- voluminous writings on the chronology of the 82. early Sasanians. For a summary of different The Sasanians 293 undoubtedly opposed Ardashir. 23 From coins we cannot determine when Ardashir conquered a certain district or other, for Parthian coins continued to be Struck until at least 227 or 228, indicating not a continued rule of the Parthian kings but uncertainty among mint officials as to what to do with coinage. The site of the decisive battle where Artabanus was killed is unknown, but probably it was north of Isfahan, although some scholars place it in the south. 24 Both Cassius Dio (LXXX, 4) and Herodian (VI, 2, 2) say that Ardashir intended to reconquer the lands which once had belonged to the ancient Persians, and there is no reason to doubt this report, for even if a detailed memory of the Achaemenids was not alive under the Sasanians, legends and stories of a great Iranian empire of the past surely were current. Continuing battles with son(s) or relatives of Artabanus ended in victory for Ardashir, whose conquest of the lowlands between the Tigris and Euphrates brought him in conflict with the Romans. 25 For the Roman-Sasanian wars we have many sources. Herodian (VI, 2, 4-7) gives the most detailed account of Ardashir's invasion of the Roman province of Mesopotamia. He failed to take Hatra about 230 although other places were conquered. In response the Roman emperor Severus Alexander left Rome for Antioch and the east probably in 231 or 232. All diplomatic efforts at peace having failed, preparations for war progressed with road building, repairing of defenses and apparently an agreement with Hatra to accept Roman troops within th' walls as allies. 26 Although the biography of the emperor in the Scriptores Historia Augustae (LV) says that Severus Alexander decisively defeated Ardashir an>' conducted a splendid triumph at Rome, Herodian (VI, 5-6) is probably mor accurate when he describes the defeat surTered by one Roman column, while anoth« army led by the emperor retreated because of disease and the climate, althoug Ardashir surTered too and did not renew his invasion for several years. Early Sasanian campaigns against the Arsacid king of Armenia are confused, an we do not know the course of events, but one may believe Armenian sources whic claim that the Armenians were so successful in defending themselves that th Sasanians had to resort to assassination, but it is unclear whether this happened in th«. reign of Ardashir or of Shapur I, as also is the identity of the Armenian king, Chosroes II or Tiridates. The sources confuse the names of Tiridates II and III, the latter being son of Chosroes, but it would seem most likely that it was Chosroes who was 23 Cassius Dio (LXXX, 3) and Agathangelos Ardavan was besieged and killed - was Dujail, (Greek text, not Armenian, par. 8) say Ardashir presumably near Ahwaz. TabarT and other sources fought three battles against the Parthians. The give the piain of Hormizdagän as the site of the Chronicle of Arbela, trans. by E. Sachau [eh. 8, n. battle, otherwise unknown. The killing of Arta- 100], 50, says that the king of Adiabene and the banus by Ardashir is depicted on a rock relief near king of Kirkuk (Garamaea) joined the Persians and Firuzabad. Medes to overthrow the Parthians. 25 On the sons of Artabanus, we have Dio (loc. 24 G. Widengren in a talk in Tehran proposed eil.), the Chronicle of Arbela [eh. 8, n. 100] and Gulpaiagan as the place of battle in reconstrueting a other sources, especially Armenian, which teil of corrupt name in the Nihäyat al-arab, while the the struggles of Chosroes, king of Armenia, and anonymous Persian history, Mujmil al-lawärlkh other Arsacids, against Ardashir. wa\ qisas, ed. M. Bahar (Tehran, 1940) 61, says 26 See the summary of this campaign in D. Artabanus (Ardavan) was defeated outside of Magie, Roman Rule in Asia Minor, 2 (Princeton, Nihavend which was his residence. Tha'ähbl, 1950),694-96, 1560-61; also for this periodseeG. Ghurar akhbar [n. 14], 480, says the town where Gage, La Montie des Sassanides (Paris, 1964). 294 Chapler XI murdered probably in the reign of Shapur. 27 Although . busy in Armenia and elsewhere in the east over a period of years, about which we have no information, Ardashir at the end of his life undertook another campaign about 237 in the west at the time of troubles in the Roman Empire following the death of Alexander Severus. The most notable result of this campaign, after the conquest of Nisibis and Carrhae, was the capture of Hatra in the year 239-240 about which many legends grew, some attributing the fall of the city to the love of the daughter of the local king for Shapur, such that she betrayed the city to him. 28 What is significant, however, was the abandonment of Hatra, and later Dura Europos, Palmyra and other 'caravan cities,' which meant a decline and then fall of the trade over the desert by oasis entrepreneurs, who in the past had flourished in spite of Parthian-Roman wars. The Sasanians from the outset tried to centralize trade in their hands, but they were neither good traders nor entrepreneurs as were the inhabitants of the oases in the Syrian desert, and all indications point to an economic decline in this period. The wars between Romans and Sasanians were more destructive, severe and restrictive of commerce than wars in previous eras, and the 'Fertile Crescent' sufFered greatly as a result. From coins, and the uncertainty in the sources, it would seem that Ardashir associated Shapur with himself in rule and then retired shortly before his death which may have occurred in 241 or even a short time later. 29 From persons listed in the inscription SKZ as submitted to or belonging to the court of Ardashir, we may gain an idea of the extent of his domains. The first king mentioned is Satarop, king of Abrenakh (in Greek), which is probably Aparshahr or present Khurasan, as a gloss in the Bundahishn says, and which was recognized by Sprengung, the first editor and translator of SKZ. 30 How far the domain of this ruler extended is unknown, but it is possible that he had been a vassal of the Kushans who later transfer red his allegiance to 27 On the confusion in Armeman history in this schrifi für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 5 (Bonn, period cf. Chaumont, Äer/ierfft« [eh. 8, n. 135], 56, 1970), 120. See also A. Maricq, "Les dernieres and C. Toumanoff, "The Third Century Arme- annees de Hatra," Syria, 34 (1957), 291. The dateof man Arsacids," REA, 6 (1969), 250-52, who 12 April 240 for the fall of Hatra has been Claims it was Tindates who was killed, and P. suggested by several scholars following the Co- Asdourian, Die politischen Beziehungen zwischen logne codex. Armenien und Rom (Venice, 1911), 126, who 29 Much has been written on the chronology, upholds Chosroes. S T. Eremyan, in "K aaba l but we cannot date the death of Ardashir or the Zardusht hoshardzani ardzanagrut'yan vkayDt- accession or coronation (?) of Shapur with yunner," Patma-banasirakan handes (Historico- certainty. Other than the references in note 22, see philological Journal) 2 (33) (Erevan, 1966), 69, Maricq, "Res Gestae Divi Saporis" [eh. 9, n. 48], gives the following list of rulers: Chosroes, killed 344-48. Chronology remains one of the greatest 237, Tiridates (245-252), Artavazdes (252-262), problems of ancient Iranian history, and exaet Hormizd-Ardashir son of Shapur 1 (262-272), dates are virtually impossible to determine, so the Narseh (272-293). This reconstruction may be the indulgence of the reader is requested for not best we have. The Sasanian rock relief near Salmas discussing in detail dates of Sasanian history. has been desenbed as a memento of a Sasanian 30 M. Sprengung, "Shahpuhr I, the Great. On triumph over the Armenians in the last years of the Kaabah of Zoroaster (KZ)," AJSL, 57 (Chi- Ardashir's reign. Cf. W. Hinz, Altiranische Funde cago, 1940), 399. The Parthian Oyiife) and MP und Forschungen (Berlin, 1969), 135-39. ( 'plynk) forms presume a pronunciation Abarenag " 8 For references see J.Teixidor, The Kingdom 'the upper (lands)' derived from 'the upper of Adiabene and Hatra," Berytus, 17 (1967-68), 9- satrapies' of the Achaemenids and Seleucids. Word 1 1 . We now know that Ardashir took Hatra in the play with the (A)parni is possible but surely last year of his reign; cf A Henrichs and L. secondary. Koenen, "Ein griechischer Mam-Codex," Zeit- The Sasanians 295 Ardashir, although this is speculative. Then follow three rulers each with the name Ardashir, the kings of Merv, Kerman and the Sakas (Seistan), but the identities of these rulers are unknown, although the name 'Ardashir' would imply relationship to the family of the Sasanians, and TabarT (I, 817) says after conquering Kerman Ardashir made one of his sons with the same name governor of the province. 31 This policy of placing members of the house of Sasan over various provinces indicates a centralization of authority in the new State. It would seem that the conquests of Ardashir in the east reached the normal and future boundaries of the Sasanian State with Merv the outpost in the northeast, Herat to the east, and Seistan forming the geographical limits to the south. Whether the rulers of the Kushans and Turan submitted to Ardashir, as TabarT says, cannot be proved, but his wars with the Romans should have militated against further exploits in the east, while the Caspian provinces probably remained independent until Shapur's time. As the veritable founder of the new State, Ardashir became the legendary originator of many later institutions, and the fount of much wisdom literature. The stories extolling the virtues of Ardashir, found in Arabic and Persian books, are on the whole apocryphal, but they follow the earlier pattern of Xenophon extolling the virtues of the founder of a dynasty; little, however, can be extracted from them as history. 32 Other than the stories he left behind, Ardashir also is said to have built a number of cities named after himself, the most noted of which were Ardashir Khwarreh, already noted, Weh Ardashir, one of the cities or suburbs of the capital Ctesiphon, and possibly also the city in Kerman with the same name, Räm or Rämishn Ardashir in Fars, site unknown but near the coast, Rew Ardashir or RTshahr in Khuzistan, Hormizd Ardashir or Ahwaz, Bahman Ardashir or Prat de Maisän (Furat), and other towns less identifiable. 33 As noted the walled cities of Darabgird and Gur were circular and may have provided a prototype for later Baghdad. In Shapur's inscription SKZ no titles are found in the list of notables of Papak's entourage, an indication of the local and limited nature of his rule, while under Ardashir we find in addition to local rulers and relatives, persons with titles, beginning with a bidakhsh, whom we met under the Parthians as a kind of second in command after the ruler. Another high officer, the hazärbad, probably was a military Commander as his title implies. Then follow the heads of the great Parthian feudal families, the Varaz, Suren, Karen, and the lord of Andegan, probably some territory 31 The fact that Ardashir, king of Kerman, is 33 Budh or Nudh Ardashir, also called Hazza, mentioned in SKZ in both the court of Ardashir near Mosul, may be a confusion with the name of and in that of Shapur, would tend to substantiate the province of Adiabene, Natunia, MP nwlxhrkn the Information of TabarT. and Parthian nlwhkn in SKZ, as well as of the ruler 32 See such literary books as the Arabic Kiläb al- also called Ardashir in Shapur's time. Pasa Ardashir 'iqd al-firld of Ibn 'Abd RabblhT, with Analytical or Khatt on the coast opposite the island of Bahrain Indices by M. Shafl' (Calcutta, 1935), and the and Astarabad or Aspabad or Mahishtabad, also in Persian Jawämi* al-itikäyät o( Muhammad al-'Aufl, Mesene, are other foundations attributed to with an Introduction and Indices by M. Nizämu 'd- Ardashir. The city of Hormizd Ardashir, how- dTn (London, 1929). There are many stories in the ever, may have received its name from Shapur I andarz books 'mirrors for princes.' On the according to his inscription SKZ, line 5 of the 'testament'of Ardashir, preserved in Arabic, see M. Greek text. The names of cities changed too, Grignaschi, "Quelques specimens de la litterature making identifications difFicult. Sassanide conserves dans les bibliotheques d'lstan- bul," JA (1966), 1-142. 296 Chapter XI on the Fars side of the Gulf, and other notables including an Abursam, who holds an honorific Ardashir-farr 'glory of Ardashir.' 34 A notable called Geliman from Demavend is followed by another feudal lord of the Spahbad family with other officials such as the chief of the scribes, chief of protocol? (MP Vwyfe), chief of books or archives? (MP m 'dknpt), chief of the arsenal, a judge, chief of stables, master of the hunt, chief of provisions, and master of wine. The bureaucracy and the court was obviously in the process of formation under Ardashir and it would be expanded under Shapur. SHAPUR'S WARS Since the discovery of Shapur's Middle Persian inscription on the Ka'bah of Zoroaster at Naqsh-e Rustam in 1936, with subsequent finds of the Parthian and Greek versions plus an inscription of the priest Kerdir or Kartir, much has appeared about the early years of Shapur's reign. 3S In the first years of his reign Shapur was busy in his own domains, and it is possible that he subdued the inhabitants of Gilan and even the Khwarazmians before turning to the west, as the Chronicle of Arbela states. 36 The Romans, however, were the instigators of hostilities under the emperor Gordian III, who at first was successful in 243 retaking a number of places, including Nisibis, which had been lost earlier to the Sasanians. After this, the praetorian prefect, Timesitheus, who was the real leader of the army died and was replaced by Philip the Arab. The following year the Roman and Sasanian armies met in a great 'frontal' battle at the site of Massice, later Anbar, north of Ctesiphon, and Shapur claims to have won a great victory where Gordian lost his life, either in battle or through treachery by his own men. Philip was proclaimed emperor, and he shortly made peace with Shapur, paying htm a large indemnity, after which the site was renamed Peroz-Shapur 'victorious (is) Shapur.' This was only the first campaign, and Roman sources do not dwell on this Roman defeat, nor on the second campaign mentioned 34 Most scholars assume this is an honorific Gage, "Les Perses ä Antioche," Bulletin de la Faculte" giving the current pronunciation of khwarreh, but des teures de Strasbourg, 31 (1953), 301-24; G. Lukonin in "Zavoevaniya Sasanidov" [eh. 10, n. Pugliese Carratelli, "Res Gestae Divi Saporis," La 39], 24, n. 24, suggest that all of the honorifics are Parola del Passato, 5 (Naples, 1947), 209-39, and 6 really titles of satraps of cities, with the word (1947), 356-62; and M. I.Rostovtzeff, "Res Gestae 'satrap' omitted. This is unlikely for many reasons; Divi Saporis and Dura," Berytus, 8 (1943), 17-60, first in the inscriptions titles are not omitted, and with an addendum by A. R. Bellinger, "The second, -pry would be written GDH for the city Numismatic Evidence from Dura," 61-71. For name, while we have no city called -snwmy as further bibliography see G. Walser and T. Pekary, proposed by Lukonin. Other problems in this Die Krise des römischen Reiches (Berlin, 1962), and sweeping assumption militate against it. Gage, La Montee des Sasanides [n. 26], 387-96. 35 The first publication was by M. Sprengung, 36 Sachau, op. cit. [eh. 8, n. 100], 64. Whether a "A New Pahlavi Inscription," AJSL, 53 (1937), campaign against the Kushans took place in the '26-44, with subsequent articles in the same early years of Shapur's reign or not has been Journal and his final publication Third Century debated, but aecording to his inscription at least a Iran, Sapor and Kartir (Chicago, 1953). Also see the large part of the Kushan domains had acknowl- publications of Maricq, op. cit. [eh. 9, n. 48], 295- edged his overlordship. We do not have any 360, with references to his previous works and Information about Shapur's campaigns in the east. others by W. B. Henning, Frye and others. Esp. to Cf. M.-L. Chaumont, "Conquetes Sassanides et be noted are articles by A. T. Olmstead, "The Mid- Propagande Mazdeenne," Historia, 22 (1 973), 664- Third Century of the Christian Era," Classical 70, for conquests in the west and the Caucasus. Philology, 37 (1942), 241-62, and 338^102; J. The Sasanians 291 by Shapur, which has caused much dispute on its dating, but the Version of the inscription is followed here. Shapur claimed that the Roman emperor again lied and did härm to Armenia, which gave a casus belli for the Persians to attack the Roman Empire, which he did destroying a Roman army of 60,000 at a place called Barbalissos deep in Roman territory on the Euphrates. Then Shapur invaded Syria and ravaged the country capturing many cities and towns including Dura Europos and Antioch. As noted, the date of this campaign has caused great controversy with partisans of 253 as well as those of 256, including some who suggest there were two captures of these sites. No literary source mentions the defeat of the Romans at the hands of Shapur, but we may at least say that Dura and probably also Antioch were both captured by Shapur in 256, while an earlier occupation of both in 253 by Shapur is uncertain. 37 Numismatic evidence, unfortunately, does not resolve the problem, even though in 253 the mint at Antioch seems to have ceased activity for a short time, and the mint apparently was transferred to Emesa. Whether this meant a capture of Antioch by Shapur cannot be determined, but the entire period of Valerian's reign was filled with fighting in the east. Unfortunately we do not know when Valerian came to Antioch, or even when he was captured by Shapur in the latter's third campaign. Several numismatists have reconstructed events in a different manner, concluding from the coins that Valerian came to the east in 256 and restored Antioch, which had been taken by Shapur in 254 or 255, while his capture by Shapur, who says in his inscription that he was besieging Edessa and Harran (Carrhae) when Valerian advanced against him with an army of 70,000 and in the battle he took Valerian prisoner with many of his chief officers, is to be dated at the end of 257 or 258. 38 Again, we have no definite information about the date of the third campaign and the capture of Valerian by Shapur but proposed dates have varied from 257 to 261, although 258 or 259 is more likely. In any case, when Shapur says he captured Valerian with his own hands, as well as the praetorian prefect, Senators and others, he in effect admits that he took them by deceit which several authors (as Zosimus, I, 36) suggest. After this victory Shapur says he devastated Cappadocia as well as Syria. He took Antioch again and thirty-five other places, including Edessa, Caesarea and Konya, far into Anatolia. 39 Shapur was not able to hold his conquests, however, for the last of the 'caravan' cities, rieh and powerful Palmyra, a client State of the Romans, took up arms against Shapur and not only made his retreat difficult, but the Palmyrene ruler Odainath even recaptured Nisibis and Harran (Scriptores Hist. Aug., sub Valerian 4, Gallienus, 10; Agathias IV, 24, etc.). So 37 I first proposed this in a review of W. Ensslin, Sb.PAW, 39 (1916), 6-7. Shapur in his inscription Zu den Kriegen des Sassaniden Sehapur I in BO, 8 only mentions two captures of Antioch, this one (1951), 103-06,for Antioch, based on the tenure of and after the capture of Valerian. Demetrianus, who sueeeeded to the patnarchate of 38 H. Mattingly, "The Palmyrene Princes," NC Antioch in 253 and was led into captivity by (1936), 91, 105; and K.J.Elks.TheEastern Mints Shapur to Khuzistan in the fourth year of his office. of Valerian and Gallienus," NC (1975), 96-7. This position of 256 was strengthened by Honig- According to Elks coins of Valerian continued to mann/Maricq in op. eil. Ich. 9, n.49], 131-42, who be minted until news of his death reached the survey the sources and the different theories with Roman Empire. The dates are uncertain. the conclusion that Antioch was probably taken 39 On the identifications of the cities captured once in 256 and not in 253. See also long ago E. by Shapur in his campaigns, ci. Maricq, "Res Sachau, "Vom Christentum in der Persis," Gestae" [eh. 9, n. 48], 80-85. 298 Chapter XI the heirs of the collapse of Roman rule in the east were not the Sasanians but the Palmyrenes, at least for a few years. The campaigns of Shapur had delivered many captives into his hands and he settled them in Khuzistan and Fars provinces where traces of their activities exist to the present, such as the Band-e Kaisar or 'Caesar's dam' on the Karun River at Shustar, attributed to the war prisoners of Shapur by TabarT (1, 827), while mosaics found in a palace at Bishapur also have been attributed to Roman prisoners. 40 The origins of Christianity in the southern part of Iran have been traced primarily to these war prisoners brought and settled by Shapur from his last two campaigns, and the town of Weh Antiok Shapur 'the better Antioch of Shapur,' later Gundeshapur, was settled almost exclusively by war prisoners. The extent of Shapur's empire, as described in his inscription, has been the subject of much discussion, especially the eastern frontiers. Merv already has been mentioned under Ardashir, but there is no mention of Khwarazm or lands north of the Oxus in regard to his domains. Herat and all of the higher lands (presumably in the mountains to the east), plus Turan, Makran, Paradene and Sind are included in the empire, but the boundaries of these lands are not established. Turan is probably the same as Medieval Türän with its center in the Kalat area of Baluchistan, while Makran (with variant pronunciations) is the southern land to the sea. Paradene may be the land around present Quetta, although possibly including Qandahar, but this is quite uncertain since we only have the name mentioned in Ptolemy (VI, 21) and the Ravenna Geography (II, 1), as well as uncertain references to Paradas in Indian sources. 41 How much of the plains of the Indus basin submitted to Shapur is impossible to determine. Shapur wanted readers of his inscription to know how much of the Kushanshahr he included in his domains, for he writes that it included territory up to Peshawar and to Kashgar, Sogdiana and Tashkent, to use a later name. This probably means that the ruler of the western Kushan domains, which covered the mountains of Afghanistan and Bactna (north and south), submitted to Shapur. Whether Shapur himself campaigned in all of these districts is unlikely, since the Kushan ruler, once defeated, would have pledged the allegiance of all of his domain to the Sasanian monarch or paid tribute rather than fighting numerous battles in the heart of his kingdom. Who this ruler was is unknown. In the Caucasus region other than the three principal lands of Armenia, Georgia and Albania (later Arran), Shapur mentioned Makhelonia or the modern land of Mingreha, which was the land on the eastern corner of the Black Sea, and the easternmost land bordering the Caspian Sea, called Balasagan, extending north to the pass of Derbend. In the south, across the Gulf, Oman had submitted to Shapur. While it is not possible to determine whether some of these lands had submitted or paid tribute first to Ardashir, the fact that the former is called 'King of Kings of Iran' while his son carries the title 'King of Kings of Iran and An-Iran (non-Iran),' indicates that most of the outlying territories had submitted to Shapur. Just what was included in 40 R. Ghirshman, BkhApour, Les mosaiques sas- Päradas (Calcutta, 1972), esp. 46—48. Some of his sanides, 2 (Paris, 1 956), 96, 101,1 47. Many legends identifications are most uncertain. There is little to existed about the constructions of Roman add to the detailed comments of Maricq on the prisoners. lands of Shapur's empire and the reader is referred 41 See references in B. N. Mukherjee, The to his publications. The Sasanians 299 Iran and in non-Iran, in the eyes of the Sasanians, is not easy to determine, for it was not a linguistic or ethnic criterion which determined which lands were part of Iran, although a religious one may apply to the inscriptions of Kerdir, at least in his eyes - where Zoroastrianism should be the dominant faith. 42 Although borders were to change in both west and east, the boundaries of the Sasanian Empire reached their maximum permanent expansion under Shapur and later changes or expansions were not lasting. The court of Shapur was much larger with more of a bureaucracy than that of his father, and he placed his sons as rulers in various parts of the empire. The eldest, Hormizd-Ardashir, was made great king of Armenia; another son also called Shapur was king of Mesene; Narseh was named 'King of Sind, Seistan and Turan to the edge of the sea,' which meant the vast southeastern part of the empire extending over oases in a desolate area of few inhabitants with hardly much control from the center. Another son Bahram (MP: V/W Wahrahran) was king of Gilan. In addition, Ardashir the king of Kerman under his father continued in his pöst under Shapur, and another Ardashir, perhaps a brother of Shapur, ruled in Adiabene. New are the rulers of an outlying region - Hamazasp king of Georgia, and the satraps of the important oases of western Iran, another Ardashir satrap of the district and town of Qom (Godman), Varzin satrap of Isfahan (Gay), Tiyanik, satrap of Hamadan, Ardashir, satrap of Neriz, and Narseh, satrap of Rind, an unidentified site on the plateau. In the Mesopotamian lowlands we find the names of Friyek, satrap of Gundeshapur and Rastak, satrap of Weh Ardashir. These satraps obviously were not the only satraps in the empire, but probably only those who had close connections with Shapur either by relationship, by marriage, or by the importance of their family, rank or Status. The Position of the satrap had declined since Achaemenid times, but the title still meant one in authority in a district. We also see a continuation of the Parthian noble families and an empire welded together by the personalities of the first two Sasanian rulers, with their close relatives installed in various posts, rather than a more organized empire which we find at the time of the Arab conquest. The inclusion of two persons with the title bidakhsh under Shapur may seem an anomaly, but we may suppose either a division of functions and authority in two persons at this time, or more likely one who had retired but continued to bear his title. Many new titles appear and several persons whom one might not expect to be listed together with the great lords of the realm, such as two eunuchs and Kerdir the herbad (magus in the Greek version). In the inscription then we find a melange of individuals, some present because of their families, others because of their posts, while still others, such as the eunuchs and Kerdir, included presumably because of their closeness to Shapur or his immediate family. Further we find persons with honorifics, such as Ardashir-Shnum, Shapur-Shnum, 'Joy of-A. (or S.),' and Nev Shapur 'Brave-Shapur,' who may have received special honors because of feats of arms or some special Service to the ruler. Shapur, like his father, founded or renamed cities, and we can see an example of 42 See Ph. Gignoux, "La liste des provinces de non-Iran, although this may have been one of the l'Erän dans les inscriptions de Säbuhr et de Kirder," factors in such a division. Cultural and even AHH, 19 (1971), 84. He does not suggest a Strategie grounds may have existed in the minds of religious reason for the division between Iran and some Iranians for such a division. 300 Chapter XI both in his inscription - Gundeshapur and Peroz Shapur, while other towns mentioned by Arabic or Persian authors may be attributed to either Shapur I or II, such as Nishapur in Khurasan. Other cities were Shad Shapur Joyful is Shapur' or 'UbuIIa in southern Iraq, Shapur Khwast near Khurramabad, Wuzurg Shapur or 'Ukbara in Iraq, as well as others, but none in the eastern part of the empire. These cities, like Darabgird and Gur in Fars, were surrounded with walls and were presumably well fortified, a feature of Sasanian city planning. In his inscription, Shapur claims to serve and worship the gods and because he was the 'creature' or 'instrument' of the gods he was rewarded with his conquests and made famous and powerful. Whereas Darius only mentioned the aid of Ahura Mazda in his inscriptions, Shapur speaks only of 'the gods,' and even Kerdir in his inscriptions refers to 'Ahura Mazda and the gods,' indicating a belief of both Shapur and Kerdir probably in henotheism rather than polytheism, a continuation of the ancient world. But at this time great changes were at work in this part of the world. Christianity was in formation, soon to become the State religion of the Roman Empire; Judaism was also in the process of Organization with the Babylonian Talmud, and a new religion, Mamchaeism, was spreading in the east. Mani had a special relation with Shapur, who received and listened to him on several occasions. According to Manichaean writings Shapur was impressed with Mani and aided him to spread his teachings in the empire, while the prophet followed Shapur for some time in his retinue. 43 Further, according to Manichaean sources, Mani converted a brother of Shapur called Mihrshah, governor of Mesene (presumably before another relative also called Shapur became king of Mesene) and then also Peroz, another brother of Shapur (or possibly the son of the king of Mesene according to Greek SKZ line 51), who became ruler of Khurasan or Aparshahr. 44 The new religion of Manichaeism apparently made great strides in the Sasanian Empire under Shapur, who did nothing to hinder lts missionary activities. Fortunately much has been preserved of the writings of this gnostic religion in Arabic, Greek, Coptic, Parthian, Middle Persian and even in Chinese, so we have a better idea of the tenets and writings of this faith than of many others. Because of the eclecticism of this gnostic religion, its fundamental dualistic nature sometimes has been forgotten. Since Mani dedicated one of his principal writings, the Shapurakan (pronounced Shäbuhragän), to the ruler, we may speculate that Shapur saw in Mani's faith a possible religion for a great empire which included Christians and even Buddhists as well as Zoroastrians. The patronage which Shapur extended to Mani is attested and we may presume some motive in the ruler's mind other than idle interest. The religious Situation, however, was to change with the death of Shapur. 43 H. Polotsky and A. Böhhg, Kephalaia, 1 reference, and W. B. Henning, "Neue Matenalen (Stuttgart, 1940), 15 Mani says he left Babylonia zur Geschichte des Manichäismus," ZDMG 90 to preach in India in the time of Ardashir, but he (1935), 386, as wellasG. Widengren, Mani und der returned when the latter died and Shapur became Manichäismus (Stuttgart, 1961), 36. Arabic and king. On the whole, there is no reason to doubt Persian sources on Mani have been collected by A. Information about Mani's encounters, as related Afshär ShTräzT, Mini va Dln-e Ö (Tehran, 1335/ m Manichaean sources. Claims of conversion of 1957), with abibhography. See also the finearticle royal princes to Manichaeism, however, may be by K. Rudolph, "Mani," in Enzyklopädie: Die exaggerated. Großen der Wellgeschichte, 2 (Zürich, 1972), 545- 44 See L.J. Ort, Mani (Leiden, 1967), 68-69, for 64, with an extensive bibliography. The Sasanians 3qj By the time of the Sasanians religions in the Near East had ceased to be local, tribal or even ethnic matters, but pretensions to universality prevailed in those which flounshed. Whereas Chnstianity and Mamchaeism knew no ethnic boundaries, both Judaism and Zoroastrianism continued the ancient pattern of the Near East and became restricted to their respective peoples. Missionary erTorts of Zoroastrians, such as the establishment of fire temples, mentioned by Kerdir in his inscriptions, were intended to bring Iranians back into the fold, or to build an 'orthodox' Zoroastrianism or 'state church' being created by Kerdir and his successors. Kerdir, however, flourished under the sons and grandson of Shapur, as we shall see. Shapur's capture of Valerian was too great an event to go unrecorded for his subjects, so in addition to the inscription, the Sasanian monarch had a number of rock reliefs carved to commemorate this also in his homeland of Fars, three in the river gorge by the city of Bishapur and one at Naqsh-e Rustam. 45 The rock-carved reliefs were intended to preserve for posterity the great feats of Shapur, and they continued the stone carving tradition of the Achaemenids, also in Fars. The identification of the Roman figures on the reliefs has caused great controversies as has the attribution of other damaged rock reliefs of investiture scenes, but the intention of the victory reliefs is the same in all - to show in a symbolic form the successes of Shapur against the Romans with the crowning achievement, unique in history, the capture of the emperor Valerian, who died in captivity. There is no echo in either the reliefs or in Iranian sources of any defeats at the hands of the Palmyrenes, for the expeditions of Shapur to the west reaped only fame and booty without either permanent or even prolonged conquest of lands in Syria or Asia Minor, as Zosimus (I, 27) says. If the Romans needed any further proof that they were now dealing with a new and dynamic rival in the east, the unprecedented capture of Valerian assured them of many struggles to come. It is difficult if not impossible to assess the ambitions of Shapur, if they were to re-establish a great Iranian empire extending to the Mediterranean, but his actions indicate he was more concerned to impress his enemies, as well as his subjects, and to obtain booty rather than to reconstruct anything similar to the Achaemenid Empire. Yet the use of Greek as one language on his victory inscription of SKZ and his use of war prisoners not only in his engineering and building projects, but in artistic creations, such as the floor mosaics in his palace at Bishapur, his interest in Mani, and other items, indicate a cosmopolitan if not an oecumenical outlook of the ruler. 46 After his capture of Valerian Shapur ruled for 45 For photographs of the three Bishapur reliefs 80, and R. Göbl, Der Triumph des Säsäniden see G. Herrmann, The Sasanian Rock Reliefs at Sahpuhr über die Kaiser Gordianus, Philippus und Bishapur, Iranische Denkmäler 9 and foll. (Berlin, Valerianus, Österreichische Akad. d. Wiss., Denk- 1980). The Interpretation of the figures in various schriften 116 (Vienna, 1974), 7-31. The relief at reliefs has varied from symbolic representations to Darabgird was carved earlier than the Valerian exact identifications. For example, the Standing reliefs. Roman receiving a wreath from Shapur on a relief 46 On the Bishapur mosaics see Ghirshman, op. at Bishapur and on the reliefat Naqsh-e Rustam has eil., 2 [n. 40], 89-148 and 177-183. The Denkart been identified with a Syrian called Mariades or says that Shapur collected scientific texts from Cyriades who supposedly delivered Antioch to everywhere to add to the Avesta, which is not to Shapur and was rewarded by being proclaimed be taken literally, but indicates the ruler's interest emperor by Shapur. For literature see B. C. in knowledge; trans. in Zaehner, op. cit. [eh. 3, n. Macdermot, "Roman Emperors in the Sassanian 40], 8 (with text). Reliefs," Journal of Roman Studies, 44 (1954), 76- 302 Chapter XI more than a decade, but nothing is known about the last years of his life, while the date of his death is just as controversial as his year of accession, and the year of death varies from 270 to 273, but more likely is the former year. 47 The principle of pnmogeniture in succession was followed here and Hormizd-Ardashir the eldest son of Shapur became ruler although at the beginning of the Sasanian period father-eldest son succession seems to have been valid only if the son was an adult and able to command respect. With the sons of Shapur, however, the question of succession was contested as we shall see. In passing it should be noted that numismatics, which played such an important role in the reconstruction of the history of the east from Alexander to the Sasanians, is much less vital for our knowledge of Sasanian history, and numismatists have concentrated more on mint sites as determined by Middle Persian abbreviations on coins, or iconographic features such as the crowns of the rulers. The significance or symbohsm of various crowns worn by the Sasanian rulers on coins, reliefs, seals, or silver plates has generated a prodigious literature and many controversies, but it seems clear now that special crowns, or crowns for investiture and other purposes, complicate the traditional assumption of one crown per ruler by which he was invariably identified. 48 Shortly after Ardashir became ruler of all of Iran, he changed his silver coinage from the thick 'Parthian' and 'Persis' type to a new flat drachm which remained the model for all later Sasanian coins. A reduction in weight also took place, and from the earliest coins of Ardashir, with his bust facing the left, all succeeding coins of Sasanian kings have the busts of the ruler facing to the right except some comparatively rare issues showing a bust enface, notably Chosroes II, while several issues of Hormizd II have the bust facing left, an enigma since most numismatists have considered the bust facing left a sign of a vassal relationship to a greater ruler. 49 In any case, Sasanian drachms are distinctive in their flatness with a weight generally of about four grams, while towards the end of the dynasty the mean weight drops to three and a half or even less, such that generally speaking the weight value of the drachm was more under Ardashir than under Chosroes II, while in the Islamic period the weight drops further. The quality or fineness of the silver in the Sasanian issues remained high, and periods of debasement were few and short-lived. A cogent theory for the maintenance of a high Standard over such a long period has been proposed that the Sasanians always had an adequate supply of silver and they upheld the value of their silver currency as an international currency, especially for the steppes of South Russia 47 In the west Shapur apparently was unsuccess- bibhography. On crowns and coins see also V. ful against the Palmyrenes if we place credence in Lukonin, Iran v epokhu pervykh Sasanidov (Lenin- the titles assumed by Wahballat son of Zenobia, grad, 1961) and his Kullura Sasanidskogo lrana including Adiabenicus maximus; cf. Ensslin, op. eil (Moscow, 1969). |n. 37], 88. F. Müller, Studien über Zenobia und 49 Cf. in Göbl, Sasanidische Numismatik [supra, Palmyra (Kirchhain N.-L., 1902), 61 pp. examines Literature], and H. Simon, "Die säsänidischen Arabic sources on Zenobia, but throws no light on Münzen des Fundes von Babylon," IA Varia 1976, the Persians. 12 (1977), 149-337, and for the mints esp. M 48 The classical aecount for crowns is K. Mitchener, "The Mint Organization of the Sassan- Erdmann, "Die Entwicklung der säsänischen lan Empire," Numismatic Circular, 86 (London, Krone," Ars Islamica, 15-16 (Ann Arbor, 1951), 1978), 3 parts. 87-1 23. Cf. Göbl, op. cit. [n. 45], 33-38, with other The Sasanians jqj and Central Asia, for Sasanian trade with the north was important. 50 Although a few series are notably debased, as in a short period of the reign of Shapur I, the debasement may have been the result of military Operations or special crises, and the continuous high quality of the coinage reflects an economic stability in the Sasanian Empire. Copper or local coins unfortunately have been little studied, usually because they are much more defaced than silver coins found in excavations and few if any people collect them, so the museums of the world have very few. Because they are local they could give us perhaps more information than more standardized silver coins. Needless to say, the Sasanians, as the Parthians, only minted silver, and the rare gold coins were commemorative issues of a few rulers not meant to circulate. More on economic matters will be discussed below. THE SUCCESSORS OF SHAPUR The eldest son of Shapur, Hormizd-Ardashir, ruled about a year, and we know nothing of his reign except that he founded the city of Ram Hormizd or Ramuz and a brief note in Tha 'älibT that he fought against the Hephthalites or Sogdiana, which is a temporal anomaly, hence hardly to be accepted. He in turn was succeeded by his brother Varahran or Bahram I, who had been king of Gilan under his father. With the accession of Bahram at least one change occurred in the religious policy of the empire, and this seems to have been a new intolerance towards religions other than Zoroastrianism, for it was in the reign of Bahram that Kerdir (Kartir) became powerful, and Mani was executed, probably at the end of the king's reign rather than the beginning, c. 276. Kerdir had been granted a new title by Hormizd-Ardashir which continued to exist after the death of Kerdir, and this was 'mobad of Ahura Mazda,' probably more an honorific than an ofFice, at least at the beginning. In the time of Bahram I Zenobia, queen of Palmyra, was defeated by the emperor Aurelian and brought to Rome in captivity. This not only ended Palmyra but was the final twilight of the caravan cities of the desert to the Gulf. Henceforth both Romans and Sasanians exercised central control over their frontiers. Bahram I was not honored as were the two other sons of Shapur, Hormizd I and Narseh, with a fire established in his name, as stated in the inscription SKZ, and this may indicate that Bahram's mother was a lesser queen and not the mother of Hormizd-Ardashir and Narseh, but we do not know. Lukonin has reconstructed the course of succession after Hormizd- Ardashir as the result of the intrigues of Kerdir. 5 ' According to him Bahram I was older than Narseh, but the latter considered himself more eligible for the throne, but the party of Kerdir was successful in placing their candidate on the throne. Further, he suggests that the future Bahram II was not yet born when Shapur made his SKZ inscription, since he is not mentioned in the inscription. Bahram II then was still 50 See J. L. Bachrach and A. A. Gordus, The (1964), 48-63, and again in Iran v III veke purity of Sasanian silver coins: an imroduction," (Moscow, 1979), 59-73, with a long English JAOS, 92 (1972), 283, with bibliography and R. summary and a survey of the rock reliefs. I am not Frye, "Byzantine and Sasanian Trade Relations sure whether Lukonin is correct in saying that with Northeastern Russia," Dumbarlon Oaks 'Zoroastrian law' favored the rights of Narseh to Papers, 26 (Washington, DC, 1972), 265-69. the throne after Hormizd-Ardashir. 51 V. G. Lukonin, "Varakhran i Narse," VDI, 1 304 Chapter XI young in his teens when his father died in 276. He was married, however, to Shapurdukhtak, daughter of Shapur king of Mesene and shortly before his father's death Bahram II was made king of Seistan and the lands to the east, while Narseh, who had held this position, was moved to Armenia. Kerdir became even more powerful as the mentor of the young Bahram II, and as he says in his inscriptions, he received the title 'soul savior of Bahram' from the king and further honors, the rank of noble (wuzurg), supreme judge of the empire and overlord of the dynastic shrine at Istakhr, master of rituals at the Anahita temple. 52 Kerdir had carved the story of his career in four places, two füll texts of the inscription on Naqsh-e Rustam and at Sar Meshhed, the former to the right of Shapur's Valerian relief and the latter above a relief showing Bahram II killing a lion with a sword. The other two are a long abbreviation of the inscription, an apologia pro uita sua, on KKZ and an even shorter version at Naqsh-e Rajab in Fars, beside his bust. Kerdir did not surpass his protege, for Bahram II had reliefs showing himself alone at Guyum and at Barm-e Dilak or with courtiers at Naqsh-e Rustam, Naqsh-e Bahram at the village of Sarab Bahram near Fahliyan in Fars, and a victory relief at Bishapur. In addition two other contemporary reliefs, one also at Barm-e Dilak and the other at Tang-e Qandil near Bishapur, seemingly portray nobles instead of a ruler, for the only time in Sasanian history. 53 The proliferation of rock reliefs and the known influence of Kerdir would tend to indicate an attempt by the nobility and clergy to justify changes in policies from the reigns of Shapur and Hormizd-Ardashir. These changes were a strengthening of local forces and the consolidation of the power of the church, the details of both of which escape us. 54 A symptom of the loss by the ruler of power or prestige in the court was the revolt in the east by Hormizd, either a brother of Bahram II as Classical sources claim, or much more likely his cousin. Hormizd may well have been the son of the late king Shapur of Mesene and his wife Shapurdukhtak, while he must have replaced Narseh as ruler of Seistan and lands to the east and south. 55 An analysis of coins from the reign of Bahram II has revealed that Hormizd Struck coins in his own name in the eastern part of the empire when he revolted against Bahram, the end date of which rebellion is at the end of Bahram's reign c. 52 See M.-L. Chaumont, "Le culte d'AnähTtä ä normally also would not be omitted. G. Gropp's Stakhr et les premiers Sassanides," RHR (1958), reconstruction as Ardashir-Anahid.oras n VW the 154-75. nlply' only shows the refusal to admit that the 53 For a bibliography of the reliefs see L. traces on the stone are obhterated, and fantasy then Vanden Berghe, Bibliographie analylique [supra, becomes unbndled in the reconstruction. index], under the relevant names. Lukonm, op. eil. 54 Mas'odT, Les prairies d'or, trans. by C. Pellat, 1 [n. 51], 28-34, suggests that both themam relief at (Paris, 1962), 222, says that Bahram II was Barm-e Dilak and that at Tang-e Qandil show pleasure-loving and left affairs to his subordinates. Shapurdukhtak widow of Bahram II investing An echo of Kerdir is also found in the mobad who Ardashir hazarbad with authonty to rule as regent gave counsel to the king to change his ways, which for young Bahram III in an interval between the he did. A similar aecount is found in Tha 'älibT, ed. death of Bahram II and the accession of his son. His by Zotenberg, op. eil. [n. 14], 504-06. These stories reading of the inscription (4 lines, not 2) as ptkly may reflect the lack of authority in Bahram II. ZNH 'rlhStr p'pkn hzlpty'W bmfcyjn' [h] This is 55 Lukonin, op. eil. [n. 51], 59. Mamertinus, the figure of Ardashir son of Papak the hazarbad Panegyrici (XI, 17, 2), calls Hormizd the younger (chiliarch) and the queen of queens,' is a dubious brother of Bahram. On this see W. Ensslin, "Zur reconstruction of the last words not conforming to Ostpolitik des Kaisers Diokletian," Sb. der Bayer. the traces on the stone. The name of the queen Akad. der Wiss. (Munich, 1942), 9. The Sasanians 3^5 290-291. 56 The revolt in the east, however, may have lasted a number of years if we examine Classical sources, for Agathias (IV, 24, 8) teils of Bahrains war against the people of Seistan while Zonaras (XII, 30) and Vopiscus (Scriptores Historiae Auguslae, Carus, VIII, 2) suggest that the military success of the Romans under emperor Carus in advancing to the gates of Ctesiphon in 283 was the result of problems which Bahram had in the east, presumably already the revolt of Hormizd. 57 Only the death of Carus brought the retreat of the Romans and a respite to Bahram. Events are unclear, but the Sasanians seem to have reoccupied territory in Mesopotamia which the Romans had occupied, but whether they added any land to the realm of Bahram is unknown. The Situation changed, however, with the accession of Diocletian as Roman emperor, and again the Romans took the initiative. Bahram with a revolt in the east apparently was in no position to face the Romans, so he sent an embassy with presents to Diocletian and peace was arranged. 58 Just how far a rectification of frontiers went we do not know, but Diocletian was determined to build a stable frontier in the east by extending and completing the System oilimes, together with a settlement in Armenia, and it is probably at this time that an Arsacid prince called Tiridates was taken from his Roman exile and placed on the throne of western Armenia, while Narseh ruled in the eastern part of Armenia, but the dates and events of the history of Armenia in this period are most uncertain. 59 In Iran after the defeat of Hormizd in the east and most probably his execution, Bahram made his own young son king of Seistan in place of Hormizd. This event apparently took place only a few years before Bahram's death, and one may assume that he wished to have his young son succeed him on the throne, as could be inferred from some of the coins Struck by Bahram II with the bust of his son on them together with the king. Shapur I, it is conceivable, may have intended that Narseh should succeed to the throne after Hormizd-Ardashir. As it happened, the latter had only a short reign and without a mature son. In his inscription SKZ Shapur mentions especially the fires endowed for his daughter, and for his sons Hormizd-Ardashir, Shapur king of Mesene, and Narseh king of Seistan, but not for Bahram (M.P. lines 18-20), although later Bahram king of Gilan is mentioned as one ofthose in whose name sacrifices to the fires are made. Narseh must have blamed Bahram I for the Usurpation of the throne which was his right, for Narseh put his name in the place of the name of Bahram I on an inscription and reliefof Bahram I at Bishapur, although he acquiesced in the rule of Bahram I and II. For an account of succeeding events we rely on the largest Sasanian inscription in 56 Lukonin, op. cit. [n. 51], 53; Claudius son of the king of Mesene m the east. He bases this Mamertinus (Panegyr. 111, 17) in Collection G. on a rock reliefof Bahram II at Bishapur showing Bude (Paris, 1949), 65, says the Gils, Bactrians Arabs (a people of Mesene) bringing tribute. This (Kushans) and Sakas supported the revolt of is an interesting hypothesis but no more. Hormizd against his brotner. That Bahram II had 58 Reported in Mamertinus; cf. Ensslin, op. cit. other troubles is suggested by the Chronicle of |n. 55], 9, and regarding Armenia see Toumanoff, Arbela, trans. by Sachau, op. cit. [eh. 8, n. 100], 66, op. cit. [n. 27], 259-63; and Chaumont, Recherches that the mobad of Adiabene revolted against the [eh. 8, n. 135], 94-111. king and maintained his independence for a long 59 The confused succession in Armenia at this period. period is discussed by Toumanoff, op. eil. [n. 27], 57 Lukonin, op. cit. [n. 51], 59-60, suggests that 202-08; and by Chaumont, op. cit. [eh. 8, n. 135], there were two revolts, an early revolt of Shapur 1 10-29. One problem is either one King Tiridates the king of Mesene, possibly in collaboration with or two, unresolved. the Romans, and then a later revolt of Hormizd, 306 Chapter XI two languages, Middle Persian and Parthian, carved by Narseh at Paikuli, a site on a road from Armenia to Ctesiphon, north of present-day Khanaqin, where the foothills of the Iranian plateau meet the plains of Iraq. Sadly the inscription has many lacunae. 60 Narseh teils us he erected this monument (plky) where the nobles and officials of the empire met him Coming from Armenia to proclaim him ruler. Then he proceeds in great detail, and unfortunately with many gaps, to describe how one of the nobles called Vahunam had seized the crown (dydytny) without authorization and had given it to Bahram III, king of Seistan. Other nobles objected; some were killed, and they decided to revolt and sent a message to Narseh to come from Armenia to Babylonia (Asuristan) to be acclaimed. A long list of the notables who met Narseh is interesting for some of the leading officials such as Shapur the collector of taxes (MP hlgwpt, Parth, hrkpty), Papak the bidakhsh, Ardashir the hazärbad and Rakhsh the army chief joined with members of great feudal families, and even Kerdir the priest to support Narseh. Such a delegation, including Kerdir who had been the 'soul-savior' of Bahram II, implies that Vahunam had really usurped power and only turned to Bahram, king of Seistan, for legitimacy, probably intending to use him as a puppet. This Usurpation offended the officials and noble families. Narseh came from Armenia to Iranshahr, an indication that Armenia was not at this time considered part of Iran. There was a face to face battle which only separated the two opposing sides now prepared for war. Apparently the actions of Vahunam had offended many including Kerdir, who had been the 'eminence gris' of Bahram II, but who now came with others to offer allegiance to Narseh. The king of Mesene Aturfarnbag and forces in Khuzistan opposed Narseh, but the details of messages sent and the movement of forces are unclear because of large gaps in the inscription. Finally Narseh was victorious, and Vahunam was captured and cruelly executed and presumably Bahram, the king of Seistan, as well, although it is not expressly stated. Then Narseh justifies his actions, and in an obscure passage with many lacunae, he recalls how his grandfather Ardashir succeeded his brother Shapur to the rule, presumably a parallel to Narseh's right to rule. Reference to the rule given to the family of the Sasanians by the gods implies that Vahunam's action was seen as a threat to the dynasty. Finally Narseh mentions the various petty rulers on the frontiers and in Iraq who acknowledged his right to the throne and came or sent ambassadors, which seems to be the explanation of the last mutilated passages rather than a list of rulers who submitted to him or paid him fealty, which has been the usual Interpretation of the end of the inscription. 61 The 60 The many stone blocks of the site called article of W. Henning and others. The new edition Paikuli were first visited byH. Rawlinson in 1836, of Paikuh by H. Humbach and P. O. Skjaervo and the first attempted decipherment was made by (Wiesbaden, 1978-) in 2 vols is a definitive E. Thomas, in "Sassaman Inscriptions," JRAS, 3 edition. but some of the readings are questionable. I (1868), 241-96, with a note on the site by had been commissioned by the late Fuad Safar and Rawlinson, 296-300. The sumptuous edition ofE. the Department of Antiquities of Iraq to go to Herzfeld, Paikuli, 2 vols. (Berlin, 1924) was Paikuli, to make latex squeezes of all the blocks and incomplete, for he found new blocks on succeed- report on the possibihty of reconstructing the ing Visits to the site. Other articles include R. Frye, monument. Kurdish rebellions and other difficul- "Remarks on the Paikuli and Sar Mashad Inscrip- ties made this project unreahzable. Xion$" Harvard Journal ofAsiatic Studies, 20 (1957), 61 In the reconstruction of the inscription by 202-08, with further references to the valuable Humbach and Skjaervo, op. eil. [n. 60], 14-15, the The Sasanians 3qj inscription thus is not a paeon of praise to Narseh, enumerating the lands he ruled and the rulers subject to him or the members of his court, as was the inscription SKZ, but it is an apologia for his actions which led to his assumption of the throne. The kings and 'lords' who sent ambassadors, gifts, or came to his court are a motley group, some of whom cannot be identified, but others are outlying kings in the east such as the Kushan king, unfortunately unnamed but indicating though not proving the absence of a royal Sasanian governor of the Kushan realm. The king of the Khwarazmians too was hardly a subject of Narseh, and one wonders if the kings of Paradene (the Quetta area?), Turan and Makran had not loosened the bonds which had attached their realms to Shapur's empire. Some kings are mentioned by personal name rather than by the realm they ruled, and a Tirdat king may be the Armenian king of this time whom the Romans had restored, while 'Amr king of the Lakhmids is the earliest mention ofthose Arabs; previously their early dating was only surmised. 62 Many of the kings and 'lords' in the north and west cannot be read or identified, but what conclusion may one draw from the inscription as to the State of the empire? First, the empire had been centralized as far as the core of the Iranian plateau and the area around Ctesiphon were concerned, but the control or domination of lands of non-Iran by the Sasanians, claimed by Shapur in SKZ, had relaxed considerably because of the strength of the local rulers and the weakness of the Bahrams. Second, the internal allegiance to Narseh was not united or overly strong, which probably made the task of ruling for the aged son of Shapur more difficult than for a younger, more vigorous ruler. Finally, to conciliate some of his subjects Narseh had to follow policies of tolerance in religious as well as political realms. The Manichaeans, it seems, were not only tolerated but even heard as in the time of Shapur, and if we may credit Manichaean Coptic sources, one of the local kings, called 'Amr in the Paikuli inscription, was a patron of the Manichaeans who introduced a leader of the Manichaean Community Innaios to King Narseh, who then gave freedom from persecution to adherents of the religion. 63 This return to policies of Shapur was not a sign of strength, although Narseh sought to enlarge his domains and recover lands lost bottomofrowFofblocksof the MP version and F 62 By T. Nöldeke, Geschichte der Perser und of the Parthian isshownas an ornamental band or Araber (TabarT), 25, n. 1. The 'Amr, king of indentation on the monument. Actually, the lower Apgands in the inscription, is probably a descend- parts of the stones of these rows are uninscribed, ant of the Abgar kings of Edessa who fled from thus indicating a gap in the inscription equivalent Edessa after the Romans made it part of their to several lines. I had originally postulated two provincial System in 244. Further information is inscriptions by Narseh, the upper giving an lacking. Whether the 'Amr King of the Lakhmids account of events and the lower a justification of of the inscription is the same as 'Amrb. 'Adlsonof his actions plus the list of lords who acknowledged the founder of al-Hira, chief city of the Lakhmids, his accession. Actually, the Contents of the two is unknown. inscriptions, upper and lower, are much the same, 63 The Coptic work is unpublished and may so the reason for the break is enigmatic. Lukonin's have been lost in World War II. Cf. C. Schmidt reconstruction of the central part of the inscription und H. J. Polotsky, "Ein Mani-Fund aus Ägypten, (op. cit. [n. 51 ], 65-67) takes liberties with the text SbPA W (Berlin, 1 933), 28, and W. Seston, "Le roi but in the general sense is correct, though one must Narses, les Arabes et le Manich&isme," Syria, 19 be careful in details to distinguish between what is (1939), 229. On King 'Amr see A. Dietrich, on the stone and what is in Lukonin's imagination, "Geschichte Arabiens vor dem Islam," in Orienta- len though the latter be convincing. The lische Geschichte von Kyros bis Mohammed, HO inscription contains many problems but the (1966), 321-22. general sense is clear. 308 Chapter XI by his predecessors. Armenia, ruled by an Arsacid king, became the first object of his arms and at first the Sasanians were successful, but Galerius Caesar under the Augustus Diocletian, after initial reverses, not only defeated Narseh but captured many of his family as well as much booty, according to Zonaras (XII, 31), Eutropius (IX, 25) and others. Affairs in Mesopotamia hkewise, while at first favorable to Iran, then went against Narseh who sued for peace. The peace treaty of Nisibis in 298 reported by one author, Petrus Patricius (frgs. 13-14), gives details, and the territorial result was a loss by Iran, the Tigris becoming the border between the two empires, while Armenia gained territory in Media, and the united country passed from the Iranian to the Roman sphere of influence with the conversion of King Tirdat (probably IV) to Christianity about 303. Armenia remained tied to the Romans, especially after Constantine. 64 It is difficult to believe some of the stories of aphorisms told about Sasanian kings in various Arabic books, in Firdosi's epic and other Persian works, but sometimes, usually dimly in them, one may suspect kerneis of truth. For example, one source Tha 'älibT (Histoire, 510) says that Narseh did not visit fire temples during his reign, perhaps an indication of his tolerance of religions, as opposed to the Bahrams. Narseh was succeeded by his son Hormizd II (302-309), about whose reign nothing is known except that he had several sons, but the nobility was sufficiently powerful to decide who his successor should be. At the death of Hormizd it seems one of his sons called Adurnarseh ascended the throne, but quickly lost it. Although events are obscure, we hear of one son Hormizd (called Hormisda by Zosimus [II, 27]), who fled to the Romans and later took part in their campaigns against the Sasanians, as well as another son Shapur who became king of Seistan according to an inscription, with perhaps another son called Ardashir, king of Adiabene, all of which leads one to ask why one of them did not ascend the throne. 65 The power of the local nobility and clergy had been increasing probably since the time of Bahram II, and it culminated in a decision to give the crown to an unborn child who became Shapur II, but who as an adult revived the spirit of Shapur I and instituted changes in the empire. 66 SHAPUR II AND A SASANIAN REVIVAL The long reign of Shapur may be divided into the sixteen or so years of his childhood, and the rest of his long reign during which he spent his energy in consolidating central power and in wars in both east and west. We are better informed about the activities of Shapur II than of other rulers because of his wars with the Romans, reported by Ammianus Marcellinus, Zosimus, and Sozomenus, as well as Arabic and 64 On the Roman war and the peace see W Inscriptions from the time of Shapur II," Acta Ensslin, "Zur Ostpolitik des Kaisers Diokletian," op. Orienlalia, 30 (Copenhagen, 1966), 83-93. On cit. [n 55], 35-54. The limes perfected b> Ardashir, brother of Shapur II, and king of Diocletian provided a strong deterrent to Sasanian Adiabene, see G. Wiessner, Zur Martyrerüberliefe- aggression. rutig aus der Christenverfolgung Schapurs 11 (Göttin- 65 On the sources for the equivocal accounts of gen, 1967), 206. events see T. Nöldeke's translation of TabarT, op. 66 On the story of placing the royal diadem on rir.,69, note 2; and for the inscription in Persepolis the womb of his mother before Shapur II was see R. Frye, "The Persepolis Middle Persian born, see Agathias (IV, 26), TabarT and others. The Sasanians 309 Persian accounts, and a new group of sources, the Syriac acts of the Christian martyrs, yet all of them contain only fragmentary information about internal events in Iran in the time of Shapur II. From the early period of his youth we hear nothing save echoes of raids of Arab bedouin into Sasanian territory. Unfortunately in many Arabic and Persian accounts exploits of the first and second Shapur are mixed or repeated making the establishment of any facts very difficult. There is no reason, however, to doubt the report of the Tha'älibT, Mas'üdT, TabarTand other later authors that Shapur's early campaigns were against the Arabs who had invaded Iraq, followed by a campaign by sea, probably with a fleet which set out from the area of Islamic Siraf on the east side of the Gulf, across the water to Bahrain, which was the mainland opposite the island of the present name. 67 Probably as a result of the expeditions against the Arabs, Shapur began the construction of long walls along the western cultivated areas of Iraq as a defense against the marauding bedouin, and the model for them may have come from the Roman limes on the other side of the Syrian desert. 68 In any event, the Sasanian forces were successful against the Arabs, but no information exists about the establishment or continuation of Sasanian rule in Arabia at this period. The adoption of Christianity as the State religion in the Roman Empire and the transfer of the capital from Rome to Constantinople did not have immediate repercussions or changes in the Sasanian realm, for one may presume some per- secution of Christians already during the reign of Bahram II, if we may believe the inscriptions of Kerdir. 69 We do not hear of systematic persecutions of Christians early in the Sasanian Empire, but the Christian church Organization had not been centralized, and no centrally dictated pogroms were reported in any sources. With the election of a certain Papa as bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the first time we learn of this post, about the time of Shapur's birth, the Christians of the Sasanian Empire acquired a chief and a much more centralized Organization than previously. Contacts between Christian clerics in the east and west increased, which cannot have passed unnoticed by oflficials of the government or the Zoroastrian church. The conversion of first the Armenian and then the Roman ruler to Christianity also cannot have quieted Sasanian fears of a possible disloyalty to the crown of their Christian subjects. 67 Tha'älibT, op. cit., 517-21, TabarT, trans. (Ulay) and remained there many years pillaging Noeldeke, 55-58, Mas'üdT, trans. Pellat, 224-26 and attacking until Shapur bceame of age and The epithet 'piercer of Shoulders' (dhu 1-akläf) drove away those Arabs and took the land from given him in Arabic sources does seem to refer to them. He killed many rulers of the Arabs and Ins pumshment of Arab captives as Christensen, scattered many of them." l.'hatt, op. eil , 235, argued. Archaeologists main- * <> KKZ, hnes 9-5 "And Jews, Buddhists, Hin- tain that the raids of the Arabs were the result of dus, Nazarenes, Christians, Mandaeans (?) and the lowering of the water-table in eastern Arabia Mamchaeans were smitten" (yhwdy W bnny W rather than the weakness of the Sasanians under a blmny W n'cl'y W klstyd'n W mklky W zndyky child See D. Whitehouse and A. Williamson, MtfYTN YHWWNd) where sraman and brah- "Sasaman Maritime Trade," Iran, 11 (1973), 32 min present no problems, whereas the following 68 Cf. Frye, "The Sasanian System of Walls for words and their identifications do. Cf. Frye, The Defense," in M. Rosen-Ayalon, ed., Studies in Heriiage of Persia, 2nd ed. (London, 1976), 266. Memory of Gaston Wiet (Jerusalem, 1977), 8-11, My Identification of mktky as 'Mandaeans' or with references to sources Of intcrest is the passage 'baptists' in Iraq is supported by further arguments in Bundahishn (XXX11I. 16) which says, "In the in K Rudolph, "Antike Baptisten," Sb. der reign of Shapur son of Hormizd, the Arabs (Tajiks) Sächsischen Akademie der Wiss., 121 (Berlin, 1 981 ), carae and seized the banks of the river Karun 32, note 42. 310 Chapter XI Whether the Armenian king and Constantine had concluded a treaty as several Armenian sources report is uncertain, but it would not be unexpected. 70 With the death of Constantine (337) and Tirdat, about the same time, both realms lost strong rulers and a long period of peace ended. Shapur II took advantage of the disarray in both realms, and the Opposition of some Armenian nobles to their king, with the adoption of Christianity as their rehgion, to open hostihties in 337-338 when Constantius succeeded his father, but only as ruler of the eastern part of the Roman Empire. In Armenia, however, the pro-Persian party of the nobihty secured the upper band and Chosroes (Armen. Khosrov), son of Tirdat, fled to Roman territory. In 338-339 as a result, Constantius led a force into Armenia and reinstated Chosroes on the throne. Other actions such as the unsuccessful siege of Nisibis by Shapur and several battles led to no result, but at least peace without a treaty prevailed for a number of years, dunng which it seems Shapur was busy with conquests in the east. The fortune of the Persians had not fallen in the west, however, for in Armenia pro- Sasaman and anti-Christian nobles were by no means quiet, and the next ruler Tiran, son of Chosroes, who came to the throne about 342, sought to compromise and balance himself between the Romans and Persians. If we follow the orations of Libanius and Julian, we see there was no real peace between the two empires, but constant skirmishing, including another unsuccessful siege of Nisibis by Shapur in 346. The first large scale and centrally ordered persecution of Christians began after the first rebuffof Shapur at the walls of Nisibis in 338. Probably his initial reason for the persecution was political, but the Zoroastrian clergy seem to have changed the pogrom from political to religious dimensions. 71 The patriarch of the whole church, bishop Simon, successor of Papa at Ctesiphon, feil victim to the persecution, and throughout the reign of Shapur there was no relaxation of the persecutions, related in the acts of the martyrs. The persecutions in Iran probably strengthened the resolve of anti-Christian Armenians, and in both kingdoms Christians suffered. From the acts of the martyrs interesting details of life in Sasanian Iran may be gathered, but it must be remembered that Christians were a small group at this time in the Sasanian Empire, pnncipally concentrated in Adiabene in northern Iraq and in Khuzistan where war pnsoners had been settled by Shapur II. The influence of the persecutions on the larger course of events in Sasanian history was minimal. In 350 Constantius left the east to meet contenders for the purple in the west, and this induced Shapur to try his luck again before Nisibis, but a spirited defense of the city caused Shapur to abandon the siege after three months. For the first time we hear of troubles or invasions of nomads in the east which may have been a factor in his raising of the siege (Zonaras XIII, 7, Sachau, Chrotiicle ofArbela, 80). About the same time the Armenian king Tiran, who had played a double game between Romans and Persians, was seized by Shapur and lost his life, but Arsaces (Armen. Arshak), who ruled c. 350-367, son of Tiran, was then installed in place of his father ostensibly by Shapur, and while peace lasted for more than five years in Armenia, as well as See P. Asdounan, Die politischen Beziehungen zu einer Gruppe syrischer Martyrerakten aus der zwischen Armenien und Rom, op. eil., 142, citing Christenuerfolgung Schapurs II (Würzburg, 19.62), Faustus and Moses of Chorene. and his Zur Martyrerüberlieferung, op. eil., 67, the 7 ' For sources see G Wiessner, Untersuchungen last word on the subjeet. The Sasanians 37 j generally between the Romans and Persians, Shapur was busy in the east. Ammianus in laconic fashion (XIV, 3, 1) gives an indication of continuous wars in the east; in 354 he says that Shapur was involved with his neighbors (XV, 13, 4), he was busy in the far extremes of his empire in 356, in the land of the Euseni (sie) and Chionitae (XVI, 9, 4) and the next year he made an alliance with the Chionites and Gils or Sakas (XVII, 5, l).' 2 The Euseni, as generally has been recognized, should be amended to Cuseni or Kushans, while the Chionites probably represent the first wave of Hunnic peoples, undoubtedly greatly mixed with Iranians, to invade the plateau. Shapur was most successful in extending Sasanian sway in the east, and the Sasanian governors of the former Kushan domains have left a series of coins attesting this control, as well as the gold coins Struck by Shapur II, and there have been finds of his coins in hoards in the east. Sasanian rule in the east, however, will be discussed in the next chapter. In the west, the Romans sent envoys to Shapur proposing a treaty of peace and the letter sent to Shapur with his reply are given by Ammianus (XVII, 5, 3) no doubt with embellishments, but the result was not peace but military action, and in 359 Shapur laid siege to Amida (today Diyarbakir). Ammianus (XIX) gives a graphic aecount of the siege and final capture after seventy-three days. In the siege the son of the king of the Chionites, who had joined Shapur in his war in the west, was killed and the father Grumbates urged the destruetion of the city. The following year he captured Singara and other fortified towns, but the war languished until Julian the Apostate became Roman emperor at the end of 361. Julian prepared for a strong expedition against Shapur and called on the support of Arsaces, king of Armenia who now professed a pro-Roman policy. Arsaces, however, did not come to the aid of Julian. The expedition of Julian to the gates of Ctesiphon must have shocked Shapur who did not meet the Romans in open battle but harassed them constantly, also employing a burnt-earth policy to deny the invaders supplies. In this he was successful, and with the death of Julian in a minor foray the Roman army became disorganized. The successor of Julian sought peace, and Jovian was obliged to cede Nisibis the hitherto unconquered bastion of Roman power in the east, as well as large territories east of the Euphrates, to Shapur, and the Roman protectorate over Armenia was abandoned. Again the Armenians suffered, and their king was lured to the court of Shapur, who imprisoned him until he died about 367. The Persians then not only invaded Armenia but in Georgia Shapur installed a king to his own liking called Aspacures, driving out a Roman protege, called Sauromaces in Ammianus. The new Roman emperor Valens, however, resolved to reinstate his Georgian and Armenian wards and sent an army for that purpose with each. In Georgia the two native kings divided the country, Aspacures taking that part of Georgia adjoining Sasanian domains while his cousin also called Aspacures, took the western part (Amm. XXVII, 12, 15). In Armenia the son of Arsaces called Pap was restored but did not enjoy universal support. He was aecused of treason to the Romans and summoned before Valens in Tarsus, where he was held in protective custody, until he escaped with a band of 72 J. Marquart, Eränsahr, op cit , 50, emends Celaiiis to Segeslani which is moot. His aecount of the Chionites is detailed. 312 Chapter XI followers and regained Armenia where Roman forces, however, were in a number of garnsons. He was invited to a banquet by Roman generals and assassinated in the year 374 (Amm. XXX, 1, 21). In his place the Romans placed a relative called Varazdates, who ruled three years but could not win over the Armenian nobility to his side, especially since Shapur would not recognize him as nghtful ruler and sent troops mto Armenia. Neither the aged Sasanian king nor Valens, however, was in a position to launch a great campaign against the other. Although we do not know of the specific terms in any peace treaty between the two great powers, from this time Armenia was divided into two parts, a small pro-Roman and a much larger part under Persian tutelage. 73 From an Armenian text we hear that Shapur at the end of his life was engaged in a war against the Kushans in the east, probably meaning Chionites or other nomadic invaders, but the time of these wars is unclear. 74 In any case, Shapur died in 379 after a remarkably long reign of seventy years, only a few months after the defeat and death of Valens at the hands of the Goths. In such a long reign obviously much happened internally in Iran in the realms of religion, statecraft, society and others. Shapur, like his great-grandfather of the same name, also founded eines such as Nishapur (from Nev Shapur 'good'), and after a revolt of the city of Susa, he had lt levelled and trampled by elephants, after which he built a new city and called it Iran khwarreh Shapur 'Iran's glory Shapur (built),' aecording to several Islamic sources. 75 Pnsoners from conquests in the west were settled in various parts of his empire, following the example of Shapur I. Exaggerated stories about Shapur, how he went as a spy to Constantinople and others, attest to a strong impression on his subjeets made by Shapur II. The Denkart (IV, 26-27) teils how the first Shapur collected writings of the (Zoroastrian) religion which were dispersed outside of Iran, both east and west, and added them to the Avesta, whereas Shapur II held a Council where all rehgions were examined and a certain Adurbad son of Mahraspand was victorious in the contest between the faiths and some sort of edict of orthodoxy was issued, and heresy was condemned. Adurbad is well known in Zoroastrian tradition, as recorded in a number of texts, for his successful undergoing an ordeal of molten metal poured on his ehest to vindicate his faith. 76 No doubt under the pressures of Christianity and Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism had to re-examine and reformulate its doctrines, but what was the orthodoxy presumably in some way instituted in the reign of Shapur II? Some scholars have proposed that the oflficial religion of the Sasanian Empire was not the dualistic Zoroastrianism known from the Middle Persian books down to the present but a heresy or a form of Zoroastrianism called Zervanism. 77 But Zervanism is really Iranian time speculation, a phenomenon On this penod of Armenian history, see 76 In addition to the Ddikart passages, Adurbad Asdounan. op. eil, 162-64, and J Marquart, is mentioned in the Skand-Gumänik Vildr, trans. "Untersuchungen zur Geschichte von Eran," Philo- P G. de Menasce (Fribourg, 1945), X, 70-1 19, in logus, 54 (1896), 212-24 the Bimdahislm, the Bahman Yashl, and clsewhere, Faustus of Byzantium's history (Venice, but the Information is the same in all texts. His 1933), 210, 242; trans. in V. Langlois, op. eil., 1 , name in mutilated form also appears in Hamza al- 285, 298. IsfahänT, and in 'I'a'rtkh stni muli'ik, op eil., 37 • On the eitles, including Susa, see Tha'ähbT, 77 Much controversy still exists about Zervan- op eil., 529, Hamza al-lsfahäm, op. eil., 36; ism, but the basic work on the subjeet, which Mas üdT, op. cit., 227, TabarT, trans. Noeldeke, op. surveys previous pubhcations, is R. C. Zaehner, eil., 67. For stories see the same authors. Zurvan, [eh. 3, n 40], esp. 35-52. Mary Boyce, The Sasanians 313 present in many religions from ancient times down to the present, and it is difficult to believe that a separate religion or sect of Zoroastrianism existed based principally on a myth that 'Time' gave birth to both Ahura Mazda and Ahnman, which myth is reported in several Armenian and Syriac texts. This is not to deny the existence of persons or even groups of people who exalted time speculation almost to a dogma, or even as a central part of their beliefs, including possibly some of the Sasanian rulers, but one may surmise that the orthodoxy proclaimed by Adurbad, whether a religious or even a pohtical leader, was the Zoroastrianism known to writers of post-Sasanian times who praised Adurbad as a pillar of their religion in his time. It is not possible here to discuss the tantahzing fragments or details, names such as Zurvandad, and other possible indications of sects and heresies in the Zoroastrian religion which, though they undoubtedly existed and caused great concern to the orthodox, duahstic priesthood, cannot be reconstructed because of a lack of sources. The existence of two major schools of Zoroastrianism, one centered in Parthia and the other in Persis, as suggested by an Armenian author of the fifth Century, Ehshe, is not improbable, but there is no reason thus to assign Zervanism to the Parthians and dualist Mazdaism to the Sasanians. 78 More hkely the process of the formation of Zoroastrian orthodoxy was advanced during the reign of Shapur, and since the Syriac sources speak of the great itiobad or chief of mobads in the reign of Shapur, we may speculate that the office of mobadän mobad, which is not attested earlier, except in post- Sasanian wntings which attnbute all religious offices and institutions to the time of Ardashir Papakan or even earlier, came into existence in his reign. 79 The herbads were Zoroastrians, Their Religious Beließ and Practices (London. 1979), 101-144, bchevcs the religion of the Sasanians was Zervanism, and Adurbad was a Zervanite (1 18), but the Parthians were not, and the ancestors of the Parsis in India came froni Khurasan, Parthian territory, which explains why later Zervanism was expunged from Zoroastrian texts In my opinion, this gives far too much credit to Zervanism as a 'religion' opposed to duahstic Zoroastrianism I do not believe that Kronos and time speculation in ancient Greece was a 'religion' opposed to the Olympian pantheon That Adurbad was a heretical Zervanite is also difTicult to believe It should also be noted that when a Christian martyr Pusai spoke of a Zervanite doetnne of the brotherhood of Ahura Mazda and Ahnman betöre Shapur, the latter became angry, but it does not say that Shapur adhered to these beliefs. Cf O Braun, Ausgewählte Akten, op. cit., 67 7S Ehshe, ed by Ter Minasean (Erevan. 1957), 144 Zaehner, op cit (ch 3,n 40], 35, distinguishes three 'religions' in Sasanian Iran, Mazdaism, Zervanism, and sorcery or 'devil worship' and follows von Wesendonk in postulatmg periods when Zervanism was dominant and periods of Mino when duahst Mazdaism prevailed, presum- ably based on the reigns of the rulers. Mithraic sects, or rather eults, also may have existed, but until now no Roman type mithraeum has been found on Sasanian territory, and it is unhkely that a shrinc of that populär eult of the Roman army would be found. Zaehner, op cit , 77, Claims that dissident schools of Zervanism existed, and un- doubtedly many opimons on fate and time rlounshed, but we may be speaking of philosophi- cal beim or even schools rather than sects of a religion or separate religions. If we follow Syriac and Armenian Christian authors hostile to Zoroas- trianism, we would surely conclude that the latter was a religion only of the worship of the elements, fire, water, and sun, nioon, etc "''Tili ' ippearance of the mobadän mobad is hotly debateu, from S. Wikander, Feuerpriester in Kleinasien und Iran (Lund, 1946), 51, 125, who pl.iced the creation of the title in the time ot liahram Gör (421-39) to BTruni, who in his Athär al-baqiya says that Shapur 11 made the descendants of Adurbad son of Maraspand, mobadän mobads; see J. W Fück, ed., Documenta Islamica Inedita (Berlin, 1 952). 76. Cf the discussion in Wiessner, op. cit. [n. 4|. 169-74. on the vanous titles in the Syriac acts. The title is not found in the Syriac acts until the time of Mar Abha in the sixth Century, but the office or an equivalent would seem to have existed earlier. The name of a mobadän mobad in the time of Shapur II, mentioned in the Bundahishn, XXXV, 1 , may be a later Interpolation, or it may reflect a true Situation. )14 Chapter XI priests concerned with the ntual or teaching of the religion and the late title herbadän herbad may have been merely an hononfic modelled on the titles 'king of kings' and 'niobad of mobads.' Likewise the expansion of mfluence of the Zoroastrian clergy in affairs of government, law and commerce is evident as Agathias (II, 26) relates. As one might have expected from the long reign as a child of Shapur, the clergy probably Consolidated their position and influence more in that period than at any other time. The question of cults, rather than sects, which existed under Sasanian 'orthodoxy' is even more obscure than such philosophical, though populär, movements as Zervanism, but lf one examines the names of deities given to the days of the month, one may well believe that many local and even national' cults or shrines to various deities existed in Sasanian Iran, not to mention sacred Springs, trees, stones or other Sites where spirits or deines were worshipped. Since the shrine of Anahita at Istakhr probably was a local temple patronized by the house of Sasan, hence a kind of dynastic shrine, undoubtedly elsewhere there were shrines or temples dedicated to Mithra, Adur, or others. Since Zoroastrianism is predominantly a religion of rituals and sacnfices, we may presume that the process of standardization of the rites of the religion was accelerated in Shapur II's time. Although some scholars have proposed that the Avestan aiphabet was invented during the reign of Shapur, it is more likely to have been a later development, perhaps in the time of Chosroes I. Likewise the hierarchy of fire temples and local fires probably did not receive its final form until later than the time of Shapur. Various titles of religious offices give us an idea of the extent of influence of the religion in daily life, especially in the legal realm where at least some of the priests scem to have functioned much as their later Islamic counterparts, about whom we naturally know much more than about offices in Sasanian times. From the acts of Christian martyrs and Islamic sources we infer that the head of the judiciary in Sasanian Iran was the king of kings who decided many appeals from lower jurisdictions and possibly, as later Islamic books State, held regulär sessions to which any plaintiff might come and appeal to the king directly. As in the Achaemenid Empire, law and justice were fostered and well developed under the Sasanians, who, if anything, in this were much more centralized than in previous times. The religious establishment seems to have been separate from the legal one, although the same persons at times performed both legal and religious or ntual duties. Under the king, the chief of the religious hierarchy held court, in religious matters, such as complaints against Christians, especially bishops or prominent church officials, as, towards the end of Shapur's reign, one Adarshapur, great mobad (äpxilJ-äyos) of 'all the lands of the east (or the Persians),' presided over the persecution of Christians who were accused of treason or lese-majeste in regard to King Shapur. 80 But the chief function of the chief mobad was to oversee Zoroastrian religious matters, and the existence of a chief judge in the time of Shapur II is implied by the office of the shahrdadvar (d y twbl) in the acts of the martyrs. Since the latter was appointed to his office by the ruler and 80 See Braun, Ausgewählte Akten [ch 1, n. 12], Zoroastrianism, as later from Islam, was theoreti- 123, and H. Delehaye, L« versions grecques des actes cally pumshable by death, but we hear of many des martyres persans sous Sapor II, Patrologia conversions, especially in later yearsof the Sasanian Orientalis II, 4 (Paris, 1905), 494. Apostacy from Empire. The Sasanians 315 sent from the court to assist the chief mobad in his trial of Christians, we may suppose he was the chief legal official attached to the court, and not necessarily a priest, but a predecessor of the later shahr dadvaran davor attested in a late law book. 81 Under him were the many judges (dadvar) throughout the empire, while the office of rat or rad (from Avestan ratav) is unclear, although he seems to have been more of an executive officer, including perhaps police functions in his duties, than simply a judge. In later sources we find the title yatakgov or 'counsel (for defense),' but a mixture of legal functions in one person is implied by seals or clay sealings bearing the title dlgivVn y'tkgwby w d\wbly 'counsel for the poor and judge,' implying a conflict of interest. 82 Other later titles such as the andarzbad of the Magi or counsellor of the priests' is nowhere explained, and one can only guess the functions he performed. Other titles do appear in various sources, but many were temporary or ad hoc titles given to special commissioners for individual cases of law. What is apparent is the importance of laws and the legal Organization in the Sasanian Empire, mostly in the hands of the religious establishment, but with secular inputs from the royal court or from provincial government centers. The Christians and especially the Jews had their own courts to deal with disputes between co-religionists, and presumably when Zoroastrians were involved the State courts and Iranian laws took precedence. The ecclesiastical Organization of the State church was not identical with the legal structure, and the theory of the religious hierarchy was not always evident in reality. In the later Sasanian Empire three all-empire fire temples were supposed to be the religious centers for the three castes of society, the Adur Gushnasp or the temple of the warriors, at the site today called Takht-e Sulaiman in Azerbaijan, Adur Farnbag, temple of the priests, somewhere in Fars province, in tradition in the village of Kariyan, and Adur Burzen Mihr, temple of the peasants and common folk in Khurasan. 83 In addition there were provincial fire temples, town and village temples and finally niches for fires in the home, a veritable network and hierarchy of fires, but this is later. In the time of Shapur II we find only the beginnings of the complex religious Organization, although in the sources we already find references to priests placed over provinces and towns, and we may assume that some sort of religious Organization existed. Just as the clergy had assumed an important role in society and had made 8 ' G. Hoffmann, Auszüge, op. eil., 65, and in the ordeals' found in the Mätigän show the importance Mätigän e hazär dätastän (110, 5-6), transl. A. G. of oaths and tests by ordeals in Sasanian Iran as in Perikhanian (Erevan, 1973), 314. The creation of medieval Europe. titles modelled on that of 'king of kings' may be si For identification of localities of the fires see exaggerated, but one may presutne there was a the compilation of sources in K. Schippmann, Die chief judge, chief senbe, or the like, and people iranischen Feuerheiligtumer (Berlin, 1971), 23-30, may have given them titles on the basis of analogy. 86-94, and 309-57. On Jewish courts see J. 82 On the unclear functions of the rat see T. Neusner, A Hislory of the Jews in Babylonia, 3, Nöldeke, Geschichte der Perser, op. cit., 447, (1968), 29, 45, 273 and 4 (1969), 131. For the Perikhanian, loc.cit., 517, and J. P. de Menasce, "Le Christians see E. Sachau, "Von den rechtlichen protecteur des pauvres dans l'Iran sassanide," Verhältnissen der Christen im Sasanidenreich, Mtlanges Henri Masse" (Tehran, 1963), 282-87, Mitteilungen des Seminars für orientalische Sprachen, and W. B. Henning. "Mitteliranisch," HO, 10 (Berlin, 1907), 1-27. Iranistik (1 958), 46. Such titles as var sardär 'chief of 316 Chapter XI Zoroastrianism the religion of the State, so also the nobility was organized in degrees, and the bureaucracy too assumed larger dimensions, all classes or castes working in support of the dynasty. The caste System was by no means as rigid as in India, for persons could be elevated, or even depressed, from one level to another by authority of the monarch, although such movement was rare. The ancient Achaemenid tradition, if not fiction, of seven great noble famihes (vaspuhrän) in Iran seems to have survived through the Parthian into the Sasanian era. Several of the great families continued from Parthian times to maintain influence under the Sasanians, and these were the Suren, with origins probably in Seistan, the Karen family in Media or more particularly in Nihavend, the Spandiyad (or Isfandarmad) family in Rhages (Rayy), the Aspahbad family in Gurgan, and somehow connected with them the Mihran family perhaps from Qumis or somewhere in eastern Media, and a family called Zek seemingly from Azerbaijan. 84 This was a feudal, landed nobility rather than one of the robe, but we hear of other great lords in the empire, the lord of Andegan, mentioned in SKZ and elsewhere, perhaps from Fars or the Persian Gulf area, and at the end of the Sasanian Empire, the Varz or Waraz from eastern Khurasan, perhaps by origin an Hephthalite family, as well as others. Unfortunately we have no Information about these families from Middle Persian sources, and the western sources (Greek, Armenian and Syriac) confuse names with honorifics and titles or positions. The great nobles, after the top families, were called the wuzurgän 'great ones,' and they were primarily the ruling officers of the realm, in the court, in the bureaucracy, in the army and even in religion, if we remember that Kerdir was elevated to the rank of a noble by Bahram II. The smaller nobility, the azadän lit. 'freemen,' mentioned in inscnptions were the less important feudal families who owned villages in one area and had a limited following. Finally, we find the lower bureaucracy, the dibirän or 'scribes,' who in the State hierarchy paralleled the azadän, the former the large number of privileged bureaucracy and the latter the large number of privileged landowners in the social hierarchy. Thus in theory the wuzurgän were over the dibirän, as the vaspuhrän were over the azadän, although the two hnes became mixed in the course of Sasanian rule. We shall examine the court and the central government Organization as well as provincial Organization after the reforms of Chosroes I, but the time of Shapur II was one of the Organization and consolidation of both society and government under the Sasanian king. Ardashir II, successor to Shapur II, is enigmatic, since both Arabic and Persian sources and Agathias (IV, 26) say he was the brother of Shapur which would have made him most elderly. Noeldeke supposed he was the former king of Adiabene mentioned in the acts of the martyrs, while Lukonin more plausibly suggested he was the brother of Shapur, king of the land of the Sakas mentioned in an inscription at Persepolis. 85 Another, and even more likely, possibility, however, is that Ardashir II 4 See the discussion with commentary in A. be noted that several Armenian authors and Christensen, L'lran, op. eh., 104-06. The great Hamza al-lsfahänT, op. eil., 37, consider Ardashir II feudal families undoubtedly changed throughout to have been the son of Shapur II, while K. Stock, time as their fortunes rose or feil. After Chosroes I "Yazdan-Fny-Sapur," SI, 7 (1978), 176, says the influence of all the great families declined. Ardashir was the brother-in-law of Shapur II but Nöldeke, Geschichte der Perser, op. eil., 70, gives no sources. and V. Lukonin, in private conversations. It should The Sasanians 317 was a son of Shapur II and brother of Shapur III and authors confused the two Shapurs. We then would have another similarity between Shapur I and Shapur II ; both were succeeded by a series of their sons rather than the rule passing through successive generations. In any case, the short rule of Ardashir and that of Shapur III, son of Shapur II according to a Middle Persian inscription at Taq-e Bustan, was uneventful; but the reports in Islamic sources that Ardashir was killed in a revolt of the nobles may indicate a reaction to the heavy hand of Shapur II in his long rule. Another Observation is the shift of attention of the rulers from Fars province to the more important central part of the country, ancient Media on the east-west trade route, and this is indicated by the rock reliefs, the last of which in Fars was carved by Narseh. Taq-e Bustan near Kermanshah became the site of new rock reliefs, the first one showing Ardashir II receiving a diadem, presumably from Ahura Mazda, while Mithra Stands on the other side of the king, and under the feet of the king and Ahura Mazda lies a slain enemy. The identifications of the ruler and the enemy have provoked controversy, but the change from Fars to the north at this time is more significant. 86 Another relief in a small grotto causes no problems of identification, since both Shapur II and Shapur III are represented standing facing one another with inscriptions identifying them. The events leading to the accession of Ardashir II followed by Shapur III elude us, but one may presume some kind of power struggle between factions supporting one or another son of Shapur II, perhaps from different mothers. 87 In Islamic sources Shapur III is praised as being well disposed towards the nobility and in general benevolent in his conduct, while his position in regard to Christians was much milder than his predecessors. In his reign (383-388) the existing division of Armenia between a small Roman and a large Sasanian-oriented part was sealed by a treaty between the two great powers. In the Caucasus region and in the east nomadic peoples were in motion because of pressure from the Huns in Central Asia, but the results of this unrest did not become acute in the Sasanian Empire until the reign of Bahram IV (388-399) who was either another son of Shapur II or possibly of Shapur III. In the reign of Bahram two events in foreign relations are significant. At the death of Chosroes, king of the large and Persian part of Armenia, Bahram appointed his brother Bahram-Shapur (Armenian: Vramshapuh) to the throne about 391, while the Roman part of Armenia had been absorbed into the Roman Empire and there were no longer two kings of Armenia. In the Persian part there was a flowering of 86 K. Erdmann in Die Kunst Irans, op. cit., 69, 87 Since the epic Tradition (in Firdosi and suggested that the lying enemy was Julian the elsewhere) speaks of an agreement that Ardashir II Apostate but the Sasanian king was Ardashir. L. hold the throne until Shapur III, son of Shapur II, Trümpelmann, in "Triumph über Julian Apo- came of age (most unlikely), and since Mithra, stata," Jahrbuch für Numismatik und Geldgeschichte, deity of contracts and oaths, is represented on the 25 (Zürich, 1975), 107-11, maintains that the relief at Taq-e Bustan, I tentatively suggested the Sasanian king is in fact Shapur II while the enemy existence of some agreement giving Ardashir II is Julian. His arguments about the crown and precedence over Shapur III in "Mithra in Iranian decorations, however, are not convincing. For Archaeology," Budes Mithraiques, AI (Leiden, close-up photographs of the scene see S. Fukai and 1978), 209. Shapur II did have several brothers K. Honuchi, Taq-i Bustan, 2 (Tokyo, 1972), plates according to Syriac sources, but their ages present 74-92. A later date also has been suggested for this problems. rock carving on the basis of style 318 Chapter XI literature with the use of the new Armenian aiphabet invented by a priest called Mesrop and sponsored by the catholicos, or head of the Armenian church, Sahag. At the same time the first invasion of the Huns from north of the Caucasus into the Near East took place, and in 395, we hear from Synac and Greek sources, they came as far as Mesopotamia, but they were driven back by a Sasanian army. 88 In the east too the Sasanians experienced difficulties which we will examine in the next chapter. The violent ends of the rulers Ardashir II and Bahram IV, probably both the result of plots by the nobility, show the strength of the feudal lords in imposing their will on the central government and the failure of the long rule of Shapur II to establish a stable and powerful central authority. The succeeding rulers were not noted either for their martial abilities or their dominant personalities. Yazdagird I is said to have been either the son or the brother of Bahram IV, but all Islamic sources characterize him as a 'sinner,' harsh, proud, a tyrant or other negative appellations, while Christian (Syriac or Greek) sources speak well of the ruler, some suggesting that Yazdagird was converted, which is hardly true. During his reign, peace was maintained with the Romans or Byzantines, and perhaps it was the reported friendship between Yazdagird and Marutha the bishop of Maipherkat, who was sent by the emperor Arcadius on several embassies to Iran, which gave rise to the rumor that Yazdagird had converted to Christianity. Some sources say that Marutha gained the confidence of the Sasanian ruler by his fame as a doctor, but whatever his relationship with Yazdagird the lot of Christians in the Sasanian Empire at first improved during his reign. 89 The synod of 410 which was convened in the city of Seleucia under the patronage of Yazdagird was not only a landmark in the history of eastern Christianity, establishing rules, beliefs and the church Organization in the Sasanian Empire, but it also regularized relations between church and State on the basis ofthat System which in later Islamic times came to be called the milkt System. This meant that the Christians were recognized as a legally allowed minority entitled to State protection of their rights, but also that the Sasanian State, which meant the ruler, had the right of appointing the head of the Christian church in the empire and to uphold that head in his authority. A certain Isaac, bishop of Seleucia, became the head of the church, and quarreis and dissensions ceased because now the church had State support behind it. The importance of this synod for Iran was great, for the way was now made open for a Christian church of Iran separate from western Christians, and the future dominance of Nestorian or 'diophysite' Christianity as the Iranian sect of Christianity was prepared by this synod, the articles of which are reproduced in the Synhadus, the book of Councils of the Nestorian church. According to the synod the persecutions and martyrdoms were to cease, but this did not prevent some overzealous Christians, in their new-found freedom, from attacking some Zoroastrian priests and destroying fire temples, which provoked the wrath of Yazdagird and unleashed a new attack on Christians, some of 88 For the sources see O. Maenchen-Helfen, The 260-82. For a possible edict of toleration for World of the Huns (Berkeley, 1973), 52-57. Christians promulgated already by Shapur III, see 89 On the sources for Marutha's life see R. M.-L. Chaumont, "A propos d'un edit de paix Marcus, "The Armenian Life of Marutha of rehgieuse depoque Sassanide," Mtlange d'Hisloire Maipherkat," Harvard Theological Review, 35 des Religions offerts ä H. C. Puech (Paris, 1974), 71- (1932), 47-73. See also A. Vööbus, History of 80. Asceticism in the Syrian Orient (Louvain, 1958), The Sasanians 319 whom suffered martyrdom towards the end of the reign of Yazdagird. 90 At the same time we may suppose that relations with the Jews were placed on a similar basis, although the exilarchate had existed long before Yazdagird, and lt perhaps served as a model for the state's relationship with the Christians. 91 The story that Yazdagird married a daughter of the patriarch of the Jews in the empire, the resh galutha, as well as the story that the king was killed by a stränge horse, are both probably folk tales. In the Synhadus, the section on the Council of 410, we find for the first time mention of the (Syriac) /irmJr'ßß'or (MP) wuzurgframadar, the 'great Commander' or prime minister called Chosroes Yazdagird, together with tnhyr Zbwr Mihr Shapur of the house of the argbad, who is not to be identified with Mihr Narseh prime minister during the reign of Bahram V. 92 The position of prime minister may have existed earlier, but afterwards he became very important, the representative of the ruler, and the prototype for the Islamic vezier. An interesting episode of the request by the Byzantine emperor Arcadius that Yazdagird act as a guardian for his young son Theodosius II, may be apocryphal, but it presaged future practices. It is claimed that Yazdagird took his charge seriously and sent a eunuch called Antiochus to Byzantium to advise and care for the young emperor after the death of Arcadius. 93 The sons of Yazdagird, however, were sent away from court, one Shapur was sent to Armenia to become king ofthat land after the death of Vramshapuh in 414; another son Bahram was sent to Mundhir, king of the Lakhmid Arabs at his capital al-Hira to be raised on the edge of the desert, while a third son called Narseh is only hinted at in the sources. When Yazdagird died mysteriously in one of his eastern provinces, Shapur, who had ruled Armenia, trying without much success to integrate it further into the Sasanian Empire, left for the court to succeed his father, but he was murdered, presumably by some nobles who raised a Sasanian prince called Chosroes only distantly related to Yazdagrid to the throne. Bahram, however, did not acquiesce and, supported by the Lakhmids with an army, he disputed the throne and apparently won the support of the Iranian nobles, and Chosroes retired from the field so that Bahram could become ruler. So many stories are told about Bahram V Gör 'the wild ass (hunter)' in the Shähnäme and elsewhere that one may say Bahram became a prototype of the heroic king, militant, a great hunter, pleasure loving and in general leaving affairs in the hands of his ministers, especially the prime minister Mihr Narseh, well known to Armenian 90 OnthesynodseeChabot,op. cit. [eh. l,n. 12], military funetions as well aecording to TabarT 254-62, and for the persecutions at the end of (Noeldeke, op. cit., 111). This title may have Yazdagird's reign see Braun, op. cit. [eh. 1, n. 12], become confused with another argbad 'fortress 139-41. The edict of Yazdagird in creating the lord,' or the latter may have been created as a synod has been called the 'edict of Milan of the populär etymology. east.' 9i For the Greek sources see G. Rawlinson, The 91 Neusner, A History qf the Jews in Babylonia Seventh Great Oriental Monarchy, 1 (New York, op. cit |n. 83], 5, 3-18. It should be noted that 1882), 272-74. Onevents leading to the short war Zoroastnans did continue to live in the eastern of 421-422 see K. G. Holum.Tulcheria's Crusade partsof the Byzantine Empire and pagans were to A.D. 421-422," in Greek, Roman, and Byzantine be found in both empires. Studies, 18 (Durham, North Carolina, 1977), esp. "Chabot, op. cit. [eh. 1, n. 12], 21, 260. The 162-72 On the practice of adoption in Iran see T. argbad at first seems to have been the important D. Chkheidza, Sistema vospitaniya v Sasanidskom official in charge of tribute, taxes, corvee and such Irane (Tiflis, 1979). matters, but later the oflfice probably included 320 Chapter XI sources as the arch-enemy of Christians. We know something about this prime minister of Bahram and his son Yazdagird II, and possibly also of the final years of Yazdagird I, that he came from the Firuzabad district of Fars where he left an inscription on the cliffby a bridge he had built, and we know the names of his sons, Zurvandad, who became chief herbaä under Bahram, while the second Mahgushnasp became chief oftaxes and the third Kardar became chief general of the army. 94 He also dedicated four fire temples in Fars to himself and his three sons, traces of which still exist. Bahram had to fight many battles in the east against either the Chionites or against new nomadic invaders, the Hephthalites, and the few references in Armenian and Islamic sources indicate that he was, on the whole, victorious. He left a legacy of the extent of Sasanian influence, or more likely even direct rule, in the coinage of Bukhara where the later drachms of the oasis of Bukhara were copied from the coinage of Bahram, and his portrait, in debased form, continued to be Struck on the local coins well into the time of the 'Abbasid caliphate. 95 After Bahram's reign, however, the fortunes of the Sasanians in the east suffered a decline, and Iran was mostly on the defensive against aggressive Hephthalite rulers. Probably during Bahram's reign eastern influences became important in the Sasanian Empire, for we find the beginning of the popularity of mythical names in the empire, names such as Jamshid, Kaus, Kavad and others, as well as the title kay (kdy) from ancient kavi, which although found on some coins of Shapur II becomes widespread under Yazdagird II and later. 96 This antiquarian revival may have been the result of Sasanian conquests in the east, where legends and songs of the ancient pre- history of the Iranian peoples were borrowed from Iranian nomads or even settled folk who preserved such lays better than in western Iran, where the successive central government organizations and urban life had caused in Iranians a forgetfulness ot their roots. In the west the Byzantine Empire was occupied with various barbarian invasions and, after a short inconclusive war between Byzantium and Iran at the beginning of Bahram's reign, peace was made in 422 and was maintained. In Armenia Bahram restored the native dynasty by appointing Artaxias (or Armenian: Artashes) son of Vramshapuh as king, but the new ruler offended some of the Armenian nobihty, who requested Bahram to remove their king, which he did in 428 appointing in his place a Persian governor. This pleased some of the nobles, called nakharars in Armenian, but much of the clergy, including Sahak the catholicus, the head of the church, wanted an Armenian pnnce as their sovereign, so the Situation in Armenia remained unstable. In 439 Bahram was succeeded by his son Yazdagird II who began a war with the 94 For the inscription see W. B. Henning, "The Altheim and R. Stiehl, Finanzgeschichte der Spatan- Inscription of Firuzabad," AM 4 (1953), 98-102, tike (Frankfurt/M. 1957), 19. and for Islamic sources, especially TabarT, see 95 See R. Frye, Notes on the Early Coinage qf Noeldeke, op. c it., 108-12. The Armenian sources Transoxiana ANS Monographs (New York, which refer to Mihr Narseh, called the hazärbad, 1949), "Additional Notes on the early Coinage of arepnmarily Elishe and LazarofP'arp. Forthefire Transoxiana," ANSMN, 4 (1950), 105-11, and temples see Schippmann, op. cit. [n. 83], 123-40, "Additional Notes II," ANSMN, 1 (1955),- 231- who speaks of fi ve temples. It is dimcult to accept 38. Also V. A. Livshits, et al., "O drevnei Sogdiiskoi the contention that the three sons represented the pismennosti Bukhary," VD1 1 (1954), 150-63. three castes of Iranian society as found in F. 96 See Noeldeke, op. cit., 1 47, n. 1 . The Sasanians 321 Byzantines, but the emperor Theodosius was anxious to make peace, and Yazdagird had to turn his attention to the east, so peace was made between the two empires, again maintaining the Status quo. In the east, however, much fighting took place before the Sasanian ruler could return to his homeland where the Armenian question occupied him. Even though the Christians in the empire had affirmed their Separation from Byzantine control and had proclaimed the independence of the church of the east in a synod in 421 , the Armenians had maintained close contacts with Byzantium, and the Persians were suspicious of their true loyalties. Fortunately we have detailed information in the works of Lazar of P 'arp and Elishe about the attempt of Yazdagird through his prime minister Mihr Narseh to convert the Armenians to Zoroastrianism, or in the eyes of the Sasanians to bring them back from their apostasy from the Mazdaean faith. From the edict of Mihr Narseh sent to the Armenians, as reproduced by Elishe, and from the contemporary account of Eznik about the Persian religion, one would infer that the myth of Zurvan as the father of both Ahura Mazda and Ahriman was widespread in Iran at this time and was held by Mihr Narseh as a fundamental tenet of his beliefs, although the extent of such tenets among the Zoroastrians ofthat time is really unknown. 97 The edict roused the Armenians to the defense of their faith, and a revolt was launched against the Persians, even though some nobles including one of their leaders Vasak, prince of the province of Siunik, upheld Sasanian rule. Request for aid from Theodosius, the Byzantine emperor, went unanswered, and in a fierce battle called Avarair, the Christians led by prince Vardan of the house of Mamikonian were annihilated. Vardan was killed, and many priests and nobles were taken captive. These momentous events in Armenian history are not mentioned in other language sources, which give the impression of a peaceful reign in spite of the fanaticism of the prime minister. The east, however, continued to be unstable, and Yazdagird had to fight battles against nomads there in his last years. At the death of Yazdagird his two sons contested the throne, and the sources (Islamic) disagree as to who was eider and younger, but Hormizd took power and Peroz attacked him and was able to defeat and kill his brother. During the civil war between the two brothers, the king of Caucasian Albania, who had been forced to accept Zoroastrianism in the time of Yazdagird, revolted and, allied with Hunnic people north of the Caucasus, posed a threat to Peroz, who fought against the Albanian king, but peace was made and Peroz changed the policy of his father and left the Armenian and Albanian Christians in peace. 98 The pass of the Caucasus at Derbend had been penetrated several times by nomads, and the Sasanians had received a subsidy 97 Elishe, ed. E. Ter-Minasean (Erevan, 1957), attacked, or attacked Zoroastrians who did not 24, trans. in Langlois, o/>. eil., 2, 190. On Eznik see indulge in time speculation. One can place too J.M.Schmid, H'Wer /stori7 authors see their "Une inscription inedite Turque Sogda (Moscow, 1 970) is a detailed summary of et Sogdienne : La siele de Sevrey (Gobi Meridion- what can be learned from documents in Sogdian »\),"JA, 259 (1971), 11-20. combined with Arabic and Persian sources. The 33 See E. Schaefer, "Iranian Merchants in Tang social Order, economic activities and the Arab Dynasty Tales," in Semitic and Oriental Studies conquest are discussed in detail. A. Dzhalilov, Sogd presented to Wm. Popper, ed. by W. J. Fischel Nakanune Arabskogo Nashestviya (Stalinabad, (Berkeley, 1951), 403-22. On cultural influences 1961), on the other hand, only deals with Arabic in the east see J. G. Mahler, The Westerners Among and Persian sources. 354 Chapter XII 'New Persian' culture has only begun to be studied, and undoubtedly one will be able to show even more influences in the future. 36 The Central Asian flowering, however, is a vast project for future investigations and cannot be pursued further here. One should not leave Central Asia without a word about the Khwarazmians who played a role in the trade with eastern Europe similar to that of the Sogdians with the Far East. The Khwarazmians were similar to the Sogdians in many ways, but they had their own language and possibly because of their geographical position south of the Aral Sea, and surrounded by deserts, they had a more centralized government, and the dynastic principle was respected and preserved. Before the discovery of inscriptions in the ancient Khwarazmian language in a form of the Aramaic aiphabet, and of documents in the Khwarazmian language but written in the Arabic script from as late as the twelfth Century indicating the persistence of the use of the language in written as well as spoken form down to the Mongol invasions, we knew most about that land from its most eminent son Biruni. 37 Some of his Information about the Khwarazmians, their royal dynasty and their calendar, has been vindicated by Khwarazmian writings as well as by the extensive excavations undertaken by the many-yeared expedition led by S. P. Tolstov. 38 Just before the Coming of the Arabs the Afrighid dynasty ruled in Khwarazm, and the names of some of the rulers are known. It seems that after the sixth Century Zoroastrianism flourished more in Khwarazm than in Sogdiana; at least the cult of ancestors and exposure of corpses on mountain tops as in Sasanian Iran is amply attested by archaeologists. 39 In other respects the Khwarazmians differed from their eastern neighbors, especially in their art and in their closer contacts with the west. The numismatic tradition was different here too as were the legends on the coins, but it is not possible to reconstruct all of the names of the rulers of Khwarazm from the coins, many of which are enigmatic. 40 It is of interest to note that the Khwarazmian form of the name 'Musulman' was that adopted by the Russians of the Middle Ages (musurman/busurman), indicating the great importance of Khwarazmian merchants in eastern Europe. 41 36 Henning, "Sogdian Loan-words in New 3S S. P. Tolstov, ed., Trudy Khorezmskoi Arkheo- Persian," BSOS, 10 (1939), 93-106. His other logo-Etnograficheskoi Ekspeditsii, 11 vols. (Moscow, works, such as "Die älteste persische Gedicht- 1952-77), and his work in German, Auf den handschrift" (1959-e) and "Persian poetical manu- Spuren der altchoresmischen Kultur (Berlin, 1953). Scripts from the time of Rudaki" (1962-b) also The Khwarazmian archaeological bibliography is contain information about this subject. Reference now enormous, as is that of the Southern- is made to Henning's bibliography in the W. B. Turkmen complex of expeditions which by 1970 Henning Memorial Volume, ed. by M. Boyce and I. had reached 570 items according to the list Gershevitch, (London, 1970). Perechen, etc., ed. M. E. Masson (Ashkabad, 1970). For the ancient Khwarazmian inscriptions see 39 Conveniently summarized in I. M. Mumin- S. P. Tolstov and V. A. Livshitz, "Decipherment ova, ed., Istoriya Khorezma (Tashkent, 1976), 51. and Interpretation of the Khwarazmian mscrip- This book is a good summary of present work in tions from Tok Kala," AAH, 12 (1964), 231-51, the area of Khwarazm. and V. A. Livshits, "The Khwarazmian Calendar 40 Vainberg, op cit. [eh. 9, n. 33], and her article and the Eras of Ancient Chorasmia," AAH, 16 "Eftalitskaya dinastiya Chaganiana i Khorezm," (1968), 432-46, with a revised and expanded Numismalicheskii Sbornik Gos. Istoricheskii Muzei, Russian Version in Istoriya, Kultura, Yazyki Naro- 3 (Moscow, 1972). dov Vostoka, ed. by. Yu. A. Petrosyan (Moscow, 41 See Z. V. Togan, Khorezmian Glossary of the 1970), 5-16. For the Islamic documents see W. B. Muqaddimat al-Adab (Istanbul, 1951), 22, and Frye, Henning, A Fragment of a Khwarezmian Diction- R., "Byzantine and Sasanian Trade Relations with ary,ed.byD.N.MacKenzie(London,1971),with Northeastern Russia," Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 26 added bibliography. (1972), 265-69. Eastern Iran and Central Asia 355 The decipherment of the Khwarazmian language was one of the great achieve- ments of the late W. B. Henning, and much has been written about the remains in that language and its elucidation. 42 The Arab conquests, however, wreaked havoc in Khwarazm according to Biruni, but trade with the northwest continued as did writing in Khwarazmian, now in Arabic Script. Khwarazmian silver objects are known by their inscriptions, but in this genre of art the resemblance to Sogdian ob- jects is great. Whereas the archaeological work in the present republics of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan is much and varied, in the western part of Central Asia (the Karakalpak area and Turkmenistan) archaeology has been dominated by two great on-going expeditions, the Khwarazmian of Tolstov, mentioned above, and the southern Turkmenistan complex, and just to keep up with the volume of publications of these two expeditions is extremely difficult. 43 Without doubt in years to come we will know much more about Central Asia than about other parts of the Orient. MINOR RULERS IN AFGHANISTAN In comparison with the overflow of materials from north of the Oxus River,' the history and archaeology of present Afghanistan is still largely unknown with many surmises built on insufficient evidence, but a final word about the east after the fall of the Hephthalites should be recorded. The lack of written sources continues to plague us, and numismatics again is of prime importance. Two factors should be taken into consideration in studying the coinage of the east in this period after the fall of the Hephthalites to the Sasanians and Turks; the first is a tendency to look for archaic features in some of the coinage, especially in the use of crowns and iconography, which some rulers apparently did employ. The other is the long use of a series of coins in an area of the east long after the ruler who originally Struck the coins had died. As in Bukhara with the so-called 'Bukhar Khudat' coins, which copied the coinage of Bahram V of Sasanian Iran, so the coinages of the name Khingil and that of the name Nezak (formerly called Napki), show a long continuity in usage. The tendency to make one series of coinage follow another in chronological succession has, I believe, obscured the existence of different styles and series in difFerent, and frequently rather small, areas of eastern Iran. One must be extremely cautious in assigning coins to certain rulers in a certain time period and in a certain area, since the adjective 'certain' is surely out of place in the east. Neither the defeat of the Hona ruler Mihirakula by a king of Malwa in India called Yasodharman about 528, nor their defeat (i.e., the Hephthalites) by the Turks and Chosroes I some thirty years later, ended the small Hephthalite principalities in northwest India, Kashmir and Afghanistan. Harmatta suggests that Khingil or Khingila was a personal name not only attested by coins but by a Sanskrit inscription from Gardiz and by the chronicle of Kashmir, and he postulates a dynasty of the Khingils, the first being Deva §ahi Khingila, who began rule in Kabul about the 460s, 42 See D. N. MacKenzie, "The Khwarazmian by the Institute of Archaeology in Moscow, called Glossary - 1," BSOAS, 33 (1970), 540, and I. Arkheologicheske Otkrytiya, which surveys work in Gershevitch, "In Memoriam", in his edition of W. Central Asia as well as elsewhere in the USSR and B. Henning Memorial Volume (n. 36), xix. of Soviet expeditions outside the USSR. 43 See n. 38. Every year a volume is published 356 Chapter XII followed by §ahi Javuvlah who conquered Gandhara, and he was followed by Lakhana Udayaditya, mentioned in the Kashmir chronicle, and a later king Khingila II about 562. 44 He further suggests that the Hephthalites divided into two main parts, a western and an eastern part about 515, which weakened resistance and prepared the way for defeats in both parts later. The Turks, however, were slow in extending their rule or influence south of the Oxus, whereas the wars of the Sasanians in the east under Bahram Chobin's generalship indicate that Sasanian rule was also precarious, and one may suppose that petty Hephthalite chiefs threw off their allegiances or vassalage to the Sasanians at the first sign of weakness. Anyone who knows the geography of eastern Afghanistan realizes that two areas are unified enough with resources to form kingdoms of some importance. The first is the Kabul-Kapisa (today Koh-e Daman) joined piain and the Qandahar-Ghazna piain, although in both cases the 'plains' are not large or level. The first came to be the kingdom of Kabul when the Arabs arrived while the latter was Zabul. In the mountains smaller principalities such as Bamiyan, Badakhshan (Tokharistan) may have been independent or in vassal relationship to Turkish states to the north or to Kabul ; we do not know. The coins we have alone cannot solve the problems of either chronology or areas where one or another king or dynasty ruled. As Harmatta has indicated, one problem is the existence of coins with the name 'Khingil' on them, apparently connected with Kabul, since we learn from the historian Ya qübl that as late as 799 a ruler of Kabul with this name came to the cöurt of the Caliph al- Mahdi. 45 At the same time. i.e., before and after the Arab conquests, we have many coins of a king called Nezak, apparently like Khingil also a family or dynastic name, and these coins too are found both north and south of Kabul, as well as there. 46 Harmatta wonders whether the Nezaks ruled in Kapisa, to the north of Kabul, but again we have no definite information. Suffice it to say that there were a number of dynasties in the mountains, and they belong to later history. The question of the rulers of Zabul or Zabulistan, called Zunbil or Rutbil in Islamic sources, has spawned an extensive literature, especially about the name and religion of the rulers, the latter seemingly a local Indo-Iranian cult. 47 Discussion of the rulers of Afghanistan down to the time of Mahmud of Ghazna, however, would far exceed the limits of this book, for the history of the Turk Shahis of Kabul followed by the Hindu Shahis is 44 Harmatta, op cit., n. 1, 399-401. His recon- "Napki Malka and the Kushano-Sasanians," in D. struction of the eastern rulers is the first systematic K. Kouymjian, Near Eastern Numismatics, lconogra- attempt to put all data, not just coins, into some phy, Epigraphy and History, Studies in Honor ofG. chronological Order, and this is preferable to Göbl's C. Mite, (Beirut, 1974), 1 1 6-1 8, (written in 1968, reconstruction, based on coins alone; see his op cit., but not published until 1974), and Humbach in his 2 [n. 1], 322. Baktrische Sprachdenkmäler, 1, op. cit.. n. 14, 59. 45 His history was ed. by M. T. Houtsma, 2 4 ' On Zabul see J. Marquart and J. J. M. de (Leiden, 1883), 479. Many Islamic sources have Groot, "Das Reich Zäbul und der Gott Zun vom Information about the later rulers of Kabul and 6.-9. Jahrhundert," Festschrift Eduard Sachau (Ber- Zabul. lin, 1915), 248-92, as well as later articles by L. 46 The correct reading of the 'Napki' coins was Petech, "Note su Kapisi e Zäbul," RSO, 29 (1964), found simultaneously by Humbach, Harmatta and 287-94, and G. Scarcia, "Sulla Religione di Zäbul," myself, but Humbach did not follow his reading AION, 15 (1965), 119-65. Harmatta, op cit., n. 1, or connect it with the Nezak of Islamic sources. 405-06, proposes that the name 'Zunbil' be read as For Harmatta see his op cit., n. 1 , 408-09, myself in the name of the land 'Zabul'. Eastern Iran and Central Asia 357 intimately bound up with the history of northern India. 48 At this period of the Arab invasions Buddhism is very much on the decline and in the mountains of Afghanistan Hinduism is resurgent, and only in a few strongholds such as Bamiyan do Buddhist monks maintain Buddhist centers. The Turkish expansion is really two-fold, a movement of nomads or tribesmen from the Altai mountains through the Hissar-Alai ränge into Bactria and the mountains to the south and an extension of west-Turkish hegemony over the petty states of Sogdiana and Bactria, for the latter area too seems to have lost any unity it had to a series of small states at the end of the sixth and the beginning of the seventh Century. From Islamic sources we learn of rulers of Chaganiyan, Shuman and others located in modern Tajikistan, each with a distinctive title. While Buddhism to the south had lost much ground, in Bactria viharas continued to be built, as at Adjina (Adzhina) tepe and elsewhere, and only the expansion of Islam brought an end to Buddhism in this region. Resistance to the Arabs was more severe in Central Asia and in Afghanistan than in the west, since once the imperial Sasanian armies were defeated the advancing Arabs only met local resistance, but in the east, far from their centers and supplies, the Arabs were not able to crush the resistance in one or two decisive battles. The Sogdians, however, were quick to see the commercial advantages in being part of a great Caliphate which extended over so many countries, and the Cooperation between the Sogdian merchants and textile specialists among the Arabs is a fascinating example of Sogdian secularism and practicality, for they were a nation of traders and shopkeepers. 49 All of this, however, is only the Nachklang of ancient Iran in the new world of the Islamic oecumene. The heritage from Iran which was so important in the Islamic mixture, especially in the eastern Islamic world, was not just the heritage of western Iran of the Achaemenids and the Sasanians; it was just as much the contribution of the Iranian nomads of the steppes of inner Asia and of the Iranian merchants of the Sogdians and the Khwarazmians, not to omit the Iranian Buddhists of Bactria and of the Hindukush. One may tentatively suggest that the end of the Sasanian Empire saw the torch of Iranian culture and learning move eastward to settle in Transoxiana and Bactria, until the Mongol conquest of the twelfth Century returned that torch to western Iran, to Persia. Although so little known, the eastern Iranian world must not be forgotten in any assessment of the heritage of ancient Iran. Much remains to be done to recover the history of the east, but the future will surely reveal the importance of the east especially in the formation of Islamic culture. 48 On the Shahis see D. W. MacDowall, "The Sahis of Afghanistan and the Punjab (Patna, 1972), Shahis of Kabul and Gandhara," NC (1 968), 1 89- D. B. Pandey, The Shahis of Afghanistan and the 224, for the coins and H. Humbach, The Iranian Punjab (Delhi, 1 973) and Abdur Rahman, The Last Names of the Hindu Sähis," MSS, 30 (1972), 51- Two Dynasties of the Sähis (Islamabad, 1979). 53. Unfortunately the three books on the dynasties 49 See my Golden Age [eh. 1 1 , n. 117], 27-53. leave much to be desired: Y. Mishra, The Hindu APPENDICES APPENDIX 1* GENEALOGY OF THE ACHAEMENIDS Achaemenes (Hakhamamsh) Teispes (Chishpish) Cyrus I (Kurush) I Cambyses I (Kambujiya) I Cyrus II (549-530) I Cambyses II (530-522) Xerxes II (424-423) I I Artaxerxes II Mnemon (404-359) 1 Artaxerxes III Ochus (359-338) I Arses (Arsha) (338-336) Smerdis (Bardiya) 552 (or Gaumata) Cyrus the Younger (died 401) Ariaramnes (Ariyaramna) I Arsames (Arshama) I Hystaspes (Vishtaspa) I Darius (Darayavahush) | (522-486) I Xerxes I (Khshayarsha) | (486-465) I Artaxerxes I Longimanus (Artakhshassa) (465-424) I Darius II Nothus (423-404) Artostes Arsames Darius III Codomannus (336-330) * These tables are adapted from R N. Frye, The Herilage of Persia (London, 1962). 360 Appendix i TENTATIVE GENEALOGICAL TABLE OF THE ARSACID KINGS Arsaces I (Ysk) 247-? Tiridates (tyrdl) c. ?-211 bc. I Artabanus I C"P") c - 211-191 B.c. I Priapatius (prypt) c. 191-176 B.c. I Mithradates I (mtrdt) Phraates I (prhd or prdty) c. 176-171 B.C. c. 171-138 B.c. I Phraates II c. 138-128 B.c. ? Sinatruces (sntrwk) c. 77-68 ? B.c. Gotarzes I (gwtrz) c. 91-80 ? B.c. Orodes I (wrwd) c. 80-77 ? b.c. Artabanus II c. 128-123 b.c. Phraates III c. 68-57 b.c. I | Mithradates II c. 123-87 b.c. | Orodes II c. 57-37 bc. Mithradates III c. 57-54 b.c. Tiridates II Phraates IV c. 38-2 B.c. c. 30-25 B.c. | Phraataces (prdtk) c. 2 b.c-a.d. 4 Vonones I (whivnm'i) c. A.D. 7-12 Orodes III c. A.D. 4-7 Artabanus III c. A.D. 12-38 Tiridates III c. A.D. 36 Vardanes (ii'rr'n) c. A.D. 39^7 Gotarzes II (gwlrz) c. A.D. 38-51 Vonones II c. A.D. 51 I Vologeses I (wlgS) c. A.D. 51-80 Artabanus IV c. A.D. 79 Vologeses II c. A.D. 105-147 Vologeses III c. A.D. 148-192 Vologeses IV c. A.D. 191-207 Vologeses V c. A.D. 207-227 (?) Pacorus (pkwr?) A.D. 79-105 Oroses c. A.D. 109-128 Mithradates IV c. A.D. 128-147? Artabanus V c. 213-224 I Artavasdes Crtu/zd?) c. 226-227? Vertical hnes mean father to son succession while horizontal lines mean blood or adopted brothers. The Dynasty ofthe Sasanians THE DYNASTY OF THE SASANIANS* 361 ♦Denak (?) I *Papak King (208-222?) I *Shapur King (222?) *Khuranzim-m- *Rodak ♦Sasan (?) *Varahran I (273-276) I Varahran II (276-293) I Varahran III (293) Valash (484-488) Shahryar Yazdagird III (632-651) Kavad II (628) I Ardashir III (628-629) *Ardashir King of Kings-m-*Mirud (22?-240) I *Shapur King of Kings-m-*Denak ? (240-272) *Hormizd Ardashir (272-273) Ardashir II (brother?) (379-383) Varahran IV (388-399) Peroz (459-484) Kavad (488-531) I Khusro I (531-579) i Hormizd IV (579-590) I Khusro II (591-628) I Boran (629-630) *Narseh (293-302) I Hormizd II (302-309) I • Shapur II (309-379) Shapur III (383-388) I Yazdagird I (399-421) I Varahran V (421-439) I Yazdagird II (439-457) Hormizd III (457-459) Zamasp (496-498) Varahran Chobin (590-591) Hormizd V Khusro III (630-632)? •Names preceded by an asterisk are found in KZ, and -m- means married. APPENDIX 2 THE BEHISTUN INSCRIPTION OF DARIUS, NEAR KERMANSHAH, IRAN* Column I — I am Darius the Great King, King of Kings, King in Persia, King of countries, son of Vishtaspa, grandson of Arshama, an Achaemenid. Saith Darius the King: My father was Vishtaspa; Vishtaspa's father was Arshama, Arshama's father was Anyaramna, Ariyaramna's father was CiSpis, CispiS' father was Haxamanais. Saith Darius the King : For this reason we are called Achaemenids. From long ago we have been noble. From long ago our family was royal. Saith Darius the King : Eight of our family were previously kings. I am the ninth. Nine kings we have been in succession. Saith Darius the King: By the will of Ahuramazda I am king. Ahuramazda gave me kingship. Saith Darius the King: These are the lands which came to me. 1 became their king by the will of Ahuramazda: Persia, Elam, Babylonia, Assyria, Arabia, Egypt, those by the sea, Sardis, Ionia, Media, Armenia (Urartu), Cappadocia, Parthia, Drangiana, Ana, Khwarazm, Bactria, Sogdiana, Gandhara [(Paruparaesanna)], Sakaland (Gimiri), Sattagydia, Arachosia, Maka, a total of twenty-three lands. Saith Darius the King: These are the lands which came to me. By the will of Ahuramazda they became my subjects. They bore me tribute. What was said to them by me, by night or by day, they did. Saith Darius the King: In these lands the man who was loyal I supported well; whoever was evil I punished well. By the will of Ahuramazda these countries respected my law(s). What was Said to them by me they did. Saith Darius the King: Ahuramazda gave me kingship. Ahuramazda bore me aid so I could uphold the kingship. By the will of Ahuramazda 1 hold this kingship. Saith Darius the King: This is what I did, (by the will of Ahuramazda), after I became king. A certain Cambyses by name, son of Cyrus, (King of Persis, King of Lands), of our family, was king here. That Cambyses had a brother called Bardiya, of the same mother and the same father. Then Cambyses slew that Bardiya. After Cambyses slew Bardiya, it was not known to the people that Bardiya had been slain. Then Cambyses went to Egypt (with an army). When Cambyses had gone to Egypt the people became evil. Afterwards the lie(s) in the land grew great in Persis, Media and other lands. Saith Darius the King: Then there was a man, a Magian (a Mede), Gaumata by name. He rose up from Paishiyau vada (Pishikhumada) ; from a mountain called Arakadri, fourteen days of the month Viyakna (Addaru) had passed when he rose up. He lied to the people thus: 'I am Bardiya, son of Cyrus, (younger) brother of Cambyses.' Afterwards all the people revolted from Cambyses and went over to him, Persis, Media, (Babylonia, Elam), and other lands. He seized the kingship; nine days were past of the month of Garmapada (Du'üzu) when he seized the kingship. Then Cambyses died by his own hand. Saith Darius the King : The kingship which that Gaumata took a way from Cambyses, this kingship had belonged to our family from long ago. Then Gaumata the Magian took (the kingship) from Cambyses. He made his own Persis, Media (Babylonia) and other lands, He became king. Saith Darius the King: There was no man, neither a Persian, a Mede (nor a Babylonian nor of elsewhere), nor anyone of our family who might take the kingship from that Gaumata the Magian. People feared him greatly, that he might slay in great numbers the people who had known Bardiya previously. For this reason he would kill people, 'lest they know me, that I am not Bardiya, son of Cyrus. No one dared say anything about Gaumata the Magian until I came. Then I prayed to Ahuramazda; Ahuramazda bore me aid. Ten days of the month of Bagayadi (Tashritu) had passed; then I with a few men (nobles) slew that Gaumata the Magian. In a fortress (town) called Sikayauvati, in the district of * The inscription is located by the village of version are in parentheses. Absolute consistency in Bisutun and is sometimes called after the village. the translation has not been followed. Western The translation follows the OP text, mainly of names of well-known names and places are used; Kent, with additions from Elamite enclosed in otherwise the Old Persian form appears. brackets, while additions from the Akkadian 364 Appendix 2 Nisaya by name, in Media - there I slew him. 1 toolc the kingship from him. By the will of Ahuramazda I became king. Ahuramazda gave me the kingship. Saith Darius the King: The kingship which he had taken from our family I restored and put in its place as previously. As before I restored the temples (of the gods) which Gaumata the Magian had destroyed. I restored to the people (army) the chattel, flocks, domestics and estates ('bow' estates) which Gaumata the Magian had taken from them. I re-estabhshed the populace in its place. Persis, Media and other lands which had been taken I restored as before. By the will of Ahuramazda this 1 did. I strove until I had re- estabhshed our royal house in its place as before. I strove by the will of Ahuramazda, so that Gaumata the Magian did not take away our royal house. Saith Darius the King: This is what I did after I became king (as lt was before). Saith Darius the King: When I had slain Gaumata the Magian, afterwards a man Assina (Atrina) by name, son of Upadarama (an Elamite) rose up in Elam. He said to the people : '1 am king in Elam.' Then the Elamites revolted (from me) and went over to that Assina. He became king in Elam. Also a man, a üabylonian called Nidintu-Bel son of Ainaira (Kin-zEr, the tax official), rose up in Babylonia. He lied to the people thus: i am Nebuchadrezzar (Nebuchadnezzar) the son of Nabonidus (king of Babylon). Afterwards the people of Babylonia all went over to that Nidintu-Bel. Babylonia revolted. He seized the kingship in Babylonia. Saith Darius the King: Then 1 sent (a messenger) to Elam. They sent that Assina to me bound. I executed him. Saith Darius the King: Then I went to Babylonia against that Nidintu-Bel, who said, 'I am Nebuchadrezzar (-n-).' The army of Nidintu-Bel held (the bank) of the Tigris (canal). There they took their stand (on the canal). Because of flood (the Tigris) was unfordable. Then I embarked troops upon (boats of) skin. Others 1 made camel-borne and for others horses. By the will of Ahuramazda we crossed the Tigris (canal). There I defeated the army of Nidintu-Bel exceedingly. Twenty-six days of the month of Assiyadiya (Kislimu) had passed when we fought the battle. (We killed all of them and took no prisoners.) Saith Darius the King : Then 1 went towards Babylon. Before reaching Babylon, in a town Zazannu by name, on the (bank of) the Euphrates, there this Nidintu-Bel, who had called himself Nebuchadrezzar (-n-, King of Babylon) came against me with an army to attack. Then we fought the battle. Ahuramazda bore me aid. By the will of Ahuramazda I defeated the army of Nidintu-Bel exceedingly. The rest fled into the nver and the water carried them away. We fought the battle after two days had passed of the month of Anamaka (Tebetu). (We killed all of them and took no prisoners.) Column II - Saith Darius the King: Then Nidintu-Bel with a few horsemen fled and went to Babylon. Then I went to Babylon (after him). By the will of Ahuramazda I seized Babylon and captured that Nidintu-Bel. Afterwards I slew (impaled) that Nidintu-Bel (and the nobles who were with him. I executed forty-nine) in Babylon. Saith Darius the King: While I was in Babylon these are the lands which revolted from me: Persis, Elam, Media, Assyria, Egypt, Parthia, Margiana, Sattagydia, Saka-land. Saith Darius the King: There was a man called Martiya son of Cincikhri (Shinshakhrish), living in the town called Kuganaka in Persis. He rose up in Elam. He said (lied) to the people (of Elam) : 'I am Imanish, king in Elam.' Saith Darius the King: As soon as I was near Elam, the Elamites became afraid of me. They seized that Martiya who was their chief and slew him (of their own volition). Saith Darius the King: A man by name Fravartish, a Mede, arose in Media. He said (lied) to the people (of Media) : 'I am Khshathrita of the family (descendent) of Cyaxares.' Then the Median troops which were in the palace revolted from me and went over to that Fravartish. Then he became king in Media. Saith Darius the King : The troops of Persis and Media with me were few. Then I sent an army (to Media). Vidarna by name, my subject, him I made chief of them. I said to them thus: 'Go and defeat the Median troops who do not obey me.' Then this Vidarna with the army marched ofF(to Media). When he reached Media, in the town of Maru by name in Media, there he fought a battle with the Medes (troops of Media). He who was chief of the Medes at that time was not there. Ahuramazda bore me aid. By the will of Ahuramazda my army defeated that rebel army exceedingly. Twenty-seven days were past of the month of Anamaka (Tebetu) they fought a battle. (They killed 3827? among them and took 4329 prisoners [(Then Vidarna did not undertake another campaign] against Media). Afterwards this army of mine waited for me in the district (town) by name Kampada in Media until I arrived in Media. (Then they came to see me in Ecbatana.) Saith Darius the King : I sent Dadarshi by name, an Armenian (Urartian), my subject, to Armenia. Thus I said to him . 'Go and defeat that rebellious army which does not call itself mine ; attack it.' Then Dadarshi The Behistun Inscription of Darius 365 marched off (to Urartu). When he arnved in Armenia (Urartu), then the rebels assembled and went against Dadarshi to attack. A place by name Zdzu in Armenia (Urartu), there they joined battle. Ahuramazda bore me aid. By the will of Ahuramazda my army defeated the rebel troops exceedingly. Eight days of the month Thuravahara (Aiaru) had passed when they fought the battle. Saith Darius the King: Then a second time the rebels assembled for another battle and attacked Dadarshi. They fought a battle in the stronghold (town) of Tigra (Digra), in Armenia (Urartu). Ahuramazda bore me aid. By the will of Ahurmazda my army defeated the rebellious troops exceedingly. Eighteen days of the month of Thuravahara (Aiaru) had passed when they fought the battle. (They killed 546 among them and took 520 prisoners.) Saith Darius the King : Again, a third time the rebels assembled and came against Dadarshi to do battle. They fought the battle in the fortress by name Uyama, in Armenia (Urartu). Ahuramazda bore me aid. By the will of Ahuramazda my army defeated the rebel troops exceedingly. Nine days were past of the month of Thaigarci (Simänu) when they fought the battle. (They killed 472 of them and took 525? prisoners.) Thereafter Dadarshi ([did nothing]). He waited for me until 1 arrived in Media. Saith Darius the King : Then I sent Vaumisa by name, a Persian, my subject to Armenia (Urartu). Thus I said to him : 'Go and attack the rebellious troops who do not obey me.' Thereupon Vaumisa marched off. When he arrived in Armenia (Urartu) then the rebels assembled and went to attack Vaumisa. They fought a battle in the district of Izala by name, in Assyria. Ahuramazda bore me aid. By the will of Ahuramazda my army defeated the rebel troops exceedingly. Fifteen days of the month of Anamaka (Tebetu) were past when they fought. (They killed 2034 of them.) Saith Darius the King : Again a second time the rebels assembled and went against Vaumisa to join battle. They fought a battle in the district of Autiyara (Utiyäri) by name, in Armenia (Urartu). Ahuramazda bore me aid. By the will of Ahuramazda my army defeated the rebel troops exceedingly. On the last day of the month of Thuravahara (30th of Aiaru) they fought the battle. (They killed 2045 among them and took 1 558 prisoners.) Then Vaumisa did nothing. He waited for me in Armenia (Urartu) until I came to Media. Saith Darius the King: Then 1 left Babylon and went to Media. When I arrived in Media, in a town by name Kunduru in Media, there this Fravartish who called himself king in Media (who said, 'I am Khshathnta, a descendant of Cyaxares, king of Media) came against me with an army to do battle. Then we fought the battle. Ahuramazda bore me aid. By the will of Ahuramazda I defeated the army of Fravartish exceedingly. In the month of Adukanaisha (Nisannu), twenty-five days had passed when we fought the battle. (We killed 34,425? of them and took prisoner ?) Saith Darius the King: Then this Fravartish fled with a few horsemen and came to the district of Raga by name in Media. Then I sent an army after him. Fravartish (and the soldiers who were with him) was seized and led to me. I cut off his nose, ears and tongue and put out one eye. He was kept bound at my gate : all the people saw him. Then I impaled him at Ecbatana. The men who were his foremost followers (nobles) I executed (a total of forty-seven. I hung their heads) in the fortress at Ecbatana. Saith Darius the King: A man by name Cissantakhma (Shitrantakhma), a Sagartian, became rebellious to me. Thus he said to the people: 'I am king in Sagartia, of the family of Cyaxares.' Then 1 sent a Persian and Median army. I made chief of them Takhmaspada by name, a Mede, my subject. I said to them: 'Go forth, defeat the hostile army which is rebellious to me.' Then Takhmaspada went with the troops. He fought a battle with Cissantakhma (Shitr-). Ahuramazda bore me aid. By the will of Ahuramazda my army defeated the rebel troops and took Cissantakhma (Shitr-) prisoner and led him to me. Afterwards I cut off both his nose and ears, (his tongue) and put out one eye. He was held bound at my gate. All the people saw him. Then I impaled him at Arbela. (The total dead and surviving of the rebel force was 447 ?) Saith Darius the King: This is what was done by me in Media. Saith Darius the King: Parthia and Hyrcania (the Margians) became rebellious from me. They called themselves (supporters of) Fravartish. Vishtaspa, my father, was in Parthia. The people (army) abandoned him (for Fravartish) and became rebellious. Then Vishtaspa went forth with the army which was faithful to him. He fought a battle in a town Vishpauzati by name, in Parthia with the Parthians. Ahuramazda bore me aid. By the will of Ahuramazda Vishtaspa defeated that rebellious army exceedingly. Twenty days of the month of Viyakhna (Addaru) had passed when they fought the battle. (They killed 6346? of them and took 4346? prisoners.) Column III - Saith Darius the King: Then I sent forth (loyal) Persian troops to Vishtaspa from Raga. When the army reached Vishtaspa then Vishtaspa marched out with that army. In a town Patigrabana by name, in Parthia, he attacked the rebels. Ahuramazda bore me aid. By the will of Ahuramazda Vishtaspa defeated that rebel army exceedingly. The first day of the month of Garmapada (Du 'azu) was past when 366 Appendix 2 they fought the battle. (They killet) 6570 of them and took 41 92 pnsoners. Then he executed their leader and the nobles who were with him - a total of eighty ) Saith Darius the King: Then the land became mine. This is what was done by me in Parthia. Saith Darius the King : A land Margiana by name became rebellious against me. A man, Frada by name, a Margian, they made chief. Then I scnt against him a Persian, Dadarshi by name, my subject, the Satrap of Bactna Thus I said to him: 'Go forth, defeat that army which does not call itself mine.' Then Dadarshi niarched out with the army He fought the Margians. Ahuramazda bore me aid. By the will of Ahuramazda my army defeated the rebel army exceedingly . Twenty-eight days were past of the month of Assiyada (23rd day of Kishmu) when they fought the battle. (He executed Parada and the nobles who were with him, a total of 46? He killed 552 — ? and took 6572 pnsoners.) Saith Darius the King: Afterwards the land became mine. This is what was done by me in Bactria. Saith Darius the King: There was a man Vahyazdata, by name, a Persian residing in a town Tarava (Tarma) by name, in the district Yautiya by name, in Persis. He made the second uprising in Persis. He said to the people thus : 'I am Bardiya, the son of Cyrus (king of lands).* Then (all) the Persian forces (which liad come to me to) the palace (of Babylon) from Anshan previously, revolted from me and went over to that Vahyazdata. He became king in Persis. Saith Darius the King : Then I sent forth the Persian and Median army which was by me. (Then I sent a niessage to Persis to the other small Persian force which had not revolted from me, and to the Median forces.) [Then 1 sent the small Persian army which had not revolted from me in the palace and the Median jrmy which was by me.) I madcchief of them a Persian, Artavardiya (Artamarziya) by name, my subject. The rest of the Persian army went with me to Media. Then Artavardiya went with his army to Persis. When hc arrived in Persis, at a town Rakha by name, in Persis, there this Vahyazdata who called himself Bardiya (son of Cyrus) came with his army to attack Artavardiya. Then theyjoined battle. Ahuramazda bore nie aid. By the will of Ahuramazda my army defeated the army of Vahyazdata (who had said 1 am Bardiya) exceedingly. Twelve days were past of the month of Thuravahara (Aiaru) when they fought the battle. Saith Darius the King: Afterwards this Vahyazdata fled with a few horsemen. He went to Paishiyauvada (Pishikhumada). From there he got troops and went against Artavardiya to do battle. They fought a battle at a mountain Parga by name (in Persis). Ahuramazda bore me aid. by the will of Ahuramazda my army defeated that army of Vahyazdata exceedingly. Five days of the month of Garmapada (Du 'ozu) were past when they fought the battle. (They killed 6246? of them and took 4464? pnsoners ) They took that Vahyazdata pnsoner and those who were his foremost followers. Saith Darius the King: Afterwards I impaled that Vahyazdata and those who were his foremost followers at a town Uvadaicaya (Ubadasaya) by name (in Persis; 1 executed a total of 52?) Saith Darius the King: (Then this land became mine.) This is what was done by me in Persis. Saith Darius the King : This Vahyazdata, who called himself Bardiya (son of Cyrus) had sent an army to Arachosia against Vivana by name, a Persian, my subject, satrap in Arachosia. And he made one man their chief and said thus to them. 'Go, defeat Vivana and that army which calls itself King Darms'.' Then the army which Vahyazdata had sent against Vivana to do battle marched forth. In a fortress (town) Kapishakani by name (in Arachosia) they fought a battle. Ahuramazda bore me aid. By the will of Ahuramazda my army defeated that rebellious army exceedingly. Thirteen days of the month of Anamaka (Tebetu) had passed when they fought the battle. (The total dead and surviving of the troops whom Vahyazdata had sent was ?) Saith Darius the King. Again, later the rebels assembled to battle against Vivana. They fought in the district of Gandutava (Gandatamaki in Sattagydia). Ahuramazda bore me aid. By the will of Ahuramazda my army defeated that rebel army exceedingly. Seven days of the month of Viyakhna (Addaru) had passed when they fought the battle. (The total dead and surviving of the troops whom Vahyazdata had sent was 4579.) Saith Darius the King: Afterwards that man who was chief of the army which Vahyazdata had sent against Vivana fled with a few horsemen and got away. He went past a fortress (town) [estate] Arshada, by name, in Arachosia. Then Vivana pursued them with his army. He took him prisoner there with the men who were his foremost followers and slew them. (The total dead and surviving of the troops of Vivana was 42?) Saith Darius the King: Afterwards the land became mine. This is what was done by me in (Sattagydia and) Arachosia. Saith Darius the King: While I was in Persis and Media, the Babylonians again revolted from me. A man Arakha by name, an Armenian (Urartian), son of Haldita arose (in Ur, by name) in Babylonia. He rose up from a district, Dubala by name, and lied thus to the people : 'I am Nebuchadrezzar (-n-) son of The Behistun Inscription of Darius 367 Nabonaidus.' Thereupon the Babylonian army revolted from me. They went over to that Arakha. He seized Babylon. He became king in Babylon Saith Darius the King: Then I sent an army to Babylon. I made chief of them a Persian Vindafarna by name, my subject. Then I said to them: 'Go forth, defeat that Babylonian army which does not call itself mine.' Then Vindafarna went to Babylon with the army. Ahuramazda bore me aid. By the will of Ahuramazda Vindafarna defeated the Babylonian troops and took (all of) them to me as prisoners. Twenty-two days of the month of Varkazana (Arahsamnu) had passed when they fought the battle. Then that Arakha, who had falsely called himself Nebuchadrezzar (-n-) (son of Nabonidus) and the men who were his foremost followers were taken prisoner. I issued an Order: This Arakha and the men who were his foremost followers, impale them (Then he impaled that Arakha and the nobles who were with him) in Babylon.' (The total dead and surviving of the army of Arakha was 2497). Column IV - Saith Darius the King: This is what was done by me in Babylon. Saith Darius the King: This is what 1 did. By the will of Ahuramazda this is what I did in one and the same year after I became king. I fought nineteen battles. By the will of Ahuramazda I defeated them and took prisoner (their) nine kings. One was Gaumata by name, a Magian. He lied. Thus he said, 'I am Bardiya, son of Cyrus (king of Persis).' He made Persis (and Media) rebel. One Assina (Atrina) by name, an Elamite; he lied. Thus he said, 'I am king in Elam.' He made Elam rebel from me. One Nidintu-Bel by name. He lied. Thus he said, '1 am Nebuchadrezzar (-n-), son of Nabonidus (king of Babylon).' He made Babylonia rebel. One Martiya by name.a Persian. He lied. Thus he said, 'I am Imanish (Immaneshu), king in Elam.' He made Elam rebel. One Fravartish by name, a Mede. He lied, Thus he said, 'I am Khshathrita, of the family of Cyaxares.' He made Media rebel. One Cissantakhma by name, a Sagartian. He lied. Thus he said, '1 am king in Sagartia, of the familiy of Cyaxares.' He made Sagartia rebel. One Frada by name, a Margian. He lied. Thus he said, 'I am king in Margiana.' He made Margiana rebel. One Vahyazdata by name, a Persian. He lied. Thus he said, 'I am Bardiya, son of Cyrus (king of Persis).' He made Persis rebel. One Arkha by name, an Armenian (Urartian). He lied. Thus he said: '1 am Nebuchadrezzar (-n-) son of Nabonidus.' He made Babylonia rebel. Saith Darius the King: These nine kings 1 took prisoner in these battles (whom 1 defeated and if surviving they were captured and killed. My forces in the course of these battles defeated their forces). Saith Darius the King: These are the lands which became rebellious. The lie made them rebellious. These men lied to the people. Then Ahuramazda put them into my hand. As was my desire, so 1 did to them. (Just as 1 wish, they do.) Saith Darius the King: You who will be king hereafter. From the lie protect yourself vigorously . The man who lies, punish him severely, if you shall think thus: 'may my land be secure.' Saith Darius the King : This is what I did. By the will of Ahuramazda I did it in one year. You who later may read this inscription, let that which has been done by me convince you. Do not consider it a lie. Saith Darius the King: I take an oath by Ahuramazda that this (what I have spoken) is the truth and not false, that which 1 did in one and the same year. Saith Darius the King: By the will of Ahuramazda, much more was done by me which has not been inscribed in this inscription (document on the stele). It has not been inscribed for this reason, lest to whom who later reads the inscription what has been done by me seem excessive and it not convince him and he think it false. (May say: They are lies.) Saith Darius the King: Those who were former kings as long as they hved by them was not done thus (there was not one who accomplished) as much as by the will of Ahuramazda was done by me in one and the same year. Saith Darms the King- Let that which I did convince you. Teil (the truth to) the people. Do not conceal it. If you do not conceal this record (matters) but you do teil it to the people, may Ahuramazda (protect and) befnend you. May your descendants be numerous and may you live long. Saith Darius the King If you do conceal this record and do not teil the people (the truth which is inscribed here) may Ahuramazda smite (curse) you, and may you have no descendants. Saith Darius the King: This which 1 did in one and the same year by the will of Ahuramazda I did. Ahuramazda [the god of the Aryans] and (all) the other gods who are bore me aid. Saith Darius the King: For this reason Ahuramazda and (all) the other gods who are bore me aid, because I was not of evil intent 1 did not follow the he. I did no injustice, neither 1 nor my family. I conducted myself according to righteousness (the law). Neither to the weak nor to the strong did I do wrong. The man who cooperated with my house I rewarded well. Whosoever did wrong I punished well. 366 Appendix 2 they fought the battle. (They killed 6570 of them and took 4192 prisoners. Then he executed their leader and the nobles who were with him - a total of eighty.) Saith Darius the King: Then the land became mine. This is what was done by me in Parthia. Saith Darius the King: A land Margiana by name became rebelhous against me. A man, Frada by name, a Margian, they made chief. Then I sent against him a Persian, Dadarshi by name, my subject, the satrap of Bactria. Thus I said to him. 'Go forth, defeat that army which does not call itself mine.' Then Dadarshi marched out with the army He fought the Margians. Ahuramazda bore me aid. By the will of Ahuramazda my army defeated the rebel army exceedingly. Twenty-eight days were past of the month of Assiyada (23rd day of Kishmu) when they fought the battle. (He executed Parada and the nobles who were with him, a total of 46? He killed 552 — ? and took 6572 prisoners.) Saith Darius the King. Afterwards the land became mine. This is what was done by me in Bactria. Saith Darius the King: There was a man Vahyazdata, by name, a Persian residmg in a town Tarava (Tarnia) by name, in the district Yautiya by name, in Persis. He made the second uprising in Persis. He said to the people thus: '1 am Bardiya, the son of Cyrus (king of lands).' Then (all) the Persian forces (which had come to me to) the palace (of Babylon) from Anshan previously, revolted from me and went over to that Vahyazdata. He became king in Persis. Saith Darius the King: Then I sent forth the Persian and Median army which was by me. (Then I sent a mcssage to Persis to the other small Persian force which had not revolted from me, and to the Median forces.) [Then I sent the small Persian army which had not revolted from me in the palace and the Median army which was by me ] I madcchief of them a Persian, Artavardiya (Artamarziya) by name, my subject. The rest of the Persian army went with me to Media. Then Artavardiya went with his army to Persis. When he arrived in Persis, at a town Rakha by name, in Persis, there this Vahyazdata who called himself Bardiya (son of Cyrus) came with his army to attack Artavardiya. Then theyjoined battle. Ahuramazda bore nie aid By the will of Ahuramazda my army defeated the army of Vahyazdata (who had said I am Bardiya) exceedingly. Twelve days were past of the month of Thuravahara (Aiaru) when they fought the battle Saith Darius the King: Afterwards this Vahyazdata fled with a few horsemen. He went to Paishiyauvada (Pishikhumada). From there he got troops and went against Artavardiya to do battle. They fought a battle at a mountain Parga by name (in Persis). Ahuramazda bore me aid. by the will of Ahuramazda my army defeated that army of Vahyazdata exceedingly. Five days of the month of Garmapada (Du *üzu) were past when they fought the battle. (They killed 6246? of them and took 4464? prisoners.) They took that Vahyazdata prisoner and those who were his foremost followers. Saith Darius the King. Afterwards I impalcd that Vahyazdata and those who were his foremost followers at a town Uvadaicaya (Ubadasaya) by name (in Persis; 1 executed a total of 52?) Saith Darius the King: (Then this land became mine.) This is what was done by me in Persis. Saith Darius the King : This Vahyazdata, who called himself Bardiya (son of Cyrus) had sent an army to Arachosia against Vi vana by name, a Persian, my subject, satrap in Arachosia. And he made one man their clnef and said thus to them: 'Go, defeat Vivana and that army which calls itself King Darius'.' Then the army which Vahyazdata had sent against Vivana to do battle marched forth. In a fortress (town) Kapishakani by name (in Arachosia) they fought a battle. Ahuramazda bore me aid. By the will of Ahuramazda my army defeated that rebelhous army exceedingly. Thirteen days of the month of Anamaka (Tebetu) had passed when they fought the battle. (The total dead and surviving of the troops whom Vahyazdata had sent was ?) Saith Darius the King: Again, later the rebels assembled to battle against Vivana. They fought in the district of Gandutava (Gandatamaki in Sattagydia). Ahuramazda bore me aid. By the will of Ahuramazda my army defeated that rebel army exceedingly. Seven days of the month of Viyakhna (Addaru) had passed when they fought the battle. (The total dead and surviving of the troops whom Vahyazdata had sent was 4579.) Saith Darius the King: Afterwards that man who was chief of the army which Vahyazdata had sent against Vivana fled with a few horsemen and got away. He went past a fortress (town) [estate] Arshada, by name, in Arachosia. Then Vivana pursued them with his army. He took him prisoner there with the men who were his foremost followers and slew them. (The total dead and surviving of the troops of Vivana was 42?) Saith Darius the King. Afterwards the land became mine. This is what was done by me in (Sattagydia and) Arachosia. Saith Darius the King : While I was in Persis and Media, the Baby lonians again revolted from me. A man Arakha by name, an Armenian (Urartian), son of Haldita arose (in Ur, by name) in Babylonia. He rose up from a district, Dubala by name, and lied thus to the people: 'I am Nebuchadrezzar (-n-) son of The Behistun Inscription of Darius 357 Nabonaidus.' Thereupon the Babylonian army revolted from me. They went over to that Arakha. He seized Babylon. He became king in Babylon. Saith Darius the King: Then I sent an army to Babylon. I made chief of them a Persian Vindafarna by name, my subject. Then I said to them : 'Go forth, defeat that Babylonian army which does not call itself mine.' Then Vindafarna went to Babylon with the army. Ahuramazda bore me aid. By the will of Ahuramazda Vindafarna defeated the Babylonian troops and took (all of) them to me as prisoners. Twenty-two days of the month of Varkazana (Arahsamnu) had passed when they fought the battle. Then that Arakha, who had falsely called himself Nebuchadrezzar (-n-) (son of Nabonidus) and the men who were his foremost followers were taken prisoner. I issued an order: This Arakha and the men who were his foremost followers, impale them (Then he impaled that Arakha and the nobles who were with him) in Babylon.' (The total dead and survivmg of the army of Arakha was 2497). Column IV - Saith Darius the King: This is what was done by me in Babylon. Saith Darius the King: This is what I did. By the will of Ahuramazda this is what I did in one and the same year after I became king. I fought nineteen battles. By the will of Ahuramazda I defeated them and took prisoner (their) nine kings. One was Gaumata by name, a Magian. He lied. Thus he said, 'I am Bardiya, son of Cyrus (king of Persis).' He made Persis (and Media) rebel. One Assina (Atrina) by name, an Elamite; he lied. Thus he said, 'I am king in Elam.' He made Elam rebel from me. One Nidintu-Bel by name. He lied. Thus he said, 'I am Nebuchadrezzar (-n-), son of Nabonidus (king of Babylon).' He made Baby lonia rebel. One Martiya by name, a Persian. He lied. Thus he said, *I am Imanish (Immaneshu), king in Elam.' He made Elam rebel. One Fravartish by name, a Mede. He lied, Thus he said, '1 am Khshathrita, of the family of Cyaxares.' He made Media rebel. One Cissantakhma by name, a Sagartian. He lied. Thus he said, '1 am king in Sagartia, of the familiy of Cyaxares.' He made Sagartia rebel. One Frada by name, a Margian. He lied. Thus he said, 'I am king in Margiana.' He made Margiana rebel. One Vahyazdata by name, a Persian. He lied. Thus he said, 'I am Bardiya, son of Cyrus (king of Persis).' He made Persis rebel. One Arkha by name, an Armenian (Urartian). He lied. Thus he said: '1 am Nebuchadrezzar (-n-) son of Nabonidus.' He made Babylonia rebel. Saith Darius the King: These nine kings I took prisoner in these battles (whom I defeated and if surviving they were captured and killed. My forces in the course of these battles defeated their forces). Saith Darius the King: These are the lands which became rebellious. The lie made them rebellious. These men lied to the people. Then Ahuramazda put them into my hand. As was my desire, so I did to them. (Just as I wish, they do.) Saith Darius the King: You who will be king hereafter. From the lie protect yourself vigorously. The man who lies, punish him severely, if you shall think thus: 'may my land be secure.' Saith Darius the King : This is what I did. By the will of Ahuramazda I did it in one year. You who later may read this inscription, let that which has been done by me convince you. Do not consider it a lie. Saith Darius the King : 1 take an oath by Ahuramazda that this (what I ha ve spoken) is the truth and not false, that which I did in one and the same year. Saith Darius the King : By the will of Ahuramazda, much more was done by me which has not been inscribed in this inscription (document on the stele). It has not been inscribed for this reason, lest to whom who later reads the inscription what has been done by me seem excessive and it not convince him and he think it false. (May say: They are lies.) Saith Darius the King: Those who were former kings as long as they hved by them was not done thus (there was not one who accomplished) as much as by the will of Ahuramazda was done by me in one and the same year. Saith Darius the King • Let that which I did convince you. Teil (the truth to) the people. Do not conceal it If you do not conceal this record (matters) but you do teil it to the people, may Ahuramazda (protect and) befriend you. May your descendants be numerous and may you live long. Saith Darius the King: If you do conceal this record and do not teil the people (the truth which is inscribed here) may Ahuramazda smite (curse) you, and may you have no descendants. Saith Darius the King: This which I did in one and the same year by the will of Ahuramazda I did. Ahuramazda [the god of the Aryans] and (all) the other gods who are bore me aid. Saith Darius the King: For this reason Ahuramazda and (all) the other gods who are bore me aid, because I was not of evil intent. I did not follow the lie. I did no injustice, neither I nor my family. I conducted myself according to righteousness (the law). Neither to the weak nor to the strong did I do wrong. The man who cooperated with my house I rewarded well. Whosoever did wrong I punished well. 368 Appendix 2 Saith Darius the King: You who will be king hereafter, do not be a fnend to the liar or wrong-doer. Punish them well. Saith Darius the King : You who hereafter shall see this inscription which I ha ve inscnbed (stele) or (and) these sculptures, do not destroy them but as long as you shall have strength protect them. Saith Darius the King. If you see this inscription or (and) these sculptures and do not destroy them but protect them as long as you have strength, may Ahuramazda (protect and) befriend you, and may your descendants increase, and may you live long, and whatever you do may Ahuramazda make successful for you. Saith Darius the King: If you see this inscription or (and) these sculptures and destroy them and do not protect them as long as you have strength, may Ahuramazda smite (curse) you; may you not have descendants, and whatever you do, may Ahuramazda utterly ruin it. Saith Darius the King These are the men who were with me when I killed Gaumata the Magian who called himself Bardiya. At that time these men cooperated as my followers: Vindafarna by name, son of Vayaspara (Visparu), a Persian, Utana (Vittana) by name, son of Thukhra (Suhkra) a Persian, Gaubaruva (Gubaru) by name, son of Marduniya, a Persian, (a Padishumarish) Vidarna, by name, son of Bagabigna, a Persian, Bagabukhsha by name, son of Datuvahya (Zatua), a Persian, Ardimanish? by name, son of Vahauka (Vakhku), a Persian. Saith Darius the King : You who shall be king hereafter, protect well the family of these men (these men and the descendants of these men). Saith Darius the King: By the will of Ahurmazda this is the inscription which I made. Besides, it was in Aryan and composed on clay tablets and parchment. Besides, I made a sculptured figure of myself. Besides, 1 made my lineage. And it was inscribed and was read offbefore me. Afterwards I sent this inscription everywhere among the lands. The people unitedly worked on it. Column V - in OP - Saith Darius the King: This is what 1 did in both the second and third year** after I became king. A land, Elam by name, became rebellious. A man Atamaita by name, an Elamite, they made chief Then 1 sent an army. A man, Gaubaruva by name, a Persian, my subjeet, I made chief of them. Afterwards Gaubaruva with the army marched to Elam. He battled with the Elamites. Then Gaubaruva attacked and crushed the Elamites and captured their chief. He led him to me and 1 killed him. Afterwards the land became mine. Saith Darius the King: Those Elamites were faithless and Ahuramazda was not worshipped by them. I worshipped Ahuramazda. By the will of Ahuramazda, as was my desire, thus I did unto them. Saith Darius the King. Whoso shall worship Ahuramazda, blessing? will be with him both while alive and while dead. Saith Darius the King : Afterwards with an army I went to Sakaland after the Sakas who wear a pointed cap. These Sakas went from me. When I arrived at the sea, then I crossed beyond it with all my army. Afterwards 1 defeated the Sakas exceedingly. Another 1 took captive, who was led bound to me and 1 slew him Their chief Skunkha they seized and led to me. Then I made another chief, as was my desire. After that the land became nunc. Saith Darius the King: Those Sakas were faithless and Ahuramazda was not worshipped by them. 1 worshipped Ahuramazda. By the will of Ahuramazda, as was my desire, thus I did to them. Saith Darius the King: Whoso shall worship Ahuramazda, blessing? will be with him both while alive and while dead. ** Or only in the 'fourth' year A number of readings are uncertain in Column V because of damage to the stone APPENDIX 3 THE BACTRIAN INSCRIPTION OF SURKH KOTAL NEAR BAGHLAN IN AFGHANISTAN* After this stronghold (with) the 'Victorious Kanishka' temple, to which the lord king Kanishka gave his name, was completed, then the water inside it petered out wherefore the stronghold became waterless. And when fear of enemies arose, then the gods were removed from their places and were taken to Draf, to Andez, 1 and the stronghold was abandoned. Then when the karadrang 2 Nokonzok, son of Frixwadex, 3 most devoted to the devaputra king, helper of the country, amiable, merciful, pure-minded towards all hving beings, came here to the temple in the month of NTsän of the regnal year 31 ; Then he circumvallated the stronghold; then he dug this well and led its water out. Then he paved it with stones so that to people 4 in the stronghold water should not be lacking, such that when they have fear of enemies they do not remove the gods from their place and do not abandon the stronghold. And over the well he built a water-wheel (and he) installed a tank such that by means of this well, by means of this water-wheel, the whole stronghold fare well. And the well was built by Burzmihr, i.e. son of Kozgashk, i.e. Astilogansig 5 , honoring the memory of the karadrang Nokonzok, by command of the emperor. (Version M has: And this well and dromos? was built by Khirgman together with Burzmihr, etc. - same as Version B.) And the same (or 'the structure' was inscribed) together with Burzmihr's son Mihraman wrote (the inscription). (Two monograms complete the inscription.) * The first edition of the inscription (in three excavations see the four articles on Surkh Kotal in copies, two fragmentary) was by A. Maricq, the JA (1952, 1954, 1955, 1964). "Inscriptions de Surkh Kotal (Baghlan) "JA (1958) ' These two names have been identified as one 345-440. Others who wrote about it were W. B. Site, Drapsaka or Qunduz, with Andez meaning Henning, H. Humbach, J. Harmatta; for a 'fort' of the town, by J. Harmatta, The Great bibliography see M. Mayrhofer, "Das Bemühen Bactrian Inscription," AAH, 12 (Budapest, 1964), um die Surkh-Kotal-Inschrift," ZDMG, 112 454-55. (1963), 343-44, and G. Morgenstierne, "Notes on 2 Interpreted as 'Warden of the Marches' by Bactrian Phonology," BSOAS, 33 (1970), 125. Henning and Gershevitch, and as 'district-superin- The text in photos and in transcription is given by tendent' by Harmatta. R. Göbl, Die drei Versionen der Kaniika-lnschriß i Interpreted as an epithet, 'the king's favorite,' i'oii Surkh Kotal, Denkschriften der österreichis- by Harmatta. chen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 88 (Vienna, 4 So Gershevitch. Others read 'so that pure 1965). The version here is based on I. Gershevitch, water be not lacking.' "Nokonzok's Well," Afghan Studies, 2 (London, 5 The word cuxo has been translated as i.e., and 1979), 55-67, the two textscalled Band M Onthe the last name may be a family or clan name. APPENDIX 4 THE INSCRIPTION OF SHAPUR I AT NAQSH-E RUSTAM IN FARS* 1. 1, the Mazda worshipping lord Shapur, king of kings oflran and non-Iran, whose lineage is from the Gods, son of the Mazda worshipping divinity Ardashir, king of kings oflran, whose lineage is from the Gods, grandson of king Papak, am ruler of Iranshahr, [and I hold ?] the lands: Persis, Parthia, Khuzistan, Mesene, Assyria, Adiabene, Arabia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, 2. Georgia, Segan [Makhelonia = Mingrelia], Arran [Albania], Balasakan, up to the Caucasus mountains and the Gates of Albania, and all of the mountain chain of Pareshwar, Media, Gurgan, Merv, Herat and all of Aparshahr, 1 Kerman, Seistan, Turan, Makuran, Paradene, Hindustan [India = Sind], the Kushanshahr up to Peshawar, and up to Kashgar, Sogdiana and to the mountains of Tashkent, and on the other side of the sea, Oman. And we have given to a village district the name Peroz-Shapur and we made Hormizd-Ardashir by name Shapur. 2 3. And these many lands, and rulers and governors, all have become tributary and subject to us. When at first we had become established in the empire, Gordian Caesar raised in all of the Roman Empire a force from the Goth and German realms and marched on Babylonia [Assyria] (Asuristan) against the Empire oflran and against us. On the border of Babylonia at Misikhe, a great 'frontal' battle occurred. Gordian Caesar 4. was killed and the Roman force was destroyed. And the Romans made Philip Caesar. Then Philip Caesar came to us for terms, and to ransom their lives, gave us 500,000 denars, and became tributary to us. And for this reason we have renamed Misikhe Peroz-Shapur. And Caesar lied again and did wrong to Armenia. Then we attacked the Roman Empire and annihilated at Barbalissos a Roman force of 60,000 5. and Syria and the environs of Syria we burned, ruined and pillaged all. In this one campaign we conquered of the Roman Empire fortresses and towns: the town of Anatha with surroundings, (Birtha of A rupän ?) with surroundings, 3 Birtha of Asporakan, the town of Sura, Barbalissos, Manbuk [Hierapolis], 6. Aleppo [Berroia ?], Qennisrin [Khalkida], Apamea, Rhephania, Zeugma, Urima, Gindaros, Armenaza, Seleucia, Antioch, 7. Cyrrhe, another town of Seleucia, Alexandretta, Nicopolis, Sinzara, Hama, Rastan, Dikhor, Dolikhe, Dura, 8. Circusium, Germanicia, Batna, Khanar, and in Cappadocia the towns of Satala, Domana, Artangil, Suisa, Sinda, Phreata, 9. a total of 37 towns with surroundings. In the third campaign, when we attacked Carrhae and Urhai [Edessa] and were besieging Carrhae and Edessa Valerian Caesar marched against us. He had with him a force of 70,000 from Germany, Raetia, Noricum, Dacia, Pannonia, Moesia, Istria, Spain, Africa (?), Thrace, 10. Bithynia, Asia, Pamphylia, * The first edition of the text in three languages Parthian (the most legible) text but names are in (Parthian, Middle Persian and Greek) was by M. modern or Classical forms. Sprengung, "Shahpuhr I, the Great on the Kaabah 'Balasakan = Derbend area; Pareshwar = ofZoroaster (KZ)," AJSL, 57 (1940), 341^20, Elburz mountains; Aparshahr = lslamic followed by his Third Century Iran, Sapor and Khurasan. Kartir (Chicago, 1953), with photographs. The 2 Sprengung seems correct in seeing the name of Greek text formed the basisof the translation by A. Shapur above that of Hormizd-Ardashir, which is Mancq, "Res Gestae Divi Saporis," Syria, 35 unclear, but the meaning escapes us. Mancq (1958), 295-360, with his detailed study together ignores the letters, reading Shapur, above line 2. with E. Honigmann, Recherches sur les Res Gestae Perhaps the sentenceis tobe read : we, Shapur, have Divi Saporis (Brüssels, 1953). Other references may made (the town) of Hormizd-Ardashir (in be found in these publications as well as in the Khuzistan). populär work by J. Gage, La tnontee des Sassanides 3 The phrase 'with surroundings' is found after (Paris, 1964). The translation here is based mainly each place name and has been omitted here. on the MP and Parthian versions with additions in Modern identifications of the place names are parentheses and with Greek additions or dirfer- found in Maricq, in Syria, 338-339. ences in brackets. The line division follows the 312 Appendix 4 Isauria, Lycaonia, Galatia, Lycia, Cilicia, Cappadocia, Phrygia, Syria, Phoemcia, Judaea, Arabia, Mauntania, Germania, Rhodes [Lydia], Osrhoene (?), 11. Mesopotamia. And beyond Carrhae and Edessa we had a great battle with Valerian Caesar. We made prisoner ourselves with our own hands Valerian Caesar and the others, chiefs ofthat army, the praetorian prefect, Senators; we made all prisoners and deported them to Persis. And Syria, Cilicia and Cappadocia 12. we burned, ruined and pillaged. In that campaign we conquered of the Roman Empire the town of Samosata, 4 Alexandria on the Issus, Katabolos, Aegaea, Mopsuestia, Mallos, Adana, Tarsus, Augustinia, 13. Zephyrion, Sebaste, Korykos, Anazarba ([Agrippas]), Kastabala, Neronias, Flavias, Nicopolis, Epiphaneia, 14. Kelendens, Anemurion, Sehnus, Mzdu-(Myonpolis), Antioch, Seleucia, Dometiopolis, Tyana, Caesarea [Meiakanri], Komana 1 5. Kybistra, Sebasteia, Birtha, Rakundia, Laranda, leonium, altogether all these cities with their surroundings 36. And men of the Roman Empire, of non-Iranians, 16. we deported. We settled them in the Empire of Iran in Persis, Parthia, Khuzistan, in Babylonia and in other lands where there were domains of our father, grandfathers and of our ancestors. We searched out for conquest many other lands, and we acquired fame for heroism, which we have not engraved here, except for the preceding. We ordered it written so that whoever comes after us may know 1 7. this fame, heroism and power of us. Thus, for this reason, that the gods have made us their ward, 5 and with the aid of the gods we have searched out and taken so many lands, so that in every land we have founded many Bahram fires and have conferred benefices upon many magi-men, and we have magnified the cult of the gods. And here by this inscription, we founded a fire 18. Khosro-Shapur 6 by name for our soul and to perpetuate our name, a fire called Khosro-Aduranahid by name for the soul of our daughter Aduranahid, queen of queens, to perpetuate her name, a fire called Khosro-Hormizd-Ardashir by name for the soul of our son, Hormizd-Ardashir, great king of Armenia, to perpetuate his name, another fire called Khosro- Shapur by name, for the soul of our son Shapur king of Mesene, to perpetuate his name, and 19. a fire called Khosro-Narseh by name, for the soul of our son, the noble, Mazda worshipping Narseh, king of Sind, Seistan and Turan to the edge of the sea, to perpetuate his name. And that which we have donated to these fires, and which we have established as a custom, all ofthat we have written upon the document [of guaranty]. Ofthose 1000 lambs, of which custom gives us the excess, and which we ha ve donated to these fires, we have ordered as follows : for our soul each day 20. a lamb, one and a half measures 7 of bread and four quantities of wine. For that of Sasan the lord, King Papak, King Shapur son of Papak, King of Kings Ardashir, the Empire's Queen Khoranzim, Queen of Queens Aduranahid, Queen Dinak, King of Gilan Bahram, King of Mesene Shapur, Great King of Armenia Hormizd-Ardashir, King of the Sakas Narseh, Queen of the Sakas 21. Shapurdukhtak, Lady of the Sakas Narsehdukht, Lady Casmak, Prinz Peroz, Lady Mirdut [Myrrod], mother of King of Kings Shapur, Prince Narseh, Princess Rud-dukhtak, daughter of Anosak, Varazdukht [Gorazdukht], daugher of Khoranzim, Queen Stahyrad, Hormizdak, son of the king of Armenia, Hormizd, Hormizdak, Odabakht, Bahram, Shapur, Peroz, son of the king of Mesene, Shapurdukhtak, daughter of the king of Mesene, and Hormizddukhtak, daughter of the king of the Sakas 22, for their souls a lamb, a measure and a half of bread and four quantities of wine. And the lambs which remain, as much as remain to be completely used, are for the souls of those for whose souls we have ordered rites, who by name are found in writing, every day a lamb, one and a half measures of bread and four quantities of wine. Among those who lived under the rule of King Papak: Sasan Ornekan, Farrak son of Farrak, Vartragnipat son of Khur, Asporik son of Asporik, Pohrik son of Mardin, Zik the master of ceremonies, 23. Shapur son of Wezan, Shapur son of Mihrozan. Among those who lived under the rule of King of Kings Ardashir : Satarop king of Abrenak, 8 Ardashir king of Merv, Ardashir king of Kerman, Ardashir king of the Sakas, Dinak mother of king Papak, Rodak mother of King of Kings Ardashir, Dinak daughter of Papak queen of queens, Ardashir bidakhsh, Papak 4 Same as the preceding list 'with surroundings.' 6 Or to be translated 'fame of Shapur.' For modern identifications see Maricq, op. eil., 7 For a discussion of the amounts of bread and 340-41. wine, see Maricq, op. cit., 318-19. 5 This word, dastkirt, can mean 'domain' as well 8 This probably means the Aparni or Khurasan. as 'creature,' but here I translate it as 'ward,' meaning 'under the protection of.' The Inscription of Shapur I 373 chiliarch, Dehin Varaz, Sasan Suren, Sasan lord of Andegan, Peroz Karen 24. Gok Karen, Abursam 'glory of Ardashir,' Geliman of Demavend, Rakhsh the army chief, Mard head of scribes, Papak master of ceremonies, Pazihr Vaspurigan, Vifard son of Farrak, Mihr-khwast Baresigan, Khumafrat chief of the eilte guard (?), Diran chief of the armory, Chihrak thejudge, Vardan chief of stables, Mihrak son of Tosar, Zik Zabrigan, Sagbus master of the hunt, Khudik chief Steward, Zayen chief of wine. Among those who live under the rule of King of Kings Shapur. Ardashir king of Adiabene, Ardashir 25 king of Kerman, Dinak queen of Mesene ward of Shapur, Hamazasp king of Georgia, Prince Valash son of Papak, Prince Sasan who is adopted by the Farrak family, Prince Sasan who is adopted by the Kiduk family, Prince Narseh son of Peroz, Prince Narseh son of Shapur, Shapur bidakhsh, Papak chiliarch, Peroz chief of cavalry, Ardashir Varaz, Ardashir Suren, Narseh lord of Andegan, 26. Ardashir Karen, Vahunam framadär, 9 FrTk satrap of Gundeshapur, Sritoy son of Shahimust, Ardashir joy of Ardashir,' Pazihr 'valiant of Shapur,' Ardashir satrap of Qom, Chashmak 'brave of Shapur,' Vahunam 'joy of Shapur,' Tir-mihr chief of fortress of Shahrkart, Zik master of ceremonies, Artaban of Demavend, Gondofarr Abgan 'who seeks combat,' Pabish 'Perozshapur' son of Shanbit 27. Varzin satrap of Isfahan, Kirdisro bidakhsh, Papak Vaspurigan, Valash son of Seleucus, Yazdbad counsellor of queens, Papak swordbearer, Narseh satrap of Rind, 1 ° Tiyanik satrap of Hamadan, Vardbad [Gulbad] chief of Services, Yoymard son of Rastak, Ardashir son of Vifar, Abursam-Shapur head of the harem, Narseh son of Barrak, Shapur son of Narseh, Narseh chief Steward, 28. Hormizd chief scribe son of Hormizd chief scribe, Naduk chief of the prison, Papak gate keeper, Pasfard son of Pasfard, Abdagash son of the castle lord, Kerdir magus, Rastak satrap of Weh Ardashir, Ardashir son of the bidakhsh, Mihrkhwast treasurer, Shapur Commander, 1 ' Arshtat Mihran of Rayy secretary, Sasan the eunuch son of Sasan, Virod chief of markets, Ardashir satrap of Neriz, Bagdad son of Vardapad [Gulbad], Kerdir Ardavan, Zurvandad son of Bandak, 29. Vinnar son of Sasan, Manzik the eunuch, Sasan thejudge, Vardan son of Nashbad, Gurik ([Vardik]) chief ofboars, altogether one lamb, one and a half portions of bread, four measures of wine every day. Now as we serve and worship the gods with zeal, since we are the wards of the gods and with the aid of the gods we have searched out these peoples, have dominated them and have acquired fame for bravery, also whoever comes after us and rules, may he also serve and worship the gods with zeal, so the gods may aid him and make him their ward. 12 (The Parthian Version alone is signed : This is the writing by my hand, Hormizd, the scribe, son of Shirak, the scribe.') 9 This title is general, perhaps something like ' ' The word framadär is general in meaning and modern ra Vs 'chief his specific functions are unclear. 10 Unknown, but in western Iran, possibly 12 The MP is different from Greek and modern Kashan. Parthian, all conflated here. APPENDIX 5 THE MP AND PARTHIAN INSCRIPTIONS OF NARSEH AT PAIKULI, NORTH OF KHANIQIN, IRAQ* A - [I the Mazdaworshipping divine Narseh king] of kings of Iran and non-Iran, whose lineage is [from the gods, son of the Mazdaworshipping divine Shapur king of] kings of Iran and non-Iran [grandson of the Mazdaworshipping Ardashir, king of kings the monument [in this place was erected ?] and this monument was made by me 1 for this reason: Narseh king of kings ... I indicated that ... he was considered the king of the Armenians and that I [was in ?] Station ? of Armenia . . . was declared and Vahunam son of Tataros by himself with treachery and [with the aid] of Ahriman and the demons . . . tied the diadem and in that matter we were not consulted nor [were other] princes consulted . . . and the lords and knights, both Persian and Parthian hailed [me] . . . king of the Sakas the diadem on his head ... he wishes to hold before and in that capacity ? . . . that they may kill the lords and knights and give the province of Garamaea and by themselves . . . and the Garamaeans . . . may make a ward, 2 and when by me myself the wardship has been made certain then the king of the Sakas . . . may make good custom ? and myself in . . . knights ? both Persian and Parthian ? . . . consider Babylonia in defense. They made that assembly and said . . . the king of the Sakas . . . the Persians to order activity and . . . Vahunam by ? is carried ? counsel to ? that one who is Vahunam ? took ? He . . . Sasan and men of all the realm and the king of the Armenians, the greatest and the foremost and the realm B - and authority otherwise support ? . . . may be. This now I do that when . . . may hold and Iranshahr . . Afterwards Shapur the tax chief and Prince Narseh the Sasanian, and Papak the bidakhsh and Ardashir the chiliarch, and Rakhsh the army chief, and Hormizd Varaz son of Bahram and 3 ? . . . lord of Andegan, 4 and other princes, lords, village chiefs, and knights . . . both Persian and Parthian, those who were of the greatest Service to [our] house, foremost and most powerful. It was taken by the goodness of the gods and us ? And a messenger was sent to me . . . and when to us in good faith . . . they are. Then from the princes and the tax chief and the lords and knights an envoy came to us (saying) that: May the king of kings in good faith leave from the side of Armenia to Iranshahr and accept the glory, the realm and (his) own throne, and the honor of (his) ancestors from the gods, and bad . . . people may . . . realm up to the pillar ? a document ? When we saw that letter and in the name of Ahuramazda and all the deities, and Anahita, called 'the Lady,' we left from Armenia to the side of Iranshahr and the frontiersmen, mountaineer(s) and (those) of other regions, who in a previous time were considered to (be in) Iranshahr ? . . . land and place of . . . that they hear and know . . . realm, authority to the side of Iranshahr to separate but not thus (— lndy ?) to Iranshahr and other lands and places of us to destroy but they remain by our ad vice and Instruction. And lf one time the tax chief takes the advice of the gods and us then the frontier guard of Babylonia . . . and other places the tax chief [all the land] has not left a person . . . they sent the lord of Andegan with * The basic edition of the inscription is by E. text and all have been reduced to three dots by the Herzfeld, Paikuli, 2 vols. (Berlin, 1924). The tatest editor. Question marks follow uncertain readings. edition is by H. Humbach and P. O. Skaervo, The ' Lit. LNH 'us.' In the translation the singular is Sasanian Inscription qf Paikuli, 2 parts (Wiesbaden, used for the plural of majesty, and in tenses the 1 980). Further bibliography may be found in these narrative past is sometimes used for the present. two pubhcations. The translation here was pre- 2 The word dstkrt can be understood as a 'thing, pared over many years and agrees on the whole 'a domain,' or as a person, 'a creature, or a ward, with the revised text of Humbach and Skaervo. Here it is probably the latter sense. Unfortunately, there are so many lacunae that a 3 The MP text has 'Ardashir' in place of Parthian contmuous text and translation is not possible, so a 'Hormizd' and I am unable to resolve this hteral translation of words with conjectures divergence. (marked ?) is presented here. Restorations are in 4 The Parthian form is \vndykn, probably an brackets, white variants or explanations appear in area at the north eastern side of the Persian Gulf, in parentheses. Dots show lacunae; it was not possible present Fars and Khuzistan. to show the different lengths of the lacunae in the 376 Appendix 5 horses and men to the frontier of Khuzistan and ga ve him counsel that he ? the way and passage which is from Babylonia C - . . • Suren and the [Saka] king and Vahunam . . . may be in ? Babylonia to destroy us and then not a person ? . . . and not in . . . from Babylonia . . . to do and what sort from that side of Khuzistan they heard it. They showed to me that they knew ? to . . . king. And if the Saka king and Vahunam intelligence to . . . that they know that from them to you may be success ? . . . they are not . . . if they eat ? . . . and not give a face-to-face battle ... in good faith to Babylonia they set out and by them the king of kings himself with . . . go to the head ? that they . . . brought ? and equally whoever in that caravan may be, then he . . . and they hold obeisance to Narseh king of kings and from that caravan . . . do not extend and come to that side . . Babylonia to that place we arrived where this monument was made. Then Shapur the tax chief and Prince Peroz and Prince Narseh son of Sasan (or a Sasanian) and Papak the bidakhsh and Ardashir Suren and Hormizd Varaz . . . and Kerdir the Ahuramazda mobad and Narseh Karen and . . . h wsty , and Rakhsh Spahbad (or the army chief) and Ardashir Tahmshapur and Shapur ... the scribe of the accounts of the realm and Zodkard cupbearer ? and similar prince(s) and lord(s) and knight(s) and village chief(s) and satrap(s) and accountants and shop keeper(s) ? asnd other Persians and Parthians who (were influential in ?) Babylonia . . . and numerous Garamaeans there were who altogether to the site of Nicator to our presence came. Here before us they presented themsel ves where this monument is made. And Bahram the Saka [king] and Vahunam son of Tataros and whosoever was bad and whosoever was of the same persuasion as Vahunam and were his friends, when D - they heard that we are departing from Armenia to the side of Iranshahr [They gathered forces and from] Khuzistan [to Armenia] went ? And Vahunam in personal [request to] Adurfarnbag the king of Mesene . . . requested aid the king of Mesene a message [that the -] king may come forward. Otherwise if the Saka king is recognized ? (MP = a page, servant or child), then also the king of Mesene that . . . diadem ? the king of Mesene may give up to the king of the Armenians far in front ? before the tax-lord . . . the lords and knights and others who (in) Babylonia . . . to do, I will do it and Adurfarnbag the king of Mesene since the demons had created him he had given on his saying ? that Vahunam is rebelhous and Mesene the Euphrates to this side . . . and with horses and men forward to Bahram the Saka king and Vahunam (for) protection he goes and from the realm dominion . . . and with the Saka king . . . may be and Ardashir-Shapur ? . . . king of kings with horses and men ? . . . for aid . . . the Saka king and Vahunam and those of them who are considered with them . . . and they carry Submission to such a time they take gifts and oaths. Also our men . . . to reach ? Then with the king of kings ... I make that because of us they hear that supremacy ? . . . I have arrived and they . . . with horses and men advance to the top (of the river ?) and from us . . . a bad time they went ? which passage those who are horsemen before ? . . . marked ? and not to the other side have passed and not forward to booty ? he hurried to fight ? . . . and the king of Mesene and Vahunam did not arrive to the border of Babylonia ... in that caravan with the Saka king across the king of kings ? went out and to . . . they came (to) the lord of Andegan and they went; the lord of Andegan to my court . . . E - 1 arrive ... I send the Saka king a message . . . the ancestors whom thou dost not respect . . . was settled forward . . . and forward to the court . . . royal messenger to the [Saka king] . . . and to us in service . . . order and happiness ? forward to Babylonia to Bahram Shapur ... the message which was seen by us ? And the great diadem . . . from the head was removed ? and from the throne ... he threw away and the deed ? . . . to one side . . . and Vahunam, when he saw ? . . . the glory of the gods and rule of the realm came to us and he knew that "in treachery I act ( = he acts) ?" Afterwards by means of the gods and . . . was not reserved ? and in deception and abstention ? . . . Narseh king of kings -?- and by us that . . . thus to Vahunam they did ? . . . Narseh whose glory is flourishing . . . ? and obedience they bring 5 . . . that Narseh Bagshapur . . . with the Saka king and Vahunam being before, forward ? . . . Vahunam was seized and upon a lame donkey 6 . . . and he was brought to our court and Bagshapur . . . Vahunam tied and bound on a lame donkey . . . Bagshapur ? to our court they led and the Saka king when he knew that Vahunam (was caught ?) . . . plp * ? . . . who he deception . . . first ? by the gods and us again in Iranshahr all the country considered ? . . . on the head ? . . . I did and in . . . seif . . . F - 1 fought him ? ... in the land assembled and I did ? and the tax lord . . . and the lords and knights and 5 The reconstruction of this part of the inscrip- Instrument of torture. His reconstructed transla- tion is dimcult and uncertain with too many gaps tion takes great liberties so that it is more readable to present a proper translation. than what is presented here, which tries to follow 6 V. Lukonin in Iran v III Veke (Moscow, the text as closely as possible. 1979), 68, proposes that the 'donkey' was an The MP INscriptioit of Narseh 377 village chiefs . . . to those who were powerful and most lllustrious I sent a message that: Thus . . . the gods great exertion . . . good deeds in Iranshahr and non-Iran ? to the greatest ? lords and district chiefs I have given and if one time . . . king, aid . . . in all the land asks ? then from this deed thus what . . . our lineage from ? Ardashir king of kings . . . king . . . Shapur . . . made guardianship ? and by them the guardians be given dignity ? Then . . . of Iranshahr . for them ? . . . to them retribution in this manner was made that we from . . . as was ? made for king Shapur that those know ? . . . there was someone who from king Shapur more vahd ? and by the gods more able or better ? to guard ? Iranshahr . . to have more capability and to command ? . . . King Shapur . . . they say that we when it is wished that ? . . . that lord that may be ? who the gods have prepared . . .for ? the rites of the gods . . . brought and Iranshahr ... in peace and confidence held ? and to command. And thus from Shapur king of kings more true and good and more pious . . . and from Ardashir . . . G - forward to all the realm . . . firstly between ? . . . made and may be able to be. Then also we by ourselves ... the gods good activity in Iranshahr those there in such a way he wishes that he the trouble and pain which to them the gods ? . . . with the aid of the gods in the kingdom . . . gods in the realm . . . the throne be the establishment ? . . . more joy ful and confident be if the governor ? . . . from us more true with the gods and more in ad vance and more ritual observing be, or Iranshahr from us in more joy and . . . and enemies answer . . . one may say now that the realm and region(s) . . . capable to hold the realm and to command and from every ? . . . and the Parthians to us a message and an answer thus was brought that by us the governors and princes, lords and knights . . . that from you, gods in that affair gave instruction. If to you the gods from the first there ? . . . thus that from you the gods brought a message . . . more in advance and more ritual observing may he be. They in the realm hold domion, the governor, the prince, the lord and knight Persian ? . . . the gods beneficient then to the highest degree ? he arrives in Iranshahr. Then he is more rightly and most protected . . . that by the gods just deeds . . . that because the glory of the gods and dominion over the realm is given to the seed of the Sasamans ... king that to you was the grandfather ? with the aid of the gods all the realm . . . then thus to you otherwise was not ? the gods took care ? . . . and happiness and wisdom and seif. . . seif the throne and dignity . . . father and ancestors was that ? . . . realm a thing . . . and higher . . . and to the governors and princes . . . knights and village chiefs ... I send a message that . . . that first by the word of the gods and . . . Iranshahr and all the realm the word ?, the realm . . . capable . . . to command and to give answer to . . . and the governors and princes . . . H - Persians and Parthians and thus to us a message [sent an answer ?] that if I know that they ? ... all the princes ordinarily ? in Iranshahr and in all the realm, there is one . . . to you the gods . . . dominion ? . . . by the gods you were the greatest and foremost and the realm . . . the gods, heroic and most suitable [for] the throne which the gods have given . . . until the time of resurrection he holds the realm and command, and by himself the glory and happiness of the realm may be. Then to us with the support and in the name of the gods and myself [governors and nobles the diadem ?] . . . [father] and ancestors hold. And by us ? Caesar and Rome ... in supplication and they maintain peace and tranquility. And the Kushan king . . . Aspanay and the king of the Khwarazmians and Damti- ? son of Kushad . . . and Pagrimbak ? . . . and Sidi of the hlw nyk syk Vi (shaikhs ?) and Pak son of Mihem, and Birvan son of Spandurt, and the king of Paradene and King Razvurt and King Gondofarrik ? and the king of Makran, and the king of Turan . . . king and . . . king and the king of the Massagetae and king Abirän ? and king Sika- ? and king Tirdat and 'Amr king of the Lakhnids and 'Amr king of the Apgarids, and ... the Nafbad otdhydkn (Dahistan ?) and Rasma- ? . . . the satrap of Demavend . . . -gwdy ? lord shwll'n ? and hwlsm Vi ? lord o(-sk 'n ? Bagdat lord ofzwVdlyn (Joray ?), and Mihrkhwast lord of Borsippa ? and Zinadkan lord of — 'Idpl'n ? . . . Bahram ? lord of mwik Vi (Beth Moksaye ?), and Narseh, lord of Antioch ? and the lord of LaSom, and w. ? lord of c . . . n ? and . . . lord and hrtywd ? /'- lord and Malukh the 'Stbum Vi king, and other rulers . . . by our advice and counsel . . . they hold our instruction. And all the land I wish in newness, and whosoever himself comes to our court (or otherwise ? sends) a messenger . . . and gift(s) anbd writing(s) and sends ? an ambassador to our court . . . and things of other king he keeps, that one before . . . then by him realms and places and -nmndy ? to our Service and recognition they come. INDEX Abadeh 8, 26, 171 Abaev, V. I. 43, 79, 90, 97, 257 Abarqu 8 'Abbasid 320 'Abbasid Caliphate 338, 353 Abdagases 196, 200 Abdelai 348 'Abd Samia 281 Ab-e Diz 29 Abel, A. 137 Abgar 307 Abgarians, M. T. 211 Abinergaos 277 Abinerglos I 277 Abinerglos II 277 Abinerglos III 277 Abis van ta 109 Abolhamid, A. 3 Aboulites 140, 141 Abraha 328 Abrenakh 294 Abr Nahara 113 Abrocomas 115 Abu-Dulaf Mis ar ibn Muhalhil 3 Abul-Faräj 288 Abursam 296 Achaemenes 79, 89, 114 Achaemenid^, 11, 26, 51, 56, 58, 63, 67, 73, 76, 78, 80, 88, 91, 93, 97, 100, 103, 105, 106, 107, 108,110,111,113,114,115,117,118,120,123, 125, 126, 130, 131, 133, 135, 137, 140, 155, 156, 1 59, 1 60, 1 61 , 1 66, 1 69, 1 75, 203, 21 4, 21 6, 223, 224, 228, 231 , 232, 246, 266, 272, 277, 285, 291 , 299, 316, 338 Achaemenid Empire 35, 56, 93, 119, 139, 142, 145, 155, 156, 174, 203, 234, 314, 336 Achaemenids 41 , 61 , 62, 66, 74, 79, 84, 87, 89, 90, 99, 105, 106, 107, 109, 111, 113, 116, 117, 121, 124, 128, 134, 141, 144, 148, 154, 158, 165, 173, 174, 178, 202, 203, 221, 228, 239, 244, 257, 258, 266, 269, 272, 278, 284, 293, 294, 301 , 331 , 338, 357 Adad-nerari II 68 Adad-nerari III 68 Adamec, L. W. 1, 3 Adams, R. M. 52, 227, 329, 330 Adarshapur 314 Adbag 352 Adiabene 222, 233, 238, 239, 242, 243, 244, 278, 279, 288, 295, 299, 305, 308, 310 Adiabenicus 279 Adiabenkus maximus 302 Adjina 357 (cf. Adzhina) Adler, Ada 2 Adler, H. 288 Adur 314 Adurbad 312, 313 Adur Burzen Mihr 315 Adur Farnbag 315 Adur Gushnasp 315, 336 Adurnarseh 308 Adzhina 357 Aegean Sea 105, 128, 131 Aeschylus 75, 88, 89, 102, 108, 119, 126, 127 Afghanistan 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 41, 43, 47, 113, 137, 153, 177, 181, 182, 187, 188, 192, 202, 249, 250, 254, 267, 268, 298, 322, 341, 342, 344, 348, 350, 351, 352, 355, 356, 357 Afghans 154 Afrasiyab 51, 342, 352 Africa 34, 325, 336 Afrighid 354 Afshär, I. 3, 289 Agakhanyams, O. E. 23 Agamtanu 84 Agathangelos 282, 288, 293 Agathias 287, 291, 297, 305, 308, 314, 316, 321, 327, 330 Agathocleia 186 Agathocles 182, 184, 186 Aghvan 11 Agni 230 Agradates 82 Agrawala, V. S. 104, 154 Ahar 10 Ahmed, S. S. 22 Ahriman 58, 59, 313 Ahura Mazda 37, 54, 58, 60, 106, 121, 122, 123, 160, 300, 303, 313, 317, 321 Ahuras 60 Ahwäz 9, 50, 274, 293, 295 Atryamm vdejah 5678 61 Akad 94 Akes79 Akhvlediani, G. S. 113 Akishev, K. A. 255 Akkad 76, 90 Akkadian 46, 66, 71, 73, 74, 82, 84, 87, 90, 91, 92, 94,95,96,99, 100, 101, 103, 104, 106, 107, 109, 116, 117, 118, 119, 126,208 Akopov, G. B. 30 AI-Ahmad, Jalil 22, 276 Ala-tau 19 380 Index Alai plateau 19, 182 Alans 40, 193, 240 al-'Aufi, Muhammad 295 Albania 11, 283, 298, 321, 322 Albaman 31, 32, 174, 240, 321 Albaum, L. 342 al-Birüni 23, 57, 253 (cf. Birüni) Aleksaman, N. A. 22 Aleppo 114 Alexander the Great 4, 50, 51 , 57, 58, 88, 1 1 1 , 1 12, 1 13, 1 17, 1 19, 124, 125, 132, 133, 134, 135, 137, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149,150,151,152,153,154,155,156,157,159, 160, 163, 165, 167, 169, 170, 172, 173, 174, 175, 1 79, 1 84, 1 86, 1 90, 203, 207, 208, 235, 236, 242, 276, 284, 302 Alexander (son of Alex.) 151 Alexander Balas 172 Alexander Romance 139 Alexander Severus 294 Alexandria 138, 146, 153, 173, 185, 235, 288 Alexandria ad Caucasum 146, 183 Alexandria in Arachosia 146 Alexandria in Bactria 147 Alexandria on the Tanais 147 Alexandrovskn 39 al-Hira 319, 324, 337 Aliev, I. 65 'Ali Razmarä' 1 al-Isfahäni, Hamza 292, 312, 316 al-Jahshiyäri 290 Alkhon 348 al-Khwärazmi 290 Allahabad Pillar 260 Allchin, F. R. 154, 178, 190, 250, 342 Alma Ata 39, 255 al-Mahdi 356 al-Muqaddasi 290 al-Salihi, Wathiq 280 Altai 19, 40, 357 Altaic 265, 349, 350 Altheim, Franz 106, 132, 138, 142, 155, 158, 160, 178, 179, 181, 182, 184, 186, 187, 188, 194, 195, 198,199,209,219,220,225,228,265,271,281, 323, 325 Altheim/Stiehl 271, 276, 280, 320, 325, 326, 328 Alvand 12, 65, 67 Alyattes 82 Amard 144 aniäta 108 American Indians 40 Amasa Spentas 53, 58, 60 Amida 311, 323,333, 345 Ammianus Marcelhnus 2, 21 8, 220, 227, 287, 308, 311,312,345 Amminapes 141 Amon 98 'Amr 307 Amü Darya 16, 38 Amyntas 141, 187, 196 Anabasis 115 Anahita 121, 133, 157, 181, 205, 231, 237, 304, 314 Anarak 14, 35 Ananaki 32 Anastasius 349 Anatolia 30, 46, 53, 71 , 73, 80, 82, 88, 93, 94, 127, 128, 131, 132, 164, 233, 297, 337 Anatohan 105, 130, 190 Anau 13, 51 Anbar 296 Andarqäsh 76 andarz 289, 290 Andegan 295, 316 Andijan 17 Andrae, W. 283 Andragoras 159, 163, 164, 165, 166, 168,207,208 Andreev, M. S. 23, 38 Andrim, R. 177 Androbazos 149 Andromache 97 Andronov, M. S. 33 Andronova 45, 50, 51 Angra Mainyu 58 An-hsi 250, 252 Aniketos 182 Anileus 232 Ankara 168, 235 Anklesana, B. T. 291 Ansahrik 221 Anshan 3, 8, 50, 66, 70, 84, 90, 91, 100, 101, 109 (cf. Anzan) Antalkidas 130 Antialcidas 187 Antigonids 156 Antigonos 149, 150, 151, 152, 154, 158, 169 Antigonus 234 Antimachus Theos 183, 184, 185, 186 Antioch 152, 153, 154, 162, 165, 289, 293, 297, 298, 327, 336 Antiocheia 156, 173 Antiochia 161 Antiochus 1 152, 154, 156, 161, 162, 165, 168, 181, 186, 207, 208, 214, 230 Antiochus II 161, 163, 168, 178, 179, 180 Antiochus III 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 169, 170, 180, 183, 190, 207, 210, 213 Antiochus IV 157, 171, 172, 184, 190, 213, 276 Antiochus VII 172, 211, 212, 213 Antiochus Hierax 178, 179 Antipater 149 Antonine 281 Antoninus Pius 243, 264, 283 Anu 122 Anzan 66, 70 (cf. Anshan) Aorsi 193 Index 381 Apadana 125 Apakidze, A. M 283 Apäm Napät 54 Aparnak 206 Aparni 206, 208, 294 Aparshahr 206, 294, 300 Apasiakai 192, 193, 207 Apgarids 307 Aphrodite 121 apiy-axsa-pa 109 Apodakos 277 Apollo 157, 166, 190 Apollodorus 181, 182, 184, 186, 189, 191, 206 Apollodotus 183, 201 Apollodotus II 196, 201 Apolloniatis 223, 278 Apollonius 198 Appian 146, 151, 152, 154, 169, 214 Apratihata 198 Aqcha 16 Aqsu 19 Ära 261 Arab 3, 4, 25, 38, 75, 203, 288, 299, 309, 324, 335, 336, 337, 352, 355, 356, 357 Arabarkhos 224 Arabia 171, 328 Arabian 17, 94, 328 Arabic 1, 23, 27, 34, 41, 43, 46, 50, 57, 79, 137, 225, 276, 284, 287, 289, 295, 300, 308, 309, 316, 323, 330, 333, 335, 338, 353, 354 Arabs 1 1 , 1 6, 26, 1 1 3, 1 47, 1 72, 225, 280, 281 , 305, 307, 319, 325, 326, 327, 333, 338, 350, 356, 357 Arachosia 61, 62, 80, 87, 94, 112, 113, 141, 144, 1 49, 1 50, 1 54, 1 70, 1 82, 1 88, 1 94, 1 96, 1 98, 1 99, 201, 202 Arados 114 Arahsammu 94 Arafcha 100 Aral Sea 18, 38, 95, 112, 207, 354 Aram 68 Aramaeans 46, 73, 222 Aramaic 28, 43, 50, 87, 88, 106, 108, 109, 110, 1 13, 114, 1 15, 116, 119, 120, 123, 129, 130, 132, 135, 140, 143, 154, 158, 159, 160, 164, 174, 179, 1 88, 209, 214, 222, 225, 228, 229, 235, 236, 240, 269, 27 1 , 272, 273, 274, 275, 278, 280, 282, 283, 354 Ararat 10, 68, 77 Aras 11 Araxes River 31, 95 Arbakes 76 Arbaya 113,280 Arbayastan 223 Arbela 92, 222, 288, 296, 305 Arcadius 318, 319 Archebius 187, 196, 201 Archelaus 126, 129, 235 Arda Mitra 202, 284 Ardabil 10 Ardakan 8, 9 Ardashir 89, 175, 200, 222, 223, 262, 272, 274 278, 279, 280, 28 1 , 284, 285, 287, 289, 290, 291 ' 292, 293, 295, 296, 299, 302, 304, 306, 308, 317' 331, 344 Ardashir II 316, 317, 318, 345 Ardashir II Kushanshah 344 Ardashir III 337 Ardashir-farr 296 Ardashir Khwarreh 292, 333 Ardashir Papakan 313 Ardashir-Shnum 299 Ardavan 293 Ardimanis 102 Ardu 135 Ardumanis 102 Areia 197 Argaios 143 Argbad 223, 319 Arghandab 15, 62 Argishti I 66, 69 Argishti II 70 Aria 112, 141, 144, 146, 163, 208, 240 Ariane 181 Ariaramnes 79, 91 (cf. Ariyaramna) Arimaspi 94 Ariobarzanes 131, 140, 236 Aristobulus 137 Aristotle 147, 153 Arius River 170 Ariyaramna 79 (cf. Ariaramnes) Arizantoi 67 arkh'es 281 Arkhön 143 Armazi 283 Armenia 90, 111, 131, 148, 155, 165, 170, 171, 1 72, 21 3, 21 4, 21 5, 21 9, 220, 222, 225, 226, 229, 230, 231 , 233, 234, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 242, 243, 249, 279, 294, 297, 298, 299, 304, 305, 306, 308, 310, 312, 317, 319, 320, 322, 327, 328, 329, 335, 336 Armenian 1, 2, 70, 73, 119, 137, 164, 206, 218, 220, 221 , 223, 226, 235, 242, 280, 283, 287, 293, 309,310,311,313,316,318,320,321,323,329, 334, 348 Armenians 10, 11, 235, 246, 310, 311, 326, 328 Armenoid 21 Armina 73 Aroandas 131 Aroutiounian, N. V. 72 (cf. Arutyunyan) Arrajan 333 Arran 11,32,298 Arraphu 76 Arrian 4, 67, 88, 94, 1 1 2, 1 25, 1 37, 1 39, 1 40, 1 41 , 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 180, 195,206,209,210, 228 382 Index 220, 226, 2,293,308 Arsaces 196, 200, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 215, 218,238,311 Arsaces I 210, 217 Arsacid 188, 210, 213, 215, 217, 219, . 228, 229, 230, 232, 242, 245, 254, 282, Arsakia 210 Arsakia-Rhages 21 1 Arsäma 128 Arsames 88,91, 114, 128 Arshada 1 13 Arshak 208 Arsi 193 arstibara 108, 119 arstika 1 1 9 Arsu 208 arta-kavano 1 12 Artabanus 127, 209, 212, 213, 237, 238, 239, 241, 244, 273, 281, 292, 293 Artabanus II 193, 279 Artabanus III 200, 222, 227, 232, 245, 272, 274 Artabazanes 163, 170 Artabazos 115, 131, 141, 277 Artabazos II 277 Artacoana 112 arlaca-brazmaniy 121 Artakhssasa 106 Artaphernes 1 1 5 Artasan 49 Artases 170, 213 Artashes 282, 320 Artasyras 102 Artavazd 235, 236, 244 Artavazdes 214, 294 Artaxares of Adiabene 236 Artaxata 243 Artaxerxes 58, 83, 88, 106, 121, 127, 128, 161, 228 Artaxerxes I 88, 1 14, 1 15, 133 Artaxerxes II 110, 112, 114, 115, 116, 120, 130, 131, 133, 134, 208 Artaxerxes 111 114, 115, 130, 134, 139 Artaxerxes IV 141 Artaxias 170, 171, 172, 213, 214, 235, 237, 320 Artemidorus 196 Artemis 157, 231 Artemita 181, 182, 206 Arüch 2 Arukku 79 Arumaa, P. 50 Arutyunyan, N. Aroutiounian) Arvastan 223 Aryan 33, 41, Aryandes 104 Aryauka 79 Aryenis 82 As 193 ASa 53, 54, 58, 59 Asaak 208,211, 217 V. 66, 68, 69, 70 (cf. 49, 50, 51, 56, 59, 67 114 230 As-Alans 191 Asarhaddon 71, 72,74, 107 Asdourian, P. 237, 294, 310, 312 Ashkabad 3, 6, 13, 17, 205 Ashkenaz 77 Asia 72, 82, 93 Asia Minor 70, 93, 94, 104, 115, 116, 117, 120, 123, 126, 139, 148, 149, 150, 151, 156, 165, 166, 168, 171, 173,231,234,301 Asiani 192, 193 Asia Society 5 Asii 191, 192, 250 Asineus 232 'Askar Mukram 333 Asklepidoros 150 Asoka 154, 164, 268 Aspabad 226, 295 Aspabhata 200 Aspacina 102 Aspahbad 316 Aspathines 102 Aspavarma 196, 198, 200 Aspeisas 150 Aspiones 184 Aspozar 15 Assina 121 ASur 76, 205 Assurbampal 72, 75, 79, 107 Assurbel-kali 68 Assur-nasirapal II 68 Assyna 50, 65, 67, 68, 69, 74, 76, 77, 1 1 3, 223, 242, 279 Assyrian 25, 30, 31, 46, 65, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 82, 91, 93, 96, 106, 1 14, 1 18, 247 Astara 11 Astarabad 295 Astauene 184, 208 astodans 232 Astyages 69, 82, 84, 90, 91, 92 Asuristan 222, 306 Asvamedha 55 Atamaita 121 Atargatis 280 Athär al-bäqiyya 290 Athena 157 Athenaeus 212 Athenian 127, 128, 135 Athens 93, 128, 130, 131, 132, 134, 330 Athos 105 alhravan 58 Atkinson, K. M. T. 97 Atossa 97, 126 Atradates 82 Atropatene 1 63, 215, 234, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241 Atropates 82, 143, 148, 160, 163 Attambelos I 277 Attambelos II 277 Index 383 Attambelos III 277 Attambelos IV 277 Attambelos V 277 Attambelos VI 277 Attambelos VII 277 Attic 116, 163, 167, 183, 255 Attila 347 Aturfarnbag 306 Augustus 208, 235, 236, 238, 252, 255, 256, 262 Augustus Diocletian 308 Aurelian 260, 303 Aurelius Victor 287 Australian National University 178 Austna 332 Autophradates 115, 130, 131, 141, 272 Autophradates II 215 Avarair 321 Avars 206, 336, 347 avalar 55 Avesta 1, 45, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 59, 60, 63, 67, 81,121,124,139,207,216,231,241,255,301, 312, 325 Avestan 54, 57, 104, 119, 124, 314, 315 Avi-Yonah, M 246 Avidius Cassius 279, 243 Avroman 221, 228 Axidares 242 Ayar 92 Ay'en 289 Ay Khanum 137, 138, 153, 166, 167, 173, 177, 178, 179, 188, 189, 190, 191, 203, 266 Aymard, A. 138 Ayubi, F. 249 ayvan 77, 246 äzädän 316, 324 Azarmedukht 337 Azarpay 342, 352 äzät 221 äzätän 220, 225 (cf. azadati) Azerbaijan3, 7, 10, 11, 12, 14,31,35,48,51,53, 57,66,70,77, 143, 148, 155, 160, 162, 163, 169, 1 70, 2 1 4, 2 1 5, 222, 229, 230, 235, 236, 282, 290, 315,316,332,335,337 Azes 196, 197, 199, 200, 253 Azes II 196, 200 Azilises 196, 199, 202 Bäbä Jan Tepe 65, 76 Babelon, E. 272 Babol River 1 1 Babur 6 Babylon 10, 58, 75, 78, 79, 91 , 93, 94, 95, 100, 101 , 103, 1 10, 1 1 1, 121 , 126, 139, 144, 147, 148, 149, 152, 155, 168, 184 Babylonia 69, 73, 75, 92, 93, 94, 97, 1 13, 1 14, 1 17, 1 18, 1 19, 121, 125, 126, 128, 129, 130, 132, 135, 139, 140, 143, 150, 151, 166, 167, 172,212,215, 21 6, 221 , 222, 223, 227, 232, 242. 247, 306, 332 Babylonian 58, 59, 76, 81, 82, 93, 95, 101, 106 113, 114, 122, 124, 129, 130, 133, 210, 214, 230 247, 271 Babylonian Talmud 287, 288, 300 Bacasis 183, 210 Bachhofer, L. 193, 194 Bachrach, J. L. 303 Backroyd, P. P. 135 Bactra 112, 142, 164, 168, 178, 181 Bactria 4, 94, 112, 127, 141, 147, 148, 149, 150, 1 52, 1 55, 1 56, 1 58, 1 64, 1 65, 1 70, 1 72, 1 73, 1 74, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 188, 189, 190, 191,192,193,194,196,203,208,210,211,213, 229, 250, 25 1 , 252, 255, 256, 258, 260, 261 , 262, 264, 265, 266, 268, 298, 345, 347, 348, 349, 357 Bactrian 61, 62, 93, 152, 170, 174, 179, 181, 185, 1 88, 1 90, 1 93, 1 99, 206, 243, 249, 255, 259, 260, 265, 305, 341, 342, 344, 346, 348, 350, 351 Bactrus 61 Badakhshan 3, 16, 23, 347, 350, 356 Badami 254 badesa 225 (cf. balesa) Badghis 15 Badian, E. 138, 142, 145 bäga 117 Bagabigna 102 Bagabukhsa 102 bigayädis 99 Baghdad 222, 295 Baghlan 268 Bagley, F. R. C. 290 Bagoas 134 Bahär, M. 293 Bahman Ardashir 276, 295 Bahman Yashl 174 Bahrain 295, 309 Bahram 230, 299, 303, 305, 317, 319, 320, 335, 344 Bahram II 304, 305, 306, 308, 309, 316, 344 Bahram II Kushanshah 345 Bahram III 304, 306 Bahram IV 317, 318, 321 Bahram V Gör 313, 319, 334, 352, 355 Bahram Chobin 334, 336, 337, 356 Bahrams 307, 308 Bahram-Shapur 317 Bahram Yashl 312 Baida 8 Baihaq 3 Bailey, H. W. 89, 111, 191, 198, 207, 216, 250, 251, 252, 257, 261, 264, 345, 347 baiuara 119 bäj 117 bäji-kara 110 Bakhtegan 7, 8 Bakrän, Muh. b Najib 3 Bala Murghab 15 Bai ami 289 Balasagan 298 384 Index Balash 322 Balcer.J. M. 103,272 Balkans 103 Balkh5, 61, 112, 177 Ball, W. 268 Baisdon, J. P. V. D. 142 Baluch 22 Baluch, Muh. Sardär Khan 22 Baluchistan 12, 13, 14, 59, 112, 113, 298 Barn, 12, 14 Bamiyan 5, 16, 351, 356, 357 Bampur 12, 13 Band-e Kaisar 298 banäag 221 bandaka 109, 135 bandakift 221 Bandar 'Abbäs 9, 13 b'ara 117 Barbalissos 297 Bard-e Nishandeh 205, 274 Bardiya 84, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101 Bardumyan, G. D. 230 Bar Hebraeus 288 Barm-e Dilak 304 Barnett, R. D. 71 Barsua 66 Bartatua 71 Barth, F. 22 Bartholomai, C. 79 Bartold, V. 2, 3, 4, 5, 342, 352 Barzaentes 141 Bashakird 22 Basham, A. L. 197, 249, 252, 254, 257, 261, 264 batisa 225, 281 Baxtri 61 Bazrangi 273 Beal, S. 4, 341 Beazley, J. D. 93 Bedjan, P. 225 Begram 146, 202, 249, 264 Behbehan 9 Behistun 73, 84, 90, 91, 94, 96, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 113, 162, 170, 172, 183, 199, 210, 215, 230 Belenitsky, A. 342 Belesys I 115 Belesys II 115 Belisarius 324, 327 Beilew, H. W. 23 Bellinger, A. R. 137, 139, 148, 150, 164, 296 Benares 260 Bengal 260 Bengtson,H. 93, 105, 1 13, 154, 155, 169, 170, 173, 224, 234 Benveniste, E. 61, 81, 94, 107, 108, 119, 145, 220 Berliner, A. 2 Bernard, Paul 87, 137, 153, 177, 188, 190 Berossos 59, 94, 121, 175 Berve, H. 113, 138, 145 Bessos 141 Beth Aramaye 222 Beth Garmai 222, 278, 279 Beth Nuhadra 223, 280 Beth Qardu 223 Beth Zabdai 223 Betlyon, J. W. 132 Bevan, E. R. 138 bgdt 161 bgkrt 161 Bible 68, 70, 77, 102, 106, 119, 127, 128 Bibliotheque Nationale 164 Bichurin, N. Ya. 4, 341 Bickerman, E. J. 1 33 bidakhsh 107, 218, 225, 295, 299, 306 Bidez, J. 231 Bigwood, J. M. 127 Bijar 10 Bijaur 187 Bikerman, E. 138, 154, 166, 173 Bikni 67 Binalud 13 Binder, G. 83 Bindoe 335, 336 Bindusara 154 Birjand 13 birta 125 Birüni 313, 323, 354, 355 (cf. al-Birüni) Bishapur 290, 291, 298, 301, 305, 333 Bishkent 178, 181 Bistam 335, 336, 337 Biswas 349 bitaxs 281 (cf. bidakhsh) Bivar, A. D. H. 183, 185, 186, 187, 197, 253, 274, 290, 326, 341, 342, 343, 345, 350 Bizämqubäd 333 Black Sea 10, 150, 298, 324, 327, 336 Blau, J. 22 Böhlig, A. 300 Boehmer, R. M. 77 Bogolyubov, M. H. 114, 283 Boilot, D. J. 290 Bokshchanin, A. G. 234 Bombay 254 Boran 337 Borazjan 9 Borisov, A. 290 Borshchevskii, Yu. 3 Borujird 10, 184 Bosphoran 179 Bosphorus 105 Bosworth, C. E. 290 Bouche-Leclercq, A. 138 Boudioi 67 Bousai 67 Bowman, R. A. 87, 110, 123 Index 385 Boyce, Mary 57, 58, 59, 60, 81, 87, 120, 139, 247, 289, 312, 330 Boyle.J. A. 137 Brahma 352 Brahmi 186,261,343,348 Brahmin 269 Brahuis 22, 59 Brandt, S. 287 Brandenstein, W. 102, 116, 119 Braun, O. 2, 288, 313, 314, 319 Br Byt' 108 Bregel, Yu. 3, 289, 290 Breloer, B. 104 Brenrjes, B. 7 British Museum 75, 159 brmryn 280 Brough, J. 259 Browne, E. G. 289 Buchheim, H. 234 Buckler, W. H. 237 Buddha 253, 257, 269 Buddhism 154, 230, 231, 259, 263, 266, 268, 351, 352, 353, 357 Buddhist 4, 164, 177, 186, 187, 191,203,249, 253, 257, 260, 266, 267, 269, 300, 309, 331 , 341 , 342, 351, 352, 357 Budh Ardashir 295 Bukhara 6, 15, 17, 18, 320, 352, 353, 355 Bukhar Khudat 355 Bulgakov, P. G. 3 Bundahishn 206, 291, 294, 309, 312, 313, 346 Buräzjän 346 Bums, A. R. 105 Burzoe 330 Bushire 9, 13, 25, 161 Butan 274 Buzurjmihr 330 Byblos 110, 114 Byzantine 206, 239, 241, 287, 318, 319, 321, 322, 325, 328, 329, 330, 335, 336, 337, 348, 349 Byzantine Empire 319, 323, 330 Byzantium 137, 319, 320, 323, 324, 326, 334, 335 Cadusians 112, 128, 131, 134 Caesar 208, 233, 238, 256, 261, 325 Caesarea 297 Cakravartin 269 Caliphate 357 Callinicum 324 Calmeyer, P. 107 Cambyses 82, 90, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 103, 107, 110, 113, 114, 115 Cameron, G. C. 87, 103, 110, 111, 116, 123 Canberra 178, 197 candarno 264 candra 257 Candra Kaniska 256 capitatio 325 Cappadocia 70, 82, 115, 131, 236, 243 297 336 Cappien, M. 22 Caquot, A. 280, 281 Caracalla 244, 279, 282 Carchemish 76 Cardascia, G. 117 Cargill, J. 92 Caria93, 110, 131 Carians 105, 120 Carmania 162, 237 Carratelli, G. Pugliese 88, 296 Carrhae 233, 234, 294, 297 Carthaginians 93 Carus 305 Caspian 12, 17, 77, 80, 112, 144, 162, 192, 229, 240, 283, 295 Caspian coast 14 Caspian Sea 3, 6, 7, 8, 1 1 , 1 8, 22, 59, 62, 67, 70, 72, 89, 95, 128, 141, 153, 163, 206, 208, 210, 237, 298 Caspian Gates 111 Cassius 234 Cassius Dio 233, 234, 235, 236, 240, 241 , 244, 279, 282, 287, 293 Castorius 1, 2 Caucasian 283, 321 Caucasus 2, 6, 23, 66, 70, 73, 74, 111, 113, 174, 191,240,283,296,298,317,318,321,323,335, 337, 350 Cavaignac, E. 70, 75 Cedrenus 288 Central Asia 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25,62,63,79,81,83,89,94,103,107,123,137, 138, 139, 143, 145, 148, 151, 152, 164, 165, 167, 172, 173, 177, 179, 185, 188, 189, 191, 194, 199, 207, 228, 229, 232, 249, 250, 254, 256, 263, 265, 266, 267, 268, 276, 303, 317, 327, 330, 335, 339, 342, 344, 345, 346, 347, 352, 357 Central Asian 141, 179, 190, 204, 212, 217, 251, 257, 267, 269, 341, 348, 353, 354 Ceylon 253 Chabot, J.-B. 2, 276, 288, 319 Chach 19 Chaeronea 134 Chaganiyan 357 Chalcedon 336 Chalonitis 278 Chandragupta 151, 152, 154, 165 Chang Ch'ien 4, 191 Characene 157, 213, 222, 228, 229, 273, 275, 276, 277, 278, 280, 283 Charax 157,276 Charikar 185, 264 Charpentier, J. 97 Charsada 185 Chashmeh-ye 'Ali 12 Chattopadhyaya, S. 260, 349 386 Index Chaumont, M.-L. 210, 211, 220, 226, 227, 231, 243, 282, 292, 294, 296, 304, 305, 318 Chavannes, E. 4, 352 Cheikho, L. 288 Ch'ien Hart Shu 4, 251 chiliarch 145 chiliarchy 155 China 4, 18, 19, 181, 182, 191, 250, 251,259, 268, 276, 327, 330, 339, 341, 347, 350, 353 Chinese 4, 191, 192, 193, 194, 202, 207, 249, 250, 251 , 255, 256, 257, 259, 260, 264, 265, 269, 287, 300, 341, 342, 348, 349, 351, 352 Chinese Pamirs 19 Chinese Turkestan 17, 19, 182, 259, 260, 268, 342, 344 Chionites 311, 312, 320, 345, 346, 347 Chi-pin 194, 250 Chitral 23 Chm-chiu-ch neh 250, 251, 252 Chm T ang Shu 347 Chkheidza, T. D. 319 Chosroes 241, 243, 282, 287, 289, 310, 314, 316, 31 7, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 330, 331 , 332, 333, 335, 336, 337, 349, 350, 355 Chosroes II 302 Chosroes IV 337 Chosroes Abarvez 335 Chosroes Yazdagird 319 Chou 341 Chou Shu 4, 347 Christ 2 Christensen, A. 61, 287, 288, 289, 291, 316, 323, 330, 337 Christian 157, 175, 188, 199, 227, 266, 267, 287, 288, 289, 309, 313, 314, 318, 322, 331, 338 Christianity 231, 232, 298, 300, 301, 308, 309, 310, 312, 318, 322, 328, 330, 338, 351, 353 Christians 301, 309, 310, 314, 315, 317, 319, 320, 321, 322, 335, 338 Chronicle of Arbela 279 Chronicle of Seert 288 Chronicon Paschale 287 Chumichev, D. A. 5 Chu River 19 Cicero 233 Cilicia 82, 110, 115, 116, 132, 139, 214, 233 Cilicians 120 Cimmerian 70, 71 Circesium 335 Cispis 79 Cissantakhma 100 Claudius 239 Clauson, G. 290 Clearchus 153 Cleomenes 183, 210 Cleuziou, S. 71 Codomannus 134 Cohen, G. M. 164 Colledge, M. A. R. 205, 246 Colpe, C. 230 Commagene 166, 228, 230, 239 Commodus 243 Companion cavalry 145 Concobar 231 Constantine 310 Constantinople 309, 312, 335, 336 Constantius 310 CookJ. M. 105 Coon, C. S. 22 Coptic 300, 307 Corbulaq 77 Corbulo 239, 240 Corinthian 189 Cowley, A. 109 Coxon, P. W. 246, 277 Crassus 233, 234, 235 Croesus 92, 93 Crone, P. 352 Ctesias 5, 65, 68, 82, 83, 84, 88, 90, 92, 93, 97, 99, 102,106,112,125,127, 128 Ctesiphon 217, 227, 242, 243, 278, 287, 290, 292, 295,296,305,306,307,309,310,311,327,331, 335, 336, 337, 338 Cullican, W. 65 Cumont, F. 227, 231 Curiel, R. 117, 178, 187,342 Curtius 67, 79, 88, 94, 125, 139, 140, 141, 142, 145, 146, 147 Cuseni 311 Cyaxares 69, 71, 72, 75, 76, 78, 79, 82, 84 Cybele 231 Cypriots 120 Cyprus 105, 110, 128, 130, 149, 151 Cyreschata 94 Cyriades 301 Cyropaedia 92, 95 Cyrus 57, 69, 79, 80, 82, 83, 84, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94,95, 101, 103, 110, 111, 113, 115, 124, 126, 127 Cyrus Saga 95 Cyrus the Younger 110, 115, 120 Dadasheva, S. A. 181 daiva 60 Daffina, P. 178, 188, 192, 193, 194, i95, 207, 215, 251 Daha 192 Dahae 59 Dahi 89, 206, 208, 210, 211, 237 äahu-pali 117 dahyu 56, 111, 155 Dahyuka 69 iaida 78 Daimakhos 153 daivas 121 Dalverzin Tepe 177, 249 Index 387 Damascus 114, 336 Damghan 2, 11, 12, 205 iänaka 116 Dandamaev, M. 87, 91, 92, 94, 95, 98, 99, 100, 101, 116, 117, 118, 119, 121, 122, 129, 130 dandanayaka 265 Daiii, A. H. 249 Daniel 108, 111, 119 Dänu 59 Dara 211,324,334,336 Darab 8, 9, 89, 90 Darabgird 292, 295, 300, 301, 333 Dardic 61 Dargäyus 109 Darial 322 daric 116, 132, 148 Darius 56, 57, 73, 78, 87, 90, 91 , 93, 94, 96, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 108, 109, 1 10, 111,112,113,114,115,116,118,119,120,121, 122, 125, 126, 127, 133, 140, 158, 161,206,260, 271, 272, 300 Darius II 88, 107, 115, 128, 215 Darius III 115, 134, 139, 141, 143 Daryä-ye Namak 7 Daskyhon 110, 115, 131 dasna 117 Dastagird 337 dastkirt 221 data 119 dätabara 119 Datames 115, 131 datavar 332 Datis 105 Dätuvahya 102 Dauraq 333 Davidovich, E. A. 252, 344 Davidson, J. L. 264 Davies, A. M. 110 Debets, G. F. 23 Debevoise, N. 137, 199, 205, 206, 210, 212, 214, 233, 234, 235, 236, 241 Deccan 260 Degen, R. 88, 137 Deh-e No 76 dehkan 117,326 Deiokes 69, 70, 74 Delaia 115 Delaunay.J. 123 Delehaye, H. 314 Delphi 153 Demavend 6, 67, 296 Demawend 3 Demetrianus 297 Demetrius 150, 151, 172, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186 Demetrius II 172, 182, 183, 184, 186, 210, 212, 228 Demetrius III 214 Demimakhos 153 Demodamas 153, 208 Demosthenes 134 Denkart 231, 241, 312 Derbend 298, 322, 323, 327 Derbikes 62, 89, 207 Derousiai 89 Dessau, H. 235 deva 60 devakula 267 Deva Sahi 355 devaputra 260, 267 Dexippus 287 Dharma 253 Dhu Nuwas 328 dhu'l-aktäf 309 Diadochi 148, 151, 152 Diakonoff, I. M. 205 (cf. Dyakonov) Dialexis 97 dibirän 316 iida 125 didika 109 Diels, H. 97 Dietrich, A. 307, 328 Digor 193 Dilberdzhin 177, 249 Dillemann, L. 137, 222 Dinawari 289 Diocletian 305 DiodorusSiculus4, 82, 88, 108,111,115,125,127, 131, 137, 140, 145, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 158, 188, 212, 213, 214 Diodotus 168, 178, 179, 180, 184, 186, 206, 208, 217, 254 Diodotus II 180 Dionysian 274 Dionysius 166 Dioscori 157 dipi-bara 116 dipi-päna 110 Discorides 206 Dissoi Logoi 97 ditaka 109 dtvän 110 Diyala River 222, 223, 278 Diyarbakir 311 Djaukyan, G. B. 73 dlgwsn 315 "duyk 296 Dobbins, K. Walton 178, 186, 196, 197, 199, 200, 201,214,253,257,260,266 DobiasJ. 214, 233 Dörner, F. K. 230 Domitian 240 Dorrie, H. 217 Dowsett, F. C. 288, 321 Drangiana 61, 79 Drangiane 112, 170, 182, 193 388 Index Dravidian 22, 59 Draxl i Asurig 247 'drgzry * 296 Driver, G. R. 88, 116, 117 Droaphernes 115 Dropiki 89 Drouin, E. 185, 284 dmva-farnah 115 Drws 106 Dryhws 106 Dryw 271 Drywhws 106 Dryws 106 diwbnu, 315 Dubberstein, W. 106, 107, 126 Duchesne-Guillemin, J. 120, 121, 122 Dukkän-e Däüd 76 Dupree, L. 23 Dura 225, 282 Dura Europos 137, 205, 220, 224, 281, 294, 297 Dushanbe 17, 249 duxsi 108 Dvin 328 dviliya-khsaya 107 Dvornik, F. 217 d'wr (dw\) 346 Dyakonov, I. M. 22, 65, 66, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 84, 96, 209, 221, 229, 232 Dyakonova, N. V. 231 dydymy 306 dyzpty 221,224, 225 Dzatmai, Muh. Wali 5 Dzhalilov 353 Ebirnari 113 Ecbatana 76, 80, 84, 91, 92, 121, 125, 160, 172, 210,211,212,215,227 Eddy, S. K. 138, 156, 174 Edessa 242, 243, 288, 297, 307, 327, 336 Eggermont, P. H. L. 253 Egibi 118, 129 Egypt 26, 75, 93, 95, 96, 97, 98, 1 00, 1 03, 1 04, 1 05, 106,113,114,115,117,118,119,120,121,125, 126, 127, 129, 130, 131, 132, 134, 135, 139, 140, 150, 159, 164, 212, 234, 266, 336 Egyptian 76, 82, 87, 92, 93, 97, 98, 102, 105, 120, 128, 129, 130, 131, 133 Ehmann, D. 22 Ehtecham, M. 119 Eilers, W. 3, 68, 79, 90, 116, 125, 133, 206, 252, 256, 257, 261 Elam 66,70,75, 111, 121 Elamite 8, 9, 25, 26, 69, 73, 74, 77, 78, 80, 87, 96, 100, 102, 103, 109, 1 10, 1 16, 1 18, 122, 123, 125, 129, 135, 145, 157, 273, 275 Elburz6, 11, 12,62,336 Elephantine 97, 114, 119, 120, 159 Elias of Nisibis 288 Elishe 313, 320, 321 Elks, K. J. 297 Elymais 157, 158, 162, 171, 210, 213, 222, 229, 245, 271, 273, 274, 275, 277, 278, 283 Emesa 297 English, P. W. 7 English 145, 289, 342 Enoki, K. 250, 260, 347, 348, 350 Ensslin, W. 224, 297, 304, 305, 308 eparchy 155 Ephesus 157 Epiphaneia 172 Epstein, I. 289 Erato 236 Erdmann, K. 290, 302, 317, 331 Erech 59 Eremyan, S. T. 221, 294 Erevan 73, 328 Erimena 72 Ervanid 214 Erzurum 69, 323 Esther 88, 102, 111, 114, 119, 128 Ethiopia 98 Ethiopians 114, 328 ethne 155 Elhnika 2, 137 Eucaerus 214 Eucratideia 153, 177, 184 Eucratides 172, 181, 183, 184, 185, 188, 190, 196, 251 Eucratides II 186 Eucratidid 187 Eudamos 149 Eulaios 157 Eumenes 145, 148, 149, 150 Eunapius 287 Euphrates River 73, 92, 95, 137, 140, 157, 234, 235, 236, 238, 280, 293, 297, 311 Euripides 97 Europe 70, 149, 150, 235, 267, 283, 354 European 224 Europos 152, 172 (cf. Dura Europos) Eusebius 65, 82, 287 Euseni 311 Euthydemid 187 Euthydemus 170, 171, 180, 181, 182, 184, 185, 186, 188,211 Eutropius 308 Eutychius 288 Evagoras 150 Evagrius 287 ewinnamak 289 Eznik of Kolb 288, 321 Ezra 88, 94, 102, 104, 114, 115 Fahliyan 9, 89, 304 Fahraqäh 76 Fa Hsien 4, 341 Failaka 138, 157 Fakhriqah 76 Index 389 Farah 3, 12, 15 Far East 263, 353, 354 farn 216, 217 Farnaka 109 farr-e izadi 216 Fars 3, 7, 9, 12, 25, 26, 56, 66, 67, 75, 79, 89, 90, 91 , 92, 98, 101, 122, 221, 228, 290, 295, 296, 298, 300, 301, 304, 315, 316, 317, 320, 332, 333 Fars name 3 Farvardin Yast 58 Fasa 9, 89, 90, 98 Faustus of Byzantium 288, 312 Feilberg, C. G. 22 Ferghana 6, 17, 18, 19, 181, 182, 188, 191, 192, 352 Ferhad o Sirin 76 Fertile Crescent 95, 113, 139, 153, 222, 239, 245, 294 Fichtner, E. 330 Field, H. 21,23 Fiey, J. M. 222, 279 Fin 12 Fine Arts 266 Firdösi 59, 106, 247, 284, 289, 290, 308, 317 Firoozi, F. 21 Firuzabad 9, 200, 290, 292, 293, 331, 333 Fischel, W. J. 353 Fischer, T. 212, 213 Flavian 241, 242 Flavius Vopiscus 287 Forat 276 Forbes, D. 175 Foucher, Alfred 177, 203 Fraata 163 fiadadära 272 fräh-äspa 234 framana-kara 110 framatar 110, 119, 225 Francfort, H. P. 186 Franke, H. 253 frapadaka 119 frasaka 119 fratadära 271 frataraka 114, 139, 159, 161, 165, 171, 271, 275, 278 fraumdäl 56 Fravardin 291 jravasis 59, 230 Fravartii 74 Freikin, Z. G. 5 French 88, 125, 146, 157, 264 Friyek 299 Frumkin, G. 342 Fryäna 60 Frye, R. N. 57, 74, 133, 158, 159, 199, 218, 230, 283, 290, 292, 303, 306, 308, 309, 320, 332, 333, 338, 346, 352, 354 Fuad Safar 280 Fuchs, W. 4, 341 Fück,J. W. 313 Füye, Allotte de la 161 Fukai, S. 317 Fulminata 240 Furat 295 Furlani, G. 150 Fushang 15 Fussman, G. 178, 187, 249, 254, 257, 258, 263 Gabai 141, 149 Gabain, A. von 351, 353 Gabriel, Alfons 3 Gadama 196 Gadaphara 200 gada pisa 252 Gadd, C. J. 88 Gaffenberg, E. G. 22 Gafurov, B. G. 79, 147, 209, 217, 249, 254, 255, 256 Gage, G. 293, 296 gähnämak 220, 226, 282, 289 Galchas 154 Galerius Caesar 308 Gall, H. von 76, 90, 106, 127, 217, 230 Gallienus 297 Galling, K. 114 Gamirk'70 Gandhara 104, 113, 194, 196, 201, 202, 252, 256, 259, 260, 266, 268, 356 Gandharan 175, 177, 191, 203, 246, 249 Ganges 187, 259, 260, 263 Ganza 116 ganzabara 110, 116 Ganzak 336 Ganzaka 146, 163 Garamaea 278, 293 Garamaioi 222, 278 Gardin, J. C. 188, 189 Gardiz 178, 185, 355 Gardizi 5 Gardner, Percy 178 Garmikän 222 Gaspar 199 Gathas 58, 60, 121 Gathic 56, 57, 58, 108 Gaubaruva 102 Gaugamela 120, 139, 140, 195 Gaul 243 Gaumata 84, 91, 98, 100, 101, 106, 121, 206 gausaka 109 Gauzaka 146 Gay 299 Gaza 150 Gazaka 146, 163 Gedrosia 113, 132, 144 Geliman 296 Gentelle, P. 188, 189 Geographi Graeci Minores 2 Geographi Laiini Minores 2 390 Index George, J. 125 Georgia 225, 229, 238, 282, 283, 298, 299, 322 Georgian 111, 113,311, 324 German 79, 89 Germanicus 97, 238 Germanioi 79 Gerrha 171 Gershevitch, I. 22, 56, 87, 264, 354 Getae 95 gelig 59 Ghara, 191 Gharib, B. 87 Ghassanid 336 Ghatfar 349 Ghazna 5, 16, 146, 154, 356 Ghaznavids 177 Gherela, Rumania 103 Ghilzai 350 Ghirshman. R. 66, 71, 74, 80, 96, 147, 162, 168, 205, 245, 246, 271, 274, 276, 291, 298, 331 Ghorband 16 Gignoux, Ph. 205, 224, 290, 292, 299 Gilan 11, 14, 22, 296, 299, 303, 305 Giles, H. 341 Gilgit 192 GilissenJ. 119 Gils 112,305,311 Ci-mir-ri 70 Glatzer, B. 23 glmykn 222 Glueck, Nelson 282 Gnoli, G 120, 122 gnzsr 116 Goblot, H. 7, 21 Gobryas 90 Gochihr 273 Godard, A. 71 Godin Tepe 65, 76 Godman 299 Göbl, R. 178, 256, 262, 263, 290, 301, 326, 332, 333, 341, 343, 345, 346, 348, 350, 356 Goell, T. 230 Goeje, M. J. de 272, 289 Goetze, A. 133 Goff, C. 65 Goldman, B. 266 Gomer 70 Gondophares 196, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 215, 238, 252, 255, 284 Goodblatt, D. 326 Gordian 287 Gordian III 296 Gorduene 223 Gordus, A. A. 303 Gordyene 215,279 Gotarzes 197, 209, 214, 215, 227, 239, 247 Gotch, P. 26 Goths 312 Goubert, P. 334 Grantovskii, E. A. 67, 69, 71, 82, 154 Gray, L. 231 Greater Zab River 222 Greco-Bactrian 153, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 188, 189, 194,202, 205, 210, 217,251,254,259 Greco-Buddhist 175, 246 Greco-Macedonian 152, 154, 165 Greece 96, 98, 104, 105, 106, 120, 126, 130, 134, 151, 153, 168, 203, 313 Grelot, P. 88, 159 Greppin, J. 216 Griffith, G. T. 143 Grignaschi, M. 295, 326, 330 Groot.J. de 4, 194,356 Gropp, G. 304 Grousset, R. 342 Grumbates 311 Gryaznevich, P. A. 232 Gschnitzler, F. 102 Gubaru 102 Gudaphara 200 Guey, J. 242 Guidi, I. 334 Guidi, M. 288 Gulf 25, 278, 296, 298, 303, 309 Gulpaiagan 293 Gumilev, L. N. 334, 335, 347 Gundeshapur 298, 299, 300 Günther, A. 234 Gupta, P. L. 186, 260 Guptas 262, 263, 264, 349 Gur 292, 295, 300, 333 Gurgan 3, 11, 112, 141, 168, 208, 226, 283, 316 Gurgenes 324 gufaraka 265 Guti 29, 84, 278 Gutium 94 Guyum 8, 304 grda 118 grdapati HO, 116 Gyselen, R. 332 Habibi, 'Abd al-Hayy 5 Hackin, J. 147,264,351 Hadhyab 222, 279 hadis 125 Hadrian 242, 243, 260, 264, 279 Haetumant 15 Hahn, I. 325 Hakhämanishya 56 Halil River 13 Hallade, M. 351 Hailock, R. T. 87, 110, 122 Haloun, G. 191, 194 Halys River 82, 92 Harn 59 Index 391 Hamadan 10, 11, 12, 14, 25, 65, 67, 76, 80, 162, 164, 169, 170, 171, 172, 221, 299 hamära-kara 110, 116 hamarkar 223, 332 Hamath 69 Hamazasp 299 Hambis, L. 342, 351 Hambly, G. 253, 342 Hammond, N. 154, 178, 190, 250, 342 hamö-xsathra 56 Hamun 7, 12, 15, 194 Han4, 191, 194,250,259,260 Hananiah 115 handarzakara 108 Hansen, O. 291, 341 Han Shu 191, 192, 251 Hansman, J. 2, 98, 157, 205, 276 Harahuvati 61, 62, 113 Haraivaöl, 112 häraka 117 Haraz River 11 hargbad 224 Hari Rud 15, 18, 79, 170, 180 Harith b. 'Amr 324 Harmatta, J. 90, 91, 96, 103, 110, 182, 205, 259, 341, 342, 343, 344, 348, 352, 355, 356 Harnack, D. 219, 220 Harpagos 82,93, 115 Harran76, 84, 91,94, 297 Harsin 65, 76, 162 Hasanlu 71, 77 Hasmonaean 234 Hatra 205, 21 8, 220, 222, 223, 228, 229, 236, 242, 244, 274, 275, 279, 280, 281, 293, 294 hatrü 118 Hauri, E. 103 Haussig, W. 206 Haxamanis 79 Hayasa 73 Hayk 73 hazärapati 107 hazarbad 295, 304, 306 Hazza 295 Hebrews 114, 133 Heftal 347 Heichelheim, M. 128, 131 Hekataios 104 Hekatompylos 2, 12, 152, 168, 173, 205, 211 Heliocles 181, 184, 185, 188, 196, 251 Helios 166, 280 Hellenism 203 Hellenization 157, 158, 164, 166, 167, 173 Hellespont 135 Helm, R. R. 74 Helmand River 7, 12, 15, 16, 62 Henning, W. B. 57, 79, 80, 87, 95, 114, 117, 158, 206, 211, 222, 245, 256, 264, 274, 275, 292, 296, 300, 306, 315, 320, 351, 354, 355 Henrichs, A. 294 Hephaestion 144, 145 Hephthalite 303, 316, 320, 322, 323, 327, 346 347, 348, 349, 350, 351, 355, 356 Heraclius 336, 337 Heraeus 196, 252 Herakles 153, 157, 162, 166, 172, 183, 190, 210, 217, 230, 247, 267, 274 Herakles Kallinikos 230 Heras 252 Herat 3, 15, 17, 57,61, 80, 112, 141, 144, 146, 148, 149, 150, 163, 168, 173, 180, 184, 188, 193,201, 208, 238, 260, 295, 298, 334, 347 Heraus 252 (cf. Heraeüs) herbad 299, 314 Hermaeus 187, 196, 200, 201, 262 Hermes 153, 157 Hermione 97 Hermitage 290 Herod the Great 234, 236 Herodian 287, 293 Herodotus 1 , 4, 5, 61 , 65, 67, 69, 70, 71 , 72, 75, 77, 78, 79, 81, 82, 83, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 97, 98, 99, 102, 104, 105, 108, 109, 110, 112, 113,115,116,119,120,123,124,126,127,128, 287 Herrenschmidt, Cl. 103 Herrmann, G. 301 Hertsenberg, L. 256 Herzfeld, E. 57, 66, 67, 79, 82, 84, 89, 90, 98, 99, 100, 104, 106, 108, 1 11, 112, 1 13, 158, 188, 198, 199, 205, 215, 226, 284, 306, 331, 341 Hestia 230 Hestiaios 245, 273 Hesychius 2, 137, 288 Hewsen, R. H. 219 Hierapolis 335 Higgins, M. J. 334 Higuchi 351 Hijra 350 Hill, G. F. 115, 161,271,272 Himalaya 194 Himerus 212, 213 Himyarites 328 Hindu 81, 103, 104, 230, 261, 309 Hinduism 267, 268, 357 Hindukush 7, 16, 23, 132, 141, 144, 148, 149, 150, 163,170,173,181,183,184,185,187,188,194, 201 , 252, 256, 262, 263, 265, 268, 348, 351 , 357 Hindu Shähis 356 Hinz, W. 79, 87, 89, 90, 92, 95, 96, 104, 107, 108, 109, 111, 116, 117, 119, 274, 294 Hippostratus 196, 201 Hirth, F. 4 Hissar 188, 344, 351 Hissar-Alai 17, 357 Hittite 73, 81 Hoflmann, G. 2, 315, 321 392 Index Hoffmann, K. 97, 106, 124 Hofstetter.J. 106, 127 Holum, K. G. 319 Homes-Fredericq, D. 280 Hondius,J.J. E. 137 Honigmann, E. 262, 297 Hopkins, Clark 137, 227 Horiuchi, K. 317 Hormisda 308 Hormizd 284, 305, 335, 343 Hormizd I 303, 344 Hormizd II 302, 308, 344, 345 Hormizd IV 334 Hormizd V 337 Hormizdagan 293 Hormizd-Ardashir 294, 295, 299, 302, 303, 304, 305, 333 Hormizd Kushanshah 345 Hormizshahr 333 Hormuz 160, 172 Houghton, A. 159, 164 Hou Hart Shu 4, 250 Houtsma, M. 356 Hovhannisean, K. 73 How, W. W. 78 hpthpt'lU hrgwpt 223 hrkpty 306 hrmdr' 319 Hrouda, Barthel 26, 167 Hsi (or Pa)-tun 250 Hsiao 192 Hsiung-nu 191, 192, 250, 265 Kilr 225 hstrdry 223 hstrp 221 Hsüan-Tsang 4, 341 Hude 1 Hudüd al-'älam 4, 5, 290 Hübschmann, H. 2, 137 Huei-cha'o 4, 341 Hulwan 278, 335 Humbach, H. 262, 267, 290, 306, 342, 348, 356, 357 Humban 122 Humlum, Johannes 3 Hun 345 Huna 349, 355 Hungary 276 Hungry Steppe 18 Hunnic311,321 Huns 182, 317, 318, 346, 347, 348, 350 Hurrian 68, 73 Huvaxsatra 71, 75 Huvishka 249, 256, 261, 262, 267, 344 Huza 111 Huzi 140 Hvidberg, F. 213 htvsrw 241 hwtwy 219, 220 Hyparchy 155 Hyrcania 11, 90, 94, 112, 114, 141, 144, 149, 168, 208, 212, 222, 237, 238, 240, 243, 283, 284 Hyrcanians 61, 80, 239 Hyrcanus 234 Hyrkodes 251 Hyspaosines 213, 276, 277 Hystaspes 91 Iberia 238, 282, 283 Ibn 'Abd Rabbihi 295 Ibn al-Athir 290 Ibn al-Balkhi 3 Ibn al-Faqih al-Hamadäni 290, 292 Ibn Hauqal 290 Ibn Isfandiyär 289 Ibn Khurdädbih 290 Ibn Rustah 290 Ibrahim, M. 189, 202, 348 Idumaeans 234 Ikaros 138, 157 Ili 19, 192 Il-Tegin 335 Immortais 107 Imoto, E. 216 India 7, 11, 20, 56, 57, 103, 104, 113, 132, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 149, 150, 153, 163, 177, 179, 1 82, 1 84, 1 86, 1 87, 1 88, 1 94, 1 95, 1 98, 200, 201 , 202, 210, 222, 230, 240, 249, 252, 254, 256, 259, 260, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 275, 328, 330, 344, 346, 349, 355, 357 Indian 4, 15, 60, 62, 67, 104, 151, 153, 154, 170, 178, 181, 183, 186, 187, 189, 194, 195, 198,256, 257, 258, 262, 264, 267, 287, 298, 348 Indian Ocean 275, 330 indictio 325 Indo-Aryan 228, 257 Indo-Bactrian 188, 253 Indo-European 62, 73, 83, 192, 193, 217, 218, 230, 232 Indo-Greeks 185, 199 Indo-Iranian 61, 87, 121, 216, 218, 329, 356 Indo-Parthian 191, 200, 215, 238, 252, 256, 265, 284, 285 Indra 352 Indravarma 196, 198, 200 Indus delta 187 Indus River 7, 13, 14, 16, 17, 22, 67, 104, 151, 154, 198 Ingen, W. van 167 Ingholt, H. 280 Ionia 154 Ionian 92,93, 105, 110, 128 Ipsos 151 Index 393 Iran 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 1 1, 12, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25,62,63,68,72,77,87,99,137,148,151,162, 1 66, 1 72, 1 74, 1 94, 195, 202, 203, 204, 208, 21 6, 218, 223, 229, 230, 240, 274, 277, 282, 290, 291 , 298, 299, 308, 309, 310, 31 4, 31 8, 320, 323, 332, 333, 334, 335, 337, 352, 357 Iranian 16, 19, 20, 22, 57, 59, 63, 69, 70, 75, 92, 108, 119, 122, 123, 132, 134, 142, 150, 157, 166, 190, 192, 193, 197, 202, 206, 207, 228, 229, 230, 247, 250, 266, 267, 269, 274, 280, 346, 348 Iranians 10, 18, 26, 56, 60, 61, 62, 67, 72, 74, 139, 1 42, 1 43, 1 44, 1 49, 1 52, 1 54, 1 7 1 , 239, 257, 258, 267,273,299,301,322 Iran Khwarreh Shapur 312 Irano-Urartian 74 Iranshahr 306 Iraq 113, 239, 290, 300, 309, 310, 324, 338 lrish 199 Isaiah 82, 94 Isfahan 3, 12, 14, 67, 141, 149, 171, 293, 299 Isfahäni, Hamza 289 Isfandarmad 316 Isfändiyär 106 Isfarain 13 Isfizar 15 Ishaqvand 76 Isidore of Charax 2, 4, 146, 153, 182, 194, 198, 206, 217, 230, 231 Iskandari, M. H. 122 Iskandariya 147 Iskuza/Isquza 71 Islam 5, 239, 269, 314, 338, 357 Islamabad 197 Islamic 137, 177, 309, 319, 321, 325, 330, 335, 338, 352, 357 Isma "\\ II 99 Isocrates 132, 147 Israelites 77 Issus 139 Issyk Kul 7 Issyk Kurgan 255 Istakhr 304, 314, 333 Btar 122 Istumegu 82 Italy 327 Itineraria Romana 2 Ito, G. 125, 158, 271 iugatio 325 Ivanov, M. S. 22 Ivanov, V. V. 81, 256, 257 Ivaz9 Izadparrah, H. 22 Izates 222, 279 Izates II 238 Jahän-näme 3 Jähiz 289 Jahrum 8, 9, 89 Jalalabad 16, 262 Jamshid 320 Janen, K. L. 249 Jangal 11 janichen, H. 283 japheth 59 Jaxartes 17, 18, 95, 147, 153, 207, 255 Jaz Muryan 13 jenkins, G. K. 148, 159, 178, 183, 185, 195, 197, 198, 200 Jentsch, C. 23 Jeremiah 77, 82 Jerusalem 78, 104, 234, 336 Jesu Bokht 288 Jewish 119,232,315 Jews 97, 114, 232, 309, 315, 319, 338 Jibal Sinjar 243 Jihonika 256 Jones, S. 23 Jordan 275 Josephus 102, 127, 135, 212, 231, 232, 237, 239, 240 Joshua 322 Joshua the Stylite 288, 345 Judaea 236 Judaism 222, 230, 231, 279, 300, 301, 322, 338 Judeich, W. 110, 131 Julian the Apostate 310, 317 Julien, S. 4 Jundeshapur 333 Junge, J. 107, 145, 194 Junker, H. 341 Justi, F. 1, 116 Justin 83, 94, 137, 152, 179, 180, 183, 184, 186, 189,191,206,207,208,210,212,213,226,324 Justin II 328 Justinian 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 330 Jut79 Jüzjäni 5 Ka*bah of Zoroaster 74, 124, 258, 262, 284, 291, 296 Kabul 3, 5, 15, 16, 17, 146, 164, 173, 182, 188,202, 249, 252, 262, 343, 344, 346, 355, 356 Kadphises 196 Kafiristan 16, 23, 194 Kafirnigan 17 Kafirs 23 Kahrstedt, U. 237, 238, 240, 271, 272, 274, 279, 283, 284 K ai ming 347 Kaisar 261 Kalardasht 11 Kalat 59, 298 Kalesnik, S. V. 5 Kalhana 257 Kalidasa 349 Kallias 128 392 Index Hoflfmann, K. 97, 106, 124 Hofstetter, J. 106, 127 Holum, K. G. 319 Homes-Fredericq, D. 280 Hondius, J. J. E. 137 Honigmann, E. 262, 297 Hopkins, Clark 137, 227 Horiuchi, K. 317 Hormisda 308 Hormizd 284, 305, 335, 343 Hormizd I 303, 344 Hormizd II 302, 308, 344, 345 Hormizd IV 334 Hormizd V 337 Hormizdagan 293 Hormizd-Ardashir 294, 295, 299, 302, 303, 304, 305, 333 Hormizd Kushanshah 345 Hormizshahr 333 Hormuz 160, 172 Houghton, A. 159, 164 Hou Han Shu 4, 250 Houtsma, M. 356 Hovhannisean, K. 73 How, W. W. 78 hpthpt' 114 hrgwpt 223 hrkpty 306 hrmdr' 319 Hrouda, Barthel 26, 167 Hsi (or Pa)-tun 250 Hsiao 192 Hsiung-nu 191, 192, 250, 265 Kitt 225 hstrdry 223 hstrp 221 Hsuan-Tsang 4, 341 Hudel Hudüd al-'älam 4, 5, 290 Hubschmann, H. 2, 137 Huei-cha'o 4, 341 Hulwan 278, 335 Humbach, H. 262, 267, 290, 306, 342, 348, 356, 357 Humban 122 Humlum, Johannes 3 Hun 345 Huna 349, 355 Hungary 276 Hungry Steppe 18 Hunnic311,321 Huns 182, 317, 318, 346, 347, 348, 350 Hurrian 68, 73 Huvaxsatra 71, 75 Huvishka 249, 256, 261, 262, 267, 344 Huza 111 Huzi 140 Hvidberg, F. 213 hwsrw 241 hwtwy 219, 220 Hyparchy 155 Hyrcania 11, 90, 94, 112, 114, 141, 144, 149, 168, 208, 212, 222, 237, 238, 240, 243, 283, 284 Hyrcanians61, 80, 239 Hyrcanus 234 Hyrkodes 251 Hyspaosines 213, 276, 277 Hystaspes 91 Iberia 238, 282, 283 lbn 'Abd Rabbihi 295 lbn al-Athir 290 lbn al-Balkhi 3 lbn al-Faqih al-Hamadäni 290, 292 lbn Hauqal 290 lbn Isfandiyär 289 lbn Khurdädbih 290 lbn Rustah 290 Ibrahim, M. 189, 202, 348 Idumaeans 234 Ikaros 138, 157 Ili 19, 192 Il-Tegin 335 Immortais 107 lmoto, E. 216 India 7, 11, 20, 56, 57, 103, 104, 113, 132, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 149, 150, 153, 163, 177, 179, 182, 184, 186, 187, 188, 194, 195, 198,200,201, 202, 210, 222, 230, 240, 249, 252, 254, 256, 259, 260, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 275, 328, 330, 344, 346, 349, 355, 357 Indian 4, 15, 60, 62, 67, 104, 151, 153, 154, 170, 1 78, 1 81 , 1 83, 1 86, 1 87, 1 89, 1 94, 1 95, 1 98, 256, 257, 258, 262, 264, 267, 287, 298, 348 Indian Ocean 275, 330 indictio 325 Indo-Aryan 228, 257 Indo-Bactrian 188, 253 Indo-European 62, 73, 83, 192, 193, 217, 218, 230, 232 Indo-Greeks 185, 199 Indo-Iranian 61, 87, 121, 216, 218, 329, 356 Indo-Parthian 191, 200, 215, 238, 252, 256, 265, 284, 285 Indra 352 Indravarma 196, 198, 200 Indus delta 187 Indus River 7, 13, 14, 16, 17, 22, 67, 104, 151, 154, 198 Ingen, W. van 167 Ingholt, H. 280 Ionia 154 Ionian 92,93, 105, 110, 128 Ipsos 151 Index 393 Iran 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 1 1, 12, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25,62,63,68,72,77,87,99, 137, 148, 151, 162, 166,172,174,194,195,202,203,204,208,216, 21 8, 223, 229, 230, 240, 274, 277, 282, 290, 291 , 298,299,308,309,310,314,318,320,323,332, 333, 334, 335, 337, 352, 357 Iranian 16, 19, 20, 22, 57, 59, 63, 69, 70, 75, 92, 108, 119, 122, 123, 132, 134, 142, 150, 157, 166, 190, 192, 193, 197, 202, 206, 207, 228, 229, 230, 247, 250, 266, 267, 269, 274, 280, 346, 348 Iranians 10, 18, 26, 56, 60, 61, 62, 67, 72, 74, 139, 142,143,144,149,152,154,171,239,257,258, 267, 273, 299, 301, 322 Iran Khwarreh Shapur 312 Irano-Urartian 74 lranshahr 306 Iraq 113, 239, 290, 300, 309, 310, 324, 338 Irish 199 Isaiah 82, 94 Isfahan 3, 12, 14, 67, 141, 149, 171, 293, 299 Isfahäni, Hamza 289 Isfandarmad 316 Isfandiyär 106 Isfarain 13 Isfizar 15 Ishaqvand 76 Isidore of Charax 2, 4, 146, 153, 182, 194, 198, 206, 217, 230, 231 Iskandari, M. H. 122 Iskandariya 147 Iskuza/Isquza 71 Islam 5, 239, 269, 314, 338, 357 Islamabad 197 Islamic 137, 177, 309, 319, 321, 325, 330, 335, 338, 352, 357 Isma "ll II 99 Isocrates 132, 147 Israelites 77 Issus 139 Issyk Kul 7 Issyk Kurgan 255 Istakhr 304, 314, 333 Istar 122 Istumegu 82 Italy 327 Itineraria Romana 2 Ito.G. 125,158,271 iugatio 325 Ivanov, M. S. 22 Ivanov, V. V. 81, 256, 257 Ivaz 9 Izadparrah, H. 22 Izates 222, 279 Izates II 238 Jahän-näme 3 Jähiz 289 Jahrum 8, 9, 89 Jalalabad 16, 262 Jamshid 320 Janen, K. L. 249 Jangal 11 Janichen, H. 283 Japheth 59 Jaxartes 17, 18, 95, 147, 153, 207, 255 Jaz Muryan 13 Jenkins, G. K. 148, 159, 178, 183, 185, 195, 197, 198, 200 Jentsch, C. 23 Jeremiah 77, 82 Jerusalem 78, 104, 234, 336 Jesu Bokht 288 Jewish 119,232,315 Jews 97, 114, 232, 309, 315, 319, 338 Jibal Sinjar 243 Jihonika 256 Jones, S. 23 Jordan 275 Josephus 102, 127, 135, 212, 231, 232, 237, 239, 240 Joshua 322 Joshua the Stylite 288, 345 Judaea 236 judaism 222, 230, 231, 279, 300, 301, 322, 338 Judeich, W. 110, 131 Julian the Apostate 310, 317 Julien, S. 4 Jundeshapur 333 Junge, J. 107, 145, 194 Junker, H. 341 Justi, F. 1, 116 Justin 83, 94, 137, 152, 179, 180, 183, 184, 186, 189, 191, 206, 207, 208, 210, 212, 213, 226, 324 Justin II 328 Justinian 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 330 Jut79 Jüzjäni 5 Ka*bah of Zoroaster 74, 124, 258, 262, 284, 291, 296 Kabul 3, 5, 1 5, 1 6, 1 7, 1 46, 1 64, 1 73, 1 82, 1 88, 202, 249, 252, 262, 343, 344, 346, 355, 356 Kadphises 196 Kafiristan 16, 23, 194 Kafirnigan 17 Kafirs 23 Kahrstedt, U. 237, 238, 240, 271, 272, 274, 279, 283, 284 K ai ming 347 Kaisar 261 Kalardasht 11 Kalat 59, 298 Kalesnik, S. V. 5 Kalhana 257 Kalidasa 349 Kallias 128 394 Index Kalliope 152 Kaluraz 11 Kambakhsh-Fard 205 Kambojas 97, 154 Kambujiya 96 Kamioka, K. 87 Kamnaskires 273, 274, 275 kanärang 219, 264 Kangavar 65, 76, 166, 205, 231 K ang-chu 207, 250, 255, 259 Kang-diz 207, 255 Kangha 207, 255 Kanik 257 Kanishka 247, 249, 253, 254, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260,261,267,343 Kanishka III 262, 343, 344 Kansu 250 Kao-fu 250, 251 Kapa 252 Kapisa 146, 163, 264, 344, 356 Kara 119 karadranga 219 Karaftu 230 Karakalpak 355 Kara Kum 13, 16, 17, 18 kara-trango 264 kara-lrangga 264 Kara-tau 19 Kardar 320 Karen 226, 239, 295, 316 Karim, Hushang Pur 22 Kariyan 315 Karkha de Beth Slok 222, 278 Karkhah River 276 Kärnämak 284, 289, 291 karsha 116 Kartir 296, 303 (cf. Kerdir) Karun River 9, 298, 309 kosaka 109 Kash 262 Kashan 12 Kashgar 19, 192, 298 Kashmir 194, 195, 257, 348, 349, 350, 355, 356 Kaspir 194 Kassandane 97 Kassander 151 Kastariti 71, 74 Kastalski, B. 185 katoikoi 156, 160, 164 Katulphos 349 Kaufman, I. M. 5 Kaus 320 Kavad 287, 289, 320, 322, 323, 324, 325, 332, 333, 349 Kavad II 337 Kavi 57, 320 Kavir 8, 12 Kavi Vishtaspa 57, 58, 60 Käwar 346 kay (kdy) 320 Kayanid 284 Kazakhastan 23 Kazemi, A. 3 Kazerun 9, 26 Keall, E. J. 242 Kent, R. 98, 102, 106 Kerdir 296, 299, 300, 301, 303, 304, 306, 309, 316 (cf. Kartir) Kerman 3, 12, 13, 14, 79, 89, 111, 144, 149, 160, 162, 170, 171, 213, 222, 237, 295, 299 Kermanioi 79 Kermanshah 10, 22, 25, 66, 69, 98, 317 Kern, H. 4 Kervran, M. 103, 104 Khabur River 243 Khafr 8 Khaläj 350 Khalchayan 252, 266 Khalidov, A. B. 3 Khanaqin 25, 306 Kharg 276 Kharis 152 Kharoshthi 183, 185, 195, 198, 199, 200, 201, 252, 253,254,259,261,265,284 Khash River 15 Khate 73 Khätt 295 khatlini 73 Khazars 337 Khingil 355, 356 Khiva 17 Khlopin 93 Khodjent 17, 147 Khoi 10 Khorezm 18 Khosrov 310 Khotan 19, 194, 259, 260 Khotanese 192, 256, 257 Khsayärsan 106 khshassa-pavan 111 Khudai natnak 289 Khudäyär Mahabbi 216 Khung-e Naurüzi 274 Khunj 9 Khurasan 3, 10, 13, 14, 15, 25, 69, 80, 112, 150, 170, 173, 207, 221, 226, 294, 300, 313, 315 Khurhe 162, 166 Khurramabad 10, 300 Khurramshahr 276 Khusrau 324 Khuzi 273 Khuzistan 3, 9, 10, 14, 74, 89, 111, 122, 205, 273, 274, 275, 295, 297, 298, 306, 329, 333 Khwarazm 18, 61, 164, 165, 179, 185, 188, 206, 207, 229, 258, 263, 268, 298, 354 Index 395 Khwarazmian 23, 57, 58, 61, 62, 79, 80, 1 12, 174, 188, 296, 307, 351, 354, 355, 357 khwarreh 295 Kidara 345, 346, 347, 348 Kidarite 346, 348, 349 Kienitz, F. K. 97, 98, 126 Kierdorf, W. 126 Kinda 324 Kineas 153 Kings 65, 77 Kirghizia 250 Kirghizistan 23 Kirkpatrick, C. 163 Kirkuk 76, 222, 278, 279, 293 Kislyakov, N. 21, 23 Kisra 325 Kizil Irmak 82 Kizil Kum 17, 18, 19 Kizilsu 19 Kizkapan 76, 162 Kleiner, G. 148 Kleiss, W. 73, 74, 77 Klengel, H. 213 Kleomenes 172 kleroi 164 Klima, O. 117, 129,321,323 Klimburg-Salter, Deborah E. 351 Klinge, G. 330 Kljastornyj, S. G. 353 Knabe, G. 5 Knudtzon, G. A. 71 Koch, H. 122 Koenen, L. 294 König, F. W. 5, 76, 107, 116, 123 Koh Daman 146 (or Koh-e) Koh-e Daman 16, 356 Kohut, A. 2 Koinos 143 Kokand 17 Kokcha 153 Kolesnikov, A. I. 334 Komisene 14 Komis 152 Konon 130 Kononov, A. H. 283 Konow, S. 187, 195, 199, 252, 261 Konya 297 Kopet Dagh 13, 208 Korduk 223 Korzhenevskii, N. L. 5 Koschaker, P. 221 Koshelenko, G. A. 138, 147, 173, 205, 209, 211, 215, 216, 217, 227, 230, 232, 246, 268 Koske, F. Ya. 206, 207 Kouymjian, D. K. 168, 356 Kraay, C. M. 138, 178 Kraeling, E. G. 88, 120 Kranz, W. 97 Krateuas 148 Kraus, W. 5, 23 Kreissig, H. 135 kr S ' 326 Krogman, W. M. 22 Kronos 313, 321 Kruglikova, I. T. 177, 249, 263 ksalrapa 256, 265 kse'tra 56 Kshatrapas 195, 197 Kucha 19, 259 Kuei-shuang 250, 251 Kuei-shui 191 Kufa 227 Kuh-e Khwaja 62, 205 Kujula Kadphises 96, 202, 251, 252, 255, 256 Kukhtina, T. 1. 5 Kumar, B. 254 Kunduz 16 Kunlun 19 Kur 90 kura 333 kurdabattS 116 Kurdish 10, 306 Kurdistan 3, 10, 76, 94, 162, 228, 230 Kurds 22, 90 Kureskhata 94 Kurgans 72, 202, 350 Kurka 122 Kurkath 94 kurtas 118, 129 Kuru 90 Kurylowicz, J. 96 Küsha 114 Kushan 177, 178, 188, 190, 191, 201, 249, 251, 253, 254, 255, 259, 260, 262, 263, 265, 269, 284, 307, 342, 346 Kushaniya 258, 345 Kushano-Sasanian 341 Kushans 193, 194, 198, 199, 200, 202, 203, 216, 219, 243, 245, 246, 247, 256, 258, 261, 262, 264, 266, 267, 268, 283, 294, 295, 296, 305, 311, 343, 344, 345, 347 Kushanshahr 298 Kussmaul, F. 23 Kuwait 157 kwsnxstr 262 Labat, R. 70, 74 Labienus 234 Lactantius 287 Lade 105 Laghman 154, 164 Lahiri, A. N. 178, 181, 183, 197 Lahore 252 Lake Balkash 7 Lake Urmia 10, 66, 70, 214 Lakhana Udayaditya 356 396 Index Lakhmid 307, 319, 324, 337, 338 Lama, Manuchehr 22 lan 122 Langlois, V. 312 Laodice 162, 184 Läpp, P. W. 88 Lar 9 Latin 137, 188, 220, 226, 240, 281, 287, 288 Latte, K. 2, 137, 288 Latz, J. 290 Laufer, B. 23 Lazar of P arp 288, 320, 321 Lazica 324, 325, 327 Le Coq, P. 96 Lehmann-Haupt, C. F. 59, 111 Leninabad 17, 147 Lentz, W. 125 Lepper, F. 242 Le Rider, G. 148, 157, 172, 210, 211, 212, 245, 273, 276, 277 Lesser Zab River 222 LeStrange, G. 2 Leuze, O. 113 Levine, L. D. 65, 66, 68, 69 Levine, B. A. 87 Levites 67 Liang Shu 347 Libanius 164, 287, 310 liberi 224 Libya 127, 128 Libyans 114 Limepirde 122 limes 242, 308, 309 Litvinskii, B. A. 177, 189, 207, 216, 249, 255, 268, 342 Livshits, V. A. 205, 209, 221, 229, 232, 257, 284, 285, 320, 354 Livsic, V. A. 353 (cf. Livshits) Livy 169, 210 Löffler, R. 22 Logar 16 Lohüizen-de Leeuw, van 197, 198, 199 Lommel, H. 109, 231 Lop Nor 19 Lu 92 Lucian 197, 215 Lucius Manlius Vulso 180 Luckenbill, D. D. 65, 66, 67, 69, 70, 75 Lucullus 215 LUders, H. 249, 267 Lukonin, V. 254, 284, 290, 291, 296, 302, 303, 304, 305, 316, 332, 341, 343, 345 Luri 28, 90 Luristan 9, 10, 28, 65, 98, 273 Lurs 22, 89 Lut 8, 12 Luvians 73 Lycia 88,93, 115 Lycian 130 Lydia 92, 93, 96, 115 Lydian 81, 82, 130 Lysanios 153 Lysias 187 Lysimachos 151 Maccabees 162 Macdermot, B. C. 301 MacDowall, D. W. 178, 189, 195, 197, 202, 252, 255, 256, 264, 284, 348, 357 Macedonia 105, 141, 156 Macedonian 132, 134, 135, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 147, 148, 149, 150, 157, 158, 161, 164, 165, 173, 180, 190, 219, 227, 228 MacKenzie, D. 354, 355 Macrinus 244 Mäda 61, 111 Madan, D. M. 231 Madates 140 Madhyamikä 186 Ma'd-Karib 328 Madyes 71 Maenchen-Helfen, O. 193, 318 Majatih al-'ulüm 290 maga-brihmanas 195 Magha 277 Magi 67, 81, 121, 123, 124, 226, 231, 315 Magian 98, 99 Magianism 351 Magie, D. 293 Magnesia 170, 171, 180, 211 magoi 67 magus 122, 299 Mahabad 10, 76 Mahabharata 195, 349 mahaiandanayaka 265 Mahallat 162 Maharaja 187 Maharlu 7, 8, 9 Mahayana 268 Mahgushnasp 320 Mahidasht 66 Mahishtäbäd 295 Mahler, J. G. 353 Mahmud 356 Maho-Kanishka 256 Mahraspand 312 Maipherkat 318 Maisin 222, 275, 276 Maitreya 269 Majumdar, N. G. 187 Maka 113 Makheloni 298 Makran 13, 298, 307 Makrobioi 197, 215 Maku, 10, 77 Malalas 287 Index 397 Malamir 274 Malatya 236 Malayer 65 Malwa 260, 355 Malyän tepe 8 Mamertinus 304, 305 Mamikonian 321, 328 Mamluke 353 Manadyan, Ya. A. 213, 214 Manda 76, 84 Mandaeans 277, 309 Mandaism 231 Mandane 82 Mandelshtam, A. M. 178, 185, 193, 251 Manesus 224, 225, 281 Mani 300, 303, 323 Manichaean 226, 307, 309, 323, 338 Manichaeism 300, 301, 312, 353 Manna 69 Mannai 70, 71, 72, 75, 76, 77, 81 Manneans 10 Mannen, Konrad 1, 89 Ma nu 281 Manuchihr 272 Mao 257 Mär Abhä 288, 313 Maragheh 10, 163, 234 Marakanda 112 Marand 10 Maraphi 89, 90 Marathon 104, 105 Marc Antony 224, 234, 235 Marco Polo 3, 26 Marcus, R. 318 Marcus Attilius Regulus 180 Marcus Aurelius 243 Mardi 89, 90, 210 Mardis 99 Mardonius 105, 115, 122 Marduk 91, 94, 121 Marduniya 102, 122 Margilan 17 Margiane 112, 156, 173, 197 Mariades 301 Maricq, A. 227, 240, 242, 262, 280, 294, 296, 297, 298 mar'tka 56, 109 mariya 281 Markwart.J. 1 , 4, 5, 61 , 79, 1 37, 207, 288, 289, 342 (cf. Marquart) Marlik 11 Marquart, Joseph 1, 59, 61, 107, 112, 214, 222, 226, 288, 311, 312, 342, 348, 356 Marsden, E. W. 139 Marshak, B. 1. 266, 353 Marshall, J. 177, 266 Marutha 318 Marv 80 Marvdasht 8, 26, 125 marzban 225, 324, 338 Mashkür, M. J. 289 Masjid-e Sulaiman 74, 205, 273, 274 Maspi 89 Massabatike 89 Massagetai 95, 207 Massice 296 Masson, M. E. 23, 205, 258, 354 Masson, V. M. 181, 185, 190 Mas ud Kayhän 1 Mas udi 57, 289, 304, 309, 312 mathista 107, 119 Mathura 249, 254, 255, 259, 260, 261, 262, 266, 267, 268 Matigan 315, 332 Mattingly, H. 297 Mauakes 195 Maues 195, 196, 197, 201 Maurice 329, 334, 336 Maurya 152, 154 Mauryan 151, 153, 164, 268 Mausolos 131 Mayhoff, C. 2 Mayrhofer, M. 87, 102, 109, 110, 116, 119, 126, 131, 332 Mazaios 115, 132, 139, 140, 143 Mazakes 114, 134 Mazandaran 3, 11, 22 Mazar-e Sharif 16 Mazdaean 321 Mazdaism 268, 313 Mazdak 322, 323, 324 Mazdakites 322, 324, 329 Mazdayasnian 58 Mazzarino, S. 109 McCrindle, J. W. 154 McDowell, R. H. 137, 211, 227 McGovern, W. M. 341, 347, 349 McNicoll, A. 146 mdknpt 296 Meander River 171 Mebarsapes 242, 279 Medes 62, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 81, 82, 90, 91, 98, 105, 106, 108, 111,293 Media 90, 98, 111, 112, 126, 141, 143, 148, 149, 150, 155, 156, 160, 162, 163, 169, 171, 172, 173, 174,183,205,210,212,214,219,221,222,234, 236, 237, 308, 316, 317 Media Atropatene 222 Median 63, 65, 71 , 75, 77, 80, 84, 90, 91 , 92, 94, 99, 100, 170, 234, 236 Mediterranean 95, 132, 150, 234, 239, 301 Medus 75 Megabyzes 114, 115, 127 Megasthenes 153, 154, 267 megistanes 226 398 Index Meherdates 239 Meid, W. 110 Meineke, A. 2, 137, 288 Melikian-Chirvani, A. S. 268 Meükisvili, G. A. 66, 68, 69 Melitene 236 Memphis 97, 114 Menander Protector 182, 185, 186, 187, 287, 327, 349 Menasce, P. G. de 312, 315 Menedemos 169 minög 59 Menon 141 Menua 66, 67, 68, 69 Meredates 277 meri'akhena 265 meridarch 155, 265 meris 155 Merkel, E. 276 Merv 15, 17, 18, 57, 100, 112, 156, 164, 1 93, 1 94, 201 , 202, 207, 208, 232, 268, 298, 322, 338, 347 Merv-e Rüd 15 Mesene 157, 160, 172, 222, 242, 275, 299, 300, 304, 305, 306 Meshhed 3, 13, 184 Meshkeris, N. 266 Mesopotamia 2, 7, 17, 20, 25, 26, 75, 139, 149, 156, 157, 164, 168, 170, 174 21 2, 21 3, 21 5, 224, 227, 229, 230, 231 271 , 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 280, 281 293, 305, 308, 318, 324, 327, 329, 332 337 Mesopotamian 65, 100, 155, 246, 273 Messabate 89 Metolbaessa 224, 225, 281 Metzger, H. 88 Meuakos 195 Meuleau, M. 130 Meyer, E. 165 Miandoab 163 Mianeh 10 Michael the Syrian 288 Michel, E. 65 Middle East 62 Middle Iranian 234, 278 Middle Persian 19, 206, 221, 222, 223, 225, 231, 241 , 247, 262, 273, 283, 284, 287, 289, 290, 291 , 296, 300, 306, 31 2, 316, 31 7, 330, 338, 342, 343 Mihirakula 349, 355 Mihr 272 Mihran 226, 334 Mihr Bokht 332 Mihrdät 232 Mihr Narseh 319, 320, 321 Mihrshäh 300 Mihr Shapur 319 Milan 319 173, 180, 276,295, 276, 295, 113, 129, 175,210, 232,242, 282,291, 333,334, Miles, G. C. 88, 158,283 Miletus 153 Milik, J. T. 222, 279 Milinda 186 Milindapanha 186 Miller, K. 137, 288 Miller, R. A. 4, 341 milkt 318 Minab 13 Mingrelia 298 Minnagar 198 Minni 77 Minorsky, V. 3, 163, 234, 290 Minovi, M. 289 Mir Zakah 178, 182 Mishra, Y. 357 Misi 69 Mitchiner, M. 178, 185, 195, 197, 302, 341, 346 Mithra 56, 101, 122, 123, 133, 166, 190, 216, 231, 267, 269, 314, 317, 345 Mithradates 1 1 5, 1 89, 209, 215, 233, 238, 239, 241 Mithradates I 172, 183, 188, 192, 193, 210, 211, 226, 228, 230, 271 Mithradates II 194, 199, 202, 209, 21 1, 213, 214, 217, 218, 226, 227, 228, 271, 276 Mithraic 313 Mithraism 232, 332 Mitradates 82 Mitrobates 115 Miyandoab 10 mklky 309 mnctry 272 Moa 195 moW 303, 313, 332 mobadan mobad 313 Modarrissi, A. Z. 249 Moghul 6 Moinfar, M. 257 Molon 169, 170 Mommsen, T. 226, 236 Monaeses 234 Mongol 4, 11,265,357 Mongolia 353 Monobazus 279 Monogarova, L. F. 23 Monophysite 322, 328, 338 Monteil, V. 22 Moravcsik, G. 348, 349 Mordtmann, A. 291 Morgan, J. de 115, 161, 211, 271, 272 Morgenstierne, G. 62, 113 Morkholm, I. 138, 171, 172, 178, 210 Morony, Michael 333 Moscow 21 Moses of Chorene 1, 68, 288, 310 Moshär, Kh. 3 Mostafavi, M. T. 109 Mosul 222, 295 Index 399 mm 280 mm 280 mrztvpn 224, 225 Msih Zkha 279 Mtri 272 Mtrprn 216 Mtskheta 324 Müller, C. 1,2, 137 Müller, F. W. K. 197 Müller, O. 151 Müller, W. 137 Mughan 11 Muhammad 328 Mukherjee, B. N. 195, 197, 198, 251, 253, 254, 256, 259, 260, 262, 263, 264, 298 Mukhitdinov, Kh. 189 Multan 104, 195, 267 Muminova, I. 354 Mundhir III 324 Mungan 23 Murashu 117, 129, 130 Murghab River 15, 18, 61, 112 Murundas 262 Müsa 236, 237 Mushki 73 Musurman/busurman 354 Mygdonia 223 Mykale 126 Mysia 131 mzdk 140 mzdy 115 Nabataean 246, 277, 282 Nabo 122 Nabonidus 84, 90, 91, 92, 94, 100 Nabopolassar 75 Naby, E. 5 näfapat 226 Naga 260, 263 nahapet 226 Namaksar 12 Nanaia 157, 231 Nane 231 Nan Shih 347 Napki 355 Naqsh-e Bahram 304 Naqsh-e Rajab 304 Naqsh-e Rustam 74, 76, 102, 103, 104, 123, 124, 158,296,301,304 Narain, A. K. 178, 179, 180, 182, 183, 185, 186, 187,189,191,192,194,195,197,198,200,250, 251,254 Narana-Narendri 348 Narseh 279, 294, 299, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 319, 345 Narshakhi 6, 353 Narzikulov, I. K. 5 Nasharyahab 281 Nasru 281 Naster, P. 159, 161, 271 Natunia 222, 279, 295 Natunians 222 Naveh,J. 87, 88 Nawabi, Y. M. 3, 346 Naxarar 280 Nazarenes 309 Near East 14, 24, 77, 80, 119, 133, 135, 204, 218, 233, 240, 246, 275, 276, 301, 318, 322, 332 Near Eastern 121, 190, 216, 266, 331 Nebuchadnezzar 81 Necho 104 Nehemiah 88, 114, 128 Neoptolemos 148 Neriz 299 Nero 239 Nestorian 2, 288, 318, 338, 351 Nestorianism 322 Neubauer, A. 2 Neusner, J. 222, 228, 289, 315, 319, 325 Nev Shapur 299, 312 Newell, E. T. 138, 159, 163, 168, 211 New Persian 225, 287, 289, 353 Nezak 355, 356 nhwdr 220 Nicephorus 288 Nicholas of Damascus 82 Nicias 196 Nidintu-Bel 100 Nihavend 162, 169, 226, 316, 338 Nikanor 150, 151, 154 Nikitine, B. 22 Nile 20, 97, 98, 104,114 Nineveh 75, 76, 77, 79, 81, 223 Nippur 129, 205 Nirofar 274 Nisa 13, 1 7, 205, 208, 21 1 , 21 6, 221 , 223, 224, 228, 229, 230, 232, 283, 284 Nisaia 208 Nisan 92 Nishapur 3, 13, 14, 206, 300, 312 Nisibis 215, 223, 233, 243, 279, 294, 296, 297, 308, 310, 327, 335 Nissen, H.J. 227, 271,332 Nizämu 'd-din, M. 295 nmana 56 nmänopaiti 56 Nobbe, C. F. 1 Nodelman, S. A. 157, 276, 277 Nodshirakan 222 Noe, S. P. 88 Noeldeke 115, 307, 308, 309, 312, 315, 316, 319, 320, 323 nohodar 223, 280 Norshirakan 222 North Africa 327 Not-Ardashirakan 279 400 Index Nolitia dignilalum 281 nsng 333 ntwn sry 279 ntwsrkn 279, 295 Nudh Ardashir 295 Numan III 337 Numenius 160, 172 Nuristan 16, 23 Nüsh-ejän76, 78, 81 ntvtxstrkn 295 Nyberg, H. 346 Nylander, C. 96, 105, 124, 127 Oates, D. 271 Obelchenko, O. V. 258, 264 Obermeyer, J. 2 Ochus 131 Ochus River 206 Octavian 234, 235 Odainath 297 OelsnerJ. 133, 150 Ogenesiyan, K. L. 73 Oikonomides, A. N. 255 Okazaki, T. 344 Okkonapses 273 Old Iranian 61, 66, 107, 108, 109 Old Persian 56, 60, 62, 73, 79, 87, 91 , 96, 1 03, 1 07, 135, 155, 158, 186 Old Testament 88, 114 Olinder, G. 324 Olmstead, A. T. 99, 121, 127, 128, 296 Olympias 149 Oman 113, 298, 330 Opis 94 Oppenheim, A. L. 84, 90, 91 Orabzes 277 Oracle of Hystaspes 1 74 Oranskii, I. M. 22 Orazov, O. 232 Orbeli, I. A. 291 Orobazes 214 Orodes 233, 234, 237, 273, 274 Orodes I 200, 215 Orodes III 237, 271 Oroites 115 Oromaz 124 Orontes 131, 152, 153 Orontid 214 Orontobates 150 Orosius 287, 288 Ort, L. J. 300 Orthagnes 196, 198, 199 Orthagnes II 196 Orthokorybanti 79 Orxines 143 Osrhoene 243 Osroes 241 Ossetes 191, 192 Ossetic 193 osiän 333 osländär 225 Ostanes 134 Ostrogoths 326 Otanes 97, 115 Otannes 215 Outioi 79 Oxathres 141 Oxtoby, W. G. 3 Oxus River 16, 17, 18, 61, 80, 95, 147, 153, 159, 166,177, 181, 182, 185, 188, 191, 193,206,249, 25 1 , 252, 258, 260, 327, 334, 342, 344, 345, 346, 348, 349, 351, 355, 356 Oxus treasure 178 Oxyartes 148, 149 Oxydates 141, 143 pacagriw 218 Pacorus 219, 234, 239, 241, 242, 243 padehshäy 225 padgöspän 333 padhöspan 224 Pagliaro, A. 109, 112,289 Pahlava 178, 197, 254 Pahlavi 3, 273, 284, 287, 346 Paikuli 222, 292, 306, 344 Paisiyähuväda 98 Päkdamän, N. 3 Pakistan 12, 14, 23, 113, 177, 178, 249 Pakores 196, 200, 201, 255 Paktiya 196 Palestine 65, 82, 88, 114, 115, 150, 151, 155, 166, 189, 232 Pali 186 Pallis, S. A. 152, 213 Palmyra 205, 228, 229, 236, 242, 275, 276, 280, 282, 294, 297, 303 Palmyrene 276, 277, 298, 301 Pamirs 5, 16, 17, 19, 23, 154, 182, 350 Pan Chao 260 Pandey, D. B. 357 Panini 154, 186 Panjikant 258, 342, 352 Panj River 189 Panjsher 16 Pantaleon 184, 186 Panthialai 89 Pap 309, 311 Päpa 310 Päpak 273, 291, 292, 295, 304, 306 Päpakian 285 Paphlagonia 110, 115, 148 Paradas 298 Paradene 298, 307 Paraitakene 141 Parapotamia 224, 281 Index 401 parasang 109 Paretakenoi 67, 79 Paris 290 paristär 221 paristär 221 Parker, R. A. 104, 106, 126 Parni 206, 207, 208, 210, 228 Paropamisos 113, 144, 182, 196, 200, 201 Parsa 8, 56, 61, 67, 111 Parsava 66 Parsi 192 Parsman 283 Parsu 66, 154 Parsua 66, 67, 69, 70, 89 Parsuas 66 Parsumas 79 Parthey, G. 288 Parthia94, 112, 141, 144, 149, 152, 155, 156, 163, 168,170,183,188,206,207,208,213,214,218, 222, 229, 234, 238, 241, 252, 271, 313 Parthian Mansions 2, 182, 194 Parthamasiris 242 Parthuaia 212 Parthyene 212 Parumartis 74 Parviz 335 Pasa Ardashir 295 Pasargadae 8, 26, 56, 74, 84, 89, 90, 92, 95, 96, 1 09, 111, 124, 125, 158, 159, 162 pasca-dathapati 119 pasgrab 219 Pashkibur 262, 344 Pashto 3 Pashtun 15, 154, 350 Pasiani 191, 192, 207, 250 pasti 119 Patafljali 186 Pateisxoreis 90 Pathan 15 pathpabaga 110 patijräsa 119 Patishuvaris 90 Patkanian, K. 288 patragadä 89 Patrokles 153 patyaxsa 109 Paulus Orosius 188 Pausanius 127 Pazaryk 255 Pedley, J. G. 93 Pei Shih 347 Pei Shu (Chou) 347 Peithon 148, 149, 150, 154 Pekary, T. 296 Pellat, C. 304 Perat de Maishan 276 Perdikkas 145, 149 Perikhanian, A. 214, 218, 220, 221, 282, 315, 332 Periplus of the Erythraean Sea 198 Peroz 300, 322, 332, 348, 349 Peroz I 344 Peroz II 337, 344 Peroz Kushanshah 345 Peroz-Shapur 296, 300 Persepolis 7, 8, 26, 76, 87, 90, 96, 103, 104, 109, 111,116,118,120,122,123,124,125,126,127, 129,140,141,145,158,159,160.162,171,203, 272, 316 Persia 23, 135, 357 PersianGulf7,8,9,17,95,157,171,213,222,242, 275, 316 Pescennius Niger 243 Peshawar 83, 187, 257, 261, 262, 263, 266, 298 Petech, L. 195, 356 Petiot-Biehler, C. Y. 177 Petra 327 Petrosyan, Yu. A. 354 Petrov, M. P. 3 Petrus Patricius 287, 308 Peucolaus 196 Peukestas 143, 144, 148, 149, 150, 158 Phaidyme 97 Pharasmanes 238 Pharnabazos 115 Pharnakes 115 Pharnaspes 97 Pherendates 114 Philhellene 246 Philip, satrap 148 Philip the Arab 296 Philip Arrhidaeus 149 Philip of Macedonia 131, 134, 137, 145 Philippi 234 Philippos 144 Philopator 215 Philostratus 198 Philotas 149 Philoxenus 187 Phobas 277 Phoenicia 114, 115, 116, 131, 132, 189 Phoenician 105, 110, 120, 131, 132 Phokas 336 Phraaspa 163, 234 Phraataces 237, 238 Phraates 196, 210, 212, 213, 224, 233, 236, 281 PhraatesII 193,209,211 Phraates III 215, 216, 217, 233 Phraates IV 234, 235, 237, 238, 271 Phraortes 69, 70, 74, 75, 100 Phraotes 198 Phrasaortes 141, 143 Phrataphernes 141, 149 Phriapatius 209, 210 Phruni 182 Phrygia 70, 93, 131 pht' 221 402 Index Phuni 182 Pichikyan, I. R. 177, 179, 263, 266 Pidaev, S. R. 263 Pigulevskaya, N. 81, 221, 323, 324, 325, 330, 334 Pilipko, V. N. 258, 268 Pinches, T. 70 Pinder, M. 288 Piotrovskii, B. B. 68, 71, 73 Pipes, D. 352 Pirrumartis 74 Piruz 272 Pisarchik, A. K. 23 Pissuthnes 115 Pixodaros 88 pkwr 272 Plataea 126 Plato 98, 99, 108, 119, 124, 184, 186 Pliny 2, 4, 61, 88, 146, 156, 162, 172, 181, 222, 227, 271, 276 plky 306 Plutarch 83, 88, 90, 108, 137, 142, 146, 148, 187, 273 Poebel, A. 102 Pogrebova, M. H. 72 Pokorny, J. 81 Polemo 235, 237 polis 146, 147, 155, 157, 164, 166, 175, 203, 221, 244, 245 politeumata 164 Polotsky, H. J. 300, 307 Polyaenus 160 Polybius67, 160, 162, 169, 170, 171, 180, 181, 210 Polyperchon 149 Pompeius Trogus 82, 172, 206 Pompey 233, 273 Pontus 233, 237 Pope, A. U. 125, 290 Porada, E. 71, 77 Porphyrios 148, 323 Porten, B. 88, 97, 159 Porus 188 Posener, G. P. 97, 98 Powell, J. F. 1 Prakrit 154, 182, 185, 186, 187, 189, 198, 252, 256 Prataphernes 143 Prat de Maisän 295 Princeton 333 Priscus 287, 348 Pritchard, J. B. 84, 90, 91, 94 Pritsak, Omeljan 352 prmtr 225 prnbg 216 prnhw 216 Procopius 287, 322, 324, 326, 327, 328, 349 Proexes 141 Prophthasia 112, 146 proskynesis 142 Prostov, E. 23 Protothyes 71 Prs prlrk 161 prwls 272 Psalms 60 Pseudo-Bardiya 121 Pseudo-Hermaeus 196, 202, 252 Pseudo-Nero 241 pths' 225 Ptolemaic 164 Ptolemies 155, 156, 165, 167, 168, 179 Ptolemy 1, 4, 5, 88, 112, 137, 146, 150, 151, 152, 1 8 1 , 1 84, 206, 222, 227, 251 , 278, 298, 346, 348 Ptolemy III 168 Prolemy IV 169 Ptolemy V 160 plykwspn 224, 225 Puech, H. C. 318 Pugachenkova, G. A. 1 38, 1 77, 1 89, 1 90, 249, 252, 258, 261, 263, 267 Pul-e darunta 154 Pul-e Dast 77 Pulleyblank, E. G. 191, 194, 195, 250, 251 Punic 180 Punjab 104, 113, 200, 201, 202, 259, 260, 262 Puri, B. N. 249, 260, 262, 265, 267 Purushavar 257 Pushkalavati 183, 185 Puspapura 262 pustaka 269 Pu-ta 250 Putaya 114 Pyankov, I. V. 5, 84, 92, 95, 112 Qäbus tiame 290 Qaen 12 Qali-ye Dukhtär 292, 331 Qalä-ye Nö 15 qanat 7, 77 Qandahar 5, 1 5, 1 6, 1 7, 62, 87, 1 46, 1 54, 1 64, 1 73, 178, 188, 298, 347, 356 Qarakhanid 199 Qarluq 350 Qashghai 25 Qasr-e Abu Nasr 159, 290, 332 Qasr-e Shirin 337 qasti 101 Qazvin 10, 11, 12 Qiyoniya 345 Qom 3, 7, 299 Qryf* 225 Quchan 208 Quetta 298, 307 Quintus Curtius 4, 137 Qumis 2, 12, 14, 152, 316 Qunduz 187 Quataiba 289 Index 403 rm/315 Raevskii, D. S. 21 1 Raga 152 Rahman, 'Abdur 357 ra v « 225 roß takhäna 348 Räjatarangini 348 Rajputana 253 Rajputs 349 Rakhsh 306 ram 220 Ranüyana 195, 349 Räm Hormizd 303 Rämishn Ardashir 295 Ramuz 303, 333 Rapoport, Y. A. 81, 232 Rapson, E. J. 200, 284 Rasht 1 1 Rastak 299 rat 315 ratav 315 Ravenna 137 Ravenna Geography 298 Rawlinson, H. 306, 319 Rayy 172, 226 Rechum 115 Red Sea 104, 328 Res Cestae 236 resh galutha 319 Rew Ardashir 295 Rezaiye 7 Rhaga 172 (cf. Raga) Rhages 67, 152, 210, 221, 316 Rice, T. 342 Richter, G. M. A. 88 Riese, A. 2, 137, 288 Rig Veda 56 Rind 299 Rishahr 295 Ritter, H. W. 149, 217 Riyähi, M. Amin 3 Robert, L. 88, 115, 137, 153, 169, 230 Roman 1, 119, 135, 171, 177, 203, 204, 21 5, 21 6, 21 9, 223, 224, 228, 233, 235, 241 , 244, 247, 261 , 262, 264, 271 , 275, 280, 281 , 282, 283, 293, 294, 295, 296, 300,308,309,310,311,312,313,315, 345 Roman Empire 177, 191, 202, 203, 208, 223, 255, 256, 264, 266, 267, 271 , 275, 297, 300, 309, 310 Rome 156, 172, 180, 202, 214, 223, 230, 237, 239, 240, 242, 267, 283, 284, 293, Ronca, I. 4, 137 Rooy, S. van 22 Rosen, K. 287 Rosen-Ayalon, M. 309 Rosenfield, J. 254, 261, 262, 266, 267 205,211, 237,238, 276,279, 297,298, 317,325, 219, 220, 283,294, 233,236, 303,309 rostak 333 Rostovtzeff, M. 1. 1 54, 1 65, 1 66, 1 67, 224, 275, 296 Rowland, B. 264, 266, 267, 342, 351 Roxane 97, 151 rsti-vaiga 82 Rtasüra 109 Rtatakhma 109 Rtveladze, E. F. 264 Rubin, W. 154 Rudolph, K. 300, 309 Rumagan 327 Rusa 70 Rusa II 70, 72 Rusa III 72 Rusa IV 72 Rusanov, I. K. 350 Russia 70, 71, 103, 108, 179, 339 Russian 3, 4, 190, 354 Rustam 166, 247, 274, 338 rustaq 333 Rustaqubad 333 Rutbil 356 Rutten, M. 167 rvatha 108 rtvdystg 225 Rybakov, B. A. 5, 250 Sabakes 114 Sabzevar 15 Sacaraucae 191, 193, 207 (cf. Sakarauli) Sachau, E. 231, 253, 279, 288, 293, 296, 297, 305, 310, 315 Sachs, A. 208 Sachsen-Meiningen, Feodora von 142 Sadiq, I. 289 Safar, Fuad 306 Safavid 99, 325 Safid Rud 11 Sagartian 90 Sagdodonacus 276 Sagvand 98 Sahag 318 Sahi Javulah 356 Sahna 76 Sai-wang 191, 192, 194 Sa 'id b. Batriq 288 Saif 328 Saint-Martin, M. J. 276 St. Thomas 200 Sainu 59 Sairima 59 Saka 19, 57, 93, 95, 103, 166, 178, 191, 192, 194, 1 95, 1 96, 1 97, 200, 201 , 202, 205, 207, 21 1 , 21 2, 219, 250, 251 , 253, 254, 256, 265, 266, 284, 305, 311,316,345,346 Saka-dvipa 195 Sakarauli 191, 250 Sakastan 193, 194, 284 404 Index Sakawand 76 Saketa 186 Saki, 'Ali Muh. 22 Sakkiz 71 Saksan-Okhur 189 Salamis 126 Salm 59 Salmas 10, 294 Salmanasar 65 Samaria 65 Samarqand 6, 17, 18, 19, 112, 258, 342, 352 Sami, A. 124 Samolin, W. 342 Samudragupta 260 Sanab 252 Sanabares 196,201, 252 San al 328 Sanatruk (Parthian) 215 Sanatruq (Hatra) 280, 281 Sanatruq II 281 Sanballat I 115 Sanballatll 115 Sanballat III 115 Sanchi 260 Sanskrit 186, 330, 349 Saqqiz 10 sar 67 Saräb Bahram 304 Sarakhs 18, 197 Sarangians 61, 80 Sarasvati 62 Saray Khwaja 147 Sardis 82, 88, 92, 96, 98, 109, 115, 130, 131, 155 Sarduri 68, 70 Sarduri III 72 Sarduri IV 72 Sar-e Pul Zohab 76 Sargon 69, 71 Sargon II 65, 66, 70, 77 Sarianidi, V. I. 61, 178, 202 Sarikamysh 18 Sarkisian, G. Kh. 221 Sarmatian 193, 255, 283 lar-sarräni 106 Saruka 158 Sarvastavadin 253, 268 Sarvistan 9 Sarykol 19 Sasa 196, 200 Sasan 200, 232, 284, 285, 291, 295, 335, 345 Sasanbokht 232, 284 Sasandat 232, 284 Sasano-Kushan 343 Sasas 284 Sasasa 284 Sasou 284 sastar 56 Satarop 294 Satibarzanes 141, 146 salin 122 satrap 155 Sattagydia 113, 132 Sauromaces 311 Sauromatae 59 Sauvaget, J. 331 Save 335 Sawyer, C. H. 291 Schachermeyr, F. 143 Schaeder, H. H. 109, 137, 342 Schaefer, E. H. 23, 353 Scher, A. 288 Scherer, A. 110 Schippmann, K. 291, 315, 320 Schlosser, W. 125 Schlumberger, D. 88, 1 1 7, 1 33, 1 38, 1 78, 203, 246, 249,266,276,331,342 Schmid, J. R. 321 Schmidt, C. 307 Schmidt, E. 87, 124, 162, 158 Schmitt, H. H. 160, 162, 170, 171 Schmitt, R. 69, 78, 87, 96, 102, 106, 108, 109, 110, 119, 178, 191 Schnetz,J. 2, 137 Schur, W. 240 Schwarz, P. 2, 290 Schwyzer, E. 116 Scythia 206 Scythian 2, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 77, 78, 79, 80, 82, 103, 105, 191, 194, 200 Sebeok, T. 22 Sebeos 288, 334 Seeck, O. 220 Seel, O. 172,191,213 segan 159 Seibert, J. 138, 154 Seistan 3, 6, 7, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 22, 57, 61, 62, 79, 80, 144, 146, 148, 149, 150, 163, 170, 178, 182, 1 84, 1 88, 1 93, 1 94, 1 95, 1 96, 1 98, 200, 201 , 202, 205, 21 3, 222, 226, 283, 284, 295, 299, 304, 305, 306, 308, 316 Seleucia 137, 146, 152, 153, 154, 157, 162, 165, 166,167,169,172,211,213,214,221,222,226, 227, 235, 239, 241, 243, 244, 245, 309, 318 Seleucia on the Eulaius 245 Seleucid 58, 1 16, 138, 153, 155, 156, 157, 158, 160, 161, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 178, 179, 180, 181, 183, 184, 189, 190,203,206,207,208,210,211,212,213,214, 217, 219, 221 , 222, 223, 224, 226, 227, 228, 229, 231, 244, 245, 253, 254, 276, 278, 294 Seleucus 146, 149, 150, 151, 152, 154, 156, 158, 168, 179, 222, 346 Seleucus I 153, 157, 159, 160, 161, 163, 165, 169, 208, 229 Seleucus II 163, 168, 169, 178, 179, 180, 208 Seleucus IV 169, 171 Index 405 Sellwood, D. G. 197, 205, 21 1 , 214, 21 5, 235, 241, 243, 244, 245 Semiramis 68 Semitic 119,205,229 Semiticization 157, 273 Semnan 2, 10, 11 Senmurv 331 Sennacherib 66, 70, 71, 77 Septimius Severus 243, 279, 280, 291 Seres 182 Seston, W. 307 Seux, M.-J. 106 Sevan 68 Severianus 243 Severus Alexander 244, 293 Seyfarth, W. 2 Seyrig, H. 88 Shaar.J. 289 Shad Shapur 300 Shafi*. M. 295 shäh 265 Shäh 'Abbas 325 Shahbazi, S. 58, 99, 102, 123, 125, 127 Shahid, 1. 328 Shähis 357 Shahname 59, 137, 216, 247, 289, 290, 319, 323 Shahrbaraz 336, 337 Shahrdädvar 314 shahr dädvaran davor 315 Shahrdir 223, 225 Shahr-e Sukhte 62 Shahr-e Qumis 205 Shahristäni 323 Shahriyär 337 Shahrqird 222 Shahryärän 220 Shaikhan-Dheri 249 Shaked, S. 87, 88, 274 Shalmaneser I 65, 68 Shalmaneser III 66, 67, 68 Shäm 59 Shamash 280 Shamash-eriba 126 Shammuramat 68 Shan-shan 259 shao 265 Shapur 258, 262, 284, 292, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299, 301 , 302, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 311, 312, 314, 319, 334, 344, 346 Shapur I 200, 287, 289, 291, 303, 305, 308, 312, 342 Shapur I Kushanshah 344 Shapur II 287, 308, 309, 310, 315, 317, 318, 342, 343, 344, 345, 346, 347 Shapur III 317, 318 Shapuräkän 300 Shapurdukhtak 304 Shapur Khwast 300 Shapur KZ 344 Shapur-Shnum 299 Sharaf-näme 3 Sharat 279 Shatt al-'Arab 276 Shea, W. H. 95 Sheberghan 16 shekel 116 Shih-chi 191, 193, 250 Shimbar 274, 277 Shindand 15 Shiraz 7, 8, 9, 14, 90, 159, 332, 346 Shiräzi, A. Afshär 300 Shiroe 337 Shishkin, V. A. 258 Shiz 336 Shuang-mi 250 Shuman 357 Shustar 3, 298, 333 Shutruk-Nakhunte II 69 Siberia 17, 19 Siberian 202 Sibyrtios 144, 149, 150, 154 Sidon 110, 114 Sikawand 98 Silk Route 10 Simeon 288 Simin River 10 Simon, H. 290, 302, 310, 326 Simonetta, A. M. 186, 187, 195, 196, 201, 205, 211,214,215,255 Simonetta, B. 244 Sin 84, 94, 280 Sinaherib 70 Sinätruces 197, 211, 215, 216, 241 Sind 298, 299 Sindhu 104 Singara 243,311 Sinkiang 182, 192, 194, 259, 342, 344, 347, 349, 350,351,352 Sinope 115 Sippar 91, 94 Siraf 309 Sirjan 12 Sittacene 223, 278 Siunik 321 Siva 257, 267 Skand-Cumamk Vitar 312 Skjaervo, P. O. 290, 306 Skudra 103 Skunkha 103 Skylax 104 slwk 158 slivky 346 Smerdis 97, 98 Smirnova, O. I. 231, 258, 352, 353 Smith, S. 75, 84, 91, 93, 178, 328 Smith, V. A. 284 406 Index Snesarov, G. P. 81, 232 Snoy, P. 23 Sogdian 19, 62, 89, 112, 174, 184, 185, 188, 191, 218, 257, 330, 342, 344, 346, 349, 351 , 352, 353, 354, 355, 357 Sogdiana 5, 94, 141, 148, 149, 164, 173, 179, 180, 1 81 , 1 85, 229, 231 , 255, 258, 259, 265, 268, 298, 303, 354, 357 Soghd 262 Sohaemus 243 Soli 149 Solodukho, Yu. 325 Soloi 153 Solomonik, E. I. 283 Sopeithes 163 Sophagasenus 181 Sophene 170, 213, 223, 235 Sophytes 163, 164, 166, 168, 208 Sorbonne 138 Soteiria 152 Soter 180 Soter Megas 196, 201, 255, 256 Sotudeh, Manuchehr 3, 22 South Russia 66, 193, 195, 200, 283, 284, 302, 330, 350 Soviel 16, 191, 205, 207, 342, 352 Soviet Central Asia 21, 178 Soviet Union 177 Sozomenus 287, 308 späda 119, 197 Spahbad 224, 296, 326, 333 Spako 82 Spalagadama 196, 198, 199 Spalahora 196, 197, 198, 199 Spalirises 196, 197, 199 Spalyrios 196, 198, 199 Spamitres 127 Spandiyad 226, 316 Spaosines 276 Sparni 206 Sparta 107, 130, 132, 218 Spartan 97, 130, 131, 156 spasaka 108 Spasinou Charax 276 spdpiy 224 Spentadata 106 Sphendadates 84 Spiegel, F. 137 Spitamas 84 Spitamenes 152 Spithridates 115 Sprengung, M. 262, 294, 296 Spuler, B. 22 Srasser, G. H. 22 Srivastava, A. K. 178 Sroshdat 232 Stamenes 143 Stasander 149, 150 Stasanor 144, 149, 150 stater 116 stathmoi 155 Staviskii, B. Ya. 179, 181, 185, 190, 249, 342, 344 Stein, M. A. 160. 162, 205 Stein, O. 154 Stephan of Byzantium 2, 104, 113, 137, 152, 271, 288 Stiehl, R. 132, 138, 155, 160, 178, 181, 188, 225, 228, 271 Stock, K. 316 Stoics 140 Stolper, M. W. 117 Storey, C. 3 Strabo 2, 4, 5, 67, 88, 90, 94, 112, 125, 146, 151, 152, 153, 156, 161, 163, 168, 175, 180, 181, 182, 184,185,186,189,191,193,206,213,214,215, 226,227,231,250,257,271 stratigos 154, 155, 156, 198, 200, 223, 281 Strato 153, 201 Streck, M. 3 Stronach, D. 65, 75, 78, 88, 89, 96, 109, 1 1 1 , 1 24, 158, 159, 205 Strouxates 67 Struthas 115 Struve, V. 154 Stwodah, I. 249 Stylite 322 Suez 103 Sugiyama, J. 217 Suhi 92 Suhkra 102 Sui 4, 341 Sui Shu 347 Sulaimania 222 Sulla 214 Sumner, William 26 Sung-Yun 4, 341 Süq al-Ahwäz 333 Suren 194, 198, 200, 217, 226, 284, 295, 316, 328 Surkh Kotal 203, 249, 261, 263, 264, 266, 268 Surkhän Daryä 17, 19, 177, 252 Susa 9, 84, 87, 88, 109, 110, 111, 121, 125, 126, 140, 142, 148, 149, 157, 158, 159, 172, 212,213, 216, 227, 229, 244, 245, 271 , 272, 273, 277, 278, 312, 333 Susiane 143, 149, 150, 155, 157 Swat 192 Syennesis82, 110, 115 Syncellus 206, 209, 287 Synhadus 288, 318, 319 Syr Darya 17 Syria 69, 82, 113, 115, 139, 149, 151, 153, 156, 1 67, 1 68, 1 70, 205, 211, 266, 280, 297, 327, 328, 336 Syriac 2, 119, 137, 218, 222, 223, 231, 233, 234, 235, 237, 238, 239, 241 , 242, 244, 271 , 276, 278, 279,281,287,288,309,313,316,317,318,319, 322, 323, 330, 334, 342 Syriake 146 Index 407 Syrian 113, 114, 294, 301, 309, 322 Sysinas 131 Szemerenyi, O. 78, 106, 218, 223, 281 Sznycer, M. 274 Tabari 272, 273, 274, 284, 289, 291 , 292, 295, 298, 307, 308, 309, 320, 322, 325, 335, 349 Tabaristan 3, 141,222, 289 Tabbäs 79 Tabriz 10, 14 Tabrizi, Iräni 289 Tabula Peutingeriana 1, 137 tacara 125, 219, 226, 227, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 273, 283 Tadmor 91 Taeger, F. 173, 216, 217 Tägikan 23 Ta-hsia 191, 192, 193 Taima 94 Tajikistan 5, 6, 7, 17, 178, 181 , 189, 249, 252, 344, 351, 355, 357 Tajiks 309 Takab 10, 230 Takhos 131 Takht-e Sangin 177 Takht-e Sulaimän 77, 290, 315, 332 Takht-i Bähi 252 Taklamakan 19 Talas 207 Talas River 19 Talmud 271 Talmudic 2, 325 Talysh 11,22 Tamgha 251 T ang 4, 341 Tang-e Butan 274, 277 Tang-e Sarvak 274, 277 Tang-e Qandil 304 Tansar 3, 289 Tapur 144 Tapuri 62, 141 Tapuria 184 Taq-e Bustan 317, 337, 345 Taq-e Kisrä 331 Taqizädeh, S. H. 292 Ta'rikh-e Qom 290 Ta'rikh-e Sistän 290 Ta'rikh-e Tabaristan 290 Tarim Basin 19 Tarmita 251 Tarn, W. W.4, 104, 140, 143, 146, 155, 157, 161, 1 62, 1 72, 1 78, 1 80, 1 82, 1 84, 1 86, 1 88, 1 94, 1 95, 197, 213, 251 Tarnak 15 Tarsus 31 1 Tarzi, Z. 249 Tashkent 17, 18, 19. 255, 298 Tashkurghan 19, 182, 192 Tashritu 94 tasug 333 Tattenai 115 Tausa 112 Tavadia, J. C. 289 Taxila 104, 177, 183, 185, 189, 195, 196, 198,200 249, 261 Ta-yüan 191, 250 Ta Yüeh-chih 251 Tehran 2, 3, 10, 11, 12, 21, 25, 67, 111, 210 Teishebaini 73 Teispes 79, 89, 90, 91 Teixidor.J. 88, 279, 281 Tejend 18, 61 Telephus 196, 201 Tepe Hissar 22 Tepe Malyän 272 Tepe Nush-e Jan 65 Termez 147, 251 Ter Minasean 313 Ter-Mkrtzean 321 Tha alibi 290, 293, 303, 304, 308, 309, 312, 322, 335 Thakur, Upendra 349 Thamanians 61, 80 Thanuuaniya 119 Thatagu 113 Thea Urania 237 Thebes 131, 135 Themistocles 96, 127 Theodore bar Khonai 288 Theodore of Mopsuestia 287 Theodosiopolis 323 Theodosius 321 Theodosius II 319 Theonesios I 277 Theonesios II 277 Theonesios III 277 Theonesios IV 277 Theophanes 287, 335, 347 Theophilus 187 Theophylactus Simocatta 287, 335 Theravadin 253 Thermopylae 126 Thespios 158 Thessaly 153 Thocarii 213 Thogarii 212 Thomas, E. 306 Thompson, D. 291 Thompson, M. 138, 178, 185 Thompson, R. Campbell 65 Thomson, R. 288 Thrace 103, 105 Thracian 70, 150, 153, 173, 190 Thraco-Phrygian 73 Thucydides 128 Thukhra 102 Tiberius 202, 238, 252, 328, 334 Tibet 350 408 Index Tibetan 19, 260, 342, 350 T*ien Shan 17 Tiflis 324 Tiglath-Pileser I 68 Tiglath-Pileser III 67, 69 Tigraios 273 Tigranes 214, 233, 235, 236, 239 Tigranes II 215, 218, 233 Tigranes the Great 214, 279 Tigris 92, 94, 111, 137, 152, 153, 154, 157, 165, 169, 211, 227, 244, 278, 280, 293, 308 Tigris-Euphrates 17, 20, 242, 276, 338 Tilia, Ann Britt 88, 125 Tüia, G. 127 Tilla Tepe 202, 342 Timarkhos 163, 172, 210, 214 Timesitheus 296 Timmer, B. C. J. 267 Tiraios I 277 Tiraios II 277 Tiratsyan, G. A. 282 Tirdat 232, 307, 308, 310 Tiribazos 115, 130 Tiridates 141, 206, 209, 219, 235, 238, 239, 240, 291, 293, 294, 305 Tiridates II 282 Tissaphernes 115, 128, 130 Tithraustes 115, 130, 131 Tiyanik 299 Tlepolemus 144, 149 Tochari 191 Töttösy, C. 186 Togan, Zeki Velidi 350, 354 Tokhari 250 Tokharian 191, 192, 193, 251, 255, 256, 259, 342 Tokharistan 250, 256, 356 Tolstov, S. P. 23, 61, 207, 258, 263, 268, 354 Tomaschek, W. 1, 5, 112, 113, 137 toparchy 155 Toramana 349 Tosi, M. 62 Toumanoff 294, 305 Touriva 184 Trajan 217, 241, 242, 276, 279, 280, 281 Transcaucasia 5, 72, 95, 322, 324 Transoxiana 348, 357 Traxiane 184, 197 Trebellius Pollio 287 Trever, K. V. 177, 240, 291 Triballos 153 Triparadeisos 149 Tripolis 114 triratna 262, 343 Trofimova, T. A. 23, 265, 350 Trogus 179, 189, 191, 206, 209 (cf. Pompeius Tragus) Trubetskoi, V. 22 Trumpelmann, L. 317 Tscherikower, V. 138, 146, 152, 153 Tu-mi 250, 251 Tue 59 T'ün-chu 251 Tuira 59 Tukulti-ninurta II 68 Tulkhar 178 Tun Huang 352 Tura 59. 60 Turan 59, 295, 298, 299, 307 Turbat-e Haidariyeh 13 Turfan 19, 346, 351 Turkestan 4, 16, 17, 207, 255, 342, 351 Turkic 19, 22, 25, 251, 265 Turkish 10, 11, 107, 334, 337, 342, 349, 353, 356 Turkmen 13, 17 Turkmenistan 5, 6, 7, 13, 15, 23, 205, 206, 250, 355 Turks 19, 20, 25, 26, 59, 66, 199, 247, 265, 269, 327, 334, 335, 338, 346, 349, 350, 353, 355, 356 Turk Shähis 356 Turma 122 Tüs 13, 112 Tulpa 73 Tyana 198 Tyre 110, 114 Tyumenev, A. I. 117 Ubulla 300 Ugbaru 94, 95 Ukbara 300 UkpS 122 Uksatar 71 Ulay 309 Umakistar 75 Umtnan-manda 70, 91 Umnyakov, I. 342 Unvala,J. M. 230, 290 upäirisaena 104 Urartian 10, 65, 66, 69, 70, 73, 74, 77 Urartu 68. 69, 72, 73, 75, 77, 80 Urastu 73 Urfa 288 Urmia 7, 68 Uruk 166, 167, 205 Utana 102 Uxii 140 Uzbekistan 5, 6, 7, 23, 177, 250, 355 Uzboi 18 Vagasis 210 Vahagn 230 Vahan Mamikonian 322 Vahuaka 102 Vahumän 232 Vahunäm 306 Vahyazdita 99, 121 Vainberg, B. I. 258, 344, 354 Index 409 Vajheshka 261 Vakhku 102 Vakhsh 17 Valakhsh 231 Valens 311, 312 Valerian 260, 287, 289, 297, 301, 304 Valgash 322 Vallois, H. 22 Van 10, 68, 73 Vandals 325 Vanden Berghe, L. 137, 162, 205, 274, 290, 304 Var 347 Varahamihira 4 Varahran 303 Varakhsha 352 Varanasi 260 Variz 226, 295 Varazdates 312 Varäz(gän) 346 Vardan 321, 322 Vardana 155 Vardanes 227, 239 Vardapet 288 Varkana 112 Varna 56 Varz 316 Varzin 299 Vasak 321 Vasishka 254, 256, 261 Vasishka II 262 väspuhrak'anih 218 Vaspuhrin 316 vassabara 108, 119 Vasu 262 Vasudeva 254, 259, 261, 267 Vasudeva I 343, 344 Vasudeva II 262, 344 Vasudeva III 262, 344 Vaxsu 164 Vaxsuvar 164 Väyaspära 102 Vehafrid 291 Vendidad 61, 232, 346 Ventidius Bassus, P. 234 Venus 231 Verethragna 166, 230, 274 Vesak 221 Vesta 230 Vesüviüs 241 vezier 319 Vidarna 102 vihara 257 Vijayamitra 200 Vikings 81 Vikräma 253 Vikrämaditya 198, 253 Vilchevskii, O. 22 Vima 196, 256, 257 Vima Kadphises 255, 260, 267 Vindafarna 102 Vinogradov, A. V. 265 Vintaparna 102 Vis 56 Visaputhra 108 Visduxta 218, 219 Vishnu 259, 261, 267 Vishtispa 80, 106 Vispaiti 56 Visparu 102 Vispuhr 218, 219, 265 Vis u Ramim 247 vitaxa 281 Vitellius, L. 238 vitha-patii 108 vithapatiy 100 Vittana 102 Vloten, G. van 290 Vohubarz 160 Voigtlander, E. von 100, 101 Volga River 351 Vologeses 219, 227, 231, 240, 241, 243, 244, 281, 322 Vologeses I 22, 228, 238, 239 Vologeses II 241, 242, 243 Vologeses III 242 Vologesia 222, 227, 240 Vologesocerta 227 Volostnov, B. 5 Vonones 196, 197, 198, 199, 201, 237, 238 Voöbus, A. 318 Vopiscus 305 Vorobeva, M. 179 Vramshapuh 317, 319, 320 Wade-Giles 341 Waele, E. de 274 Waggoner, N. 214 Wahballat 302 Wahrahran 299 Wahuxshahr 272 Wakhin 16, 19, 192 Wakhi 192 Walgash 281 Walker, J. 280 Walser, G. 87, 89, 111, 113, 296 Wämqubäd 333 Waräz 316, 349 Warka 167, 280 Warmington, E. H. 275 Waterman, L. 70, 137 Watson, W. 268 Watters, T. 4, 257, 341 Way, A. S. 97 Wazr 349 Weh Antiok Khusrau 327 410 Index Weh Antiok Shapur 298 Weh Ardashir 295, 299 Weh az Amid Kaväd 333 Wehrli, C. 151, 152 Wei 341 Weidner, E. F. 79 Weingart, S. 118 Weisberg, D. B. 118 Wei-shu 4 Welles, C. Bradford 138, 162, 171, 223, 224, 225, 227, 281 Wells, J. 78 Welskopf, E. C. 133 Wenke, R. J. 245, 275, 329 Wertime, T. 23 Wesendonk, V. 313 Wheeler, M. 177, 190, 203, 249, 264 Whitehead, R. B. 163, 178, 252 Whitehouse, D. 146, 309, 330 whswr 229 Widengren, Geo 109, 119, 217, 220, 226, 232, 271, 293, 300, 349 Wiessner, G. 101, 288, 308, 310, 313 Wijk, W. E. van 253 Wikander, S. 57 Wilber, D. N. 5, 23 Wilberg, F. G. 1 Wilhelm, F. 257 Wilkinson,J. 330 Will, E. 138, 151, 168, 170, 171, 210, 331 Williamson, A. 309, 330 Windfuhr, G. L. 29 Winter, W. 259 Wiseman, D. J. 65, 72, 76, 82 Wolski.J. 119, 179, 180, 205, 206, 207, 208, 219, 220 Woodhead, A. G. 137 Worod 281 Wright, W. 345 Wroth, W. 211, 245 wrwd 27 '4 wtfidt 272 Wulff, H. E. 22 Wu-sun 250, 255 Wu ti 191 wuzurg 304 wuzurg Frimadit 319 Wuzurg Shapur 300 wuzutgan 220, 316 wyspty 225 Xanthos of Lydia 58, 81, 88, 131 Xenophon 65, 88, 89, 92, 93, 94, 95, 108, 1 10, 1 1 4, 115, 119, 120, 128,295 Xerxes 58, 91, 96, 106, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 120, 121, 122, 126, 127, 129, 145, 170 Xsathrita 74 xsava 56 yabghu 250, 251, 265 Yadegar i Zareran 247 Yale 138 Yampolskii, Z. I. 143 Ya'qübi 289, 290, 356 Yaqüt 3 yasna 56, 58 Yasodharman 355 Yast 56, 61, 216 yatakgov 315 Yaudheyas 260, 263 Yauna 186 Yautiya 79 Yavana 154, 186, 253, 254 Yazd 3, 90, 171, 333 Yazdagird I 318, 319, 320, 321, 337, 338 Yazdagird II 320, 347 Yazdan-Friy-Sapur 316 Yazidis 22 Yemen 327, 328, 330 Yen-kao-chen 251 Ye Ta 347 Yona 154, 186 Yonaka 186 Young, T. C. 65 ytkgwby 315 Yüeh-chih 191, 192, 193, 194, 196, 250, 251, 252, 255, 265, 347 yuvaraja 107 Zabdicene 223 Zab River 279 Zabul 346, 356 Zabulistan 356 Zadneprovskaya, T. N. 205 Zadrakarta 112 Zaehner, R. 60, 231, 301, 312, 313, 330 Zagros 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 17, 25, 26, 68, 242 Zahn, R. 237 zamar kanta 112 Zamasp 323 Zand Akasih 206 zantupaiti 56 Zarafshan 18, 188, 258 Zarangian 112 Zarangiane 194 Zareh 170 Zariadres 213 Zariadris 170 Zariaspa 181 Zatua 102 Zaudek ' 223 Zavyalov, V. A. 263 Zayandeh River 12 Zeimal, E. 254 Zeimal, T. J. 342 Zeionises 256 Zendajan 15 Index 411 Zendan 74, 124 Zendan-e Sulaiman 77, 81 Zeno 140, 237 Zenobia 302, 303 Zervanism 231, 312, 314, 332 Zervanite 321 Zeus 77, 157, 167, 321 Zeymal, E. V. 254 Zgusta, L. 82, 195, 200, 284 Ziegler, K. H. 220, 234, 235, 236, 238, 240, 241, 244 Zirineh River 10 Ziwiye 77 zndbyd 226 Zograf, A. N. 185 Zoilus 187 Zoilus II 196 Zonaras 241, 288, 305, 308, 310, 345 Zoroaster 57, 58, 60, 61, 80, 84,94, 106, 121 123 124 ' Zoroastrian 58, 61, 63, 81, 97, 120, 122, 123, 124 133,139,174,175,190,230,231,232,244 291 300,309,312,318,319,321, 330,331,338, 35l' 354 Zoroastrianism 3, 59, 60, 133, 134, 156, 166, 230 231,268,299,301,303,312,313,316,322,330, 338, 351, 354 Zosimus 287, 297, 301, 308 Zotenberg, H. 290, 304 Zranka 61, 62, 79, 112, 193 Zürcher, E. 250, 251, 252 Zunbil 356 Zurvan 321, 352 Zurvandad 313, 320, 332 Zun 79 MAPS