History

This meticulously researched and handsomely illustrated volume explores the chronology, historic events, key public figures, and cultural legacy of the Assyro-Babylonian civilization. Tracing the roots of this ancient society to 3000—2001 BC, historian Alfredo Rizza reveals the impact of various earlier civilizations on the development of Mesopotamia in the second and first millennium BC (ca. 2000—500 BC). Offering fresh insight into the pivotal historical events and the complex political and cultural configuration of the Assyrians and Babylonians, this book delves into the convergence in Mesopotamia of various ethnic and cultural groups. The authoritative text describes the role played by each group in trade, diplomatic relations, cultural heritage, and military action. Specially commissioned photographs depict the topography, archaeology, and antiquities of this ancient civilization, including stone reliefs discovered in royal palaces depicting battle scenes, kings with different deities conducting religious ceremonies, ziggurats, ornate gates guarding the cities, and much more, all of which reveal details of this intriguing epoch.

The city of Aššur, and the kingdom with its name derived from this city, were established by the early 2nd millennium BC along the bank of the Tigris River in northern Iraq, and continued their existence almost uninterrupted for about 1400 years until the end of the 7th century BC. Assyrian king lists provide a chronology of kings with their capital cities. Albeit with some uncertainties, the sequence begins with the names of kings who reigned at the city of Aššur (Qal‘at Sherqat) for more than 1000 years and continues in chronological order with kings who resided in the capital cities of the Neo-Assyrian Period, namely Kalhu (Nimrud), Dur-Šarruken (Khorsabad) and Nineveh (Koyunjuk). In this regard, among all states known in ancient Near Eastern history, the Assyrian Kingdom is one of those which maintained its political regime and its institutions of government for the longest time. The political model of governance that had begun to take shape in Mesopotamia during the 4th millennium BC in the lands of Sumer and Akkad matured under Assyrian rule throughout a long historical process of political development. The model of royal sovereignty and its associated institutions of governance and palace architecture, developed by the Neo- Assyrian Kingdom which built upon the experiences and traditions of deep-rooted Mesopotamian civilizations, were adopted and imitated in multiple ways by all kingdoms and empires which followed Assyria in the Near East.

Provides commentary, bibliography, transliteration from the cuneiform, and English translation from the Sumerian or Abkadian.

Bringing together a wide variety of material in many different languages that exists from the substantial body of work left by this large empire, The Persian Empire presents annotated translations, together with introductions to the problems of using it in order to gain an understanding of the history and working os this remarkable political entity. The Achaemenid empire developed in the region of modern Fars (Islam) and expanded to unite territories stretching from the Segean and Egypt in the west to Central Asia and north-west India, which it ruled for over 200 years until its conquest by Alexander of Macedon. Although all these regions had long since been in contact with each other, they had never been linked under a single regime. The Persian empire represents an important phase of transformation for its subjects, such as the Jews, as well as those living on its edges, such as the European Greeks.

The Achaemenid Persian imperial rulers have long been held to have exercised a policy of religious tolerance within their widespread provinces and among their dependencies. The fourteen articles in this volume explore aspects of the dynamic interaction between the imperial and the local levels that impacted primarily on local religious practices. Some of the articles deal with emerging forms of Judaism under Achaemenid hegemony, others with Achaemenid religion, royal ideology, and political policy toward religion. Others discuss aspects of Phoenician religion and changes to Egyptian religious practice while another addresses the presence of mixed religious practices in Phrygia, as indicated by seal imagery. Together, they indicate that tolerance was part of political expediency rather than a universal policy derived from religious conviction. Contributors: Damien Agut-Labordere, James Anderson, Mark Christian, Philip R. Davies, Diana Edelman, Anne Fitzpatrick-McKinley, Christian Frevel, Philippe Guillaume, Lowell Handy, Russel Hobson, Deniz Kaptan, Jared Krebsbach, Yannick Muller, Katharina Pyschny, Jason M. Silverman

This updated version of Maria Eugenia Aubet's highly praised book (1993) incorporates the most recent research findings on the ancient civilization of Phoenicia and includes an updated bibliography. The Phoenicians established the first trading system in the Mediterranean basin between the eighth and sixth centuries B.C. Continuous archaeological research over the past decades has transformed our understanding of Phoenicia, its colonies and their relationship to local communities. First Edition Hb (1993): 0-521-41141-6 First Edition Pb (1996): 0-521-56598-7

Lisbeth S. Fried’s insightful study investigates the impact of Achaemenid rule on the political power of local priesthoods during the 6th–4th centuries B.C.E. Scholars typically assume that, as long as tribute was sent to Susa, the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, subject peoples remained autonomous. Fried’s work challenges this assumption. She examines the inscriptions, coins, temple archives, and literary texts from Babylon, Egypt, Asia Minor, and Judah and concludes that there was no local autonomy. The only people with power in the Empire were Persians and their appointees. This was true for Judah as well. The High Priest had no real power; there was no theocracy. The wars that periodically engulfed the Levant in the fourth century temporarily pulled the ruling governors and satraps away from Judah, and during these times, the Judean priesthood may have capitalized on the brief absence of Persian officials to mint coins, but they achieved their longed-for independence only much later, under the Maccabees.

Around 550 B.C.E. the Persian people--who were previously practically unknown in the annals of history--emerged from their base in southern Iran (Fars) and engaged in a monumental adventure that, under the leadership of Cyrus the Great and his successors, culminated in the creation of an immense Empire that stretched from central Asia to Upper Egypt, from the Indus to the Danube. The Persian (or Achaemenid, named for its reigning dynasty) Empire assimilated an astonishing diversity of lands, peoples, languages, and cultures. This conquest of Near Eastern lands completely altered the history of the world: for the first time, a monolithic State as vast as the future Roman Empire arose, expanded, and matured in the course of more than two centuries (530-330) and endured until the death of Alexander the Great (323), who from a geopolitical perspective was "the last of the Achaemenids." Even today, the remains of the Empire-the terraces, palaces, reliefs, paintings, and enameled bricks of Pasargadae, Persepolis, and Susa; the impressive royal tombs of Naqsh-i Rustam; the monumental statue of Darius the Great-serve to remind visitors of the power and unprecedented luxury of the Great Kings and their loyal courtiers (the "Faithful Ones"). Though long eclipsed and overshadowed by the towering prestige of the "ancient Orient" and "eternal Greece," Achaemenid history has emerged into fresh light during the last two decades. Freed from the tattered rags of "Oriental decadence" and "Asiatic stagnation," research has also benefited from a continually growing number of discoveries that have provided important new evidence-including texts, as well as archaeological, numismatic, and iconographic artifacts. The evidence that this book assembles is voluminous and diverse: the citations of ancient documents and of the archaeological evidence permit the reader to follow the author in his role as a historian who, across space and time, attempts to understand how such an Empire emerged, developed, and faded. Though firmly grounded in the evidence, the author's discussions do not avoid persistent questions and regularly engages divergent interpretations and alternative hypotheses. This book is without precedent or equivalent, and also offers an exhaustive bibliography and thorough indexes. The French publication of this magisterial work in 1996 was acclaimed in newspapers and literary journals. Now Histoire de l'Empire Perse: De Cyrus a Alexandre is translated in its entirety in a revised edition, with the author himself reviewing the translation, correcting the original edition, and adding new documentation. Pierre Briant, Chaire Histoire et civilisation du monde achémenide et de l'empire d'Alexandre, Collège de France, is a specialist in the history of the Near East during the era of the Persian Empire and the conquests of Alexander. He is the author of numerous books. Peter T. Daniels, the translator, is an independent scholar, editor, and translator who studied at Cornell University and the University of Chicago. He lives and works in New York City.

The Achaemenid Persian Empire (550-330 BCE) was a vast and complex sociopolitical structure that encompassed much of modern-day Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, and included two dozen distinct peoples who spoke different languages, worshiped different deities, lived in different environments, and had widely differing social customs. This book offers a radical new approach to understanding the Achaemenid Persian Empire and imperialism more generally. Through a wide array of textual, visual, and archaeological material, Elspeth R.M. Dusinberre shows how the rulers of the empire constructed a system flexible enough to provide for the needs of different peoples within the confines of a single imperial authority and highlights the variability in response. This book examines the dynamic tensions between authority and autonomy across the empire, providing a valuable new way of considering imperial structure and development.

Interest and fascination in Achaemenid Persia has burgeoned in recent years. It is time for a major new appraisal of the glorious civilization founded by Cyrus the Great and continued by his successors, the Great Kings Darius I, Xerxes and Artaxerxes I. This volume offers precisely that: a sustained and comprehensive overview of the field of Achaemenid studies by leading scholars and experts. It discusses all aspects of Achaemenid history and archaeology between 550 BCE and 330 BCE, and embraces the whole vast territory of the Persian Empire from North Africa to India and from Central Asia to the Persian Gulf. Topics covered include aspects of Achaemenid religion, administration, material culture, ethnicity, gender and the survival of Achaemenid traditions. The publication of the book is an event: it represents a watershed not only in better appreciation and understanding of the rich and complex cultural heritage established by Cyrus, but also of the lasting significance of the Achaemenid kings and the impact that their remarkable civilization has had on wider Persian and Middle Eastern history.

Even though the Persian period has attracted a fair share of scholarly interest in recent years, as yet no concerted effort has been attempted to construct a comprehensive social history of Phoenician city-states as an integral part of the Achaemenid empire. This monograph explores the evidence from Persian-period literary (both ancient Jewish and classical), epigraphic, and numismatic sources, as well as material culture remains, in order to sketch just such a history. This study examines developments in Persian-period Phoenician city-states on the three levels: that of the individual household, the city-state, and the administrative unit of the Persian empire. These three societal levels are analyzed within the contexts of economic competition between and among the Phoenician city-states, their burgeoning economic ties with the outside world, and their interaction with the Persian imperial influence in the Levant.

Of all the great civilizations of the ancient world, that of Persia is one of the least understood. Josef Wiesehöfer, one of the most respected scholars of the ancient world, provides here a comprehensive survey of the Persian Empire under Achaeminids, the Parthians and the Sassanians. By focusing on the primary Persian sources--written, archaeological and numismatic evidence from Persia--he avoids the traditional Western approach which has tended to rely so heavily on inaccurate and sometimes prejudiced Greek and Roman sources. Part of the freshness of this book comes from presenting a historical discussion of Persia from a Near Eastern perspective. A comprehensive social, political and cultural history of ancient Persia, Wiesehöfer's book provides important new material for specialists while being fully accessible and appealing to general readers interested in the ancient world.