Listed 7 sub titles with search on: History for wider area of: "IRAN Country PERSIAN GULF" .
EKVATANA (Ancient city) MIDIA
Ecbatana (Old Persian Hagmatana, 'meeting place'): capital of the ancient
Median empire, Hamadan in modern Iran.
According to the Histories of the Greek researcher Herodotus of Halicarnassus,
Ecbatana was founded by Deioces, the legendary first king of the Medes. He writes:
Deioces bade them build for him a palace worthy of the royal dignity
and strengthen him with a guard of spearmen. And the Medes did so: for they built
him a large and strong palace in that part of the land which he told them [...].
He built large and strong walls, those which are now called Ecbatana, standing
in circles one within the other. And this wall is so contrived that one circle
is higher than the next by the height of the battlements alone. And to some extent,
I suppose, the nature of the ground, seeing that it is on a hill, assists towards
this end; but much more was it produced by art, since the circles are in all seven
in number. And within the last circle are the royal palace and the treasure-houses.
The largest of these walls is in size about equal to the circuit of the wall round
Athens; and of the first
circle the battlements are white, of the second black, of the third crimson, of
the fourth blue, of the fifth red: thus are the battlements of all the circles
colored with various tints, and the two last have their battlements one of them
overlaid with silver and the other with gold. These walls then Deioces built for
himself and round his own palace, and the people he commanded to dwell round about
the wall.
[Herodotus, Histories 1.98-99]
This is clearly a fantastic description, but it may contain an element
of truth: the seven walls may in fact be a ziggurat, a kind of multi-storied temple
tower that was common in the ancient Near East. This explanation, however, is
far from certain. Only archaeology will be able to offer a reliable description
of ancient Ecbatana, but since the site is currently overbuilt by modern Hamadan,
it is not likely that this will happen in the foreseeable future.
The Greek historian Polybius of Megalopolis
offers probably the best available description of the city (World history 10.27.5-13).
He writes that the city was richer and more beautiful than all other cities in
the world; although it had no town wall, the citadel had impressive fortifications.
This confirms Herodotus' words that the Medes were 'to dwell round about the wall',
but Polybius offers more plausible dimensions: the circumference of the citadel
was 1,300 meters. He also states that the builders used cedar and cypress wood,
which was covered with silver and gold. The roof tiles, columns and ceilings were
plated with silver and gold. This sounds like a credible description of an oriental
palace, like Persepolis.
When the Persian king Cyrus the Great, a member of the Persian Achaemenid
dynasty, had overthrown the Median empire in 550 BCE, he captured Ecbatana. The
text known as the Chronicle of Nabonidus states:
King Astyages called up his troops and marched against Cyrus, king
of Ansan [i.e., Persia], in order to meet him in battle. The army of Astyages
revolted against him and in fetters they delivered him to Cyrus. Cyrus marched
against the country Ecbatana; the royal residence he seized; silver, gold, other
valuables of the country Ecbatana he took as booty and brought to Ansan. According
to the Greek historian Xenophon of Athens (c.430-c.355), Ecbatana became the summer
residence of the Achaemenid kings (Anabasis 3.5.15).
In December 522, the Median rebel Phraortes reoccupied Ecbatana and
made it his capital; he was defeated, however, by the Persian king Darius the
Great (May 521). He celebrated this event with a large relief and an inscription
along the road between Babylon and Ecbatana (the famous Behistun inscription).
Greek sources mention temples dedicated to the goddess Aene (probably
Anahita) and the goddess of healing, which the Greeks called Asclepius. This shrine
was destroyed by the Macedonian king Alexander the Great, who overthrew the Achaemenid
empire, because the god had allowed his friend Hephaestion to die in Ecbatana
(324). Hephaestion's sepulcral monument, a lion, is still visible. Earlier, Alexander
had had his general Parmenion killed in the capital of Media (330).
Later, Ecbatana was one of the capitals of the Seleucid and the Parthian
empire, sometimes called Epiphaneia.
Jona Lendering, ed.
This text is cited July 2003 from the Livius Ancient History Website URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
SELEFKIA EPI TOU EVLEOU (Ancient city) IRAN
Susa (Susim): capital of Elam, favorite residence of the Persian king Darius
the Great.
Susa is one of the oldest cities in the world. Excavations have established
the existence of urban structures about 4000 BCE, and it is reasonable that the
town, situated between the rivers Karkheh and Dez (one of these is the ancient
Eulaeus), was already the political center of Elam in the fourth millennium. A
castle on a steep hilltop dates back to this period. The Assyrian king Assurbanipal
destroyed the Elamite capital between 645-640.
The city was rebuilt by the Persian king Darius the Great (522-486).
It was clearly his favorite residence. The Greek researcher Herodotus of Halicarnassus,
who wrote a lot about the Achaemenid empire, did not know of another capital.
The scene of the Biblical book of Esther is laid in Susa, where king Ahasverus
(Xerxes) resides. The Persian palace on a hill to the north of Susa had been excavated.
On the picture, it is visible at top left. King Artaxerxes II Mnemon (404-358)
built an audience hall (apadana), that is visible at bottom left. The conical
structure in front is venerated as the tomb of the prophet Daniel, another Biblical
figure who was related to the Persian court at Susa. In fact, there were other
capitals (Pasargadae, Persepolis,
and Ecbatana), but is evident
that Susa was more impressive. An inscription in the palace, known as DSf, describes
how Darius built his residence.
A great god is Ahuramazda, who created this earth, who created yonder
sky, who created man, who created happiness for man, who made Darius king, one
king of many, one lord of many.
Darius the King says: By the favor of Ahuramazda I built this palace.
Darius the King says: Ahuramazda, the greatest of the gods created
me, made me king, bestowed upon me this kingdom, great, possessed of good horses,
possessed of good men.
By the favor of Ahuramazda, my father Hystaspes and Arsames my grandfather
- these both were living when Ahuramazda made me king in this earth.
To Ahuramazda thus was the desire: he chose me as his man in all the
earth; he made me king in all the earth.
I worshipped Ahuramazda. Ahuramazda bore me aid. What was by me commanded
to do, that he made successful for me. What I did, all by the favor of Ahuramazda
I did.
This palace which I built at Susa, from afar its ornamentation was
brought. Downward the earth was dug, until I reached rock in the earth. When the
excavation had been made, then rubble was packed down, some 40 cubits in depth,
another part 20 cubits in depth. On that rubble the palace was constructed.
And that the earth was dug downward, and that the rubble was packed
down, and that the sun-dried brick was molded, the Babylonian people performed
these tasks.
The cedar timber, this was brought from a mountain named Lebanon.
The Assyrian people brought it to Babylon;
from Babylon the Carians and the Yauna [=Greeks] brought it to Susa. The yaka-timber
was brought from Gandara and from Carmania.
The gold was brought from Lydia
and from Bactria, which here was wrought. The precious stone lapis lazuli and
carnelian which was wrought here, this was brought from Sogdiana. The precious
stone turquoise, this was brought from Chorasmia, which was wrought here. The
silver and the ebony were brought from Egypt. The ornamentation with which the
wall was adorned, that from Yauna was brought. The ivory which was wrought here,
was brought from Ethiopia and from India and from Arachosia.
The stone columns which were here wrought, a village named Abiradu,
in Elam - from there were brought. The stone-cutters who wrought the stone, those
were Yauna and Lydians.
The goldsmiths who wrought the gold, those were Medes and Egyptians.
The men who wrought the wood, those were Lydians and Egyptians. The men who wrought
the baked brick, those were Babylonians. The men who adorned the wall, those were
Medes and Egyptians.
Darius the King says: At Susa a very excellent work was ordered, a
very excellent work was brought to completion.
Me may Ahuramazda protect, and Hystaspes my father, and my country.
This text is interesting because it mentions many nations. The palace
was clearly meant as propaganda, where every visitor would be impressed by the
size of the empire.
After the fall of the Achaemenid empire and the reign of Alexander
the Great, Susa became part of the Seleucid empire. It was now called Seleucia
on the Eulaeus. A palace in Greek style was erected, next to Darius' palace. The
administrative center, however, was in the southern part of the city, where nearly
all Greek and Parthian inscriptions were discovered. The city remained important
until the thirteenth century.
Jona Lendering, ed.
This text is cited July 2003 from the Livius Ancient History Website URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
LAODIKIA (Ancient city) IRAN
Son of Seleucus, comes to throne, persuaded to attack Ptolemy, sends contingent against Gauls.
IRAN (Country) PERSIAN GULF
IRAN (Country) PERSIAN GULF
Symbol of surrender in the ancient Achaemenid empire.
The Persian custom to demand "earth and water" from subject people
is known from the Histories by the Greek researcher Herodotus of Halicarnassus.
It is tempting to think that those who surrendered gave up everything: their land
and the liquids they needed. In other words, surrender was unconditional, and
the Persian king was able to grant life to his new subjects. After the exchange
of earth and water and the acknowledgement of Persian superiority, negotiations
could begin about obligations and benefits.
Herodotus mentions several nations and towns that gave earth and water
to representatives of the great king: e.g., during Xerxes' campaign of 480 BCE,
the Thessalians and Boeotians. Xerxes proudly wrote in the Daiva inscription that
he ruled "the Yauna (=Greeks) who dwell on this side of the sea and those
who dwell across the sea".
No less interesting is the surrender of the Athenians in 507. At that
moment, they were besieged by the Spartans and their allies, and in a desperate
gamble, the Athenian leader Clisthenes surrendered to the Persian satrap of Lydia,
Artaphernes. When the envoys returned, however, the Spartans had been defeated
and the Athenians started to pretend that they had never surrendered.
The Macedonians surrendered to the Persians on two occasions (513
and 492). King Darius could truthfully state in the inscription on his tomb at
Naqs-i-Rustam that he had conquered the Yauna takabara, the "Greeks with sun hats",
a reference to the Macedonian headwear. The Macedonians were willing participants
in Xerxes' campaign against the Greeks, and it comes as some surprise that a century
and a half later, Alexander the Great could launch a crusade against Persia as
revenge for the Persian occupation.
It must be noted that Herodotus uses the expression only in Greek
and Macedonian contexts. (The exception is 4.126-127, which belongs to a part
of the Histories that is probably almost completely fictional.) It is therefore
impossible to know for sure whether the demand of earth and water was a common
Persian practice, or was only a mode to deal with the Yauna.
Jona Lendering, ed.
This text is cited July 2003 from the Livius Ancient History Website URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
MIDIA (Ancient country) IRAN
The Scythians, then, ruled Asia for twenty-eight years: and the whole land was ruined because of their violence and their pride, for, besides exacting from each the tribute which was assessed, they rode about the land carrying off everyone's possessions. Most of them were entertained and made drunk and then slain by Cyaxares and the Medes: so thus the Medes took back their empire and all that they had formerly possessed. (Herodotus, The Histories 1.104,1 - 1.106)
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