Classical persia 2014

THE ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF EMPIRE

Classical Persia

HARSH GEOGRAPHY - Bad news: Little arable land

SOCIAL HIERARCHY:

Multi-level society Slave labor

Mining , irrigation, agriculture… Built palaces, cities, roads…

Peasants Agriculture, Trade, Artisans…

Priests, Scribes… BUREAUCRACY

Elite: Some families amassed huge wealth Merchants, Government Bureaucrats, Land Owners… Kings!

Huge discrepancy between rich and rest of society

MINING Zagros, Caucasus

Mountains: Slave Labor Copper Tin Iron Gold Silver

Created fine crafted goods – traded surplus

Traded for Agricultural goods

UNDERGROUND IRRIGATION!

1st Millenium BCE

Strong CentralAuthority of KingTo draft & Organizelabor Slave Labor

PASTORAL NOMADSPersian TextilesCarpetsTRADE

Location, location, location!

PERSIAN LEGACY: PAST & PRESENT

Legacy: Indo-Aryan beginnings PERSIAN EMPIRE =

Achaemenids Greek Persia – Seleucids Silk Roads… Sasanids Ottoman Empire

IRAN

GOVERNMENT: HEREDITARY KINGSHIP

Cyrus the Great (r. 559-530 BCE)

Achaemenid Dynasty Centralized Rule Absolute Monarch Expansion!

Military brilliance Media, Lydia, Bactria, & Babylonia annexed

The Charter of Cyrus the Great, a baked-clay Aryan language (Old Persian) cuneiform cylinder.

October29th is Cyrus the Great Day!

Earliest Human Rights Declaration

“I am Cyrus, King of the world, great king, mighty king, king of Babylon, king of the land of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters…I announce that I will respect the traditions, customs and religions of the nations of my empire and never let any of my governors and subordinates look down on or insult them while I am alive… I will impose my monarchy on no nation. Each is free to accept it , and if any rejects it, I resolve not to wage war. While I am the king of Persia, Babylon, and the nations of the four directions, I will allow no one to oppress any others, and if it occurs, I will … penalize the oppressor.”

“And while I am the monarch, I will never let anyone take possession of movable or landed properties of others by force or without compensation. While I am alive, I will prevent unpaid, forced labor. To day, I announce that everyone is free to choose a religion. People are free to live in all regions and take up a job provided that they never violate other's rights.”

“No one shall be penalized for his relatives' faults. I prevent slavery and my governors and subordinates are obliged to prohibit exchanging people as slaves within their own ruling domains. Such a tradition should be exterminated the world over.”

“I implore God to help me succeed in fulfilling my obligations to the nations of Persia, Babylon, and the ones of the four directions.”

TolerationEnd to Warfare

No Debtor Slavery (Persian Law superceded Mesopotamian Law)

No Enslaving POWs

Legitimization for Rule!

INNOVATION IN GOVERNMENT!

Cyrus ruled THROUGH LOCAL ELITES & INSTITUTIONS

kings, aristocrats, priests …

Legacy of TOLERANCE!! Aramaic in most announcements. Ended Babylonian captivity of the Jews return to their homeland & temple

Cyrus’ tomb at Pasargardae

STABILITY OF ACHAEMENID RULE!

Legitimization: “Cult of Kingship”

“Shah-han-shah” = King of Kings “Shah”

Zoroastrian religion Ahura Mazda’s trust won through JUSTICE & UPRIGHTNESS King as “PRIEST and SACRIFICER” in rituals ROYAL FIRE burned “eternally” to

symbolize his role as “COSMIC RULER”

PAX ACHAEMENID

“Persian Peace” Strong Economy- Crossroads of Trade Location, Location, Location…

Lasted a

MILLENIUM!!

STABILITY

Built Educated

Bureaucracy Tax collectors, record keepers, scribes, translators…

STABILITY OF ACHAEMENID RULE

Cambsyses –

Added Egypt

Darius I – Conquest

Cultural Diffusion Thrace, Macedonia, and pressed into India Ruled 70 ethnic groups, spoke many languages & worshipped many gods

Greatest Prosperity of Persian Empire Centrallized Rule Land-owning aristocracy, professional armies.

Seal of Darius I

WINGED SPHINX,PALACE OF DARIUS THE GREAT

SATRAPS & SATRAPIES

23 provincial governors with armies – Collected taxes Guarded King’s Roads Judge for King’s Laws Put down revolts Lived like a King!

Local Institutions & Rulers Local politics, decisions.

Two Capitals: Susa &

Persepolis.

ROYAL ROAD SYSTEM

Military Travel

Information

(Spies!)

Trade

STANDARDIZATION Bureaucratic Administration Regularized Taxes Centralized Coinage United ALL LAWS of diverse

Empire into one code Written in Aramaic & other popular

langauges - though Persians spoke Farsi.

DECLINE OF ACHAEMENIDS

Xerxes b. 520 BCE

Suppressed Egyptian & Babylonian Revolts

INTOLERANT – ruled with iron hand Invaded Greece

Northern Greece fell & Battle of Thermopylae Pass, 480 BCE

Marched to Athens & burned Acropolis Lost Battle of Salamis, returned home. Battle of Plataea, Fall of their ally, Thebes -

479 (disciplined Greek hoplites) Delian League formed, Athenians became

imperialistic Sank deeper into his life of luxury.. Assassinated 465 BCE – probably at

order of his son, Artaxerxes

ALEXANDER OF MACEDON

Invaded 334 BCE, against Darius II

Claimed kingship as CONTINUATION of Persian Power.

Darius II

HELLENISM REIGNED IN PERSIA

Alexander’s General Seleucus – Seleucid State

Lost “Iran “to Parthian Empire

Rest fell to Rome, 83 BCE

Sasanid dynasty 224- 651 CE

Fell to Arabic warriors, 651 CE

HOW DO WE KNOW?

1. Archaeological discoveries:

ART ARCHITECTURE

RUINS OF PERSEPOLIS

PERSEPOLIS

Hall of One Hundred Columns, Palace, Stables…

PERSIAN & MEDIAN SOLDIERS - PERSEPOLIS

ACHAEMENID SOLDIERS

The “Elamite Immortals” ?10,000 alwaysPersians, Medes, ElamitesKing’s personal guard

from a frieze in Darius's palace at Susa.Siliceous glazed bricks, 510 BCE, Louvre.

ELAMITE IMMORTALS

Ten Thousand Immortals,  in Persian history, core troops in the Achaemenian army, so named because their number of 10,000 was immediately reestablished after every loss. Under the direct leadership of the hazarapat, or commander in chief, the Immortals, who formed the king’s personal bodyguard, consisted primarily of Persians but also included Medes and Elamites.

They apparently had special privileges, such as being allowed to take concubines and servants along with them on the march. On coloured glazed bricks and carved reliefs found at the Achaemenian capitals, such as the Palace of Artaxerxes at Susa,

Silver blades on Spears & Silver pomagranates resting on toe. They wore elaborate robes and much gold jewelry. An elite 1,000 of the Immortals were further distinguished by

having gold pomegranates on their spears.

Silver tipped spears, that ended in wooden Pomegranites

Queen Atossa – Wife of Darius I, Mother of Xerxes

Relief of Xerxes

MONOLITHIC?

BEHUSTAN INSCRIPTION, CYLINDER SEAL

Lists 23 Satrapies

DETAIL OF A CARPET - ACHAEMENID

ACHAEMENID COIN 420 BC

StandardizationOf Coinage, Weights & Measures

HOW DO WE KNOW?

Some archaeological discoveries: Persepolis, Susa…

Little written material from the Persians has survived…

So, historians look at them through the eyes of others of the time or slightly later… like the Ancient Greeks …

Herodotus

WHO WAS HERODOTUS?

“Father of History” (c.484 – 425 BCE)… childhood Anatolia at beginning of Persian Wars.

“The Histories” “investigation” of the origins of

the Greco-Persian Wars. Includes geographical & e

thnographical information. Although some of his stories were

fanciful, he claimed to report only what had been told to him.

HERODOTUS, FATHER OF LIES!!??

Herodotus has sometimes been called "The Father of Lies" because of his tendency to report fanciful information.

Herodotus himself reported dubious information if it was

interesting, sometimes adding his own opinion about its reliability…. Huge spiders in Persia gold-digging ants in India that provided their kings with wealth.

Although The Histories were often criticized in antiquity for bias, inaccuracy and plagiarism ,modern historians and philosophers take a more positive view of Herodotus's methodology, especially those searching for a paradigm of objective historical writing.

A few modern scholars have argued that Herodotus exaggerated the extent of his travels and invented his sources yet his reputation continues largely intact: "The Father of History is also the father of comparative anthropology", "the father of ethnography",and he is "more modern than any other ancient historian in his approach to the ideal of total history".

HERODOTUS

Camel Spiders Gold digging ants

Marmots – really from Ethiopia, not India. People collected gold dust from the displaced soil.

WHAT IS A CLASSICAL CIVILIZATION?

INCREASING COMPLEXITYPace of Change Speeds UP

Unity: Sense of IdentitySTABLE & Durable

WHAT IS A CLASSICAL CIVILIZATION? VAST -

Area, Population, Diversity, Density: cities- creativity, innovation, sharing ideas

Unique new government Powerful elite, forced labor, bureaucracy, powerful STANDING military

Empire: EXPANSION: Military Conquest, Colonization, Trade Network

Trade Relationships valued – unified and stabilized the society & relationships with other groups

Religions spread & unified, stabilized the society and relationships with others Cultural Diffusion united and stabilized the society and the area

Complex Economy – Commoners not just involved in agriculture… also lived & worked in cities Manufactured unique luxury goods for own elites and exports Regional and long distance trade

WHAT IS A CLASSICAL CIVILIZATION?

STRICTLY HIERARCHAL SOCIETY STRUCTURE INEQUALITY INCREASED; Forced Labor Strictly Patriarchal; poor masses/ rich & powerful elite

FLOWERING of Culture with Distinctive Emphasis Recognizable & innovative Government, Art, Architecture,

Philosophy/Religion, Literature, Technology…

Leaves a Legacy to the world Stable, durable; Copied & memorialized Space & time

Cultural Integration Standardization – Language & Writing; Law; Coinage; Weights &

measures; Religion. Strong Sense of Identity – Clear notion of “Us vs. Them”