The Idea of Iran, volume I: Birth of the Persian Empire PDF
Preview The Idea of Iran, volume I: Birth of the Persian Empire
Birth of the Persian Empire Birth of the Persian Empire Volume I Edited By Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis and Sarah Stewart in association with The London Middle East Institute at SOAS and The British Museum Published in 2005 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd 6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 www.ibtauris.com In the United States of America and Canada distributed by Palgrave Macmillan a division of St. Martin’s Press 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 Copyright © 2005 Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis & Sarah Stewart The right of Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis & Sarah Stewart to be identified as editors of this work has been asserted by the editors in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988. The publication of this book was generously supported by the Soudavar Memorial Foundation. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. ISBN 1 84511 062 5 EAN 978 1 84511 062 8 A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library A full CIP record for this book is available from the Library of Congress Library of Congress catalogue card: available Typeset by P. Fozooni Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall from camera-ready copy edited and supplied by the editors Contents Introduction 1 Cyrus the Great and the Kingdom of Anshan 7 An Archaeologist’s Approach to Avestan Geography 29 The Achaemenids and the Avesta 52 The Contribution of the Magi 85 The History of the Idea of Iran 100 Iron Age Iran and the Transition to the Achaemenid Period 112 List of Abbreviations 132 Bibliography 133 List of Figures Map showing the principal sites in southwestern Iran mentioned in the 10 text Persian nobleman at Persepolis wearing the “Elamite” dagger 12 Bath-tub coffin of Kidin-Hutran, son of Kurlush, from the Neo-Elamite 17 tomb at Arjan Modern impression of a cylinder seal in the Louvre, bearing the legend 17 “Parsirra, son of Kurlush” (after Amiet 1973) Composite drawing of impressions on Persepolis fortification texts 596– 18 695 and 2003 by M.C. Root and M.B. Garrison Map according to Gnoli (adapted from Gnoli 1980) 32 Map according to Vogelsang 33 Map according to Humbach 34 Map according to Witzel 35 Map according to Frantz Grenet 44 Aerial photograph of the Hellenic town of Ai Khanum 46 Pottery vessel in the form of a humped-backed bull from tomb 18 at 113 Marlik, National Museum of Iran. Photograph J.E. Curtis Horse’s breastplate from Hasanlu, National Musem of Iran. Photograph 114 J.E.Curtis Bronze drinking-cup in the form of a ram’s head from Hasanlu, National 115 Museum of Iran. Photograph J. E. Curtis Dish in “Egyptian blue” with bird’s head on rim, from excavations at 117 Ziwiyeh in 1977, National Museum of Iran. Photograph J. E. Curtis Drawings of seals and a sealing from Tepe Nush-i Jan 120 Drawings of possible Achaemenid period material from Tepe Nush-i Jan 122 The base and the top part of a bronze stand found in an Elamite tomb at 124 Arjan, National Museum of Iran. Photograph J. E. Curtis Acknowledgements This proceedings of the first series and the planning of future series have developed with the support and invaluable advice of a number of people. The editors would like to thank Fatema Soudavar Farmanfarmaian, Ardavan Farmanfarmaian, Susan Salmanpour, Narguess Farzad and Nazi Mahlouji. This book could not have been published without the dedication and expertise of Parvis Fozooni, who typeset and formatted all the papers and scanned the images. The editors are also grateful to Iradj Bagherzade and staff at I.B.Tauris for their support. Introduction Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis (The British Museum) and Sarah Stewart (The London Middle East Institute at SOAS) T his volume contains a series of six lectures delivered at the School of Oriental and African Studies in the spring and summer terms 2004 organised by the London Middle East Institute at SOAS and the British Museum. As a result of the tremendous success of the first series, the Soudavar Foundation has generously agreed to support further series. The Lecture series “The Idea of Iran: from Eurasian Steppe to Persian Empire” was prompted by a desire to explore the multifarious ideas about the notion of “Iran” beginning with the origins of Achaemenid hegemony. The first half of the title was borrowed from Gherardo Gnoli’s collection of essays entitled The Idea of Iran (Rome, 1989), in which he discussed the complex question of Iran and its national identity from a historical perspective. The title of the present volume, The Birth of the Persian Empire, broadens the approach and takes into account research undertaken during the past fifteen years. It enables scholars from different subject disciplines; archaeology, history, religion and philology, to debate various issues concerning the nature and origin of Iran as a political, religious and/or ethnic entity. The importance of Iranian studies cannot be underestimated. It is our hope to re-invigorate the subject, which for many years has been neglected. This would require ending its vulnerability due to changes in the international political environment or fluctuations related to government funding. As well as providing a forum for academic debate, our aim in organising this series is to attract young people to the field of Iranian studies and encourage them to think beyond contemporary geo-political boundaries. Iranian cultural heritage spans a vast area of what is now a region divided by nation-state borders, religious ideology and political conflict. There is a need for a coherent approach to Iran’s historical cultures that is free from contemporary pressures to reinterpret the past in ways that conform to present norms of whatever nature. We are extremely fortunate to be able to bring together a collection of papers by eminent scholars, all of whom are experts in their field. The editors have, therefore, respected the fact that their research sometimes involves
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