Contents

Editors' Introduction

Part 1: History and Historiography

1. The Theme of “Persian Decadence” in Eighteenth-Century European Historiography: Remarks on the Genesis of a Myth

2. Cyrus the Mede and Darius the Achaemenid?

3. Reinventing Achaemenid Persia

4. Portraits of the Achaemenid Kings in English Drama: Sixteenth-Eighteenth Centuries

5. Light from Aramaic Documents

6. All the King’s Men

7. Cyrus and the Medes

Part 2: Religion

8. The Achaemenian Practice of Primary Burial: An Argument against Their Zoroastrianism? Or a Testimony of Their Religious Tolerance?

9. Ahura Mazdā the Creator

10. From Gabled Hut to Rock-Cut Tomb: A Religious and Cultural Break between Cyrus and Darius?

11. Zoroastrianism under the Achaemenians: A Non-Essentialist Approach

12. The Formation of Achaemenid Imperial Ideology and Its Impact on the Avesta

Part 3: Gender Studies

13. The Royal Audience Scene Reconsidered

14. An Achaemenid Cylinder Seal of a Woman Enthroned

15. The Big and Beautiful Women of Asia: Picturing Female Sexuality in Greco-Persian Seals

Part 4: Art and Architecture

16. The Social Dimensions of Babylonian Domestic Architecture in the Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid Periods

17. Why Columned Halls?

18. A Reassessment of Brick Motifs and Brick-Building Techniques at Achaemenid Susa

19. Empire Encapsulated: The Persepolis Apadana Foundation Deposits

20. Persepolis: A Reinterpretation of Palaces and Their Function

21. The Role of the Medes in the Architecture of the Achaemenids

22. Changes in Achaemenid Royal Dress

Part 5: Archaeology

23. The Passing of the Throne from Xerxes to Artaxerxes I, or How an Archaeological Observation Can Be a Potential Contribution to Achaemenid Historiography

24. Cultural Transition in Iranian Azerbaijan through the Iron Age III–Achaemenid Period Based on Recent Archaeological Survey and Excavations (Abstract)

25. Archaeological Evidence for Achaemenid Settlement within the Mamasani Valleys, Western Fars, Iran

26. A Review of Research and Restoration Activities at Parsa-Pasargadae: Analysis, Evaluation and Future Perspectives

27. The Achaemenid Army in a Near Eastern Context

28. The Origins of the Achaemenids (Abstract)

29. Excavations in Dashtestan (Borazjan, Iran) (Abstract)

Part 6: Seals and Coins

30. An Analytical Investigation on the Coin Hoard of the Oxus Treasure (Abstract)

31. Anatolian Crossroads: Achaemenid Seals from Sardis and Gordion

32. Archers at Persepolis: The Emergence of Royal Ideology at the Heart of the Empire

33. Clay Tags from Seyitömer Höyük in Phrygia

34. The Archer Coins: A Closer Examination of Achaemenid Art in Asia Minor

35. The Frataraka Coins of Persis: Bridging the Gap between Achaemenid and Sasanian Persia

Part 7: Gold, Silver, Glass, and Faience

36. Technological Aspects of Selected Gold Objects in the Oxus Treasure

37. From Susa to Egypt: Vitreous Materials from the Achaemenid Period

38. Prestige Drinking: Rhyta with Animal Foreparts from Persia to Greece (Abstract)

39. Achaemenid and Greek Colourless Glass

40. Documentary Aspects of Persepolis and the Oxus Treasure (Abstract)

41. Achaemenid Silver, T. L. Jacks and the Mazanderan Connection

Part 8: Regional Studies

42. Achaemenid Arabia: A Landscape-Oriented Model of Cultural Interaction

43. Because of the Dread Upon Them

44. Xerxes and the Tower of Babel

45. “Judges of the King” in Achaemenid Mesopotamia

46. Xerxes and the Babylonian Temples: A Restatement of the Case

47. The Role of Babylonian Temples in Contributing to the Army in the Early Achaemenid Empire

48. West of the Indus—East of the Empire: The Archaeology of the Pre-Achaemenid and Achaemenid Periods in Baluchistan and the North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan

49. Achaemenid Interests in the Persian Gulf

50. Integration of Foreigners—New Insights from the Stela Found in Saqqara in 1994

51. Enemies of Empire: A Historical Reconstruction of Political Conflicts between Central Asians and the Persian Empire

Bibliography

Index