The Persian Empire

by Kia, Mehrdad;

  Kartir’s inscription at Naqsh-e Rajab is located next to a rock relief depicting the investiture of Ardashir I. Another inscription of Kartir is located at Naqsh-e Rostam next to a relief of Shapur I. A second inscription of Kartir at Naqsh-e Rostam is located below an inscription of Shapur I on the outer walls of Ka’ba-ye Zardosht. A fourth inscription of Kartir is at Sar Mashhad, a village in Fars province 136 miles from the city of Shiraz. This inscription is next to a rock relief, which depicts the Sasanian king of kings Bahram II killing two lions as he holds the hand of his queen. Kartir and a prince of the royal family, most probably the crown prince Bahram III, stand behind the king, watching the royal hunt. The Sasanian king of kings Narseh I also mentions Kartir in his inscription at Paikuli in Iraqi Kurdistan.

  In his inscriptions, Kartir describes his rise to power as well as his services as a dedicated and devoted champion of Zoroastrianism. He rose to power and prominence during the reign of Shapur I and was promoted to higher and more prestigious posts by Shapur’s successors, Hormozd I, Bahram I, and Bahram II. Hormozd I granted Kartir greater power and authority as well as the insignia of high office, represented by a hat and a belt. Bahram II conferred upon Kartir the rank of court grandee and appointed him as the chief priest and judge of the Sasanian Empire. The Sasanian monarch also made Kartir the “master of custom at the fires of Anahid-Ardashir and Anahid, the Lady at Istakhr,” the birthplace of the Sasanian dynasty in Fars province (Skærvø: Kartir). With strong support from his royal patron, Kartir played a central role in propagating Zoroastrianism, supporting Zoroastrian priests, and suppressing non-Zoroastrian communities, including Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, and Manicheans. He also played a critical role in the persecution of the prophet Mani (216–276 CE) and his followers. Mani was ordered by Bahram I to present himself at the royal court, where he was questioned, denounced, and imprisoned. Kartir accumulated such immense power that he played an important role in removing the young king Bahram III from the throne and inviting his great-uncle Narseh, who at the time served as the ruler of Armenia, to travel to the Sasanian capital, Ctesiphon, and assume the reins of power. The inscription devoted to Kartir on the limestone cliffs of Naqsh-e Rajab was designed to portray the Zoroastrian high priest as a truthful, devout, and ethical man who had lived in accordance with the teachings of his religion.

  See also: Ancient Cities: Naqsh-e Rostam; K&Q, Sasanian: Ardashir I; Shapur I; Prophets: Kartir

  Further Reading

  Herrmann, G. “The Rock Reliefs of Sasanian Iran.” In Mesopotamia and Iran in the Parthian and Sasanian Periods: Rejection and Revival c. 238 BC–AD 642, edited by J. E. Curtis. London: British Museum Press, 2000.

  Herrmann, G., and V. S. Curtis. “Sasanian Rock Reliefs.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2002, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sasanian-rock-reliefs.

  Skærvø, Prods Oktor. “Kartir.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2011, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kartir.

  Wiesehöfer, J. “Ardašir I.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1986, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ardasir-i.

  Naqsh-e Rostam

  Naqsh-e Rostam (Picture of Rostam) is an important site containing four royal tombs and one massive cubic-shaped structure dating back to the reign of the Achaemenid dynasty (r. 550–330 BCE), as well as eight large rock reliefs from the Sasanian period (r. 224–651 CE). Naqsh-e Rostam partially served as the royal necropolis, or burial site, for four kings of the Persian Achaemenid dynasty: Darius I the Great (522–486 BCE), Xerxes I (486–465 BCE), Artaxerxes I (465–424 BCE), and Darius II (423–404 BCE). The site is located approximately 39 miles (63 kilometers) north of the city of Shiraz in the southern Iranian province of Fars and 3.7 miles (6 kilometers) northwest of Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid dynasty.

  The site of Naqsh-e Rostam contains a tall, impressive, and towering cliff. The ancient Elamites who inhabited southwestern Iran in antiquity considered it to be a holy site. The resting places of the four Achaemenid kings mentioned above were designed as cross-shaped tombs cut into the rock. A door in the center of the facade provided access to the interior of each royal tomb. The only tomb identified by an inscription is that of Darius I. Above the door of Darius’s tomb, 30 representatives of the peoples of the empire are depicted holding a dais, or throne bench, on their hands. Darius I stands before a fire altar on a three-step platform that rests on the throne bench. The king wears a crown. His left hand rests on a bow, and his right hand is extended in a posture of worship and devotion toward a winged figure, which has the head and torso of a man and stands over and between the king and the fire altar. Some scholars have identified this figure as a representation of the great god Ahura Mazda. Aside from Ahura Mazda, the king, the fire altar, and the 30 bearers of the royal dais, several other figures are featured. These include the close friend and confidant of the king, Gaubaruva (Gobryas), who served as the royal lance bearer; the keeper of the king’s battle-ax, Aspachina (Aspathines); several members of the royal family; court dignitaries; and imperial guards.

  Rock relief of the Roman emperor Valerian kneeling before the Persian Sasanian monarch Shapur I, at Naqsh-e Rostam in the southern Iranian province of Fars. (Steve Estvanik/Dreamstime.com)

  A large cube-shaped building called Ka’ba-ye Zardosht (Ka’ba of Zoroaster) stands across from the rock-cut tombs. It was probably built sometime during the Achaemenid period and contains a staircase and a door as well as blind windows in dark gray limestone on all four sides. The function of Ka’ba-ye Zardosht is unknown. Some scholars have maintained that the building was used as a site for royal coronations, while others have argued that it may have been used as a depository for religious or governmental records. During the reign of the Sasanian monarch Shapur I (r. 239/240/241/242–270/272 CE), three royal inscriptions in Parthian, Middle Persian, and Greek were incised into the three walls of the building. The only wall without an inscription is the northern, or entrance, wall. Below the Middle Persian inscription, the powerful and influential Zoroastrian high priest Kartir (Karder) added his own inscription.

  During the reign of the Sasanian dynasty (224–651 CE), Naqsh-e Rostam emerged as an important center for royal and religious ceremonies. Eight Sasanian rock reliefs are carved at the base of the cliff below the tombs of the Achaemenid kings. The most impressive of these is the victory relief of the second Sasanian monarch, Shapur I. The Persian monarch is sitting on a horse, while the captured Roman emperor Valerian kneels before him. Two other Roman figures appear on the relief. The first, believed by many to be Emperor Gordian III, has fallen and died next to the majestic horse of the Persian king; the second Roman figure, identified by some as Emperor Philip the Arab and by others as Emperor Valerian, stands next to Shapur with his hand held by the Sasanian king of kings. Another impressive rock relief at Naqsh-e Rostam depicts the investiture of Ardashir I, the founder of the Sasanian dynasty. It shows the great god Ohrmazd (Ahura Mazda) bestowing the diadem of kingship upon Ardashir I, thus implying Ardashir’s divine origins.

  See also: Ancient Cities: Naqsh-e Rajab; K&Q, Achaemenid: Darius I; K&Q, Sasanian: Shapur I; Prophets: Kartir; Primary Documents: Document 10; Document 32

  Further Reading

  Curtis, John. Ancient Persia. London: British Museum Press, 1989.

  Herrmann, G., and V. S. Curtis. “Sasanian Rock Reliefs.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2002, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sasanian-rock-reliefs.

  Root, M. Cool. “The King and Kingship in Achaemenid Art.” Acta Iranica 19. Leiden: Brill, 1979.

  Schmitt, Ruediger. Corpus Inscriptionum Irancarum, Part I: Inscriptions of Ancient Iran, Vol. 1, The Old Persian Inscriptions, Texts II: The Old Persian Inscriptions of Naqsh-i Rustam and Persepolis. London: School of Oriental and African Studies, 2000.

  Stronach, David. “Pasargadae.” In The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 2, edited by Ilya Gershevitch, 838–855. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.

  Stronach, David. Pasargadae: A Report on t
he Excavations Conducted by the British Institute of Persian Studies from 1961 to 1963. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978.

  Von Gall, Hubertus. “Naqš-e Rostam.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2009, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/naqs-e-rostam.

  Nisa

  One of the most important historical and archaeological sites of ancient Iran dating back to the reign of the Arsacid (Parthian) dynasty (r. 247/238 BCE–224 CE). There is no consensus among archaeologists who have excavated Nisa about the function of the site and its numerous buildings. Nisa has been described as one of the capital cities of the Arsacid dynasty, a “sacred fortress of the Parthian kings,” a royal residence of Parthian monarchs, or even a “Parthian dynastic or general religious center” (Pilipko: 114). Nisa is located near the village of Bagir, 6 miles (10 kilometers) west of Ashgabat, the capital of the Republic of Turkmenistan. The “fortified site of Staraia (Old) Nisa is situated on the southeastern fringe of Bagir, while Novaia (New) Nisa is on the southwestern fringe. The distance between the two sites is 1.5 kilometers” (Pilipko: 114).

  The Arsacids were originally members of the Aparni or Parni, a Scythian group within the Dahae confederation that moved south from Central Asia into the region immediately to the east and the southeastern coast of the Caspian Sea and then to northeastern Iran. In the first half of the third century BCE, the cradle of the Arsacid dynasty was the territory of southern Turkmenistan, particularly “the northern part of Dehistan in the area of the river Uzboj” (Lecomte: 144). By 250 BCE, the Parni had established themselves on the shores of the Atrek River. A short time later in 247 BCE, a leader of the Parni, Arsaces (Arshak), was crowned as king in Asaac. The exact location of Asaac is unknown, but some scholars have suggested that it was located near the present-day town of Quchan in the upper Atrek River Valley in northeastern Iran (Debevoise: 10–11). Sometime between 245 and 239 BCE, the Seleucid governors of Parthia and Bactria, Andragoras and Diodotus, respectively, revolted and declared their independence from the Seleucid state. A short time later in 238 BCE, Arsaces took advantage of the chaos in the eastern provinces of the Seleucid Empire and invaded and conquered Parthia. Andragoras, the governor of Parthia, was killed, and his satrapy emerged as the new home and operational base for Arsaces I. With the conquest of Parthia, the Arsacids came to be known as Parthians, or those who hail from Parthia, a name the Greek and Roman authors used to refer to them and their empire. Beginning in the reign of Phraates I, the Arsacids broke out of Parthia and established a foothold south of the Alborz mountain range. When Phraates I died, his brother Mithridates I continued Phraates’s policy and expanded the Arsacid domain to Media in western Iran and Babylonia in present-day southern Iraq, laying the foundation for an empire that would rule until 224 CE.

  Ruins of ancient Nisa, one of the most important ceremonial centers of the Parthian/Arsacid dynasty. Nisa is situated a short distance from Ashgabat (Eshqabad), the capital of present-day Turkmenistan. (Lola Aykutoglu/Dreamstime.com)

  In his Parthian Stations, which provides a short account of overland trade routes between the Levant and India in the first century BCE, Isidore of Charax wrote that after departing Hyrcania (Gorgan) in northern Iran, the traveler reaches Astauena “in which there are 12 villages in which there are stations; and the city of Asaak, in which Arsaces,” the founder of the Arsacid dynasty, “was first proclaimed king; and an everlasting fire” was “guarded there” (Isidore of Charax: 4). Isidore of Charax also wrote that beyond this district was Parthyena, within which is a valley and the city of Parthaunisa, where there are royal tombs. For decades, there was a debate among historians and archaeologists about the exact location of Asaac and Parthaunisa. Parthaunisa was believed by many scholars to be not only the first capital of the Arsacid dynasty but also its religious and spiritual heart. Beginning in 1930, Soviet archaeologists A. A. Marushchenko and A. S. Bashkirov began to conduct scientific investigation on the site of Nisa, located near Ashgabat, the capital of the then Soviet Republic of Turkmenistan. Marushchenko became convinced that the ruins of Bagir were indeed the Parthaunisa described by Isidore of Charax (Pilipko: 101). The most important find of this initial investigation was a large building with a square-shaped hall that was identified as a mausoleum of Arsacid kings (Pilipko: 101). A more systematic excavation of the site was conducted after World War II by the Soviet archaeologist M. E. Masson. This excavation continued for several decades and resulted in major discoveries (Pilipko: 103). Among the first discoveries were a large square building, which probably served as a royal treasury and was “perhaps associated with the funeral cult of Parthian kings”; over “thirty silver coins of Seleucid, Bactrian, Parthian, Sogdian, and even Pontic origins”; and a “wine storehouse consisting of large rectangular rooms filled with rows of clay jars, where excavations revealed 2,751 ostraca with Parthian inscriptions that were primarily records reflecting the activity of the storehouse” (Pilipko: 103). A new period of excavations began in 1979 under the direction of V. N. Pilipko, followed by a second team from the Leningrad Section of the Institute of Archaeology headed by V. M. Masson. In 1992–1994, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, an Italian team led by Antonio Invernizzi conducted further excavations at Nisa.

  The site at Nisa contained a town as well as a citadel and a royal city with numerous buildings. These buildings included palaces, reception halls, temples, and a royal mausoleum where the Arsacid kings were buried. According to the Soviet archaeologist Vladimir G. Lukonin, “Parthian Nisa consisted of three main parts—a citadel covering more than 10 acres, pentagonal in plan, built on a natural crag; the town proper; and the urban precinct surrounded by a defensive wall” (Lukonin: 44, 61). Near the town of Nisa was “the fortress of Mihrdatkart [presumably named after King Mithridates I of the Arsacid dynasty], the ‘royal city’ with the burial-place and the treasury of the Parthian kings” (Lukonin: 61). There were several temples in the city of Nisa. These temples, which were dedicated to the cult of ancestors, contained niches in the upper parts of their walls in which clay statues of Parthian kings and gods were displayed (Lukonin: 61). The masterpieces of Parthian art, however, were its exquisite rhytons. Rhytons were “horn-shaped” “vessels made from elephants’ tusks,” which could at times be “20 inches high, decorated with protomes of centaurs and griffins, the torso of a naked goddess, etc.” (Lukonin: 61). Aside from these masterful pieces of art, Soviet archaeologists also unearthed administrative documents related to a wine store (Lukonin: 62).

  If Nisa or Mihrdatkart served as the first capital of the Arsacid dynasty, it did not remain so for very long. Vulnerable to nomadic attacks from Central Asia, the Parthians moved their capital first to Shahr-i Qumis (Hecatompylos or Sad Darvazeh) near Damghan (213 miles east of Tehran) in northern Iran, then to Seleucia-on-Tigris in southern Iraq, and later to Ctesiphon, which they built on the opposite bank of the Tigris across from Seleucia. Mithridates I, who converted the Arsacid state from a small kingdom confined to northeastern Iran to a powerful state and a recognized world power, ascended the Parthian throne in Seleucia-on-Tigris rather than in Nisa, although he and many of the future Arsacid monarchs most probably returned to Nisa, and many of them were buried at its royal mausoleum.

  See also: K&Q, Arsacid/Parthian: Arsaces I; Mithridates I; Peoples: Arsacids; Parthian Stations

  Further Reading

  Bivar, A. D. H. “The Political History of Iran under the Arsacids.” In The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 3(I), The Seleucids, Parthian and Sasanian Periods, edited by Ehsan Yarshater, 21–99. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

  Debevoise, Neilson C. A Political History of Parthia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1938.

  Isidore of Charax. Parthian Stations: An Account of the Overland Trade Route between the Levant and India in the First Century B.C. Translated by Wilfred H. Schoff. Philadelphia: Commercial Museum, 1914.

  Lecomte, Oliver. “Vehrânkâ and Dehistan: Late Farming Communities of South-West Turkmenistan from the Iro
n Age to the Islamic Period.” In Parthica, Incontri Di Culture Nel Mondo Antico, 135–170. Pisa, Italy: Istituti Editoriali Poligrafici Internazionali, 1999.

  Lukonin, Vladimir G. Persia II. Translated from the Russian by James Hogarth. Cleveland and New York: World Publishing, 1967.

  Pilipko, V. N. “Excavations of Straia Nisa.” In Bulletin of the Asia Institute: The Archeology and Art of Central Asia Studies from the Former Soviet Union, edited by B. A. Litvinski and Carol Altman Bromberg, 101–116. Bloomfield Hills: Asia Institute, 1994.

  Oxus Treasure

  A collection of about 180 gold and silver objects dating back to the reign of the Persian Achaemenid Empire (r. 550–330 BCE). The pieces, which are considered the most important surviving collection of ancient Persian metalwork, include seals, plaques, rings, armlets, vessels, model chariots and figures, personal objects, and coins ranging in date from the early fifth century to the early second century BCE (Curtis: 65). The pieces were discovered on the upper banks of the Oxus River (Amu Darya) sometime between 1877 and 1880. The Oxus originates in the Pamirs and, after forming part of the border between Afghanistan and the Central Asian republics of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, travels in a northwesterly direction to reach the Aral Sea.

  THE TWO GREAT RIVERS OF CENTRAL ASIA: OXUS (AMU DARYA) AND JAXARTES (SYR DARYA)