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[German version] [1] Achaemenid satrapy in the region of Herat Old Persian Haraiva, Achaemenid  satrapy in the region of Herat ( Alexandria [6], at the Hari Rud, Afghanistan). First mentioned in the Behistun inscription [1], later also in Herodotus (3,93), Polybius (10,49; 11,39), Pliny (HN 6,21), and Ammianus Marcellinus (23,6,69). In the 3rd cent. BC, Areia belonged to the Seleucid empire, later to the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom, and was finally incorporated into the Parthian empire. The river valley was particularly suited to viticulture (Str. 11,10,1-2). Kuhrt, Amélie (London) S…

[German version] (Ἀβραδάτης; Abradátēs). Fictitious king of Susa, protagonist in a novella in Xen. Cyr. (5,1,2; 6,1,45-52; 6,3,35-36; 6,4,2-10; 7,1,29-32; 7,3,2-14). His beautiful wife, Pantheia, was taken prisoner by Cyrus, treated very well and convinced A. to join Cyrus. A. fell in the battle against the Lydians. Pantheia committed suicide on his grave. Kuhrt, Amélie (London) Sancisi-Weerdenburg, Helen (Utrecht) Bibliography C. J. Brunner, s. v. A., Enclr 1, 228 D. Gera, Xenophon's Cyropaedia, 1993, 221-245.

[German version] (Old Persian * Datafarnah-). Sogdian who, together with  Spitamenes, handed  Bessus over to Alexander the Great (329 BC); took part in the uprising against Alexander until the  Dahae handed him over to Alexander as a prisoner (328/7 BC). Sources: Arr. Anab. 4,1,5; 4,17,7; Curt. 7,5,21; 8,3,1-16. Kuhrt, Amélie (London) Sancisi-Weerdenburg, Helen (Utrecht) Bibliography F. Holt, Alexander the Great and Bactria, 1989, 52, 65 M. Mayrhofer, Onomastica Persepolitana, 1973, 149, no. 8.367.

(Ἀρτάβ/πανος, Ἀρταπάνης; Artáb/panos, Artapánēs, Old Pers. Rtabānuš, Elamite Irdabanuš). [German version] [1] Brother of Darius I and uncle of Xerxes Brother of Darius I and uncle of Xerxes, who warned Darius and Xerxes against the campaigns against the Scythians (Hdt. 4.83) and against Greece (7.10-18) respectively [1]. Xerxes sent him back from Abydus on the Dardanelles and commissioned him with the regency for the duration of the war (Hdt. 7,46-53). Perhaps around 500 BC may have been satrap of Bactria and therefore identical to the Irdabanuš of PF 1287, 1555 [2]. Kuhrt, Amélie (L…

(Ἀχαιμένης; Achaiménēs, Hakhāmanis̆ in Old Persian). [German version] [1] Founder of the Persian royal house Founder and eponymous hero of the Persian royal house (Hdt. 7,11), described by Darius I as the family's forefather [1. 116]; his family named itself Hakhāmanis̆iya or  Achaemenids after him [1. DB I. 3-8; 2. 43-45]. In Greek mythology, Perseus or Aegeus was the father of A. (Pl. Alc. 1, 120e; Nic. Dam. FGrH 90 F 6). According to Ael. Hist. 12,21, A. was fed by an eagle (popular theme in folk tales and …

[German version] (Ἀριαράμνης; Ariarámnēs, Old Persian Ariyāramna). Persian king, son of Teispes and grandson of  Achaemenes; Darius I calls him his great-grandfather in the Behistun inscription [1. 116 DB I 5]. The validity of an inscription found in Hamadan, in which A. calls himself ‘Great King’ and ‘King of kings’ [1. 116 AmH], is disputed; if it is a forgery, it probably dates from the time of Artaxerxes II.  Achaemenids;  Darius I;  Teispes Kuhrt, Amélie (London) Sancisi-Weerdenburg, Helen (Utrecht) Bibliography 1 R. G. Kent, Old Persian, 1953. J. Balcer, Prosopographic…

(Ἀρβάκης; Arbákēs). [German version] [1] King of the Medians According to Ctesias' list of Median kings (Diod. Sic. 2,32-34), a king of the Medes who defeated the effeminate Assyrian king Sardanapal (Assurbanipal) with the help of the Babylonian Belesys and destroyed Niniveh in 625 BC (Diod. Sic. 2,24-28; Ath. 12,528f-529c). Ctesias' fanciful report is in stark contrast to the reliable account given in Babylonian cuneiform documents. In an inscription by Sargon II of Assyria (713 BC), an Arbaku is named …

(Ἀρσάμης; Arsámēs). [German version] [1] Son of Ariaramnes Old Pers. Ars̆āma, son of Ariaramnes, father of Hystaspes, grandfather of Darius I [1. DB §2]. Xerxes [1. XPf §3] says that A. was still alive when Darius came to the throne (522/521BC). The insciptions attributed to him and his father are probably not genuine [1. 12; 2. 65-67]. Kuhrt, Amélie (London) Sancisi-Weerdenburg, Helen (Utrecht) [German version] [2] Son of Darius I Son of Darius I and Artystone. Commanded the Aethiopians and Arabs for his half-brother Xerxes in the campaign against Greece (…

(Ἀτόσσα; Atóssa, Ancient Persian * Utauthā). [German version] [1] Daughter of Cyrus II Daughter of Cyrus II, married in succession to her brothers Cambyses and Bardiya [1], then Darius [1] I (Hdt. 3,88). Mother of four of Darius' sons, including  Masistes and  Xerxes. Her name is only documented in Greek sources. Neither Aesch. Pers. (there not called by name, but only designated as the king's mother) nor Hdt. 7,2-3 prove that she outlived Darius. When her son Xerxes was named successor to the throne is unce…

[German version] (Old Persian Gōmāta; Elamitic Kammadda; Akkadian Gumātu). A magus ( Magi) [3. DB 39], who seized power after Cambyses had his brother  Bardiya [1] assassinated, on Cambyses' absence on campaign in Egypt. To justify his usurpation he claimed to be Bardiya. After Cambyses' death  Darius [1] I. and six noble Persians (Aspathines,  Hydarnes,  Intaphernes,  Gobryas,  Megabyzus, and  Otanes) brought the rule of G./Bardiya to an end and killed him (522 BC). A detailed description is in the  Bi…

[German version] (Ἀρταΰντη; Artaýntē). Daughter of  Masistes, brother of Xerxes I, married to the latter's son Darius. A fanciful account (Hdt. 9.108-113) tells how Xerxes fell in love with his daughter-in-law and his wife Amestris took revenge on the mother of the girl, leading to a revolt by Masistes. The account has literary parallels in Est and Mt 14.1-12. Kuhrt, Amélie (London) Sancisi-Weerdenburg, Helen (Utrecht) Bibliography J. Balcer, Prosopographical Study of the Ancient Persians, 1993, 106 H. Sancisi-Weerdenburg, Exit Atossa, in: A. Cameron, A. Kuhrt (ed.), Images…

[German version] [1] River in Susiana River in  Susiana, famed for the high quality of its water. The Persian king drank only (boiled) water from the Choaspes, carried for him on campaigns and journeys in silver jugs. Partially identified with the  Eulaeus, nowadays with the Karkhe or the Kârûn. Kuhrt, Amélie (London) Sancisi-Weerdenburg, Helen (Utrecht) [German version] [2] River of the southern Hindu Kush River of the southern Hindu Kush, named only the context of Alexander's campaign (Aristot. Mete. 1,13,16; Aristobulus in Str. 15,1,26); in Arr. Anab. 4,2…

(Ἀρταξέσσης, Ἀρταξέρξης; Artaxéssēs, Artaxérxēs; Old Persian Artaḫšaça). Name of several Achaemenid rulers. [German version] [1] A. I. Son of Xerxes Μακρόχειρ ( Makrócheir)/ Longimanus (465-424/3 BC), son of Xerxes and Amastris; ascended the throne in August 465 BC after the assassination of his father (Diod. Sic. 11.69.2-6) [1 ch.14]. A. succeeded in suppressing the Egyptian revolt supported by Athens (460-454 BC). He took in the fugitive Themistocles. In Asia Minor the Persians suffered losses which may have led to …

(Καμβύσης; Kambýsēs, Old Persian Kambūjiya; Elamite and Babylonian Kambuzija). [German version] [1] Father of  Cyrus II Father of  Cyrus II, called ‘the Great King, King of Anšan’ (TUAT I 409,21) in the Cyrus cylinder. According to Hdt. 1,107, married to the Median princess  Mandane; according to Ctesias, Cyrus II and the Median king were not related (FGrH 680 F 9,1). More recent research emphasizes that before Darius there were no family ties between the dynasty of Cyrus and the Achaemenids [1]; any attempt a…

[German version] (Δηιόκης; Dēiókēs). According to Hdt. 1, the first ruler of the  Medes, said to have ruled for 53 years; elected by the Medes as their ruler, he is said to have had a fortress built ( Ecbatana), surrounded himself with a bodyguard and introduced a court ceremonial designed to accustom his subjects to regard their ruler as a higher being. Herodotus' account combines contemporary elements of Achaemenid court protocol with Greek ideas on the ways of a tyrant (Hdt. 1, 96-101; [2]). The Greek personal name D. corresponds to the name Daiakku mentioned in Neo-Assyrian sources…

[German version] Satrap of Bactria, Darius III's general at the battle of  Gaugamela. Shortly afterwards he killed Darius, assumed the name Artaxerxes and tried to hold the eastern part of the Persian Empire against  Alexander [4] the Great.  Spitamenes i.a. betrayed him; he was condemned to death in Ecbatana for high treason (Arr. Anab., Curt. passim). Kuhrt, Amélie (London) Sancisi-Weerdenburg, Helen (Utrecht) Bibliography F. Holt, Alexander the Great and Bactria, 1989.  

[German version] Persian noble who defended Eïon on the Strymon against  Cimon in 476/5 BC (Hdt. 7,107). He rejected Cimon's offer of free passage and committed suicide, with all of his household, when the fortress had to surrender. Kuhrt, Amélie (London) Sancisi-Weerdenburg, Helen (Utrecht) Bibliography P. Briant, Histoire de l'empire perse, 1996, 364.  

[German version] (Ἀραχωσία; Arachōsía, Old Persian Harauvatis̆). Achaemenid, then Seleucid,  satrapy in eastern Iran/western Afghanistan; in the mid 3rd cent. BC it belonged to India. First mentioned in the Behistun inscription ( c. 519 BC) [1 DB § 17]; see also Arr. Anab., Curt. passim; Str. 11,10,1; Plin. HN 6,92; Ptol. 6,20; 6,61. Capital city, near to the Kandahar of today ( Alexandria), where a bilingual Greek-Aramaic inscription and a Greek inscription by the Mauryan king Aśoka were found. Excavations show that the city …

[German version] Village (κώμη; kṓmē) in the Susiana mentioned by Alexander's fleet commander Nearchus at the conclusion of his voyage from the Indus to Babylonia (Arr. Ind. 42,4). Aginis lay between the mouth of the Tigris and Pasitigris (today Karun); Strab. 15,3,5 also describes its location but without calling it by name. Kuhrt, Amélie (London) Sancisi-Weerdenburg, Helen (Utrecht) Bibliography F. C. Andreas, s. v. A., RE 1, 810-816.