419-400BC in the Near East

Achaemenid gold roundel

This blog will try and look at the Near East for the years 419-400BC, which during this period was mainly included in the Persian Empire. From the Persian period onwards, the historical sources become quite scant and we are quite heavily reliant on the writings of the Greeks, such as Thucydides, Plutarch and Diodorus Siculus.

Occasional snippets of information may come from the Hebrew biblical writings, or sacred traditions, but these will generally only concern affairs in Judea or those pertaining specifically to Jewish history. It is not that there is nothing to say for this period, but the history is now mainly written by the Greeks. So if most of what I have to say concerns the Greeks, we should remember it is because they are writing the history, not because nothing else was happening in the Persian Empire. For any events that deal with the Greeks, I will only write of them briefly as they are dealt with in greater detail in previous blogs, which will be listed at the end.

I had previously included the affairs of Carthage in these blogs, insofar as these are known. However, these are now dealt with in greater detail in the Greek blogs covering this time period.

At the start of this period Darius II was ruling as Great King of Persia. Relative peace existed between the Persians and the Greeks, as the Greek cities were embroiled in the Peloponnesian War. Persia was still the largest empire in the world, stretching from the Indus River in the east, to the lands of Cyrene in the west and containing the ancient lands of Babylonia and Egypt. It was incredibly wealthy and could put larger armies in the field than any other kingdom. However, the increasing professionalism of armies in Greece, China and India meant that these vast armies may not have been the most effective in the world at that time. Still, Persia was the single most important empire in the world at this time.

One of the Elephantine Papyri

In the year 419BC the Passover Papyrus was written. This was an instruction concerning the observance of Passover for the Jewish community in the southern Egyptian fortress of Elephantine. The Jews who lived here were part of a Persian garrison that helped to keep the lands of Egypt loyal to the Persians. They may have been descended from those Jews who fled to Egypt during and after the Fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple. This particular papyrus is quite fascinating, as it suggests that perhaps the Jewish garrison had no knowledge of Passover. Considering that Passover was celebrated intermittently, if at all, during the monarchy, this is not overly surprising. However, the actual content of the letter suggests that the Persian King is ordering the Passover to be celebrated. This would fit in with some of the decrees preserved in the Biblical book of Ezra where the Persian kings would give pronouncements on religious matters, such as temple rebuilding.

To my brethren Yedoniah and his colleagues the Jewish garrison, your brother Hananiah. The welfare of my brothers may God seek at all times. Now, this year, the fifth year of King Darius, word was sent from the king to Arsames saying, "Authorise a festival of unleavened bread for the Jewish garrison". So do you count fourteen days of the month of Nisan and observe the passover, and from the 15th to the 21st day of Nisan observe the festival of unleavened bread. Be ritually clean and take heed. Do no work on the 15th or the 21st day, nor drink beer, nor eat anything in which there is leaven from the 14th at sundown until the 21st of Nisan. For seven days it shall not be seen among you. Do not bring it into your dwellings but seal it up between these dates. By order of King Darius. To my brethren Yedoniah and the Jewish garrison, your brother Hananiah.
Passover Papyrus from the Elephantine Papyri, written 419BC

Not much can be said, to my knowledge, for the years 418 and 417. Presumably things happened, but sadly I am not aware of them.

Around the year 416 Pissuthnes, the satrap of Lydia, was in revolt against King Darius II of Persia. The revolt may have been ongoing for some years, but I suspect that it was only a recent thing. I suspect that a major revolt left unchecked for years would have been noted by the Greek historians, as Lydia was very close to the Greek world. .

In the year 415 Pissuthnes died, but his rebellion was continued by his son Amorges. Amorges seems to have received some support, secretive or otherwise, from the Athenians. This would have led the Persians to consider open war against the Athenians.

Coin of the Persian satrap Tissaphernes

In the year 414 the King of Persian dispatched the able general Tissaphernes to Ionia to help quell the revolt of Amorges. He took over the satrapy of Lydia.

In the year 413 the strategic situation in the Aegean had changed greatly. The Athenians, who had dominated the Aegean Sea with their navy, had suffered a terrible defeat far to the west in Sicily. Sparta now rekindled the war against Athens and pressed their advantage hard. Athenian subject states attempted to rise up against Athens. Tissaphernes noted that now was the time to break Athenian power and he made a treaty with the Spartans.

In the year 412 Tissaphernes and the other satraps along the coast, including the wealthy and capable Pharnabazus who ruled Hellespontine Phrygia to the north of Lydia, began to collect tribute from Greek cities on the coast. For decades these cities had been under the Athenian empire and the Persians had been kept away from the coast. The Athenian defeat in Sicily had changed all this. In return for the Spartans allowing the Persians a free hand against former Athenian subject cities, the Persians would pay for the upkeep of the Spartan navy.

Multiple states now rose up against the Athenians, including Chios and Clazonmenae. The Athenians responded and continued to fight in a way that none expected them to. The city of Clazomenae was retaken by the Athenians.

It was around this time that the wayward Athenian general Alcibiades defected from the Spartans to the Persians. He was an enemy of one of the Spartan kings, most likely because Alcibiades was said to be the lover of the Spartan king's wife. Fearing for his safety Alcibiades went over to Tissaphernes, who found him useful, but does not seem to have been fooled by the silver-fork-tongued Alcibiades. The rebel Amorges was captured by the Spartan navy and was handed over to Tissaphernes, who executed him.

In the year 411 it seems that a small rebellion broke out in the Nile Delta region against Persian rule. It was said to be led by Amyrtaeus of Sais, a descendant of a previous rebel king in that region. However, this date may be a confusion of the sources and the rebellion may have happened later. Alternatively, there may have been riots and the potential for rebellion, but no actual rebellion. The sources are unclear.

Remains of the temple of Khnum at Elephantine

In the year 410 it seems that there were disturbances and riots in Egypt. The Temple of YHWH that was used by the Jewish soldiers at the Temple of Elephantine was burned down. It seemed to have been burned by parts of the Egyptian community who were resentful of the presence of the Jewish garrison. The Jewish temple at Elephantine was beside a temple to the Egyptian god Khnum. Previously the Egyptians and Jews had coexisted relatively peacefully, but perhaps with the possibility of a rebellion against Persian rule, the Jewish community was seen as infiltrators from the Persian overlords.

Around this time, although it is impossible to give an exact date, the region of the Indus Valley seems to have slipped out of direct Achaemenid control. It was not that other empires in the region had taken it from the Persians, at least not to our knowledge. But the local dynasts of the region seem to have ruled from Taksashila, or Taxila, as it was known to the Greeks. Soldiers from the region still appear in Persian reliefs, but these may well be mercenaries, or simply copying earlier reliefs from when the empire had greater control of the hinterlands.

One of the Elephantine
Papyri

The Rabbinic tradition in Judaism speaks of a group that are sometimes referred to as the Great Assembly. These are said to be 80 or 120 wise men who lived between the time of the last exile and the beginning of the Rabbinic tradition proper. They are sometimes referred to as if they sat together as a single council, at other times it seems more as if they are a generation of sages. They are said to have approved the addition of Esther and other later books to the canon. Ezra, Zechariah and Haggai were said to be among their number. I am unsure as to whether to take the tradition seriously.

The chronology of the Mishnah appears to be quite erroneous for this period, suggesting that the entire Persian empire lasted for little more than a generation, rather than the over two centuries that it in fact lasted. Chronologically speaking, the people mentioned as being part of the Great Assembly were not likely to be contemporaries. But some continuity of respected elders who passed down traditions and gave their opinions on the tradition is quite plausible, so there may well have been a Great Assembly in that sense.

In the year 409 the Greek historian Xenophon records that the Medes revolted against King Darius II of Persia. However, the revolt seems to have not lasted long or to have seriously threatened the king, as Xenophon records that they submitted to the royal authority again shortly afterwards.

In the year 408, perhaps because of frustration with the slow progress of the war, King Darius II sent his son, the ambitious prince Cyrus, also known as Cyrus the Younger, to the western provinces to take over the conduct of the war. The loyal satrap Tissaphernes was marginalised, while Cyrus was given a large treasury and presumably instructions to bring the war in the west to a close. Tissaphernes had sought to weaken the Greek cities by giving money to both sides. Cyrus now unilaterally favoured the Spartans and gave them large amounts of money, particularly to an equally ambitious Spartan commander named Lysander.

Elephantine Temple reconstruction request

In the year 407 the Jewish community at Elephantine sent a petition to Bagoas, a Persian governor of the province of Yehud, asking for funds to rebuild the temple of YHWH at Elephantine. The Jews in Elephantine had also written to Sanballat. It is unclear if this is the same Sanballat who had been an opponent of Nehemiah. It is chronologically possible, but it is also possible that one of his descendants or relatives bore the same name and held the same position as governor of Samaria.

The High Priest at Jerusalem had not answered the requests of the Elephantine Jews. This may be because the Jews at Elephantine followed the customs of the pre-exilic Kingdom of Judah, and included the worship of idols along with the worship of YHWH. At least some of the priests in Jerusalem were determined to worship YHWH alone. The Samaritan community led by Sanballat may have acted as a middle ground between the communities of Jerusalem and Elephantine. At least some members of the priesthood in Jerusalem had family ties to the Samaritan community.

Not much can be said, to my knowledge, for the year 406. Presumably things happened, but sadly I am not aware of them.

Tomb of King Darius II at Naqsh-i-Rustam

Around the year 405 King Amanineteyerike of Kush died and was buried in a pyramid at the royal cemetery of Nuri. He was succeeded by Baskakeren, who was probably his younger brother. Little is known of either of these kings.

In the year 404 King Darius II of Persia died and was succeeded by his son Artaxerxes II. Artaxerxes was known as Artaxerxes Mnemon (Mnemon meaning "Good memory") to the Greeks. Darius II was buried in a rock-hewn tomb carved from the cliff face of Naqsh-i-Rustam like many of the Persian kings before him. The tomb is not named, but his tomb can be identified with some certainty. Like the tombs of the other kings, it shows a rock-cut relief of the king standing before Ahura Mazda, on a platform upheld by soldiers from all the corners of the empire.

Upon the accession of King Artaxerxes II to the Persian throne, the satrap Tissaphernes accused Prince Cyrus of wishing to usurp the throne. It is likely that Tissaphernes was telling the truth. Artaxerxes believed him and nearly executed his brother. However, their mother Parysatis intervened on behalf of Cyrus the Younger and his brother was merciful and spared him.

While there was the uncertainty of the royal succession and a new king on the throne, Amyrtaeus of Sais took advantage of this confusion to launch a rebellion in Egypt. Artaxerxes II ordered a large army to be assembled in Phoenicia to crush the rebellion. This army was to be led by Abrocomas, the bastard brother of Artaxerxes, but the assembly of the army took time. Many of the best Persian troops were probably dispatched to this army. It did however take quite a long time to assemble.

Stela of King Harsiotef of Kush

Around this time King Baskakeren of Kush died and was buried in a small pyramid at the royal cemetery of Nuri. The pyramid was probably small due to the short reign of the king. He was succeeded by Harsiotef who was probably his younger brother. Little is known of either of these kings, but we do know that Harsiotef led campaigns against a town called Habasa, which may be the first attestation of the word that is the root word for the region known in English as Abyssinia. Harsiotef also took full Egyptian titles as a Pharaoh of old.

In this year Sparta defeated Athens at the end of the Great Peloponnesian War. The Spartans mostly took over the Athenian empire and established themselves as the hegemonic power of the Greek world; on both land and sea.

Not much can be said, to my knowledge, for the year 403. Presumably things happened, but sadly I am not aware of them.

Around the year 402 the Elephantine Papyri, those documents that give a tantalising peephole into the lives of the Jewish community in Upper Egypt, seem to come to an end. It is possible that the rebellion of Amyrtaeus destroyed the community, or at least disrupted its record keeping. It is astonishing that we have such an archive at all. To be clear, there are more recent papyrus documents found at Elephantine, but none to my knowledge that pertain directly to the Jewish community there. The rebuilt temple of YHWH there was eventually destroyed and the land used to expand the nearby temple of Khnum.

Royal Kushite cemetery at Nuri near Napata

Cyrus had helped the Spartans, particularly Lysander, win their war against Athens and decided to use his influence with them to ask for the services of their fleet. Cyrus still held a large satrapy in western Asia and he made war on Tissaphernes, gathering Greek mercenaries while doing so. The Spartans hated Tissaphernes and were happy with this. The king was not displeased with his satraps fighting, as it meant that neither one would become too powerful. The end of the Peloponnesian War had led to many idle professional soldiers around the Aegean and they now gathered around Cyrus the Younger, drawn by the pay and the possibility of loot.

Cyrus the Younger had gathered a force of over 10,000 Greek mercenaries and had perhaps 40,000 other troops at his command. He set out to invade Pisidia, which he deemed to be in rebellion against himself. But Tissaphernes was too cunning to be fooled by the ruse. He correctly guessed that Cyrus was going to make a play for the empire itself.

The army passed through Cilicia, where the local dynasts made a clever strategy. Not knowing if Cyrus the Younger would win or lose, the local queen helped him, while her husband made an effort to block his path, without causing any real damage to Cyrus the Younger. This way, whether Cyrus the Younger won or lost, they could still stay in favour with Persia.

It was after the army had reached Tarsus that the Greeks realised that they had been tricked and that their expedition was in fact a civil war. Their commander, the Spartan general Clearchus, urged them onwards, telling them of the fantastic rewards that would be theirs should they follow. However, it now became clear that Cyrus the Younger did not have full control of his army. The Greeks would follow Clearchus and the other generals, but would not take orders directly from Cyrus the Younger. The Greeks wasted twenty days in Tarsus, deciding whether or not to continue, during which time Artaxerxes was gathering an army to meet the forces of Cyrus the Younger.

Soldiers of the Persian Empire shown on the tomb of
Darius II at Naqsh-i-Rustam

Cyrus the Younger passed the Cilician Gates and it was only here in Syria that he revealed that he was in fact marching against his brother the king. The Greeks were unhappy, but continued with the march. The tale is told in the writings of Xenophon's Anabasis. He was a soldier in the army and he wrote an account of it some years later, although he pretended that it was written by a person called Themistogenes the Syracusan, presumably as some form of pen-name.

Abrocomas, the bastard brother of the king and commander of the forces that had been gathered in Syria for the planned invasion of Egypt, had marched ahead of Cyrus the Younger and was presumably hoping to block the Royal Road into Assyria. It can only be surmised that Abrocomas, in command of large numbers of some of the best troops in Persia, engaged in scorched earth tactics. But it was all in vain.

After the delays in Tarsus, Cyrus did the last thing that he could do to gain surprise and turned south, racing along the Euphrates River, far from the paved roads of the heartlands. This must have surprised both Artaxerxes II and Abrocomas and even though Abrocomas had initially had a head start on Cyrus the Younger, Cyrus was now in between the armies of the king and Abracomas. Artaxerxes was now forced to give battle without his most experienced troops to defend the city of Babylon.

At a place near Cunaxa on the bank of the Euphrates, Artaxerxes gave battle. He had mustered a much larger army than that of his brother, but it had no Greek phalanx. The Greeks were deployed at the right of Cyrus' forces, but when Cyrus asked the Greeks to be moved to the centre, Clearchus refused, fearing to be outflanked by the army of the king. Cyrus the Younger held the centre with his bodyguard, while Arieus and the non-Greek troops of Cyrus held the left flank.

The two armies joined in battle on the dusty plain. The Greeks pushed through the troops deployed in front of them. However, the battle on the left flank of Cyrus' forces was a much messier affair, as here the army of Cyrus the Younger was much outnumbered. The left flank must have slowly been turned. Meanwhile the Greeks kept pushing in front of them. With the scale of the battle it seems that the dust rose and obscured the battlefield. The Greeks advanced into empty space while the battle raged behind them.

Sensing that the Greek victory on the right flank had disrupted the army of the king, but that he must act fast before the left flank crumbled, Cyrus the Younger led his bodyguard in a headlong charge against the bodyguard of his brother the king. The bodyguards of Artaxerxes II and Cyrus the Younger clashed in fierce hand to hand combat and it is recorded that the king himself was wounded. The Greek doctor Ctesias is recorded to have afterwards treated the wound. But Cyrus the Younger was struck down and his head hewn off and with that blow the Battle of Cunaxa was over.

Painting of the Battle of Cunaxa by Adrien Guignet

Then the king cast his lance at his brother, but missed him, though he both hit and slew Satiphernes, a noble man and a faithful friend to Cyrus. Then Cyrus directed his lance against the king, and pierced his breast with it quite through his armour, two inches deep, so that he fell from his horse with the stroke. At which those that attended him being put to flight and disorder, he, rising with a few, among whom was Ctesias, and making his way to a little hill not far off, rested himself. But Cyrus, who was in the thick of the enemy, was carried off a great way by the wildness of his horse, the darkness which was now coming on making it hard for them to know him, and for his followers to find him. However, being made elate with victory, and full of confidence and force, he passed through them, crying out, and that more than once, in the Persian language, "Clear the way, villains, clear the way;" which they indeed did, throwing themselves down at his feet. But his tiara dropped off his head, and a young Persian, by name Mithridates, running by, struck a dart into one of his temples near his eye, not knowing who he was, out of which wound much blood gushed, so that Cyrus, swooning and senseless, fell off his horse.
Plutarch, Life of Artaxerxes, written circa AD100

The Greeks had had so little to do with the battle that they were three miles away when the fate of the battle was decided. After some confused skirmishing they slept on the battlefield and only found out the next day that Cyrus the Younger was dead and that they had lost the battle.

It was unclear what to do next. The Greeks tried to make Arieus king, but Arieus refused the offer. He was not of royal blood and had no claim whatsoever to the throne. Even if he could gain a victory of sorts at Cunaxa he could never hold the empire. Arieus surrendered and went over to the side of Artaxerxes II. Tissaphernes then negotiated with the Greeks.

The Greek mercenaries were a formidable force. The Persians had no heavy infantry that could meet them head on and the arrows of the Persians had little effect on their heavy armour. Having lost many men at Cunaxa, it was not thought clever to attack these desperate men. It was hard to know what should be done with them. Tissaphernes eventually got them to march northwards with him, hoping to escort them out of the domains of the king. The Greeks marched but kept their weapons with them.

Tissaphernes was in close contact with the Greek generals, who also were worried about Tissaphernes and the Persian army that he was in command of. Tissaphernes had a reputation for treachery. On the other hand, Meno, one of the Greek generals, was telling Tissaphernes that Clearchus was planning to have Tissaphernes murdered, which may well have been the case. Regardless of who betrayed whom first, Tissaphernes summoned Clearchus and the other generals to the Persian camp, before they were arrested and sent to the King, where they were subsequently executed.

Map showing the march of the Ten Thousand. Note that the
Persian Empire in the year 401 was smaller than the empire
shown on this map (this shows the 490BC borders)

This led to panic in the Greek camp and a fear that they would soon be attacked by the Persian army. However, they elected new generals, including the young Athenian nobleman named Xenophon, and fought off the Persian skirmishing attacks that followed. Despite what one might think from reading Xenophon, Xenophon was not in overall command of the mercenaries at this point, as there was a more senior Spartan officer there who was in overall command.

The Greeks marched northwards, being harassed by the armies of Tissaphernes until they reached the mountainous regions near Kurdistan. These lands were wild lands with mountain tribes. The Persians tended not to bother with these tribes and did not exact tribute from them, so Tissaphernes gave up his pursuit shortly after the Greeks reached the mountains, hoping that they would die in the mountains from exposure, starvation or guerrilla attacks. Either way, it was guessed that the mercenaries, often referred to as the Ten Thousand, would never make it home.

Tissaphernes was an astute politician, but he guessed wrong in this matter. The Greeks made a terrible march across the mountains of Kurdistan and Armenia, fighting tribes, fording rivers, storming fortresses to gain food and dealing with their own internal bickering and feuding without killing each other. The mercenaries are not likeable characters, but the March of the Ten Thousand is one of the more remarkable campaigns in the ancient world, and the fact that we have a first person account of it in Xenophon's Anabasis makes it all the more remarkable.

In the year 400 Tissaphernes returned to the coast of Asia Minor where he took over the command of the satrapies left vacant by the death of Cyrus the Younger. He pressured the Ionian cities into paying tribute to Persia.

Coin of the Persian satrap Pharnabazus

The Ten Thousand mercenaries showed up unexpectedly in the region of Hellespontine Phrygia where they raided the lands. The satrap of the region, Pharnabazus, fought back and eventually bribed the Spartans to transport the mercenaries across the Bosphorus. The Spartans were not happy with the mercenaries either and threatened war upon them. Eventually the mercenaries took service briefly with Seuthes II, a Thracian ruler on the northern coast of the Aegean.

The Ionian states feared Tissaphernes and appealed to the Spartans to protect them. The Spartans made the decision in autumn to go to war with Persia and the new governors who were sent into the region hired the Ten Thousand mercenaries to fight against Persia once more.

In Egypt, the rebel Amyrtaeus, who had declared himself Pharaoh and declared the beginning of the 28th Dynasty, was consolidating his reign. Upper Egypt had held out against the Egyptians of Amyrtaeus, but Amyrtaeus probably established control of Upper Egypt in this year. He was not a popular king however and some of his generals appear to have wanted to control the land themselves.

The Egyptians benefited from turmoil elsewhere in the Persian Empire. The armies of Abrocomas had had to retreat to the interior to face the army of Cyrus the Younger, rather than attacking Egypt as planned. Within a year Persia was embroiled in another conflict in the west, facing the fearsome Spartan soldiers and their generals, honed by years of war with the Athenians. It is probable that the Persians did not attempt to retake Egypt properly until the Spartan threat was dealt with. Amyrtaeus may also have captured several Greek deserters from the army of Cyrus the Younger and handed them over to Artaxerxes II, perhaps as a way of establishing a temporary truce.

Persian lion

The Greek prisoners who had been taken by Tissaphernes were probably executed around this time. The Queen Mother, Parysatis, had appealed on their behalf, as they had fought for her beloved son Cyrus, but at the instigation of Queen Stateira the Greeks were put to death as rebels against the king. Shortly after this, but for probably unrelated reasons, Parysatis contrived to have Stateira poisoned. Artaxerxes II suspected that his mother was at fault and ordered her confidant tortured and executed, but he did not dare harm the person of his mother. Artaxerxes seems to have been a mild character by the standards of the times. The women in his life appear very strong-willed in the Greek tales told about them. These tales are from Greek authors and may of course be confused.

Around this time the Murashu Archive was being slowly compiled. This is the named given by current scholars to the preserved cuneiform records of the Murashu family, who were businessmen from Nippur in southern Babylonia during this period. Their records span four generations and cover their business dealings. The Murashu family would lease land and then sublet it while also lending money. The family filled an important economic niche, as the Persians would generally not accept payment in kind, but instead demanded payment in coins, which were of precious metals. By facilitating this the Murashu businessmen stood as a link between the landowners of Babylonia and the treasury of the Persian kings.

And thus the period draws to a close. It seems strange to have so little to write about the largest empire in the world for a span of two decades. Aside from the deaths and wars of kings and states on their borders, or tombs of their subject kings, or the affairs of the tiny province of Yehud, there is almost nothing to report, save occasional rebellions and the name of the kings. It is sad that there are such gaps in our knowledge, but this is the state of affairs.

Achaemenid gold jewellery

Primary Sources
Elephantine Papyri, written between circa 459-402BC
Book of Malachi, written perhaps circa 433BC
Book of Esther, written possibly as early as 420BC
Ezra, probably written no earlier than 420BC
Nehemiah, probably written no earlier than 420BC
Passover Papyrus from the Elephantine Papyri, written 419BC
Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, written circa 400BC
Ctesias, Persica, written circa 398BC
Ctesias, Indica, written circa 400BC
Xenophon, Anabasis, written circa 370BC
Xenophon, Hellenica, written circa 355BC
The Parian Chronicle, written circa 216BC
Apocrypha 1 Esdras (2 Esdras in Slavonic, 3 Esdras in Appendix to Vulgate), written circa 170BC
2 Esdras (3 Esdras in Slavonic, 4 Esdras in Appendix to Vulgate: Composite work comprising 5 Ezra chs 1-2], 4 Ezra 3-14], 6 Ezra chs 15-16]). All three works were composed by circa AD250, but may only have been combined as late as AD800
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, written circa 40BC
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, written circa AD93
Plutarch, Life of Artaxerxes, written circa AD100
Sukkah, written perhaps circa AD230

Secondary sources
Clarification page on books called Ezra/Esdras

Related Blogs
439-420BC in the Near East
419-410BC in Greece
409-410BC in Greece
419-400BC in Rome
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