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
The Last Blog Post

439-420BC in the Near East

Probable tomb of Artaxerxes I from Naqsh-i-Rustam

This blog will try and look at the Near East for the years 439-420BC, 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.

During this period Artaxerxes I was ruling as Great King of Persia. A peace had been negotiated between the Athenians and the Persians, which was possibly formalised in a treaty known as the Peace of Callias. 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.

In the year 439, the Samian rebellion against Athens failed. In the previous year, a Persian satrap in Asia Minor had given support to the islanders of Samos in their revolt against the Athenian Empire. Technically the Persian Empire was at peace with the Athenian Empire, but the satraps of Persia had a great deal of flexibility in their foreign affairs and the Persians could always claim that the satrap Pissuthnes was acting independently. Perhaps he was acting in his own capacity. Regardless of whether he acted on his own, or on the commands of Artaxerxes I, the revolt failed in this year. The Athenians were too preoccupied with the danger from Sparta to be interested in pursuing a quarrel with the Great King and thus peace reigned between Athens and Persia once more.

Not much can be said, to my knowledge, for the years 438, 437 and 436. Presumably things happened, but sadly I am not aware of them.

Cylinder of Talakhamani from Kush

Around the year 435 Malewiebamani the King of Kush who ruled in Meroe, died. He was succeeded by Talakhamani who was possibly his son, or perhaps a younger brother. Little is known about either of these kings save their names and places of burial. It is a sad fact that for now, the kings of Kush are little known, despite their known wealth. Malewiebamani was buried in the royal cemetery at Nuri.

Not much can be said, to my knowledge, for the year 434. Presumably things happened, but sadly I am not aware of them.

In the year 433 Nehemiah returned to Susa to serve King Artaxerxes I again. He was the personal cupbearer to the king, a position of considerable influence. However, he had been allowed to go to his homeland and served as governor of the small Persian province of Yehud Medinata, containing the city of Jerusalem and the rebuilt Temple of the Jews. His going was contingent on his returning at some point in the future, so in this year Nehemiah returned to resume his duties as cupbearer to the King.

It is possibly around this time that the book of Malachi is to be dated. This was a book containing prophecies. It called upon the returned exiles in Yehud to be more faithful in the fulfilment of their religious duties and noted the poverty that was creeping over the land as the result of the neglect of these duties. It is perhaps the last of the books of prophecy in the writings referred to as the Old Testament.

"I the LORD do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty.
Malachi 3:6-7, written perhaps circa 433BC

Not much can be said, to my knowledge, for the year 432. Presumably things happened, but sadly I am not aware of them.

Kushite pyramids at Nuri

In the year 431 Talakhamani, the King of Kush who ruled in Meroe, died and was buried in Tomb 16 in the Kushite royal cemetery at Nuri. He was succeeded by his brother, or possibly nephew, Amanineteyerike.

Also in this year, the Great Peloponnesian War broke out between Athens and Sparta. This did not immediately affect the Persian Empire in the short term, but it meant that the two strongest Greek states no longer had an interest in fighting the Persians and gave the Persian Empire a measure of security.

Around the year 430, although the dates are open to interpretation, Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem from the court of the King of Persia. He was probably sent out to become governor again. It is not clear who was the governor in Jerusalem for the province of Yehud in his absence. The High Priest Eliashib probably had had some important role in the administration. The High Priest Eliashib had family ties with Tobiah the Ammonite, who together with Sanballat the Horonite, was an enemy of Nehemiah. Sanballat, Tobiah and possibly Geshem the Arabian, were governors of the small regional units bordering the province of Yehud. In the Persian Empire governors were afforded considerable freedom, which could extend to fighting wars among themselves, as long they took care to not harm the interests of the king.

Upon Nehemiah's return he found that Tobiah had been granted store rooms on the grounds of the temple. Nehemiah ordered these rooms emptied and purified, before reassigning them to their proper purpose. He also prohibited the traders from entering Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, as well as once more prohibiting the intermarriage of the Jews and their surrounding neighbours. This brought him once more into conflict with the high priestly family, which had marriage ties with Sanballat the Horonite. The account of the book of Nehemiah ends here.

Detail from the Lycian sarcophagus

Sometime later I asked his permission and came back to Jerusalem. Here I learned about the evil thing Eliashib had done in providing Tobiah a room in the courts of the house of God. I was greatly displeased and threw all Tobiah's household goods out of the room. I gave orders to purify the rooms, and then I put back into them the equipment of the house of God, with the grain offerings and the incense.
Nehemiah 13:6-7, probably written no earlier than 420BC

Not much can be said, to my knowledge, for the years 429, 428, 427 and 426. Presumably things happened, but sadly I am not aware of them.

In the year 425 the Spartans, who were faring badly in the Peloponnesian War, were sending emissaries to Persia, some of whom requested aid in various forms, but none of whom agreed with each other. Artaxerxes I sent an emissary to Sparta requesting that Sparta send one group of ambassadors who could speak for Sparta, as the current situation was too confusing. This Persian emissary was captured by the Athenians at Eion and detained. He was taken to Athens, where his cuneiform dispatches were translated and read by the Athenians. This would have let the Athenians know that the power of Persia might soon be ranged against them. Not wanting to allow the emissary to reach Sparta, but not wanting to arouse the anger of the King, the Athenians put the emissary on a ship and sent him to Ephesus, from which he could easily reach Persian territory.

The incident is a fascinating one, as it gives an insight into ancient diplomacy, but also shows that there were at least some people in Athens who were able to read cuneiform (which was probably written in the Akkadian language, but possibly Old Persian). This means that it would have been possible for Babylonian mathematical and astronomical documents to be read and understood by at least some people in Athens, and this may help explain the diffusion of knowledge in these matters that had been happening in the Greek world.

Lycian sarcophagus

During the winter ensuing, Aristides, son of Archippus, one of the commanders of the Athenian ships sent to collect money from the allies, arrested at Eion, on the Strymon, Artaphernes, a Persian, on his way from the King to Lacedaemon. He was conducted to Athens, where the Athenians got his dispatches translated from the Assyrian character and read them. With numerous references to other subjects, they in substance told the Lacedaemonians that the King did not know what they wanted, as of the many ambassadors they had sent him no two ever told the same story; if however they were prepared to speak plainly they might send him some envoys with this Persian. The Athenians afterwards sent back Artaphernes in a galley to Ephesus, and ambassadors with him, who heard there of the death of King Artaxerxes, son of Xerxes, which took place about that time, and so returned home. 
Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, Book 4, written circa 400BC

Around this time, in Sidon, a beautiful sarcophagus, carved in the Greek style by Ionian artists was made. It is known as the Lycian sarcophagus of Sidon, as the style of the tomb is done in such a way that it matches the Lycian tombs in Asia Minor. The Phoenician kings seem to have developed an interest in elaborate sarcophagi, with each king wanting a more elaborate tomb than the previous. The Lycian sarcophagus is decorated with Greek mythological motifs, such as the battle between the Lapiths and Centaurs, however more generic scenes such as lion-hunting are also shown. Whereas previous Sidonian kings had taken Egyptian sarcophagi, the new generation were quite interested in copying Greek culture.

Probable tomb of Artaxerxes I at
Naqsh-i-Rustam

In the year 424 Artaxerxes I, known as Artaxerxes the Long-Handed, died, probably in or around the months of November or December. According to Ctesias, his wife Damaspia also died the same day, although he does not say why. Ctesias then says that his son took the throne under the name of Xerxes II. Xerxes II ruled for 45 days and then was murdered by his half-brother Sogdianus while Xerxes II lay in a drunken stupor. Ctesias then reports that Sogdianus took over the empire and ruled for about a year, before he was killed by his brother, who reigned as Darius II.

Now, Ctesias is well-known for being an unreliable narrator and his confounded history is one of the most infuriating pieces of historical writing to emerge from the classical world. Worse, he was supposedly a physician at the court of the king of Persia, not that long after these events took place, so he absolutely should have known the correct story. Yet, the story that is given here appears to be incorrect. There are Babylonian tablets that mention Darius II reigning within about a month after the death of Artaxerxes I, which does not leave enough time for the two kings that Ctesias mentions.

What is most likely to have happened is that there was a civil war upon the death of Artaxerxes I and that Xerxes I took over the palace, before being killed by his rival Sogdianus who was based nearby in Elam. Finally Sogdianus was defeated and killed by Darius II who probably had his powerbase in Babylonia. Thus this would explain the three kings of Ctesias and the Babylonian documents. This is speculation of course. It is entirely possible that Ctesias is just wrong.

It is likely that Amestris died in or around this time, although it is not clear that it had anything to do with the civil war. Artaxerxes I was probably buried in a rock-cut tomb in the Achaemenid cemetery at Naqsh-i-Rustam. His name is not inscribed upon the tomb, so the identification is uncertain, but probable. The tomb is decorated with a relief of the king, holding a bow and saluting Ahura Mazda, while the subject peoples of the empire are arranged below, upholding the platform.

Relief from Tomb of Artaxerxes I showing the
nations of the empire

In the year 423 Sogdianus was killed and Darius II became the undisputed king of Persia. It is possible either that Darius II revolted against Sogdianus, or, more likely, that the two half-brothers had been at war from the year before, following the death of their father Artaxerxes I.

Secydianus, then summoned Ochus to court, who promised to present himself but failed to do so. After he had been summoned several times, he collected a large force with the obvious intention of seizing the throne. He was joined by Arbarius, commander of the cavalry, and Arxanes, satrap of Egypt. The eunuch Artoxares also came from Armenia and placed the crown on the head of Ochus against his will. Thus Ochus became king and changed his name to Dariaeus. At the suggestion of Parysatis, he endeavoured by trickery and solemn promises to win over Secydianus. Menostanes did all he could to prevent Secydianus from putting faith in these promises or coming to terms with those who were trying to deceive him. In spite of this Secydianus allowed himself to be persuaded, was arrested, thrown into the ashes, and died, after a reign of six months and fifteen days. 
Ctesias, Persica, written circa 398BC

Not much can be said, to my knowledge, for the years 422 and 421. Presumably things happened, but sadly I am not aware of them.

A much later (medieval) scroll of the book of Esther

Around the year 420, although the dates are very inexact, the sacred writings of the Jews began to be collected and others were written. It is likely that the books of Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles were written in something resembling their current form at around this time.

There may have been a few additional decades of rearrangement of materials. For example Nehemiah 12:10-11 seems to have been a later interpolation giving the family tree of the High Priests down to around the year 350. But the majority of the book of Nehemiah itself almost certainly predates this and was probably written in or around this time period. Esther would later have Greek interpolations added to it, perhaps as late as the 2nd or 1st century BC, but these are clearly late additions and done in a completely separate language. I would not get too concerned over the exact dating of these books, but it is important to note that this is the probable time of their composition.

One of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. And I drove him away from me. Remember them, my God, because they defiled the priestly office and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites. So I purified the priests and the Levites of everything foreign, and assigned duties to them, each to his own task. I also made provision for contributions of wood at designated times, and for the first fruits. Remember me with favour, my God.
Nehemiah 13:28-31, probably written no earlier than 420BC

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 that at the beginning of the period Artaxerxes I was ruling and that at the end of the period, Darius II was ruling. It is a terrible thing that there are such gaps in our knowledge, but this is the state of affairs. I will continue the story in the next blog.

Detail from the Lycian Sarcophagus

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
Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, written circa 400BC
Ctesias, Persica, written circa 398BC
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
Sukkah, written perhaps circa AD230

Secondary Sources
Clarification page on books called Ezra/Esdras

Related Blog Posts:
459-440BC in the Near East
439-430BC in Greece
429-420BC in Greece
439-420BC in Rome
419-400BC in the Near East

479-460BC in the Near East

Bull Column at Persepolis

This blog will try and look at the Near East for the years 479-460BC, which during this period was mainly included in the Persian Empire. I will occasionally mention the affairs of Carthage as well. From the Persian period onwards, the historical sources become quite scant and we are quite heavily reliant on the writings of the Greeks, particularly Herodotus. This period sees the ending of Herodotus’ history and the sources become even sparser.

Other important sources will be 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. The story of Esther is an exception of sorts, but even this event would not have been of major concern to other peoples of the empire. 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.

In the year 479 Persia ruled most of the world known to the people of the Near East. From Ionia to India, from the edges of Scythia to the edges of Kush, the Persian Empire held sway, under the monarchy of Xerxes I. In the previous year Xerxes had launched an unsuccessful invasion of Greece and had suffered a major naval defeat at the Battle of Salamis. Faced with an enemy that now had a naval advantage, Xerxes retreated from Europe and went to Sardis in Lydia, there to wait to hear the outcome of the war. He had left a high-ranking general by the name of Mardonius in Greece who would carry on the struggle against the Athenians and Spartans. Mardonius had a large army and there were good reasons to suspect that he would achieve his goals. The Persian navy had fallen back and was anchored near the Aegean island of Samos, quite close to the mainland of Asia Minor.

Relief of Persian soldiers from Susa

Mardonius attempted to negotiate with the Greek cities, particularly the Athenians, to try and detach them from their alliances. This was a good tactic, albeit unsuccessful, and led to serious dissensions among the Greek alliance. Trying to pressure his enemies, Mardonius moved his armies towards Attica and tried once more to negotiate.

Meanwhile a city in the north of Greece had already rebelled against Persia, thinking Persia already defeated in the wars. This could not be allowed to stand and Mardonius had sent a force to subdue the city of Potidaea before the rebellion could spread. The siege was proceeding against the coastal city when the sea suddenly retreated away from the shore, exposing weakened areas of the walls of Potidaea. The Persians could not pass up such a heaven-sent opportunity and they ran across the exposed shallows towards the wall. While their columns were rushing along the sand the Persians were caught as the sea returned in a greater tide than had ever been seen in that region. The attackers were swept away in the surf and the Persian commander abandoned the siege. This may possibly be the first description of a tsunami in the historical record.

Meanwhile Mardonius occupied Athens and, upon hearing that the Athenians were flatly refusing any further negotiations, he burned it to the ground as thoroughly as he could accomplish. The Athenians appealed to the Spartans to actually do something instead of waiting behind fortifications at the Corinthian Isthmus and finally the Spartans did march out.

Relief from the palace at Susa

The Spartans and their allies, combined with the Athenians and other troops, made up an army perhaps 80,000-100,000 strong, which was also probably the largest Greek army (not counting later Macedonian armies) ever fielded in the classical era. I could be mistaken on this however. Mardonius had a slightly larger army, probably numbering around 100,000-120,000. The Persians were much less lightly armoured, but had the advantage of Greek allies such as the Thebans, who were armed much like the Spartans. The Persians also had the advantage of having a much stronger cavalry component to their army.

The two armies met on a plain in Boeotia near the city of Plataea. The Greeks won some initially skirmishes, beating back Persian cavalry attacks and killing a Persian cavalry commander. Wishing to capitalise on these successes, the Greeks, under the leadership of a Spartan general called Pausanias, moved closer to the Persian camp. But this proved to be a mistake on the part of the Greeks, as their food and water supplies were now threatened by the more mobile Persian units. The Greeks decided to pull back to a more defensible position, covering themselves from Persian attack by retreating at night.

Their retreat was uncoordinated and Mardonius mistook this for a full-scale withdrawal. He ordered a Persian attack, but while his army was readying itself, the Greeks managed to get into some form of order and prepared for the Persian assault. Mardonius had thus committed himself to fighting an uphill infantry battle against more heavily armoured troops. But his army was already engaged by the time the mistake would have been realised and there would have been no choice but to carry on with the battle and hope that Persian courage would carry the day. The balance of the battle hung in doubt until Mardonius was killed in the thick of the fray. The Persian army collapsed after the death of Mardonius and probably only around half the Persian army was able to escape. The Persian land invasion of Greece had failed.

Bull column from the palace at Susa

The Greek fleet had sailed eastwards to engage the Persian fleet. The Persians had moved from Samos to the nearby mainland at a place called Mycale, where they had beached their ships and built a stockade to protect themselves from attack. Seeing that the Persians did not offer battle on the sea, the Greeks landed their marines and sailors and moved to the attack. The Persians left their camp so as not to be surrounded by the Greeks. It seems as if the Persian morale was poor or that perhaps they were not expecting an engagement. The Greek hoplite armour would have been much heavier than the Persian armour (which was often simply a light shield) and in close-quarters combat the Greeks defeated the Persians, sacked their camp and burned their ships. This ended the last chance that the Persians had to offer any resistance to the Greeks in the Aegean. Both the battles of Plataea and Mycale are described in more detail in previous blogs.

Xerxes had been in Sardis while these events were ongoing and it must have been extremely demoralising to hear the news of catastrophic defeat after catastrophic defeat. I wonder why the Persians did not bring up more troops to attack the Greeks or to fight back. But there are some indications to suggest that the province of Babylon was in revolt at this time and any troops that could be spared would have had to be sent to quell this. However, this is far from proved. It is not certain that the Babylonians drew away troops from the western satrapies of the Persian Empire, but it is a possibility and the Greek victories may have been easier, or less contested than they would otherwise have been. But this is speculation.

Coins of the
Ghazzat Hoard

At least some Persians (or Phoenicians) returned from the wars. A coin hoard was found underwater near Gaza in Palestine, now known as the Ghazzat hoard. These coins were all from the northern areas of Greece and parts of Thrace, and all of these coins are from the decades immediately previous to Xerxes invasion of Greece. I wonder if this was the part of the pay or plunder of a Phoenician captain who managed to escape the storms and battles of Artemision and Salamis only to return to the Levant and perish within sight of their native land. I’m being very melodramatic here, but it is interesting to see that there is such physical evidence of the invasion found in various parts of the Near East.

In the year 478 Xerxes seems to have left Sardis and returned to the centre of his empire, probably to Susa or Persepolis. It is not known if he left the heartland of his realm again and we know of no further military campaigns undertaken by the king.

The Greeks attacked Cyprus and continued their attacks on Persian holdings around the Aegean Sea. It is likely that there were still some areas that acknowledged the Persian king in northern Greece or in Ionia. But they would have acknowledged the king in name only and the Greek alliance, now led by the Athenians, would be continually attacking any place that had any illusions of remaining loyal to the Persian invaders.

One of the last events recorded by Herodotus is a strange affair whereby Xerxes falls in love with a lady called Artaynte. She was the daughter of his brother Masistes and Xerxes ordered her to be married to his son and heir, the Crown Prince Darius. Xerxes seems to have been in love with both Artaynte and her mother. Herodotus records that Xerxes swore to give Artaynte a gift: Any gift that was in his power to give. She asked for a shawl that had been a gift from Amestris, one of the wives of Xerxes. Xerxes feared to give this to her, as it would mean his angry wife would hear of it, but he had promised and the word of the King could not be rescinded.

Treasury at Persepolis

Artaynte is said to have worn the shawl and Amestris inevitably heard of this. Suspecting that the mother of Artaynte was behind the entire affair, Amestris went to Xerxes and asked a gift of Xerxes: Any gift that was in his power to give. Amestris then asked for the mother of Artaynte to be handed over to her. Xerxes tried to save his brother’s wife, but once again, he had given his word. The wife of Masistes was handed over to Amestris who tortured, humiliated and mutilated her before sending her back to her brother.

Masistes was a son of a king and the brother of a king and must have felt the insult keenly, as well as fearing for his life. He fled to the east of the empire, towards Bactria, looking to raise a rebellion against Xerxes. However he and his sons were caught and killed and the rebellion, such as it was, was swiftly quelled.

Our main source for this is Herodotus and it is likely that this story has some factual basis, but I would be surprised if this was the exact reason for the rebellion and death of Masistes. There are too many elements in it that seem to mirror earlier or later stories. It might be entirely true, but I feel it would be good to show some caution on this tale. This is the last piece of information given to us by Herodotus about the Persian Empire.

Persepolis in the evening

According to the most common way of interpreting the book of Esther, Esther was selected and crowned queen around this time. After Vashti had been dismissed by Xerxes he eventually selected another woman to be his queen, in this case the Jewish lady called Esther, or Hadassah in Hebrew. She is unlikely to be referred to by this name, as Esther may have been a Babylonian name derived from the goddess Ishtar (it might also have derived from a Persian word however). Her uncle was known as Mordecai, which is certainly derived from the name of the Babylonian god Marduk, so the Babylonian form is more likely.

Scholars have not been sure how to correlate the crowning of Esther with the tale of Herodotus about Amestris, who clearly seems to be the main wife of Xerxes. Some have identified Amestris with Vashti or even with Esther. The identification of Esther with Amestris is probably wrong, as Amestris has full-grown children in 478 at the time of the Masistes affair. But if Amestris is Vashti, then she should have been in seclusion and out of favour with the king at this time. The solution is probably not a simple one, but we must remember that Herodotus is writing some decades later, is liable to confuse details, and is to a certain extent a hostile witness to the deeds of Xerxes and his family. The Book of Esther is also written perhaps a generation later and seems to use different names to those used by the Greeks (or the Persians). So some major confusion is really only to be expected here.

While not losing battles or engaging in silly love affairs Xerxes carried on the building programs of his father. The cities of Susa and Persepolis were adorned with vast buildings. This period, though not necessarily this exact year, saw the completion of the Imperial Treasury at Persepolis. This is sometimes referred to as the Harem (as it has many identical rooms), but is more likely to be the treasury of the empire, or even more likely, one of the treasuries of the empire.

Gate of All Nations at Persepolis

Another colossal building work completed in or around this time was the Gate of All Nations. This was a great gateway to the terrace containing the main palaces of Persepolis. The gates themselves are flanked with Assyrian style lamassu and the stairs leading to the gates are engraved with reliefs of the peoples of the empire.

As impressive as the building works at Persepolis and Susa are, they also exemplify a problem with how the Persian Empire was run. Fundamentally the Persians requested large payments in tribute every year. They were perhaps not as draconian in their tribute demands as the Assyrians or Babylonians, but they were drawing from a much larger area. Thus every year the Persians would take in precious metals, which would be melted down for bullion and stored in Susa, Persepolis and Ecbatana and a few other regional centres of Persian power. The money would never be spent and the provinces were perpetually drained of their resources. Because much of the wealth of the Persians was simply locked in ever accumulating vaults it never even benefitted the people in the heartland of the realm. Thus it seems that the nations of Asia began to suffer from a slow economic malaise during the 5th century BC.

The problem probably did not surface under Cyrus and Cambyses, who did not mint coinage and whose taxation policies were much looser. The seeds of the problem were sown with the more efficient bureaucracy of Darius, but probably only became noticeable during the reign of Xerxes. This economic stagnation and impoverishment of the provinces would continue for as long as the Persian Empire lasted. It seems to have led to the decline of Ionia at a later time period, and explains some of the economic issues seen in the literature from Judah, Babylon and Egypt.

Al-Yahudu Tablets

In the year 477 the Al-Yahudu Tablets, a cache of cuneiform documents from Babylonia, that shed light on the life of the Jewish exiles living there, comes to an end. It is not clear if the Jewish community was badly affected by the turmoil in Babylonia or why the archive comes to an end at this time.

Around this time, King Eshmunazar II of Sidon died. He was buried in a sarcophagus that had been looted from Sais in Egypt, as his father Tabnit had been. The sarcophagus has a Phoenician inscription on it however, where Eshmunazar tells of his lifetime and asks the reader not to open his tomb and to leave it undisturbed.

In the month of Bul, in the fourteenth year of the royalty of King Eshmunazzar, King of the two Sidons, son of King Tabnit, King of the two Sidons, King Eshmunazzar, King of the two Sidons, said as follows: I am carried away, the time of my non-existence has come, my spirit has disappeared, like the day, from whence I am silent, since which I became mute. And I am lying in this coffin, and in this tomb, in the place which I have built. O thou reader remember this: "May no royal race and no man open my funeral couch, and may they not seek after treasures, for no one has hidden treasures here, nor move the coffin out of my funeral couch, nor molest me in this funeral bed, by putting another tomb over it.”
Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II, written circa 477BC

Eshmunazzar Sarcophagus in the Louvre

In this year the last vestiges of Persian power in Europe seem to have been finished. The Spartans campaigned against the Thessalians and the Athenians were in full control of the Hellespont. This meant that even if any Greek, Macedonian or Thracian peoples had wished to acknowledge the rule of Xerxes, the Athenians and Spartans would actively make war upon them to prevent this. The Spartans appear to have left the main continuation of the war to the Athenians at this point however.

In the year 476 the Greek alliance, now primarily led by the Athenians, continued their war against the Persian Empire. This year they seem to have focused on freeing any remaining Ionian cities from the Persians and in offensive operations against Persian targets within easy reach of the coast.

In 475 the Greeks seem to have focused their attacks on the island of Scyros in the Aegean. It is not clear if the Dolopian inhabitants of Scyros had any attachment to Persia, or if they were simply pirates, but this operation seems to have occupied the Greek alliance and left the Persian holdings on the mainland in peace for the time at least.

Around this time Atossa died. She had been the daughter of Cyrus the Great, the wife of Darius and the mother of Xerxes. She was the primary link of legitimacy that connected the family of Darius to the older branch of the Persian royal family. She had possibly been the reason Xerxes had been given the throne by Darius. Xerxes was not the eldest son of Darius, but he was the eldest son of Darius through Atossa, after Darius had ascended to the throne. She was a formidable figure but respected by all. Even the Greek playwright Aeschylus gives her a role in his play The Persians, which was written shortly after this time.

Griffins at Persepolis

It may have been around this time that Sataspes returned. Sataspes was a cousin of Xerxes who had been convicted of raping the daughter of Megabyzus. Megabyzus was one of the most powerful nobles in the empire. He was descended from one of the seven conspirators who had helped put Darius on the throne. He had commanded the Persians who crushed the rebellion in Babylon in the previous decade and he had been a prominent commander during the invasion of Greece. Even a cousin of the king would have to be punished for such a crime, particularly when the father of the victim was a powerful man in his own right.

Sataspes was initially condemned to death, but at the urging of Atossa he had been allowed to take a different course. He was told to take ships and sail around the coastline of Africa, to circumnavigate it from the west, passing the Pillars of Heracles, and sailing southwards along the western coast, through the Atlantic Ocean until he had reached the Red Sea.

Herodotus records that he had attempted it (although Herodotus does not give an exact date). He had an Egyptian ship with Egyptians as crew and sailed far to the south. He reported that the people he saw were very small and that his ship simply stopped and went no further. Xerxes must have believed that these were tall tales and ordered Sataspes to be executed by impalement. I have recorded the expedition here, but again, there is great uncertainty on the date.

Map showing the Benguela Current in the south Atlantic
that Sataspes' ship would have struggled to make
headway against

It must be noted that there are peoples of shorter stature in central Africa, particularly along the Congo Basin, known as pygmies. There are also strong currents flowing northwards around the mouth of the Congo. Later Portuguese explorers avoided these by sailing westwards, towards Brazil and following the Atlantic currents around towards the Cape of Good Hope. So Sataspes may have been telling the truth. It seems as if this was the last serious attempt to circumnavigate Africa in this direction until the Age of Exploration.

Sataspes went to Egypt where he received a ship and a crew from the Egyptians, and sailed past the Pillars of Heracles. Having sailed out beyond them, and rounded the Libyan promontory called Solois (possibly Cape Cantin), he sailed south; but when he had been many months sailing over the sea, and always more before him, he turned back and made sail for Egypt. Coming to King Xerxes from there, he related in his narrative that, when he was farthest distant, he sailed by a country of little men, who wore palm-leaf clothing; these, whenever he and his men put in to land with their ship, left their towns and fled to the hills; he and his men did no harm when they landed, and took nothing from the people except cattle. As to his not sailing completely around Libya, the reason he said was that the ship could move no farther, but was stopped.
Herodotus, Histories, 4.43, written circa 440BC

An 1869AD painting of Esther, by Portaels

Around the year 474 the Haman Affair occurred. Dates are very far from certain on this so a certain chronological leeway should be allowed. Haman was a courtier in the retinue of King Xerxes and was highly honoured by the king. He had a feud with a less important courtier named Mordecai, who was also Jewish and the uncle of Queen Esther. Mordecai was not nobody however, and was known to the king. Mordecai had also helped the king by reporting a palace plot some time previously.

Haman, who may have had an ancestral grudge against the Jews decided to revenge himself on Mordecai by asking the king to hang Mordecai, but also to allow the Jews to be hunted and murdered with impunity on a certain day.

There was a twisted precedent for this, as Darius seems to have allowed people to hunt and kill the Magi on a particular day, as the “imposter” impersonating Bardiya was said to have been from the tribe of the Magi. It is said that Xerxes agreed to this. However, Esther, who seems to have fallen out of favour with the king by this time, approached the king unannounced, in a breach of court protocol that could have led to her execution to ask the king and Haman to a banquet.

After diplomatically getting the sympathy of the king at a later time, Esther revealed that Haman was seeking the destruction of Xerxes’ queen and all her people. Xerxes ordered the execution of Haman.

However, the king’s word was law and the destruction of the Jews could not be countermanded, however, the king sent another edict allowing the Jews to defend themselves. After this Mordecai, the uncle of Esther, was promoted to a high rank and the Jews later came to celebrate their deliverance in what is now known as the Feast of Purim. The story was commemorated in the book of Esther, which may have been written as early as sixty or so years after the events it describes.

Monumental ruins at Persepolis

This has been a very brief paraphrase of the book of Esther. It is a short book and worth reading in its own right. The dates, names and overall veracity of the book are hard to verify. It is written for a Jewish audience but is dealing primarily with a non-Jewish subject matter. This means that some details are obscured and it makes it more difficult to discover the truth of the matter.

But, some of the details, such as the immutability of the word of the king and the picking of a certain day for the murder of an entire ethnic group do sound familiar from the words of Herodotus. If the story of Amestris and Artaynte is true, then it shows that there were vicious harem feuds at play at the Persian court; feuds that could trigger coups and rebellions. This too rings true to the account of Esther. It is hard to definitively say more.

There is little that can be said for the years 473, 472 or 471. I’m sure that many things happened in these year, possibly even things that I have described as happening at different times, but I cannot say for sure.

Idalion Tablet from Cyprus

Around this time in Cyprus, which was now a disputed territory between the Persians and the Aegean Greeks, the Idalion Tablet was made. This was a bronze tablet from the city of Idalion that records the Greek language but written with an ancient script known as the Cypriot Syllabary.

This recorded a contract made by King Stasicyprus of Idalion and some physicians who had cared for the soldiers and people of the city during a long siege. It is unclear when this siege actually was. It may have begun in 478, but may also have taken place during the time of the Ionian Revolt, or been an entirely unrelated war.

The king had asked the physicians to treat the people without charge and in gratitude the king gifted a plot of land to the physicians forever. This is sometimes referred to as the first public health plan, but considering that it was an emergency action during wartime, this may be overstating the case.

When the Medes (Persians) and Kitians had the city of Idalion under siege, in the year of Philokypros, son of Onasagoras, King Stasikypros and the city – the Idalians – called physician Onasilos, son of Onasikypros, and his brothers, to treat people who were wounded in battle, without payment.
Idalion Tablet, written circa 470BC

Griffins at Persepolis

Not much can be said to my knowledge for the year 469. Presumably things happened, but sadly I am not aware of them.

In or around the year 468 King Siaspiqa of Kush died. Nasakhma, presumably his son, succeeded him as King of Kush. Both monarchs are attested by some small artefacts and lists from Nuri and Meroe, but as with all of the monarchs of Kush from this era, very little is known about them.

Not much can be said to my knowledge for the year 467. Presumably things happened, but sadly I am not aware of them.

In the year 466 the Persians were potentially trying to retake the cities of Ionia that they had lost after the failed invasion of Xerxes. However the Persian army and navy were attacked by the Athenians at the Eurymedon River and the Persians suffered a heavy defeat. The Athenians, led by their general Cimon, inflicted a near total defeat on the Persian navy and what seems to have been a very conclusive defeat upon their land army as well. Although Xerxes had not led this debacle, it was the last major Persian defeat to have occurred during his reign.

Probable tomb of Xerxes at Naqsh-i-Rustam

In the year 465 Xerxes I, King of Persia, was murdered in a palace coup. It is unclear why he was murdered. His subjects may not have been happy with the continual defeats and losses after the failed invasion of Greece. They may not have been happy with the heavy taxation needed to fund the extravagant building projects of the king and his court. The conspirators may have had purely personal reasons for wishing Xerxes dead. But, whatever the cause, Xerxes was murdered.

The Persian sources, such as they are, do not seem to mention this and no Jewish text records these events. We are reliant on an offhand comment in a later work by Aristotle, written perhaps a century later, and a very unreliable account written by a Greek doctor called Ctesias, who wrote perhaps six decades after the event and is a very dubious witness. Ctesias wrote two works, Indica and Persica, neither of which survive in their original form and both of which have some very serious problems. Sadly, for Persian history, we are partially reliant on the Persica of Ctesias.

Ctesias records that a courtier who had risen to favour named Artabanus, (a different nobleman from both the Artabanus’ and the Artabazus’ mentioned in Herodotus’ work) was scheming to attain the throne. He planned a complex coup, where he enlisted the help of Megabyzus, a powerful Persian noble and one of the most powerful men in the empire, and a palace eunuch named Aspamitres.

Artabanus killed Xerxes with the help of Aspamitres and then told one of the younger princes, named Artaxerxes, that the Crown Prince Darius had murdered their father Xerxes. Artaxerxes reacted swiftly and Prince Darius, the supposed murderer, was quickly slain.

Detail from the (probable) Tomb of Xerxes

Artaxerxes became king, but Artabanus seems to have planned to murder Artaxerxes as well. After acting as regent for some time, Artabanus made some form of pact with Megabyzus to slay the young Artaxerxes. However, Megabyzus had no interest in serving some lowborn character and told Artaxerxes of the plot. Artabanus and his sons were killed and Artaxerxes I was now the undisputed king of Persia. Some rebellions were fought in the east, as Bactria rose up against the king of Persia, but Ctesias does not go into great detail.

Certain later classical sources, such as Justin and Diodorus Siculus, refer to this tale, but they seem to be either drawing directly from Ctesias, or embellishing his account. If Ctesias was a better source generally, I would have much more faith in this account. But as it stands, I am not convinced the episode took place at all.

There is something similar alluded to in the book of Esther, where there is a palace intrigue, an upstart courtier (Haman in Esther, Artabanus in Ctesias, both of whom seem to have sons involved in the plots) and a plot involving eunuchs (Bigthana and Teresh in Esther, Aspamitres in Ctesias). However in the account of Esther the plot/s fail and Xerxes survives. Without saying that the book of Esther is correct in this instance, it is quite possible that Ctesias has misheard an incident from the Persian court tales and garbled the entire account of Xerxes death. In case anyone thinks I am being too tough on Ctesias, note that he somehow manages to garble the account of Xerxes’ invasion of Greece, which was common knowledge during his lifetime.

Where Xerxes was buried is not known for sure, but there is a rock hewn tomb at Naqsh-i-Rustam that is very similar to the tomb of his father. There is no inscription remaining. It is nevertheless assumed that this is the tomb of Xerxes.

It is recorded that Inaros II and Amyrtaeus of Sais rose up against Artaxerxes and Persian rule shortly after Artaxerxes took the throne. If that is the case then it would appear that the uprising may have taken place in the year 464, but it is quite likely that the revolt actually took place some years later.

Coin of Themistocles, possibly showing a portrait on it
(or possibly not)

In or around this time, at some point around the year 463, although it may have been some years previously, during the regency of Artabanus or even the reign of Xerxes, it seems that Themistocles arrived at the court of the king of Persia. He had been instrumental in the defeat of the Persian invasion, but the Persian kings were generally not vindictive to their foes. Themistocles was treated well and was even given a small province in the region of Magnesia to rule in the name of the Persian Empire. Themistocles ruled here for some years and even minted his own coins. The coins with portraits are perhaps some of the earliest portrait coins that are known to history, but whether or not Themistocles was the first to put his portrait on a coin is still rather debateable.

Around this time Nasakhma, King of Kush, died. He was probably succeeded by Malewiebamani, who was probably his son. Various artefacts of Nasakhma and Malewiebamani survive, but very little is known of their reigns. It is unfortunate that the kingdom of Kush is not better known and understood.

Not much can be said to my knowledge for the year 462. Presumably things happened, but sadly I am not aware of them.

In the year 461 it seems that the Athenians sent the wealthy nobleman Callias (known as Callias II to differentiate him from others of the same name) to Persia. He was sent as an ambassador, but it is not clear what his mission was. As Athens was on the brink of war with Sparta it is possible that Callias was sent to Persia to investigate whether or not the ceaseless war between Athens and Persia could end. It seems that his mission did not succeed however.

Fallen lion head at Persepolis

In Egypt, the revolt of Inaros II, a Libyan chieftain who ruled some portion of the Nile Delta region, was still ongoing (or just beginning at this time, the chronology is unclear). Achaemenes, who was the Persian satrap of Egypt and a brother of Xerxes I, had gathered a large army to fight it. The Athenians sent a large force of 200 ships to aid the rebellion. The Athenians made contact with the Egyptians and together they set out to confront the Persian garrison. The two armies clashed in what is known as the Battle of Pampremis and, after a sharp struggle, the Persians were routed. Achaemenes was slain in the rout.

However the victory of the Greeks was not fully complete. A section of the Persian garrison fled to a fortified section of Memphis called the White Castle and they could not be removed from this position. They had ample supplies and enough troops to disrupt the whole region of Lower Egypt. So the Athenians and their Egyptian allies settled down for a siege of this fortress.

Meanwhile Inaros, son of Psammetichus, a Libyan king of the Libyans on the Egyptian border, having his headquarters at Marea, the town above Pharos, caused a revolt of almost the whole of Egypt from King Artaxerxes and, placing himself at its head, invited the Athenians to his assistance. Abandoning a Cyprian expedition upon which they happened to be engaged with two hundred ships of their own and their allies, they arrived in Egypt and sailed from the sea into the Nile, and making themselves masters of the river and two-thirds of Memphis, addressed themselves to the attack of the remaining third, which is called White Castle. Within it were Persians and Medes who had taken refuge there, and Egyptians who had not joined the rebellion.
Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, written circa 400BC

In the heartlands of the Persia, the Apadana palace complex in Persepolis was probably finished around this time. Artaxerxes I was a builder but he undertook no gigantic building projects on the scale of the buildings of Xerxes, but the projects that had been ongoing when he had taken the throne were brought to completion.

Historical image of Mount Gerizim seen from nearby
Mount Ebal

In the region of Samaria, a very minor province of the Persian Empire, the religious group that later became known as the Samaritans probably began building a temple atop Mount Gerizim. This group held beliefs that derived from the Judaism, as it had been practiced before the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. They were based primarily in what had been the older northern kingdom of Israel, rather than the southern kingdom of Judah. They had perhaps mixed with the deportees from Mesopotamia who had been planted there by the Assyrian kings after the destruction of Samaria.

There was tension between the Samaritans and the groups who had returned from exile in Babylonia. Both sides claimed to represent the continued tradition of Judaism. The Jewish exiles in Jerusalem had rebuilt (albeit on a much reduced scale) a temple in Jerusalem. It seems that at some point in the mid-5th century BC that the Samaritans built their own rival temple atop Mount Gerizim. While the disputes between the two communities are remembered to a certain extent today, because of their religious writings that survive, we must remember that both the Samaritans and the Jews were very tiny minorities within the Persian Empire at the time.

Thus the period draws to a close, beginning with the defeat of Xerxes’ invasion and ending with the Greeks aiding the Egyptian revolt against Artaxerxes I. The period saw great buildings and the Persian Empire at near the height of its splendour, but also saw the beginnings of its decline, with the growing penury of the outer provinces and the serious military weaknesses of the empire exposed by its wars with the Greeks.

Relief from the (probable) Tomb of Xerxes

Primary Sources:
Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II, written circa 477BC
Idalion Tablet, written circa 470BC
Herodotus, Histories, written circa 440BC
Book of Esther, written possibly as early as 420BC
Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, written circa 400BC
Ctesias, Persica, written circa 398BC
The Parian Chronicle, written circa 216BC
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, written circa 40BC
Plutarch, Themistocles, written circa AD100

Secondary sources:
The Sale of the Ghazzat Hoard:

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499-480BC in the Near East
489-480BC in Greece
479-470BC in Greece
469-460BC in Greece
479-460BC in Rome
459-440BC in the Near East