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Achaemenid Anatolia

Dahlén, Ashk P. (ed). 2020. Achaemenid Anatolia: Persian presence and impact in the Western Satrapies 546-330 BC. Proceedings of an international symposium at the Swedish Research Institure in Istanbul, 7-8 September, 2017. Boreas: Uppsala Studies in Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Civilizations.

The mid-sixth century bc saw the formation of one of the ancient world’s largest and richest empires, the first Persian Empire under the Achaemenid dynasty. After the conquests of Cyrus the Great its vast realms stretched from the Aegean Sea in the west to the Jaxartes River in the east. The empire’s cosmopolitan policies, based on a shared economic relationship and a pluralistic administrative structure, heralded a period of astonishing cross-cultural fertilisation and innovation in different spheres of culture, trade and learning. These new developments were embraced and carried out in, among other regions, the highly multicultural setting of Achaemenid Anatolia.

Achaemenid Anatolia contains twelve articles from an international symposium (2017) on the relationships between the Iranian world and Anatolia in the Achaemenid period with an emphasis on Persian structures, presence and impacts on local populations and cultures. The contributions discuss a wide range of topics and address a variety of perspectives, from material culture, archaeology, architecture, and art history to philology, history, literature, numismatics, and religion.

Table of contents

  • P. Briant, On “Achaemenid impact” in Anatolia (reading notes)
  • E.R.M. Dusinberre, Impacts of empire in Achaemenid Anatolia
  • S. Berndt, The upright tiara of the Persian king
  • J. Blid, The andron of Maussollos at Labraunda and its architectural sculpture
  • A.P. Dahlén, Living the Iranian dolce vita: Herodotus on wine drinking and luxury among the Persians
  • C. Gates, Cilicia, 550–330 BC: Persians and locals
  • P. Hellström, A chariot at Labraunda
  • A. Hultgård, Invoking Anāhitā ‒ from Iran to Asia Minor
  • J. Köster, Failed ambitions: Herodotus’ account of the Ionian revolt and its motivation
  • L.G. Mitchell, “What age were you when the Mede came?” Cyrus the Great and Western Anatolia
  • M. Seyer, Pillar tombs and the Achaemenid rule in Lycia
  • R. Stoneman, Xanthus of Lydia, Aesop and Persian storytelling
  • E.R.M. Dusinberre, Concluding remarks