All
 
|
 
 


The Orders of Darius I and Xerxes in the Corpus of the Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions
 
PIIS032103910024546-3-1
DOI10.31857/S032103910024546-3
Publication type Article
Status Approved
Authors
Eduard V. Rung 
Occupation: Head of the Department of World and Public History
Affiliation: Kazan Federal University
Address: Kazan, Kremleovskaya Str., 18
Abstract

The article examines the issue of the role of the orders of Darius I and Xerxes in the functioning of the legal system in the Achaemenid Persian Empire. It is concluded that the Achaemenid Empire undoubtedly needed some mechanism of socio-political and economic regulation, and means of these, along with the local political and legal traditions, were royal decrees, commands and instructions that came from the king himself and his office. The Achaemenid trilingual royal inscriptions are considered as the main source of information on this subject. In these texts there are references to the king’s orders, and the terminological analysis, covering the corresponding vocabulary of inscriptions in the main three languages (Old Persian, Elamite and Akkadian), allows us to come to significant conclusions regarding the functioning of the Achaemenid legal system as a whole. Consideration of the material of the inscriptions allows us to assert that the royal orders mentioned in them can be divided into three groups (royal decrees, royal commands and proclamations). In the Achaemenid royal inscriptions, orders given by the king to his military commanders or his army can be considered as commands, while the decrees do not have a specific addressee and are of a more general nature.

KeywordsAchaemenids, legal system, orders, decrees, commands
AcknowledgmentRussian Science Foundation, project no. 23-28-01562 "The Legal System in the Persian Achaemenid Empire"
Received14.05.2023
Number of characters50175
100 rub.
When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register. 
1. Aedakov, A.V. 1979: [Recently discovered Achaemenid inscriptions]. Vestnik drevney istorii [Journal of Ancient History] 3, 104–114 (in Russian).
2. Aedakov, A.V. 1980: [The Egyptian canal of Darius I: A Comparative Study of the Sources]. Vestnik drevney istorii [Journal of Ancient History] 2, 105–120 (in Russian).
3. Aubert, J.-J. 2004: Aux origines du canal de Suez? Le canal du Nil à la mer Rouge revisité. In: M. Clavel-Lévêque, E. Hermon (eds.). Espaces intégrés et ressources naturelles dans l’Empire romain. Actes du colloque de l’Université de Laval – Québec (5–8 mars 2003). Besançon, 219–252.
4. Bahenheimer, A. 2018: Old Persian: Dictionary, Glossary, Concordance. Malden; Oxford; Chichester.
5. Bartholomae, C. 1904: Altiranisches Wörterbuch. Strassburg.
6. Bickerman, E.J. 1946: The Edict of Cyrus in Ezra 1. Journal of Biblical Literature 75, 249–275.
7. Black, J., George, A., Postgate, N. (eds.). 2000: A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian. 2nd ed. Wiesbaden.
8. Bogolyubov, M.N. 1966: [Aramaic building inscription from Aswan]. Palestinian collection 15(78), 41–46 (in Russian)].
9. Briant, P. 1999: The Achaemenid Empire. In: K. Raaflaub, N. Rosenstein (eds.). War and Society in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds. Asia, the Mediterranean, Europe and Mesoamerica. Washington, 105–128.
10. Briant, P., Henkelman, W., Stolper, M. (eds.). 2008: L’archive des Fortifications de Persépolis. Etat des questions et perspectives de recherches. Paris.
11. Chaumont, M.-L. 2000: Framadār (Framātār). Encyclopaedia Iranica X.2, 125–126.
12. Dandamaev, M. A., Lukonin, V. 1980: Kul’tura i ekonomika Drevnego Irana [The Culture and Economics of Ancient Iran]. Moscow (in Russian).
13. Démare-Lafont, S. 2006: dātu ša šarri. La «loi du roi» dans la Babylonie achéménide et séleucide. Droit et Cultures 52, 13–26.
14. Dusinberre, E.R.M. 2013: Empire, Authority, and Autonomy in Achaemenid Anatolia. Cambridge.
15. Filippone, E. 2019: The Orders of the King: Reported Directive Quotations in the Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions. In: S. Badalkhan, G.P. Basello, M. de Chiara (eds.). Iranian Studies in honour of Adriano V. Rossi. Pt. 1. Napoli, 291–323.
16. Fragner, B.G. 2016: Farmān. Encyclopaedia Iranica, online edition, 2016 (http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/farman). 
17. Grabbe, L.L. 2006: The “Persian Documents” in the Book of Ezra: Are They Authentic? In: O. Lipschits, M. Oeming (eds.). Judah and the Judeans in the Persian Period. Winona Lake, Indiana.
18. Grilliot-Susini, F. 1990: Les textes de fondation du palais de Suse. Journal Asiatique 278, 213–222.
19. Grilliot-Susini, F, Harrennschmidt, K, Labat, F. 1993: La Version Elamite de la Trilingue de Behistun: un Nouvelle Lecture. Journal Asiatique 281, 19–59.
20. Hallock, R. 1969: Persepolis Fortification Tablets. Chicago.
21. Henkelman, W.F.M. 2008: The Other Gods Who Are. Studies in Elamite-Iranian Acculturation based on the Persepolis Fortification Texts (Achaemenid History XIV). Leiden.
22. Henkelman, W.F.M. 2010: “Consumed before the King”: The Table of Darius, that of Irdabama and Irtaštuna, and that of his Satrap, Karkiš. In: B. Jacobs, R. Rollinger (eds.). Der Achämenidenhof – The Achaemenid Court. Akten des 2. Internationalen Kolloquiums zum Thema “Vorderasien im Spannungsfeld klassischer und altorientalischer Überlieferungen”, Landgut Castelen bei Basel, 23–25. Mai 2007. Wiesbaden, 667–775.
23. Herzfeld, E. 1936: Xerxes’ Verbot des Daivā-Cultes. Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran 8, 56–77.
24. Herzfeld, E. 1938: Altpersische Inschriften. Berlin.
25. Hinz, W. 1942: Altpersischer Wortschatz. Leipzig.
26. Hinz, W. 1973: Neue Wege im altpersischen. Wiesbaden.
27. Hinz, W. 1975: Altiranisches Sprachgut der Nebenüberlieferungen. Wiesbaden.
28. Hinz, W., Koch, H. 1987: Elamisches Wörterbuch. Bd. I-II. Berlin.
29. Huyana Ávila, C. 2020: Some thoughts on Xerxes’s “Daiva” inscription and its interpretation. Antiguo Oriente 18, 119–185.
30. Isakova, A.S., Rung, E.V., 2023: [“I established Kingdom on its Place”: An Idea of Law and Order in the Achaemenid Empire]. Vostok (Oriens) 3 (forthcoming) (in Russian).

31. Kent, R.G. 1937: The Daiva-Inscription of Xerxes. Language 13, 292–305.
32. Kent, R.G. 1950: Old Persian: Grammar, Texts, Lexicon. New Haven.
33. Khatchadourian, L. 2016: Imperial Matter: Ancient Persia and the Archaeology of Empires. Oakland, California.
34. Kleber K., 2010: dātu ša šarri: Gesetzgebung in Babylonien unter den Achämeniden. Zeitschrift für Altorientalische und Biblische Rechtsgeschichte – Journal for Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical Law 16, 49–75.
35. Klotz, D. 2015: Darius I and the Sabaeans: Ancient Partners in Red Sea Navigation. Journal of Near Eastern Studies 74, 267–280.
36. Kuhrt, A. 2007: The Persian Empire. A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period. Oxford.
37. Ladynin, I.A. 2011: [The Statue of Darius I from Susa: An Essay of interpretation in the light of Egyptian and Near Eastern Religious and Ideological Notions]. Vestnik drevney istorii [Journal of Ancient History] 1, 3–27 (in Russian).
38. Lecoq, P. 1997: Les inscriptions de la Perse achéménide. Paris.
39. Lloyd, A.B. 2007: Darius in Egypt: Suez and Hibis. In: C.J. Tuplin (ed.). Persian Responses: Political and Cultural Interaction with(in) the Achaemenid Empire. Swansee, 99–115.
40. MacGinnis, J. 2008: A Judgment of Darius the King. Journal of Cuneiform Studies 60, 87–99.
41. Mayrhofer, M. 1996: Etymologisches Wörterbuch des altindoarischen. Bd. II. Heidelberg.
42. Olmstead, A.T. 1935: Darius as Lawgiver. American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures 51, 247–249.
43. Pirngruber, P. 2021: Jurisdiction. In: B. Jacobs, R. Rollinger (eds.). A Companion to the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Hoboken, 1087–1096.
44. Posener, G. 1936: La première domination perse en Egypte. Recueil d'inscriptions hiéroglyphiques. Le Caire.
45. Redford, D.B. 2001: The So-Called “Codification” of Egyptian Law under Darius I. In: J.W. Watts (ed.). Persia and Torah: The Theory of Imperial Authorization of the Pentateuch. Atlanta, 135–160.
46. Rendtorff, R. 1984: Esra und das Gesetz. Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 96, 165–184.
47. Rung, E. 2015: Some Notes on Karanos in the Achaemenid Empire. Iranica antiqua 50, 333–356.
48. Rung, E.V., Chiglintsev, E.A. 2017: [Darius versus Xerxem: The images of Darius I and Xerxes in Old Persian texts and in the works of Aeschylus and Herodotus]. Vestnik drevney istorii [Journal of Ancient History] 77 (3), 696–719 (in Russian).
49. Schmitt, R. 1991: The Bisitun Inscriptions of Darius the Great. Old Persian Text. London.
50. Schmitt, R. 1994: Dāta. Encyclopaedia Iranica VII.1, 114–115.
51. Schmitt, R. 2000: The Old Persian Inscriptions of Naqshi-Rustam and Persepolis. London.
52. Schmitt, R. 2009: Die altpersischen Inschriften der Achaimeniden. Editio minor mit deutscher Ubersetzung. Wiesbaden.
53. Schmitt, R. 2014: Wörterbuch der altpersischen Königsinschriften. Wiesbaden.
54. Seidl, U. 1999: Ein Monument Darius’ I. aus Babylon. Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie 98, 101–114.
55. Steve, M.-J. 1987: Ville Royale de Suse. Vol. 7. Nouveaux mélanges épigraphiques: inscriptions royales de Suse et de la Susiane. Nice.
56. Stoneman, R. 2015: Xerxes. A Persian Life. New Haven; London.
57. Tavernier, J. 2007: Iranica in the Achaemenid Period (ca. 550–330 B.C.). Lexicon of Old Iranian Proper Names and Loanwords, Attested in Non-Iranian Texts. Leuven; Paris; Dudley, MA.
58. Tuplin, C.J. 1991: Darius’ Suez Canal and Persian Imperialism. In: H. Sancisi-Weerdenburg, A. Kuhrt (eds.). Achaemenid History. Vol. VI: Asia Minor and Egypt: Old Cultures in a New Empire. Leiden, 237–283.
59. Tuplin, C.J. 2015: The Justice of Darius: Some reflections on the Achaemenid empire as a rule-bound environment. In: A.Fitzpatrick-McKinley (eds.). Assessing Biblical and Classical Sources for the Reconstruction of Persian Influence, History and Culture. Wiesbaden, 73–126.
60. Ushakov, D.N. 2014: Tolkovyj slovar’ sovremennogo russkogo yazyka. Moscow (in Russian).
61. Vallat, F. 1974: La triple inscription cunéiforme de la statue de Darius Ier (DSab). Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie orientale 68, 157–166.
62. Vallat, F. 1977: Corpus des inscriptions royales en elamite achéménide. Thèse présentée pour l’obtention du Doctorat de IIIe cycle.
63. Vaux, R. de. 1971: The Decrees of Cyrus and Darius in the Rebuilding of the Temple. In: C.H. Gordon, G.A. Rendsburg (eds.). The Bible and the Ancient Near East. New York; London; Garden City, 63–96.
64. Voigtlander, E. 1978: The Bisitun Inscription of Darius the Great. Babylonian Version. London.
65. Walton, J.H. 1988: The Decree of Darius the Mede in Daniel 6. Journal of Near Eastern Studies 31, 279–286.
66. Wiesehöfer, J. 2008: Gerechtigkeit und Recht im achaimenidischen Iran. In: H. Barta, R. Rollinger, M. Lang (eds.). Recht und Religion. Menschliche und göttliche Gerechtigkeitsvorstellungen in den antiken Welten. Wiesbaden, 191–203
67. Wiesehöfer, J. 2013: Law and Religion in Achaemenid Iran. In: A.C. Hagedorn, R.G. Kratz. Law and Religion in the Eastern Mediterranean: From Antiquity to Early Islam. Oxford, 40–57
68. Yakubovich, I. 2023: “Daiva inscription” of Xerxes: Historical Account, Ideological Statement, or Propaganda? Vestnik drevney istorii [Journal of Ancient History] 83 (1), 5–26.

Система Orphus

Loading...
Up