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Megabyzus I
{{Short description, Key families during Persian Achaemenid era Seven Achaemenid clans or seven Achaemenid houses were seven significant families that had key roles during the Achaemenid era. Only one of them had regnant pedigree. Nobles of the seven clans According to Herodotus, after the departure of Cambyses II for Egypt, the usurper Gaumata impersonated Bardiya (Smerdis), the younger brother of Cambyses, and became king. A group of seven Persian noblemen became suspicious of the false king and conspired to overthrow Gaumata. After the death of Gaumata, in a negotiation to determine the form of government, Otanes (Hutan) recommended a democratic government but his offer was not adopted and monarchy continued in Iran. The names of them were mentioned in Herodotus' ''Histories'' and the Behistun Inscription: # Otanes # Ardumanish (possibly the same as Aspathines) # Gobryas, father of Mardonius # Intaphrenes # Megabyzus I # Hydarnes # Darius I Arthur Emanuel Christensen the D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest empire in history, spanning a total of from the Balkans and Egypt in the west to Central Asia and the Indus Valley in the east. Around the 7th century BC, the region of Persis in the southwestern portion of the Iranian plateau was settled by the Persians. From Persis, Cyrus rose and defeated the Median Empire as well as Lydia and the Neo-Babylonian Empire, marking the formal establishment of a new imperial polity under the Achaemenid dynasty. In the modern era, the Achaemenid Empire has been recognized for its imposition of a successful model of centralized, bureaucratic administration; its multicultural policy; building complex infrastructure, such as road systems and an organized postal system; the use of official languages across ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aspathines
Aspathines ( peo, wiktionary:𐎠𐎿𐎱𐎨𐎴𐎠, 𐎠𐎿𐎱𐎨𐎴𐎠 ; grc, wiktionary:Ἀσπαθίνης, Ἀσπαθίνης ) (born and died sometime between 550 BC and 450BC) was a senior official under Darius the Great and Xerxes I of Persia. Aspathines is illustrated on the tomb of Darius I at Naqsh-e Rostam, with a dedication: The only other courtier to be named with a dedication was Gobryas. Aspathines had a son names Prexaspes, who became an Admiral in the navy of Xerxes I, Xerxes during the Second Persian invasion of Greece. References 5th-century BC Iranian people 6th-century BC Iranian people Officials of Darius the Great {{Achaemenid-bio-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seven Parthian Clans
The Seven Great Houses of Iran, also known as the seven Parthian clans, were seven feudal aristocracies of Parthian origin, who were allied with the Sasanian court. The Parthian clans all claimed ancestry from Achaemenid Persians. The seven Great Houses of Iran had played an active role in Iranian politics since the days of the Arsacid Empire, which they continued to do under their successors, the Sasanians. Only two of the seven – the House of Suren and the House of Karen – however, are actually attested in sources date-able to the Parthian period. The seven houses claimed to have been confirmed as lords in Iran by the legendary Kayanian king Vishtaspa. "It may be that ..members of them made up their own genealogies in order to emphasize the antiquity of their families." During Sasanian times, the seven feudal houses played a significant role at the Sasanian court. Bahram Chobin, a famed military commander of Hormizd IV (r. 579–590), was from the House of Mihran. The seven ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parthian Empire
The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe in conquering the region of Parthia in Iran's northeast, then a satrapy (province) under Andragoras, who was rebelling against the Seleucid Empire. Mithridates I (r. c. 171–132 BC) greatly expanded the empire by seizing Media and Mesopotamia from the Seleucids. At its height, the Parthian Empire stretched from the northern reaches of the Euphrates, in what is now central-eastern Turkey, to present-day Afghanistan and western Pakistan. The empire, located on the Silk Road trade route between the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean Basin and the Han dynasty of China, became a center of trade and commerce. The Parthians largely adopted the art, architecture, religious beliefs, and royal insignia of their culturally heterogene ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iranologist
Iranian studies ( fa, ايرانشناسی '), also referred to as Iranology and Iranistics, is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the research and study of the civilization, history, literature, art and culture of Iranian peoples. It is a part of the wider field of Oriental studies. Iranian studies is broader than and distinct from Persian studies, which is the study of the modern Persian language and literature specifically. The discipline of Iranian Studies focuses on broad trends in culture, history, language and other aspects of not only Persians, but also a variety of other contemporary and historical Iranian peoples, such as Kurds, Lurs, Gilakis, Talysh, Tajiks, Pashtuns, Ossetians, Baluchis, Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans, Parthians, Sogdians, Bactrians, Khwarazmians, and Mazandaranis. In medieval Iran The medieval Persian poet Ferdowsi, author of the Iranian national epic the ', can be considered the founder of Iranian studies in the sense that in his work ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Darius I
Darius I ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his death in 486 BCE. He ruled the empire at its territorial peak, when it included much of Western Asia, parts of the Balkans (Thrace– Macedonia and Paeonia) and the Caucasus, most of the Black Sea's coastal regions, Central Asia, the Indus Valley in the far east, and portions of North Africa and Northeast Africa including Egypt (), eastern Libya, and coastal Sudan. Darius ascended the throne by overthrowing the legitimate Achaemenid monarch Bardiya, whom he later fabricated to be an imposter named Gaumata. The new king met with rebellions throughout his kingdom and quelled them each time; a major event in Darius' life was his expedition to subjugate Greece and punish Athens and Eretria for their participation in the Ionian Revolt. Alt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hydarnes
Hydarnes ( peo, 𐎻𐎡𐎭𐎼𐎴, Vidṛna), also known as Hydarnes the Elder, was a Persians, Persian nobleman, who was one of the seven conspirators who overthrew the Bardiya, Pseudo-Smerdis. His name is the Greek transliteration of the Old Persian name ''Vidṛna'', which may have meant "he who knows the guilt/wrong". He was seemingly good friends with Aspathines, who invited him to join the conspiracy, which included the noblemen Intaphernes, Otanes, Gobryas, Megabyzus I, Megabyzus, and the Achaemenid Empire, Achaemenid prince Darius the Great, Darius, who was its leader. For his services, Hydarnes was seemingly given the Achaemenid satrapy of Armenia as a semi-hereditary fief, since his descendants governed it until the Hellenistic period. Orontes I (died 344 BC), the ancestor of the Orontid dynasty, was descended from Hydarnes. According to some Persepolis tablets, Hydarnes served as the satrap of Media (region), Media under Darius. Hydarnes was survived by two sons, Hyda ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Intaphrenes
Intaphrenes ( peo, 𐎻𐎡𐎭𐎳𐎼𐎴𐎠, translit=Vindafarnâ, grc, Ἰνταφρένης, Ἰνταφέρνης, translit=Intaphrénēs, Intaphérnēs) (died c.520BCE) was one of the seven who in September 522 BCE helped Darius I usurp the throne from Bardiya, following Bardiya’s alleged usurping of the throne of the Achaemenid Empire from Cambyses II.Herodotus III, 70 Intaphrenes then became Darius's bow (weapon), bow carrier, a high position in which he is depicted in the Behistun Inscription. Subjugation of Babylon In 521 BCE, Intaphrenes was sent as general at the head of an army by Darius I to eliminate Arakha, who allegedly had usurped the throne of Babylon as Nebuchadnezzar IV in 522 BCE. Babylon was taken without much fighting on 27 November 521 BCE, and as was customary in such cases, Arakha was mutilated and impaled with his followers. Death Intaphrenes was put to death after the insurrection for trying to enter the King's palace while he was lying with hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mardonius (general)
Mardonius ( peo, 𐎶𐎼𐎯𐎢𐎴𐎡𐎹 ; grc-gre, Μαρδόνιος ; died 479 BC) was a leading Persian military commander during the Persian Wars with Greece in the early 5th century BC who died at the Battle of Plataea. Early years Mardonius was the son of Gobryas, a Persian nobleman who had assisted the Achaemenid prince Darius when he claimed the throne. The alliance between the new king and his friend was cemented by diplomatic marriages: Darius married Gobryas' daughter, and Gobryas married Darius' sister. Furthermore, Mardonius married Darius' daughter Artozostra. Thus, Darius the Great was simultaneously Mardonius' uncle, father-in-law, and half-brother-in-law. Persian Wars with the Greeks First Persian invasion of Greece Darius appointed Mardonius as one of his generals and, after the Ionian Revolt, sent him in 492 BC to punish the Greek city-state of Athens for assisting the Ionians. On his way to Athens, he used his army in the Ionian cities to depose th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gobryas
Gobryas ( grc, Γοβρύας; peo, 𐎥𐎢𐎲𐎽𐎢𐎺 g-u-b-ru-u-v, reads as ''Gaub(a)ruva''?; Elamite: ''Kambarma'') was a common name of several Persian noblemen. Gobryas (Cyrus the Great's general) This Gobryas is mentioned in the Cyropedia of Xenophon as a general who helped in the conquering of Babylon. The A.K. Grayson translation of the Nabonidus Chronicle, based on that of T.G. Pinches, considers both the names ''Ugbaru'' and ''Gubaru'' found in the latter to be references to this Gobryas. However the names are distinct in the text and refer to two different individuals, the one called ''Gubaru'' being the ruler placed over Babylon thus corresponding to Cyaxares of the Cyropedia, not Gobryas. ''Ugbaru'' remains a candidate for Gobryas being described as the ruler of the region of Gutium dying soon after the conquest of Babylon similarly to Xenophon's portrayal of Gobryas as an elderly "Assyrian" ruler. According to William H. Shea Ugbaru and Gubaru is the same pers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known for having written the '' Histories'' – a detailed account of the Greco-Persian Wars. Herodotus was the first writer to perform systematic investigation of historical events. He is referred to as " The Father of History", a title conferred on him by the ancient Roman orator Cicero. The ''Histories'' primarily cover the lives of prominent kings and famous battles such as Marathon, Thermopylae, Artemisium, Salamis, Plataea, and Mycale. His work deviates from the main topics to provide a cultural, ethnographical, geographical, and historiographical background that forms an essential part of the narrative and provides readers with a wellspring of additional information. Herodotus has been criticized for his inclusion of "legends and f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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