1970. Slaves in the Achaemenid Period and throughout the history of ancient Persia were treated like servants, received compensation for their services, and had a much higher standard of living and quality of life than slaves anywhere else in the ancient world. Persian women would continue to enjoy this high status in ancient Persian culture until the fall of the Sassanian Empire to the invading Arab Muslims in 651 CE. Ancient Persia: The Iranian Plateau and the Persian Empire, The Achaemenid Persian Empire (550330 B.C.) She was an admiral in the Persian fleet at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BCE, noted for her courage and skill, and was so admired by Xerxes I that, after the battle, she was given the honor of escorting his sons to safety. Indication Having been informed about or referring of someone who has been subjected to trading or treatment as a slave, every official is obligated to provide him with means of liberation, immediately, and to inform the district court for guilts prosecution. 5: Institutions. a youth) or zar-ard (lit. The Cambridge History of Iran. (Encyclopedia Iranica, Women, 10). Further, however, the Parthians decentralized the ancient Persian government in an effort to avoid the perceived weakness of the earlier Seleucid Empire (312-63 BCE) and so there was no central repository for records as there had been in the time of the Achaemenids. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/164299. (129). Titles of respect accorded to royal Persian women seem to have derived from the earlier Elamite culture and, most likely, the Median Empire which was the immediate precursor to the Achaemenid Persian Empire (c. 550-330 BCE) founded by Cyrus the Great (r. c. 550-530 BCE). Shutterstock. The Achaemenid Empire followed a patriarchal paradigm but, within that framework, women had more rights and responsibilities than in any other ancient civilization except that of Egypt. Which man codified Persian law in an attempt to place his reputation as a lawgiver on the same plane as that of King Hammurabi? At its height under Darius the Great, the Persian Empire stretched from Europes Balkan Peninsulain parts of what is present day Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraineto the Indus River Valley in northwest India and south to Egypt. The Parthian army was the most effective fighting force of the age, primarily due to its cavalry and the perfection of a technique known as the Parthian shot characterized by mounted archers, feigning retreat, who would turn and shoot back at advancing adversaries. Some Rights Reserved (2009-2023) under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license unless otherwise noted. Updated: September 30, 2019 | Original: January 25, 2018. [8] Timur Lenk had as many as a thousand captives, who were skillful workmen, and laboured all the year round at making head pieces, and bows and arrows. Ancient Persians were also known for their metalwork. Under this period Roman prisoners of war were used in farming in Babylonia, Shush, and Persis.[9]. "Men and Family Planning in Iran" (PDF). British traveler Ella Sykes wrote that Iran was the "Paradise" for slaves. Plutarch also mentions that after the Romans were defeated in the Battle of Carrhae all the surviving Roman legionnaires were enslaved by the Parthians. Mark, Joshua J.. "Women in Ancient Persia." Slaves were at the bottom of the social pyramid. Darius's division of the Persian Empire into 20 provinces each known as. This situation would reverse after the fall of the Assyrian Empire in 612 BCE, hastened by the campaigns of the Medes and Babylonians who led a coalition of others against the weakening Assyrian state. World History Encyclopedia. [8], A third slave route through northwestern Iran provided Turkic slaves, people from Caucasus as well as saqaliba (Europeans) by the Volga trade route, and Christian Greeks, Armenians, and Georgians from the Caucasus through the Muslim raids in the Caucasus region. Although the Persian empire was at the peak of its strength, the collective defense mounted by the Greeks overcame seemingly . This answer has been confirmed as correct and helpful. Slaves were well-integrated into Iranian society. For example, he writes about the slaves of Asidates when he is describing a night raid . Cyrus established the Persian paradigm of freedom of religion and expression in his empire but was also responsible for maintaining the dignity and autonomy of women of every class. He unified the empire through introducing standard currency and weights and measures; making Aramaic the official language and building roads. Ancient Persia. This letter is apparently witness to the fact that the garda (or some of them) were . One example of this concerns marriage contracts in that Parthian monarchs continued the Achaemenid practice of marrying members of their own families but, for royalty, this was not considered incestuous. Dayukku's grandson, Cyaxares (r. 625-585 BCE), would extend Median territory into modern-day Azerbaijan. It was illegal to beat or in any way injure a servant, no matter one's social class, and so the life of a 'slave' under the Sassanian Empire was far superior to slaves' lives anywhere else. Hebrew scriptures praise Cyrus the Great for freeing the Jewish people of Babylon from captivity and allowing them to return to Jerusalem. Who were the scholar-priests of the Persian world? License. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Musa was able to win the favor of Phraates IV and became his principal wife before having him poisoned and elevating her son, Phraates V (r. 2 BCE-2 CE), to the position of co-ruler with herself. Manumissions were recorded, which suggests that a freedman who was challenged would be able to document their free status. A. Perikhanian (1983). 4. test prep. The principal wife held her own court, could sign agreements with her own seal, & had unlimited access to the king. Persians, unlike Romans, Egyptians, Greeks and many others, had never openly practiced slavery. [22], The 1828 war with Russia put an end to the import of white slaves from the Russian Empire borderlands as it undermined the trade in Circassians and Georgians, which both Iran and neighboring Turkey had been practicing for quite some time. According to Islamic practice of slavery and slave trade, non-Muslims were free to be enslaved, and since many parts of Iran remained Zoroastrian the first centuries after conquest, some non-Muslim "infidel territory" were exposed to Muslim slave raids, particularly Daylam in northwestern Iran and the Pagan mountainous region of r in central Afghanistan. Women in Ancient Persia. One of the most famous dancers of this era was Zenon, during the reign of Ardashir II, who was greatly admired. The classes were distinguished by the colors they wore. There was no difference in pay based on gender; one's salary was based solely on one's level of skill and experience in the job. The Persian Empire emerged under the leadership of Cyrus II, who conquered the neighboring Median Empire ruled by his grandfather. Last modified November 12, 2019. Question. Parthian ArcherThe British Museum (Copyright). Question 45 / 5 points Most slaves in the Persian Empire were: Question options: debtors. This early Iranian religion held the god Ahura Mazda as the supreme being with other deities such as Mithra (sun god/god of covenants), Hvar Khsata (sun god), and Anahita (goddess of fertility, health, water, and wisdom), among others, making up the rest of the pantheon. 1295-1304). Even so, Iran's multi-cultural heritage comes directly from the paradigm of the great Persian empires of the past, which had many different ethnicities living under the Persian banner, and that past is reflected in the diverse and welcoming character of Iranian society in the present day. The elaborate rock murals depict equestrian scenes and battle victories. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/Persia/. Shapur I's campaigns against Rome were almost universally successful even to the point of capturing the Roman emperor Valerian (r. 253-260 CE) and using him as a personal servant and footstool. In the 1870s, smugglers discovered gold and silver artifacts among ruins near the Oxus River in present-day Tajikistan. Sassanian royal women wielded more power and influence than their predecessors, are mentioned more often in official records as individuals of note, and were far more frequently depicted in artwork. Her army was defeated but Apranik would not surrender and continued to fight a guerilla war against her enemies until she was killed in battle. Royal women also engaged in business as in the case of Parysatis who owned a number of villages in Babylonia and traveled there personally to collect the rent. The Parthians deviated from the Achaemenid model in that concubines could marry into royalty and even assume the title of queen. [8] Persian Zoroastrian slaves became common in the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphate, and many of the mothers, concubines, and slave qiyan musicians are identified as originally Persian. worldcivOnline Exam 3.docx. Achaemenid Empire. Prisoners of war (asr) could be ransomed but were otherwise enslaved, and rebellions and upheavals such as the Afghan occupation (1722-1730) resulted in the enslavement of thousands; in these cases, the usual custom of only enslaving people of a different religion were overlooked. World History Encyclopedia. The Ionian Greek colonies of Asia Minor were among these and, since their efforts were backed by Athens, Darius launched an invasion of Greece which was halted at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE. World History Encyclopedia. [12] Visiting Europeans could also have slaves in their household during their stay, however their slaves could leave any moment they wished with the claim that as Muslims, they were not compelled to serve Christians. [16] The slave concubines were sometimes forced to convert to shia islam upon entering the harem, and referred to as kaniz. The Sassanian queen Azadokht Shahbanu, wife of Shapur I (r. 240-270 CE) was an equal partner in the marriage. Slaves and slave trading in Shii Iran, AD 15001900. Kosrau I continued the policies of religious tolerance and inclusion as well as the ancient Persian antipathy towards slavery. One of these, Seleucus I Nicator (r. 305-281 BCE), took Central Asia and Mesopotamia, expanding the territories, founding the Seleucid Empire, and Hellenizing the region. After Ardashir I killed her father in battle, Sura sought revenge and is thought to have also been killed by Ardashir in battle sometime after her father's death. Related Content She is probably best known for supporting her son Cyrus the Younger (d. 401 BCE) in his bid to unseat his brother Artaxerxes II (r. 404-358 BCE), an event narrated by the historians Ctesias, Herodotus, and by Xenophon in his Anabasis. The best-known female warrior of this era is Artemisia I of Caria who lived during the reign of Xerxes I. In the case of nonpayment of a debt by the appointed deadline, the creditor could turn the children of the debtor into slaves. The Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes (r. 175-164 BCE) focused entirely on his own self-interests and his successors would continue this pattern. Claimed divine support; called himself "the Great King"; Ordinance of Good Regulations, An uprising in Ionia that took Persia by surprise. [12] During the Qajar dynasty, slave soldiers, ghilman, were used for the royal guard, and they were mainly white slaves from Caucasus. By the end of his reign, Cyrus II had established an empire which stretched from the modern-day region of Syria down through Turkey and across to the borders of India. see 36:76ff]. The Seleucids were finally reduced to a small buffer kingdom in Syria after their defeat by the Roman general Pompey the Great (l. c. 106-48 BCE) while, by that time (63 BCE), the Parthian Empire was at its height following the reign of Mithridates II (124-88 BCE) who had expanded the empire even further. Owners could also voluntarily manumit their slaves, in which case the former slave became a subject of the Sasanian King of Kings and could not lawfully be re-enslaved later. Ruled through persuasion and compromise rather than force and humiliation; treated conquered peoples benevolently, allowing deported peoples to return to their homelands rather than enslaving them; permitted the peoples he defeated to retain their own religions and cultures while simultaneously offering them partnership in the Persian Empire. We strive for accuracy and fairness. World History Foundation is a non-profit organization registered in Canada. The World History Encyclopedia logo is a registered trademark. . Laborers, servants, and slaves all followed, more or less, the Achaemenid model of employment, pay, and fair treatment. This was the Achaemenid Empire, named for Cyrus II's ancestor Achaemenes. He founded the first Persian Empire, also known as the Achaemenid Empire, in 550 B.C. 01 May 2023. Darius III was assassinated by his confidante and bodyguard Bessus who then proclaimed himself Artaxerxes V (r. 330-329 BCE) but was shortly after executed by Alexander who styled himself Darius' successor and is often referred to as the last monarch of the Achaemenid Empire. Debt slavery was no longer common. | Essay | The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. Under the rule of Cambyses I (r. 580-559 BCE) these two kingdoms were united under rule from Anshan. [24] It is noted that poor parents still sold their children in to slavery, and that slave raids by chieftains were still conducted in the early 20th-century. The bill also empowered the government to take immediate action for the emancipation of all slaves. 281304. After Alexander's death in 323 BCE, his empire was divided among his generals. Antiochus III, the last effective Seleucid king, reconquered and expanded the Seleucid Empire but was defeated by Rome at the Battle of Magnesia in 190 BCE and the Treaty of Apamea (188 BCE) resulted in significant losses, shrinking the empire down to less than half its former size. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. Journal of Asian and African Studies 36: 40718, Sussan Babaie, Kathryn Babayan, Ina Baghdiantz-MacCabe, Mussumeh Farhad: Slaves of the Shah: New Elites of Safavid Iran, Bloomsbury Academic, 2004. HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. Cyrus II is unique among ancient conquerors for his humanitarian vision and policies as well as encouraging technological innovations. Women labored alongside men in the workforce and were often supervisors and managers. [20][8] The slave concubines of the harem were mainly white, dominantly Turkmen and Kurdish captives under the supervision of female chief called aqal (al). This exile, although very traumatic, nevertheless had a great benefit to the Jewish people. At some point between 1500-1000 BCE, the Persian visionary Zoroaster (also known as Zarathustra) claimed divine revelation from Ahura Mazda, recognizing the purpose of human life as choosing sides in an eternal struggle between the supreme deity of justice and order and his adversary Angra Mainyu, god of discord and strife. The costly defense of Persias lands depleted the empires funds, leading to heavier taxation among Persias subjects. Abd-al-osayn Navi, Tehran, 1376 ./1997.p 336, 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution, Timeline of abolition of slavery and serfdom, Marriage of enslaved people (United States), "Elamites and Other Peoples from Iran and the Persian Gulf Region in Early Mesopotamian Sources", BARDA and BARDA-DRI iv. The single god worshiped by Zoroastrians is called, A Persian belief system including the concepts of free will and a Last Judgement, The prophet Zoroaster sensed that two powerful Persian gods were in fact a single god, whom he called, To explain the existence of evil, Zoroaster maintained that Ahura Mazda had a malignant twin, whom he had defeated and banished from paradise but who still sought to influence human behavior as lord of the forces of darkness. 2021. Slaves were mainly obtained either through sale or warfare. By most accounts, Cyrus the Great was a tolerant ruler who allowed his subjects to speak their own languages and practice their own religions. The wives and slave concubines of shah Fath-Ali Shah Qajar came from the harems of the vanquished houses of Zand and Afr; from the Georgian and Armenian campaigns; as well as from the slave markets, and presented as gifts to the shah from the provinces. Please note that some of these recommendations are listed under our old name, Ancient History Encyclopedia. He has taught history, writing, literature, and philosophy at the college level. [12] Slave raids were conducted through which people were enslaved, and these were often directed toward Christians in the Caucasus region. 'The Empire'[17] or 'The Kingdom'[18]), was the ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC; the First Persian Empire. Pregnant women received higher wages as did new mothers for the first month after the birth of their child. [3] He has also mentioned slavery after the rebellion of Egypt in the city of Barce[4] during the time of Cambyses and the assassination of Persian Satrap in Egypt. He has taught history, writing, literature, and philosophy at the college level. Slavery was basically non-existent in Persian Empire before Islam. Afterwards, Xerxes I occupied himself with building projects notably adding to Persepolis and his successors did the same. Children were sometimes sold into slavery by their poor families, often in Armenia, Southern Iran and Kurdistan. Submitted by Joshua J. [12], Although the diplomatic efforts of the Russians and the British did result in a decline in the trade, slavery was still common in Iran under the Qajar dynasty, and it was not until the first half of twentieth century that slavery would be officially abolished in Iran under Reza Shah Pahlavi. The ancient kingdom of Elam in this area was among the most advanced of its time (its oldest settlement, the archaeological site of Chogha Bonut, dates to c. 7200 BCE) before parts of it were conquered by the Sumerians, later completely by the Assyrians, and then by the Medes. Textile weaving in Persia was done primarily by. Highly-paid female supervisors were known as arashshara (great chief) and received a larger amount of wine and grain for overseeing the work of often large groups of subordinates. (Shadows, 17). A freelance writer and former part-time Professor of Philosophy at Marist College, New York, Joshua J. World Civilizations I Lesson 3 Exam 3 100.docx. Help us and translate this article into another language! The Medes united under a single chief named Dayukku (known by the Greeks as Deioces, r. 727-675 BCE) and founded their state in Ecbatana. Tehran: Habibi. From the Mongols to the abolition of slavery, "BARDA and BARDA-DRI iv. Subsequent rulers in the Achaemenid Empire followed Cyrus the Greats hands-off approach to social and religious affairs, allowing Persias diverse citizenry to continue practicing their own ways of life. (In Farsi. To say one is Iranian is to state one's nationality while to say one is Persian is to define one's ethnicity; these are not the same things. Scholars continue to debate the identity of his successor as it could either be his brother Bardiya or a Median usurper named Gaumata who took control of the empire in 522 BCE. The legacy of strong Persian women continued after Banu, however, and remains a source of pride in the present day. Brosius also makes clear that no information is available on the legal or economic status of women during this time nor, for the most part, even what they wore or their level of autonomy. The Royal Road connected these cities as well as others so that the king was constantly informed of the affairs of state. Anatolia-gold. Information on privately owned slaves is scarce, but there are surviving cuniform documents from Babylonia and the Persepolis Administrative Archives which record slave sales and contracts. (128). [6], Under the Achaemenids, Persian nobles in Babylonia and other conquered states became large slave owners. Mark, Joshua J.. "Ancient Persia." Principles of government of Cyrus the Great. Slavery in the Parthian period followed the earlier paradigm to such an extent as to be almost non-existent when compared to how the institution was practiced in other civilizations.