This text is part of:
Xenophon (Cyr. i. 2. 5) makes the Persian tribes twelve, a number to which he is partial in the Cyropaedia; but the authority of H. is preferable. Meyer (iii. 10) lays stress on the ‘fundamental importance’ of H.'s account here. Spiegel (Eran. Alt. ii. 238) says, ‘The inscriptions as well as the Avesta show us that H. was right as to the tribal divisions of the Iranians.’ It is interesting to contrast H.'s contemporary list with the artificial one in Strabo (727), in which the Achaemenidae and the Magi are inserted. The distinction of rank and privilege (cf. iii. 93. 2 n.; the Sagartians pay tribute) among tribes has parallels in H. (iv. 20. 1, the Royal Scyths as opposed to the ‘Husbandmen’ and the ‘Nomads’), and elsewhere (cf. the ‘Golden Horde’ among the Tartans). Stein suggests that §§ 3, 4 are a later addition by H. The Pasargadae (cf. iv. 167. 1) gave their name to the capital under Cyrus and Cambyses. It is identified with Murghâb, in the mountains to the north-east of Persepolis. That city was founded by Darius, as Pasargadae was too out-of-the-way for a capital. The name, ‘Persepolis,’ however, does not occur till Macedonian times. For the identification of Pasargadae and Murghâb cf. Perrot et Chipiez, v. 443-5. The view of Oppert, that Pasargadae is to be placed south-east of Shiraz, is impossible, as it removes the site too far from Persepolis. At Murghâb is a building known as ‘the tomb of the Mother of Solomon’, which is usually identified with the tomb of Cyrus (for a defence of this traditional view cf. Curzon, Persia, ii. 74 seq.; for the tomb itself, P. et C. v. 597-607, with picture). The tomb is in seven tiers, with a chamber on the top, and answers to the description of Cyrus' tomb in Arrian (Anab. vi. 29. 4-8). On one of the pillars of the palace at Murghâb is a figure which once bore an inscription, ‘I am Cyrus the king, the Achaemenian.’ Difficulties have been raised as to this figure, because the head-dress is Egyptian, and the four wings and the fringed garment are usually called Assyrian (cf. 135. In. for Persian borrowing). But E. Herzfeld (Klio, viii. 63-4) says the dress is Elamite, and so suitable to Cyrus; and Curzon (u. s.) ingeniously shows that the description of Arrian implies that the body of Cyrus was buried in Egyptian fashion, i. e. like a mummy; he refers doubtfully to iii. 2, the story of Nitetis, as explaining how this could be. The identification, therefore, of the figure with that of the great Cyrus may be accepted. Μαράφιοι. We have a Maraphian in command against Cyrene iv. 167. 1. The Achaemenidae were a ‘clan’ (φρήτρη) of the royal tribe.
The nomad ‘Sagartians’ are Persian ‘in speech’ vii. 85. 1 and partly in dress, and yet, as (iii. 93. 2) part of the fourteenth satrapy, they paid tribute. It may be suggested that the nomad Persian tribes took no part in the national rising under Cyrus, and hence forfeited their privileges. The name of the Γερμάνιοι (cf. for the change Ἀγβάτανα and Ἐκβάτανα) seems to be found in Carmania (hod. Kerman), the district to the east of Persia, where H. (iii. 93. 2) places the Οὔτιοι, who also form part of the fourteenth satrapy. The Mardi (Strabo, 508 Ἄμαρδοι) were mountaineers to the south-west of Persepolis; the cragsman Hyroeades (84. 2) was a Mardian. The other tribes are only doubtfully identified; some connect the Dai with the Dadicae (iii. 91. 4), and the Dropici with the Derbicae (Strabo, 514), but these tribes are much too remote. Aesch. Pers. 774 seq. inserts Μάρδος and Μάραφις in his list of Persian kings. H. is only repeating what he has heard; but he is right in laying stress on the nomadic tribes; large parts of modern Persia are desert, or habitable only at certain seasons (for its shape cf. Réclus, Geog. Univ. ix. 144), and the Ilyâts or nomads are a considerable part of the population.
The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.
Purchase a copy of this text (not necessarily the same edition) from Amazon.com
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.