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Religion, Humban appears 32 times in Persepolis Fortification Texts, he…
Religion
Herodotus 1.131
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according to HDT, they did not have anthropomorphic conceptions of the gods
"The Persians do not erect statues nor altars" Strabo, 15 (but he is dependent on Herodotus)
BUT
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PFS 68
the central figure appears to be a divinity, represented anthropomorphically
yet how heavily reliant was Persian glyptic art on Elamite and Mesopotamian traditions, which did represent deities in an anthropomorphic way
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we have no clear cult images in a surviving Achaemenid context, in contrast to Parthian reliefs later on
Herodotus in the quote above says they have no altars, and they sacrifice outside in the natural world on top of mountains etc.
BUT
there were fire altars and fire temples, attested archaeologically and in classical authors
Dio Sic 17 talks about Alexander ordering the peoples of Asia to put out the sacred fire in honour of Hephaestion
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Pausanias, 5.27.5-6 talks about fire altars in Hierocaesareia and Hypaepa in Lydia
it is possible that Herodotus does not count fire altars as actual altars, where one might make an offering in the Greek world
Temples
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BUT
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there are some temple complexes found in the provinces in the Achaemenid period, but not much in the heartland
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but it is possible that the Persians were worshipping in a manner very unfamiliar to the Greeks, and that is why Herodotus claims they had no temples
Rituals
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lan is most widespread, with large quantities going towards it, seems to happen regularly throughout the year
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Ahuramazda
mentioned only 13 times in Persepolis texts - may reflect his particular importance in the royal sphere
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in Zoroastrianism, Ahuramazda is also the dominant deity, he is mentioned in the Avesta
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DEa (Darius inscription): "who created this earth, who created yonder sky"
he is also the representative of all good against all evil, he is the essence of all goodness. Ahriman is the essence of all evil, his enemy
their cosmic battle is discussed by Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris
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Satin and magus
the Persepolis Fortification Texts document that Assyrian, Elamite, and Iranian gods were worshipped in Persis
e.g. PF 339
"7 quarts (of wine) for Ahura Mazda, 20 quarts for the (Elamite) god Humban"
the satin (Elamite for priest) was responsible for sacrificing to the foreign gods worshipped in Persia, as well as to Ahura Mazda, and to mountains and rivers (regarded as sacred)
the magus is different, with diff responsibilities:
PF 759
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has been interpreted as a ceremony relating to Ahura Mazda, but none of the texts mentioning the lan specify the deity
the notion that the magi were connected with Ahura Mazda should be dismissed, as when Ahura Mazda is mentioned in Persepolis texts, it is the satins that perform sacrifice
seems that the magi upheld the religious ceremonies of the Median population of Persia, ensuring the continuity of Median cults and worship of Median gods
The Avesta
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written in Avestan, but earliest surviving manuscripts are much later than the Achaemenid era - they date from 10th Century AD
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Zoroaster is celebrated as the founder of the religion, but we dont know if he actually existed historically, and we dont know when to date him to (ranges between 600 and 6000 BC)
by 4th century BC, there is a religious figure known to the Greeks as Zoroaster, written about by Plato and Pliny
source problems
classical authors (Hdt, Xenophon, Plutarch etc.) provide most detailed accounts but represent partial and external perspectives
Achaemenid royal inscriptions have strong religious overtones but little explicit theological or cultic info
the Persepolis Fortification Archive records commodities issued for offerings, but no detail about contents of rituals
both the royal inscriptions and persepolis fortification archive talk about the heartland - we have little outside of this
Xerxes
Daiva Inscription
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trilingual, written on stone tablets - three copies exist in OP, one in Elamite, one in Babylonian
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interpretation:
if we align this inscription with other royal inscriptions, they all try to convey eternal truths about the Persian king and his empire
The purpose of the inscriptions is not to record individual political events, but to emphasise the king's divine rule secured by adhering to the values of Ahura Mazda
therefore, it is possible that instead of referring to a particular event, Xerxes affirmed the major law which secured the peace of the empire: loyalty to the king
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loyalty to the king is met with tolerance for local cults and religious ceremonies, disloyalty means these liberties will be curtailed
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Herodotus
1.183
"In the time of Cyrus, there was still in the precinct a statue of a man (Greek: andrias), twelve cubits high and made of solid gold"
"Darius intended to remove the statue, but did not dare; but Xerxes son of Darius did take it and killed the priest who tried to prevent him"
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BUT, Herodotus uses the Greek word andrias (statue of a human figure), not agalma (statue of a divinity)
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Evidence from Egypt
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Elephantine letters
C1
Pherendates is the satrap of Egypt, and sends this letter to all the wab-priests of Khnum, Lord of Elephantine
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C3
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they send this letter in December of 493, although it was customary to elect the lesionis in July/August
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yet Humban does not show up in the royal inscriptions, or in the reports of Classical authors
they could just be deities that are worshipped in the heart of the empire, where the Elamites had originally been
could be that their popularity declined over time, so that by the time Greek authors were writing they were not so prominent
unsure what the hierarchies between these gods was at Persepolis, or how associated they were
to be specific and cautious, we can say that based on the PFA, in the time of Darius I, and in the heartland, we have a range of deities including Elamite gods receiving state sponsored offerings
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