de l’élamite, du babylonien et de l’araméen. Paris: Gallimard.15 Liverani, M. (2003). The rise and fall of Media. In G.B. Lanfranchi, M. Roaf, and R. Rollinger (eds.), Continuity of Empire (?): Assyria, Media, Persia (History of the Ancient Near East / Monographs 5). Padova: S.A.R.G.O.N. Editrice, pp. 1–12.
16 Mousavi, A. (2012). Persepolis: Discovery and Afterlife of a World Wonder, Berlin/New York: de Gruyter.
17 Muscarella, O.W. (1980). Excavated and unexcavated Achaemenian art. In D. Schmandt‐Besserat (ed.), Ancient Persia: The Art of an Empire (Invited Lectures on the Middle East at the University of Texas at Austin Vol. 4). Malibu: Undena Publications, pp. 23–42.
18 Roaf, M. (2010). The role of the Medes in the architecture of the Achaemenids. In J. Curtis, St J. Simpson (eds.), The World of Achaemenid Persia: History, Art and Society in Iran and the Ancient Near East. London: Tauris, pp. 247–253.
19 Sancisi‐Weerdenburg, H. (1988). Was there ever a Median empire? In H. Sancisi‐Weerdenburg, A. Kuhrt (eds.), Method and Theory (Achaemenid History 3). Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, pp. 197–212.
20 Sarraf, M.R. (2003). Archaeological excavations in Tepe Ekbatana (Hamadan) by the Iranian Archaeological Mission between 1983 and 1999. In G.B. Lanfranchi, M. Roaf, and R. Rollinger (eds.), Continuity of Empire (?): Assyria, Media, Persia (History of the Ancient Near East / Monographs 5). Padova: S.A.R.G.O.N. Editrice, pp. 269–279.
21 Schmidt, E.F. (1953). Persepolis I (The University of Chicago Oriental Institute Publications 68). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
22 Schmitt, R. (1999). Beiträge zu altpersischen Inschriften. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag.
23 Stronach, D. (1978). Pasargadae. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
24 Stronach, D. (2003). Independent Media archaeological notes from the homeland. In G.B. Lanfranchi, M. Roaf, and R. Rollinger (eds.), Continuity of Empire (?): Assyria, Media, Persia (History of the Ancient Near East / Monographs 5). Padova: S.A.R.G.O.N. Editrice, pp. 233–248.
25 Stronach, D. (2011). Court dress and riding dress at Persepolis: new approaches to old questions. In J. Alvarez‐Mon, M.B. Garrison (eds.), Elam and Persia. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, pp. 475–487.
26 Stronach, D. (2012a). The territorial limits of ancient Media: an architectural perspective. In H.D. Baker, K. Kaniuth, and A. Otto (eds.), Stories of Long Ago: Festschrift für Michael Roaf (Alter Orient und Altes Testament 397). Münster: Ugarit‐Verlag, pp. 667–684.
27 Stronach, D. (2012b). Builders for the ages: Elamites, Medes, Achaemenids and Parthians (1500 BC – 224 AD). In D. Stronach, A. Mousavi (eds.), Ancient Iran from the Air. Darmstadt/Mainz: von Zabern, pp. 39–75.
28 Stronach, D., Roaf, M. (2007). Nush‐i Jan I: The Major Buildings of the Median Settlement. London: British Institute of Persian Studies.
29 Vargyas, P. (2008). The silver hoard from Nush‐i Jan revisited. Iranica Antiqua, 43, pp. 167–183.
30 Wilkinson, T. (2012). Earth and water: the Land of Iran. In D. Stronach, A. Mousavi (eds.), Ancient Iran from the Air. Darmstadt/Mainz: von Zabern, pp. 12–27.
FURTHER READING
1 Boucharlat, R. (2005). Iran. In P. Briant, R. Boucharlat (eds.), L’archéologie de l’empire achéménide: nouvelles recherches (Persika 6). Paris: de Boccard, pp. 221–292. Overviews find spots of Achaemenid times in modern Iran, among them those of the ancient province of Media.
2 Chevalier, N. (1989). Hamadan 1913: une mission oubliée. Iranica Antiqua, 24, pp. 245–251. Gives a brief description of the little‐known excavations that were conducted at Hamadan close to 100 years ago.
3 Gopnik, H. (2011). The Median citadel of Godin period II. In H. Gopnik, M.S. Rothman (eds.), On the High Road: The History of Godin Tepe, Iran. Ontario: Royal Ontario Museum Press, pp. 285–347 and 351–362. Represents the final excavation report on the Median settlement at Godin Tepe.
4 Knapton, P., Sarraf, M.R., and Curtis, J. (2001). Inscribed bases from Hamadan. Iran, 39, pp. 99–117. Provides a valuable treatment of the inscribed Achaemenid column bases that have come to light at Hamadan.
5 Muscarella, O.W. (1994). Miscellaneous Median matters. In H. Sancisi‐Weerdenburg, A. Kuhrt (eds.), Continuity and Change (Achaemenid History 8). Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, pp. 57–64. Stresses that we have no archaeological knowledge of recognizable Median art to date, but that nevertheless its existence cannot be ruled out.
6 Roaf, M. (2010). The role of the Medes in the architecture of the Achaemenids. In J. Curtis, St J. Simpson (eds.), The World of Achaemenid Persia: History, Art and Society in Iran and the Ancient Near East. London: I.B. Tauris, pp. 247–253. Reviews the similarities that exist between the surviving remains of Median architecture and certain features in Achaemenid architecture.
7 Sarraf, M.R. (2003). Archaeological excavations in Tepe Ekbatana (Hamadan) by the Iranian Archaeological Mission between 1983 and 1999. In G.B. Lanfranchi, M. Roaf, and R. Rollinger (eds.), Continuity of Empire (?): Assyria, Media, Persia (History of the Ancient Near East/Monographs 5). Padova: S.A.R.G.O.N. Editrice, pp. 269–279. Represents one of the few readily available reports on the recent excavations – excavations that failed to locate any intact Achaemenid building levels.
8 Stronach, D. (2003). Independent media: archaeological notes from the homeland. In G.B. Lanfranchi, M. Roaf, and R. Rollinger (eds.), Continuity of Empire (?): Assyria, Media, Persia (History of the Ancient Near East / Monographs 5). Padova: S.A.R.G.O.N. Editrice, pp. 233–248. Describes certain archaeological features that can be distinguished as Median and uses these to begin to define a Median core area in pre‐Achaemenid times.
9 Stronach, D. (2012a). The territorial limits of ancient Media: an architectural perspective. In H. Baker, K. Kaniuth, and A. Otto (eds.), Stories of long ago: Festschrift für Michael D. Roaf (Alter Orient und Altes Testament 397). Münster: Ugarit‐Verlag, pp. 667–684. Provides a study of the known distribution of a single type of public building, typified by the fort at Tepe Nush‐i Jan, which conceivably reflects the extent of direct Median rule.
10 Stronach, D., Roaf, M. (2007). Nush‐i Jan I: The Major Buildings of the Median Settlement. London: British Institute of Persian Studies. Represents the final excavation report on the history and architecture of the Median settlement at Tepe Nush‐i Jan.
CHAPTER 17 Babylonia and Assyria
Walter Kuntner and Sandra Heinsch
The archeological evidence for Achaemenid rule over Herodotus' ninth satrapy can be described as decidedly wanting, compared to relevant historical sources. Few are, in fact, the architectural remains possessed of Achaemenid imperial character1 that can be found within this territory. In this paper, it consists of the historical regions of Babylonia and Assyria conveniently demarcated by the frontiers of modern Iraq and tentatively partitioned according to Xenophon's Median Wall (Gasche 1995).
The most prominent finding is without doubt the Perserbau abutting the Südburg in Babylon (cf. Figure 70.4). This annex has been dated differently by various scholars: either to the reign of Artaxerxes II on the grounds of epigraphic evidence, or to the reign of Darius I on the basis of the red‐colored finish of the rubble‐and‐gravel
