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HomeAbstracta IranicaVolume 443. Histoire, Art et Archéologie, ...3.2. Ouest de l’Iran3.2.2. Pré-Achéménides et Achémén...Jennifer Finn. “Persian Collectio...

3. Histoire, Art et Archéologie, Période pré-Islamique
3.2. Ouest de l’Iran
3.2.2. Pré-Achéménides et Achéménides
25

Jennifer Finn. “Persian Collections. Centre and periphery at Achaemenid imperial capitals”

Reinhardt Pirngruber
Bibliographical reference

Jennifer Finn. “Persian Collections. Centre and periphery at Achaemenid imperial capitals”, Studia Orientalia Electronica 9.2 (2021), p. 154-172.

Full text

1The author analyses the Achaemenid Great Kings’ practice of collecting objects of antiquarian character from both regions in the Empire’s periphery (Babylonia, Egypt) and beyond its boundaries (Greece). These objects were often of religious nature, included items that were monumental in character, as was the case with an Egyptian-style statue of Darius found in Susa, as well as small votive objects (beads, plaques, etc.) and were relocated from their original context to the Persian imperial capitals Persepolis and Susa. Particular attention is given to the rich evidence from the reign of Xerxes in the latter city, which already under the Elamites had assumed the role of a ‘veritable storehouse of the most treasured and recognized Mesopotamian antiquities’ (p. 160).

2According to the author, the Great Kings’ collection practice pursued a twofold aim. First, it served to claim supremacy over conquered regions – on the ideological level, in the case of Athenian statues carried off to Susa, and matter-of-factly in the case of crushed rebellions in Babylonia and Egypt. Second, by focusing on objects referencing earlier kings, it firmly rooted the Achaemenids in the sequence of Near Eastern kingship rulers.

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References

Electronic reference

Reinhardt Pirngruber, “Jennifer Finn. “Persian Collections. Centre and periphery at Achaemenid imperial capitals””Abstracta Iranica [Online], Volume 44 | 2022, document 25, Online since 30 July 2022, connection on 07 December 2023. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/abstractairanica/54870; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/abstractairanica.54870

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