Dan, Roberto. 2023. Studies on the architecture and archaeology of the Achaemenid Empire. Dynamics of interaction and transmission between centre and periphery. Roma: ISMEO – The International Association for Mediterranean and Oriental Studies.
The relations between the centre and periphery of the Achaemenid Empire have been, for several years, the focus of numerous in-depth studies. The characteristics of this World Empire, which was a new phenomenon in the ancient Near East, have stimulated this scholarly research, based on written sources, as well as archaeological and cultural evidence. Quite often, the goal of these studies was to assess the impact of the empire’s core? A concept whose cultural outline warrants precise definition?within the regions under its control. For several decades, the basic question on the matter put forward by Roger Moorey (Cemeteries of the First Millennium B.C. at Deve Höyük, 1980: 128), who challenged the significance of the material traces of Persian domination (considered too flimsy), was echoed by many historians, who indeed have asked whether there “ever was a Persian empire.” That question was raised by Amélie Kuhrt and Heleen Sancisi-Weerdenburg in the introduction of a book whose title was, relevantly, Centre and Periphery (Achaemenid History, IV, 1990).
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- 1. Observations on the Origin of Building Foundation Rites in Achaemenid Architecture
- 2. Royal Palaces on Artificial Platforms: from Aššur to Persepolis.
- 3. From Pasargadae to Naqš-e Rostam: Some Reflections on the Change in the Architectural Tradition of Achaemenid Funerary Complexes
- 4. Further Remarks on the Urartian Tower-Temple and Achaemenid Towers
- 5. Inscribed Column Bases in Achaemenid Architecture
- 6. Achaemenid Rock-cut Niches and Inscriptions: Investigating the Origin of an Exogenous Tradition
- 7. The Achaemenid apadana: Some Old and Recent Cases of Misleading Attribution
- 8. Achaemenid Invisibility: North-Western Iran, a Case Study
- 9. Further Comparisons between Urartu and Achaemenid Civilizations