Lower half of one of the Elephantine papyri, containing a plea for the reconstruction of the Jewish temple at Elephantine, and dated to "..the Year 17 of King Darius (II), under Arsames..." (407 BCE).[1]
"Arsames" is the
Hellenized form of the
Old Persian name Aršāma[a] ("having a hero's strength"), which was a common name within the
PersianAchaemenid family as well as amongst the Persian elite of the
Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BC).[4][5] The name is a compound, composed of aršan ("male, hero") and ama ("strength").[4][b] The name is attested in
Aramaic as ʾršm.[4] The feminine form of the name, *Aršāmā (Greek Arsamē), is attested in the daughter of
Darius the Great (522–486 BC).[4]
Career
According to
Ctesias, Sarsamas was appointed satrap by general
Megabyzus.[6] Previously, an ancient Egyptian prince called
Inaros openly revolted against
Artaxerxes I and the Achaemenid rule and had slain in battle the satrap,
Achaemenes. In 454 BC, shortly after his appointment, Arsames helped suppress the revolt by defeating
Athenian reinforcements sent in the
Nile Delta.[7][8]
After the revolt, Arsames undertook a conciliatory policy towards the native Egyptians in order to avoid igniting new revolts; likely for this reason, he allowed Inaros' son Thannyras to maintain his lordship on part of the Delta, as
Herodotus reports .[7][8]
While his aforementioned early career is reported only by Greek sources, Arsames' later life is known from several letters written in
Aramaic, mainly compiled by the
Jewish priesthood of
Elephantine and belonging to the
Elephantine papyri, and which are datable from 428 BC onwards. It is known that in 423 BC he supported
Darius II in his successful coup d'état, and later he was called back to
Susa in Persia between 410 and 407/6 as reported by other documents, among these some exchange letters with his estate manager Nakhtihor[2][9] and with a man named Artavant who probably acted as satrap of Egypt ad interim.[10]
In 410 BCE a revolt erupted at Elephantine, where an established Jewish community lived along with the native Egyptians, and where the two communities had their local temple, that of
Yahu and
Khnum respectively. Jews were well tolerated by Arsames and by the Persian occupants in general; however, it seems that the Jewish practice of
sacrificing goats to their god was perceived as an insult by the clergy of the neighbouring temple of the Egyptian ram-headed deity Khnum.[14] Taking advantage of one of Arsames' absences, the clergy of Khnum corrupted a local military commander, Vidaranag, and unimpededly instigated and succeeded into the destruction of the temple of Yahu. Upon his return, Arsames punished the perpetrators, but he felt himself compelled to avoid any controversy by prohibiting the ritual slaughter of goats.[15][14] However, the multiple pleas by the Elephantine Jews for the reconstruction of their temple seem to have remained unheard for some years by the notables in Judah and Jerusalem to whom they had written.[15][16]
Arsames is no longer mentioned after 406 BC, and it is likely that he died shortly before the
Egyptian reconquest of Egypt achieved by the native pharaoh
Amyrtaios in 404 BC.[2]
Seal of Arsama
Arsama is also known from an engraved cylinder seal, in which he is seen killing
Saka enemies, with a depiction of the crowns of Lower and Upper Egypt, worn by falcons.[17][18]
^
abcRay, John D. (2006). "Egypt, 525–404 B.C.". In Boardman, John; Hammond, N.D.L.; Lewis, D.M.; Ostwald, M. (eds.). The Cambridge Ancient History (2nd ed.), vol. IV – Persia, Greece and the Western Mediterranean c. 525 to 479 B.C. Cambridge University Press. p. 266.
ISBN0-521-22804-2.
^
abcdBresciani, E. (1986).
"ARŠĀMA". In
Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume II/5: Armenia and Iran IV–Art in Iran I. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 546.
ISBN978-0-71009-105-5.
^Canepa, Matthew P. (2018). "Rival Visions and New Royal Identities in Post-Achaemenid Anatolia and the Caucasus". The Iranian Expanse: Transforming Royal Identity through Architecture, Landscape, and the Built Environment, 550 BCE–642 CE. University of California Press. p. 109.
ISBN978-0520379206.
^"Another seal, also from Egypt, shows a Persian king, his left hand grasping an Egyptian with an Egyptian hairdo (pschent), whom he thrusts through with his lance while holding four prisoners with a rope around their necks." Briant, Pierre (2002).
From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire. Eisenbrauns. p. 215.
ISBN9781575061207.
^
abRice, Michael (1999). Who's Who in Ancient Egypt. Routledge. pp. 42–43.
^Kuhrt, Amélie (2010). The Persian Empire: a corpus of sources from the Achaemenid period (2nd (electronic publication) ed.). London:
Routledge. pp. 856–8.
ISBN9781136016943.
Tuplin, Christopher J.; Ma, John, eds. (2020). Aršāma and his World: The Bodleian Letters in Context: Volume I: The Bodleian Letters. Oxford University Press.
ISBN978-0199687640.
Tuplin, Christopher J.; Ma, John, eds. (2020). Aršāma and his World: The Bodleian Letters in Context: Volume II: Bullae and Seals. Oxford University Press.
ISBN978-0198860709.
Tuplin, Christopher J.; Ma, John, eds. (2020). Aršāma and his World: The Bodleian Letters in Context: Volume III: Aršāma's World. Oxford University Press.
ISBN978-0198860716.