CYRUS I IN AN ELAMITE-PERSIAN MILIEU

The Assyrian Empire was at its height during the reign of Ashurbanipal (669–c. 630 BCE). Sources from Assyria on Elam and the early Persians, especially after the Assyrian sack of Susa in 646, are scarce. Scattered Elamite evidence attests to a number of kings that may be dated to this late period (c. 650–550 BCE). But beyond their names, little is known of these individuals: their chronologies, the scope of their rules, and their relationships with one another are all uncertain. Among those kingdoms was the earliest Persian kingdom ruled by Cyrus the Great’s forefathers, whom Cyrus lists in the famous Cyrus Cylinder, one of the most important extant pieces of evidence for Cyrus’ reign (see discussion later in this chapter). In modern scholarship it has generally been assumed that Cyrus the Great’s grandfather (Kurash in Akkadian), whom Cyrus named “King of Anshan” in the Cyrus Cylinder, is the same as the Cyrus, King of Persia (Parsumash in Akkadian), who sometime in the late 640s sent a delegation to Ashurbanipal.

Such descriptions are typical of the aftermath of Assyrian conquests, both in the fate of the antagonist and the ways in which the neighboring rulers rushed to pay their respects and to curry Assyrian favor. The particulars of the matter, of course, would have been more complicated, even if Ashurbanipal’s rhetoric was true at its core. In the version quoted above, Cyrus’ son, Arukku, was sent as a hostage to the Assyrian court. This was a common practice, a means of ensuring good relations between the Assyrians and their subjects or distant neighbors. The success of such practices was mixed, however. Roughly a decade before the Cyrus of Parsumash episode, Elamite princes that had been given refuge at the Assyrian court were returned and enthroned in Elam with Assyrian help. But these Elamite princes then turned on their erstwhile benefactors and rebelled, which necessitated further Assyrian military action.