Author
Author: Arshama
Publication Date
500-400 BCE
Publication Place
-
Bodleian Libraries
Type
kitap
Language
Aramaic (Imperial)
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
Yes
Physical Dimensions
1 letter fragment
Library
Digital Library of the Middle East
Library Asset ID
Bodleian Library Pell. Aram. XV
Record ID
31a7a00a-494e-46e2-b140-6de2738361fe
Library Location
Bodleian Libraries
Date
500-400 BCE
Notes
The letters of the Persian prince and satrap (governor) of Egypt Arshama to Nakhthor, the steward of his estates in Egypt, are rare survivors from the ancient Achaemenid empire. These fascinating documents offer a vivid snapshot of linguistic, social, economic, cultural, organizational and political aspects of the Achaemenid empire as lived by a member of the elite and his entourage. Arshama, prince of the royal house and satrap (governor) of Egypt in the fifth century BC, was also a great landowner, holding estates in Egypt as well as in Babylonia (modern Iraq) where he also spent time. In Egypt, Arshama’s “house” was administered by his steward (paqyd) Nakhthor. Arshama’s letters to Nakhthor, two leather bags and clay sealings, entered the Bodleian Library in 1944. They were written on leather, folded concertina-wise and closed with string and a lump of clay bearing Arshama’s seal. Once read, they were stored in a bag. The letters are written in Aramaic, a widely diffused Semitic language used for administrative purposes in the Persian empire. Arshama’s instructions would have been spoken in Persian, written down in Aramaic, read by an Egyptian and finally annotated in Egyptian, exemplifying a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual empire. | more | less
Parçası Olduğu
Persian Manuscripts
Malzeme
parchment
