religion Flashcards
(10 cards)
interaction of the persians with greek religion
xerxes destroys many temples in herodotus - destroyed the old temple of athena and the older parthenon
persians also responsible for the destruction of temple of Phocaea
assyrian religious policy
usually reduced to israel and judah - reduced to vassal states - assyrian inscriptions make references to destruction and deportation of statues of gods
not mentioned in the hebrew bible that the cult of assyrian gods was ever actively imposed upon them
assur as a god not preserved in greek/roman or hebrew texts - imposition either didn’t happen or was very unsuccessful
why was judaism traditionally repressed
repression of religion uncommon in ancient world - problem is interaction of polytheism and monotheism - religion as a vehicle for rebellion / hostile to state - persian king as a god - undercut by monotheistic ideas
impiety by cambyses?
epitaph of the apis bull - in herodotus 3 impious killing of the apis bull - stele from saqqara carries a contrasting epitaph - says he made all the offerings himself
cambyses installed troops in egyptian temple compound - profaned temple with their unclean things, seized festivals and processions - temple left standing but no longer functioning as such
Darius and Apollo
letters between Gadatas and Darius - one in which darius is scolding for attempting to extract tribute from the gardeners of Apollo - begins to claim an ancestral affinity with apollo (though the rest is cut off)
1) good evidence for transportation of plants across empire to build an imperial paradeisos
2) only instance of the persian king claiming a greek god, but also respect of religious practices
3) has been suggested that it was actual an invention of the 1st century to evade taxation under the roman empire by claiming an ancient tax exemption but seems unlikely that someone would have been familiar enough with the religious nuance of the achaemenid empire to sufficiently manufacture it
4) consider whether the relative failure of persian supremacy in a greek context may have been because religious and secular political power were quite distinct (especially in athens)
xerxes at the temple of babylon
herodotus suggests some kind of destruction/theft oriented action which is carried forward in tradition
herodotus says he stole a statue of Bel and killed the priest without giving a reason - later authors link to punishment for revolt - later the text the greater the destruction (persian confirmation? Daiva inscription of xerxes)
no archeologiucal evidence that the temple was destroyed - documents suggest that. it continues functioning and structural remains still there
daiva inscription of xerxes
references destroying the ‘sanctuaries of daiva (demons)’ and enforcing the worship of ahuramazda but does not confirm which country is the one that rebelled or worshipped demons just says it is one within the list of those he now controls
babylonian revolt
in the year of revolt - archives of nearly all elite families from the area associated with temples in northern babylonia (babylon and surrounding) come to sharp end - killed?
reorganisation of the temple in years that follow - takes away prerogatives, privileges and honours of these families
pro-persian new order of elites move into position
basic precepts of ‘persian’ imperial worship: ahuramazda
no evidence of Ahuramazda worship before darius, neo-assyrian winged figure looks like him but just typical near eastern iconography -> very likely darius made him the significant figure he became
‘greatest of all gods’ is a typical description of him in documents and imperial inscriptions -> acknowledges then that there are other gods, also described as one amongst his household deities - perhaps ahuramazda particularly associated with his kingship but has other gods presumably
basic precepts of ‘persian’ imperial religion: physical worship and principles
fire altars shown in friezes
the principle of the truth and the lie
