FEZANA REC Talk: Courts and Estates of Achaemenid Royal Women

Add event to calendar

AppleGoogleOffice 365OutlookOutlook.comYahoo

Courts and estates of Achaemenid royal women

A Talk By

Wouter F.M. Henkelman

SATURDAY OCTOBER 19, 2024 | 11 AM EASTERN | 8 AM PACIFIC

ZOOM Meeting ID: 889 7312 1567 | Passcode: FEZANA

The Elamite cuneiform tablets from Persepolis, dating to around 500 BCE, afford an unprecedented view on life in the heartland of the Achaemenid empire. Among the many topics in Achaemenid research revolutionised by the new documents is the position of women, especially those that belonged to the royal family. Two women were particularly conspicuous: Irtashtuna, one of wives of Darius I, and Irdabama, plausibly his mother. They held several estates, commanded large workforces, travelled on their own, and headed their own court and economic institution. Part of their “biography” becomes visible through the archival documents, but also by means of the seals impressed on the clay tablets.

Wouter F.M. Henkelman earned his PhD at Leiden University in 2006 with a dissertation about Achaemenid religion as evidenced in the Elamite tablets from Persepolis. Since 2012 he is associate professor of Elamite and Achaemenid history and culture at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris, where he also directs the Sarikhani Centre of Elamite Studies. During his regular visits to Chicago, he studies and edits the Elamite texts in the Persepolis Fortification Archive, now the central source for Achaemenid studies.

Press Room

FEZANA represents a diverse and growing Zarathushti community in North America.

Guided by the blessings of AHURA MAZDA and the teachings of our Prophet Zarathushtra; the Federation was founded in 1987 It serves as the coordinating body for 26 Zoroastrian Associations and 14 Corresponding Groups in the United States and Canada.

The activities of FEZANA are conducted in a spirit of mutual respect, co-operation and unity amongst all Member associations, and with due regard for the principles of GOODNESS, TRUTH, REASON, BENEVOLENCE, IMPLICIT TRUST and CHARITY towards all Mankind.

:+: Baname Khoda Kshnothro Ahura Mazda