Posted on 04/12/2008 5:47:46 PM PDT by blam
Achaemenid inscription names uncle of Darius in Old Persian for first time
Tehran Times Culture Desk
TEHRAN -- The name of Farnaka, who was the uncle of Darius I, has been identified in a newly discovered Old Persian Achaemenid inscription for the first time.
Written in cuneiform, the stone inscription bears the names of Darius the Great and his uncle, Farnaka, the Persian service of CHN reported on Friday.
His name had previously only been found in historical texts written in other languages. Greek texts refer to him as Pharnaces and Elamite texts call him Parnaka.
“Sometime ago, I discovered the tablet at the foundation of a monument during an official mission,” archaeologist Shahrokh Razmju said.
Razmju and Professor Nicholas Sims-Williams of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, who is a leading expert on several ancient languages, are trying to decipher the rest of the inscription, which has been damaged in some lines.
Razmju described Farnaka as an important official during the Achaemenid era and added, “The inscription also refers to Farnaka’s post as chief superintendent of receipts and payments.”
“The style of engraving of the tablet and the type of stone are different than similar inscriptions previously found in Persepolis,” Razmju explained.
GGG Ping.
That name sounds sort of like modern Iranian. I don’t know any Persian but have seen enough names to know that sounds like some of them.
Are ancestors that predate islam deemed to be infidels?
He had better be careful to keep his tax returns up to date. They have his name, now ...
-Traveler
Wheeew!
Finally I can sleep now, knowing that!
Thucydides mentions an Artabazus, son of Pharnaces, who was sent by Xerxes to be a satrap in western Asia Minor in the 470s. A satrap in the same area in the late fifth century and early fourth century, known from Thucydides and Xenophon, was Pharnabazus the son of Pharnaces. Thucydides quotes a treaty in 411 B.C. which mentions "the sons of Pharnaces" so evidently Pharnabazus' brother was also of some importance.
Much later, Mithridates the Great, king of Pontus from 111 to 63 B.C., famous for his wars against Rome, was the grandson of a Pharnaces. Mithridates had a son named Pharnaces, whose defeat by Caesar in 47 B.C. is famous for the message Caesar sent to Rome afterwards: veni, vidi, vici.
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Thanks Blam. |
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From the description of his job in the article, Farnaka WAS the tax man.
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