The study of early Arsakid history with its cultural interdependencies and political entanglements poses fascinating problems. While there are many excellent modern studies (mostly as articles) of specific aspects of the history of early Parthia, there are few scholarly works which attempt a comprehensive overview. In part this may be because no ancient work discussing Parthian history in an extended or systematic fashion has been preserved. A modern appreciation has to draw on material scattered throughout literary, epigraphic, numismatic and archaeological sources.
While it is certainly true that early Parthia has been the topic of numerous articles, when compared to the history of the Achaemenid empire, the Hellenistic states in Asia, and Sasanian Iran, the history of Parthia remains largely understudied. Things are different with other epochs in the history of Western and Central Asia: the range of studies and the amount of materials that have come to light in recent decades concerning the post-Achaemenid period has led to a wide-ranging reassessment of Seleukid history in Iran and Central Asia. Furthermore, work on neighboring areas (Bactria, Syria, Mesopotamia) has also been developing quickly. So the time is ripe for a new comprehensive monograph dealing with early Parthian history.
This book has been written in stages over the past dozen years. Its basic version was conceived and written in 2008–2010. Although I was engaged in other research, I never let go of this important project. For years I have studied the subject, collected the necessary data and sorted them systematically. I was convinced that the Arsakid empire could never make sense until the mystery of the kingdom’s origins under Arsakes I and his successors was satisfactorily resolved. All the relevant hypotheses in this book were formulated a decade ago. Some of them have been published as separate articles. I had the opportunity to study abundant materials regarding the Parthian Age during numerous research trips to Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey, and during visits to museums in Russia (Saint Petersburg, Moscow), Germany (Berlin, Munich), Austria, Italy (Rome, Naples), France (Paris), Great Britain (London, Oxford, Cambridge), and the United States (New York, Princeton, Los Angeles).
I have benefited greatly in the preparation of this book from the research conducted by my former advisor J. Wolski.1 The present book, which goes back to my first monograph published in Munich in 1998,2 is part of my broader research into the post-Achaemenid and Parthian world in Western and Central Asia.3
This book, which explores the early history of the Arsakid state in ca. 248–165 B.C., is an interdisciplinary oeuvre that analyzes literary and epigraphic evidence (in Greek, Latin, Parthian, Old Persian, and Middle Persian) as well numismatic and archaeological sources. Although archaeological data are crucial, they are only available for some regions. In terms of archaeology, Parthia proper (Iranian Khorasan and southern Turkmenistan) remains unequally investigated. In order to understand this period, it is necessary to place the specific geographical and climatic conditions of the Arsakid period within their historical context.
The history of Iran’s post-Achaemenid epoch, also known as the Hellenistic period, is linked in this book to the history of the nomadic world of Central Asia. The Arsakid state was formed at the crossroads of Iranian sedentary, Hellenistic (Macedonian-Greek), and Central Asian nomadic and settled traditions as well. My hope is that old questions may be seen in a new light, and that new factors and interdependencies can be recognized in the history of the Arsakid period.
Acknowledgements: The author wishes to acknowledge the support of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (USA), Gerda Henkel Foundation (Germany), Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany), Universität zu Münster, Seminar für Alte Geschichte (Germany), and Rzeszów University (Poland). Grants from Poland’s Ministry of High Education and Science made the early stages of this project possible.
Special thanks are owed to Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicraft and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO) for its generous support and assistance during my research stays in Iran. I am grateful to the National Museum of Iran in Tehran and to the ICHHTO branches and their members in Tehran, Shiraz, Takht-e Jamshid (Persepolis), Mashhad, Kermanshah, Bisotun, Semnān, and Gorgān for their hospitality and assistance. I am also indebted to my colleagues and friends in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, in particular to Ruslan Muradov, Aydogdy Kurbanov, Edvard V. Rtveladze, Jangar Ilyasov, Konstantin Sheyko, and Aleksey Gorin, for their support for my research during my visits in Central Asia. The same applies to the Turkmenistan’s National Department for Protection, Study and Restoration of Historical and Cultural Monuments, the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan, the Ministry of Culture of Uzbekistan, and the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan. Thanks are due to my colleagues and friends in Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey who supported my research stays in these countries. I owe a great debt of thanks to Peter Funke (Münster, Germany) whose friendship and support for my studies throughout the years have been precious to me. I would like to express my thanks to my friends and colleagues in Russia, in particular to Valery P. Nikonorov, A. Sinitsyn, O. Gabelko, E. Rung, and V. Mordvintseva, for being source of intellectual adventures and hospitality. I also wish to thank to my friends and colleagues in Iran (Daryoosh Akbarzadeh, Seyed Mehdi Mousavi Kouhpar, M. Mohammadzadeh, Ali Asadi), who ever graciously provided their help and assistance. My sincere gratitude to Angelos Chaniotis (IAS, Princeton, USA), Sabine Müller (Marburg University), Glen Bowersock (IAS, Princeton), Heinrich von Staden (IAS, Princeton), Dieter Metzler (Münster, Germany), Josef Wiesehöfer (Kiel University, Germany), Andreas Luther (Kiel University, Germany), Jeffrey D. Lerner (Winston-Salem, USA), Touraj Daryaee (University of California, Irvine, USA), Kathleen Coleman (Harvard University, USA), Rahim Shayegan (UCLA, USA), Viktor N. Pilipko (Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia), Jarosław Bodzek (Cracow University, Poland), Michał Marciak (Cracow University, Poland) and Robert Rollinger (Innsbruck University, Austria) for their manifold comments on earlier parts of this book and discussions on sections presented at scholarly meetings, seminars, and conferences. I am indebted to Zhanbolat Utubaev (Kazakhstan) and G. Bonora (Italy) for providing information on recent excavations and research.
Assistance in checking, translating and proofreading has come over the years from a number of sources. Thanks are due to Jeffrey D. Lerner, Lauren Mosley, Keith Horechka, and Teresa Bałuk-Ulewicz for proofreading parts of the final text. For assistance in preparing the map, I am grateful to Z. Zimnal. As is customary, I wish to point out that in acknowledging the contribution of all those mentioned above I hold them in no way to blame for any of the errors or shortcomings in my book. This study of ancient Parthia is dedicated to the memory of my mother Teresa.
Many years ago, I encountered a scholarly periodical in my high school library, which included an article that he had written about the Seleukids in Iran (Wolski 1981). When in the early 1990s I undertook to write a doctoral dissertation on the Parthians and their relations with Central Asia and nomads, J. Wolski gave me his full support in doing so.
Olbrycht 1998a.
Portions of the following chapters were first published, in different versions: Chapter 8—Olbrycht 2013d, Olbrycht 2016d; Chapter 9—Olbrycht 2015b.