User:Alvestrand/Ancient Persian sources

This is a list of persons who have created literature referring to Cyrus the Great; the purpose of the list is to get some facts about the sources used in the conflict described on User:Alvestrand/Opis notes.

Each section is one person (researcher or author) whose contribution is used as a source. Ancient sources such as the Nabonius Chronicle are not included; the collective wisdom seems to be that these should only be used when cited by a (relatively) modern expert as supporting a statement.

The list was initially created by cut-and-pasting all the references sections from the various Opis notes article in here and starting to sort by hand. The contributors are sorted by date of first listed publication.

Another place to look for these people is in Category:Assyriologists.

Herodotus
Greek historian, 484 BC - 425 BC - see Herodotus, which also has links to online versions of his Histories.


 * Herodotus (1862). History of Herodotus. University of Lausanne, 261-262. (Digitized Apr 2, 2008)

Max Duncker

 * Max Duncker, The History of Antiquity, tr. Evelyn Abbott. London, Richard Bentley * Son (1881) p. 351-352. ISBN 2792979279

George Rawlinson (1812-1902)
19th century English scholar and historian - see George Rawlinson


 * Rawlinson, George (1885). The Seven Great Monarchies of the Eastern World, New York, John B. Eldan Press, reprint (2007) p. 121-123. In 4 volumes. ISBN 9781428647

George Beardo Grundy

 * Grundy, George Beardo (1901). The Great Persian War and Its Preliminaries. J. Murray, 113-115.

A. T. Olmstead

 * Olmstead, A. T., History of the Persian Empire [Achaemenid Period]. University of Chicago Press (1948). ISBN 0-226-62777-2

Hayim Tadmor (1923 - 2005)
Israeli assyriologist - see Hayim Tadmor


 * Tadmor, Hayim, Historical Implications of the Correct Rendering of Akkadian dâku, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 17, No. 2 (Apr., 1958), pp. 129-141 1958 (JSTOR entry) - cited in Talk:Battle of Opis, but not in article (yet).

David George Hogarth

 * Hogarth, David George; Driver, Samuel Rolles. Authority and Archaeology, Sacred and Profane, p. 202. Ayer Publishing, 1971. ISBN 0836957717

Samuel Rolles Driver

 * Hogarth, David George; Driver, Samuel Rolles. Authority and Archaeology, Sacred and Profane, p. 202. Ayer Publishing, 1971. ISBN 0836957717

A. K. Grayson

 * Grayson, A.K. Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles. Locust Valley, NY: JJ Augustin, 1975. ISBN 0802053157
 * Grayson; Brosius, Maria. The Persian Empire from Cyrus II to Artaxerxes I. LACTOR, 2000;

A. Leo Oppenheim

 * Oppenheim, A.L. "The Babylonian Evidence of Achaemenian Rule in Mesopotamia", in The Cambridge History of Iran vol. 2, p. 539. Ilya Gershevitch (ed). Cambridge University Press, 1993. ISBN 0521200911
 * Oppenheim, A. Leo, in Pritchard, James B. Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament. Princeton University Press, 1950

Christine Palou

 * Palou, Christine; Palou, Jean, La Perse Antique. Presses Universitaires de France (1962).

Jean Palou

 * Palou, Christine; Palou, Jean, La Perse Antique. Presses Universitaires de France (1962).

Richard N. Frye

 * Frye, Richard N., The Heritage of Persia. Weidenfeld and Nicolson (1962), 40, 43-4, 46-7, 70, 75, 78-90, 93, 104, 108, 122, 127, 206-7. ISBN 1-56859-008-3

T. Cutler Young, Jr.

 * T. Cutler Young, Jr., "The rise of the Persians to imperial power under Cyrus the Great", in The Cambridge Ancient History vol. 4, p. 39. John Boardman (ed). Cambridge University Press, 1982. ISBN 0521228042

Amelie Kuhrt
Professor at University College London, specializing in Near East history from 3000 BC to 100 BC - see Amélie Kuhrt


 * Kuhrt, Amélie. "Babylonia from Cyrus to Xerxes", in The Cambridge Ancient History: Vol IV - Persia, Greece and the Western Mediterranean, pp. 112-138. Ed. John Boardman. Cambridge University Press, 1982. ISBN 0521228042
 * Kuhrt, A. The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources of the Achaemenid Period, pp. 48-51. Routledge, 2007. ISBN 0415436281
 * Kurht, Amélie. "Usurpation, conquest and ceremonial: from Babylon to Persia." Rituals of Royalty: Power and Ceremonial in Traditional Societies, p. 48. David Cannadine, Simon Price (eds). Cambridge University Press, 1992. ISBN 0521428912

Andrew Robert Burn

 * Andrew Robert Burn, D. M. Lewis,"Persia and the Greeks", Published by Stanford University Press, 1984. According to User:Konstock, D.M. Lewis did not co-author "Persia and the Greeks", he only wrote a postscipt.

Ilya Gershevitch

 * Fischer, W.B., Ilya Gershevitch, and Ehsan Yarshster, The Cambridge History of Iran, Cambridge University Press (1993) p. 145. In 1 volume. ISBN 0521200911
 * Ilya Gershevitch, ed., The Cambridge History of Iran. Vol. 2: The Median and Achaemenian Periods. Cambridge University Press (1985) ISBN 0521200911

Muhammad Abdulkadyrovich Dandamaev (born 1928)
According to bio found at, he is a Dagestan (Russian Federation) born professor at the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts at the Russian Academy of Sciences. Slavery in Babylonia was his "habilitation thesis" (equiv Doctoral thesis). PhD (1959) was on the Behistun Inscription. He has been Chief Researcher of the institute since 1997, and is a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Languages: classical languages, Old Persian, Akkadian. English and some other European languges. Native language is Lak (one of the Caucasian languages).

First listed publication according to this bio in 1972 (Russian only), "Culture and Social Institutions" was published in 1973 according to that list, and is also translated to Iranian and published in Tehran.

According to Amazon:


 * Muhammad A. Dandamaev, "A Political History of the Achaemenid Empire", ISBN 978-9004091726, Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers (August 1, 1997), 373 pages.
 * Slavery in Babylonia: From Nabopolassar to Alexander the Great (626-331 B.C.) by Muhammad A. Dandamaev (Hardcover - Oct 1984)
 * The Culture and Social Institutions of Ancient Iran by Muhammad A. Dandamaev, Vladimir G. Lukonin, D. J. Dadson, and Philip L. Kohl (Paperback - Nov 11, 2004)

W. J. Vogelsang

 * Dandamaev, MA; Vogelsang, WJ (trans.). A Political History of the Achaemenid Empire, pp. 41-42, 49. BRILL, 1989. ISBN 9004091726

Paul-Alaian Beaulieu

 * Beaulieu, Paul-Alain. The Reign of Nabonidus, King of Babylon, 556-539 B.C., p. 226. Yale University Press, 1990. ISBN 0300043147

John Boardman

 * Boardman, John "Nabonidus: Babylonia from 605-539 B.C.", in The Cambridge Ancient History vol. 3.2, p. 249. Contributor John Boardman. Cambridge University Press, 1991. ISBN 0521227178

P. R. S. Moorey

 * Moorey, P.R.S., The Biblical Lands, VI. Peter Bedrick Books, New York (1991). ISBN 0-87226-247-2

Max Von Mallowan

 * Max Von Mallowan. Cyrus the Great. In Cambridge History of Iran (Volume 2: The Median and Achaemenean Periods), Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1993, pp.392-419.

Ehsan Yarshster

 * Fischer, W.B., Ilya Gershevitch, and Ehsan Yarshster, The Cambridge History of Iran, Cambridge University Press (1993) p. 145. In 1 volume. ISBN 0521200911

W. B. Fischer

 * Fischer, W.B., Ilya Gershevitch, and Ehsan Yarshster, The Cambridge History of Iran, Cambridge University Press (1993) p. 145. In 1 volume. ISBN 0521200911

A. Cotterell
Seems like a very general source.


 * Cotterell, A. (1998). The Pimilco Dictionary of Classical Civilizations: Greece, Rome, Persia, India and China. London, England: Pimilco. In pp.120-121]

Gwendolyn Leick

 * Leick, Gwendolyn. "Nabonidus". Who's who in the Ancient Near East, p. 112. Routledge, 1999. ISBN 0415132304

Pierre Briant

 * Briant, Pierre. From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire. Eisenbrauns, 2002. ISBN 1575061201, ISBN 1575060310

Rainer Albertz

 * Albertz, Rainer; Green, David (trans.). Israel in Exile: The History and Literature of the Sixth Century B.C.E., pp. 69-70. Society of Biblical Literature, 2003. ISBN 1589830555

Gauthier Tolini

 * Tolini, Gauthier. "Quelques elements concernant la prise de Babylone par Cyrus." Note 3 of Achaemenid Research on Texts and Archaeology, March 2005

Duncan B. Campbell

 * Campbell, Duncan B.; Hook, Adam. Ancient Siege Warfare: Persians, Greeks, Carthaginians and Romans 546-146 BC, p. 9. Osprey Publishing, 2005. ISBN 1841767700

Adam Hook

 * Campbell, Duncan B.; Hook, Adam. Ancient Siege Warfare: Persians, Greeks, Carthaginians and Romans 546-146 BC, p. 9. Osprey Publishing, 2005. ISBN 1841767700

Jane McIntosh

 * McIntosh, Jane. Ancient Mesopotamia, pp. 113-14. ABC-CLIO, 2005. ISBN 1576079651

Maria Brosius

 * Brosius, Maria. The Persians, p. 11. Routledge, 2006. ISBN 0415320909.

David Vanderhooft

 * Vanderhooft, David. "Cyrus II, Liberator or Conqueror? Ancient Historiography concerning Cyrus in Babylon", in Lipschitz, Oded; Oeming, Manfred (eds.), Judah and the Judeans in the Persian Period, pp. 351-372, Eisenbraun 2006, ISBN 1-57506-104-X

Wilfred G. Lambert
Emeritus professor of the history of Assyria at the University of Birmingham in England according to. Name was misspelled as "William" in one version of Battle of Opis.


 * Lambert, Wilfred G. "Notes Brèves 14 - Cyrus defeat of Nabonidus", Nouvelles Assyriologiques Brèves et Utilitaires no. 1, 2007 (March).

Paul John
According to a comment by User:Konstock on Talk:Battle of Opis, Paul John does not seem to be an academic historian - according to the back sleeve of the book "[h]e has a degree in engineering as well as a graduate degree from a Jesuit University following his conversion to Catholicism".


 * Paul John, The Genesis of Misconception: Book 1, Published by Trafford Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-1412034814. This book seems to be a critique of the Bible and a challenge to belief in the literal truth of the Bible (see the Amazon review).

Simon J. Sherwin

 * Sherwin, Simon J. "Old Testament monotheism and Zoroastrian influence" The God of Israel: Studies of an Inimitable Deity, p. 123. Robert P. Gordon (ed). Cambridge University Press, 2007. ISBN 0521873657

James Ussher

 * Ussher, James; Larry Pierce, Marion Pierce (2007). The Annals of the World. New Leaf Publishing Group, 132. ISBN 0890515107.

Larry Pierce

 * Ussher, James; Larry Pierce, Marion Pierce (2007). The Annals of the World. New Leaf Publishing Group, 132. ISBN 0890515107.

Marion Pierce

 * Ussher, James; Larry Pierce, Marion Pierce (2007). The Annals of the World. New Leaf Publishing Group, 132. ISBN 0890515107.

Unnamed authors

 * Nos ancêtres de l'Antiquité, 1991, Christian Settipani, p. 146, 152 and 157

J. A. De Gobineau (1816-1882)
Racist theoretican of the 19th century - see Arthur de Gobineau.

He was French minister to Persia in 1854-58 and again from 1861-1864. He published a Traité des Ecritures Cunéiformes in 1864, but his main work is An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races, published in 1853-1855. His writings. which idolized Cyrus the Great, were widely cited at the beginning of the 20th century, but he is not now regarded as an authoritative source.