Background image: Hero Overpowering a Lion; Winged human-headed bull ca. 721-705 BCE. For more information, visit the Reed Digital Collections.
Note that the date is approximate. The composition of the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) is hypothesized as the weaving together of several textual strands: the J-text (Jahwist, ca. 950 BCE, in Judah), the E-text (Elohist, ca. 850, in Israel), the D-text (Deuteronomist, ca. 600, Jerusalem), the P-text (Priestly, ca. 500, in exile in Babylon), all presumably pulled together by a fifth-century Redactor (R).
The Persepolis was founded by Darius the Great (reigned 521-486 BCE) ca. 515 BCE; it was looted and burnt by Alexander's army in 331 BCE. By far the largest and most magnificent building is the Apadana, begun by Darius and finished by Xerxes, that was used mainly for great receptions by the kings. Thirteen of its seventy-two columns still stand on the enormous platform to which two monumental stairways, on the north and on the east, give access. They are adorned with rows of beautifully executed reliefs showing scenes from the New Year's festival and processions of representatives of twenty-three subject nations of the Achaemenid Empire, with court notables and Persians and Medes, followed by soldiers and guards, their horses, and royal chariots. The accompanying image depicts stone reliefs from the north side of the Apadana, depicting twenty-three tribute delegations.
After the death of Persian ruler Cambyses and Darius I's subsequent coup, rebellions erupted throughout the Achaemenid empire. Darius I was quick to suppress these uprisings. As a reminder of his swift and violent response to unrest, Darius I had a memorialization of the events carved into the rock face at Mount Bisitun.
Darius the Great ruled the Persian empire from c. 522-486 BCE. To the left, you'll see an image of the Bisitun Monument. This rock relief shows Darius with his foot on the prostrate body of Gaumata [the false Smerdis] and in front of him are nine rebel kings roped together at the neck. The relief is surrounded by inscriptions in Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian.
The Cyrus Cylinder is inscribed in Babylonian cuneiform with an account by Cyrus the Great of his conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE and capture of Nabonidus, the last Babylonian king.
The first Persian empire. The Achaemenid Empire's borders shifted during its roughly 220 year existence, but it spanned from present-day Libya to Pakistan.
Old Testament text written around 550 BCE. Job, a prosperous, God-fearing man, loses his children, health, and livelihood. In dialogues with friends, Job addresses questions of faith and seemingly meaningless suffering.
Little is known about Hesiod, but the Greek poet probably lived around 700 BCE, and he describes himself as the son of Boetian farmers. Hesiod's poem "Theogony" describes the creation of the world and the origins of gods. Along with Homer's Odyssey, the poem serves as a principal source of information on Greek mythology. The poem "Works and Days," which offers advice on farming, is also attributed to Hesiod.
King David ruled over kingdom of Judah and Israel from rougly 1000-961 BCE. Descriptions of David in the Bible portray him as a wise and even-handed ruler.
The Tale of Sinuhe is an Egyptian text in the form of a funerary autobiography. It tells the story of an Egyptian courtier, Sinuhe, who flees to kingdom of Retjenu in Palestine. Eventually, Sinuhe returns to serve new Egyptian kind Senwosret I, who promises the courier safety in his homeland. Various Sinuhe manuscripts from the Middle and New Kingdoms survive to this day, attesting to the text's popularity.
In this Middle Kingdom text, Dua-Khety offers his son advice on comportment and the professions. “Since I have seen those who have been beaten,” Dua-Khety tells his son, “It is to writings that you must set your mind.” Dua-Khety describes the painstaking labor of making sandals, the danger of fishing, the meager pay and exhaustion of weaving and making weapons. Writing, he says, is the superior profession.
The Middle Kingdom lasted from roughly 2040-1640 BCE. This Middle Kingdom image depicts Osiris, king of the dead and god of fertility. Surrounded by symbols of rebirth, Osiris wears his characteristic crown topped by the sun disk, and holds a crook and flail. He is wrapped mummy-tight in white linen, and his face and hands are green, the color of new life. On either side of him is an eye of Horus, an image often painted near the entrance to a tomb that enabled the deceased to look outward. Stakes holding jackal skins filled with milk await use in resurrection ceremonies.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is a saga inscribed into twelve tablets, written around 2000 BCE, which were discovered in the ruins at Nineveh. The tablets tell the story of Gilgamesh, the legendary Mesopotamian king of Uruk. Gilgamesh abuses his power as a ruler until he meets Enkidu, a man created by the goddess Anu. The two become close friends. When Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh goes on a quest for knowledge regarding death and the afterlife.
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