A report on Achaemenid Empire, Nabonidus and Ashurbanipal

Nabonidus as depicted in the Harran Stela

Ashurbanipal, closeup from the Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal

The Achaemenid Empire at its greatest territorial extent under the rule of Darius I (522 BC–486 BC)

Relief of Ashurbanipal, who ruled as king of Assyria 669–631 BC. Nabonidus emulated elements of Ashurbanipal and his dynasty, the Sargonids. Some historians believe that Nabonidus was a descendant of Ashurbanipal, or Ashurbanipal's father Esarhaddon.

The victory stele of Esarhaddon, Ashurbanipal's father. The front side depicts Esarhaddon and the sides depict the two crown princes Shamash-shum-ukin (on the side shown here) and Ashurbanipal (on the opposite side)

Locations of some major Mesopotamian cities

A copy of the Zakutu Treaty, drawn up by Ashurbanipal's grandmother Naqi'a in 669 BC, imploring the populace of Assyria to swear loyalty to Ashurbanipal

Map of the expansion process of Achaemenid territories

Nabonidus as depicted in a stele from Harran

Relief depicting Ashurbanipal's army attacking an Egyptian settlement, possibly Memphis, during the Assyrian conquest of Egypt.

Cyrus the Great is said, in the Bible, to have liberated the Hebrew captives in Babylon to resettle and rebuild Jerusalem, earning him an honored place in Judaism.

The Rassam cylinder of Ashurbanipal, the most complete of chronicle of his reign, includes a description of the campaign of Egypt. Nineveh, 643 BCE. British Museum.

The tomb of Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid Empire. At Pasargadae, Iran.

Map of the Neo-Babylonian Empire under Nabonidus. Tayma is in northern Arabia, in the south-west of the empire.

Set of reliefs depicting the 653 BC Battle of Ulai, between the Assyrians and the Elamite king Teumman

The Achaemenid Empire at its greatest extent, c. 500 BC

Relief depicting tongue removal and live flaying of Elamite chiefs after the Battle of Ulai

The Persian queen Atossa, daughter of Cyrus the Great, sister-wife of Cambyses II, Darius the Great's wife, and mother of Xerxes the Great

The Harran Stela, depicting Nabonidus as praying to the moon (i.e. Sîn), the sun and Venus

Assyrian spearmen depicted in a palace relief from Nineveh, 7th century BC

Map showing events of the first phases of the Greco-Persian Wars

The Verse Account of Nabonidus, a biased document written about Nabonidus's reign, probably in the reign of Cyrus the Great

Stone monument depicting Shamash-shum-ukin as a basket-bearer

Greek hoplite and Persian warrior depicted fighting, on an ancient kylix, 5th century BC

Cyrus the Great, who conquered Babylon in 539 BC, depicted with a Hemhem crown, or four-winged Cherub tutelary divinity

Confirmation of a land grant by Shamash-shum-ukin

Achaemenid king fighting hoplites, seal and seal holder, Cimmerian Bosporus.

Map of the path of Cyrus the Great during his 539 BC invasion of Babylonia

Relief depicting Ashurbanipal in a chariot, inspecting booty and prisoners from Babylon

Achaemenid gold ornaments, Brooklyn Museum

Nebuchadnezzar (1795) by William Blake. The painting depicts Nebuchadnezzar II as nude and mad, living like a wild animal. The story of Nebuchadnezzar II's madness originally referred to Nabonidus.

Relief depicting Babylonian prisoners under Assyrian guard

Persian Empire timeline including important events and territorial evolution – 550–323 BC

Terracotta cylinder of Nabonidus, recording the restoration work on the temple of Shamash at Larsa

Relief depicting the Assyrians besieging the Elamite city of Hamanu in 646 BC

Relief showing Darius I offering lettuces to the Egyptian deity Amun-Ra Kamutef, Temple of Hibis

Relief depicting the Assyrians destroying Hamanu in 646 BC; flames rise from the city as Assyrian soldiers topple it with pickaxes and crowbars and carry off the spoils

The 24 countries subject to the Achaemenid Empire at the time of Darius, on the Egyptian statue of Darius I.

Relief from Ashurbanipal's palace showing Assyrians fighting and pursuing Arabs on camelback

The Battle of Issus, between Alexander the Great on horseback to the left, and Darius III in the chariot to the right, represented in a Pompeii mosaic dated 1st century BC – Naples National Archaeological Museum

Relief from Ashurbanipal's palace showing fighting between Assyrians and Arabs

Alexander's first victory over Darius, the Persian king depicted in medieval European style in the 15th century romance The History of Alexander's Battles

Inscription by Ashurbanipal written at some point after 646, concerning the restoration of a temple dedicated to Nabu

Frataraka dynasty ruler Vadfradad I (Autophradates I). 3rd century BC. Istakhr (Persepolis) mint.

Bust of Pharaoh Psamtik I ((r. 664 – 610)), who peacefully restored Egyptian independence

Dārēv I (Darios I) used for the first time the title of mlk (King). 2nd century BC.

Portion of the "Garden Party" relief, depicting Ashurbanipal (right) and his queen Libbali-sharrat (left)

Winged sphinx from the Palace of Darius in Susa, Louvre

Relief from Ashurbanipal's palace depicting corpses floating down a river

Reconstruction of the Library of Ashurbanipal

Volume of annual tribute per district, in the Achaemenid Empire, according to Herodotus.

Cuneiform tablets from the Library of Ashurbanipal

Achaemenid tax collector, calculating on an Abax or Abacus, according to the Darius Vase (340–320 BC).

Ashurbanipal depicted in the Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal reliefs

Letter from the Satrap of Bactria to the governor of Khulmi, concerning camel keepers, 353 BC

Dream of Sardanapalus (1871) by Ford Madox Brown

Relief of throne-bearing soldiers in their native clothing at the tomb of Xerxes I, demonstrating the satrapies under his rule.

The Death of Sardanapalus (1827) by Eugène Delacroix

Achaemenid king killing a Greek hoplite. c. 500 BC–475 BC, at the time of Xerxes I. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Ashurbanipal's reliefs exhibited at the British Museum as part of the exhibition I am Ashurbanipal (2018–2019)

Persian soldiers (left) fighting against Scythians. Cylinder seal impression.

Ashurbanipal, a bronze statue by Fred Parhad in the Civic Center of San Francisco

Color reconstruction of Achaemenid infantry on the Alexander Sarcophagus (end of 4th century BC).

Detail of a stone monument depicting Ashurbanipal as a basket-bearer

Seal of Darius the Great hunting in a chariot, reading "I am Darius, the Great King" in Old Persian (𐎠𐎭𐎶𐏐𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁𐎴 𐏋, "adam Dārayavaʰuš xšāyaθiya"), as well as in Elamite and Babylonian. The word "great" only appears in Babylonian. British Museum.

Achaemenid calvalryman in the satrapy of Hellespontine Phrygia, Altıkulaç Sarcophagus, early 4th century BC.

Armoured cavalry: Achaemenid Dynast of Hellespontine Phrygia attacking a Greek psiloi, Altıkulaç Sarcophagus, early 4th century BC.

Reconstitution of Persian landing ships at the Battle of Marathon.

Greek ships against Achaemenid ships at the Battle of Salamis.

Iconic relief of lion and bull fighting, Apadana of Persepolis

Achaemenid golden bowl with lioness imagery of Mazandaran

A section of the Old Persian part of the trilingual Behistun inscription. Other versions are in Babylonian and Elamite.

A copy of the Behistun inscription in Aramaic on a papyrus. Aramaic was the lingua franca of the empire.

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven wonders of the ancient world, was built by Greek architects for the local Persian satrap of Caria, Mausolus (Scale model)

Reconstruction of the Palace of Darius at Susa. The palace served as a model for Persepolis.

Lion on a decorative panel from Darius I the Great's palace, Louvre

Apadana Hall, Persian and Median soldiers at Persepolis

Lateral view of tomb of Cambyses II, Pasargadae, Iran

Plaque with horned lion-griffins. The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Nabonidus (Babylonian cuneiform: Nabû-naʾid, meaning "May Nabu be exalted" or "Nabu is praised") was the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling from 556 BC to the fall of Babylon to the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great in 539 BC. Nabonidus was the last native ruler of ancient Mesopotamia, the end of his reign marking the end of thousands of years of Sumero-Akkadian states, kingdoms and empires.

- Nabonidus

In October 539 BC, Cyrus won a battle against the Babylonians at Opis, then took Sippar without a fight before finally capturing the city of Babylon on 12 October, where the Babylonian king Nabonidus was taken prisoner.

- Achaemenid Empire

Upon taking control of the city, Cyrus depicted himself in propaganda as restoring the divine order which had been disrupted by Nabonidus, who had promoted the cult of Sin rather than Marduk, and he also portrayed himself as restoring the heritage of the Neo-Assyrian Empire by comparing himself to the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal.

- Achaemenid Empire

In her inscriptions, Adad-guppi also claimed that Nabonidus was of the dynastic line of Ashurbanipal ((r.

- Nabonidus

Among these kingdoms was Parsua, possibly a predecessor of the empire that would be founded by the Achaemenids a century later.

- Ashurbanipal

Though his final year is often erroneously given as 627 or even 626, this follows an estimate from an inscription written nearly a century later at Harran by Adad-guppi, the mother of the Neo-Babylonian king Nabonidus ((r.

- Ashurbanipal

A report on Achaemenid Empire, Nabonidus and Ashurbanipal

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