Читать книгу A Companion to the Achaemenid Persian Empire, 2 Volume Set - Группа авторов - Страница 125

The excavations or surveys of Achaemenid sites in southwest Iran were rather disappointing regarding the artifacts. The immense majority of the famous gold, silver, bronze vessels or jewelry kept in many museums in the world were not found in these royal or elite residences. Most of them come from the antiquities market or from chance discoveries (e.g. the Oxus Treasure). Very likely the Achaemenid residences were plundered during Alexander's conquest, and that is for sure at Persepolis.

Some stone vases were found in the Persepolis Treasury, together with pottery and metal objects, weapons, and tools (Schmidt 1957). At Pasargadae, an Achaemenid or post‐Achaemenid treasure was found by chance near the bridge (Stronach 1978: pp. 168–177), while the excavations yielded pottery, bronze, and iron objects. From Susa, there are mainly the objects inside the so‐called Princess grave, but a series of alabastra, often inscribed, has been found here and there on the site. A well has also provided a nice series of ivories carved in different regions of the empire, showing Persian, Syrian‐Phoenician, Egyptian, and Greek styles (Amiet 2013: pp. 331–356).

The paucity of diagnostic objects is one of the main difficulties in identifying Achaemenid settlements. It should be noted that coinage is unknown in these regions until Alexander's conquest. Apart from the few coins from the Apadana foundation boxes, no coins have ever been found in the palaces, residences, and settlements which would have provided some chronological clues. Recent excavations, such as the Mamasani project near Nurabad (Potts et al. 2009) or the rescue excavations near Pasargadae, offer good opportunities to establish a chronology of the artifacts of the Achaemenid and later periods. In this respect, the archeology of the Achaemenid period, long devoted to the elite sites, remains in its infancy. The new excavations and survey projects will certainly greatly improve our knowledge in the near future.