Aspects of Seleucid Royal Ideology: The Cylinder of Antiochus I from Borsippa

Abstract

A major contention of our bookHellenism in the Eastwas that the most profitable way for making progress in understanding the Achaemenid and Seleucid empires was to try to evaluate, sensitively, the very disparate types of evidence within their own social and cultural contexts, however difficult this might be in practice. In the case of the Antiochus I cylinder we are confronted by an inscribed object whose significance lies as much in its physical form as in the content of the text it bears. These aspects are inextricably intertwined as part of a tradition specific to Mesopotamian culture—object and text combined are the physical representation of a major, longstanding, sociopolitical institution for which a mass of earlier evidence exists. It is all too understandable that Greco-Roman scholars, who have been the primary students of the hellenistic world, should find it hard to know how to approach such material emanating from an unfamiliar cultural milieu. Yet, for once, this text isnotfragmentary—it is a long, well-preserved document, easy to read and readily accessible in translation which in itself demonstrates an acknowledgment by hellenistic historians of the potential importance of this non-Greek text for understanding Seleucid history.

The Queen and the City: Royal Female Intervention and Patronage in Hellenistic Civic Communities

“…44 When later married to Antiochos I, Stratonike was matched with Aphrodite and Ištar, the Babylonian goddess of sex and war. 45 Stratonike also rebuilt the temple of Aštarte at Hierapolis-Bambyce in Syria, confirming further the perceived link between Greek Aphrodite, Babylonian Ištar and the Syrian goddess Aštarte. 46 Various Ptolemaic queens were associated with Aphrodite, as were their rivals the royal courtesans.…”

The Queen and the City: Royal Female Intervention and Patronage in Hellenistic Civic Communities

“…Laodike's queenly role was laid out in advance for her, through her familial history and in the precedents set for her by previous queens. 45 Stratonike also rebuilt the temple of Aštarte at Hierapolis-Bambyce in Syria, confirming further the perceived link between Greek Aphrodite, Babylonian Ištar and the Syrian goddess Aštarte. 38 Earlier Macedonian queens and royal women had been given names reflecting their royal ancestry or status as consort, and the same practice of royal (re)naming had occurred under the Achaemenids.…”

Some Parthian Queens in Greek and Babylonian Documents

“…As Kuhrt and Sherwin-White (1991) point out, this is a remarkable allusion both for the fact that the queen is mentioned in a building inscription, as well as for the terminology employed^^. Stratonike is named, described as the king's consort (the old-fashioned term hirtu is used) and, in addition, given the title sarratu ("queen"), written syllabically (Col. II 26-27).…”