Ahemenid and Arshakid armies on Iranian tablets

We have at our disposal copies of a wonderful series of tablets, on which are represented the Persian warriors of the Achaemenid (6 - 4 centuries BC) and the Parthian warriors of the Arshakidsky (250 BC) - periods stories Ancient Iran. They were once brought from Iran by my old friend - a lover of ancient history, who allowed them to make copies. Some copies are in color and others are not. I present these interesting materials to the readers of the Military Survey.

Persian chariots harnessed by a pair of horses. Crew - driver and archer. Achaemenid period

Types of Persian officers. Achaemenid period.

Median cavalryman-spearman. Achaemenid period.

Standard Eagle of the Golden Eagle. Achaemenid period

Persian warriors with lotus-shaped banners. Achaemenid period

Persian shield bearers. Achaemenid period.

Persian spearmen. Achaemenid period.

Types of Persian Warriors. Achaemenid period.

"Immortals". Arms - spear and bow. Achaemenid period.

Warrior with a wicker shield.

Warrior with royal standard Achaemenids.

Chariots with four horses. Achaemenid period.

Chariots with braids. Achaemenid period.

Tower on wheels. Achaemenid period.

Median officer in armor. Achaemenid period.

Midian warrior in a dress with a hood. Achaemenid period.

Midian officer with a short sword. Achaemenid period.

Median cavalryman in armor and with a shield. Achaemenid period

Armored Parthian cavalryman with a banner in the form of a golden ear. Arshakid period.

Parthian heavy cavalryman. Arshakid period.

Parthian officer in armor. Arshakid period.

Parthian heavy cavalryman with a banner in the form of a white horse. Arshakid period.

Parthian cavalryman in armor with a banner in the form of the moon and the sun. Arshakid period.

Parthian Archer. Arshakid period.

Parthian officer. Arshakid period.

Parthian warrior with the banner of Mithra. Arshakid period.

Parthian warrior with the banner of the sun. Arshakid period.

Parthian warrior with dragon banner. Arshakid period.

Tactical Sketches

Sources used to create tablets

We hope that these materials will be useful to all people interested in the history of the ancient world.

Comments

[Korsar4]

Thank. Are good. Especially the "immortals."

Probably, more and more information is being obtained every day from visualization. Maybe Leonardo da Vinci would approve.

[Cat]

Damn ..... I'm running out of saliva, I'm sitting in the village - pictures are not loaded !!!

[Korsar4]

Live pictures of spring are no worse. And you can always return to the bookmark.

[Reptiloid]

From the bottom of my heart I sympathize! Hope the best for you!

[tlauicol]

4 horsepower (quadriga) is older than I thought

[Same lech]

Wraps and clothes on foot soldiers are not serious ... purely practically try to wave a crowd of fighters in them with a sword ... either cling to something ... or stumble ... and if the rain goes like that in such clothes for a clown you'll be like.

[Reptiloid]

Quote: The same Lech

Wraps and clothes on foot soldiers are not serious ... but if the rain goes like this, you’ll look like a clown in such clothes.

In places of residence, or movement, it was hot, deserts, sandstorms, times ----- and covered his head with the outer part of the cape to protect his eyes from the sand .... Probably like that.
And rain ---- it was generally a rarity, rather an exception than a rule. Many thanks to the author for the opportunity to get acquainted with the distant time.

[heavy division]

Or maybe so that some of the soldiers are depicted in full dress? Spacious clothes are then partially explained.
As far as I know, the Persians and Assyrians held one of the first parades in history.

[Reptiloid]

The Ancient Persians also had the first windmills. Medicine was very developed .... Avicena. But the most interesting invention that pleases many today is Persian cats. Something like this.

[3x3zsave]

Avicenna lived more than a millennium later.

[avt]

Quote: Heavy Division

Or maybe so that some of the soldiers are depicted in full dress?

Have you fought in camouflage? It’s only in non-Russian films like “Viking” that Prince Kozlovsky and his comrades run into the smeared shit. Until the advent of magazine rifles and machine guns, the form of a warrior around the world was ... well, let's say so - colorful.

[heavy division]

Why fought in camouflage?
I didn’t mean it. And the fact that in the parades spacious bright clothes could be worn without armor. Moreover, this partially explains the absence of the latter. Partially

[heavy division]

Why fought in camouflage?
I didn’t mean it. And the fact that in the parades spacious bright clothes could be worn without armor. Moreover, this partially explains the absence of the latter. Partially

[samarin1969]

Quote: avt

This is only in foreign films such as ,, Viking, ”Prince Kozlovsky and his comrades running around smeared with shit.

... have fun .. I didn’t watch this movie, now certainly there will be no desire

[voyaka uh]

You are right, in a hot and humid climate comfortable
loose clothing that covers from the sun and sand and does not stick to the skin.
We in the army (in the infantry) always took a uniform size two larger,
to be free on the body, not skinny. Ugly, but practical.

[3x3zsave]

We, in the Arctic, too. And where is the humid climate in Israel?

[voyaka uh]

Israel is located on the border of humid subtropics and
dry subtropics. The border runs approximately 70 km
south of Tel Aviv.

[3x3zsave]

Oh, I got it. I didn’t get there.

[andrewkor]

Arshakids are Armenians, or what? Like Bagratids!

[Molot1979]

Arshakids are the Parthian royal dynasty that ruled in Iran for about 500 years. Then they were replaced by the Sassanid Persians. One of the Arshakids fled to Armenia, where he founded the Armenian branch of Arshakids.

[andrewkor]

Well, that means it just didn’t seem to me. I hope that such ancient Armenians do not claim to dig the Caspian Sea?

[voyaka uh]

Armenians also have strong nationalism, based on their ancient history.
They were a civilization among / within other powerful civilizations.
In the thick of history, so to speak. Armenians are considered the first "blacksmiths".
The first iron armor, weapons. Then it was like ... S-400 to do.

[3x3zsave]

The first cognac ...

[Weyland]

Quote: 3x3zsave

The first cognac ...

The first cognac is the Egyptians, 5 centuries ago. But insidious priests did not share this secret even with Pharaoh!

[Weyland]

Quote: voyaka uh

Armenians are considered the first "blacksmiths".
The first iron armor, weapons. Then it was like ... S-400 to do.

Not quite so: the first iron blacksmiths were the Khalibs, but they, according to Strabo, were subjugated by Artashes I, and by the time of Strabo they were already fully Armenized. Their descendants were mainly Hamshen Armenians and elite-class knives even 200 years ago (in the Ottoman Empire, the main weapon centers were Erzerum, Trapezund and, EMNIP, Samsun - this is the region where the Halibs live).

[Molot1979]

There are enough fools everywhere, but it seems like Arshakids do not charge such feats)

[Weyland]

About Arshakids you Molot1979 answered correctly. And the Bagratids, according to their family legend, are generally Jews (supposedly the descendants of King Solomon). In fact, taking into account the Assyrian methods of “eradication”, it is possible - 10 northern tribes of Israel were never found!

[Molot1979]

The Achaemenid warriors are probably not in combat clothing - only cavalrymen have armor, and even not often. A spearman with an 8-shaped shield aroused interest: in theory, such shields should have been used in a phalanx-like formation.

[tlauicol]

they wore bright clothes over armor, if the armor could afford

[Weyland]

Quote: Tlauicol

they wore bright clothes over armor, if the armor could afford

good paints were expensive - so whoever has bright clothes, those who have armor beneath them! And that clothes over armor - of course: to put on top of chainmail surly crusaders in that climate also quickly learned!

[Partisan Kramaha]

Indeed, the phalanx was known in ancient Sumer and Egypt. Only due to the shorter length of the spears only the first three rows could be used, the rest created pressure and became involved in an active battle in case of violation of the system

[Reptiloid]

Once again reviewed the beautiful color photos! There are many questions.
Firstly, the brightness of colors on the clothes of warriors is surprising. After all, then there was no such variety of dyes as now. The white robes of the Greeks and Romans are simply the lack of options. The dyes were mineral or vegetable, and delivered them from afar and expensive.
Secondly, some warriors have patterns on their clothes. Very similar to batik. So the ancient Persians knew this ??? Or embroidery? Hardly.
Thirdly, in one of the drawings, the Banner of Mithra painfully looks like ... Caduceus --- ???????????????

[voyaka uh]

"White robes of the Greeks and Romans --- just the lack of options" ///

White clothing is also a dye. The fabrics were not cotton then,
and wool - sheep (if not right, correct) - turned gray.
You probably know that Greek marble statues were originally
painted over. Skin color, hair, lips - everything was colored.
The paint is not preserved.

[Weyland]

Quote: voyaka uh

White clothing is also a dye. The fabrics were not cotton then,
and wool - sheep (if not right, correct) - turned gray.

white clothes - of course, not cotton, but linen. They bleached it with sulfur dioxide - they already knew how (without straw it was straw-colored). And the wool - it comes in a variety of colors, including white (the white wool in the Bible is called the “wave” and is precisely the standard of whiteness: “like a wave, I will make it white”)

[voyaka uh]

Thanks for the amendment and other interesting information.

[Curious]

Chariots with four horses. Achaemenid period. It looks more interesting in color.

[Curious]

Outfit and armament of the soldiers of the Achaemenid era.

[voyaka uh]

Thank you, good illustrations.

[Curious]

Yes, nothing, open https://www.pinterest.com/pin/322922235758280328/
? lp = true and enjoy. And what have you “Volcanoes” changed to lasers for Americans?

[voyaka uh]

Something you jumped off topic ... The ancient Armenians-Persians-Parthians,
and ... lasers?

[Curious]

You recently in an article entitled "Systems of the Immediate Frontier of Defense: On an Equal Opportunity with Threats" rearmed the US Navy with lasers. I asked a question there, you did not answer. Here, taking this opportunity, recalled.

[voyaka uh]

I answered you there as I could.

[Curious]

Thanks, I saw.

[Weyland]

only "Mahaira" the Greeks called this sword - among the Persians it was called "copis" (from Egypt. "khopesh" - the late Khopeshes from axes were transformed into something very similar to Mahaira)

[3x3zsave]

Victor Nikolaevich! The above is a gig !!!!!!!! ?????????

[Curious]

Persian chariots drawn by a pair of horses. The crew is a charioteer and an archer. Achaemenid period. It looks more interesting in color.
So arrange?

[mar4047083]

Interesting images. Just strange, where do they get stirrups from? See for yourself how the soldiers in heavy armor are sitting, and where they are either spears or banners. Half of the riders on the shoes have some kind of "ties". Either these "guys" still knew what a stirrup is, or these are tricks relative to contemporary artists. In the latter case, this should be perceived as weapons that the artist saw during his lifetime. Such "paradoxical" reproductions were cited in large numbers by V, O, Shpakovsky. And although he sometimes publishes frank hack and nastiness, his comments on such pictures are sometimes scientific.

[Curious]

Although the earliest full-fledged stirrup found in the tomb of the Jin dynasty dates back to 322, I. Kyzlasov believes that stirrups appeared much earlier - in the XNUMXth – XNUMXrd centuries. BC e. Archaeologists do not find them, perhaps because the earliest stirrups were made from materials not stored in the ground - ropes, belts. The researcher believes that the presence of peculiar local forms of stirrups - belt, wood, metal, their coexistence over the centuries among peoples with different economic structures remove the need for searching for the people - the "inventor of stirrups". Kyzlasov is not a "folklorist" - a Soviet and Russian historian, archaeologist. Doctor of Historical Sciences. Leading Researcher, Department of Medieval Archeology, Institute of Archeology, RAS. After all, knowledge is relative, perhaps we just do not yet know everything in this matter.

[voyaka uh]

This is an interesting explanation. After all, from the invention of the saddle to
logical inventions stirrups - one tiny step.
We attach a loop on each side to the saddle - done!

[mar4047083]

I do not argue. But modern historians claim that the Greeks and later Romans did not know the stirrups. Image executed BC, e.

[ruskih]

But this plot from the Chertomlyk vase-nomads-Scythians with horses ... does it look like a stirrup?

[voyaka uh]

"does it look like a stirrup?" ///

In my opinion - a natural stirrup. Belts with eyelets,
hanging from the saddle.

[Curious]

Before stirrups, some peoples had a device that helped to mount a horse - a belt with a loop. A big toe was inserted into the loop.

[mar4047083]

V.N. When performing such a trick, a belt with a loop is unlikely to help.

[mar4047083]

See some are not docking. Obviously, that is not from the XNUMXth century BC. Inexplicable phenomenon.

[mar4047083]

And here is what the “Armenian brothers” painted on the same topic in the XNUMXth century..

[1970mk]

The drawings are wonderful .... but .... the likelihood that they have little to do with the then reality is just 100%. Under the drawings, as I understand it, "Arabic script"? What is the 6th century BC? These are just drawings made up by fantasy artists. About the same as our "True Pictures" about the "Battle of the Ice." For historical credibility, you can refer to the drawings (bas-reliefs) of those years - and here - "The Modern School of Art")) what is the story?

[kalibr]

Just so many images are copies from bas-reliefs from Suz and Persepolis!

[1970mk]

Give the source! Are these copies from bas-reliefs? On the bas-reliefs there is NOTHING SIMILAR - these are modern drawings ... neither in the 6th nor 4th century BC so did not draw.

[heavy division]

The last image is a list of sources used by the artists of the series.

[Weyland]

Quote: kalibr

these are copies from bas-reliefs from Suz and Persepolis!

EMNIP, and on Behistun rock images are quite detailed

[BAI]

The pictures are gorgeous. But at least some analysis or comments on them should have been given.

[heavy division]

So maybe we are doing this now?

[kalibr]

Very interesting, just great stuff!

[DimanC]

Are the big brandies too strong? They say that they were very small then ..

[Weyland]

Quote: DimanC

They say that they were very small then ..

The Persians were already quite respectable - Nisean (the ancestors of the present Akhal-Teke: Nisa - this is somewhere near Ashgabat). Still good horses were in Cappadocia (Pers. "Land of Good Horses"), and 200 years before the Achaemenids, according to Sargon (campaign 714 BC), good war horses were raised in the valley of the river. Aji tea. to century from the lake Urmia in the 14th century, this region was called Bidaustan = "land of beautiful horses"; among the Turks, elite horses were divided into 3 classes - the heroic “tulpar” - the “Jeep Cherokee” class, the racing “argamak” - the “Ferrari” class and “Bidau” - the Rolls-Royce class, for princely trips, etc.)

[XII legion]

Ancient Persian troops appear before us in black semi-mythical hordes of wild creatures with nose rings (300 Spartans). And it’s very good that we can look at the warriors of one of the greatest empires in the world in color - and even in the guise that historians are as close to real as possible.
There is even less information about the Parthians. But this textured civilization gave rise to such an armored cavalry!
The samples of banners and standards are very interesting - both Persians and Parthians.
Thank you!

[1970mk]

Immediately the question - you say "armored cavalry" - without stirrups and saddles? It's funny all THIS ...