Comparison Of Pasargadae And Persepolis

While the Achaemenid king’s did have religious and cultural tolerance, the Persian religion (Zoroastrianism) even advocated for many more human rights, providing an image of a more advanced society. One major human rights issue that was present in many cultures of the time was the use of slaves, however Zoroastrianism forbids slavery and so under the rule of the Achaemenid king’s many slaves of the conquered lands were freed. Renowned historian and Archaeologist Josef Wiesehofer believes that Cyrus refused to enslave his new subjects, which for the time was a revolutionary concept, as recently mentioned many civilizations, including Greek poleis, relied heavily on their slave industry. “He (Cyrus) considered himself not a conqueror but a
liberator”. This belief corroborates with the freeing of the Babylonian Jews who were living in captivity, as written in the bible (Ezra 1:1-2 ). According to Wiesehofer the men and women who were freed became Persian ‘common’ people, in which they had the opportunity to work for the king. This also validates with Dr Abba Alizadeh who teaches, " Regardless of being male or female, they were paid accordingly, no expense was spared".
Wiesehofer states that archaeological evidence such as Fortification Tablets provide a comprehensive view of the wages and rights of common workers as well as the equity of man and woman. Discovered in the ancient cities of Pasargadae and Persepolis, the tablets were written in the form of brief administrative notes, which concerned the payments to workers or the supply, transfer, and distribution of the natural produce in
Persia.
Alexander’s army destroyed many of such tablets, but those that remain provide information about the maintenance of more than 15000 individuals in more than 100 localities. They, therefore, provide us with an approximate picture of the life of the bulk of Persian society at the time. They also reveal that Persian society was open to people with different ethnicities such as Ionians, Lydians, Lycians, Egyptians and Babylonians who worked in Persia on a temporary or permanent basis and had the same rights as Persians (complementing the multicultural ideology discussed above). According to Wiesehofer “If they contributed to the building of Persepolis, if they worked in the royal workshops and treasuries of Persis, as well as in farming, it was not as enslaved war prisoners, but as manpower recruited and paid by the state.” Although slaves today, may be seen as an inhumane and immoral procedure, in the context of the Persian Wars it was part of the daily culture for many civilisation. Thus, it is extremely important to acknowledge the power and aid of archaeological finds, as Wiesehofer states that they are pieces of evidence that help connect the puzzle
together.