Contents -- Editors' Introduction -- Part 1: History and Historiography -- 1. The Theme of "Persian Decadence" in Eighteenth-Century European Historiography: Remarks on the Genesis of a Myth -- 2. Cyrus the Mede and Darius the Achaemenid? -- 3. Reinventing Achaemenid Persia -- 4. Portraits of the Achaemenid Kings in English Drama: Sixteenth-Eighteenth Centuries -- 5. Light from Aramaic Documents -- 6. All the King's Men -- 7. Cyrus and the Medes -- Part 2: Religion -- 8. The Achaemenian Practice of Primary Burial: An Argument against Their Zoroastrianism? Or a Testimony of Their Religious Tolerance? -- 9. Ahura Mazd&amacr -- the Creator -- 10. From Gabled Hut to Rock-Cut Tomb: A Religious and Cultural Break between Cyrus and Darius? -- 11. Zoroastrianism under the Achaemenians: A Non-Essentialist Approach -- 12. The Formation of Achaemenid Imperial Ideology and Its Impact on the Avesta -- Part 3: Gender Studies -- 13. The Royal Audience Scene Reconsidered -- 14. An Achaemenid Cylinder Seal of a Woman Enthroned -- 15. The Big and Beautiful Women of Asia: Picturing Female Sexuality in Greco-Persian Seals -- Part 4: Art and Architecture -- 16. The Social Dimensions of Babylonian Domestic Architecture in the Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid Periods -- 17. Why Columned Halls? -- 18. A Reassessment of Brick Motifs and Brick-Building Techniques at Achaemenid Susa -- 19. Empire Encapsulated: The Persepolis Apadana Foundation Deposits -- 20. Persepolis: A Reinterpretation of Palaces and Their Function -- 21. The Role of the Medes in the Architecture of the Achaemenids -- 22. Changes in Achaemenid Royal Dress -- Part 5: Archaeology -- 23. The Passing of the Throne from Xerxes to Artaxerxes I, or How an Archaeological Observation Can Be a Potential Contribution to Achaemenid Historiography.

24. Cultural Transition in Iranian Azerbaijan through the Iron Age III-Achaemenid Period Based on Recent Archaeological Survey and Excavations (Abstract) -- 25. Archaeological Evidence for Achaemenid Settlement within the Mamasani Valleys, Western Fars, Iran -- 26. A Review of Research and Restoration Activities at Parsa-Pasargadae: Analysis, Evaluation and Future Perspectives -- 27. The Achaemenid Army in a Near Eastern Context -- 28. The Origins of the Achaemenids (Abstract) -- 29. Excavations in Dashtestan (Borazjan, Iran) (Abstract) -- Part 6: Seals and Coins -- 30. An Analytical Investigation on the Coin Hoard of the Oxus Treasure (Abstract) -- 31. Anatolian Crossroads: Achaemenid Seals from Sardis and Gordion -- 32. Archers at Persepolis: The Emergence of Royal Ideology at the Heart of the Empire -- 33. Clay Tags from Seyitömer Höyük in Phrygia -- 34. The Archer Coins: A Closer Examination of Achaemenid Art in Asia Minor -- 35. The Frataraka Coins of Persis: Bridging the Gap between Achaemenid and Sasanian Persia -- Part 7: Gold, Silver, Glass, and Faience -- 36. Technological Aspects of Selected Gold Objects in the Oxus Treasure -- 37. From Susa to Egypt: Vitreous Materials from the Achaemenid Period -- 38. Prestige Drinking: Rhyta with Animal Foreparts from Persia to Greece (Abstract) -- 39. Achaemenid and Greek Colourless Glass -- 40. Documentary Aspects of Persepolis and the Oxus Treasure (Abstract) -- 41. Achaemenid Silver, T. L. Jacks and the Mazanderan Connection -- Part 8: Regional Studies -- 42. Achaemenid Arabia: A Landscape-Oriented Model of Cultural Interaction -- 43. Because of the Dread Upon Them -- 44. Xerxes and the Tower of Babel -- 45. "Judges of the King" in Achaemenid Mesopotamia -- 46. Xerxes and the Babylonian Temples: A Restatement of the Case.

47. The Role of Babylonian Temples in Contributing to the Army in the Early Achaemenid Empire -- 48. West of the Indus-East of the Empire: The Archaeology of the Pre-Achaemenid and Achaemenid Periods in Baluchistan and the North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan -- 49. Achaemenid Interests in the Persian Gulf -- 50. Integration of Foreigners-New Insights from the Stela Found in Saqqara in 1994 -- 51. Enemies of Empire: A Historical Reconstruction of Political Conflicts between Central Asians and the Persian Empire -- Bibliography -- Index.