Amytis (Astyages)
Amytis ( old Persian Umati ; * before 563 BC) was the daughter of Astyages and possible wife of Cyrus II.
The historian Ktesias of Knidos reports that Asytages 550 BC. After the defeat against Cyrus II fled from the battlefield to the palace in Ekbatana and was hidden there by Spitamas and his wife Amytis. In order to find out the whereabouts, Cyrus II took Spitamas and his wife Amytis hostage. Spitamas pretended not to know the whereabouts of Astyages. When Cyrus II angrily wanted to order the torture of both of them, Asytages surrendered voluntarily.
Cyrus II, who fell in love with Amytis, spared the life of Astyages. Spitamas was executed on the grounds that he lied to Cyrus. Cyrus II raised Astyages to the honorable position of a family father in order to be able to commit an artificial sibling marriage. From then on Astyages was also considered the father of Cyrus. In the following holy wedding , Cyrus II and Amytis received the necessary divine consecration , which was essential for a dynastic legitimation .
Amytis received the highest rank in the harem of Cyrus II as well as the title of Queen Mother and shortly after the marriage gave birth to the sons of Cambyses II and Bardiya . Astyages was assigned a spacious property in Hyrcania because of his honorary position . Amytis took his own life by poison after the death of Bardiya.
If one follows this report, Cambyses II would not be at the earliest 549 BC. Born and only eleven years old when he was appointed King of Babylon . Cuneiform evidence is not available, which is why the information is doubted by historians.
According to Xenophon , not Amytis, but Mandane was the daughter of Astyages, wife of Cambyses I and mother of Cyrus II. According to Xenophon, however, he and his mother did not come to his grandfather Astyages until he was 13 years old.
literature
- Eduard Meyer : Amytis 2 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 2, Stuttgart 1894, Col. 2014.
- Kurt Raaflaub : Beginnings of Political Thought in Antiquity - The Middle Eastern Cultures and the Greeks . Oldenbourg, Munich 1993, p. 308, ISBN 3-486-55993-1
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ Xenophon, Education of Cyrus 1, 2, 1
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Amytis |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Umati (old Persian) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Daughter of Astyages and possible wife of Cyrus II. |
| DATE OF BIRTH | before 563 BC Chr. |
| DATE OF DEATH | 6th century BC Chr. |