Artachaies

Artachaies ( Greek Ἀρταχαίης ; old Persian form of the name * Ṛtaxaya ; † 480 BC ) was a Persian nobleman and engineer in the service of the great king Xerxes I in the 5th century BC. Chr.

Life

Artachaies was a son of Artaios and related to the Persian royal house of the Achaemenids . According to Herodotus , he was characterized by an enormous body size and an extremely powerful voice. On behalf of the great king, who was planning a renewed incursion into Greece, he led from about 483 BC. Together with Bubares the construction of the so-called Xerxes Canal . This should cut through the isthmus of the eastern foothills ( Athos ) of the Chalkidike peninsula and have such a width that it could be passed by two triremes traveling next to each other . The purpose of the canal was to avoid exposing the ships to the danger of circumnavigating the Athos peninsula; because 492 BC The great Persian fleet of Mardonios was shattered in adverse waves on Mount Athos there.

The three-year construction work on the canal was progressing well, but Artachaies died in 480 BC. Chr. From an illness, while Xerxes was on the march with his army in Akanthos near the canal . The Great King, saddened by Artachaies' death, had the dead buried with brilliant honors and had his soldiers erect a burial mound for him. The Acanthians worshiped him as a hero at the bidding of an oracle .

It is not certain whether Artachaios is identical with the father of the same name of Artayntes and that of Otaspes (who both took part in Xerxes' campaign).

literature

Friedrich Cauer : Artachaies . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume II, 1, Stuttgart 1895, column 1302.
A. Sh. Shahbazi: ARTACHAIĒS . In: Ehsan Yarshater (ed.): Encyclopædia Iranica . Volume 2, p. 651, as of August 15, 2011 (English, including references)

Remarks

↑ Herodotus , Histories 7, 22.

↑ ^a ^b Herodotus, Historien 7, 117.

↑ Herodotus, Histories 7, 22 and 7, 24.

↑ Herodotus, Historien 8, 130.

↑ Herodotus, Histories 7, 63.

^ So Friedrich Cauer (RE II, 1, col. 1302); A. Sh. Shahbazi ( Encyclopædia Iranica , Vol. 2, p. 651).

personal data
SURNAME	Artachaies
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Persian nobleman and engineer
DATE OF BIRTH	6th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	480 BC Chr.

[1] Herodotus , Histories 7, 22.

[Herodot-7-117-2] Herodotus, Historien 7, 117.

[3] Herodotus, Histories 7, 22 and 7, 24.

[4] Herodotus, Historien 8, 130.

[5] Herodotus, Histories 7, 63.

[6] So Friedrich Cauer (RE II, 1, col. 1302); A. Sh. Shahbazi ( Encyclopædia Iranica , Vol. 2, p. 651).