Aryandes
Aryandes | |
---|---|
Satrap of Egypt | |
Darius I |
Aryandes (
Achaemenid satrap of ancient Egypt between 525 BCE and 496 BCE, during the early 27th Dynasty of Egypt
.
Career
When king
Darius I during his expedition to Egypt in 518 BCE, and Aryandes was reinstated. The satrap then attempted to subjugate Libya with poor results.[1]
: 262
Around 496 BCE, Aryandes fell out of favour with Darius I and was deposed and replaced by
silver coinage, calling it aryandic in opposition to the golden, already existing, daric, thus irritating the Persian king. This story is now considered unlikely because no aryandic has yet been found.[2] It appears more likely that Darius had real concerns that Aryandes would declare independence for his satrapy.[1]
: 264
Aryandes had been made governor of Egypt by Cambyses, later he was executed by Darius for making himself equal to the king. When he learned that Darius intended to leave a memorial surpassing anything other kings had left, Aryandes did likewise and was punished for it. The coins struck by Darius were of extremely pure gold and Aryandes, who was ruling Egypt, made silver coins, and no silver money was as pure as that of Aryandes. When Darius heard of this, he had Aryandes executed for rebellion, but not for striking coins.
— Herodotus, Histories IV, 166
References
- ^ ISBN 0-521-22804-2.
- ^ ARYANDES at the Encyclopædia Iranica
Further reading
- Milne, J.G. (1936). "The Silver of Aryandes". S2CID 194027993.
- Van Alfen, Peter G. (2005). "Herodotus' "Aryandic" Silver and Bullion Use in Persian-Period Egypt". American Journal of Numismatics. Second Series. 16–17. American Numismatic Society: 7–46.