The Persian Empire in Contact with the World

Abstract

AbstractThe chapter argues that the Persian Empire became the center of an entangled Afro-Asian world and offered one of the very first conceptions of the world as being diverse and variegated. This concept of diversity was consciously and officially propagated. It was not inserted into a dichotomized world view of “we” and “they,” “inside” and “outside,” but was equated with the world as such, a diversified world ruled by the Persian king. Moreover, the Persian Empire introduced a novel conception of empire that was both self-contained and universalistic at the same time. From an outside perspective, the concept was self-contained since it defined an imperial space that pretended to represent the world but evidently did not match this claim. From an official, interior perspective, the concept was universalistic since it professed to constitute the world, but less obviously did not reflect “reality.” The dynamic between these two concepts became especially manifest in imperial border zones that created a hotbed for specific developments of adaptations and adoptions but also propelled processes of delimitation and alienation, identity-shaping, and binary worldviews. The Persian Empire’s reach into an outside world far beyond its rulers’ direct control was the essential trigger and ingredient for these dynamic developments. Contacts and transfers were intense throughout the empire’s entire existence, pushing forward integration as well as disintegration.