Analysis of Achaemenid agricultural economic policy in Babylon

Subject Areas : Journal of History (Tarikh)

Anahita Amani Yeganegi ¹ , Ahmad Kamranifar ² , Feizollah Boushasb Gousheh ³

1 - Department of history, Najafabad branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran.
2 - Department of history, Najafabad branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran.
3 - Department of History, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran.

Received: 2021-10-09 Accepted : 2022-02-14 Published : 2023-02-20

Keywords: Xerxes, Achaemenids, Temples of Babylon, Egibi, Economy of Babylon,

Abstract :

With the conquest of Babylon,Cyrus and the Achaemenid court became acquainted with the structures of Babylonian and Mesopotamian agricultural economics.On the one hand,this structure was based on the rich temples of Babylon,which in addition to the vast agricultural lands belonging to the temples,played an important role in the economy and agriculture of Babylon by providing loans and agricultural inputs to small and large Babylonian farmers.In addition, wealthy Babylonian families competed with the temples of Babylon by setting up private agricultural credit enterprises and lending seeds,cattle,and land.Despite the abundance of wealth and facilities of the temples of Babylon,but with the Achaemenid domination of Babylon,the role and economic power of the temples of Babylon was greatly reduced and instead the role and economic power of the agricultural enterprises of Babylon,especially Egibi and Murašu were greatly increased.But this process eventually stopped and the activities of these enterprises were abruptly ended at the beginning of Xerxes'reign.In this research,the causes of these issues and the policies of the Achaemenids in this regard are analyzed and also the results of these policies are analyzed.The results of this study indicate that the Achaemenids deliberately implemented such a policy in order to consolidate their dominance and the foundations of their authority in Babylon.There is also evidence of the failure of this Achaemenid policy in Babylon and its impact on the unrest and revolts of Babylon in the time of Xerxes.This article has been prepared based on the available evidence of the library and historical and analytical research methods.