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Bodleian Library Sacc. pell. Aram. olim cont., pars A

Leather bag for letters

The letters of the Persian prince and satrap (governor) of Egypt Arshama to Nakhthor, the steward of his estates in Egypt, are rare survivors from the ancient Achaemenid empire. These fascinating documents offer a vivid snapshot of linguistic, social, economic, cultural, organizational and political aspects of the Achaemenid empire as lived by a member of the elite and his entourage. Arshama, prince of the royal house and satrap (governor) of Egypt in the fifth century BC, was also a great landowner, holding estates in Egypt as well as in Babylonia (modern Iraq) where he also spent time. In Egypt, Arshama’s “house” was administered by his steward (paqyd) Nakhthor. Arshama’s letters to Nakhthor, two leather bags and clay sealings, entered the Bodleian Library in 1944. They were written on leather, folded concertina-wise and closed with string and a lump of clay bearing Arshama’s seal. Once read, they were stored in a bag. The letters are written in Aramaic, a widely diffused Semitic language used for administrative purposes in the Persian empire. Arshama’s instructions would have been spoken in Persian, written down in Aramaic, read by an Egyptian and finally annotated in Egyptian, exemplifying a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual empire.

Leather bag for letters

Bodleian Library Sacc. pell. Aram. olim cont., pars A

No linguistic content

500-400 BCE

Egypt

Iraq

leather

Persian Manuscripts

Bindings