Assyria

Background

At the end of the Achaemenid Persian rule in 330 BC, Mesopotamia was partitioned into the satrapy of Babylon in the south, while the northern part of Mesopotamia was joined with Syria in another satrapy. It is not know how long this division lasted, but by the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, the north was removed from Syria and made into a separate satrapy. Generally speaking, the Seleucid rulers respected the native priesthood of Meosopotamia, and there is no record of persecutions.[5] There is proof that the Parthians, when establishing their sovereignty over different parts in the empire, retained the dynasts that had become independent or had been acting on behalf of the Seleucids, as long as they accepted Parthian sovereignty. Full overlordship of the Parthians was established since the full establishment of the empire under Arsaces I of Parthia. Aramaic was the official language of the Achaemenid Persian Empire; after the conquests of Alexander the Great, Greek replaced Aramaic, including up to the Seleucid empire. However both Greek and Aramaic were used throughout the empire, although Greek was the principal language of the government. Aramaic underwent changes in different parts of the empire, and in Mesopotamia under the subsequent rule of the Parthians it evolved into Syriac.[5]

Sources

Primary Sources

Secondary Sources

HELM, PEYTON RANDOLPH, ""GREEKS" IN THE NEO-ASSYRIAN LEVANT AND "ASSYRIA" IN EARLY GREEK WRITERS" (1980). Dissertations available from ProQuest. AAI8018554. http://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI8018554