Belesys I

Belesys I (Babylonian: Bēlšunu) was the ruler of Achaemenid Syria as the satrap of Eber-Nari from 407 to 401 BCE.

Details

Belesys' name is recorded (as Bēlšunu) on clay tablets from Babylon, where he officiated between the years 421 and 414 BC. It is thought that he was the vice governor and subordinate of the Babylonian satrap Gobryas/Gubāru during this time, though it has also been suggested that Belesys/Bēlšunu and Gobryas/Gubāru were the same individual.[1]

From 407 to 401 B.C. BC Belesys ruled Achaemenid Syria as the satrap of Eber-Nari, as mentioned by Xenophon in his Anabasis (1.4.10).[2] On his journey to Mesopotamia, the rebellious prince Cyrus the Younger is noted to have burnt down the palace and gardens of Belesys on the Dardas River near Aleppo – an "irreversible hostile act" that suggests Cyrus and the satrap were "implaccable foes".[1]

Belesys had a son, Marduk-erība (or Erībā), who died in 402 B.C. himself officiated as satrap of Babylonia. Another later satrap of Syria, Belesys II, was probably one of his descendants. His father's name was Bēl-uṣuršu.

References

Manning, J.G.; Collins, John J. (2016). Revolt and Resistance in the Ancient Classical World and the Near East: In the Crucible of Empire. Brill. p. 111. ISBN 9789004330184.
- Dandamaev, M (1994): "Eber-Nari", in E. Yarshater (ed.) Encyclopaedia Iranica vol. 7.

Sources

Pierre Briant: From Cyrus to Alexander. A History of the Persian Empire. Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake IN 2002, ISBN 1-57506-031-0.
Matthew W. Stolper: Bēlšunu the Satrap. In: Francesca Rochberg-Halton (Hrsg.): Language, Literature, and History. Philological and Historical Studies Presented to Erica Reiner (= American Oriental Series. 67). American Oriental Society, New Haven CT 1987, ISBN 0-940490-67-6, S. 389–402.
Matthew W. Stolper: The Babylonian Enterprise of Belesys. In: Pierre Briant (Hrsg.): Dans les pas des Dix-Mille. Peuples et pays du Proche-Orient vus par un Grec (= Pallas. 43, ISSN 0031-0387). Presses Universitaires du Mirail, Toulouse 1995, S. 217–238.
King, R. R. (2021). The House of the Satrap and the Making of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, 522–330 BCE. The University of Chicago (Thesis).

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[Manning-Collins-1] Manning, J.G.; Collins, John J. (2016). Revolt and Resistance in the Ancient Classical World and the Near East: In the Crucible of Empire. Brill. p. 111. ISBN 9789004330184.

[2] Dandamaev, M (1994): "Eber-Nari", in E. Yarshater (ed.) Encyclopaedia Iranica vol. 7.

[3] Dandamaev, M (1994): "Eber-Nari", in E. Yarshater (ed.) Encyclopaedia Iranica vol. 7.