Central Asia in the Context of the Achaemenid Persian Empire (6th to 4th Centuries B.C.)
;supervisor: Holly Pittman
University of Pennsylvania
: 2005
XVIII, 465p.
: Ill, map.
UMI Microform 3179838
Ph.D
, University of Pennsylvania
this dissertation investigates the imperial relationship between the heartland and provinces of the Achaemenid Persian Empire (559-330 B.C.). It discusses various historical and social aspects of the Empire's northeastern provinces (Bactria, Sogdiana and Chorasmia), located in modern-day Central Asia, and the Persian presence in and impact on the region' social and political situation, religious ideologies, and artistic practices, through examination of the surviving material culture, including primarily artifacts and their decoration, retrieved from archaeological excavations.