Taphoi wrote:The Alexander sarcophagus shows Issus, which precedes Alexander's adoption of Persian royal attire (which was after Darius' death).
But nevertheless, the artist(s) did represent Alexander as wearing Persianized attire. Those long sleeves on Alexander and the figure presumed to be Hephaistion are the giveaway - they are not a part of normal Macedonian attire prior to Alexander's adoption of some Persian clothing. Obviously, the sarcophagus was carved at a later period than the battle of Issus and the sculptor must have represented Alexander as he had seen him.
If the painter of this frieze really was following Pelagia's extraordinarily complex plan for a mountainous version of a park near Babylon, he nevertheless produced something which even to a viewer in 316BC would have looked like a youthful Alexander out hunting with his father in Macedonia.
I do see your point and I find holes in Pelagia's argument myself, but I recall reading something quite recently about a Persian hunting park that has been found and is located in the mountains. It appears that I didn't save the URL, or if I did, I can't locate it right now. I will have to look deeper into my files and see if I can find it.
It is the thrust of Pelagia's argument that the reason it is Babylon is that Cassander hunted with Alexander in the park at Babylon, so he was remembering the experience in commissioning this frieze. You will be aware that it is difficult for Cassander to have hunted with Alexander in an Asian game park on any other occasion, so if you manage to extricate Pelagia from the mountainous-Babylon hole, then you will do so by plunging her into the "Why would Cassander be remembering a scene he never saw?" abyss.
(I don't think her arguments are worth rescuing, but I admire your concern for a damsel in distress.)
Taphoi wrote:I don't think her arguments are worth rescuing, but I admire your concern for a damsel in distress.
I wasn't trying to form a womenGÇÖs defense committee, Andrew. ItGÇÖs just that I knew IGÇÖd read something about Persian game parks quite recently and this thread reminded me of it. I found the info eventually GÇô the believed game park isn't at Babylon, so it wonGÇÖt serve PageliaGÇÖs argument anyway. HereGÇÖs the URL from the archive of Latest Archaeological News From Iran
Tehran, 23 May 2006 (CHN) -- Last week it was announced that the remains of a gigantic palace believed to have belonged to Darius the Great, the Achaemenid king who ordered the construction of Palace of Persepolis in Shiraz, was discovered during the archaeological excavations in Bolaghi Gorge. This very interesting news attracted the public attention and roused a lot of interest among the people both inside and outside the country.
This new discovery disproved some old theories about this ancient site. Prior to this, it was supposed that Bolaghi Gorge was the location of the King Road- the ancient major road built by order of Darius to connect Pasargadae to Persepolis and Susa. However, the recent geophysical studies prove that King Road never passed through Bolaghi Gorge and what was believed to have been the King Road is in fact only the remains of an ancient wall surrounding the Bolaghi Gorge which collapsed over time. Moreover, Mohammad Taghi Atayi, Iranian head of Iranian-Italian joint archaeology team in Bolaghi Gorge said that the fact that this wall was used as a shell keep to enclose Bolaghi Gorge and discovery of the remains of the palace of Darius in Bolaghi Gorge and many other evidence all indicate that Bolaghi Gorge was used as a hunting ground by Darius the Great and other Achaemenid kings some 2500 years ago. . .
. . .Studies on the path of this road led to new findings about its real identity. What was known as the King Road started from the beginning of the Bolaghi Gorge and after covering the entire valley it ended in its original place. Now the question is, what kind of a road could it be that started and ended in the same place? On the other hand, these excavations resulted in discovery of several walls on the path of the road which in some parts have remained almost intact up to a height of 5 meters. All of these evidences show that GÇÿKing RoadGÇÖ was only a defensive wall for protecting the area of Bolaghi Gorge,GÇ¥ explained Atayi.
Atayi strongly believes that this discovered palace belonged to Darius the Great and the GÇ£King RoadGÇ¥ is the remains of the shell-keep of Bolaghi Gorge and this area was used as a hunting ground by Achaemenid kings.
ItGÇÖs just that I knew IGÇÖd read something about Persian game parks quite recently and this thread reminded me of it. I found the info eventually GÇô the believed game park isn't at Babylon, so it wonGÇÖt serve PageliaGÇÖs argument anyway. HereGÇÖs the URL from the archive of