ARTYPHIOS

 

ARTYPHIOS, or ARTYBIOS, Greek rendering of an Old Persian name *Ardifiya (or *Ardufiya; Elamite Ir-tap/tup-pi-ya); the variants Gk. Arziphos and Arzybios derive from the corresponding Median form *Rzifya attested in Aramaic ʾrzpy). The name, meaning “eagle” (cf. Av. ərəzifya-, AirWb., col. 354, Sanskrit rjipyà-, Mid. Pers. āluf, NPers. āloh), was borne by several Achaemenid officials.

1. An Iranian official active around Persepolis in about 500 B.C. (G. G. Cameron, Persepolis Treasury Tablets, Chicago, 1948, p. 79; R. Hallock, Persepolis Fortification Tablets, Chicago, 1969, p. 705).

2. Artybius, a Persian general sent by Darius the Great to restore Gorgus, the pro-Persian king of Salamis in Cyprus whose brother, Onesilus, had deposed him in support of the Ionian Revolt in 498 B.C. (Herodotus 5.110ff.). Artybius ferried over his troops from Cilicia, and landing near Salamis, he forced Onesilus to lift the siege of Amanthus, which had remained loyal to the Persians. The rebels hastily besought Ionian assistance, but the Ionian fleet refused to follow a victory over the Phoenician fleet of the Persian navy by sending troops to defend Salamis. Artybius attacked Onesilus, riding “a horse which had been trained to rear up against a foot-soldier.” Onesilus severed the steed’s forefeet with a reaping-hook, killing it and the rider. The Persians were about to be defeated when Cypriot aristocrats deserted Onesilus and caused his annihilation; the victorious Persians then restored Gorgus and left Cyprus (Herodotus 5.111-12).

3. Artyphius, son of Artabanus (almost certainly the famous brother of Darius the Great); he commanded the Dadicae and Gandari in Xerxes’ expedition against Greece (Herodotus, 7.66f.).

4. Artyphius, a son of Megabyzus who conquered Egypt for Artaxerxes I, and a grandson of Xerxes through his daughter, Amestris. He was, therefore, an Achaemenid prince. He and his brother, Zopyrus the Younger, sided with their father when he rebelled against Artaxerxes for violating the terms he had granted to Athenian and Egyptian captives; after several encounters, they were reconciled with the king. In 441 Zopyrus deserted to Athens, and a year later lost his life when trying to take Caunus in Caria. Artyphius evidently remained in favor for a long time. Eventually he supported the rebellion of Arsites against Darius II, and they won several victories, but betrayed by their Greek mercenaries, they were forced to surrender and were executed. His son, Arimas, was a senior official under Cyrus the Younger and established a local rule in Limyra, where his family ossuary (astōdān) still survives, with a bilingual inscription in Aramaic and Greek (Ctesias, Persica, frag. 37 and 50, ed. J. Gilmore, London, 1880, pp. 163 and 170; A. D. H. Bivar, “A "Satrap" of Cyrus the Younger,” NC, 1961, pp. 119-27; Shahbazi, Irano-Lycian Monuments, pp. 111-34).

 

Bibliography:

On the name, see also J. Darmesteter, “L’inscription araméenne de Limyra,” JA, 1888, pp. 508-10.

W. B. Henning, “A List of Middle Persian and Parthian Words,” BSOS 9, 1937, pp. 79ff.

E. Benveniste, TPS, 1945, p. 67.

R. Schmitt, “Der "Adler" im Alten Iran,” Die Sprache 16, 1970, p. 70.

M. Mayrhofer, Onomastica Persepolitana, Vienna, 1973, p. 170.

W. Hinz, Altiranisches Sprachgut der Nebenüberlieferungen, Wiesbaden, 1975, p. 205.

A. Sh. Shahbazi, The Irano-Lycian Monuments, Tehran, 1975, pp. 115ff. (with further references).

(A. Sh. Shahbazi)

Originally Published: December 15, 1986

Last Updated: August 15, 2011

This article is available in print.
Vol. II, Fasc. 6, p. 665