The project adopted a three-pronged approach towards these research questions.
In a first phase [P1], we collected information on individuals who lived in southern Mesopotamia under and before Persian rule. Historical depth is necessary to contextualize the emergence of the Empire. We disseminated our results in an online database (prosobab), a scientific article and an online manual. We set up an international work group and showcased prosobab at training sessions, conferences and workshops.
In a second phase we exploited data collected in prosobab to analyse how Persian rule worked within, and impacted on, Babylonian society. We did so in three workpackages. P2 focused on the intersections between imperialism and archivality. It critically investigated the social and cultural conditions that shaped the text corpus with which we study Persian control of the Babylonian satrapy. We applied archival turn theory and postcolonial criticism in a twofold reading strategy of our sources—along and against the grain. Moreover, we used innovative digital methodologies (distant reading, aggregate corpus study, network analysis). Work in P2 resulted in three international conferences, multiple conference papers, invited lectures, blogposts, and training initiatives. We developed and maintained a public outreach website dedicated entirely to the fascinating world of cuneiform archives. A PhD dissertation on archival literacy and a monograph on archival culture will be finalized in the near future.
P3 studied the extent of Persian control on Babylonian society. Central in this subproject was the question how rebellion spread in society and how the empire responded to such challenges. We developed a comparative research line on resistance, combining evidence from Babylonia and Egypt. We presented results of P3 at conferences and in invited lectures, and published them in a dissertation, a monograph and several peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters and review articles. We also spoke about anti-imperial resistance at outreach events, incl. major science fairs, podcasts and radio interviews, reaching many tens of thousands of people interested in the history of anti-colonialist emancipation.
P4 studied responses to Persian rule in literate society. The workpackage drew its inspiration from the effort at de-hellenising Persian-Achaemenid historiography (Sancisi i.a.). We examined how Persian rule was legitimized, questioned and rejected by contemporary and subsequent audiences, inside and outside Babylonia. We organised multiple panels at international scientific meetings and workshops, and published our results in peer-reviewed journal articles and co-authored monographs, conference papers and invited lectures. A dissertation on a political pamphlet from the early Persian period is nearly completed.
In a third phase, we compared modalities of Persian vs. Assyrian governance in Babylonia in order to draw out differences between these empires (P5). The long diachronic approach, focusing on a single satrapy and based on documentary evidence from real-life transactions, sets this project apart from other research initiatives on the Persian Empire. This work package resulted in a monograph, several journal articles and a lecture series on comparative court studies.
We communicated our results through various channels targeting different audiences. The academic community was addressed through scientific publications, conferences and expert meetings. We organized training sessions and workshops at higher education institutions, museums and schools, engaging students at all levels of learning with our research questions, methodologies and results. Our public engagement website introduces the general public to various aspects of our work on cuneiform archives. We designed our online database prosobab in such a way that both experts and non-experts can access and use our data. All team members wrote blogposts about their research activities and we used social media to draw attention to events organized by the project. We were interviewed for national public radio and TV, newspapers and podcasts.
