Religion, Empire, and Torture RELIGION, The Case of Achaemenian Persia EMPIRE, With a Postscript on Abu Ghraib AND TORTURE Bruce Lincoln The University of Chicago Press Chicago & London Bruce Lincoln is the Caroline E. Haskell Professor of Divinity at the University of Chicago. His most recent book is Holy Terrors: Thinking about Religion after September 11,also published by the University of Chicago Press. Title page illustration: Bas-relief from the Apadana (audience hall), Persepolis (fifth century BCE). (Photo: Stierlin.) The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 2007 by The University of Chicago All rights reserved. Published 2007 Printed in the United States of America 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 1 2 3 4 5 ISBN-13: 978-0-226-48196-8 (cloth) ISBN-10: 0-226-48196-4 (cloth) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lincoln, Bruce. Religion, empire, and torture : the case of Achaemenian Persia, with a postscript on Abu Ghraib / Bruce Lincoln. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-226-48196-8 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-226-48196-4 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Religion and politics. 2. Religion and politics—Iran—Case studies. 3. Achaemenid dynasty, 559–330 B.C. 4. Iran—History—To 640. I. Title. BL65.P7L56 2007 935'.05—dc22 2006037841 oThe paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. For Clarisse Herrenschmidt in admiration and gratitude Contents List of Illustrations ix Preface xi 1 Introduction 1 2 Center and Periphery 17 3 God’s Chosen 33 4 Creation 51 5 Microcosms, Wonders, Paradise 67 6 The Dark Side of Paradise 83 Postscript: On Abu Ghraib and Some Related Contemporary Matters 97 Notes 109 Bibliography 143 Index 169 vii Illustrations FIGURES Figure 1 (Con)fusion of two lineages, as accomplished by Darius in DB§§1–4 5 Figure 2 Rock relief at Bisitun representing Darius the Great 18 Figure 3 Detail from the Bisitun relief: the Wise Lord gestures to Darius 19 Figure 4 Detail from the Bisitun relief: Darius plants his foot on the fallen Gaumata 20 Figure 5 Bisitun relief, compositional structure 21 Figure 6 Lands and peoples listed as part of the Achaemenian Empire byDarius at DB§6 24 Figure 7 Dual nature of Cyrus’s claim to kingship 34 Figure 8 Events of 539, as narrated by the Cyrus Cylinder 39 Figure 9 Narratives legitimating Cambyses as king of Egypt 44 Figure 10 Correlation of cosmogony and royal titles in seventeen inscriptions 54 Figure 11 Achaemenian and Zoroastrian accounts of creation 58 Figure 12 Relief sculpture at Darius’s tomb, Naqsˇ-i Rustam 72 Figure 13 Relief sculptures on the steps approaching the Apadana at Persepolis 77 Figure 14 George W. Bush at North Island Naval Station, 1 May 2003 101 Figure 15 Photograph that creates the impression of U.S. soldiers watchingIraqi civilians topple a statue of Saddam Hussein, 9April 2003 102 Figure 16 Captured Saddam Hussein undergoes medical examinations, 14December 2003 103 Figure 17 Pfc. Lynndie England holding a leash attached to an unnamed Iraqi prisoner 104 ix