The Daskyleion bullae : seal images from the western Achaemenid empire, 2002, vol. 1 : texte-240 p., vol. 2 : cat. et pl.-246 p., -

This publication documents 185 distinct seals partially or completely preserved on 406 bullae excavated at Ergili (Daskyleion) in Hellespontine Phrygia, Turkey, so far the only evidence of an archive in the western Achaemenid Empire. Vol. 1 contains introductory information about the excavation site and the satrapy of Daskyleion in its historical context;discusses the functions of the bullae and surveys the major themes represented on the seal impressions. A significant portion of this volume is devoted to an analytical discussion of the artistic styles of the seal images which provides glimpses into a multicultural society and reveals complex artistic involvement among the Persians and the natives of theconquered lands of the Achaemenid empire, the Anatolians in particular. Epigraphic analyses by Rüdiger Schmitt (cuneiform inscriptions in Old Persian and Babylonian) and Wolfgang Röllig (Aramaic inscriptions) as well as two separate maps complement the volume. Volume 2 consists of the descriptive catalogue and plates. The material presented in this publication offers a completely new contribution to the sphragistic documentation and the archaeological record of the eastern Mediterranean area during the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.