"Ceremony of Presenting Earth and Water."
The Spartans throw Achaemenid envoys, who had come to ask for "earth and water", into a well.

In the writings of the Ancient Greek chronicler Herodotus, the phrase earth and water (Greek: γῆ καί ὕδωρ – ge kai hydor, Persian: آب و زمین) is used to represent the demand by the Persian Empire of formal tribute from the cities or people who surrendered to them.

Usage in Herodotus' histories

In Book 4, Herodotus mentions for the first time the term earth and water in the answer of king Idanthyrsus of the Scythians to king Darius.[1] In Book 5, it is reported that Darius sent heralds demanding earth and water from king Amyntas I of Macedon, which he accepted.[2] It was also requested of the Athenian embassy to Artaphernes in 507 BC, which complied.[3] In the 6th book, Darius sent heralds throughout Greece demanding earth and water for the king (Hdt. 6.48).[4] There were not many city-states that refused.[5] In Book 7, he recounts that when the Persians sent envoys to the Spartans and to the Athenians demanding the traditional symbol of surrender, an offering of soil and water, the Spartans threw them into a well and the Athenians threw them into a gorge, suggesting that upon their arrival at the bottom, they could "Dig it out for yourselves."[6][7]

Just before the second Persian invasion of Greece by Xerxes, the Spartans voluntarily sent two men of noble birth to Susa for execution, in atonement for the death of the Darius' heralds.[8] This did not satisfy Xerxes who punished the Greeks by defeating the Spartan Army and destroying Athens.[9]

Interpretation

The demand for earth and water symbolized that those surrendering to Persians gave up all their rights over their land and every product of the land. Giving earth and water, they recognized the Persian authority over everything; even their lives belonged to the king of Persians. Then negotiations would take place to specify the obligations and the benefits of the liegemen.

The phrase earth and water, even in modern Greek, symbolizes unconditional subordination to a conqueror.

According to the modern historian J. M. Balcer, the significance of earth and water is that they were Zoroastrian symbols and representative of vassalage to the Persian Empire. "Persian heralds traveled throughout Greece demanding the recognition of Persian Suzerainty and the Zoroastrian symbols of earth and water, the marks of vassalage...".[10]

However, according to a new analysis by Daniel Beckman, the ritual of "earth and water" originated from a Neo-Assyrian practice that represented the violent conquest of a city, while in the Achaemenid Empire it symbolized peaceful, voluntary submission.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Waters, Matt (2014). Ancient Persia: A Concise History of the Achaemenid Empire, 550–330 BCE. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-10700-960-8.
  2. ↑ Joseph Roisman,Ian Worthington. "A companion to Ancient Macedonia" John Wiley & Sons, 2011. ISBN 144435163X pp 343-345
  3. ↑ Waters, Matt (2014). Ancient Persia: A Concise History of the Achaemenid Empire, 550–330 BCE. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-10700-960-8.
  4. ↑ Waters, Matt (2014). Ancient Persia: A Concise History of the Achaemenid Empire, 550–330 BCE. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-10700-960-8.
  5. ↑ Waters, Matt (2014). Ancient Persia: A Concise History of the Achaemenid Empire, 550–330 BCE. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-10700-960-8.
  6. ↑ Herodotus The Histories, Book Seven, section 133.
  7. ↑ "Herodotus, the Histories, book 7, chapter 133, section 1".
  8. ↑ "Two Spartans of noble birth and great wealth, Sperthias son of Aneristus and Bulis son of Nicolaus, undertook of their own free will that they would make atonement to Xerxes for Darius' heralds who had been done to death at Sparta. Thereupon the Spartans sent these men to Media for execution." in LacusCurtius Herodotus Book VII: Chapter 134. This self-sacrifice occurred shortly after Darius' reign ended, when Xerxes was imminently to invade Greece in the Second Persian Invasion. As Herodotus writes: "But to Athens and Sparta Xerxes sent no heralds to demand earth, and this was the reason: when Darius had before sent men with this same purpose, the demanders were cast at the one city into the Pit32 and at the other in case of a well, and bidden to carry thence earth and water to the king. For this cause Xerxes sent no demand. What calamity befell the Athenians for thus dealing with the heralds I cannot say, save that their land and their city was laid waste.."LacusCurtius Herodotus Book VII: Chapter 134.
  9. ↑ Holland, pp. 305–306
  10. ↑ J. M. Balcer, "The Persian Wars Against Greece: A Reassessment", Historia;; 38 (1989) p. 130
  11. ↑ Beckman, Daniel (2023). "On a Possible Assyrian Source of the Achaemenid Demand for "Earth and Water"". The Intellectual Heritage of the Ancient Near East: 191–206. doi:10.1553/978OEAW85741.

Further reading

  • Rung, Eduard (2015). "The Language of the Achaemenid Imperial Diplomacy towards the Greeks: The Meaning of Earth and Water". Klio. 97 (2): 503–515. doi:10.1515/klio-2015-0035. S2CID 193669818.
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