Lesson plan
Arbaces
According to Ctesias, Arbaces was one of the generals of Sardanapalus, king of Assyria and founder of the Median Empire about 830 BC. Opinion on him is divided. Some state that Ctesias's whole history of the Assyrian and Median empires is absolutely fabulous; his Arbaces and his successors are not historical personages. Mahmoud Omidsalar suggests that "the very fact that all but one of the kings in Ctesias's list are not historical implies that these kings were legendary rulers who belonged to the ancient Iranian lore, and records of their exploits existed in some written form in the fifth century BC" Others cite the inscriptions of Sargon II of Assyria, from which it is known that one Arbaku of Arnashia was one of forty-five chiefs of Median districts who paid tribute to Sargon in 713 BC. He was a satrap, who conspired against Sardanapalus, and founded the empire of Media on the ruins of the Assyrian kingdom.
Article summary
According to Ctesias, Arbaces was one of the generals of Sardanapalus, king of Assyria and founder of the Median Empire about 830 BC. Opinion on him is divided. Some state that Ctesias's whole history of the Assyrian and Median empires is absolutely fabulous; his Arbaces and his successors are not historical personages. Mahmoud Omidsalar suggests that "the very fact that all but one of the kings in Ctesias's list are not historical implies that these kings were legendary rulers who belonged to the ancient Iranian lore, and records of their exploits existed in some written form in the fifth century BC" Others cite the inscriptions of Sargon II of Assyria, from which it is known that one Arbaku of Arnashia was one of forty-five chiefs of Median districts who paid tribute to Sargon in 713 BC. He was a satrap, who conspired against Sardanapalus, and founded the empire of Media on the ruins of the Assyrian kingdom.
Key claims
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.