antipinkkitten Introduction
Welcome back to the Ancient Persian empire – This week, we are focusing on the ruling time of Cyrus II! We had the honor of two other Archaeologist joining us for dinner – Allanah and Nate.
We also decided we would do something a little bit different. The food we are looking at has already been covered in previous blogs. So this week we are going to look at the Persian Empire themselves. More specifically the expansion of the empire and the people behind it.
Where to start?
Why not at the beginning? The Persian Empire is also referred to as the Achaemenid Persian empire, but for the blog we will be only referring to them as the Persian Empire. The Empire came about around 550 B.C.E. when Cyrus II, or otherwise known as Cyrus the Great, conquered his neighbor to the north, King Astyages of Media. When Cyrus II conquered this new land, it expanded his territory to into Iran and Türkiye.
But who was Cyrus II?
Like many leaders throughout history, he was born into privilege. When his father, Cambyses I, died; Cyrus II took over the family business of running the empire. Cyrus got a reputation for being lenient on the lands he conquered. He was said to be an amazing tactician. After conquering King Asytages of Media, he would turn his focus to Lydia. However, you could say that the conquest of Lydia was brought upon themselves by trying to take advantage of the new instability in the region. Regardless, they where not prepared to finish what they started, and when winter came around the Lydian army withdrew back home. The only problem was that Cyrus II didn’t withdraw, but instead took the fight to them. After a two week siege of the Lydian capital, Sardis, the Lydians fell. When he defeated Lydia, his coffers swelled allowing him to continue on his conquering.
The vacuum caused by Lydia
But this caused problems for the Lydian ally: The Babylonian empire. They controlled the eastern Mediterranean and Mesopotamia. But even the mighty Babylonian empire couldn’t stand up to the power that was the Persian empire. And in 539 B.C.E., they defeated the Babylonian army at Opis. Upon defeating them, Cyrus II went to Babylon. Not only did he present himself as one of their traditional Mesopotamian monarchs, he set about having the temples repaired and even released political prisoners. It wasn’t his defeat of the Babylonian army that allowed him access the their capital, but instead was the Babylonian people themselves. They turned on their king due to grievances about being forced into labor and a slight against their city’s patron deity, Marduk. So when Cyrus came; they didn’t show any resistance because of his willingness to spare those who surrendered to him.
Nepotism in Royalty – and Imposters?
Cyrus II reigned only 29 years (559-530 B.C.E.) and had a lot to show for his efforts. He was succeeded by his son Kambujiya (Cambyses) II. Cambyses oversaw the conjuring of Egypt in 525 B.C.E. when after a ten day siege of Memphis, the Egyptians fell to the might of the Persians.
However, Cambyses wasn’t destined to rule for long. He only ruled from 529-522 B.C.E. He would die while traveling through Syria. It is unsure how he died but he was followed by Smerdis the Usurper.
Smerdis had an even shorter reign than his brother, or was it Cambyses brother at all? There are rumors that Smerdis was not who he said he was but instead an imposter impersonating Cyrus’s son. The impersonators name is sad to have been Gaumata. Herodotus (the Greek historian) and Darius (a Persian king) say that Cambyses murdered his brother Bardiya.
If it was an imposter or the actual son of Cyrus (Bardiya) we may never truly know, but we know that Smerdis the Usurper only reigned for 8 months before he was killed by our next king, Darius. But we will get into the reign of Darius next time.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed the history of the Persian empire. I know it isn’t what I normally do where I focus on the food that we are preparing, but I figured that reading about me repeating the same history of the food we have already eaten as boring and uninteresting.
Chicory Rubbed Grilled Lamb
Chicory Rubbed Lamb
Ingredients
- 1.5lb of Lamb Chops
- 1 tbsp of Olive Oil
- 1 tbsp of Lemon Juice
- 1 Garlic Clove
- 1 tbsp of Rosemary
- 1/4 cup of Chicory Root granules
- 1 tbsp of ground thyme
Instructions
- Place the lamb in olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic and rosemary. Rub it into the meat and put aside in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Once done, remove the lamb from the fridge, and cut into 1″ chunks.
- Go start the grill, getting it to 350 degrees.
- Mix 1/4 cup of chicory root granules and thyme together in a bowl. Cover the lamb chunks in the mixture, rubbing into the lamb.
- Then, take the skewer sticks and start rubbing off the chicory root. Tightly skewer the meat together; we got it all to fit on two sticks.
- Place it onto the grill, directly over the coals. Rotate them until they are evenly browned on all sides (About 10 minutes)
- Remove from skewers to cool off, then serve with lettuce and Pistachio sauce.
Pistachio Yogurt Sauce
Pistachio Yogurt Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 Cup of Pistachios
- 1 Cup of Persian Yogurt
- 2 tbsp of Olive Oil
- 1 Garlic Clove
- 1 zest of lemon
- A pinch of Sea Salt
Instructions
- De-shell the pistachios and lightly toast them in an oven at 350 degrees for 3-5 minutes.
- Once cooled, place into grinder until it’s a fine powder.
- Once a powder, add the olive and salt until it’s a paste-like texture.
- Mince the garlic to add to the paste, make sure it’s full incorporated.
- Then, add the yogurt and the lemon zest. Mix until creamy.
- Place in refrigerator until you are ready to serve.
Notes
This is an adaptation of a recipe from from Bon Appetit .
In their recipe, they used Greek Yogurt, but we felt as if Persian Yogurt and it’s texture, would be more accurate.
Stewed Turmeric Lentils
Turmeric Stewed Lentils
Ingredients
- 1 Cup of Red Lentils
- 1/2 Onion
- 2 cups of Lamb Bone Broth
- 1 tbsp of Cinnamon
- 20g of Turmeric Root
- A pinch of Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Take the lamb bones from the lamb chops (See Recipe Above), to boil in two cups of water. Since these have been already seasoned, you don’t really need to add anything to the broth. Boil for 20 minutes, then let it simmer for 20 more. You can also substitute this with a vegetable broth.
- Heat the grill (or oven) to 400 degrees f.
- Dice 1/2 of the onion and place in Dutch Oven with 1 cup of red lentils.
- Add the Cinnamon, Turmeric root, and salt/pepper to the mixture.
- Once the broth is done, pour the strained mixture into the pot. Stir the mixture together.
- Place the dutch oven, with the lid on into the grill on the coals, allowing it to cook for 30 minutes.
- Majority of the broth should be absorbed. Once it’s done, remove it from the heat and move the lentils to another container to serve.
Reviews
Meghan’s Review
4 out of 5 stars
Overall, I enjoyed the meal all together. We served it with a bread that was the combination of last week’s Einkorn Bread, with just barley flour. Everything was pretty great, but I found the chicory a bit too strong at times. If I coated it with enough of the sauce, it helped balance the flavors.
I enjoyed the stewed lentils, but I feel as if it was missing something else to make it more filling.
Bradly’s Review
4 out of 5 stars
The meal was delicious. I didn’t think that I was going to enjoy the chicory on the lamb, seeing how I am not a fan of coffee or things flavored like coffee, but it added a taste that to the lamb that complimented it very well.
The pistachio yogurt sauce was not my favorite. It came off as sickly sweet me me. However, it did pair well with the lamb. The turmeric lentil stew was amazing when eaten either by itself or with the ash bread. In all I would give it 4 out of 5 stars. If it were not for the pistachio yogurt; I think it would have been a 5.
Bonus! Guest Reviews:
Allanah and Nate’s Review
3.5 out of 5 stars
Allanah – I found it difficult to find the right proportions between all of the strong flavors.
Nate – The lamb and pistachio sauce were delicious, but I found the lentil stew a little bit bland.
Bibliography
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bardiya
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cambyses-II
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/acha/hd_acha.htm
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/cyrus-the-great?loggedin=true
https://web.mit.edu/persian/5-2008/www/WWWFILES/MiscellaneousFiles/PersianEmpire.htm
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