| Cassandane | |
|---|---|
 An old image of a possible tomb of Cassandane inPasargad Archaeological Site Suleiman Prison (Pasargad) 1906 image taken from the book Persia past and present by AV Williams Jackson (1906) | |
| Queen consort of theAchaemenid Empire | |
| Tenure | 559–538 BC |
| Coronation | 559 BC |
| Successor | Atossa |
| Died | 538 BC |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | Cyrus the Great |
| Issue | Cambyses II Bardiya Artystone Atossa Roxane |
| House | Achaemenid |
| Father | Pharnaspes |
Cassandane orCassandana (Ancient Greek:Κασσανδάνη,romanized: Kassandánē; died 538 BC) was anAchaemenianqueen and the wife of kingCyrus the Great, the mother ofCambyses II andAtossa and the grandmother ofXerxes I.[1]
She was a daughter ofPharnaspes. She had four children with Cyrus:Cambyses II, who succeeded his father and conquered Egypt; Smerdis (Bardiya), who also reigned as the king of Persia for a short time; a daughter namedAtossa, who later wedDarius the Great; and another daughter named Roxana.[1]
Her daughter Atossa later played an important role in the Achaemenid royal family, as she married Darius the Great and bore him the next Achaemenid king,Xerxes I.[2]
When Cassandane died, all the nations of Cyrus' Persian empire observed "a great mourning". This is reported by Herodotus. According to theNabonidus Chronicle, there was a public mourning after her death in Babylonia lasting for six days. Cassandane reportedly stated that it was more bitter to leave Cyrus's side than to die.[3][4] The six days of mourning are identified as 21–26 March 538 BC.[5] According to a suggestion by M. Boyce, Cassandane's tomb is located atPasargadae.[1]
| Family |
|  | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battles | ||||||
| Related | ||||||
  | ThisIranian history-related article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byadding missing information. |