Arsames
Satrap of Egypt
Lower half of one of the Elephantine papyri, containing a plea for the reconstruction of the Jewish temple at Elephantine, and dated to "..the Year 17 of King Darius(II), under Arsames..." (407 BCE).[1]
Predecessor	Achaemenes
Successor	possibly none (end of the satrapy of Egypt)
Dynasty	27th Dynasty
Pharaoh	Artaxerxes I toDarius II

Arsames (also calledSarsamas andArxanes, fromOld PersianAršāma^[2]) was anAchaemenidsatrap ofancient Egypt during the 5th century BC, at the time of the27th Dynasty of Egypt.

"Arsames" is theHellenized form of theOld Persian nameAršāma^[a] ("having a hero's strength"), which was a common name within thePersianAchaemenid family as well as amongst the Persian elite of theAchaemenid Empire (550–330 BC).^[4][5] The name is a compound, composed ofaršan ("male, hero") andama ("strength").^[4][b] The name is attested inAramaic asʾršm.^[4] The feminine form of the name,*Aršāmā (GreekArsamē), is attested in the daughter ofDarius the Great (522–486 BC).^[4]

Arsames was anAchaemenid prince, a grandson of Darius the Great.^[6] According toCtesias,Sarsamas was appointed satrap by generalMegabyzus.^[7] Previously, an ancient Egyptian prince calledInaros openly revolted againstArtaxerxes I and the Achaemenid rule and had slain in battle the satrap,Achaemenes. In 454 BC, shortly after his appointment, Arsames helped suppress the revolt by defeatingAthenian reinforcements sent in theNile Delta.^[8][9]
After the revolt, Arsames undertook a conciliatory policy towards the native Egyptians in order to avoid igniting new revolts; likely for this reason, he allowed Inaros' son Thannyras to maintain his lordship on part of the Delta, asHerodotus reports.^[8][9]

While his aforementioned early career is reported only by Greek sources, Arsames' later life is known from several letters written inAramaic, mainly compiled by theJewish priesthood ofElephantine and belonging to theElephantine papyri, and which are datable from 428 BC onwards. It is known that in 423 BC he supportedDarius II in his successfulcoup d'état, and later he was called back toSusa in Persia between 410 and 407/6 as reported by other documents, among these some exchange letters with his estate manager Nakhtihor^[2][10] and with a man named Artavant who probably acted as satrap of Egyptad interim.^[11]

In 410 BCE a revolt erupted at Elephantine, where an established Jewish community lived along with the native Egyptians, and where the two communities had their local temple, that ofYahu andKhnum respectively. Jews were well tolerated by Arsames and by the Persian occupants in general; however, it seems that the Jewish practice ofsacrificing goats to their god was perceived as an insult by the clergy of the neighbouring temple of the Egyptian ram-headed deity Khnum.^[15] Taking advantage of one of Arsames' absences, the clergy of Khnum corrupted a local military commander, Vidaranag, and unimpededly instigated and succeeded into the destruction of the temple of Yahu. Upon his return, Arsames punished the perpetrators, but he felt himself compelled to avoid any controversy by prohibiting the ritual slaughter of goats.^[16][15] However, the multiple pleas by the Elephantine Jews for the reconstruction of their temple seem to have remained unheard for some years by the notables in Judah and Jerusalem to whom they had written.^[16][17]

Arsames is no longer mentioned after 406 BC, and it is likely that he died shortly before theEgyptian reconquest of Egypt achieved by the native pharaohAmyrtaios in 404 BC.^[2]

Arsames is also known from an engraved cylinder seal, in which he is seen killingSaka enemies, with a depiction of the crowns of Lower and Upper Egypt, worn by falcons.^[18][19]

• Tuplin, Christopher J.; Ma, John, eds. (2020).Aršāma and his World: The Bodleian Letters in Context: Volume I: The Bodleian Letters. Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0199687640.
• Tuplin, Christopher J.; Ma, John, eds. (2020).Aršāma and his World: The Bodleian Letters in Context: Volume II: Bullae and Seals. Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0198860709.
• Tuplin, Christopher J.; Ma, John, eds. (2020).Aršāma and his World: The Bodleian Letters in Context: Volume III: Aršāma's World. Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0198860716.

• Arshama Project: Communication, Language and Power in the Achaemenid Empire: The correspondence of the satrap Arshama

• 5th-century BC Iranian people
• Achaemenid satraps of Egypt
• 5th century BC in Egypt
• Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Egypt

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