Papers by Takuji Abe
Tekmeria, 2018
Greek ambassadors who were granted an audience before the Persian King were required to observe a... more Greek ambassadors who were granted an audience before the Persian King were required to observe a certain form of court ritual. Although the Persian proper name for this ritual has since been lost to us, the Greeks called this act of homage proskynēsis; a term normally understood to refer to the act of “falling down” and prostrating oneself before the king. At the same time, the Greeks employed a gesture also called proskynēsis, which was performed when addressing a divine entity. These two acts, while different in their functions, shared the same name on the basis that their outward appearances bore a coincidental likeness to each other. Greek ambassadors, who would have come to Susa for the purpose of petitioning assistance from the Great King, were rigorously hesitant to follow the Persian practice, arguing that the religious practice of proskynēsis was reserved exclusively for the divine among them. In this paper, I endeavour to elucidate the true nature of this Persian court protocol, and to show why the Greeks were so unwilling to perform this ceremonial act. I conclude that the normal posture of the Persian proskynēsis was most represented by that of a bow with a hand raised up to the mouth, the depth of the bow being dependent on the ethnicity of those perfuming it and their relative status. In contrast to the Greek version, this Persian proskynēsis was a rather secular practice, serving to authenticate social hierarchy between superiors and inferiors. Even though some of the Greek ambassadors must have been aware of this, or perhaps as a direct result of this understanding, they remained loath to accept the insult that offering proskynēsis would cause to the belief of their perceived freedom from Persian subjugation.
Talanta: Proceedings of Dutch Archaeological and Historical Society, 2015
This paper will basically examine the validity of a widely accepted assumption that Herodotus was... more This paper will basically examine the validity of a widely accepted assumption that Herodotus was by nature a speaker of Ionic, not having learned it in Samos. In the discussion we will have to take into consideration both written and oral communication. As a result, the scope of this paper encompasses not only research on Herodotus himself but aims to shed light on the state of language in Persian Anatolia as it was during his time, by focusing on the most celebrated Asian Greek.
Y.Nakai and P.Carafa eds., Memory of the Past and Its Utility: Nation, State, Society and Identity, Scienze e Lettere (Rome), 2014
The Kyoto Journal of Ancient History, 2011
India was subdued by Darius I and incorporated into the vast Persian Empire at the end of the six... more India was subdued by Darius I and incorporated into the vast Persian Empire at the end of the sixth century. This conquest stimulated the interest of Greeks living in Persian Asia Minor, such as Scylax, Hecataeus, Herodotus and Ctesias, whose accounts of India are known to us. The main of this paper is to examine those accounts, and bring forward the authors’ views of India, the Persian Empire, and the world.
The investigation, which focuses mainly on Herodotus and Ctesias due to the relative size and scope of their surviving works, point to the following: Ctesias’ Indica was based on more direct and personal experience than Herodotus’ Indian logos, since Ctesias stayed at the Persian court for a substantial length of time and likely had ample opportunity to experience aspects of Indian culture first hand, They had a similar image of India, but Ctesias’ description of Indian tribe is more fantastical in nature than that of Herodotus’, in spite of his having more direct experience. I subsequently hypothesise that Ctesias had a greater tendency to accept information which sounded ‘irrational’ to him, due to his prior knowledge of Indian ‘marvels’. Lastly, the absence of a mortal king, which is a clue to understanding the historiography of Herodotus and Ctesias, gave readers the impression that India was ‘a nation without history.’
Book Reviews by Takuji Abe
Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2019
The International Journal of Asian Studies, 2012
Edited Journals by Takuji Abe
The journal Tekmeria publishes scholarly articles pertaining to the study of the ancient world, w... more The journal Tekmeria publishes scholarly articles pertaining to the study of the ancient world, with particular emphasis on Ancient Greek history, epigraphy, numismatics, topography and historical geography, and especially on the publication, republication or exploitation of epigraphic and numismatic materials. All submitted articles that are relevant to the thematic areas covered by the journal are considered by the editorial board, provided they are original and have only been sent to Tekmeria for publication. Book reviews are not included in the journal.
Print publication: ISSN: 1106-661X
Online ISSN: 1791-7573
Online link: https://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/tekmiria/issue/view/1166
Articles in vol. 14:
Takuji Abe, Proskynēsis: From a Persian Court Protocol to a Greek Religious Practice, 1-45
Tolga Özhan, Late Antique and Early Byzantine Era Inscriptions at Assos, 47-68
Ηλίας Σβέρκος – Θωμαή Σαββοπούλου, Δύο ἐνεπίγραφα ἐπιτύμβια μνημεῖα ἀπὸ τὴν ἀρχαία Μόρρυλο, 69-91
Georgia Galani, A New Roman Provincial Coin from Pella, 93-105
Selénè Psoma, À propos des drachmai argyriou symmachikou, 107-148
Antigoni Zournatzi, Cyrus the Great as a “King of the City of Anshan”, 149-180
Charalampos I. Chrysafis, A Note on the History of Hellenistic Megara: The Date of the Antigonid Garrison in Aigosthena, 181-202
Dimitrios Papanikolaou, Notes on a Gladiatorial Inscription from Plotinopolis, 203-211
Christina Kokkinia, A Roman Financier’s Version of Euergetism: C. Vibius Salutaris and Ephesos, 215-252
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Papers by Takuji Abe
The investigation, which focuses mainly on Herodotus and Ctesias due to the relative size and scope of their surviving works, point to the following: Ctesias’ Indica was based on more direct and personal experience than Herodotus’ Indian logos, since Ctesias stayed at the Persian court for a substantial length of time and likely had ample opportunity to experience aspects of Indian culture first hand, They had a similar image of India, but Ctesias’ description of Indian tribe is more fantastical in nature than that of Herodotus’, in spite of his having more direct experience. I subsequently hypothesise that Ctesias had a greater tendency to accept information which sounded ‘irrational’ to him, due to his prior knowledge of Indian ‘marvels’. Lastly, the absence of a mortal king, which is a clue to understanding the historiography of Herodotus and Ctesias, gave readers the impression that India was ‘a nation without history.’
Book Reviews by Takuji Abe
Edited Journals by Takuji Abe
Print publication: ISSN: 1106-661X
Online ISSN: 1791-7573
Online link: https://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/tekmiria/issue/view/1166
Articles in vol. 14:
Takuji Abe, Proskynēsis: From a Persian Court Protocol to a Greek Religious Practice, 1-45
Tolga Özhan, Late Antique and Early Byzantine Era Inscriptions at Assos, 47-68
Ηλίας Σβέρκος – Θωμαή Σαββοπούλου, Δύο ἐνεπίγραφα ἐπιτύμβια μνημεῖα ἀπὸ τὴν ἀρχαία Μόρρυλο, 69-91
Georgia Galani, A New Roman Provincial Coin from Pella, 93-105
Selénè Psoma, À propos des drachmai argyriou symmachikou, 107-148
Antigoni Zournatzi, Cyrus the Great as a “King of the City of Anshan”, 149-180
Charalampos I. Chrysafis, A Note on the History of Hellenistic Megara: The Date of the Antigonid Garrison in Aigosthena, 181-202
Dimitrios Papanikolaou, Notes on a Gladiatorial Inscription from Plotinopolis, 203-211
Christina Kokkinia, A Roman Financier’s Version of Euergetism: C. Vibius Salutaris and Ephesos, 215-252
The investigation, which focuses mainly on Herodotus and Ctesias due to the relative size and scope of their surviving works, point to the following: Ctesias’ Indica was based on more direct and personal experience than Herodotus’ Indian logos, since Ctesias stayed at the Persian court for a substantial length of time and likely had ample opportunity to experience aspects of Indian culture first hand, They had a similar image of India, but Ctesias’ description of Indian tribe is more fantastical in nature than that of Herodotus’, in spite of his having more direct experience. I subsequently hypothesise that Ctesias had a greater tendency to accept information which sounded ‘irrational’ to him, due to his prior knowledge of Indian ‘marvels’. Lastly, the absence of a mortal king, which is a clue to understanding the historiography of Herodotus and Ctesias, gave readers the impression that India was ‘a nation without history.’
Print publication: ISSN: 1106-661X
Online ISSN: 1791-7573
Online link: https://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/tekmiria/issue/view/1166
Articles in vol. 14:
Takuji Abe, Proskynēsis: From a Persian Court Protocol to a Greek Religious Practice, 1-45
Tolga Özhan, Late Antique and Early Byzantine Era Inscriptions at Assos, 47-68
Ηλίας Σβέρκος – Θωμαή Σαββοπούλου, Δύο ἐνεπίγραφα ἐπιτύμβια μνημεῖα ἀπὸ τὴν ἀρχαία Μόρρυλο, 69-91
Georgia Galani, A New Roman Provincial Coin from Pella, 93-105
Selénè Psoma, À propos des drachmai argyriou symmachikou, 107-148
Antigoni Zournatzi, Cyrus the Great as a “King of the City of Anshan”, 149-180
Charalampos I. Chrysafis, A Note on the History of Hellenistic Megara: The Date of the Antigonid Garrison in Aigosthena, 181-202
Dimitrios Papanikolaou, Notes on a Gladiatorial Inscription from Plotinopolis, 203-211
Christina Kokkinia, A Roman Financier’s Version of Euergetism: C. Vibius Salutaris and Ephesos, 215-252