e
Partukkanu (or Partakkanu) of the Assyrian inscriptions, is
placed by Ptolemy in Persia; Mardia corresponds to the
mountainous district of Bebahan and Kazrun.

** The position of most of these towns is still somewhat
doubtful. Armuza is probably Ormuz (or Hormuz) on the
mainland, the forerunner of the insular Hormuz of the
Portuguese, as the French scholar d'Anville has pointed out;
Sisidona has been identified with the modern village of
Mogu, near Ras-Jerd, Apostana with the town of Shewar, the
name seeming to be perpetuated in that of the Jebel Asban
which rises not far from there. Gogana is probably Bender
Kongun, and Taoko, at the mouth of the Granis, is either
Khor Gasseir or Rohilla at the mouth of the Bishawer. The
palace, which was one of the three principal residences of
the Achaemenian kings, is probably mentioned by Strabo, and
possibly in Dionysius Periegetes.

*** Carmana is the modern Kerman; the exact position of
Gabae, which also possesses a palace, is not known.

[Illustration: 287.jpg A PERSIAN]

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph of one of the bas-
reliefs at Persepolis, in Dieulafoy.

The Persians were a keen-witted and observant race, inured to all kinds
of hardships in their occupation as mountain shepherds, and they were
born warriors. The type preserved on the monuments differs but little
from that which still exists at the present day in the more remote
districts. It was marked by a tall and slender figure, with sturdy
shoulders and loins, a small head, with a thick shock of hair and
curling beard, a straight nose, a determined mouth, and an eye steady
and alert. Yet, in spite of their valour, Phraortes overpowered them,
and was henceforward able to reckon the princes of Anshan among his
vassals; strengthened by the addition of their forces to his own,
he directed his efforts to the subjection of the other races of the
plateau. If we may believe the tradition of the Hellenic epoch, he
reduced them to submission, and, intoxicated by his success, ventured at
last to take up arms against the Assyrians, who for centuries past had
held rule over Upper Asia.

This was about 635 B.C., or less than ten years after the downfall of
Elam, and it does not seem likely that the vital forces of Assyria can
have suffered any serious diminution within so short a space of time.*

* The date is ind