Achaimenid name for themselves?

[Zenodoros]

I never noticed until recently that I have no idea what the Achaimenids actually called themselves. "Persia", "Parsi", "Parsis" etc. all derive from a single Iranian area. I think "Iran" came into use hundreds of years later. What did the Achaimenids refer to themselves as? Was it related to Haxamanis?

Sorry if this is a silly or easy question, but it stumped me.

[Sean Manning]

I never noticed until recently that I have no idea what the Achaimenids actually called themselves. "Persia", "Parsi", "Parsis" etc. all derive from a single Iranian area. I think "Iran" came into use hundreds of years later. What did the Achaimenids refer to themselves as? Was it related to Haxamanis?

Sorry if this is a silly or easy question, but it stumped me.

Well, that was the area they came from just like Roma is one little Italian town. They called themselves Persians (Old Persian Parsa) and Aryans (Old Persian Ariya).

[Artabanos]

Yes, Arya was the general name for Iranics; they most likely introduced themselves as Arya to alien people like the Egyptians with the Parsa being the leading tribe of the Aryan/Iranic tribes.

Beside the sub tribes of the Persians they may also have introduced as Haxmaneshya since this was the most legendary and noble family of all Persian tribes (similar to the legendary Pelide/Atride families of Greece).

Inside the empire they most likely called themselves and other Aryan/Iranic tribes, Aryans to show the difference between them and the various aboriginal people of the empire.

[Aryaman2]

Well, the Achaemenians would call themselves just that, Achaemenians, like Darius in the Bistun inscription

1. (1.1-3.) I am Darius the Great King, King of Kings, King in Persia, King of countries, son of Hystaspes, grandson of Arsames, an Achaemenian.
2. (1.3-6.) Darius the King says: My father was Hystaspes; Hystaspes' father was Arsames; Arsames' father was Ariaramnes; Ariaramnes' father was Teispes; Teispes' father was Achaemenes.
3. (1.6-8.) Darius the King says: For this reason we are called Achaemenians. From long ago we have been noble. From long ago our family had been kings.

[Zenodoros]

But that's using the Greek/Latin names rather than Persian names. Is that how he actually wrote it?

They called themselves Persians (Old Persian Parsa) and Aryans (Old Persian Ariya).

I thought Parsis was just one area Cyrus gained control over, and one that the Greeks learned about early-ish on, so they attributed that name and those derived from it to all Achaimenians.

Would Haxmaneshya be the Persian equivilent to "Achaimenian"?

Thanks for your help.

[Aryaman2]

Yes, Haxâmaniš is the transcription of the original name translated in Greek as Achaemenes

[Sean Manning]

But that's using the Greek/Latin names rather than Persian names. Is that how he actually wrote it?

I gave the modern English equivalent, and the Old Persian version which Cyrus or Xerxes would have spoken.

They called themselves Persians (Old Persian Parsa) and Aryans (Old Persian Ariya).

I thought Parsis was just one area Cyrus gained control over, and one that the Greeks learned about early-ish on, so they attributed that name and those derived from it to all Achaimenians.

Would Haxmaneshya be the Persian equivilent to "Achaimenian"?

Thanks for your help.

Well, what do you mean by Achaemenid/Achaemenian? That was the term for the Persian dynasty, based on a legendary founder from who all kings of Persia after Darius the Great claimed to inherit their power. Darius the Great may have been the first Persian king to call himself an Achaemenid, but we have less evidence for earlier kings so this could just be an accident. But the people which ruled the Persian empire was the Persians, just like the people which ruled the Roman empire was the Romans.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Yes, Haxâmaniš is the transcription of the original name translated in Greek as Achaemenes

This seemed really familiar for some strange reason