When the Great King Encounters White Marble: A Material Perspective on Western Anatolia

Marble was among the resources that shaped Anatolia in antiquity, a material widely used for local purposes and exported across the Mediterranean. Though the Roman period has been well studied, the role of marble in earlier periods has continued to be overlooked, particularly before the Hellenistic period. The study of marble use under Achaemenid Persian rule (mid-sixth century to the 330s BC) can, therefore, lead to a better understanding of the complex balance between different cultural worlds in western Anatolia. This paper explores the Persian kings’ encounter with white marble in western Anatolia and its impact through discussion of a variety of evidence types. The paper considers the advantages of applying a material perspective to western Anatolia under Persian rule in order to shed light on crucial artistic and cultural mechanisms.