Tehran–Toronto Working Group on the Historical Geography of Ancient Iran
Online workshop series
Rhyne King
Faculty of Arts & Science Postdoctoral Research Fellow
University of Toronto
University of Toronto
I am a historian of the ancient Mediterranean and Middle East. My specialty is the social, economic, and political history of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, which stretched from the eastern Mediterranean to Central Asia from 550 to 330 BCE. Two broad questions drive my research. First, how did the imperial ruling class maintain its empire? Second, how did ordinary people react to being part of the empire? In my research, I combine the Greek historiographical sources (like Herodotus and Thucydides) with the rich documentary evidence in Middle Eastern languages such as Akkadian, Elamite, and Aramaic. I also integrate the exciting archaeological research being done across the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean.
A second area of my research is the history of interconnections across ancient Eurasia and Africa. I am currently researching projects that consider economic and cultural interdependencies between the Persian Empire and its neighbors both west (the Greek city-states) and east (South Asia).
I have taught broadly on the history of ancient Afro-Eurasia, including Greek, Roman, Persian, Egyptian, Mesopotamian, and even Chinese history. I have also taught seminars in methodology and theory.
I believe that public outreach is essential part of being a historian. I am happy to speak at public events, appear on podcasts, or write to a broad audience. Please contact me by email if you are interested. Some of my previous public appearances can be found on this website.
Publications
Monograph
King, Rhyne. 2025. The House of the Satrap: The Making of the Ancient Persian Empire.
Oakland, CA: University of California Press.
Russian translation under contract with Azbooka; South Asian edition under contract with Sanctum Books.
· doi:10.1525/9780520416130
· Purchase ↗
Reviewed by Christopher Tuplin here
Edited Volume
Payne, Richard E., and Rhyne King, eds. 2020. The Limits of Empire in Ancient Afghanistan:
Rule and Resistance in the Hindu Kush, circa 600 BCE–600 CE. Classica et Orientalia 24.
Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
· doi:10.2307/j.ctv15vwk2q
Reviewed in Bibliotheca Orientalis 78:5/6 (2022); Orientalistische Literaturzeitung 117:3 (2022).
Articles in Journals
King, Rhyne. 2025. "Trips to the King, Taxation, and the New Year in the Persepolis Fortification Archive." Iran 63/1, 72–85. doi:10.1080/05786967.2022.2101936
King, Rhyne and Reinhard Pirngruber. 2022. "Slavery in Achaemenid-Period Babylonia: The Social World of Ribat, Son of Bel-eriba." Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History 9/1, 113–145. doi:10.1515/janeh-2020-0025
King, Rhyne. 2019. "Taxing Achaemenid Arachosia: Evidence from Persepolis." Journal of Near Eastern Studies 78/2, 185–199. doi:10.1086/705163
Chapters in Peer-Reviewed Edited Volumes
King, Rhyne. 2024. "'Camels of the King' between Persepolis and Bactria." In Kar-namag i Parsa. Studies from the Persepolis World Heritage Site, edited by Hamid Fadaei, Soheil Delshad, Mehrnaz Bordbar, and Mohammad Jawad Owladhussein. Tehran: Parthava, 129–142.
Payne, Richard E. and Rhyne King. 2020. "The Limits of Empire in Ancient Afghanistan: An Introduction." In The Limits of Empire in Ancient Afghanistan: vii–xxi.
King, Rhyne. 2020. "Local Powerbrokers in Iranian and Post-Iranian Bactria (ca. 300–800 CE): Aristocrats, Dependents, and Imperial Regimes." In The Limits of Empire in Ancient Afghanistan: 245–270.
Chapters in Editor-Reviewed Volumes
King, Rhyne. 2023. "La desigualdad en la alimentación y la classificación de personas en Persépolis" [= "Labeling and Feeding Inequality at Persepolis"]. Translated by Márgara Averbach. In Desigualdades antiquas. Economía, cultura y sociedad en el Oriente Medio y el Mediterráneo, edited by Marcelo Campagno, Julián Gallego, Carlos García Mac Gaw, and Richard E. Payne. Buenos Aires: Miño & Dávila, 341–358.
King, Rhyne. Forthcoming (date of publication unknown). "From Pasargadae to Neyrīz in the Persepolis Fortification Archive: Geography, Administration, and Economy." For German Research Foundation volume, The Unexplored Heartland: Institutional Landscapes and Networks in Eastern Fārs, edited by Wouter Henkelman and Kai Kaniuth. Manuscript complete (September 2023), awaiting chapters by other contributors. Pre-publication available online: Academia.edu ↗
Book Reviews
King, Rhyne. 2026. Review of Myth and History in Ancient Persia: The Achaemenids in Iranian Tradition by Reza Shaghaghi Zarghamee. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2025. Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2026.01.27. Open access ↗
King, Rhyne. 2025. Review of Aspects of Kinship in Ancient Iran, by D.T. Potts. Iranian and the Ancient World 1. Oakland: University of California Press, 2023. Journal of Near Eastern Studies 84, 2: 399–401. doi:10.1086/737405
King, Rhyne. 2025. Review of Taxation in the Achaemenid Empire, edited by Kristin Kleber. Classica et Orientalia 26. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2021. Orientalische Literaturzeitung 119, 4/5: 227–29. doi:10.1515/olzg-2024-0073
King, Rhyne. 2022. Review of Achemenet. Vingt ans après. Études offertes à Pierre Briant à l'occasion des vingt ans du Programme Achemenet, edited by Damien Agut-Labordère et al. Persika, 21. Leuven: Peeters, 2021. Bibliotheca Orientalis 79, 5/6: 643–48.
Writing & Media
Popular Writing
Essay · UC Press Blog
"How to Rule an Ancient Empire"
University of California Press, 2025
Magazine Article
"Managing an Empire — The Satraps of Achaemenid Persia"
Ancient History Magazine 56, 2025
Podcasts & Videos
Video · DISCDuke
"Multilingualism and Administration in the Achaemenid Persian Empire"
2022
Video · Knowledge Archives
"Tracking the Spread of the Persian Empire"
2021
Podcast
"The House of the Satrap with Rhyne King" — Ancient History Podcast 19, 2025
Papers Presented
Since 2023
"From Persepolis to Pasargadae, ca. 500 BCE: The View from the Persepolis Fortification Archive." Tehran–Toronto Working Group on the Historical Geography of Ancient Iran. December 9, 2025. Online.
"Achaemenid Camels between Persepolis and Bactria." New Directions in the Study of Silk Road Material Culture. Dunhuang Academy, Dunhuang, China. September 16, 2025.
"The Achaemenid Road System and Eurasian Trade." Entangled Worlds: Connectivity and Impact between Chinese and Iranian Empires in the Second Half of the First Millennium BCE. Fudan University, Shanghai, China. September 12, 2025.
"Collapse or Transition? Local Communities from Achaemenid to Macedonian Rule." The Many Ends of Ancient Empires: Local and Imperial Elites at the Threshold of a New Order. University of Helsinki. August 20–22, 2025.
"Response to Panel 'Work without End: Informal Taxation and Forced Labor within Persian Southern Levantine Temple Economy and Society.'" International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament. Berlin. August 11–15, 2025.
"Athenian Silver and the Trade in Slaves from Persian Territories." Annual Meeting of the Association of Ancient Historians. University of Cincinnati. April 16–18, 2025.
"The New Year in the Achaemenid Period: The View from the Persepolis Fortification Archive." International Nowruz Conference. Persepolis, Iran. March 17, 2025. [Recorded lecture presented online.]
Collet, Alice and Rhyne King. "The Origin of 'Hindu': Conceptions of 'India' and Gandhāra in the Earliest Iranian, South Asian, and Greek Sources." Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. Oxford. February 12, 2025. [Presented online.]
"Athenian Silver and the Persian Political Economy." Ancient History Work-in-Progress Seminar. University of Toronto. November 21, 2024.
"An Imperial Paradise? Social and Economic Transformations in Persian Babylonia (539–330 BCE)." University of Toronto. November 15, 2024.
"An Empire of Many Houses: Conceptualizing Achaemenid Persia." Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany. June 5, 2024.
"Quantification and the Persepolis Fortification Archive: Approaches and Challenges" and "Estimating the Population of Dependent Laborers (Kurtaš) in Eastern Pārsa." Quantification and the Persepolis Fortification Archive: An Exploratory Workshop. University of St Andrews, UK. May 31, 2024. Author-organized conference.
"Dating Cuneiform Tablets." Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities Online Training Session. May 28, 2024. [Presented online.]
"Sustainable Water Management: Qanats in the Persian Empire." Center for Ancient Environmental Studies Impact Workshop. University of St Andrews, UK. May 27, 2024.
"The Persian Empire and 'India', 522–486 BCE." School of Classics Research Seminar. University of St Andrews, UK. January 19, 2024.
"Satraps and Regional Governance in the Achaemenid Empire: A Comparative Perspective." Annual Meeting of the Society for Classical Studies, panel Power and Diversity: Centering Achaemenid Imperialism. Chicago, IL. January 4–7, 2024.
"From Governor of Babylon to Satrap in Syria: The Life and Times of Bēlšunu, Son of Bēl-uṣuršu (ca. 425–400 BCE)." 68th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale. Leiden, Netherlands. July 17–20, 2023.
"Impossible Accounts? Mobile Seals, Absent Administrators, and the Practice of Bookkeeping in the Persepolis Fortification Archive." 68th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale. Leiden, Netherlands. July 17–20, 2023.
"Replicating Royal Power: The Satraps of the Achaemenid Persian Empire (550–330 BCE)." Empires and their Elites. Munich, Germany. March 29–31, 2023.
King, Rhyne and Divya Kumar-Dumas. "Roads, Seals, and Authenticity in the Indus River Valley from the Persepolis Fortification Archive to Kauṭilya's Arthaśāstra." Annual Meeting of the American Oriental Society. Los Angeles. March 10–12, 2023.
Conferences Organized
"Quantification and the Persepolis Fortification Archive: An Exploratory Workshop." University of St Andrews. May 31, 2024.
Public Lectures
"Book Launch: The House of the Satrap: The Making of the Ancient Persian Empire." Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies. November 14, 2025.
"The World of Aršāma, Persian Governor of Egypt ca. 420–400 BCE." Turbulent Times, Hostile Neighbors: Egypt in the Late Period (Annual Symposium of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities). Toronto. November 8, 2025.
"Nowruz in the Achaemenid Period: The View from Persepolis." Recorded presentation for Nowruz celebration. Takht-e Jamsheed [Persepolis], Iran. March 17, 2025.
"Imperialism through Self-Interest: The Satrapal Houses of the Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BCE)." Fudan University, Shanghai, China. Via Zoom. October 23, 2022.
"From Persepolis to Kandahar." Recorded lecture presented for the exhibit "Coming Home" on the Persepolis Fortification Tablets. Takht-e Jamsheed [Persepolis], Iran. May 20, 2022.
"From Ezra to Ashoka: Multilingualism and Governance in the Achaemenid Persian Empire." Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University. New York, New York. March 24, 2022.
"Multilingualism and Administration in the Achaemenid Persian Empire." Iranian Cultural Society of North Carolina. Durham, North Carolina. January 26, 2022.
"Making the Empire a Paradise: Building Achaemenid Persia (550–330 BCE)." Society of Zoroastrian Scholars. Burr Ridge, Illinois. September 28, 2019.
Research Projects
Persepolis Treasury Archive Project
In collaboration with the Sarikhani Center for Elamite Studies (École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris); researcher for economic history
Persepolis Fortification Archive Project
Formerly editor of Elamite texts in online database
Economics of Late Babylonian Archives
Joint project between University of Chicago and Universität Wien; led network analysis of fifth-century BCE economic texts from Mesopotamia
Teaching
University of Toronto
2026 The Persian Empire: Superpower of the Ancient World — Seminar for second-year students in History, Middle East Studies, and Classics
University of St Andrews
Most courses at St Andrews are team-taught by multiple faculty. All courses below are team-taught unless otherwise noted.
2024 Cities and Communities in the Ancient Mediterranean
2024 Mediterranean Communities
2024 Local Communities under Empire in Ancient Persia — Sole instructor; advanced seminar
2023 Ancient Empires
2023 The Roman Empire
2023 Approaches to Ancient History — Methodology seminar
2023 Themes and Methods in Classical Research — Master's proseminar
2023 Greek History and Material Culture — Master's seminar
New York University
2022 Archives and Ancient History — Graduate seminar
2021 The Economy of the Ancient World: Money, Markets, and Labor — First-year seminar
University of Chicago
2019 Persia: The First World Empire — Self-designed course
2018–19 Ancient Mediterranean World: Rome — Instructor & Course Assistant
2019 Ancient Mediterranean World: Greece — Course Assistant
2017–18 Elementary Akkadian — Language Assistant
Academic Employment
Faculty of Arts & Science Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Lecturer in Ancient History
Postdoctoral Researcher
German Research Foundation Project "The Unexplored Heartland: Institutional Landscapes and Networks in Eastern Fars"
Visiting Assistant Professor
Education
PhD, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations (Ancient Near Eastern History)
Dissertation (awarded honors): "The House of the Satrap and the Making of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, 522–330 BCE"
BA summa cum laude, Classical Languages (highest distinction); Linguistics