Editing Sardis (section)

=== Persian Period ===
[[File:Terracotta_loom_weight_MET_DP130740.jpg|thumb|left|175px|[[Loom weight]]s like this one attest to  continuing textile industry at Sardis.]]

After the destruction, Sardis was rebuilt and continued to be an important and prosperous city. Though it was never again the capital of an independent state, it did serve as the capital for the [[satrapy]] of [[Lydia (satrapy)|Sparda]] and formed the end station of the Persian [[Royal Road]] which began in [[Persepolis]]. It acted as a gateway to the Greek world, and was visited by notable Greek leaders such as [[Lysander]] and [[Alcibiades]], as well as the Persian kings [[Darius I]] and [[Xerxes I|Xerxes]].<ref name="Greenewalt-2011-Steadman-McMahon" />{{rp|style=ama|pp=1120–1122}}<ref name = "Introduction" >{{cite encyclopedia |title=Introduction |encyclopedia= The Lydians and Their World |year=2010 |last= Greenwalt |first= Crawford |url=https://sardisexpedition.org/en/essays/latw-greenewalt-introduction}}</ref>

Relatively little of Persian Sardis is visible in the archaeological record. The city may even have been rebuilt outside the limits of the Lydian-era walls, as evidenced by authors such as Herodotus who place the Persian era central district along the Pactolus stream.<ref name = "CityofSardis" >{{cite encyclopedia |title= The City of Sardis |encyclopedia= The Lydians and Their World |year=2010 |last= Cahill |first= Nicholas |url=https://www.sardisexpedition.org/en/essays/latw-cahill-city-of-sardis}}</ref> The material culture of the city was largely continuous with the Lydian era, to the point that it can be hard to precisely date artifacts based on style.<ref name="Greenewalt-2011-Steadman-McMahon" />{{rp|style=ama|pp=1120–1122}}

Notable developments of this period include adoption of the [[Aramaic script]] alongside the [[Lydian alphabet]] and the "Achaemenid bowl" pottery shape.<ref name="Greenewalt-2011-Steadman-McMahon" />{{rp|style=ama|pp=1120–1122}} Jewelry of the period shows Persian-Anatolian cultural hybridization. In particular, jewelers turned to semi-precious stones and colored [[frit]] due to a Persian prohibition on gold jewelry among the priestly class. Similarly, knobbed pins and fibulae disappear from the archaeological record, reflecting changes in the garments with which they would have been used.<ref name = "LydianJewelry" >{{cite encyclopedia |title=Lydian Jewelry |encyclopedia= The Lydians and Their World |year=2010 |last= Meriçboyu |first= Yıldız Akyay |url=https://sardisexpedition.org/en/essays/latw-mericboyu-lydian-jewelry}}</ref>

[[File:Britishmuseumbintepehorserelief_(cropped).jpg|thumb|right|250px|Relief from a Persian-era burial at Bintepe]]

Buildings from this era include a possible predecessor of the later temple to Artemis as well as a possible sanctuary of [[Zeus]]. Textual evidence suggests that the city was known for its [[paradise garden|paradisoi]] as well as orchards and hunting parks built by [[Tissaphernes]] and [[Cyrus the Younger]]<ref name="Greenewalt-2011-Steadman-McMahon" />{{rp|style=ama|p=1122}} Burials of this period include enormous tumuli with extensive grave goods.<ref name = "CityofSardis" />

In 499 BC, Sardis was attacked and burned by the [[Ionians]] as part of the [[Ionian Revolt]] against Persian rule. The subsequent destruction of mainland Greek cities was said to be retribution for this attack. When [[Themistocles]] later visited Sardis, he came across a votive statue he had personally dedicated at [[Athens]], and requested its return.<ref name = "CityofSardis" />