The role of Kurtaš and its social-administrative organization in the Persepolis Royal economy

With the formation of the Achaemenid Empire under the leadership of Cyrus and its expansion by Darius and his successors, developments took place that had profound effects on the social and economic landscape of the Persepolis region. One of the consequences of these developments is the entry of large groups of people from the newly occupied lands into this region, which were employed in different parts of the Persepolis administrative organization. The archives of Persepolis, directly and indirectly, provide a range of different topics on various aspects of the social, religious and economic life of the Kurtaš. This article tries to clarify the relative aspects of the life of the Kurtaš, including their social and legal status in Achaemenid Persian society, by using the historical approach and using the interpretations and information of the Tablets published from the Persepolis archive. Ethnic and identity's, the system of rations and wages, the estimated population, the economic role, the organization of the force labour and how it is organized and managed. The results of the research show that in the time period of the Tablets, a large population of Kurtaš was attracted from all over the empire in the form of simple workers, skilled and specialized craftsmen, slaves, free and semi-free workers, soldiers, etc. They became the " Persepolis royal economy ".The Persepolis administrative organization has provided the courthouses with various means of subsistence and welfare through regular auditing. In this organization, the head of ceremonies (as the highest economic official of Persepolis) and his subordinate officials (including the deputy and officials known as "Kurdabatiš, šaramana, Damana, etc.) are in charge of organizing the force labuor and distributing rations.