Achaemenid Settlements > Ganzak
Ganzak
Background
Ganzak was built by the Achaemenids, and was the seat of the satrap of Media. The word means “treasury” and is of Median origin, and was adopted into Persian by the Achaemenid Empire. The name is related to the Persian word for treasury i.e. گنج Ganj. During the 4th-century BC, the city became part of the domains of the Persian aristocrat Atropates, who had deserted to Alexander the Great, and had probably made Ganzak his capital. The kingdom of Atropates became known as the “Atropatene”. During the rule of this kingdom, the sacred fire temple Adhur Gushnasp was constructed.
