Artystone was a Persian

Achaemenid Empire

The Achaemenid Empire , sometimes known as First Persian Empire and/or Persian Empire, was founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who overthrew the Median confederation...

 princess, daughter of king Cyrus the Great

Cyrus the Great

Cyrus II of Persia , commonly known as Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much...

, and sister or half-sister of Atossa

Atossa

Atossa was an Achaemenid queen and daughter of Cyrus the Great and his wife, Cassandane...

 and Cambyses II. Along with Atossa and her niece Parmys

Parmys

Parmys was a Persian princess, the only daughter of Bardiya , son of Cyrus the Great. She was the grand daughter of Cyrus the Great, and Cassandane....

, Artystone married king Darius I. It is argued that by marrying the female offspring of Cyrus, the founder of the empire, the new king aimed to prevent his rule from being contested.

Artystone and Darius had at least two sons, Arsames and Gobryas, and a daughter, Artazostre

Artazostre

Artazostre was a Persian princess, daughter of king Darius the Great by Artystone, daughter of Cyrus the Great....

. According to the Greek

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...

 historian Herodotus

Herodotus

Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...

 Artystone was Darius' favourite wife. She is also mentioned in the Persepolis Fortification Tablets, an administrative archive from Persepolis

Persepolis

Perspolis was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire . Persepolis is situated northeast of the modern city of Shiraz in the Fars Province of modern Iran. In contemporary Persian, the site is known as Takht-e Jamshid...

.

Primary sources

• Herodotus
  Herodotus
  Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
  
  , 3.88.2 bis; 7.69.2; 7.72.2.
• The Persepolis Fortification Archive
  Persepolis Fortification Archive
  The Persepolis Fortification Archive and Persepolis Treasury Archive are two groups of clay administrative archives — sets of records physically stored together - found in Persepolis dating to the Persian Achaemenid Empire...