Sykes' History of Persia - Heritage Institute

366 HISTORY OF PERSIA chap.
record." This evidently refers to parchment, which, as
its name shows, reached Europe from the Near East, the
word having been traced through the late Latin pergamena,
or product of Pergamus. No mention whatever is made
of the Roman Empire, which lay beyond the ken of China
at this
period. The account then refers to the " Weak
Water," which, as Kingsmill points out, was originally
the
tradition of an inland sea in the basin of the Tarim, of
which the Lop Lake is a dwindling representative. The
envoys probably
heard of the Sistan Hamun and trans-
ferred the legend to the new and more distant site, as was
the invariable custom among early travellers of the East
and West alike.
Return embassies bringing gifts of " great birds' eggs
and clever Li-Kien conjurers to offer to Han " are
mentioned. The eggs referred to must be those of the
ostrich, probably obtained from the Arabian Desert,
although Kingsmill suggests that the ostrich may have
ranged the Lut in those days ; and Li-Kien is to be
identified with Hyrcania. Parker dates these embassies,
which throw the first gleam of light on the intercourse
between Iran and China, between 120 B.C. and 88 b.c.
An Obscure Period of Parthian History^ 88-66 b.c.—
The circumstance that Parthia applied to Rome for an
alliance is in itself evidence of the conviction that the
forces of Armenia, supported by Pontus, were too strong
to be met. And although we now enter a period of
history which is obscure, we learn that Tigranes was strong
enough to defeat Parthia and to expand at the expense of
the Arsacid monarch, who died about 88 B.C., and of his
successors. We read that, taking advantage of the Pontic
War, he annexed Upper Mesopotamia and Media Atropatene
from Parthia, and westwards absorbed what was
left of the kingdom of the Seleucids. These campaigns
took place between 85 B.C. and 74 b.c. ; and, as already
mentioned, Armenia from being a small state grew into
a wide - spreading empire. Tigranes only recorded an
accomplished fact when he stamped in Greek upon his
coins the ancient title of the monarchs of Asia, " King of
Kings."