The Oriental Studies, 2022, № 89 181 © 2022 M. Moshtagh Khorasani; Published by the A. Yu. Krymskyi Insi- tute of Oriental Studies, NAS of Ukraine on behalf of The Oriental Stu- dies. This is an Open Access article disributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/li- censes/by-nc/4.0/). ISSN 2415-8712 (on-line); ISSN 1682-671X (print) Shodoznavsvo, 2022, No. 89, pp. 181–206 doi: https://doi.org/10.15407/skhodoznavsvo2022.89.181 UDС 391:94(35) ACHAEMENID AKINAKES: ORIGINS AND TYPES M. Moshtagh Khorasani PhD (Linguisics) Lecturer and Professor of Intercultural Management and Ethical Leadership Frankfurt School of Finance and Management Adickesallee 32-34, 60322 Frankfurt am Main, Germany International School of Management Mörfelder Landsrasse 55, 60598 Frankfurt am Main, Germany Manouchehr@moshtaghkhorasani.com ORCID: 0000-0002-7663-1963 The present paper deals with a description and classifcation of the Achaemenid short sword akinakes. The Achaemenid akinakes was mos probably infuenced by the Scythians or the Sakas. Hence, the paper pro- vides a brief discussion on other types of akinakes as well. There were lon- ger examples of akinakes used by the Scythians, but the archaeological examples of Achaemenid akinakes and also their depictions on Achaemenid sone reliefs tend to depict short swords. Stone reliefs in Persepolis, Apa- dana, and other Persian sites show two types of Achaemenid short swords. One type is hung via a cord attached to an ear-shaped suspension sysem of the scabbard mouth, resembling the same suspension sysem used by Scythians and other nations infuenced by them. The other type is tucked in the sash or the belt. The present paper argues that although these swords de- picted on Achaemenid reliefs use two diferent suspension sysems, they should be both considered as akinakes in the Persian cultural context. The sone reliefs show diferent decorative elements for each type of akinakes as well. It is not clear why some of them were left undecorated on the reliefs. It could be an artisic convention or it could be that they were wiped of due to climate changes. On the other hand, others are elaborately decorated. The