- [i] related:: [[2021-08-16 Stamps]] - [i] related:: [[Persian adoption of papyrus is a reason we have few records]] - [b] [[royal court of the Achaemenid empire]] * ["] The idea that the king, or any other high official, could be tricked into issuing an official document by using their seal is completely realistic. Official records were stamped with a cylinder seal, a little tiny tube inscribed with a unique image, usually worn around the official's neck. Some have survived intact and have been tested by archaeologists, like this. Every major official in the imperial core had their own, including royal wives and daughters and other members of the royal household. * [i] related:: [[The Diplomatic Role of Princesses in the Bronze Age Levant]] * ["] There's even an example of this exact concern in the Persepolis Fortification Archive, a collection of clay administrative records from the main royal palace in Persia. The mayor of the palace was a guy named Pharnaces. Pharnaces typically used an old, Elamite style seal - probably some kind of heirloom. It looked like this and is stamped on many documents from Persepolis. However, one day Pharances lost that seal. It was quite small and may just have come loose and gotten lost outside, but given his position that was still a huge security risk, so he issued a notice to the palace chancellery: > The seal that used to be mine, is now lost. As a substitute, I now use the seal that can be seen in this letter. That letter was accompanied by another tablet with this seal pressed into the clay. The seal was lost, but was essentially Pharnaces' signature so it had to replaced quickly. If the king's seal was pressed into clay and then the orders were added later, it would still appear legitimate