Bowen adds that his encyclopedia mentions a Tissaphernes who was a Persian satrap (regional governor) in Asia Minor during the Peloponnesian War. "That was way too early for the reference. I'm guessing John just grabbed a Persian name he could remember, and maybe liked the sound of."

Also, the Ud (or Oud) is a musical instrument whose origins can be traced to antiquity, is the most widespread of Eastern instruments and the ancestor of the European lute.