ANCIENT PERSIA

Iran

The Rise of Persia

The Persians based their empire on

tolerance and diplomacy. They relied

on a strong military to back up their

policies. Ancient Persia is where Iran is

today.

Persia is in Modern Day Iran

The Persian Empire

WATER MASSES Touching upon

the Arabian sea, the Aral sea,

the black sea, the Caspian sea,

the Mediterranean sea, the

Persian gulf and the red sea

RIVERS Euphrates, Tigris

Starting of the Persian Empire Around

612 B.C., the Persians had overthrown the

Assyrians. Then the Persians started to

build their empire. The first Empire of the

Persians started around 550 B.C. The first

Persian King was Cyrus. When they

started with their empire, they began to

expand it.

The beginning of king Cyrus

ruling started in 550 B.C

Under his rule the Persian

Empire expanded from the

Indus river to Anatolia.

(Approximately 2,000 miles.)

When King Cyrus was

leading wars he was said to

have lead many victories.

(550- 539 B.C.) He was a

very kind person,

considering he believing in

recognition of local customs

and Religions

CYRUS THE GREAT

A tolerant ruler he alloweddifferent cultures within hisempire to keep their owninstitutions.

The Greeks called him aLaw-Giver.

The Jews called him theanointed of the Lord. (In 537, he allowed over 40,000 toreturn to Palestine).

Cyruss Empire

550 BC Conquered several

neighboring kingdoms

Military genius

Controlled an empire spanning 2000 miles

Kindness toward conquered people

Honored local customs and religions

538 BC - Allowed the Jews to return to their homeland, Jerusalem

Considered by the Jews to be one of Gods anointed ones

King Cambyses Expanded the empire

by gaining control of Egypt. In contrast

to his father, he did not accept all religions.

He treated the Egyptian religion very poorly.

An example of his horrid treatment towards

Egyptian religion is that he had people

under his ruling burn pictures of Egyptian

gods. The actions of this King caused

rebellion to occur in the Persian empire. He

ruled for 8 years before dying. After dying

he left the thrown to his heir Darius.

Darius the Great(526 485 B. C. E.) Built Persepolis.

He extended the Persian Empire to the Indus

River in northern India. (2 mil. s.q. mi.)

Built a canal in Egypt.

Ancient Persepolis

Darius the Great(526 485 B. C. E.)

Established a tax-collecting system.

Divided the empire into districtscalled SATRAPIES.

Built the great Royal Road (land trade) system.

Established a complex postal system.

Created a network of spies calledthe Kings eyes and ears.

Persian Royal Road

Standardized Taxes

Darius replaced the irregular payments with formal tax levies

Each satrapy was required to pay a set quantity of silver and in some cases a levy of horses and slaves alsoto the imperial court

In order to expedite payments, he issued standard coins - daric

Wars: The Greco-Persian war was one of the major wars that occurred in this empire.The war was caused because of differences between the Greek and Persian way of life. During the time when Darius ruled, his troops fought this war. Unfortunately, they were unable to win.

There were a number of Graeco-Persian Wars from 490-480/79 B.C. This was not what destroyed the Persians. The Macedonian, Alexander the Great, invaded and destroyed the Persian Empire.

PERSIAN CULTURE:

The Persians very

gradually converted to

Islam from the mid 7th

century and later adopted

the Arabic alphabet.

Calligraphy It is

considered to be one of

the most eye catching

and fascinating

manifestations of Persian

culture.

PERSIAN LANGUAGE AND WRITING

Ancient Persians had many languages and writing systems;

ELAMITE was the official language of the Persian Empire from 600 BCE & 400 BCE.;

600 BCE Scripts Writings were usually on clay tablets (sometimes they wrote on cliffs). Used special writing instruments. Writing was done by scribes, High level people were illiterate. Writing was beneath them.

Zoroastrianism

Persian

Religion

Monotheism

Good went to

Heaven

Bad went to

Hell

19

Persian Art

Persepolis, Iran

Apadana with huge columns 60 feet tall

36 columns with bull-shaped tops

Reliefs on walls symbolize Persian guards called Immortals

10,000 Immortals protected the city and ruler

Large ramps leading to apadana enable chariots to enter hall

PERSIAN CONTRIBUTION

The Persian Garden refers to a tradition and style of garden design

Domes were an important part and constructed on the first large-scale in Persia

Rugs: Persian rug has a wide variety designs and styles, and trying to organize them in to a category is a very difficult task. Materials used in carpets, including wool and cotton, decay. The dyes used to create the coloring are all from plants, roots and other natural substances. The art of carpet-weaving in Persia is at least 3500 years old.

PERSIAN MEDICINE

Iran's traditional medicine has its roots in Greek, Indian and Egyptian medicine

Fees varied according to the sex, age, ad wealth of the patient

In case of abortion, father, daughter and the operator were punished

The fatherless were to be supported in the society

Medicine and religion were related

Surgeries took place such as cranial and caesarian operation

References:

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* https://en.wikipedia.org