Ancient Persia

Silver Beaker

Amlash culture, about 1400-900 BC. From north-west Iran. This silver beaker belongs to the so-called Amlash culture of Gilan province in north-west Iran... This was one of the most distinctive Iranian cultures of the late second and early first millennia BC. The beaker probably came from the region of Marlik Tepe. Here, in one of the richest cemete...

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Bronze pin decorated with an image of a goddess

Luristan culture, 10th-7th century BC. From western Iran. Elaborately decorated bronze pins of this kind are linked stylistically to the rich metalworking tradition of the region of Luristan in the mountains of western Iran. Virtually all the surviving bronzes come from plundered cemeteries of stone-built graves. These vary considerably in date, bu...

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Ganjnameh Inscription

Ganjnameh is an ancient inscription, 5 km southwest of Hamedan, on the side of Alvand Mountain in Iran. The inscription, which has been carved in granite, is composed of two sections. One (on the left) ordered by Darius I (521-485 BC) and the other (on the right) ordered by Xerxes I (485-65 BC). Both sections, which have been carved in three ancien...

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History of Iran: Cyrus the Great

Cyrus (580-529 BC) was the first Achaemenid Emperor. He founded Persia by uniting the two original Iranian Tribes- the Medes and the Persians. Although he was known to be a great conqueror, who at one point controlled one of the greatest Empires ever seen, he is best remembered for his unprecedented tolerance and magnanimous attitude towards those ...

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Cyrus of Ansan

Brief article on Cyrus (Kuraš): king of Anšan, the grandfather of king Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenid empire....

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Artaxerxes III Ochus

Artaxerxes III Ochus: Achaemenid king of the Persian Empire, ruled from 358 to 338....

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Parthian Empire

The Parthian empire was the most enduring of the empires of the ancient Near East. After the Parni nomads had settled in Parthia and had built a small independent kingdom, they rose to power under king Mithradates the Great (171-138). The Parthian empire occupied all of modern Iran, Iraq and Armenia, parts of Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenist...

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Griffin's head from column at Persopolis

May reflect a borrowing a Mesopotamian political symbolism....

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