Ancient Persia

Linguistic Composition of Iran Map

Iran, located in the Middle East, is a diverse country with a rich linguistic composition. The country is home to several linguistic groups, each with its own unique characteristics and history. The official language of Iran is Persian, also known as Farsi, which is spoken by the majority of the population. Persian is an Indo-European language and...

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History of Iran Timeline

From Ancient Persia to Contemporary Iran "" History of Iran Timeline. From Ancient Persia to Contemporary Iran covers the highlights of Iran's history in a brief, easy to read, factually acurate and inexpensive timeline. The full-color 11" x 5" brochure opens accordion-style to the size of 11" x 35." The highest quality paper and printing process...

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Genealogy of Parthian Rulers

This chart presents the genealogy on which all dating and attributions of this web site are based, and represents the generally accepted genealogy for Parthian rulers and rival claimants. (See commentary below.) In main, the chronologies of Frye [The History of Ancient Iran (1984), pp. 209ff, 360] and Sellwood [An Introduction to the Coinage of Par...

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Artemisia of Halicarnassus

Artemisia: queen of Halicarnassus in c. 480 BCE, ally of the Persian king Xerxes during his invasion of Greece. Halicarnassus was a Graeco-Carian city that belonged to the empire of the Persian Achaemenids. The Persian authorities liked their cities to be ruled by one man, and not by an uncontrollable oligarchy or democracy, and preferred Lygdamis ...

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Darius I the Great

Darius I (Old Persian DÃ-rayavauÅ¡): king of ancient Persia, whose reign lasted from 522 to 486. He seized power after killing king GaumÃ-ta, fought a civil war (described in the Behistun inscription), and was finally able to refound the Achaemenid empire, which had been very loosely organized until then. Darius fought several foreign wars, which b...

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The Accession of Darius III

In the summer of 336, Darius III Codomannus became king of Persia. This brave man was to be the last king of the ancient empire, because he was defeated by Alexander the Great. Darius became king after a very troubled succession. The Greek author Diodorus of Sicily, describes the events in section 17.5.3-6.3 of his World history....

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Soldiers from Persepolis

Relief of soldiers from Persepolis with wicker shields. 6th c. B.C. (East Berlin: Pergamum Museum)....

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The Cyrus Cylinder

Text. The Cyrus Cylinder, discovered in 1879 and now in the British Museum, is one of the most famous cuneiform texts, because it was once believed that it confirmed what the Bible says (Isaiah 44.23-45.8; Ezra 1.1-6, 6.1-5; 2 Chronicles 36.22-23): that in 539 BCE, the Persian conqueror Cyrus the Great had allowed the Jews to return from their Ba...

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Persia History Timeline

Achaemenid Persia. Persian Timeline...

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History of Iran: 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 BCE). The Parthian empire occupied all of modern Iran, Iraq and Armenia, parts of Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkme...

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