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Ancient Persia

A Religion Founded by the Prophet Zoroaster

The Mythology of Ancient Persia: Stems from A Religion Founded by the Prophet Zoroaster in the 6th century Ancient Persia occupied the land that is now modern Iran. Persia is a land of stark contrasts: a land of barren deserts and tropical jungles, of snowy mountains and fertile valleys. There are regions where apple trees and date palms grow with...

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Beaker With Geometric Designs And Birds

Archaeologists working in Iran at the site of Tepe Giyan during 1931 and 1932 excavated 119 burials dating to five successive periods. Among the vessels characteristic of the Giyan II Period were ones whose decoration combined geometric patterns with representations of small suns and birds. This beaker, acquired by the archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld ...

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SPOUTED GRAY-WARE PITCHER

Around 1200 B.C. monochrome wares were introduced in many parts of Iran and replaced the earlier painted pottery. These new, frequently burnished, wares occur in both a reddish-orange and a dark gray variety. The gray wares, of which this long-spouted pitcher is a characteristic example, were given their color by special firing in an oxygen-reducin...

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Tomb of Darius I, Close-up of King and God.

IRAN: Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Darius I, Close-up of King and God....

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Achaemenid Military Equipment

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Thermopylae

Termopylae After the Athenians beat the Persians in the First Persian War, at the battle of Marathon, the Persians left the Greeks alone for ten years. The Persians were busy fighting a revolt in Egypt, and their king Darius had died. But as soon as Darius' son Xerxes (ZERK-sees) settled the Egyptian revolt, he began to plan how he would conquer t...

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Persian Myths, The Gods of Ancient Persia

The religious texts of the Zoroastrians are rich with information on the ancient Persians and their gods. These texts include the Avesta and later sources such as the Bundahishn and Denkard. Within the Avesta, the gods, heroes and fabulous creatures mostly appear in the section known as the Yasht. Here, myths of 'pre-Zoroastrian' origin which refle...

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THE PERSIAN WARS - The Size of Persian Fleet

The problem of the size of the Persian army can be illuminated by considering the size of the Persian fleet, since there must have been a proportion between the two forces. Herodotus reports that the fleet consisted of 1207 triremes and 3000 lesser fighting ships and supply ships (VII 89, 184). The figure of 1207 triremes is itemized by specifying ...

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Painted Jar

This handmade vessel has a lozenge pattern on the shoulder painted in black on a plum-red burnished surface. This type of ware and decoration are characteristic of a phase in the development of Iranian civilization on the central plateau that is often called "Cheshmeh Ali" after a site of that name near Tehran....

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PERSIAN ROUNDEL

This snarling winged lion worked in gold repoussé attests to the exceptional skill of Achaemenid goldsmiths. The back of the horned feline's body and the slender twisted cord that surrounds it bear sixteen tiny loops for attachment to a garment or textile. Greek writers often speak of the tremendous wealth of the Persians, and Herodotus writes tha...

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