THE PERSIANS

RELIGION  Persian thinker Zoroaster  Introduced new religion, Zoroastrianism  Monotheist religion  Inspired Cyrus’ conquest

RELIGION  Persia changed religions several times  Borrowed from the Assyrians and Arabians.

 Worshipped single god named Mithra.

 Combo between major gods of Assyria and Arabia.

CYRUS THE GREAT  First united by Cryus the Great  Chief in the south of Persia  Religious tolerance made him successful  Had conquered all of Persia by 554 BC  Later conquered the Lydian and Babylonian empires

CAMBYSES  Cyrus’ son, Cambyses:  Conquered Egypt in 525 BC  Rebellions started after he died

DARIUS  Cambyses’ son, Darius:  Used elite soldiers to put down rebellions  Extended Persian empire to farthest reaches  Divided huge empire into 20 independent provinces  Attempted to conquer Greece- beaten in the Battle of Marathon

PERSIAN EMPIRE UNDER DARIUS

PERSEPOLIS  Capital of Ancient Persia  Destroyed during the conquests of Alexander the Great  Founded by Darius  Ceramic works were mostly from Susa and Persepolis

ECONOMY  Darius set up common weights and measurements  Encouraged use of coins  Created economic-links throughout the large empire  First used by Lydians of Asia Minor

TRADE ROUTES  Darius improved the Royal Road  Used for trade within the empire  Connected the empire  Extended from cities Susa to Sardis  Had 111 post stations  Riders would trade out horses

THE ROYAL ROAD Stretched 1,677 miles

TECHNOLOGY  Built ports and roads  Canal from the Red Sea to the Nile  Used water management system for irrigation called Qanat  Well-like shafts connected with tunnels  Drained water using gravity

QANAT WATER SYSTEM

CULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS  Pottery was the first form of art in Persia  The oldest found is from the 5 th BCE millennium  Used animal motifs on their pottery  Also made:  Bowls  Jewelry  Rhytons (drinking horns)

CULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS  Ancient Persians were very elaborate  Artists and supplies came from everywhere.  Pasargadae had palaces, bridges, and open column pavilions

IMPACT OF IDEAS  Zoroastrianism inspired thoughts of good and evil, heaven and hell  Invented birthday celebrations  Technological ideas spread through Persia via the Royal Road  Very advanced for its time

INDIVIDUALS OF PERSIA  King Cyrus 550-530 B.C.

 King Cambyses- 530-522 B.C

 Darius- King of Kings  Zoroaster- prophet (heaven vs. hell)

IMPACT OF IDEAS  Peace vs. War  Open to personal preferences  Monotheism & polytheism

SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS  Each province:  - governor, Satrap  - army leader  - tax collector  Achaemenid Empire

CONTINUITY AND CHANGE  Political order - Southwest Asia  Preserved ways of life from past  Practical solutions to problems

TECHNOLOGY THROUGHOUT PERSIA  Standardized weights & measures  Road Systems  Coinage

ECONOMICS  Affected by geography  Central trade place  Recorded rise & fall

CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT  Learning/Arts flourished- trade  Languages  Artistic styles

RISE OF PERSIA  Cyrus was king during this period  He was a very smart and tricky with his ruling.

 Cyrus started his reign of Mesopotamia by negotiating with Babylon  He told Babylon that they had nothing to fear

RISE OF PERSIA CONT.

 After saying this Persia took over Lydian's and the Cilicia’s  These conquests were easy for Cyrus compared to the test he would face next

PERSIA VS. BABYLON  Cyrus began his conquest of Babylon by telling them to inactivate their military for Persia’s war with the other city-states  This was a trick to get the Babylonians off guard

PERSIA VS. BABYLON CONT.

 The Babylonians gave a good fight but lost  This victory gave the Persian’s control of all Mesopotamia

PERSIAN EMPIRE  The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian Plateau  The original home land was spread out through Asia

PERSIAN EMPIRE  Persia’s peak was under Darius the Great  During 550- 330 B.C.E they controlled land from the Aegean sea to the Central Asian Republics

PERSIAN EMPIRE  Cyrus the Greats successor was his son, Cambyses.

 Cambyses conquered Egypt during his reign.

PERSIAN EMPIRE  From 550- 330 BCE The Persian Empire was the largest empire of the ancient world

FALL OF PERSIA  The fall of Persia came under the rule of Xerxes  He tried to invade Greece, but was defeated  Persia was conquered in 8 years  Their weakness was exposed by the Greeks

GEOGRAPHY  Began east of Mesopotamia (modern day Iran)  Desert  Spread from modern day Iran all the way to the Mediterranean Sea and Egypt

GOVERNMENT  The Persian Government was divided into twenty satrapies (provinces)  They were governed by satraps  They belonged to the Shah  The Shah charged taxes in each province  These taxes paid for all jobs and resources

RELIGION  Zoroastrianism became the main religion for all Persian’s  They believed in the traditional Aryan gods

FUN FACTS  The Caspian horse originated from Persia  Darius founded the city of Persepolis  Short bows, a spear, and a dagger were carried by the immortal