Persians: the civilization that dominated three continents
- Vanessa Chamma
- Jun 6, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Feb 24
The Persian Empire is the name given to a series of dynasties centered in modern Iran that lasted several centuries - from the 6th century BC to the 20th century AD.
History | Persian Empire
The first Persian Empire, founded by Cyrus the Great around 550 BC, became one of the largest empires in history, stretching from the Balkan Peninsula in Europe to the Indus Valley in India in the east. This Iron Age dynasty, sometimes called the Achaemenid Empire, was a global center of culture, religion, science, art and technology for more than 200 years before falling to the invading armies of Alexander, the Great.
Cyrus the Great
The Persian Empire began as a collection of semi-nomadic tribes who raised sheep, goats and cattle on the Iranian plateau. Cyrus the Great—the leader of one of these tribes—began to defeat nearby kingdoms, including Media, Lydia, and Babylon, uniting them under a single government. He founded the first Persian Empire, also known as the Achaemenid Empire, in 550 B.C. The first Persian Empire under Cyrus the Great soon became the world's first superpower. He united under one rule three important sites of early human civilization in the ancient world: Mesopotamia, the Nile Valley in Egypt, and the Indus Valley in India.
Cyrus the Great is immortalized in the Cyrus Cylinder, a clay cylinder inscribed in 539 BC
with the story of how he conquered Babylon from King Nabonidus,
putting an end to the Neo-Babylonian empire.
Darius the Great, the fourth king of the Achaemenid Empire, ruled the Persian Empire when it was largest, stretching from the Caucasus and Western Asia to what was then Macedonia (now the Balkans), the Black Sea, Central Asia and as far as Africa, including parts of Libya and Egypt. He unified the empire by introducing standard currency, weights and measures; making Aramaic the official language and building roads.
The Behistun Inscription[1], a multilingual relief carved on Mount Behistun in western Iran, extols his virtues and was a critical key to deciphering cuneiform writing. Its impact has been compared to that of the Rosetta Stone, the tablet that allowed scholars to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Location of the Persian Empire
At its height under Darius the Great, the Persian Empire stretched from Europe's Balkan Peninsula—in parts of what is now Bulgaria, Romania, and Ukraine—to the Indus River valley in northwestern India and south to Egypt. The Persians were the first people to establish regular communication routes between three continents – Africa, Asia and Europe. They built many new roads and developed the world's first postal service.
Persian Culture
The ancient Persians of the Achaemenid Empire created art in many forms, including metallurgy, rock carvings, weaving, and architecture. As the Persian Empire expanded to encompass other artistic centers of early civilization, a new style was formed with influences from these sources. Early Persian art included large rock reliefs carved into cliffs, such as those found at Naqsh-e Rustam, an ancient cemetery filled with the tombs of Achaemenid kings. The elaborate cave murals depict equestrian scenes and battle victories.
The ancient Persians were also known for their metalwork. In the 1870s, smugglers discovered gold and silver artifacts among the ruins near the Oxus River in present-day Tajikistan. Artifacts included a small golden chariot, coins and bracelets decorated with griffin motifs. (The griffin is a mythical creature with the wings and head of an eagle and the body of a lion, and a symbol of the Persian capital of Persepolis).
British diplomats and members of the armed forces serving in Pakistan took around 180
of these gold and silver pieces – known as the Oxus Treasure –
to London, where they are now kept in the British Museum.
The history of carpet weaving in Persia dates back to nomadic tribes. The ancient Greeks valued the artistry of these hand-woven rugs – famous for their elaborate design and bright colors. Today, most Persian rugs are made from wool, silk and cotton.
Persepolis
The ancient Persian capital of Persepolis, situated in southern Iran, is among the greatest archaeological sites in the world. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. The Achaemenid palaces of Persepolis were built on massive terraces. They were decorated with ornamental facades that included the long relief rock carvings for which the ancient Persians were famous.
Persian Religion
Many people think of Persia as synonymous with Islam, although Islam only became the dominant religion in the Persian Empire after the Arab conquests of the 7th century. The first Persian Empire was shaped by a different religion: Zoroastrianism.
Named after the Persian prophet Zoroaster (also known as Zarathustra), Zoroastrianism is one of the oldest monotheistic religions in the world. It is still practiced today as a minority religion in parts of Iran and India. Zoroaster, who probably lived sometime between 1500 and 500 B.C., taught followers to worship one god rather than the many deities worshiped by earlier Indo-Iranian groups.
The Achaemenid kings were devout Zoroastrians. By most accounts, Cyrus the Great was a tolerant ruler who allowed his subjects to speak their own languages and practice their own religions. While he ruled by the Zoroastrian law of asha (truth and righteousness), he did not impose Zoroastrianism on the people of the conquered territories of Persia.
Hebrew scriptures praise Cyrus the Great for freeing the Babylonian Jewish people from captivity and allowing them to return to Jerusalem. Subsequent rulers of the Achaemenid Empire followed Cyrus the Great's hands-off approach to social and religious affairs, allowing Persia's diverse citizens to continue practicing their own ways of life. This period of time is sometimes called the Pax Persica, or Persian Peace.
Fall of the Persian Empire
The Persian Empire entered a period of decline after a failed invasion of Greece by Xerxes I in 480 BC. The costly defense of Persia's lands depleted the empire's funds, leading to heavier taxation among Persia's subjects. The Achaemenid dynasty finally fell to the invading armies of Alexander the Great of Macedonia in 330 BC.
Subsequent rulers sought to restore the Persian Empire to its Achaemenid borders,
although the empire never regained the enormous size it had achieved under
Cyrus the Great.
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[1] The Behistun Inscription is a multilingual inscription and large rock relief on a cliff on Mount Behistun in the Kermanshah province of Iran, founded by Darius the Great. It was crucial to the decipherment of cuneiform writing, as the inscription includes three versions of the same text, written in three different cuneiform languages: Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian (a variety of Akkadian). The inscription is to cuneiform what the Rosetta Stone is to Egyptian hieroglyphs: the most crucial document in deciphering a previously lost script.
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