Persian Empire

Cyrus the Great Cyrus the Great: (angered when others tried to take over) 550 BC – organized armies Began to conquer: Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Canaan, Egypt, India and parts of southeastern Europe Babylon fell to the Persian Armies LARGEST Empire – from Asia Minor to India Leaders pursued a policy of tolerance of the people they conquered They respected the customs of the diverse groups

Darius Darius I – 522 B.C. – 486 B.C. Set up a bureaucracy Divided the empire into provinces Each paid taxes Built/repaired roads to encourage unity Adapted laws from the conquered areas Set up a common set of weights and measures Coin System – money economy vs. barter economy WHICH SYSTEM IS BETTER?

Phoenicians Gained fame as both sailors and traders Along Eastern Mediterranean coast – today Lebanon & Syria Set up colonies from North Africa to Sicily and Spain The “carriers of civilization” – spread the Middle Eastern around the Mediterranean Alphabet – writing system in which each symbol represents a basic sound 22 symbols - consonant sounds Greeks later adapted and added vowels