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

 Persia changed religions several times  Borrowed from the Assyrians and Arabians.  Worshipped single god named Mithra.  Combo between major gods of Assyria and Arabia.

 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

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

 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

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

 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

 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

Stretched 1,677 miles

 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

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

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

 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

 King Cyrus B.C.  King Cambyses B.C  Darius- King of Kings  Zoroaster- prophet (heaven vs. hell)

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

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

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

 Standardized weights & measures  Road Systems  Coinage

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

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

 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

 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

 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

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

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

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

 Cyrus the Greats successor was his son, Cambyses.  Cambyses conquered Egypt during his reign.

 From BCE The Persian Empire was the largest empire of the ancient world

 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

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

 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

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

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