1. Persia

3. Ninevah BC

5. Lachish siege relief, Ninevah 700-692 BC

6. THE PERSIAN EMPIRE

7. The Achaemenids c700 BC Achaemenes. 559-530 Cyrus the Great.
Cambyses.
522 Smerdis.
Darius I

8. Darius ‘the Great’
BC.

9. I am Darius the great king, king of kings, king of countries containing all kinds of men, king in this great earth far and wide, son of Hystaspes, an Achaemenid, a Persian, son of a Persian, an Aryan, having Aryan lineage.

10. The seal of Darius

11. Persepolis

14. Persepolis inscription.
King Darius: This country Persia which Ahuramazda gave to me is a good country, full of good horses, full of good men. By the favour of Ahuramazda and of me, king Darius, this country fears no other country.
Persepolis inscription.