1. The Persian Empire

2. The Assyrians were brutal rulers
The Persians based their empire on .
But they also relied on a strong
to back up their powers

3. Ancient Persia includes what is today .
Ancient Iran had fertile and a wealth of
Copper
Lead
Gold
Silver
Lapis lazuli

4. In 550 BC , Persia’s king began to conquer several neighboring kingdoms
Cyrus was a genius, leading his army from victory to victory between 550 BC and 539 BC

5. Cyrus’ toward conquered peoples revealed a wise and tolerant view of the empire.
When Cyrus’ army captured a city, he would prevent them from

6. Cyrus believed in honoring local
instead of trying to destroy them.
Cyrus allowed the to return to Jerusalem after the Babylonians had driven them out.

7. Cyrus died and his son expanded the empire by conquering Egypt around 522 BC
seized the throne from Cambyses
He brought peace and stability to the empire

8. He conquered present day and the .
Darius’ only failure was his inability to conquer

9. Darius divided his empire into 20
. Roughly similar to the homelands of the conquered people.
People practiced their own
and spoke their own .

10. Darius installed a governor called
who ruled the provinces.
There was also a leader and
collector in each province

11. An excellent system of allowed Darius to communicate quickly with the most distant parts of the empire.
helped hold the empire together.

12. A Persian prophet named tried to explain why chaos and suffering existed in the world.

13. He taught that earth is a battle ground and a great struggle is fought between.
Zoroastrian religion teaches belief in one god called Ahura Mazda
The god judged everyone on how well they fought the

14. The Persian empire did not decline for.

15. How did Cyrus treat the people he conquered?
Why do you think he took this approach?
What did Zoroaster teach?
What are the benefits to having an excellent system of roads?