U
ntil the revolution of 1979, most Westerners viewed Iran with
dreamy curiosity. The name brought to mind exotic, not
chaotic, images. The West did not see a dangerously discontent
people, but a land with a romantic history. Its leader, the shah,
was a reliable American ally—a good friend to have in a
petroleum-rich but sometimes turbulent part of the world.
Iran’s ancient legacy, true enough, is filled with splendor
and mystique. Probed deeply by archaeologists, the country
has much to tell about one of the world’s earliest known
civilizations. Bronze Age settlements were established there
around 4000 B.C. At Hasanlu, scientists have found walls
and other remnants of towns believed to date to the biblical
age of Abraham. Unearthed skeletons in cringing postures,
almost three thousand years old, suggest massive, sudden
destruction. It was a place of violence and uncertainty even
in tribal times.
Later, what is now Iran was the center of the great Persian
Empire. At its height, Persia spread from present-day Pakistan,
Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan in the east to Egypt and the
southern fringe of Europe in the west. Appropriately, Persia was
called “the land between East and West.”
Persia first became a dominant kingdom during the sixth and
fifth centuries B.C. under the reigns of Cyrus the Great, Darius I,
and Darius’s son Xerxes. This was a glorious period of military
supremacy. After defeating the legendary Babylonians in 540 B.C.,
Cyrus proclaimed himself “king of the universe.” Later, Xerxes
invaded Greece with a force believed to have been almost
2 million strong.
Persia was a kingdom of incalculable wealth, a source of
precious metals and jewels. King Darius established a sprawling
city at Persepolis (“City of Persia”). Many of Persepolis’s rows of
stone columns—100 columns supported the roof of the throne
room alone—have weathered the ages to the present day.
Subjects from throughout the kingdom were required to pay
tribute to the king by bringing him minerals and jewels, carpets,
silk, and other valuables. Artisans recorded the empire’s might in
The “Land Between East and West” 7