Childrens Illustrated Encyclopedia

402

Cyrus the Great

Cyrus (ruled 550-529 bce)

founded the Persian

empire. During his reign

many different peoples,

including Babylonians,

egyptians, Greeks, and

syrians, lived in the

Persian empire.

PersePolis toDay

When alexander the Great

invaded the Persian empire, he

burned Persepolis to the ground.

But the ruins of the city, including

the royal palace, can still be seen

today in southern iran.

Find out more

alexander the great

assyrians

Babylonians

Greece, ancient

Middle east

Parsagadae

People

bringing gifts

to the royal

palace

The remains of Persepolis include

statues such as the carved head

of this horse in the Central Palace.

Persian eMPire

at its height, the Persian empire stretched from the

borders of india to the nile river in egypt. susa was

the administrative capital of the empire, Persepolis

was the royal capital, and the two cities were linked

by a 1,678-mile- (2,700-km-) long royal road.

Reliefs

show people

arriving for a festival on New Year’s Day

ancient Persians

549 bce Cyrus the Great defeats the

Medes peoples and forms the Persian

empire.

538 bce Cyrus conquers the

Babylonian empire.

529 bce Cyrus dies.

525 bce Persians conquer egypt.

521-486 bce reign of Darius the Great.

510 bce Persians invade southeast

europe and Central asia.

500-449 bce Persian Wars between Persian

empire and Greek states, because Persian kings

felt threatened by the democracy of Greece.

490 bce Greeks defeat Persians at the Battle

of Marathon.

480 bce Greek navy defeats Persians at the Battle

of salamis.

334 bce alexander the Great invades Persia.

331 bce alexander defeats Persians at the Battle

of Gaugamela. Persian empire collapses.

Zoroastrian priests carried

a mace with a bull’s head as

a symbol of the priests’

religious battle against evil.

More than 3,000 years aGo, the present-day country of iran was home to

various tribes, including the Medes and the Persians. For many years, the Medes

ruled the area, but in 550 bce Cyrus, the Persian king of a small state called ashan,

conquered the Medes and set out to create a vast kingdom. Within 30 years Persia

had become the most powerful nation in the world, and the Persian empire

covered all of Mesopotamia, anatolia (turkey), the eastern Mediterranean, and

what are now Pakistan and afghanistan. For more than 200 years, the Persian

empire was the greatest the world had ever seen. the Persians were skilled

warriors, horse riders, and craftworkers. they were also highly organized. under

Darius i, also called Darius the Great, the

empire was divided into provinces called

satrapies. a network of roads linked the

provinces and enabled people to trade

easily. Darius introduced a postal system

and a single currency to unify the

empire. the empire flourished, until

the Greek leader alexander the Great

conquered Persia in 331 bce.

PersePolis

in about 520 bce, Darius i began to build

the city of Persepolis. Building continued in the

reign of Xerxes i (486-465 bce). Persepolis was

the site of many beautiful buildings, including

the royal palace. the city was used only once

a year at new year, when the peoples of the

empire brought tributes (gifts) to the king.

Sardis

Nineveh

Babylon Susa

Persepolis

Jerusalem

Thebes

ZoroastrianisM

the Persian people followed

the teachings of a prophet

named Zoroaster, who

lived from about

628 to 551 bce.

Zoroastrianism

was the main religion

in Persia, until the

country became Muslim

in the 7th century ce.

ancient

Persians

US_402_Persians_Ancient.indd 402 22/01/16 4:45 pm