Where was Persia located on the modern map? Ancient Persia - from tribe to empire

What comes to mind most people when they hear the name of the state of Iran? Revolution, nuclear program, opposition to the West? Unfortunately, many people judge Iran based on the press reports of the last thirty years, but this is exactly what they say. However, any Iranian will readily tell you that his home country has a completely different story. The documented history of the state spans approximately 2,500 years, up to the modern Islamic Republic of Iran. The republic was founded in 1979 as a result of a revolution, the main inspirer of which was the conservative clergy. This is probably the world's first modern constitutional theocracy and the greatest experiment: can a country be effectively governed by religious leaders who oblige a people with the rich history of Persia to live according to the law of Allah? The Iranian character cannot be separated into its components - it combines Persian, Islamic, and Western. Moreover, Persian notes have nothing to do with Islamic culture.

In the 7th century, Persia became part of the Arab Caliphate. Since then, the heirs of the empire have been making every effort to preserve their national character and their identity.

The fight for the right to be a slave. In Iran I was a guest, and a guest here has the highest status. He is given the best place at the table and treated to the juiciest fruits. This is one of the rules of a complex system of politeness - taarof. It determines all life here. Hospitality, courtship, family relationships, political negotiations - taarof is an unwritten code that defines how people should behave with each other. This word comes from the Arabic “arafa”, which translates as “to know”, “to receive knowledge”. But the idea of ​​ta'arof—to debase oneself while exalting another—is of Persian origin, says William Beaman, a linguist-anthropologist at the University of Minnesota. He called it “the struggle for the right to be a slave of the situation,” but an exquisitely refined struggle. In Iranian society, with its complex hierarchical structure, such interaction, paradoxically, allows people to communicate on equal terms. True, sometimes Iranians get so carried away, trying to please each other (at least in appearance) and refusing offers (also in appearance) that it becomes difficult to understand what they really want. They chat casually, alternately making requests and then refusing - and so on until they comprehend all the plans of the interlocutor. Courtesy and outward sincerity while hiding true feelings are a skillful pretense! – are considered the pinnacle of taarof and a huge social achievement. “You should never show your intentions or your true self,” explains a former Iranian political prisoner now living in France. “You need to make sure you’re not putting yourself in danger.” And there are always plenty of dangers in Iran.” Conflict based on territorial grounds. Indeed, Iran's long history is replete with wars and invasions. The cause of all conflicts is territorial. Riches and a good strategic location provoked one invasion after another. Persia experienced several downfalls and revivals. Among the conquerors were Turks, Mongols and, most importantly, Arabs, inspired by the new religion - Islam. It was they who managed to finally pacify Persia in the 7th century, which became part of the Arab Caliphate. Since then, the heirs of the empire have been making every effort to preserve their national character and their identity. The hearts and spirits of these people are not so easily changed. During any invasion, the Persians managed to remain themselves, passing on traditions to the conquerors. Thus, Alexander the Great, having destroyed conquered Persia, later adopted its customs and principles of state structure. He even took a Persian woman (Roxana) as his wife and ordered thousands of his warriors to follow his example. Iranians pride themselves on getting along with strangers. They accept the customs of the invaders that they like, but they do not abandon their own. Cultural flexibility is the basis of the Persian character. In the ruins of the ancient capital, Persepolis, burned by Alexander the Great, images on stone walls have been preserved. The drawings indicate the friendly atmosphere that reigned at that time: representatives of different nations presented each other with gifts, welcomingly placing their hands on their shoulders. It seems that at that time, in an era of barbarism and cruelty, Persepolis demonstrated cosmopolitanism. The territory of today's Iran was already inhabited ten thousand years ago. The Aryans, to whom Iran owes its modern name (it comes from the word airanam, which means “country of the Aryans”), began to inhabit this region around 1500 BC. Scientists have yet to make many discoveries related to the history of the country. There are already tens of thousands of archaeological sites in Iran. At one of them, in the southeast of the country, near the city of Jiroft, work began in 2000. It appeared thanks to a flash flood on the Khalil River, which exposed thousands of ancient tombs. Excavations have been going on there for only a few seasons, but the most interesting objects have already been found. Among them is a bronze head of a goat, which is believed to be five thousand years old. Perhaps Jiroft is the center of civilization from ancient Mesopotamia.

In the 6th century BC, King Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty founded the First Persian Empire, which later became the largest and most powerful kingdom of antiquity. At its peak under Cyrus' successor Darius, the empire's possessions extended from the Mediterranean to the Indus River.

The excavations here are led by the famous archaeologist Yousef Majidzade. Some time ago he headed the department of archeology at the University of Tehran; after the revolution, he lost his job and left for France. But in recent years, he says, a lot has changed in Iran, such as a renewed interest in archaeology. And so he arrived home to explore the tombs near Jiroft. Territory of sensations. What era does the find belong to? Youssef believes these may be traces of the mythical Aratta, which existed around 2700 BC. Some researchers believe that it was in Aratta that marvelous handicrafts were created, which then found their way to Mesopotamia. But there is no evidence yet, and other scientists are skeptical. In the 6th century BC, King Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty founded the First Persian Empire, which later became the largest and most powerful kingdom of antiquity. The king was a brave, modest, kind ruler. The empire he created is called the first power where religious and cultural tolerance existed. It united more than twenty-three peoples who coexisted peacefully under a single central authority, which at first was concentrated in Pasargadae. At its peak under Cyrus' successor Darius, the empire's possessions extended from the Mediterranean to the Indus River. It turns out that Persia was the first world superpower! “We would like to return to those times,” says Saeed Leylaz, a Tehran economist and political scientist. “Over the centuries, the borders have narrowed, but the memory of the superpower and past greatness remains.” Thoughts about the grandiose achievements of the past are supported by archaeological finds. Among them is the Cyrus Cylinder, perhaps the most stunning object found in Iran. On a clay cylinder (the original is kept in London, in the British Museum) a decree is carved in cuneiform, which can be considered the first charter of human rights, and this document is almost two millennia older than the Magna Carta. The decree establishes religious and ethnic freedoms, a ban on slavery and any oppression, seizure of property by force or without compensation. And the conquered lands themselves decided whether to submit to the authority of Cyrus. “The top hat is far from the only example of how Iran has surprised the world,” said Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian lawyer who won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize. “Many foreigners are amazed when they learn that sixty-five percent of our college students are girls. And when they see Iranian painting and architecture, they don’t believe their eyes! They judge us only by what they have heard over the past thirty years.”

“In addition to the Persians, many different nationalities live in Iran today,” says archaeologist Yousef. “But they all know Farsi, one of the oldest living languages ​​in the world.”

When I asked people what the world should know about them, they immediately answered: “We are not Arabs!” And they immediately added: “We are not terrorists!” The Arabs who conquered Iran are considered by many here to be something like Bedouins, who did not have their own culture other than the one they adopted from the Persians. Iranians still talk about them with such hostility, as if not fourteen centuries had passed, but a couple of months. Saving lines. To preserve themselves, the Persians continued to speak their native language. Poetry helped protect him from dissolving into foreign speech. Iranians idolize Rumi, Saadi, Omar Khayyam, Hafez. But still, the main national poet is Ferdowsi, who lived in the 10th century. When the Arabs first conquered Persia, its inhabitants could not openly express their thoughts, moreover, in their native language. Ferdowsi did it for them. The poet was a devout Muslim, but resisted Arab influence. Trying to use fewer Arabic words, over the course of thirty years he created the poetic epic “Shahnameh” (“Book of Kings”). This masterpiece of world literature describes the stories of fifty monarchies: the accession of kings to the throne, their deaths, frequent abdications of power and coups. The epic ends with the Arab conquest, described as a disaster. The tales of the Shahnameh feature warring kings and warrior heroes, the latter almost always being morally superior to the rulers they serve. These stories raise the problem of righteous people falling under the rule of the evil or incompetent. Since the Shahnameh was written, the language has been somewhat Arabized, but its basis remains Old Persian. “In addition to the Persians, many different nationalities live in Iran today: Turkmens, Arabs, Azerbaijanis, Baluchis, Kurds and others,” says archaeologist Yousef. “But they all know Farsi, one of the oldest living languages ​​in the world.” The original Shahnameh has long been lost. One of the copies is kept in the Golestan Palace Museum in Tehran and dates from around 1430. The caretaker, a pretty girl named Behnaz Tabrizi, showed it to me. The illustrations - twenty-two in total - are made with ink from stone dust mixed with the juice of flower petals. Today this book is considered one of the main relics of Iran. They say that any Iranian, educated or not, can quote Ferdowsi. Readings are held regularly - in colleges, at someone's home, or in traditional Persian teahouses. In one of these teahouses, Azari (in the south of Tehran), where the walls are painted with scenes from the Shahnameh, I listened to a reader reciting passages from the great book. Then the musicians performed traditional songs, to which the children danced. And the parents watching the dance sipped tea from elegant glasses, snacking on dates and cookies.

When the Arabs came with what they thought was a new idea of ​​worshiping a single god, the Persians had known monotheism for more than a thousand years.

One holiday. Poetry is not the only means by which the Persians managed to preserve their culture. Take, for example, Navruz - the spring holiday of the equinox, also known as the New Year. Today it is celebrated not only in Iran, but also in the republics of Central Asia and Transcaucasia. This is a thirteen-day extravaganza during which everything is closed and people walk, dance, and read poetry. The tradition of Nowruz dates back to Zoroastrianism, the ancient religion of the Persians. The teachings of Zarathustra (Greek - Zoroaster) influenced many beliefs, including the main world religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. When the Arabs came with what they thought was a new idea of ​​worshiping a single god, the Persians had known monotheism for more than a thousand years. “The heavens are forcing us!” What happens to ancient Persian traditions today? Until 1979, the country was ruled by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who, hiding behind the great ideas of Cyrus, implanted the music, clothing, behavior and business interests of the West. In 1971, he tried to artificially instill national pride in people by organizing an ostentatious celebration in honor of the 2,500th anniversary of the Persian Empire. A luxurious tent city was set up at the entrance to Persepolis, food was brought from Paris, and the guests included important people from all over the world. But the Iranians did not like the idea of ​​the Shah. In 1979, as a result of the revolution, conservative Islamists came to power who did not want to revive the Persian spirit - quite the contrary! Thus, they tried to downplay the significance of Nowruz, proposing to move the New Year to the birthday of Imam Ali, the historical leader of the Shiites, which includes the majority of Iranians. “The authorities even resorted to arrests,” my friend Ali told me. “But our holiday cannot be canceled - after all, it is more than two and a half thousand years old!” Today, reformist priests, one of the centers of power in Iran, are calling on Iranians to be Muslims without being Arabs, and also not to forget about ancient history. After the revolution, at first people perceived the revival of Islam as a cleansing from Western influence. Meanwhile, many Iranians are naturally closer to the teachings of Zoroastrianism, according to which the goal of spiritual quest is self-knowledge. And although at first the Iranians did not object to the strengthening of the role of Islam in the life of society, they were not prepared for the fact that the new order would be imposed so harshly. People never expected that religious leaders would begin to interfere in both the judicial system and everyday life. Punishments were introduced in the spirit of the Middle Ages (they have survived to this day): the guilty were stoned, hanged, their fingers and even limbs were cut off. Now the central authorities discourage some of these rituals, but in the provinces conservative mullahs adamantly observe the traditions. All this is motivated by the righteous goal of serving Allah and preparing oneself for life in paradise. “The heavens are forcing us!” – says Ali. Forward to the past. After the revolution, the doors to the West were closed for a decade. The ruling conservative clergy has minimized any manifestations of culture dating back to the pre-Islamic period (in all Muslim countries it is called jahiliyya, the era of ignorance). Zoroastrian symbols were replaced with Islamic ones, streets were renamed, and references to the Persian Empire disappeared from textbooks. At one time, people also feared for the fate of Ferdowsi’s burial place - a large mausoleum made of light stone in the suburbs of the holy city of Mashhad, with an amazing mirror pond, over which the hubbub of birds hovering around the columns can be heard. Even Persepolis was threatened to be razed to the ground. “But they realized that then the people would rebel, and they left everything in its place,” Ali said. It seems that the Islamic Revolution—the “second Arab invasion,” as it is called—only strengthened the connection with the past that it had tried so hard to eradicate. Young Iranians also keep the memory of the glorious Persian past. One of them is underground rap artist Yas, a guy with black crew-cut hair and stylish long sideburns. On his neck is a silver fravakhar - a Zoroastrian winged disk, symbolizing the exaltation of the soul through pious thoughts, words and deeds. The young man belongs to the revolution generation that grew up after 1979, which makes up more than two-thirds of the country's 70 million population. He sings about Persian poets, about ancient ancestors, about the history of Iran. Yas also criticizes his fellow citizens for only resting on the laurels of the great past. In recent years, Iranians have begun to awaken to that part of their national self-awareness that is associated with the idea that they are direct descendants of perhaps the most ancient human race. So, they told me about the recent action at the tomb of Cyrus. Approximately two thousand people bought multiple entry tickets on one day, wanting to support the restoration of the burial site. The action was unofficial - without speeches and ceremonies. But new archaeological excavations, unfortunately, are still moving slowly. “The country has a lot to worry about, and archeology is not in the first place,” says researcher Yousef Majidzadeh. However, according to him, after the discoveries near Jiroft, all the provinces became excited about excavations. Now the tiniest town dreams of telling the world its own Iranian story.

Persia existed for more than two and a half thousand years. It was once a great and powerful state with rich cultural achievements. But today not everyone knows what happened to it and where it is located today.

Today, the modern country of Persia, as in former times, is a fairly developed state economically and culturally. But let's look into the past...

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History of Persia

In the 6th century BC in the territory Middle East Persian tribes appeared. In a short period, under the leadership of King Cyrus II, they managed to achieve significant military successes. The power of the Persian army became so great that Babylon surrendered to the Persians without a fight.

Cyrus II personally participated in battles and died in one of them in 530 BC. His successor Cambyses the second led the Persian army and it successfully conquered ancient Egypt. The territories of Persia began to extend from India to the Aegean Sea. Persia held a huge amount of land under its influence for more than two hundred years until the 4th century BC. The history of this ancient country is well described on Wikipedia.

Dark times came for Persia with the campaigns Alexander the Great. The desire to avenge the sack of Athens led to large-scale battles in which Persia suffered many defeats. The entire royal family of the Achaemenids ceased to exist, and Persia was subjected to humiliating oppression by the Greeks for two long centuries.

Parthians managed to overthrow the Greeks, after which Artaxerxes became ruler. He tried to return the former greatness to the lands of ancient Persia and revived the empire.

In fact, this is the beginning of the era of the second Persian Empire. Persia existed in this format until the seventh century AD, after which its influence greatly weakened and it was absorbed Arab Caliphate.

After the advent of the Islamic period, Persia was divided into several separate lands with their own rulers, who came to power through violent means, and were at war with each other. The fragmentation allowed the Mongol invasion to easily raid and plunder Persian cities.

The country officially began to be called in 1935. For many, the name has become completely unknown and not everyone always understands what kind of state it is. But not for the Persians themselves. This decision was made in rather difficult times in order to free itself from the past trace of the Persian empire. The word Aryān itself appeared around the 6th century AD. This is what the Persians called themselves because they were Aryans or Aryans. Over time, the language changed and the name also changed to its current form.

Where is Persia

It is quite difficult to answer exactly where Persia is located on a modern map. After all, countries have constantly undergone territorial changes. At the height of its influence, Persia controlled large areas of the following modern countries:

This is an incomplete list of countries in which Persia once existed. But these days, when talking about Persia, there is most often a reference to Iran. That's what it's called now. It was on the soil of this country that the key events in the existence of the Persian state took place.

This is where the greatest cultural influence of the once great empire remains. A more detailed map of the location of ancient Persian possessions can be studied on Wikipedia.

Country today

Modern is not a scary revolutionary country with nuclear developments as it is described in many media. The interweaving of several cultures at once is concentrated here: Western, Islamic and Persian proper.

The people of Iran are very courteous and friendly towards guests. Thousands of years of invasion by different peoples have taught the native Iranians to get along with almost everyone. But behind the external friendliness lies the intention to find out in detail for what purpose the interlocutor arrived.

This behavior allowed the Iranian people to preserve their rich cultural traditions, while taking the best of each of the cultures of the alien peoples.

While under the control of the Arab Caliphate for centuries, the Iranians managed to preserve their language. Nowadays, although Islamic culture dominates in the country, the Persians continue to preserve knowledge about their ancient identity.

Today Persia is a distinctive country with a large number of ancient sights and cultural monuments.

formerly called Persia

Alternative descriptions

Former Persia

In the Middle Ages Persia

State in Asia

A historically interesting turquoise deposit is located on the territory of this country.

Home of the world's best carpets

The country in which the main action of the film "Tehran-43" took place

The country where the world's best sky blue turquoise has been mined for 3,000 years

The place where the Kurds live

Which country has the domain "ir"?

With which country did Russia conclude the Turkmanchay Peace Treaty in 1828?

In which country is the Mirzai dance performed?

A country whose two main exports are oil and carpets

In which country do they speak Farsi?

In which country do Persians and Kurds live?

With which state do we share the Caspian Sea?

Islamic republic

Which Asian country's capital is Tehran?

Persia today

State of the Persians

Persia now

Gas-rich country

Whose capital is Tehran?

Persians and Kurds live there

Country in the “axis of evil”

In this country they pay in rials

In which country do Mirzais dance?

Where do the Kurds live?

Country around Tehran

The birthplace of the religion of Zoroastrianism

Carpet exporting country

Which country has the domain "ir"?

In what country is the city of Abadan?

Country with main city Tehran

Country with capital Tehran

The land of Persian carpets

Tehran

Near Turkmenistan

Tehran (country)

South of Turkmenistan

Borders with Turkey

Close to Pakistan

Bl.-East a country

Afghanistan's neighbor

Borders Iraq

Previously called Persia

Country with the city of Tehran at its head

Area surrounding Tehran

Present Persia

Close to Turkey

Current name of Persia

Oslo is Norway, what about Tehran?

Homeland of Persian cats

Asian power

. "land of the Aryans"

Persia in our time

The country of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Persia now

Close to Iraq and Turkey

Borders Pakistan

Borders with Turkey and Turkmenistan

Persia today

Power in Asia

Asian country

Its capital is Tehran

Persia in the current version

Country in Asia

Islamic State

Country of Ayatollah Khomeini

Country of the Persians

Islamic country

Left of Afghanistan

Oil country in Asia

Previously called Persia

Asian state

Oil power in Asia

Country with Tehran

Pakistan's neighbor

Muslim power

Persia today

In which country is the city of Isfahan?

Power of Persian carpets

State in Western Asia

The country in which the main action of the film "Tehran-43" took place

State in Asia

In ancient times, Persia became the center of one of the greatest empires in history, stretching from Egypt to the Indus River. It included all previous empires - the Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians and Hittites. The later empire of Alexander the Great included almost no territories that had not previously belonged to the Persians, and it was smaller than Persia under King Darius.

Since its inception in the 6th century. BC. before the conquest by Alexander the Great in the 4th century. BC. for two and a half centuries, Persia occupied a dominant position in the Ancient World. Greek rule lasted about a hundred years, and after its fall the Persian power was reborn under two local dynasties: the Arsacids (Parthian Kingdom) and the Sassanids (New Persian Kingdom). For more than seven centuries they kept first Rome and then Byzantium in fear, until in the 7th century. AD The Sassanid state was not conquered by Islamic conquerors.

Geography of the empire.

The lands inhabited by the ancient Persians only approximately coincide with the borders of modern Iran. In ancient times, such borders simply did not exist. There were periods when the Persian kings were the rulers of most of the then known world, at other times the main cities of the empire were in Mesopotamia, to the west of Persia proper, and it also happened that the entire territory of the kingdom was divided between warring local rulers.

A significant part of the territory of Persia is occupied by a high, arid highland (1200 m), intersected by mountain ranges with individual peaks reaching 5500 m. In the west and north are the Zagros and Elborz mountain ranges, which frame the highlands in the shape of the letter V, leaving it open to the east. The western and northern borders of the highland approximately coincide with the current borders of Iran, but in the east it extends beyond the country, occupying part of the territory of modern Afghanistan and Pakistan. Three regions are isolated from the plateau: the coast of the Caspian Sea, the coast of the Persian Gulf and the southwestern plains, which are the eastern continuation of the Mesopotamian lowland.

Directly west of Persia lies Mesopotamia, home to the world's most ancient civilizations. The Mesopotamian states of Sumer, Babylonia and Assyria had a significant influence on the early culture of Persia. And although the Persian conquests ended almost three thousand years after the heyday of Mesopotamia, Persia in many ways became the heir to Mesopotamian civilization. Most of the most important cities of the Persian Empire were located in Mesopotamia, and Persian history is largely a continuation of Mesopotamian history.

Persia lies on the routes of the earliest migrations from Central Asia. Slowly moving west, the settlers skirted the northern tip of the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan and turned south and west, where through the more accessible areas of Khorasan, southeast of the Caspian Sea, they entered the Iranian plateau south of the Alborz Mountains. Centuries later, the main trade artery ran parallel to the earlier route, connecting the Far East with the Mediterranean and ensuring the administration of the empire and the movement of troops. At the western end of the highlands it descended onto the plains of Mesopotamia. Other important routes linked the southeastern plains through rugged mountains to the highlands proper.

Off the few main roads, thousands of agricultural communities were scattered along long, narrow mountain valleys. They led a subsistence economy; due to their isolation from their neighbors, many of them remained aloof from wars and invasions, and for many centuries they carried out an important mission to preserve the continuity of culture, so characteristic of the ancient history of Persia.

STORY

Ancient Iran.

It is known that the most ancient inhabitants of Iran had a different origin than the Persians and related peoples, who created civilizations on the Iranian plateau, as well as the Semites and Sumerians, whose civilizations arose in Mesopotamia. During excavations in caves near the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, human skeletons dating back to the 8th millennium BC were discovered. In the north-west of Iran, in the town of Goy-Tepe, skulls of people who lived in the 3rd millennium BC were found.

Scientists have proposed calling the indigenous population Caspians, which indicates a geographical connection with the peoples who inhabited the Caucasus Mountains to the west of the Caspian Sea. The Caucasian tribes themselves, as is known, migrated to more southern regions, to the highlands. The "Caspian" type appears to have survived in a greatly weakened form among the nomadic tribes of the Lurs in modern Iran.

For the archeology of the Middle East, the central question is the dating of the appearance of agricultural settlements here. Monuments of material culture and other evidence found in the Caspian caves indicate that the tribes inhabiting the region from the 8th to the 5th millennium BC. engaged mainly in hunting, then switched to cattle breeding, which, in turn, approx. IV millennium BC replaced by agriculture. Permanent settlements appeared in the western part of the highlands before the 3rd millennium BC, and most likely in the 5th millennium BC. The main settlements include Sialk, Goy-Tepe, Gissar, but the largest was Susa, which later became the capital of the Persian state. In these small villages, mud huts were crowded together along winding narrow streets. The dead were buried either under the floor of the house or in the cemetery in a crouched (“uterine”) position. The reconstruction of the life of the ancient inhabitants of the highlands was carried out on the basis of the study of utensils, tools and decorations that were placed in the graves to provide the deceased with everything necessary for the afterlife.

The development of culture in prehistoric Iran occurred progressively over many centuries. As in Mesopotamia, large brick houses began to be built here, objects were made from cast copper, and then from cast bronze. Seals made of stone with a carved pattern appeared, which were evidence of the emergence of private property. The discovery of large jars for storing food suggests that supplies were made for the period between harvests. Among the finds from all periods there are figurines of the mother goddess, often depicted with her husband, who was both her husband and son.

The most remarkable thing is the huge variety of painted clay products, the walls of some of them are no thicker than the shell of a chicken egg. The figurines of birds and animals depicted in profile testify to the talent of prehistoric artisans. Some clay products depict the man himself, engaged in hunting or performing some kind of rituals. Around 1200–800 BC painted pottery gives way to monochromatic ones - red, black or gray, which is explained by the invasion of tribes from as yet unidentified regions. Ceramics of the same type were found very far from Iran - in China.

Early history.

The historical era begins on the Iranian plateau at the end of the 4th millennium BC. Most of the information about the descendants of the ancient tribes who lived on the eastern borders of Mesopotamia, in the Zagros Mountains, is drawn from the Mesopotamian chronicles. (There is no information in the annals about the tribes that inhabited the central and eastern regions of the Iranian plateau, because they had no connections with the Mesopotamian kingdoms.) The largest of the peoples inhabiting the Zagros were the Elamites, who captured the ancient city of Susa, located on the plain at the foot of Zagros, and founded the powerful and prosperous state of Elam there. The Elamite records began to be compiled ca. 3000 BC and lasted for two thousand years. Further to the north lived the Kassites, barbarian tribes of horsemen, who by the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. conquered Babylonia. The Kassites adopted the civilization of the Babylonians and ruled southern Mesopotamia for several centuries. Less important were the Northern Zagros tribes, the Lullubei and the Gutians, who lived in the area where the great Trans-Asian trade route descended from the western tip of the Iranian plateau onto the plain.

Invasion of the Aryans and the Kingdom of Media.

Starting from the 2nd millennium BC. The Iranian plateau was hit one after another by waves of tribal invasions from Central Asia. These were Aryans, Indo-Iranian tribes who spoke dialects that were the proto-languages ​​of the current languages ​​of the Iranian Plateau and Northern India. They gave Iran its name (“homeland of the Aryans”). The first wave of conquerors arrived ca. 1500 BC One group of Aryans settled in the west of the Iranian plateau, where they founded the state of Mitanni, another group - in the south among the Kassites. However, the main flow of Aryans passed Iran, turned sharply to the south, crossed the Hindu Kush and invaded Northern India.

At the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. along the same route, a second wave of aliens, Iranian tribes themselves, arrived on the Iranian plateau, and much more numerous. Some of the Iranian tribes - the Sogdians, Scythians, Saks, Parthians and Bactrians - retained a nomadic lifestyle, others went beyond the highlands, but two tribes, the Medes and Persians (Parsians), settled in the valleys of the Zagros range, mixed with the local population and adopted their political , religious and cultural traditions. The Medes settled in the vicinity of Ecbatana (modern Hamadan). The Persians settled somewhat further south, on the plains of Elam and in the mountainous region adjacent to the Persian Gulf, which later received the name Persida (Parsa or Fars). It is possible that the Persians initially settled northwest of the Medes, west of Lake Rezaie (Urmia), and only later moved south under pressure from Assyria, which was then experiencing the peak of its power. On some Assyrian bas-reliefs of the 9th and 8th centuries. BC. battles with the Medes and Persians are depicted.

The Median kingdom with its capital in Ecbatana gradually gained strength. In 612 BC. the Median king Cyaxares (reigned from 625 to 585 BC) entered into an alliance with Babylonia, captured Nineveh and crushed the Assyrian power. The Median kingdom extended from Asia Minor (modern Türkiye) almost to the Indus River. During just one reign, Media turned from a small tributary principality into the strongest power in the Middle East.

Persian Achaemenid state.

The power of the Medes did not last longer than two generations. The Persian dynasty of the Achaemenids (named after its founder Achaemen) began to dominate Pars even under the Medes. In 553 BC Cyrus II the Great, the Achaemenid ruler of Parsa, led a revolt against the Median king Astyages, son of Cyaxares, which created a powerful alliance of Medes and Persians. The new power threatened the entire Middle East. In 546 BC King Croesus of Lydia led a coalition directed against King Cyrus, which, in addition to the Lydians, included the Babylonians, Egyptians and Spartans. According to legend, an oracle predicted to the Lydian king that the war would end in the collapse of the great state. The delighted Croesus did not even bother to ask which state was meant. The war ended with the victory of Cyrus, who pursued Croesus all the way to Lydia and captured him there. In 539 BC Cyrus occupied Babylonia, and by the end of his reign expanded the borders of the state from the Mediterranean Sea to the eastern outskirts of the Iranian plateau, making Pasargadae, a city in southwestern Iran, the capital.

Organization of the Achaemenid state.

Apart from a few brief Achaemenid inscriptions, we draw the main information about the Achaemenid state from the works of ancient Greek historians. Even the names of the Persian kings entered historiography as they were written by the ancient Greeks. For example, the names of the kings known today as Cyaxares, Cyrus and Xerxes are pronounced in Persian as Uvakhshtra, Kurush and Khshayarshan.

The main city of the state was Susa. Babylon and Ecbatana were considered administrative centers, and Persepolis the center of ritual and spiritual life. The state was divided into twenty satrapies, or provinces, headed by satraps. Representatives of the Persian nobility became satraps, and the position itself was inherited. This combination of the power of an absolute monarch and semi-independent governors was a characteristic feature of the country's political structure for many centuries.

All provinces were connected by postal roads, the most significant of which, the “royal road,” 2,400 km long, ran from Susa to the Mediterranean coast. Despite the fact that a single administrative system, a single currency and a single official language were introduced throughout the empire, many subject peoples retained their customs, religion and local rulers. The period of Achaemenid rule was characterized by tolerance. The long years of peace under the Persians favored the development of cities, trade and agriculture. Iran was experiencing its Golden Age.

The Persian army differed in composition and tactics from earlier armies, which were characterized by chariots and infantry. The main striking force of the Persian troops were horse archers, who bombarded the enemy with a cloud of arrows without coming into direct contact with him. The army consisted of six corps of 60,000 warriors each and elite formations of 10,000 people, selected from members of the noblest families and called “immortals”; They also constituted the king’s personal guard. However, during the campaigns in Greece, as well as during the reign of the last king from the Achaemenid dynasty, Darius III, a huge, poorly controlled mass of horsemen, chariots and infantrymen went into battle, unable to maneuver in small spaces and often significantly inferior to the disciplined infantry of the Greeks.

The Achaemenids were very proud of their origins. The Behistun inscription, carved on the rock by order of Darius I, reads: “I, Darius, the great king, the king of kings, the king of the countries inhabited by all peoples, have long been the king of this great land, extending even further, son of Hystaspes, Achaemenid, Persian, son Persians, Aryans, and my ancestors were Aryans.” However, the Achaemenid civilization was a conglomeration of customs, culture, social institutions and ideas that existed in all parts of the Ancient World. At that time East and West came into direct contact for the first time, and the resulting exchange of ideas was never interrupted thereafter.

Hellenic dominion.

Weakened by endless revolts, uprisings and civil strife, the Achaemenid state could not resist the armies of Alexander the Great. The Macedonians landed on the Asian continent in 334 BC, defeated Persian troops on the Granik River and twice defeated huge armies under the command of the mediocre Darius III - at the Battle of Issus (333 BC) in southwest Asia Minor and under Gaugamela (331 BC) in Mesopotamia. Having captured Babylon and Susa, Alexander headed to Persepolis and set it on fire, apparently in retaliation for Athens burned by the Persians. Continuing east, he found the body of Darius III, killed by his own soldiers. Alexander spent more than four years in the east of the Iranian plateau, founding numerous Greek colonies. He then turned south and conquered the Persian provinces in what is now West Pakistan. After this, he went on a campaign to the Indus Valley. Back to 325 BC in Susa, Alexander began to actively encourage his soldiers to take Persian wives, cherishing the idea of ​​​​a unified state of Macedonians and Persians. In 323 BC Alexander, aged 33, died of fever in Babylon. The vast territory he conquered was immediately divided between his military leaders, who competed with each other. And although Alexander the Great’s plan to merge Greek and Persian culture was never realized, the numerous colonies founded by him and his successors maintained the originality of their culture for centuries and had a significant influence on local peoples and their art.

After the death of Alexander the Great, the Iranian plateau became part of the Seleucid state, which received its name from one of its generals. Soon the local nobility began to fight for independence. In the satrapy of Parthia, located southeast of the Caspian Sea in the area known as Khorasan, the nomadic Parni tribe rebelled and expelled the Seleucid governor. The first ruler of the Parthian state was Arshak I (ruled from 250 to 248/247 BC).

Parthian state of the Arsacids.

The period following Arsaces I's revolt against the Seleucids is called either the Arsacid period or the Parthian period. There were constant wars between the Parthians and the Seleucids, ending in 141 BC, when the Parthians, under Mithridates I, took Seleucia, the Seleucid capital on the Tigris River. On the opposite bank of the river, Mithridates founded a new capital, Ctesiphon, and extended his rule over most of the Iranian plateau. Mithridates II (ruled from 123 to 87/88 BC) further expanded the boundaries of the state and, taking the title “king of kings” (shahinshah), became the ruler of a vast territory from India to Mesopotamia, and in the east to Chinese Turkestan.

The Parthians considered themselves the direct heirs of the Achaemenid state, and their relatively poor culture was supplemented by the influence of Hellenistic culture and traditions introduced earlier by Alexander the Great and the Seleucids. As before in the Seleucid state, the political center moved to the west of the highlands, namely to Ctesiphon, so few monuments testifying to that time have been preserved in good condition in Iran.

During the reign of Phraates III (ruled from 70 to 58/57 BC), Parthia entered a period of almost continuous wars with the Roman Empire, which lasted almost 300 years. The opposing armies fought over a vast area. The Parthians defeated an army under the command of Marcus Licinius Crassus at Carrhae in Mesopotamia, after which the border between the two empires lay along the Euphrates. In 115 AD Roman Emperor Trajan took Seleucia. Despite this, the Parthian power held out, and in 161 Vologes III devastated the Roman province of Syria. However, long years of war bled the Parthians, and attempts to defeat the Romans on the western borders weakened their power over the Iranian plateau. Riots broke out in a number of areas. The Fars (or Parsi) satrap Ardashir, the son of a religious leader, declared himself ruler as a direct descendant of the Achaemenids. After defeating several Parthian armies and killing the last Parthian king, Artabanus V, in battle, he took Ctesiphon and inflicted a crushing defeat on the coalition attempting to restore Arsacid power.

Sassanid State.

Ardashir (reigned 224 to 241) founded a new Persian empire known as the Sassanid state (from the Old Persian title "sasan", or "commander"). His son Shapur I (reigned 241 to 272) retained elements of the previous feudal system, but created a highly centralized state. Shapur's armies first moved east and occupied the entire Iranian plateau up to the river. Indus and then turned west against the Romans. At the Battle of Edessa (near modern Urfa, Turkey), Shapur captured the Roman Emperor Valerian along with his 70,000-strong army. The prisoners, who included architects and engineers, were forced to work building roads, bridges and irrigation systems in Iran.

Over the course of several centuries, the Sassanid dynasty changed about 30 rulers; often successors were appointed by the higher clergy and feudal nobility. The dynasty waged continuous wars with Rome. Shapur II, who ascended the throne in 309, fought three wars with Rome during the 70 years of his reign. The greatest of the Sassanids is recognized as Khosrow I (ruled from 531 to 579), who was called the Just or Anushirvan (“Immortal Soul”).

Under the Sassanids, a four-tier system of administrative division was established, a fixed rate of land tax was introduced, and numerous artificial irrigation projects were carried out. In southwest Iran, traces of these irrigation structures still remain. Society was divided into four classes: warriors, priests, scribes and commoners. The latter included peasants, traders and artisans. The first three classes enjoyed special privileges and, in turn, had several gradations. Governors of the provinces were appointed from the highest rank of class, sardars. The capital of the state was Bishapur, the most important cities were Ctesiphon and Gundeshapur (the latter was famous as a center of medical education).

After the fall of Rome, the place of the traditional enemy of the Sassanids was taken by Byzantium. Violating the treaty of perpetual peace, Khosrow I invaded Asia Minor and in 611 captured and burned Antioch. His grandson Khosrow II (reigned 590 to 628), nicknamed Parviz ("Victorious"), briefly restored the Persians to their former Achaemenid glory. In the course of several campaigns, he actually defeated the Byzantine Empire, but the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius made a bold move against the Persian rear. In 627, the army of Khosrow II suffered a crushing defeat at Nineveh in Mesopotamia, Khosrow was deposed and stabbed to death by his own son Kavad II, who died a few months later.

The powerful Sassanid state found itself without a ruler, with a destroyed social structure, exhausted as a result of long wars with Byzantium in the west and with the Central Asian Turks in the east. Over the course of five years, twelve half-ghost rulers were replaced, unsuccessfully trying to restore order. In 632, Yazdegerd III restored central power for several years, but this was not enough. The exhausted empire could not withstand the onslaught of the warriors of Islam, who were uncontrollably rushing north from the Arabian Peninsula. They struck their first crushing blow in 637 at the Battle of Kadispi, as a result of which Ctesiphon fell. The Sassanids suffered their final defeat in 642 at the Battle of Nehavend in the central highlands. Yazdegerd III fled like a hunted animal, his assassination in 651 marking the end of the Sassanid era.

CULTURE

Technology.

Irrigation.

The entire economy of ancient Persia was based on agriculture. Rainfall in the Iranian Plateau is insufficient to support extensive agriculture, so the Persians had to rely on irrigation. The few and shallow rivers of the highlands did not provide the irrigation ditches with enough water, and in the summer they dried up. Therefore, the Persians developed a unique system of underground canals. At the foot of the mountain ranges, deep wells were dug, passing through hard but porous layers of gravel to the underlying impervious clays that form the lower boundary of the aquifer. The wells collected meltwater from mountain peaks, which were covered with a thick layer of snow in winter. From these wells, underground water conduits as tall as a man broke through, with vertical shafts located at regular intervals, through which light and air were supplied to the workers. Water conduits reached the surface and served as sources of water all year round.

Artificial irrigation with the help of dams and canals, which originated and was widely used on the plains of Mesopotamia, spread to the territory of Elam, similar in natural conditions, through which several rivers flow. This region, now known as Khuzistan, is densely cut by hundreds of ancient canals. Irrigation systems reached their greatest development during the Sasanian period. Today, numerous remains of dams, bridges and aqueducts built under the Sassanids are still preserved. Since they were designed by captured Roman engineers, they closely resemble similar structures found throughout the Roman Empire.

Transport.

The rivers of Iran are not navigable, but in other parts of the Achaemenid Empire water transport was well developed. So, in 520 BC. Darius I the Great reconstructed the canal between the Nile and the Red Sea. During the Achaemenid period, there was extensive construction of land roads, but paved roads were constructed mainly in swampy and mountainous areas. Significant sections of narrow, stone-paved roads built under the Sassanids are found in the west and south of Iran. The choice of location for the construction of roads was unusual for that time. They were laid not along valleys, along river banks, but along mountain ridges. Roads descended into valleys only to make it possible to cross to the other side in strategically important places, for which massive bridges were built.

Along the roads, at a distance of a day's travel from one another, post stations were built where horses were changed. There was a very efficient postal service, with postal couriers covering up to 145 km per day. The center of horse breeding since time immemorial has been the fertile region in the Zagros Mountains, located adjacent to the Trans-Asian trade route. Iranians began using camels as beasts of burden from ancient times; This “type of transport” came to Mesopotamia from Media ca. 1100 BC

Economy.

The basis of the economy of Ancient Persia was agricultural production. Trade also flourished. All the numerous capitals of the ancient Iranian kingdoms were located along the most important trade route between the Mediterranean and the Far East or on its branch towards the Persian Gulf. In all periods, the Iranians played the role of an intermediate link - they guarded this route and kept part of the goods transported along it. During excavations in Susa and Persepolis, beautiful items from Egypt were found. The reliefs of Persepolis depict representatives of all satrapies of the Achaemenid state presenting gifts to the great rulers. Since Achaemenid times, Iran has exported marble, alabaster, lead, turquoise, lapis lazuli (lapis lazuli) and carpets. The Achaemenids created fabulous reserves of gold coins minted in various satrapies. In contrast, Alexander the Great introduced a single silver coin for the entire empire. The Parthians returned to a gold currency, and during the Sasanian times silver and copper coins predominated in circulation.

The system of large feudal estates that developed under the Achaemenids survived into the Seleucid period, but the kings of this dynasty significantly eased the situation of the peasants. Then, during the Parthian period, the huge feudal estates were restored, and this system did not change under the Sassanids. All states sought to obtain maximum income and established taxes on peasant farms, livestock, land, introduced per capita taxes, and collected fees for travel on roads. All these taxes and fees were levied either in imperial coin or in kind. By the end of the Sasanian period, the number and magnitude of taxes had become an intolerable burden for the population, and this tax pressure played a decisive role in the collapse of the social structure of the state.

Political and social organization.

All Persian rulers were absolute monarchs who ruled their subjects according to the will of the gods. But this power was absolute only in theory; in fact, it was limited by the influence of hereditary large feudal lords. The rulers tried to achieve stability through marriages with relatives, as well as by taking as wives the daughters of potential or actual enemies - both domestic and foreign. Nevertheless, the reign of the monarchs and the continuity of their power were threatened not only by external enemies, but also by members of their own families.

The Median period was distinguished by a very primitive political organization, which is very typical for peoples transitioning to a sedentary lifestyle. Already among the Achaemenids the concept of a unitary state appeared. In the Achaemenid state, satraps were fully responsible for the state of affairs in their provinces, but could be subject to unexpected inspection by inspectors, who were called the eyes and ears of the king. The royal court constantly emphasized the importance of administering justice and therefore continuously moved from one satrapy to another.

Alexander the Great married the daughter of Darius III, retained satrapies and the custom of prostrating himself before the king. The Seleucids adopted from Alexander the idea of ​​merging races and cultures in the vast expanses from the Mediterranean Sea to the river. Ind. During this period, rapid urban development occurred, accompanied by the Hellenization of the Iranians and the Iranianization of the Greeks. However, there were no Iranians among the rulers, and they were always considered outsiders. Iranian traditions were preserved in the Persepolis area, where temples were built in the style of the Achaemenid era.

The Parthians tried to unite the ancient satrapies. They also played an important role in the fight against nomads from Central Asia advancing from east to west. As before, the satrapies were headed by hereditary governors, but a new factor was the lack of natural continuity of royal power. The legitimacy of the Parthian monarchy was no longer indisputable. The successor was chosen by a council composed of nobles, which inevitably led to endless fighting between rival factions.

The Sasanian kings made a serious attempt to revive the spirit and original structure of the Achaemenid state, partly reproducing its rigid social organization. In descending order were vassal princes, hereditary aristocrats, nobles and knights, priests, peasants, and slaves. The state administrative apparatus was led by the first minister, to whom several ministries were subordinate, including military, justice and finance, each of which had its own staff of skilled officials. The king himself was the supreme judge, and justice was administered by the priests.

Religion.

In ancient times, the cult of the great mother goddess, a symbol of childbirth and fertility, was widespread. In Elam she was called Kirisisha, and throughout the Parthian period her images were cast on Luristan bronzes and figurines made of terracotta, bone, ivory and metals.

The inhabitants of the Iranian plateau also worshiped many Mesopotamian deities. After the first wave of Aryans passed through Iran, Indo-Iranian deities such as Mithra, Varuna, Indra and Nasatya appeared here. In all beliefs, a pair of deities was certainly present - the goddess, personifying the Sun and Earth, and her husband, personifying the Moon and natural elements. Local gods bore the names of the tribes and peoples who worshiped them. Elam had its own deities, most notably the goddess Shala and her husband Inshushinak.

The Achaemenid period marked a decisive turn from polytheism to a more universal system reflecting the eternal struggle between good and evil. The earliest inscription from this period, a metal tablet made before 590 BC, contains the name of the god Agura Mazda (Ahuramazda). Indirectly, the inscription may be a reflection of the reform of Mazdaism (the cult of Agura Mazda), carried out by the prophet Zarathushtra, or Zoroaster, as narrated in the Gathas, ancient sacred hymns.

The identity of Zarathushtra continues to be shrouded in mystery. Apparently he was born ca. 660 BC, but perhaps much earlier, and perhaps much later. The god Ahuramazda personified the good principle, truth and light, apparently, in contrast to Ahriman (Angra Mainyu), the personification of the evil principle, although the very concept of Angra Mainyu could have appeared later. Darius' inscriptions mention Ahuramazda, and the relief on his tomb depicts the worship of this deity at a sacrificial fire. The chronicles give reason to believe that Darius and Xerxes believed in immortality. Worship of the sacred fire took place both inside temples and in open places. The Magi, originally members of one of the Median clans, became hereditary priests. They supervised the temples and took care of strengthening the faith by performing certain rituals. An ethical doctrine based on good thoughts, good words and good deeds was revered. Throughout the Achaemenid period, rulers were very tolerant of local deities, and starting with the reign of Artaxerxes II, the ancient Iranian sun god Mithra and the fertility goddess Anahita received official recognition.

The Parthians, in search of their own official religion, turned to the Iranian past and settled on Mazdaism. Traditions were codified, and magicians regained their former power. The cult of Anahita continued to enjoy official recognition, as well as popularity among the people, and the cult of Mithra crossed the western borders of the kingdom and spread throughout most of the Roman Empire. In the west of the Parthian kingdom, Christianity, which became widespread there, was tolerated. At the same time, in the eastern regions of the empire, Greek, Indian and Iranian deities united in a single Greco-Bactrian pantheon.

Under the Sassanids, continuity was maintained, but there were also some important changes in religious traditions. Mazdaism survived most of Zarathushtra's early reforms and became associated with the cult of Anahita. To compete on equal terms with Christianity and Judaism, the holy book of the Zoroastrians was created Avesta, a collection of ancient poems and hymns. The Magi still stood at the head of the priests and were the guardians of the three great national fires, as well as the holy fires in all important settlements. Christians by that time had long been persecuted, they were considered enemies of the state, since they were identified with Rome and Byzantium, but by the end of the Sassanid reign, the attitude towards them became more tolerant and Nestorian communities flourished in the country.

Other religions also emerged during the Sasanian period. In the middle of the 3rd century. preached by the prophet Mani, who developed the idea of ​​​​unifying Mazdaism, Buddhism and Christianity and especially emphasized the need to liberate the spirit from the body. Manichaeism demanded celibacy from priests and virtue from believers. Followers of Manichaeism were required to fast and offer prayers, but not to worship images or perform sacrifices. Shapur I favored Manichaeism and may have intended to make it the state religion, but this was sharply opposed by the still powerful priests of Mazdaism and in 276 Mani was executed. Nevertheless, Manichaeism persisted for several centuries in Central Asia, Syria and Egypt.

At the end of the 5th century. preached by another religious reformer, a native of Iran, Mazdak. His ethical doctrine combined both elements of Mazdaism and practical ideas about non-violence, vegetarianism and communal life. Kavad I initially supported the Mazdakian sect, but this time the official priesthood turned out to be stronger and in 528 the prophet and his followers were executed. The advent of Islam put an end to the national religious traditions of Persia, but a group of Zoroastrians fled to India. Their descendants, the Parsis, still practice the religion of Zoroaster.

Architecture and art.

Early metal products.

In addition to the colossal number of ceramic objects, products made from such durable materials as bronze, silver and gold are of exceptional importance for the study of Ancient Iran. A huge number of so-called Luristan bronzes were discovered in Luristan, in the Zagros Mountains, during illegal excavations of the graves of semi-nomadic tribes. These unique examples included weapons, horse harnesses, jewelry, as well as objects depicting scenes from religious life or ritual purposes. Until now, scientists have not come to a consensus as to who and when they were made. In particular, it was suggested that they were created in the 15th century. BC. to 7th century BC, most likely by the Kassites or Scythian-Cimmerian tribes. Bronze items continue to be found in the Azerbaijan province in northwestern Iran. They differ significantly in style from the Luristan bronzes, although they both appear to belong to the same period. Bronzes from Northwestern Iran are similar to recent finds from the same region; for example, the finds of an accidentally discovered treasure in Ziviya and a wonderful golden cup found during excavations in Hasanlu Tepe are similar to each other. These items date back to the 9th–7th centuries. BC, Assyrian and Scythian influence is visible in their stylized ornaments and depictions of deities.

Achaemenid period.

Architectural monuments of the pre-Achaemenid period have not survived, although reliefs in Assyrian palaces depict cities on the Iranian plateau. It is very likely that for a long time, even under the Achaemenids, the population of the highlands led a semi-nomadic lifestyle and wooden buildings were typical for the region. Indeed, the monumental structures of Cyrus at Pasargadae, including his own tomb, which resembles a wooden house with a gabled roof, as well as Darius and his successors at Persepolis and their tombs at nearby Naqshi Rustem, are stone copies of wooden prototypes. In Pasargadae, royal palaces with columned halls and porticos were scattered throughout a shady park. In Persepolis under Darius, Xerxes and Artaxerxes III, reception halls and royal palaces were built on terraces raised above the surrounding area. In this case, it was not arches that were characteristic, but columns typical of this period, covered with horizontal beams. Labor, construction and finishing materials, as well as decorations were brought from all over the country, while the style of architectural details and carved reliefs was a mixture of artistic styles then prevailing in Egypt, Assyria and Asia Minor. During excavations in Susa, parts of the palace complex were found, the construction of which began under Darius. The plan of the building and its decorative decoration reveal a much greater Assyro-Babylonian influence than the palaces at Persepolis.

Achaemenid art was also characterized by a mixture of styles and eclecticism. It is represented by stone carvings, bronze figurines, figurines made of precious metals and jewelry. The best jewelry was discovered in a chance find made many years ago known as the Amu Darya treasure. The bas-reliefs of Persepolis are world famous. Some of them depict kings during ceremonial receptions or defeating mythical beasts, and along the stairs in the large reception hall of Darius and Xerxes the royal guard lined up and a long procession of peoples is visible, bringing tribute to the ruler.

Parthian period.

Most architectural monuments of the Parthian period are found west of the Iranian plateau and have few Iranian features. True, during this period an element appeared that would be widely used in all subsequent Iranian architecture. This is the so-called ivan, a rectangular vaulted hall, open from the entrance. Parthian art was even more eclectic than the art of the Achaemenid period. In different parts of the state, products of different styles were made: in some Hellenistic, in others Buddhist, in others Greco-Bactrian. Plaster friezes, stone carvings and wall paintings were used for decoration. Glazed pottery, the forerunner of ceramics, was popular during this period.

Sasanian period.

Many structures from the Sasanian period are in relatively good condition. Most of them were made of stone, although baked brick was also used. Among the surviving buildings are royal palaces, fire temples, dams and bridges, as well as entire city blocks. The place of columns with horizontal ceilings was taken by arches and vaults; square rooms were crowned with domes, arched openings were widely used, and many buildings had ivans. The domes were supported by four trumpos, cone-shaped vaulted structures that spanned the corners of the square rooms. Ruins of palaces remain at Firuzabad and Servestan, in southwestern Iran, and at Qasr Shirin, on the western edge of the plateau. The largest palace was considered to be in Ctesiphon, on the river. The tiger known as Taki-Kisra. In its center there was a giant ivan with a vault 27 meters high and a distance between supports equal to 23 m. More than 20 fire temples have survived, the main elements of which were square rooms topped with domes and sometimes surrounded by vaulted corridors. As a rule, such temples were erected on high rocks so that the open sacred fire could be seen from a great distance. The walls of the buildings were covered with plaster, onto which a pattern made using the notching technique was applied. Numerous rock-cut reliefs are found along the banks of reservoirs fed by spring waters. They depict kings facing Agura Mazda or defeating their enemies.

The pinnacle of Sassanian art are textiles, silver dishes and cups, most of which were made for the royal court. Scenes of royal hunting, figures of kings in ceremonial attire, and geometric and floral patterns are woven onto thin brocade. On the silver bowls there are images of kings on the throne, battle scenes, dancers, fighting animals and sacred birds made using the technique of extrusion or appliqué. The fabrics, unlike the silver dishes, are made in styles that came from the West. In addition, elegant bronze incense burners and wide-necked jugs were found, as well as clay products with bas-reliefs covered with shiny glaze. The mixture of styles still does not allow us to accurately date the found objects and determine the place of manufacture of most of them.

Writing and science.

The oldest written language of Iran is represented by as yet undeciphered inscriptions in the Proto-Elamite language, which was spoken in Susa ca. 3000 BC The much more advanced written languages ​​of Mesopotamia quickly spread to Iran, and in Susa and the Iranian plateau the population used the Akkadian language for many centuries.

The Aryans who came to the Iranian plateau brought with them Indo-European languages, different from the Semitic languages ​​of Mesopotamia. During the Achaemenid period, royal inscriptions carved on rocks were parallel columns in Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian. Throughout the Achaemenid period, royal documents and private correspondence were written either in cuneiform on clay tablets or in writing on parchment. At the same time, at least three languages ​​were in use - Old Persian, Aramaic and Elamite.

Alexander the Great introduced the Greek language, his teachers taught about 30,000 young Persians from noble families the Greek language and military science. On his great campaigns, Alexander was accompanied by a large retinue of geographers, historians and scribes, who recorded everything that happened day after day and became acquainted with the culture of all the peoples they met along the way. Particular attention was paid to navigation and the establishment of sea communications. The Greek language continued to be used under the Seleucids, while the Old Persian language was preserved in the Persepolis area. Greek served as the language of trade throughout the Parthian period, but the main language of the Iranian Highlands became Middle Persian, which represented a qualitatively new stage in the development of Old Persian. Over many centuries, the Aramaic script used to write in the Old Persian language was transformed into the Pahlavi script with an undeveloped and inconvenient alphabet.

During the Sasanian period, Middle Persian became the official and main language of the inhabitants of the highlands. Its writing was based on a variant of the Pahlavi script known as the Pahlavi-Sassanian script. The sacred books of the Avesta were written in a special way - first in Zenda, and then in the Avesta language.

In ancient Iran, science did not rise to the heights that it reached in neighboring Mesopotamia. The spirit of scientific and philosophical search awakened only in the Sasanian period. The most important works were translated from Greek, Latin and other languages. That's when they were born Book of Great Feats, Book of ranks, Iran countries And Book of Kings. Other works from this period survive only in later Arabic translations.



From the middle of the sixth century BC, the Persians appeared on the stage of world history. Until this time, residents of the Middle East had heard very little about this mysterious tribe. They became known only after they began to seize lands.

Cyrus the Second, king of the Persians from the Achaemenid dynasty, was able to quickly capture Media and other states. His well-armed army began preparations to march against Babylon.

At this time, Babylon and Egypt were at enmity with each other, but when a strong enemy appeared, they decided to forget about the conflict. Babylon's preparation for war did not save it from defeat. The Persians captured the cities of Opis and Sippar, and then took control of Babylon without a fight. Cyrus the Second decided to further advance to the East. In a war with nomadic tribes, he died in 530 BC.

The successors of the deceased king, Cambyses the Second and Darius the First, managed to capture Egypt. Darius was able not only to strengthen the eastern and western borders of the power, but also to expand them from the Aegean Sea to India, as well as from the lands of Central Asia to the banks of the Nile. Persia absorbed the famous world civilizations of the ancient world and ruled them until the fourth century BC. Alexander the Great was able to conquer the empire.

Second Persian Empire

The Macedonian soldiers took revenge on the Persians for the destruction of Athens by burning Persepolis to ashes. At this point, the Achaemenid dynasty ceased to exist. Ancient Persia fell under the humiliating rule of the Greeks.

It was only in the second century BC that the Greeks were expelled. The Parthians did this. But they were not allowed to rule for long; Artaxerxes overthrew them. The history of the second Persian power began with him. In another way, it is usually called the power of the Sassanid dynasty. Under their rule, the Achaemenid Empire is revived, albeit in a different form. Greek culture is being replaced by Iranian culture.

In the seventh century, Persia lost its power and was incorporated into the Arab Caliphate.

Life in Ancient Persia through the eyes of other peoples

The life of the Persians is known from works that have survived to this day. These are mainly the works of the Greeks. It is known that Persia (what the country is now can be found out below) very quickly conquered the territories of ancient civilizations. What were the Persians like?

They were tall and physically strong. Life in the mountains and steppes made them hardened and resilient. They were famous for their courage and unity. In everyday life, the Persians ate moderately, did not drink wine, and were indifferent to precious metals. They wore clothes made from animal skins and covered their heads with felt caps (tiaras).

During the coronation, the ruler had to put on the clothes that he wore before becoming king. He was also supposed to eat dried figs and drink sour milk.

The Persians had the right to live with several wives, not counting concubines. Closely related ties were acceptable, for example, between an uncle and a niece. Women were not supposed to show themselves to strangers. This applied to both wives and concubines. Proof of this is the surviving reliefs of Persepolis, which do not contain images of the fair sex.

Persian achievements:

• good roads;
• minting your own coins;
• creation of gardens (paradises);
• The cylinder of Cyrus the Great is a prototype of the first charter of human rights.

Previously Persia, but now?

It is not always possible to say exactly which state is located on the site of an ancient civilization. The world map has changed hundreds of times. Changes are happening even today. How to understand where Persia was? What is the country in its place now?

Modern states on whose territory there was an empire:

• Egypt.
• Lebanon.
• Iraq.
• Pakistan.
• Georgia.
• Bulgaria.
• Türkiye.
• Parts of Greece and Romania.

These are not all the countries that are related to Persia. However, Iran is most often associated with the ancient empire. What is this country and its people like?

Iran's mysterious past

The name of the country is the modern form of the word "Ariana", which translates as "land of the Aryans". Indeed, from the first millennium BC, Aryan tribes populated almost all the lands of modern Iran. Part of this tribe moved to Northern India, and part went to the northern steppes, calling themselves Scythians and Sarmatians.

Later, strong kingdoms emerged in Western Iran. One of these Iranian formations was Media. It was subsequently captured by the army of Cyrus the Second. It was he who united the Iranians in his empire and led them to conquer the world.

How does modern Persia live (what country is it now, it became clear)?

Life in modern Iran through the eyes of foreigners

For many ordinary people, Iran is associated with revolution and the nuclear program. However, the history of this country spans more than two thousand years. It has absorbed different cultures: Persian, Islamic, Western.

Iranians have elevated pretense to a true art of communication. They are very courteous and sincere, but this is only the outer side. In fact, behind their obsequiousness lies the intention to find out all the plans of their interlocutor.

Former Persia (now Iran) was captured by the Greeks, Turks, and Mongols. At the same time, the Persians were able to preserve their traditions. They know how to get along with strangers, their culture is characterized by a certain flexibility - taking the best from the traditions of strangers without abandoning their own.

Iran (Persia) was under Arab rule for centuries. At the same time, its inhabitants were able to preserve their language. Poetry helped them with this. Most of all they honor the poet Ferdowsi, and Europeans remember Omar Khayyam. The preservation of culture was facilitated by the teachings of Zarathustra, which appeared long before the Arab invasion.

Although Islam now plays a leading role in the country, Iranians have not lost their national identity. They remember well their centuries-old history.

History of ancient Persia

The Persian king Cyrus II from the Achaemenid clan conquered Media and many other countries in a short time and had a huge and well-armed army, which began to prepare for a campaign against Babylonia. A new force appeared in Western Asia, which in a short time managed to - in just a few decades- completely change the political map of the Middle East.

Babylonia and Egypt abandoned many years of hostile policies towards each other, for the rulers of both countries were well aware of the need to prepare for war with the Persian Empire. The outbreak of war was only a matter of time.

The Persian campaign against Babylon began in 539 BC. e. Decisive battle between the Persians and Babylonians occurred near the city of Opis on the Tigris River. Cyrus won a complete victory here, soon his troops took the well-fortified city of Sippar, and the Persians captured Babylon without a fight.

After this, the Persian ruler's gaze turned to the East, where for several years he waged a grueling war with the nomadic tribes of Central Asia and where he eventually died in 530 BC. e.

Cyrus's successors, Cambyses and Darius, completed the work he had begun. in 524-523 BC e. Cambyses' campaign against Egypt took place, as a result of which Achaemenid power was established on the banks of the Nile. Ancient Egypt became one of the satrapies of the new empire. Darius continued to strengthen the eastern and western borders of the empire. Towards the end of the reign of Darius, who died in 485 BC. e., the Persian power dominated over a vast territory from the Aegean Sea in the west to India in the east and from the deserts of Central Asia in the north to the rapids of the Nile in the south. The Achaemenids (Persians) united almost the entire civilized world known to them and ruled it until the 4th century. BC e., when their power was broken and conquered by the military genius of Alexander the Great.

• Achaemen, 600s. BC.
• Theispes, 600s BC.
• Cyrus I, 640 - 580 BC.
• Cambyses I, 580 - 559 BC.
• Cyrus II the Great, 559 - 530 BC.


• Cambyses II, 530 - 522 BC.
• Bardia, 522 BC
• Darius I, 522 - 486 BC.
• Xerxes I, 485 - 465 BC.
• Artaxerxes I, 465 - 424 BC.
• Xerxes II, 424 BC
• Secudian, 424 - 423 BC.
• Darius II, 423 - 404 BC.
• Artaxerxes II, 404 - 358 BC.
• Artaxerxes III, 358 - 338 BC.
• Artaxerxes IV Arses, 338 - 336 BC.
• Darius III, 336 - 330 BC.
• Artaxerxes V Bessus, 330 - 329 BC.

Map of the Persian Empire

The Aryan tribes - the eastern branch of the Indo-Europeans - by the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. inhabited almost the entire territory of present-day Iran. Self the word "Iran" is the modern form of the name "Ariana", i.e. country of the Aryans. Initially, these were warlike tribes of semi-nomadic cattle breeders who fought on war chariots. Some of the Aryans moved to Northern India even earlier and captured it, giving rise to the Indo-Aryan culture. Other Aryan tribes, closer to the Iranians, remained nomadic in Central Asia and the northern steppes - the Scythians, Sakas, Sarmatians, etc. The Iranians themselves, having settled on the fertile lands of the Iranian Plateau, gradually abandoned their nomadic life and took up farming, adopting the skills of Mesopotamian civilization. It reached a high level already in the XI-VIII centuries. BC e. Iranian craft. His monument is the famous “Luristan bronzes” - skillfully made weapons and household items with images of mythical and real-life animals.

"Luristan Bronzes"- a cultural monument of Western Iran. It was here, in the immediate vicinity and confrontation with Assyria, that the most powerful Iranian kingdoms arose. The first of them Media has strengthened(in northwestern Iran). The Median kings took part in the destruction of Assyria. The history of their state is well known from written monuments. But Median monuments of the 7th-6th centuries. BC e. very poorly studied. Even the capital of the country, the city of Ecbatana, has not yet been found. What is known is that it was located in the vicinity of the modern city of Hamadan. Nevertheless, two Median fortresses already studied by archaeologists from the times of the fight against Assyria speak of a fairly high culture of the Medes.

In 553 BC. e. Cyrus (Kurush) II, the king of the subordinate Persian tribe from the Achaemenid clan, rebelled against the Medes. In 550 BC. e. Cyrus united the Iranians under his rule and led them to conquer the world. In 546 BC. e. he conquered Asia Minor, and in 538 BC. e. Babylon fell. The son of Cyrus, Cambyses, conquered Egypt, and under King Darius I at the turn of the 6th-5th centuries. before. n. e. Persian power reached its greatest expansion and prosperity.

Monuments of its greatness are the royal capitals excavated by archaeologists - the most famous and best researched monuments of Persian culture. The oldest of them is Pasargadae, the capital of Cyrus.

Sasanian Revival - Sasanian Empire

In 331-330. BC e. The famous conqueror Alexander the Great destroyed the Persian Empire. In retaliation for Athens, once devastated by the Persians, Greek Macedonian soldiers brutally plundered and burned Persepolis. The Achaemenid dynasty came to an end. The period of Greco-Macedonian rule over the East began, which is usually called the Hellenistic era.

For the Iranians, the conquest was a disaster. Power over all neighbors was replaced by humiliated submission to long-time enemies - the Greeks. The traditions of Iranian culture, already shaken by the desire of kings and nobles to imitate the vanquished in luxury, were now completely trampled upon. Little changed after the liberation of the country by the nomadic Iranian tribe of the Parthians.

The Russians expelled the Greeks from Iran in the 2nd century. BC e., but they themselves borrowed a lot from Greek culture. The Greek language is still used on the coins and inscriptions of their kings. Temples are still being built with numerous statues, according to Greek models, which seemed blasphemous to many Iranians. In ancient times, Zarathushtra forbade the worship of idols, commanding that an unquenchable flame be venerated as a symbol of deity and sacrifices made to it. It was the religious humiliation that was greatest, and it was not for nothing that the cities built by the Greek conquerors were later called “Dragon buildings” in Iran.

In 226 AD e. The rebel ruler of Pars, who bore the ancient royal name Ardashir (Artaxerxes), overthrew the Parthian dynasty. The second story has begun Persian Empire - Sassanid Empire, the dynasty to which the winner belonged.

The Sassanians sought to revive the culture of ancient Iran. The very history of the Achaemenid state had by that time become a vague legend. So, the society that was described in the legends of the Zoroastrian Mobed priests was put forward as an ideal. The Sassanians built, in fact, a culture that had never existed in the past, thoroughly imbued with a religious idea. This had little in common with the era of the Achaemenids, who willingly adopted the customs of the conquered tribes.

Under the Sassanids, the Iranian decisively triumphed over the Hellenic. Greek temples completely disappear, the Greek language goes out of official use. The broken statues of Zeus (who was identified with Ahura Mazda under the Parthians) are replaced by faceless altars of fire. Naqsh-i-Rustem is decorated with new reliefs and inscriptions. In the 3rd century. The second Sasanian king Shapur I ordered his victory over the Roman emperor Valerian to be carved on the rocks. On the reliefs of the kings, a bird-shaped farn is overshadowed - a sign of divine protection.

Capital of Persia became the city of Ctesiphon, built by the Parthians next to the emptying Babylon. Under the Sassanids, new palace complexes were built in Ctesiphon and huge (up to 120 hectares) royal parks were laid out. The most famous of the Sasanian palaces is Tak-i-Kisra, the palace of King Khosrow I, who ruled in the 6th century. Along with monumental reliefs, palaces were now decorated with delicate carved ornaments in lime mixture.

Under the Sassanids, the irrigation system of Iranian and Mesopotamian lands was improved. In the VI century. The country was covered by a network of kariz (underground water pipelines with clay pipes), stretching up to 40 km. The cleaning of the carises was carried out through special wells dug every 10 m. The carises served for a long time and ensured the rapid development of agriculture in Iran during the Sasanian era. It was then that cotton and sugar cane began to be grown in Iran, and gardening and winemaking developed. At the same time, Iran became one of the suppliers of its own fabrics - both woolen, linen and silk.

Sasanian power was much smaller Achaemenid, covered only Iran itself, part of the lands of Central Asia, the territories of present-day Iraq, Armenia and Azerbaijan. She had to fight for a long time, first with Rome, then with the Byzantine Empire. Despite all this, the Sassanids lasted longer than the Achaemenids - more than four centuries. Ultimately, the state, exhausted by continuous wars in the West, was engulfed in a struggle for power. The Arabs took advantage of this, bringing a new faith - Islam - by force of arms. In 633-651. after a fierce war they conquered Persia. So it was over with the ancient Persian state and ancient Iranian culture.

Persia is the ancient name of a country in Southwest Asia that has been officially called Iran since 1935.

In ancient times, Persia became the center of one of the greatest empires in history, which stretched from Egypt to the Indus River. It included all previous empires - the Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians and Hittites.

Persia arose in the 6th century BC. Until its conquest by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC, it occupied a dominant position in the Ancient World. Greek rule lasted about 100 years, and after its fall, the Persian power was revived under two local dynasties: the Arsacids (Parthian Kingdom) and the Sassanids (New Persian Kingdom). For more than 7 centuries they kept first Rome and then Byzantium at bay.

It is known that the most ancient inhabitants of Iran had a different origin than the Persians and related peoples. During excavations in caves near the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, human skeletons dating back to the 8th millennium BC were found. In northwestern Iran, skulls of people who lived in the 3rd millennium BC were discovered. Scientists have proposed calling the indigenous population Caspians. Finds during excavations indicate that the tribes that inhabited this region were mainly engaged in hunting, then switched to cattle breeding, which was replaced by agriculture. The main settlements were Sialk, Gey-Tepe, Gissar, the largest was Susa, which soon became the capital of the Persian state.

The historical era begins on the Iranian plateau at the end of the 4th millennium BC. The largest of the peoples who lived on the eastern borders of Mesopotamia were the Elamites, who captured the ancient city of Susa. They founded the powerful and prosperous state of Elam there. Further north lived the Kassites, barbarian tribes of horsemen. By the middle of the 2nd millennium BC they conquered Babylonia.

From the 2nd millennium BC, invasions of tribes from Central Asia began on the Iranian plateau. These were the Aryans, the Indo-Iranian tribes who gave Iran its name (“homeland of the Aryans”). One group of Aryans settled in the west of the Iranian plateau, where they founded the state of Mitanni, another group - in the south among the Kassites.

At the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, a second wave of aliens rushed to the Iranian plateau. These were the Iranian tribes themselves - Sogdians, Scythians, Sakas, Parthians, Bactrians, Medes and Persians. Many of them left the highlands, and only the Medes and Persians settled in the valleys of the Zagros range. The Medes settled in the vicinity of Ecbatana (modern Hamadan). The Persians settled somewhat further south.

The Median kingdom gradually gained strength. In 612 BC, the Median king Cyaxares entered into an alliance with Babylonia, captured Nineveh and crushed the Assyrian power. However, the power of the Medes did not last longer than two generations.

Even under the Medes, the Achaemenid dynasty began to dominate Pars. In 553 BC, Cyrus II the Great, the Achaemenid ruler of Parsa, rebelled against the Median king Astyages, who was the son of Cyaxares. As a result of the uprising, a powerful alliance of Medes and Persians was created. The new power was a threat to the entire Middle East. In 546 BC, the king of Lydia, Croesus, decided to defeat the power of Cyrus. The Babylonians, Egyptians and Spartans volunteered to help him with this.

Cyrus won, who later occupied Babylonia, and by the end of his reign expanded the borders of the state from the Mediterranean Sea to the east of the Iranian Plateau. The capital was the city of Pasargadae. Cyrus's son, Cambyses, captured Egypt and proclaimed himself pharaoh.

The greatest of the Persian kings was Darius. During his reign, the northwestern part of India up to the Indus River and Armenia up to the Caucasus Mountains came under Persian rule. Darius also organized a campaign in Thrace, but the Scythians repelled his attack. During the reign of Darius, the Greeks in western Asia Minor rebelled. This uprising marked the beginning of the struggle against the Persian kingdom. It ended only a century and a half later due to the fall of the Persian kingdom under the blows of Alexander the Great.