Life in the Ancient Persian Empire

He had qualities both as a conqueror who was tolerant & magnanimous as well as brave & daring.

Imposed a 20 percent tax on all agriculture, manufacturing & religious institutions

Evil's last war-sun & moon will darken & people will lose respect for religion, family, elders.

Very first stadium, lavish floor coverings i.e. carpets, qanats-underground irrigation systems

What is the historical importance of the Greeks winning the second war with Persia?

Wicked sent to hell to be purged of bodily sin

The last battle where the Greeks led by Spartan hoplites defeated the army of the Persians

Also irrigation of crops by digging of canals & ditches to get water from year around rivers

Columned audience halls, colonnaded porticoes, square towers, terraces, double flights of steps

Irrigation of crops by a systematic digging of a specialized network of canals known as Qanat.

Men & women had equal rights, slavery abolished & the very first human & animal bill of rights

Taught people were training for a future life with world torn by struggle between good & evil.

Name for god of evil & darkness in Zoroastrianism-force behind anger, greed, envy, etc.

Built & maintained a superior system of roads that linked Persia with its major trade partners.

Agriculture was main source of wealth in the Persian empire. Trade was the 2nd major source.

Cyrus the Great successfully rebels against Medes-establishes Achaemenid Empire of Persia.

Name for creator & sole god of Zoroastrianism-uncreated spirit, wholly wise, benevolent & good

King Leonidas of Sparta & his 300 men bottlenecked Xerxes at the narrow pass

Saoshyant will be born to a virgin impregnated by the seed of Zoroaster while bathing in a lake

Why did Xerxes attack Greece?

Much of Empire is high-elevation Mts. & dry-Persians engineered terrain for water irrigation

Saoshyant will raise the dead – including those in both heaven and hell – for final judgment

Taught that people would have to chose between good & evil as preparation for a final judgment

Systems of sustainable taxation, communication network based on good roads, single language

They also used holy words, poetry, music & prayers to cure, console & heal the patient.

They had standardized weights & measures plus improved and circulated coins

Conqueror, tolerant & capable monarch who founded ancient Persian Empire. Liberator of the Jews

All will wade through a river of molten metal in which the righteous will not burn.

They played chess, backgammon, 20 Squares, 58 Holes, Merels, used various types of dice, etc.

Persians quickly adopted the Lydian innovative concept of coinage & issued the gold daric coin

Theirs was one of great writings of history-one of the four main bodies of world literature

Which explains why Darius I was important?

They had many melodies & instruments which were important in religious affairs & court life

Taught that when the final judgement happened all earthly existence would disappear.

Heavenly forces will ultimately triumph over evil rendering it forever impotent. Eternal life!

It took Persian couriers about nine days to cover the 1,500 miles of the Persian Royal Road

Persians had consistently 98-99% pure gold coins for 185 years with the king engraved running

People had freedom & King could not violate law. The king was required to give good government

Great importance on personal hygiene, public health and the prevention of contagious diseases.

Persian ruler from 522-486 BC-reorganized empire after winning civil war-Expanded empire terr.

The Persians themselves paid no taxes.

Embroidery, first Beer-making techniques, first public postal system, 1st satraps of regions

The art had improvisation & composition based on memorized a series of modal scales & tunes

He brought harmful emotions chaos, death, disease, and other ills into the world

Smaller faster Athenian navy destroyed the Persian/Phoenician navy while Xerxes sat & watched

Which explains why Darius was unsuccessful at conquering Greece?

Persian religious beliefs encourage rulers to practice good reflection, good word, & good deed.

They used medicinal herbs including basil, chicory, sweet violet, and peppermint.

Voyages to seek new trading partners & encouraged the development of ports on the Persian Gulf

They had a Great Assembly+Popular Assembly, courts of justice, police, rights for children...

Persian Empire obtained its wealth as a result of its prolific crops such as barley & grapes

Persians diverted course of Euphrates. During festival, Persian army came under walls unnoticed

Croesus’ rule of Lydia came to abrupt end-Persian king Cyrus defeated him, 546 BC, at Halys

They wrote great poetry, essays, works of geography, stories, dictionaries, etc.-many now lost

Buildings gave feeling for space and scale-more so than other ancient civilizations

Why was the Battle of Marathon important and famous?