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Persian Poets and Literature
Persian literature is usually dated to the Behistun Inscription of Darius I (the Great, r. 522-486 BCE) at c. 522 BCE. It is generally understood that a significant body of work was created by Persian writers between that time and c. 330...
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Sasanian Empire
The Sasanian Empire (224-651 CE, also given as Sassanian, Sasanid or Sassanid) was the last pre-Islamic Persian empire, established in 224 CE by Ardeshir I, son of Papak, descendant of Sasan. The Empire lasted until 651 CE when it was overthrown...
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Map of the Achaemenid Persian Empire - Animation
This map animation shows the rise and fall of the Achaemenid Persian Empire over time.
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The Achaemenid Persian Empire c. 500 BCE
A map illustrating the rise and evolution of the Achaemenid Persian Empire (from the name of Achaemenes, an ancestor of the empire's founder, Cyrus the Great) from its origins in around 550 BCE when Cyrus II of Persia conquered the Medes...
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The Persian Empire
The Persian Empire about 500 BC.
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Ardashir I - Founder of the Sassanid Persian Empire
Ardashir V of Persis | Ardeshir the Unifier | Ardashir I | اردشیر یکم (l. c. 180-241 CE, r. 224-240 CE) A visual representation of Ardeshir I (the Unifier), founder of the Sasanian Empire (Larger Iran). This representation is largely...
Video
The Persian Empire: 7,000 years of History
Drawing on historical and archaeological evidence, this documentary, by Dr. Farzin Rezaeian, reconstructs 7,000 years of Iranian (Persian) history.
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Miltiades
Miltiades (c. 555-489 BCE) was the Athenian general who defeated the Persians at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE. The Greeks faced a Persian force of superior numbers led by the commanding admiral Datis, who had been sent by their king...
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Ancient Persia and the Achaemenid Persian Empire
The region of ancient Persia, which is modern-day Iran, has one of the longest histories, reaching back to the Palaeolithic Age, some one hundred thousand years ago. Between circa 1500 and 1000 BCE, a Persian priest named Zoroaster, also...
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Statue of the Egypto-Persian Ptahhotep
This statue of Ptahhotep (who was the Overseer of the Treasury) is shown in a Persian costume that Egyptian officials adopted when Egypt was under Persian control. The jacket with flaring sleeves, over which a skirt is wrapped, is complemented...