User:Rahiba Parveen/sandbox

Introduction The name "Persia" is a Greek and Latin pronunciation of the native word referring to the country of the people originating from Persis (Old Persian: Pārsa), their home territory located north of the Persian Gulf in south-western Iran. The heart of ancient Persia is in what is now southwest Iran, in the region called the Fars. Contents 1.	History 2.	Kings 3.	Physical features 4.	Weapons 5.	Army 6.	Navy 7.	Population 8.	Government 9.	Occupation 10.	Food 11.	Clothing 12.	Language 13.	Art and architecture 14.	Religion History The empire began as a tributary state of the Medes but ended up conquering and enlarging the Median empire to include Egypt and Asia Minor. Under Xerxes, it came very close to conquering Ancient Greece. The Achaemenids were overthrown by the conquest of Alexander the Great in 330 BC. Kings •	Teispes of Anshan, son of Achaemenes •	Cyrus I of Anshan, son of Teispes •	Cambyses I of Anshan, son of Cyrus I •	Cyrus II, the Great, son of Cambyses I, ruled from c.550-530 BCE (ruler of Anshan c. 559 BCE – conquered Media 550 BCE) •	Cambyses II, son of Cyrus the Great, ruled 529-522 BCE •	Smerdis (Bardiya), alleged son of Cyrus the Great, ruled 522 BCE (Possibly a usurper) •	Darius I, the Great, brother-in-law of Smerdis and grandson of Arsames, ruled 521-486 BCE •	Xerxes I, son of Darius I, ruled 485-465 BCE •	Artaxerxes I Longimanus, son of Xerxes I, ruled 465-424 BCE •	Xerxes II, son of Artaxerxes I, ruled 424 BCE •	Sogdianus, half-brother and rival of Xerxes II, ruled 424-423 BCE •	Darius II Nothus, half-brother and rival of Xerxes II, ruled 423-405 BCE •	Artaxerxes II Mnemon, son of Darius II, ruled 404-359 BCE (see also Xenophon) •	Artaxerxes III Ochus, son of Artaxerxes II, ruled 358-338 BCE •	Artaxerxes IV Arses, son of Artaxerxes III, ruled 338-336 BCE •	Darius III Codomannus, great-grandson of Darius II, ruled 336-330 BCE Physical features Persia had dry weather, because of lack of moisture in the air, but it occasionally rained. Persia had a varied climate making it unpredictable for growth of plant life and vegetation. It was rich in natural resources, such as petroleum and copper. There are three very specific types of terrain in Persia which are: •	Mountains •	Lowlands •	Deserts Weapons The primary weapons used in the Achaemenids were swords, short spears, draggers, bows and arrows. Army                                                                                                                                    The Persian army was divided into regiments of a thousand each, called hazarabam. Ten hazarabams formed a haivarabam, or division. The best known haivarabam were the Immortals, the King’s personal guard division. The smallest unit was the ten man dathaba. Ten dathabas formed the hundred man sataba. The royal army used a system of colour uniforms to identify different units. A large variety of colours were used, some of the most common being yellow, purple, and blue. But this system was probably limited to native Persian troops and was not used for their numerous allies. Navy                                                                                                                          Persia would become the first empire, under Darius, to inaugurate and deploy the first regular imperial navy. At first the ships were built in Sidon by the Phoenicians; the first Achaemenid ships measured about 40 meters in length and 6 meters in width, able to transport up to 300 Persian troops at any one trip. Soon, other states of the empire were constructing their own ships, each incorporating slight local preferences. The ships eventually found their way to the Persian Gulf.[132] Persian naval forces laid the foundation for a strong Persian maritime presence in the Persian Gulf. Persians were not only stationed on islands in the Persian Gulf, but also had ships often of 100 to 200 capacity patrolling the empire's various rivers including the Caroon or Karun, Tigris and Nile in the west, as well as the Indus. The Achaemenid navy established bases located along the Karun, Bahrain, Oman, and Yemen. The Persian fleet was not only used for peace-keeping purposes along the Karun but also opened the door to trade with India via the Persian Gulf. Darius's navy was in many ways a world power at the time, but it would be Artaxerxes II who in the summer of 397 BC would build a formidable navy, as part of a rearmament which would lead to his decisive victory at Knidos in 394 BC, re-establishing Achaemenid power in Ionia. Artaxerxes II would also utilize his navy to later on quell a rebellion in Egypt. Population 17 million to 35 million. Government In order to maintain control of the large empire, each area had a ruler called a satrap. The satrap was like a governor of the area. He enforced the king's laws and taxes. There were around 20 to 30 satraps in the empire. The empire was connected by many roads and a postal system. The most famous road was the Royal Road built by King Darius the Great. This road stretched around 1,700 miles all the way from Sardis in Turkey to Suza in Elam. Occupation Persian were alchemists‎, artists‎, astrologers‎, astronomers, chemists, explorers, geographers, mathematicians, military leaders of the Achaemenid Empire, ‎ nurses, philosophers, physicians, poets, scholars, slaves, writers. Food Traditionally Persians ate only one meal a day. They believed that too much food would make them fat and weak. But as more deluxe produce was cultivated, they could not resist the temptation and ate a proper three meals a day. Ancient Persians dined mostly on roasted meat and birds, citrus fruits and vegetables, olive oil, wheat and barley, pistachios, pomegranates, peaches, figs and grapes. Clothing Men wore: Long robes that had lots of folds that gathered at the waist. Topped their hair with, arranging in tight ringlets, with a cap or turban. Women wore: Beautiful long gowns. Hair usually was braided. Both wore earrings, rings, wigs, and bracelets made of important goods such as pearls, rubies and emeralds. Language During the reign of Cyrus and Darius, and as long as the seat of government was still at Susa in Elam, the language of the chancellery was Elamite. This is primarily attested in the Persepolis fortification and treasury tablets that reveal details of the day-to-day functioning of the empire. In the grand rock-face inscriptions of the kings, the Elamite texts are always accompanied by Akkadian (Babylonian dialect) and Old Persian inscriptions, and it appears that in these cases, the Elamite texts are translations of the Old Persian ones. It is then likely that although Elamite was used by the capital government in Susa, it was not a standardized language of government everywhere in the empire. The use of Elamite is not attested after 458 BC. Religion It was during the Achaemenid period that Zoroastrianism reached South-Western Iran, where it came to be accepted by the rulers and through them became a defining element of Persian culture. Persians offer sacrifice to: "the sun and moon, to the earth, to fire, to water, and to the winds. These are the only gods whose worship has come down to them from ancient times. At a later period they began the worship of Urania, which they borrowed from the Arabians and Assyrians. Mylitta is the name by which the Assyrians know this goddess, to whom the Persians referred as Anahita." (The original name here is Mithra, which has since been explained to be a confusion of Anahita with Mithra, understandable since they were commonly worshipped together in one temple). Art and Architecture Achaemenid architecture includes large cities, temples, palaces, and mausoleums such as the tomb of Cyrus the Great. The quintessential feature of Persian architecture was its eclectic nature with elements of Median, Assyrian, and Asiatic Greek all incorporated, yet maintaining a unique Persian identity seen in the finished products. Achaemenid art includes frieze reliefs, Metalwork such as the Oxus Treasure, decoration of palaces, glazed brick masonry, fine craftsmanship (masonry, carpentry, etc.), and gardening. Although the Persians took artists, with their styles and techniques, from all corners of their empire, they produced not simply a combination of styles, but a synthesis of a new unique Persian style. Cyrus the Great in fact had an extensive ancient Iranian heritage behind him; the rich Achaemenid gold work, which inscriptions suggest may have been a specialty of the Medes, was for instance in the tradition of the delicate metalwork found in Iron Age II times at Hasanlu and still earlier at Marlik.