Chapter 4 Section 3 The Persian Empire Edwin

Chapter 4 Section 3 The Persian Empire Edwin Hicks Jada Raphael Jordan Stewart Tye Shabazz

The Rise of Persians based their empire on tolerance and diplomacy They relied on a strong military to back up the policies Ancient Persia included what today is Iran

The Persian Homeland Fertile Farmland Wealthy in minerals (copper, lead, gold, sliver , gleaming blue lapis lazuli) Two major powers formed: Medes and Persia will eventually take over Medes and found a huge empire

The Persian Empire

Cyrus the Great Founds and Empire In 550 B. C. , Cyrus, Persia’s king began to conquer several neighboring kingdoms. Cyrus conquered kingdoms creating an empire that spanned 2, 000 miles Cyrus was a military genius whose legacy was his method of governing: - kind towards conquered people - believed in honoring local customs and religions - allowed Jews to return to Jerusalem Was killed as he fought nomadic invaders on eastern border

Persian Rule After Cyrus was killed, the task of unifying conquered territories fell to rulers that followed Cyrus. They succeeded by combining Persian control with local self-government.

Cambyses and Darius Cyrus died in 530 B. C. His son Cambyses expanded the Persian Empire by conquering Egypt. Cambyses downfall was not following in his father footsteps, instead scorned the Egyptian religion. Cambyses rule was over in 8 short years, he died. Rebellions broke out across the empire. Darius successor of Cambyses, began as an elite soldier of the king. He spent his first 3 years restoring order in the empire, later he established an efficient administration After restoring order Darius worked on conquest. He led armies to Afghanistan and to the river valleys of India. He expanded the Persian empire over 2500 miles, his only failure was the inability to conquer Greece.

Provinces and Satraps During the rein of Darius, he divided the land into provinces. Provinces were similar to who and were the people came from. Within the provinces, - freedom of religion - freedom of language - freedom of own laws Darius installed a governor called “satraps” to rule locally. He also elected a military leader, and tax collector for each province. Two other tools helped Darius keep the empire together. - system of roads : allowed easy communication - manufacturing metal coins: made everyone share one currency though out the whole empire.

The Persian Legacy During the 2, 500 years since the 1 st Sumerian citystates had been built, the people of the Fertile Crescent endured war, conquest, and famine. These events gave rise to the question: Why should so much suffering and chaos exist in the world? A Persian prophet named Zoroaster offered an answer.

Zoroaster’s Teachings Zoroaster was a Persian prophet who lived around 600 B. C. Zoroaster taught that the Earth is a battleground where a great struggle between spirt of good and evil is fought Zoroastrian religion teaches belief in one god, Ahura Mazda. Traces of the religion can be found in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. After Muslim conquest of Persia in the A. D. 600 s, the Zoroastrian empire declined. Zoroastrian was an important influence of development of Manichaeism. Today Zoroastrians continue to observe the religion’s traditions in several countries.

Political Order Persians brought political order to Southwest Asia. They preserved ideas from earlier civilizations and found new ways to live. Respect for other cultures helped to preserve those cultures for today. The powerful dynasty of Cyrus established in Persia lasted for 200 years and grew into an empire.