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The history of Iran (or Persia, as it was known in the Western world) is intertwined with Greater Iran, a sociocultural region spanning from Anatolia to the Indus River and from the Caucasus to the Persian Gulf. Central to this area is modern-day Iran, which covers the bulk of the Iranian plateau. Iran is home to one of the world's oldest ...
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, [16] also known as the Persian Empire[16] or First Persian Empire[17] (/ əˈkiːmənɪd /; Old Persian: 𐎧𐏁𐏂, Xšāça, lit. 'The Empire' [18] or 'The Kingdom' [19]), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the ...
547 BC. Cyrus conquers the Lydian Empire in western Asia Minor. 545 – 540 BC. Cyrus conquers Bactria, Arachosia, Sogdia, Sakastan, Chorasmia, and Margiana during his eastern campaign. 539 BC. Cyrus conquers the Neo-Babylonian Empire, frees thousands of slaves in Babylon and issues a declaration of human rights.
Democracy in classical Iran. Early Iranians had their own regional elected councils. By the time of the Medians, the city-states were administered in a democratic fashion. During the Achaemenids, in a debate over the constitution of Iran, Otanes argued in favor of democracy, however he did not succeed. He enumerated five characteristic marks of ...
The Middle East was the first to experience a Neolithic Revolution (c. the 10th millennium BCE), as well as the first to enter the Bronze Age (c. 3300–1200 BC) and Iron Age (c. 1200–500 BC). Historically human populations have tended to settle around bodies of water, which is reflected in modern population density patterns.
The rise of Persia under Cyrus's rule had a profound impact on the course of world history, including in forms of Iranian philosophy, literature and religion. Many of the Iranian dynasties following the Achaemenid Empire and their kings saw themselves as the heirs to Cyrus the Great and have claimed to continue the line begun by Cyrus.
The Persians overran Syria and captured Antioch in 611. In 613, outside Antioch, the Persian generals Shahrbaraz and Shahin decisively defeated a major counter-attack led in person by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius. Thereafter, the Persian advance continued unchecked. Jerusalem fell in 614, Alexandria in 619, and the rest of Egypt by 621.
The history of the Achaemenid dynasty is mainly known through Greek historians, such as Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon. Additional sources include the Hebrew Bible , other Jewish religious texts , and native Iranian sources .