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Ancient Persia: Persian Empire
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Ancient Persia was the largest and wealthiest state in the Ancient Near East, eclipsing Assyria and Babylonia and overshadowing Greece in the west. Between 550 BC and 330BC the Persians ruled an Empire that stretched from North Africa to the Indus Valley and from Central Asia to the Arabian Sea. This vast Empire, one of the largest of antiquity, was administered from the Persian homeland in South-West Iran and from capital cities such as Susa, Pasargadae and Persepolis, arguably the most magnificent site in the whole of the ancient world.
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Persia was an ancient empire, extending from the Indus to Thrace, and from the Caspian Sea to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. The Persians were originally a Medic tribe which settled in Persia, on the eastern side of the Persian Gulf. They were Aryans, their language belonging to the eastern division of the Indo-European group. One of their chiefs, Teispes, conquered Elam in the time of the decay of the Assyrian Empire, and established himself in the district of Anzan. His descendants branched off into two lines, one line ruling in Anzan, while the other remained in Persia. Cyrus II, king of Anzan, finally united the divided power, conquered Media, Lydia, and Babylonia, and carried his arms into the far East.
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London's British Museum recently exhibited Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia to much critical acclaim. Some 460 impressive works of ancient Iranian art were culled from four international collections: the National Museum in Tehran, Iran's Persepolis Museum, Paris' Musée du Louvre and the British Museum. The exhibition's easily attainable catalogue vividly describes the artistic accomplishments of the Persian Empire's Achaemenid rulers during more than two centuries of the dynasty's reign (550-330 B.C.). Enthusiasts and scholars of ancient Near Eastern art will be delighted to add this volume to their libraries. The exhibition's next stop is at the Caixa Forum in Barcelona, Spain. Unfortunately, there are no plans for this phenomenal show to come to the United States.
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Persia has been traditionally used to describe the nation of Iran, its people, and its ancient empires since 600 BC. It derives from the ancient Greek name for Iran's maritime province, called Fars or Pars in modern Persian, Pars in Middle Persian and Pārsa (
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By decoding the discovered inscription in Kharg Island in Persian Gulf, 5 new words has been added to vocabulary of ancient Persian language, most likely belonging to Achaemenid dynastic era (550-330 BC). This is the first inscription has been ever discovered in Karg Island and five of the six words carved in this inscription, have never been seen before in any Persian inscription. The first four lines of this inscription have been separated by a narrow long line from the rest two lines. While all the Achaemenid inscriptions were royal text and were carved very delicately, the appearance of this inscription shows that it must have been carved in a hurry and carelessly and it is somehow more similar to inscriptions of Sassanid dynastic era (224-651 AD).
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Rhytons, ceremonial drinking vessels usually ending in the shape of an animal, were popular in ancient Persia and parts of the Mediterranean world. describes four metallic ones in the exhibition, demonstrating the Persians' artistic flair for metalwork. In a singularly exquisite example of Persian silverwork, the [P]rotome or base of a fluted rhyton features a delicately crafted, horned and winged griffin (a mythological creature combining a lion's body and eagle's wings). The overtly bestial imagery in this work of superb craftsmanship, possibly intended for ceremonial use, suggests that the Achaemenid Persians, like their ancient Near Eastern forebears, merged diverse animal forms to display power and authority.
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