Persian Empire

Background/Location

• Persians in Mesopotamia around 1500 to 1000 BCE
• Expanded a small ways past Middle East
• Cyrus II revolted against the Medes

FORMation

• Cyrus conquered Medes, Anatolian Peninsula, Syria, Babylon...
• Helped the Hebrews
• Conquering Egypt and pushing the boundries

Administration

• Darius organized twenty satrapies
• "King's Eyes" and "King's Ears"
• Babylonian calender, granaries, and irrigation

Religion

• Zoroastrianism
• Judgement Day
• Embraced diverse cultural communities

Trade

• Coinage system
• Royal Road from Susa to Sardis
• Canal from the Nile to the Red Sea

Decline

• Greek city-states rebelling
• 150 years of slow decline
• 330 BCE, Alexander the Great defeats last emperor

Extra deets

• Pretty Palace of Persepolis
• The sightly satraps

The End