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| 5521221657 | Achaemenid Empire | First great Persian empire (558-330 BCE), which began with Cyrus and reached its peak under Darius | 0 | |
| 5521222811 | Medes | Indo-European branch that settled in northern Persia and eventually fell to another branch, the Persians, in the sixth century BCE | 1 | |
| 5521222812 | Pasargadae | The location of Cyrus' fortress and palace during his time as king of his Persian tribe and later the Achaemenid Empire | 2 | |
| 5521222813 | Darius | The greatest Achaemenid emperor, who expanded both east and west, creating an empire that stretch from the Indus River to Aegean sea, from Armenia to the Nile River | 3 | |
| 5521223968 | Cambyses | Cyrus' son who conquered Egypt and brought its wealth into Persian hands | 4 | |
| 5521223969 | Aegean Sea | Sea located between the mainlands of modern Greece and Turkey | 5 | |
| 5521225393 | Persepolis | The capital of the Achaemenid Empire, declared as part of Darius' push to centralize the government; it served as a center of administration and a monument to the dynasty | 6 | |
| 5521225394 | Satrapies | System of provincial government in the Persian Empire, in which administration is divided into provinces, each of which was called a satrapy | 7 | |
| 5521227485 | Persion Royal Road | A road stretching 2, 575 km throughout the Achaemenid Empire, as part of the push to knit the far flung empire together through a network of good roads | 8 | |
| 5521227486 | Qanats | Persian underground canals | 9 | |
| 5521229821 | The Battle of Marathon | Battlefield scene of the Athenian victory over the Persians in 490 BCE | 10 | |
| 5521230692 | The Battle of Gaugamela | The final meeting between Alexander of Macedon and King Darius III of Persia, in which Alexander was victorious (October 1, 331 BCE) | 11 | |
| 5521230693 | Seleucids | Persian empire (323-83 BCE) founded by Seleucus after the death of Alexander the Great | 12 | |
| 5521231522 | The Parthians | Persian dynasty (247 BCE- 224 CE) that reached its peak under Mithradates I | 13 | |
| 5521231523 | Mithradates I | The Parthians greatest conqueror, who transformed the state into a mighty empire | 14 | |
| 5521231524 | Ctesiphon | The Parthian capital, built as a part of the push to mirror Achaemenid administration | 15 | |
| 5521232760 | Sasanids | Later powerful Persian dynasty (224-651 CE) that would reach its peak under Shapur I and later fall to Arabic expansion | 16 | |
| 5521232761 | Zarathustra | Persian prophet (ca. sixth century BCE) who founded Zoroastrianism | 17 | |
| 5521233900 | Zoroastrianism | Persian religion based on the teachings of the sixth century BCE prophet Zarathustra; its emphasis on the duality of good and evil and on the role of individuals in determining their own fate would influence later religions | 18 | |
| 5521233901 | Ahura Mazda | Main god of Zoroastrianism who represented truth and goodness and was perceived to be in an eternal struggle with the malign spirit Angra Mainyu | 19 | |
| 5521234868 | Magi | Member of a priestly caste in ancient Persia | 20 | |
| 5521234869 | Avesta | Book that contains the holy writings of Zoroastrianism | 21 | |
| 5521236004 | Gathas | Zoroastrian hymns believed to be compositions of Zarathustra | 22 | |
| 5521236005 | Parsis | Indian Zoroastrians | 23 | |
| 5521236006 | Manichaeism | Religion founded by the prophet Mani in the third century CE, a syncretic version of Zoroastrian, Christian, and Buddhist elements | 24 | |
| 5752232281 | Croesus | Lydian king who waged war on Cyrus' Persian empire because an oracle told him if he did he would destroy a great kingdom, which ended up being his own | 25 | |
| 5752232282 | "Eyes and Ears of the King" | Imperial spies in Persia that traveled throughout the empire with military forces and conducted surprise audits of accounts and procedures in the provinces. | 26 | |
| 5752235818 | Xerxes | Darius' successor who gained a reputation for cruelty and intensity due to his harsh suppression of internal rebellion | 27 |
