Persia notes
Before Persians Hittites 1400 BCE Nomadic warriors Assyrians Fierce warriors Orderly Libraries Cultural homogeneity Babylonians 612 BCE Defeated Assyrians Rebuilt temples, canals, palaces Hanging gardens Astronomy Tigris-Euphrates Persian Empire 539 BCE Babylon falls to Persians Cyrus the Great Largest empire during its time Centered on trade crossroads Spreads from Egypt through Mesopotamia to Indus river valley Cyrus the Great (580-529 BCE) Tolerant Law giver Favored by Jews Darius the Great (526-485 BCE) Expansion Builds a canal in Egypt to promote trade Called himself a pharaoh To connect to the Egyptians Builds Persepolis Palace Zoroastrianism Indo-european religion stressing ritual purity Zoroaster = priest of this religion 1500 BCE