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Chapter 4 Section 3 Persian Empire

Persians 539 BC ò  First Great complete empire

ò  Present day Iran

ò  Army - 300,000 - big

ò  Built roads - trade

ò  Treated people well

ò  Tolerance and diplomacy

ò  Prevents Persian soldiers from looting and burning city

ò  Believed in honoring local customs and religions

ò  Do not destroy temples, rather kneel and pray

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Persians 539 BC

ò  Cyrus the Great #86 out of 100

ò  10,000 immortals - job is to protect their leaders

ò  Control an empire that spanned 2,000 miles

ò  Military genius

Persians 539 BC

ò  Conquered Mesopotamia

ò  Smart - used locals on their side

ò  Created Uniform system of weights and measures

ò  Allowed Jews to return to Jerusalem in 538 BC

ò  Under Persian rule the Jews rebuild their city and temple

ò  Alexander the Great defeated them

ò  Cyrus is killed fighting invaders on the eastern border.

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Persians 539 BC

ò  Cyrus the Great #86 out of 100

ò  10,000 immortals - job is to protect their leaders

ò  Started longest reigning monarch ò  539 bc-1979AD

ò  Overthrown by religious group- religious revolution (American hostages)

Persian Rule

ò  Cyrus dies in 530 BC

ò  Cambyses, Cyrus son takes over

ò  Captures Egypt

ò  Doesn’t follow fathers example and orders Egyptian gods to be burned

ò  Rebellions broke out over empire

ò  Empire fragile

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Persian Rule

ò  Darius-

ò  10,000 immortals help Darius seize the throne in 522 BC

ò  Expands kingdom into India

ò  Can not conquer Greece. (Chapter 5)

Persian Rule

ò  Darius-

ò  Administrative genius

ò  Problem of huge empire is running it

ò  20 provinces

ò  Similar to homelands of counties conquered.

ò  Each province can practice own religion

ò  Spoke own language

ò  Rules with absolute power

ò  Governors called “satrap” rules locally

ò  Local inspectors = “kings eyes and ears”

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Persian Rule

ò  Darius-

ò  Excellent roads allow communication quickly within empire “Royal Road” = Persia to Anatolia = 1677 miles.

ò  Metal coins

ò  Lydians of Asia Minor were first to coin money.

ò  Helps Trade, helps empire grow.

Legacy

ò  Fertile Crescent has endured 2,500 years of war, conquest and famine.

ò  Why so much suffering and chaos exist in World?

ò  Zoroaster= Persian prophet 600BC Religion???

ò  Earth is a battleground where a great struggle is fought between the spirit of good and the spirit of evil.

ò  Everyone is expected to take part in the struggle

ò  At the end of time, we will be judged according to how well we fought the battle for good.

ò  Satan = Judaism, Christianity and Islam