History of the Persian Empire

2000 B.C. 539 B.C. 525 B.C. 522 B.C. 330 B.C. 220- 650 A.D.

530 B.C. 486 B.C. 465 B.C.

2000 B.C.

2000 B.C. The Persians and the Aryans split ways in Central Asia.

The Persians move west towards Mesopotamia. In 1000 B.C. the Persians split ways with the Medians

and moved south towards the Persian Gulf.

539 B.C.Cyrus the Great

conquers Babylon and

establishes the largest land

empire the world had ever seen.

539 B.C.

The “Cyrus Cylinder” pictured above is a clay tablet inscribed with Akkadian Cuneiform. It

was discovered in the ruins of Babylon in 1879. It describes the “liberation” of Babylon

by Cyrus the great.

530 B.C.Cyrus the Great dies and his son Cambyses takes the thrown.

530 B.C.

Cyrus’s mausoleum at Pasargat.

525 B.C.Cyrus’s son Cambyses

extents the borders of the empire even

further by conquering

Egypt.

525 B.C.

522 B.C.

522 B.C.Cyrus’s nephew and Cambyses’s cousin

Darius comes to power and organizes the empire allowing

it to thrive and survive.

The Satrapies (provinces) of the Persian Empire organized by Darius.

486 B.C.Darius the Great dies and passes his empire to his son Xerxes.

486 B.C.

In the 1909 painting, Xerxes is shown attending the “Lashing of

the Hellespont” . After the waters

destroyed the bridge which the Persians built to transport their

army to Europe, Xerxes ordered the water to be

lashed and chained as a punishment.

465 B.C.Xerxes dies and passes the empire to his

son Artaxerxes.

The tombs of Darius the Great, Xerxes, Artaxerxes, and Darius II carved into a cliff 12 kilometers northwest of Persepolis. Known as the necropolis of Naqsh-e Rustam.

465 B.C.

The ruins of Persepolis in Central Iran. - The site was chosen by Cyrus the Great.

- Darius the Great began construction on

the city.

- Xerxes the great finished the building

projects of his father.

330 B.C.

330 B.C.The Persian

Empire is conquered

by Macedonian

King Alexander the Great.

The Alexander Mosaic, made in 100 BC, is a Roman floor mosaic from the House of the Faun in Pompeii.

220- 650 A.D.

220-650 A.D.

The Persian Empire is revived

under the Sassanid Dynasty.