Persian empire

A succession of empires which ruled the Iranian plateau. Persia was the “Land of the Aryans,” and in 1935 the name Persia was changed simply to Iran.

The Aryans were nomadic people who migrated into India through the Kyber Pass around 1500 B.C. The language in ancient Persia was Avestan and in Northern India it was Sanskrit. All major European and Indian languages are considered related to it. Hebrew and Arabic are not.

After Darwin’s theory of evolution became popular in England and Germany, racists began to emerge who claimed that Aryans were superior. The worst of these were Houston Stewart Chamberlain, who insisted that Aryans were responsible for all of human progress, and that Jewish people were inferior because they did not descend from the Aryans (Hebrew did not descend from the Aryan language).

Persia’s glory days were from 550 to 331 B.C. It is during this time period that Persia is seen often in the Old Testament. When the Persians took over Babylon, Daniel served under Cyrus and Darius (who threw him into the lion’s den). The Persians are also seen in the Bible in the story of Esther, when King Xerxes I held what might be called a “Miss Persia” beauty contest. Esther, a beautiful Jewish girl, won the contest and would go on to save her people because of her remarkable courage.

The Persians controlled a vast amount of territory, including most of the Middle East, Turkey and a portion of Northern Africa--primarily under Cyrus the Great. Accordingly, the Persian empire was one of the first great empires of the world. They were unstoppable and greatly feared until Alexander the Great conquered them and far more.

After Alexander the Great died, Parthians (based in modern-day Iran) tried unsuccessfully to reestablish the Persian empire. But their past greatness was not achieved again. They could not withstand the Roman army, which conquered it in A.D. 226.

Afterwards, a Persian noble named Ardashir seized power by killing the Parthian king, and established the Sassanid empire along with the official state religion of Zoroastrianism, a polytheistic religion that had a creator (Ahuramazda) and a sun-god (Mithra). This religion was essentially limited to Persians. It made no attempt to convert others and it tolerated other religions in the region like Judaism. Its greatest king was Shapure II (A.D. 309-379), who beat back the weakening Romans and also extended Persian power towards China. This empire remained in control of Persia until Muslims took control of the region in A.D. 651.