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PERSIA

(Heb. pāras; Gk. Persís; O. Pers. Pārsa)

Tomb of Cyrus II at Pasargadae (Courtesy of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago)

Xerxes I’s Gate of All Nations at Persepolis, featuring massive winged bulls
(Courtesy of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago)

An ancient Near Eastern empire which at the height of its power spanned from the borders of India in the east to Ionia in the west. The people themselves called the empire Aryana, from a term in the Zoroastrian scriptures derived from Sanskrit arya, “noble” (cf. “Iran,” “Aryan”).

Geography

The area in which Persia was established is a plateau ca. 777,000 sq. km. (300,000 sq. mi.), consisting of a series of high valleys and dry basins, ca. 900-2500 m. (3000-8000 ft.) above sea level. The plateau is ringed by a variety of mountain ranges (the Kurdistan and Zagros on the west, Elburz on the north, and Hindu Kush to the east). To the south, along the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, lie inhospitable plains. Two vast, salt-caked deserts, the Dasht-i-Kavir and Dasht-i-Lut, occupy most of central eastern Persia.

History

Early Period

Archaeological evidence indicates that plants and animals were domesticated at several sites in the Zagros Mountain region as early as 9000 b.c.e. (the “Neolithic Revolution”) and that here were formed the earliest village civilizations relying on irrigation agriculture.

The kingdom of Elam, which predated the formation of the Persian Empire, was located in southwestern Iran along the northern coast of the Persian Gulf. It supplied Sumer with such minerals as copper, tin, silver, lead, and alabaster. Precious gems, timber, and horses were also exported from Elam.

Toward the end of the 2nd millennium ethnic groups from south and east of the Caspian Sea entered Elam. This wave of Aryan peoples included Cimmerians, Scythians, Medes, and Persians. By the 9th century the latter two groups had settled in northwest Iran, but they were hemmed in by the power of Urartu, Assyria, Elam, and Babylonia. An inscription of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III (859-825) includes the first reference to the Medes (Akk. Madai) and Persians (Parsu), whom he deported in large numbers in 837. These peoples also paid tribute to Tiglath-pileser III (745-727) and Sargon II (721-705).

Attacks by the Assyrians and Urartians in the 7th century forced the Medes to unite, founding a capital at Ecbatana (modern Hamadân). Their leader was Deioces (or Dayakku), who was taken to Assyria in 715 and thence exiled to Hamath in Syria. His successor, Phraortes (Khshathrita), who ruled from 675 to 653, died while his forces conquered the Persians in the southwest. The Medians lived under Scythian rule for 28 years, until Cyaxares (Uvakshatra, 653-585) liberated them. Allied with the Babylonians and Scythians, Cyaxares participated in the siege and destruction of Nineveh. He then concluded a treaty with Babylon and married his granddaughter Amytis to Nabopolassar’s son Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562); it was for Amytis that the famed “Hanging Gardens” of Babylon were built.

The Persians gradually settled east of Elam, led by a dynasty founded by Achaemenes (Hakhamanish) ca. 700. His successor Teispes added Anshan to Persian territory; his sons Ariaramnes (Ariyaramna, 640-590) and Cyrus I (Kurash, 640-600) annexed lands in the west. Cambyses I (Kanbujiya, 600-559) married Mandane, daughter of the Median Astyages, who bore him Cyrus II. The Achaemenid dynasty was founded when Cyrus II successfully revolted against Astyages in 549.

Persian Empire

Babylonian preoccupation with westward expansion gave Cyrus II opportunity to add Assyria, Cilicia, Sardis, and the Ionian Greek cities to his realm. Newly acquired lands were organized into satrapies, initially ca. 20 administrative units headed by royal appointees from noble families. King Nabonidus’ unpopular decision to remove the images of most of the deities of Babylon to the capital paved the way for Cyrus’ conquest of Babylonia, and the Persians (aided by disgruntled Babylonians) entered the city on 13 October 539.

In a stroke of diplomatic genius, Cyrus returned the images to their temples and decreed that all subject peoples of the Babylonians return to their homelands (cf. 2 Chr. 36:23; Ezra 1:1-4). Persian rulers were careful to be crowned king of conquered lands in accordance with local custom; the Babylonian “Cyrus cylinder” depicts Cyrus as chosen by Marduk to topple Nabonidus and praises him for not looting the temples in Babylon (ANET, 15-16). Cyrus died in battle against the Massagetae on the northeastern frontier in 530.

Cambyses II, Cyrus’ eldest son, was quick to continue the expansion of the empire. Egypt, Cyprus, and the Greek islands fell in quick succession, but the Persians were stopped at Nubia. At this juncture the throne was seized by Gaumata (“Pseudo-Smerdis”), a member of the magi who masqueraded as Cambyses’ younger brother Bardiya (“Smerdis,” killed by Cambyses in 526). Revolts broke out in Media, Armenia, and Babylonia. Gaumata hastened to consolidate his position by offering exemptions from military service and taxes, but his rule lasted only six months. Cambyses died under mysterious circumstances, perhaps by suicide, as he returned to Babylon.

Darius I (Daryavaush, 522-486), son of Hystaspes (Vishtāspa) and satrap of Parthia and Hyrcania, took Gaumata prisoner and executed him at Ecbatana in 522. It took Darius two years to quell the revolts around the empire, but by 518 satrapies as distant as Ionia and Egypt acknowledged his rule. Persian troops campaigned as far west as the Danube River, but they were defeated by Greek forces at Marathon in 490. A huge bas relief on a high cliff at Behistun (modern Bisitun) on the Ecbatana-Babylon trade route depicts Darius, under the protection of Ahura Mazda, trampling Gaumata, with nine rebel leaders in attendance; the inscription in Old Persian, Akkadian, and Elamite proved invaluable in deciphering these ancient languages. Subsequently peace prevailed throughout the empire until the first Ionian revolt (500-494), which ended with the destruction of Miletus.

Darius was an able administrator who reorganized the empire into 22 satrapies. A good road network, royal postal service, and the use of Aramaic as the language of government (replacing Elamite) served to promote efficiency. Darius introduced unified systems of taxation, weights and measures, and currency. Trade flourished, banking houses were established, and Darius had a canal constructed linking the Nile River and Red Sea. An opulent new palace was built at Susa in 521 and work was started on the new capital at Persepolis (Parsa) in 518. It was during Darius’ reign that reconstruction of the Jerusalem temple finally was undertaken by the returned exiles; when local officials challenged the work, Darius commanded that construction continue (Ezra 5:1–6:15). When Darius died Persia was at the height of its territorial expansion and material wealth. Its borders ranged from the Indus and Jaxartes (Syr Darya) rivers in the east to Egypt and the Aegean in the west, and from the Persian Gulf in the south to the Caspian and Black seas in the north. All Persian kings after Darius were involved in maintaining the size and prestige the empire had attained in his reign.

Formerly viceroy of Babylon, Xerxes I (485-465) ruled Egypt and Babylonia with a heavy hand. In 480 a Persian army, accompanied by ships served by Phoenicians, Egyptians, Ionians, and Cypriotes, moved against Greece. After a temporary delay at Thermopylae, the Persians took Thebes and Athens. However, the reverses they suffered at Salamis, Miletus, Plataea, and Mycale forced Xerxes to relinquish control of all lands beyond Asia Minor. He was assassinated in 465 and succeeded by Artaxerxes I.

During much of his early reign, Artaxerxes was plagued by revolts in Egypt (460-454), encouraged by the Greeks. Other rebellions resulted in the loss of some eastern territories. Peace was restored by the treaty of Callias in 449. Darius II ascended the throne as Greece was rent by the Peloponnesian War. Despite interference by his consort Parysatis, by siding with the Spartans he was able to recapture various Greek cities in Asia Minor. A weak ruler, Artaxerxes II Mnemon (404-359) faced revolt in Egypt that lasted 60 years and involved the Egyptians in anti-Persian activities along with Sparta, Athens, and Cyprus. Artaxerxes made peace with the Greeks in 386, but his subsequent invasion of Egypt was blunted by the skillful defense of Pharaoh Nectanebo I. A brutal but ambitious ruler, Artaxerxes III Ochus (359-338) mounted another expedition against Egypt. Nectanebo II repelled his forces in 351, and the Egyptians continued their tradition of stirring unrest against Persia by supporting a revolt in Phoenicia. Artaxerxes finally defeated the Egyptians in 343, but was murdered in 338 by Bagoas, his vizier and eunuch. His troops defeated by Alexander the Great at Issus, Darius III Codommannus (336-330) fled to Bactria, where he died, the last of the Achaemenid dynasty. Alexander captured Persepolis in February 330 and sent its treasures to Ecbatana.

Post-Achaemenid Persia

Alexander’s death in 323 loosened Persia from Greek domination. The Seleucids retained control of the region but briefly. Parthians from eastern Iran established their capital at Ctesiphon (Casiphia) and under the Arsacid dynasty gradually took over the country. The Parthians revived trade in Iran, and served as intermediaries in commerce between the Mediterranean and Far East which was centered in the mid-Euphrates city of Dura-Europus.

Roman absorption of Syria led to several unsuccessful attempts to extend Roman influence into Persia. In 40 b.c.e. the Parthians, who invaded the Roman province of Syria, were considered liberators by the Jews. They placed Antigonus, son of Aristobulus, on Jerusalem’s throne (40-37) and gave military support to that city during Titus’ siege. Jews and Parthians worked together against Rome during the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian.

The Parthians were succeeded by the Sassanians (223-651 c.e.), who annexed part of northwest India, northern Mesopotamia, and Armenia. In their battles with Rome they once captured the emperor Valerian (260).

Religion

Initially, India and Persia shared a number of deities, as was common throughout the ancient Near East. At some point the god Ahura Mazda was elevated to a supreme position. Other deities included Mithra (Indian Mitra), god of contract and war; Haoma (Soma), personification of an intoxicating drink; Anahita, goddess of rivers and fertility; and Tishtrya, bringer of rain.

In the 6th century b.c.e. the prophet Zarathustra (perhaps “he who drives camels”) appeared on the scene. According to Zoroastrian tradition, he enjoyed the patronage of his convert, the local chief Vishtāspa. Zarathustra’s teachings, preserved in the Gāthās (the earliest portion of the Avesta), admonish persons to side with good against evil by exercising free choice. Other topics, such as the merits of animal husbandry and cattle breeding, are found in Zarathustra’s discourses.

While Zoroastrianism leans toward monotheism in the figure of Ahura Mazda, it contains strong elements of dualism, as aša, “truth,” stands in opposition to druj, “falsehood.” How pervasive Zoroastrianism was in the Achaemenid dynasty is unclear, but Ahura Mazda appears in many reliefs and inscriptions.

Bibliography. G. G. Cameron, History of Early Iran (1936, repr. Chicago, 1976); J. M. Cook, The Persian Empire (New York, 1983); R. N. Frye, The History of Ancient Iran. Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaft 3/7 (Munich, 1984); A. T. Olmstead, History of the Persian Empire (1948, repr. Chicago, 1959).

Robert E. Stone, II

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PERSIA

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)