ACHAEMENID EMPIRE (550–330 B.C.)
The Achaemenid Empire, known also as the Persian Empire, became one of the greatest empires that the world had ever seen. It was established by Cyrus the Great, who defeated the powerful Babylonian Empire in 539 B.C. While in Babylon, Cyrus ordered the release of Jewish prisoners who had lived in captivity for many years. For this he became known as the “liberator of Jews,” as is revealed in Jewish history and as is documented in the Book of Isaiah in the Old Testament. The empire that Cyrus created reached its peak during the reign of Darius the Great (541–486 B.C.). Under Darius, the empire stretched from the western borders of modern India to the valley of the Nile River and included numerous satellite kingdoms.

Darius is called “a great statesman” in the Bible. For the first time in history, he ordered the use of coins in trade. The use of gold and silver coinage later revolutionized economic exchange and world trade. Achaemenid rulers constructed substantial highway systems and pioneered advanced irrigation techniques.

Building the necessary infrastructure (physical links such as roads) facilitated trade and communication throughout the satellite territories and paved the way for further expansion of the empire.

With trade came the diffusion of new ideas and culture. Some of the Persian words for typical items of trade became widely used throughout the empire. Later, some of these words entered the English language. Persian was the official language of the empire used for inscriptions and proclamations; however, the more commonly used language throughout the empire was Aramaic.

Art and architecture also flourished during the reign of the Achaemenids. As a result of their extensive contact with the far reaches of the empire, the kings employed skilled artisans and professionals from different religious and cultural groups to work on major projects, such as the Persepolis, the winter capital of the Archaemenid Empire.

The Achaemenid Empire fell to the emerging Greek empire of Alexander the Great. To humiliate his defeated rival, Alexander burned the beautiful city of Persepolis when he defeated the last king of the empire in 330 B.C. However, Alexander was soon taken by the richness of Iranian culture and found the fusion of Greek and Iranian culture a noble idea. He married Roxana (Roshanak), a Persian princess, and encouraged 10,000 of his soldiers to marry Iranian women. A mass wedding in the city of Susa, ordered by Alexander, displayed his desire to complete the union of the Greeks and Iranians.

The term “Iran” is a derivative of the word “Aryan” (the noble). Iranians were a branch of Aryan tribes who entered Iran from central Asia sometime during the second millennium B.C. and settled in the western and south-central parts of what is now modern Iran.

While Aryans are believed to be the ancestors of modern Iranians, there were many other groups who lived in Iran before their arrival in the region. As a matter of fact, the history of the earliest sedentary cultures, based on existing archaeological sites, can be traced back some 18,000 years. And evidence suggests that humans occupied the region as long ago as 100,000 years.

Today confusion exists among many Westerners on the proper use of the terms Iran, Iranian, Persia, and Persian. What are the differences in meaning? The terms Iran and Persia are used interchangeably, because both refer to the same land. Persia was what the Greeks referred to when they spoke of Iran. The origin of the term comes from the term “pars” or “parsa,” the heart of the great Persian Empire where today’s Iranian province of Pars or Fars is located. So, Persian simply means Parsi, or people of Persia.

Iranians, however, have always referred to their land as Iran and considered themselves to be Iranians. In 1935 the government officially registered the name of the country as Iran and demanded that international community call it as such. This way Iran can be remembered as the continuation of the Iran Zamin (the land of Iran) founded and expanded by the Iranian ancestors, the Aryans.

Traditional cities adopted a compact urban form that included narrow winding streets, buildings set close together, houses with courtyard ponds, covered bazaars, and wind capturing towers. The compact city form minimizes the empty space that can become a source of heat during the day and cold at night. The narrow winding streets provide shade for the passersby and protect them from sand and dust-laden storms. The courtyard ponds provide the surrounding rooms with cool air through evaporation. Wind towers harness cool air to cool off the rooms below. The covered bazaar protects shoppers from rain and cold and allows cool air to circulate.

Built in 512 B.C., Persepolis was the center for ceremonies and worship during the ancient Achaemenid Empire, which lasted from 550–330 B.C. This great empire was established by Cyrus the Great. Later, under Darius the Great, the Empire stretched from India to the Nile River. Darius ordered the construction of a magnificent palace at Persepolis, which can still be seen in these ruins today.

This configuration provides Iran with an overall bowl-shaped topography that characterizes the country’s general physical appearance. The interior basin is known as the Iranian Plateau. According to geologists, the plateau is an ancient former seabed that took its present shape during the Quaternary period about 200,000 years ago. It was formed and shaped by the uplifting and folding effects of three giant plates pressing against each other.

The interacting plates are the Arabian Plate, the Eurasian Plate, and the Indian Plate. The continuous process of squeezing and pressing resulted in a considerable folding at the edges, and some folding in the interior, which eventually formed Iran’s present mountain ranges.

The continuing geologic process of uplifting and folding is also responsible for earthquakes—subterranean shifts in the earth that take place near the numerous fault zones formed by the movement of the plates. About 90 percent of Iran falls within an active seismic (earthquake-prone) zone. Most of the country is subject to the tremors and the devastation that they can cause. On June 22, 2002, a major earthquake hit the northwestern region of Iran, causing significant damage and casualties to small mountain towns and villages in the area.

Other major earthquakes during recent decades have claimed the lives of many Iranian people. For example, a 1997 earthquake in eastern Iran with a magnitude of 7.1 on the Richter Scale killed 2,000 and destroyed 200 villages. Another quake, measuring 7.7, occurred in 1978 in the eastern province of Khorasan. It killed 25,000 people and completely destroyed the ancient city of Tabas along with a large number of villages. The cheaply built adobe (mud-brick) buildings are the main reason for the vast destruction and high death tolls.

Situated in the heart of the Middle East in southwest Asia, Iran is a bridge linking Asia and Europe. To the north, Iran shares borders with three newly independent republics: Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan. Prior to their independence the former Soviet Union controlled all three.

To the north, Iran also borders the Caspian Sea, the world’s largest landlocked body of water. Due to its being landlocked, the Caspian Sea is officially considered a lake rather than a sea; however, due to its substantially large size, historically
it has been referred to as a sea. To the south, Iran borders the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It shares its eastern border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, its western border with Turkey and Iraq.

At their border, Iran and Iraq share a major body of water formed by the joining of major rivers that pour into the Persian Gulf. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers flowing in Iraq join the Karun River flowing in Iran to form the strategically significant body of water called Shatt-al Arab (Arabian River) by Iraqis and Arvand Rud (River Arvand) by Iranians.

Due to its periodic meandering, the stream has been a source of boundary disputes between the two countries. One of the major objectives of the Iraqi government’s invasion of Iran in September 1980 was the annexation of this strategic and economically important body of water.