Chapter 7: The Empires of Persia

Greco-Persian Wars

Were a series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Empire of Persia and Greek city-states that started in 499 BC and lasted until 449 BC.

Magi

Zoroastrian priests

Thrace

Collection of territories north of Thessaly, many different tribes, controlled by the Persian Empire

Achaemenids

First Persian Empire founded by Cyrus II

Persian Gulf

This body of water separates the Arabian peninsula from the more mountainous land of Persia

Mediterranean Sea

This body of Water separates Europe and Africa

Red Sea

This body of water separates the Arabian Peninsula from Africa.

Macedonia

An ancient kingdom north of Greece, whose ruler Philip II conquered Greece in 338 B.C.

Caspian Sea

A large saltwater lake between Iran and Russia fed by the Volga River, world's largest inland body of water located between Europe and Asia

Hindu Kush

A mountain range along the northern border of India

Caucasus Mountains

A mountain system in southeastern Europe between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.

The Hellespont (Dardanelles)

A narrow, natural strait and internationally-significant waterway in northwestern Turkey that forms part of the continental boundary between Europe and Asia, and separates Asian Turkey from European Turkey.

Armenia

An area in Eastern Anatolia (east of Turkey today) and the western Caucasus and occupied by speakers of the Armenian language. The Ottoman Empire is accused of systematic mass killings of Armenians in the early 20th century.

Jerusalem

Capital of Israel and a holy city for Christians, Jews, and Muslims.

Persepolis

Greek name for the ancient city of Parsa, located in present-day Iran. The name Parsa meant 'City of The Persians' and construction began at the site in 518 BCE under the rule of King Darius the Great.

Ahura Mazda

In Zoroastrianism, the good god who rules the world.

Medes

Indo-European branch that settled in northern Persia and eventually fell to another branch, the Persians, in the sixth century.

Parthians

Iranian ruling dynasty between ca. 250 B.C.E. and 226 C.E.

Alexander The Great

King of Macedonia; conquered Persia and Egypt and invaded India

Black Sea

Large body of water separating Ukraine from Turkey

Sasanids

Last powerful Persian dynasty of the classical period that would reach its peak under Shapur I and later fall to Islamic/Arabic expansion.

Iranian Plateau

Middle Eastern region including most of Iran. Large Plateau; ring of mountains; dry and arid; not fertile, no rivers. Few people in this area mainly because of mountain resources and trade via land.

Zagros Mountains

Mountains on the western side of Iran help isolate that country from the rest of Southwest Asia. The birthplace of agriculture located in northeastern Iraq.

Darius

Persian King who defeated the rebels and vowed to defeat Athens A great Persian king who ruled from about 522 to 486 B.C.E.

Seleucids

Persian empire (323-83 B.C.E.) founded by Seleucus after the death of Alexander the Great.

Zoroastrianism

Persian monotheistic religion founded by the prophet Zarathustra.

Zarathustra

Persian prophet who founded Zoroastrianism

Aegean Sea

Sea that separates Greece from western edge of Asia, or Asia Minor.

Satrapies

Province governed by a local ruler

Gathas

Sacred texts for Zoroastrianism

Xerxes

Son of Darius, led the Persian army in the Battles of Thermopylae and Salamis

Indian Ocean

This area possessed the biggest network of sea-based trade in the postclassical period prior to the rise of Atlantic-based trade.

Anatolia

The Southwest Asian peninsula now occupied by the Asian part of Turkey— also called Asia Minor.

Qanat

Underground canal first built by the ancient Persians

Persian Royal Road

Was an ancient highway reorganized and rebuilt by the Persian king Darius the Great of the first Persian Empire in the 5th century BCE

Mithradates I

Was king of the Parthian Empire from 165 BCE to 132 BCE

Cyrus

Was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire