Persian Empire under Darius. Persia ancient

The Persian Empire, or Achaemenid Empire, existed approximately 550-330 BC. The basis was the Persians. The Persians are one of the Iranian-speaking (Aryan) tribes that came to Iran through the Caucasus or Central Asia around the 15th century BC. e. The main religion of the Persians at that time was Zoroastrianism. Founder Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) It is based on the idea of ​​a struggle between the light god (Ahura Mazda) and the dark god (Ankra-manyu), in the end the light one wins, and man must take his side. main book- Avesta.

The Achaemenid power, which arose in the 6th century. BC e., included a huge territory - a significant part of Central Asia, the highlands of Iran, part of India, all of Asia Minor and Asia Minor, as well as Egypt. The Persian Empire became involved in complex relationships with the city-states of the Mediterranean, most notably Greece. At times, the Persian state even included highly developed greek city policies Asia Minor - Miletus, Samos, Ephesus and others.

In less than twenty years, Cyrus II created a huge power that included Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, the Iranian Plateau, and Central Asia. Under Cyrus II's son Cambyses, Egypt was annexed to the state, and under his successor Darius - northwestern regions India. It must be said that Cyrus enjoyed the respect of his multilingual subjects: the Iranians called him “father,” and other peoples of the empire revered him as a just and merciful king.

The backbone of the Persian army was infantry. Its elite unit, guarding the king, was called “Immortals”. They were heavily armed, had excellent armor, spears and bows. They were recruited from the Medes, Elamites and Persians. It is believed that their number was 10,000 soldiers. However, they were ineffective against Greek hoplites. Cavalry was also actively used. In the event of a major war, the king convened a huge militia from all the peoples of the empire.

The level of development of individual regions of the Persian state varied greatly. The unification of various countries conquered by the Achaemenids under one power for two centuries could not smooth out these differences either in the economy or in social relations.

However, there were also features common to many areas. One of these features was the spread of iron, which firmly came into use everywhere, even among the peripheral tribes of the Persian Empire, as well as in Egypt, where the Iron Age began only in the 7th - 6th centuries. BC e. Traveled around Egypt in the 5th century. BC e.

In business papyri of the 5th century. BC. iron things are repeatedly mentioned when listing household items. Iron is named after copper as it is cheaper. However, stone tools and at this time they did not completely disappear, and not only from ritual use, but also from agriculture. Sickles with flint blades were used in Egypt until the 4th - 3rd centuries. BC.

Agriculture, which was the basis of the existence of society at that time, played a paramount role in the Achaemenid power. The very organization and technology of agriculture was practically no different from previous periods. Almost everywhere the basis of agriculture was artificial irrigation. Therefore, the ruling elite sought to keep the irrigation system in their hands.

In the old cultural regions of Western Asia, along with the labor of community members, the labor of slaves was also widely used in agriculture. In the regions of Iran proper, mainly free community members were engaged in agricultural work. In the steppe regions of Central and Eastern Iran and Central Asia, the main occupation of the nomadic and semi-nomadic population was cattle breeding. Here slavery was poorly developed.

In the Persian monarchy, handicraft production was widespread, and certain areas were famous for one or another type of craft. Cities and temple-urban communities with crafts concentrated in them existed mainly in Babylonia - primarily the city of Babylon itself - as well as in Syria and Palestine, Phenicia and Asia Minor (Greek city-states).

All these cities were simultaneously centers of trade and, to a large extent, political centers. In Iran there were only residential cities and fortified rural settlements. Crafts here were just beginning to separate from agriculture. The famous palaces of the Persian kings were created by the labor of artisans from various countries. Construction materials and finished parts of the building, even such as columns, were brought from afar.

Trade in the Persian state received significant development. It was partly of a local nature, for example, in the form of exchange between settled and nomadic peoples, but there was also trade between different regions of the state. Trade with neighboring countries was mainly carried out in luxury goods, but also in textiles and some agricultural products, in particular grain and dates.

Trade was carried out along large highways that crossed the country in different directions. Main trade route began in Lydia in Sardis, crossed Asia Minor, reached the crossings on the Euphrates and then went to Babylon. From there several paths led into the interior of the country. One - to Susa and further to the Persian residences of the king, Pasargadae and Persepolis. Another route led from Mesopotamia to Ecbatana, the capital of Media, and further to the eastern satrapies of the state. In the direction from south to north, Western Asia was crossed by a route that went from the trading cities of Syria and Phenicia to the Black Sea and the countries of Transcaucasia. The canal dug under Darius I from the Nile to the Red Sea also played a significant role in trade.

However, commodity relations did not penetrate deeply into the economy of the Achaemenid state. Basically, the state's economy remained subsistence. Each of the regions of the Persian monarchy constituted a closed economic whole. The circulation of money only led to the accumulation of wealth in the hands of a few traders, moneylenders and senior representatives of the administration. The unified monetary system introduced by Darius in a number of areas, for example, in Egypt and, especially in the eastern part of the state, took root relatively slowly.

The Persian king, members of the royal family and the largest representatives of the Achaemenid administration owned extensive farms that were located in different regions of the state. These farms included both land holdings and craft workshops. They employed people who were designated by the Iranian terms “mania” or in Elamite, “kurtash”.

They consisted mainly of prisoners of war and were branded. In royal households, slaves, in addition to performing agricultural and handicraft work, were used in the construction of palaces. Already from the 5th century. BC. Among the slaves are the poorest strata of the Persian community members, who performed duties for the king and were gradually reduced to the status of slaves.

Those employed in agriculture were settled in villages. For example, in Iran there were entire villages of Greek prisoners of war from one or another city. On royal farms, slaves received subsistence support in the form of sheep and wine, which they partly consumed themselves and partly exchanged for food, clothing and utensils. Part of the Iranian nobility, especially in the eastern regions, led a patriarchal economy. The mass of the Iranian population still consisted of free communal warriors.

The regions subject to the Achaemenid monarchy were actually divided into two groups. One belonged to the vast expanses of Eastern Iran, as well as Central Asia and other peripheral regions, where slavery was still poorly developed and dominated natural economy and many remnants of the primitive communal system continued to exist.

Next to and interspersed with more developed agricultural areas, the territories of tribes, both sedentary and nomadic, were located here. The most important of the agricultural regions were located in the south of Central Asia and in adjacent parts of Eastern Iran - Hyrcania southeast of the Caspian Sea, Parthia (the central part of Southern Turkmenistan and adjacent parts of Iran, partly inhabited by nomads), Margiana (the valley of the Murghab River ), Areya (Northwestern Afghanistan, Bactria) northern Afghanistan and southern Tajikistan, Sogdiana, which was located north of Bactria, between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, the ancient Oxus and Yaxartes, as well as extending far to the north along the lower reaches of the Oxus Khorezm. From the north, these areas were surrounded by steppes inhabited by tribes of nomads - Dakhs, Massagets, Saks.

The other group consisted of the most economically developed Central Asian satrapies of the Achaemenid power. They provided the bulk of income to the Persian kings and were the economic center of the state. From these regions - Asia Minor, Zarechye (regions west of the Tigris River - Syria, Phenicia, Palestine and Northern Mesopotamia), Armenia, Babylonia, Elam, Lydia - the Persian kings received twice as much in taxes as from the rest of the empire.

In the regions of Western Asia, the social relations that had developed during the period of domination of the Assyrians, in the 8th - 7th centuries, were essentially preserved. BC. The main territory, which was the property of the king, was inhabited by community members who did not have the right to leave their community. They were subject to various heavy taxes, duties and duties in favor of the royal treasury. On the same territory were the estates of the king himself and the large Persian nobility. The other part of the land belonged to temples and cities.

In terms of its socio-economic system, Egypt also belonged to this group of regions. But unlike other satrapies, Egypt was least associated with the Persian monarchy. During the VI - IV centuries. For a significant part of the time, Egypt was not under Persian rule at all.

Darius spent good roads, guarded them, established postal communications, and began minting a gold coin, the darik, that circulated throughout the empire. Darius became not only the king of the Iranians, but also of other peoples of the empire. Syrian, Phoenician, Babylonian, Indian, Greek - they all now felt themselves not so much as slaves of the king, but as his subjects. Each of them could appeal to the king with a complaint about the improper actions of officials; knew how much taxes he had to pay to the king without being ruined. The supreme power of the Iranian king was recognized even by the proud Greeks who lived in the rich trading cities of Asia Minor, on the coast of the Aegean Sea. Darius was the first of the eastern kings to put his relations with his subjects on a business basis: he gave people peace and prosperity, but took a lot of money for it. He viewed the state he created as a large, complex machine needed by everyone.

For Ancient East This way of looking at things was completely unusual. Unfortunately, Darius's successors on the Iranian throne did not understand how fragile the balance Darius created was. They began to allow the consolidation of official and military positions in one hand, to farm out the collection of taxes to the trading houses of Babylon, and to pointlessly accumulate treasures in their storerooms, depriving the markets of hard cash. Their main mistake was the sesquicentennial conflict with the Greek city-states. Clashes with the Greeks, in fact, began under Darius, but they became more frequent under his son Xerxes. The political system created by Darius was not designed for waging burdensome long-term wars. Her death was a foregone conclusion long before, in 334 BC. Alexander the Great launched a campaign against Iran.

DATES

Around 549 BC e. - The Persians conquered the entire territory of Elam

In 549 - 548 BC. e. - Parthia, Hyrcania and, probably, Armenia, which were previously part of Media, submitted to the Persians

547 BC e. - Lydian troops, led by Croesus, were defeated by Cyrus. The capital of Lydia, Sardis, located in inaccessible territory, fell. Lydia, Lycia and Ionia become separate provinces

539 BC e. - near the city of Opis, on the Tigris River, the Babylonian troops were defeated by the Persians. The Babylonian kingdom was formally preserved, and Babylon became one of the residences of the Persian king. Cyrus II takes the title "King of Babylon, King of Countries." His son Cambyses II becomes the first Persian governor of Babylon

525 BC e. - occurred near the Egyptian city of Pelusium major battle between Persian and Egyptian troops. As a result of this battle, the Egyptians were defeated. Cambyses II was officially recognized as the king of Egypt and took the title "king of Egypt, king of countries"

484 and 482 BC e. - rebellion against Persian rule in Babylon. The autonomy of Babylonia and Babylonian citizenship are eliminated. Babylon becomes part of the Assyrian satrapy, and Palestine and Syria, which were dependent territories, form another satrapy

480 BC e. - the invasion of Greece by the armies of Xerxes. This campaign is known primarily for the battles of Thermopylae, Salamis and Plataea, which showed the superiority of Greek military art and the heroism of the warriors of Hellas.

404 BC e. - separation of Egypt from the Persian Empire and restoration of independence with the indigenous pharaohs of the XXIX dynasty (404-343 BC).

401-400 BC e. - dynastic struggle in the Persian Empire between King Artaxerxes II Mnemon and the contender for the Persian throne - Artaxerxes' brother, Cyrus the Younger, brought up in Greek traditions, who had Greek mercenaries led by Clearchus. The defeat of Cyrus the Younger at the Battle of Cunax further deepened the crisis.

In 334 BC e. Macedonian king Alexander the Great invaded the Achaemenid state. King Darius III began to suffer defeats.

In 331 BC e. The decisive battle of Gaugamela took place, after which the Persian state ceased to exist. The countries and peoples of the former empire submitted to Alexander the Great.

History of Ancient Persia

From approximately 600 to 559, Cambyses I ruled in Persia, who was a vassal of the Median kings.

In 558 BC. e. Cyrus II, the son of Cambyses I, became king of the settled Persian tribes, among which the Pasargadae played a leading role. The center of the Persian state was located around the city of Pasargadae, the intensive construction of which dates back to the initial period of the reign of Cyrus. The social organization of Persia at that time can be judged only in the most general terms. The main social unit was a large patriarchal family, the head of which had unlimited power over all his relatives. The clan (and later rural) community, uniting a number of families, remained a powerful force for many centuries. The clans were united into tribes.

When Cyrus II became king of Persia, there remained four major powers in the entire Middle East, namely Egypt, Babylonia, Media and Lydia.

In 553, Cyrus rebelled against the Median king Astyages, from whom the Persians had been a vassal until that time. The war lasted three years and ended in 550 with the complete victory of the Persians. Ecbatana, the capital of the former Median power, now became one of the royal residences of Cyrus. Having conquered Media, Cyrus formally preserved the Median kingdom and adopted the official titles of the Median kings: “great king, king of kings, king of countries.”

From the time of the capture of Media, Persia entered the broad arena of world history to play a leading political role in it over the next two centuries.

Around 549, the entire territory of Elam was captured by the Persians. In 549 - 548 the Persians subjugated the countries that were part of the former Median state, namely Parthia, Hyrcania and, probably, Armenia.

Meanwhile, Croesus, the ruler of the powerful Lydian kingdom in Asia Minor, watched with concern the rapid successes of Cyrus and began to prepare for the upcoming war. On the initiative of the Egyptian pharaoh Amasis, around 549, an alliance was concluded between Egypt and Lydia. Soon Croesus concluded an agreement for assistance with Sparta, the most powerful state in Greece. However, the allies did not realize that it was necessary to act immediately and decisively, and meanwhile Persia was becoming more powerful every day.

At the end of October 547, near the river. Halys, in Asia Minor, a bloody battle took place between the Persians and Lydians, but it ended in vain, and neither side risked immediately entering into a new battle.

Croesus retreated to his capital Sardis and, deciding to more thoroughly prepare for war, approached the king of Babylonia, Nabonidus, with a proposal to conclude a military alliance. At the same time, Croesus sent messengers to Sparta with a request to send an army by spring (i.e., in about five months) to give the Persians a decisive battle. Croesus made the same request to other allies and, until the spring, disbanded the mercenaries who served in his army.

However, Cyrus, who was aware of the actions and intentions of Croesus, decided to take the enemy by surprise and, having quickly traveled several hundred kilometers, found himself at the gates of Sardis, the inhabitants of which did not at all expect such an attack.

Croesus led his supposedly invincible cavalry onto the plain in front of Sardis. On the advice of one of his generals, Cyrus placed all the camels traveling in the convoy ahead of his army, having previously placed the soldiers on them. The Lydian horses, seeing animals unfamiliar to them and smelling their scent, fled. However, the Lydian horsemen were not at a loss, jumped off their horses and began to fight on foot. A fierce battle took place, in which, however, the forces were unequal. Under pressure superior forces enemy, the Lydians had to retreat and flee to Sardis, where they were besieged in an impregnable fortress.

Believing that the siege would be long, Croesus sent messengers to Sparta, Babylon and Egypt asking for immediate help. Of the allies, only the Spartans more or less willingly responded to the plea of ​​the Lydian king and prepared an army to be sent on ships, but soon received news that Sardis had already fallen.

The siege of Sardis lasted only 14 days. The attempt to take the city by storm ended in failure. But one observant warrior from the army of Cyrus, who belonged to the mountain tribe of the Mards, noticed how a warrior descended from the fortress along a steep and inaccessible rock to pick up a fallen helmet, and then climbed back up. This part of the fortress was considered completely impregnable and therefore was not guarded by the Lydians. Mard climbed up the rock and was followed by other warriors. The city was taken and Croesus was captured (546).

Conquests

Cambyses II

If you believe the Behistun inscription of Darius I, in fact Bardia was killed by order of Cambyses even before the conquest of Egypt and a certain magician Gaumata seized the throne in Persia, posing as the youngest son of Cyrus. It is unlikely that we will ever know for sure whether this king was Bardiya or a usurper who took someone else’s name.

On September 29, 522, after seven months of reign, Gaumata was killed by conspirators as a result of a surprise attack by representatives of the seven most noble families Persians Darius, one of these conspirators, became king of the Achaemenid state.

Immediately after the seizure of the throne by Darius I, Babylonia rebelled against him, where, according to the Behistun inscription, a certain Nidintu-Bel declared himself the son of the last Babylonian king Nabonidus and began to reign under the name Nebuchadnezzar III. Darius personally led the campaign against the rebels. December 13, 522 at the river. The Tigris Babylonians were defeated, and five days later Darius won a new victory in the area of ​​Zazana near the Euphrates. After this, the Persians entered Babylon, and the leaders of the rebels were executed.

While Darius was busy with punitive actions in Babylonia, Persia, Media, Elam, Margiana, Parthia, Sattagidia, the Saka tribes of Central Asia and Egypt rebelled against him. A long, cruel and bloody struggle began to restore the state.

The satrap of Bactria Dadarshish moved against the rebels in Margiana, and on December 10, 522 the Margianas were defeated. This was followed by a massacre, during which the punitive forces killed more than 55 thousand people.

In Persia itself, a certain Vahyazdata acted as a rival to Darius under the name of the son of Cyrus, Bardin, and found great support among the people. He also managed to capture the eastern Iranian regions up to Arachosia. On December 29, 522, at the Kapishakanish fortress and on February 21, 521, in the Gandutava region in Arachosia, the troops of Vahyazdat entered into battle with the army of Darius. Apparently, these battles did not bring a decisive victory to either side, and Darius' army defeated the enemy only in March of that year. But in Persia itself, Vahyazdata still remained the master of the situation, and Darius’s supporters defeated him decisive victory near Mount Parga in Persia only on July 16, 521, Vahyazdata was captured and, together with his closest supporters, impaled.

But in other countries, uprisings continued. The first uprising in Elam was suppressed quite easily, and the leader of the rebels, Assina, was captured and executed. However, soon a certain Martya raised a new uprising in Elam. When Darius managed to restore his power in this country, almost all of Media ended up in the hands of Fravartis, who claimed that he was Khshatrita from the family of the ancient Median king Cyaxares. This uprising was one of the most dangerous for Darius, and he himself opposed the rebels. On May 7, 521, a major battle took place near the city of Kundurush in Media. The Medes were defeated, and Fravartish with part of his followers fled to the region of Raga in Media. But he was soon captured and brought to Darius, who brutally dealt with him. He cut off Fravartish's nose, ears and tongue and gouged out his eyes. After this, he was taken to Ecbatana and impaled there. Fravartish's closest assistants were also brought to Ecbatana and imprisoned in a fortress, and then flayed from them.

In other countries, the fight against the rebels was still ongoing. In various regions of Armenia, Darius’s commanders tried for a long time, but unsuccessfully, to pacify the rebels. The first major battle took place on December 31, 522 in the area of ​​Izala. Then Darius's troops avoided active action until May 21, 521, when they took battle in the area of ​​​​Zuzakhia. Six days later it happened near the river. Tiger new battle. But it was still not possible to break the tenacity of the rebel Armenians, and in addition to the troops of Darius, who was operating in Armenia, a new army was sent. After this, they managed to defeat the rebels in battle in the area of ​​Autiara, and on June 21, 521, the Armenians near Mount Uyama suffered a new defeat.

Meanwhile, Vishtaspa, the father of Darius, who was the satrap of Parthia and Hyrcania, avoided battle with the rebels for many months. In March 521, the battle near the city of Vishpauzatish in Parthia did not bring him victory. Only in the summer was Darius able to send a sufficiently large army to help Vishtaspa, and after this, on July 12, 521, near the city of Patigraban in Parthia, the rebels were defeated.

But a month later the Babylonians made a new attempt to achieve independence. Now the head of the uprising was Urart Arakha, who pretended to be Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabonidus (Nebuchadnezzar IV). Darius sent an army led by one of his closest associates against the Babylonians, and on November 27, 521, Arahi’s army was defeated, and he and his comrades were executed.

This was the last major uprising, although there was still unrest in the state. Now, a little over a year after seizing power, Darius was able to strengthen his position and soon after restored the power of Cyrus and Cambyses to its old borders.

Between 519 - 512 the Persians conquered Thrace, Macedonia and the northwestern part of India. This was the time of the highest power of the Persian state, the borders of which began to extend from the river. Indus in the east to the Aegean Sea in the west, from Armenia in the north to Ethiopia in the south. Thus, a world power arose that united dozens of countries and peoples under the rule of the Persian kings.

Iran in the 5th century BC e.

In the VI century. BC e. Economically and culturally, among the Greek regions, the leading role belonged not to the Balkan Peninsula, but to the Greek colonies that were part of the Persian Empire on the coast of Asia Minor: Miletus, Ephesus, etc. These colonies had fertile lands, handicraft production flourished in them, the markets of the vast Persian state are accessible.

In 500 there was an uprising against Persian rule in Miletus. Greek cities in the south and north of Asia Minor joined the rebels. The leader of the uprising, Aristagoras, in 499 turned to the mainland Greeks for help. The Spartans refused any help, citing the distance. Aristagoras's mission failed, since only the Athenians and Eretrians on the island of Euboea responded to the call of the rebels, but they also sent only a small number of ships. The rebels organized a campaign against the capital of the Lydian satrapy of Sardis, captured and burned the city. The Persian satrap Artaphenes and his garrison took refuge in the acropolis, which the Greeks failed to capture. The Persians began to gather their troops and in the summer of 498 they defeated the Greeks near the city of Ephesus. After this, the Athenians and Eretrians fled, leaving the Asia Minor Greeks to their fate. In the spring of 494, the Persians besieged Miletus, which was the main stronghold of the uprising, from sea and land. The city was captured and completely destroyed, and the population was taken into slavery. In 493, the uprising was suppressed everywhere.

After the suppression of the uprising, Darius began preparations for a campaign against mainland Greece. He understood that Persian dominance in Asia Minor would be fragile as long as the Greeks of the Balkan Peninsula maintained their independence. At this time, Greece consisted of many autonomous city-states with different political systems, which were in constant hostility and wars with each other.

In 492, the Persian army set out on a campaign and passed through Macedonia and Thrace, which had been conquered two decades earlier. But near Cape Athos on the Chalkis Peninsula, the Persian fleet was defeated by a strong storm, and about 20 thousand people died and 300 ships were destroyed. After this, it was necessary to withdraw the ground army back to Asia Minor and prepare for the campaign again.

In 491, Persian envoys were sent to the cities of mainland Greece demanding “land and water,” i.e. submission to the authority of Darius. Most Greek cities agreed to the ambassadors' demands, and only Sparta and Athens refused to submit and even killed the ambassadors themselves. The Persians began to prepare for a new campaign against Greece.

In early August, the Persian army, with the help of experienced Greek guides, set sail for Attica and landed on the Marathon plain, 40 km from Athens. This plain stretches 9 km in length and its width is 3 km. The Persian army hardly numbered more than 15 thousand people.

At this time, heated debates took place in the Athenian people's assembly regarding the upcoming tactics of the war with the Persians. After a long discussion, it was decided to send the Athenian army, which consisted of 10 thousand people, to the Marathon plain. The Spartans promised to help, but were in no hurry to send an army, citing an ancient custom, according to which it was impossible to go on a campaign before the full moon.

At Marathon, both sides waited for several days, not daring to engage in battle. The Persian army was located on an open plain where cavalry could be used. The Athenians, who had no cavalry at all, gathered in a narrow part of the plain where the Persian horsemen could not operate. Meanwhile, the position of the Persian army became difficult, because the outcome of the war had to be decided before the arrival of the Spartan army. At the same time, the Persian cavalry could not move into the gorges where the Athenian warriors were located. Therefore, the Persian command decided to transfer part of the army to capture Athens. After this, on August 12, 590, the Athenian army quickly marched towards the enemy to give a general battle.

The Persian warriors fought courageously, crushed the Athenian ranks in the center and began to pursue them. But the Persians had fewer forces on the flanks, and there they were defeated. Then the Athenians began to fight the Persians, who had broken through in the center. After this, the Persians began to retreat, suffering heavy losses. 6,400 Persians and their allies and only 192 Athenians remained on the battlefield.

Despite the defeat, Darius did not abandon the thought of a new campaign against Greece. But preparing such a campaign required a lot of time, and meanwhile, in October 486, an uprising against Persian rule broke out in Egypt.

The reasons for the uprising were heavy tax oppression and the hijacking of many thousands of artisans for the construction of palaces in Susa and Persepolis. A month later, Darius I, who was 64 years old, died before he could restore his power in Egypt.

Darius I was succeeded on the Persian throne by his son Xerxes. In January 484, he managed to suppress the uprising in Egypt. The Egyptians were subjected to merciless reprisals, the property of many temples was confiscated.

But in the summer of 484 a new uprising broke out, this time in Babylonia. This uprising was soon suppressed, and its instigators were severely punished. However, in the summer of 482, the Babylonians rebelled again. This rebellion, which engulfed most of the country, was especially dangerous, since Xerxes at that time was already in Asia Minor, preparing for a campaign against the Greeks. The siege of Babylon lasted a long time and ended in March 481 with a brutal massacre. City walls and other fortifications were torn down, and many residential buildings were destroyed.

In the spring of 480, Xerxes set out on a campaign against Greece at the head of a huge army. All the satrapies from India to Egypt sent their contingents.

The Greeks decided to resist in a narrow mountain pass called Thermopylae, which was easy to defend, since the Persians could not deploy their army there. However, Sparta sent there only a small detachment of 300 soldiers led by King Leonidas. The total number of Greeks guarding Thermopylae was 6,500 people. They resisted steadfastly and for three days successfully repelled the enemy's frontal attacks. But then Leonidas, who commanded the Greek army, ordered the main forces to retreat, and he himself remained with 300 Spartans to cover the retreat. They fought bravely to the end until everyone died.

The Greeks adhered to such tactics that they had to attack at sea and defend on land. The combined Greek fleet stood in the bay between the island of Salamis and the coast of Attica, where the large Persian fleet was unable to maneuver. The Greek fleet consisted of 380 ships, of which 147 belonged to the Athenians and were recently built, taking into account all the requirements of military technology. The talented and decisive commander Themistocles played a major role in leading the fleet. The Persians had 650 ships; Xerxes hoped to destroy the entire enemy fleet with one blow and thereby end the war victoriously. However, shortly before the battle, a storm raged for three days, many Persian ships were thrown onto the rocky shore, and the fleet suffered heavy losses. After this, on September 28, 480, the Battle of Salamis took place, which lasted for twelve hours. The Persian fleet found itself pinned down in a narrow bay, and its ships interfered with each other. The Greeks won a complete victory in this battle, and most of the Persian fleet was destroyed. Xerxes with part of the army decided to return to Asia Minor, leaving his commander Mardonius with the army in Greece.

Decisive Battle occurred on September 26, 479 near the city of Plataea. Persian horse archers began shelling the Greek ranks, and the enemy began to retreat. Mardonius, at the head of a thousand selected warriors, burst into the center of the Spartan army and inflicted great damage on it. But the Persians, unlike the Greeks, did not have heavy weapons, and in the art of war they were inferior to the enemy. The Persians had first-class cavalry, but due to the terrain conditions, they could not take part in the battle. Soon Mardonius and his bodyguards died. The Persian army was split into separate units who acted inconsistently.

The Persian army was defeated, and its remnants were transported by ship to Asia Minor.

At the end of autumn of the same year, 479, a major naval battle took place at Cape Mycale off the coast of Asia Minor. During the battle, the Asia Minor Greeks betrayed the Persians and went over to the side of the mainland Greeks; the Persians were completely defeated. This defeat served as a signal for widespread uprisings of the Greek states in Asia Minor against Persian rule.

The victories of the Greeks at Salamis, Plataea and Mycale forced the Persians to abandon the idea of ​​​​capturing Greece. Now, on the contrary, Sparta and Athens transferred military operations to enemy territory, to Asia Minor. Gradually, the Greeks managed to expel the Persian garrisons from Thrace and Macedonia. The war between the Greeks and Persians continued until 449.

In the summer of 465, Xerxes was killed as a result of a conspiracy, and his son Artaxerxes I became king.

In 460, a rebellion broke out in Egypt led by Inar. The Athenians sent their fleet to help the rebels. The Persians suffered several defeats and had to leave Memphis.

In 455, Artaxerxes I sent the satrap of Syria Megabyzus with a strong ground army and a Phoenician fleet against the rebels in Egypt and their allies. The rebels, along with the Athenians, were defeated. The following year the revolt was completely crushed and Egypt again became a Persian satrapy.

Meanwhile, Persia's war with the Greek states continued. However, soon, in 449, a peace treaty was concluded in Susa, under the terms of which the Greek cities of Asia Minor formally remained under supreme power the Persian king, but the Athenians received the actual right to rule them. In addition, Persia pledged not to send its troops west of the river. Galis, along which the border line was supposed to run according to this agreement. For its part, Athens left Cyprus and pledged not to provide future assistance to the Egyptians in their fight against the Persians.

Constant uprisings of conquered peoples and military defeats forced Artaxerxes I and his successors to radically change their diplomacy, namely, to set one state against another, while resorting to bribery. When the Peloponnesian War broke out in Greece in 431 between Sparta and Athens, which lasted until 404, Persia helped one or the other of these states, being interested in their complete exhaustion.

In 424 Artaxerxes I died. After palace unrest in February 423, the son of Artaxerxes Ochus became king, who took the throne name of Darius II. His reign was characterized by further weakening of the state, increasing influence of the court nobility, palace intrigues and conspiracies, as well as uprisings of conquered peoples.

In 408, two energetic military leaders arrived in Asia Minor, determined to quickly and victoriously end the war. One of them was Cyrus the Younger, son of Darius II, who was the governor of several Asia Minor satrapies. In addition, he became the commander of all Persian troops in Asia Minor. Cyrus the Younger was a capable commander and statesman and sought to restore the former greatness of the Persian state. At the same time, the leadership of the Lacedaemonian army in Asia Minor passed into the hands of the experienced Spartan commander Lysander. Cyrus pursued a policy friendly to Sparta and began to help its army in every possible way. He, together with Lysander, cleared the Asia Minor coast and many islands of the Aegean Sea from the Athenian fleet.

In March 404, Darius II died and his eldest son, Arsaces, became king, taking the throne name Artaxerxes II.

In 405, a rebellion broke out in Egypt under the leadership of Amyrtaeus. The rebels won one victory after another, and soon the entire Delta was in their hands. The satrap of Syria, Abrokomus, gathered a large army to throw it against the Egyptians, but at this time, in the very center of the Persian power, Cyrus the Younger, satrap of Asia Minor, rebelled against his brother Artaxerxes II. Abrocom's army was sent against Cyrus, and the Egyptians received a respite. Amirteus by the beginning of the 4th century. established his control over all of Egypt. The rebels carried hostilities even into Syria.

Cyrus gathered a large army to try to seize the throne. The Spartans decided to support Cyrus and assisted him in recruiting Greek mercenaries. In 401, Cyrus and his army moved from Sardis in Asia Minor to Babylonia and, without encountering any resistance, reached the area of ​​Kunaxa on the Euphrates, 90 km from Babylon. The army of the Persian king was also there. The decisive battle took place on September 3, 401. Cyrus's Greek mercenaries were positioned on both flanks, and the rest of the army occupied the center.

In front of the king's army were sickle chariots, which with their sickles cut everything that came in their way. But the right flank of Artaxerxes’ army was crushed by Greek mercenaries. Cyrus, seeing Artaxerxes, rushed at him, leaving his soldiers far behind. Cyrus managed to wound Artaxerxes, but he himself was immediately killed. After this, the rebel army, having lost its leader, was defeated. 13 thousand Greek mercenaries who served Cyrus the Younger, at the cost of great effort and losses, managed to reach the Black Sea in the spring of 400, passing through Babylonia and Armenia (the famous “March of the Ten Thousand” described by Xenophon).

Fall of the Persian Empire

In the middle of the 6th century. BC e. The Persians entered the arena of world history - a mysterious tribe that the previously civilized peoples of the Middle East knew only from hearsay.

About morals and customs ancient Persians known from the writings of the peoples who lived next to them. In addition to their powerful growth and physical development, the Persians had a will, hardened in the fight against the harsh climate and the dangers of nomadic life in the mountains and steppes. At that time they were famous for their moderate lifestyle, temperance, strength, courage and unity.

According to Herodotus, the Persians wore clothes made from animal skins and felt tiaras (caps), did not drink wine, ate not as much as they wanted, but as much as they had. They were indifferent to silver and gold.

Simplicity and modesty in food and clothing remained one of the main virtues even during the period of Persian rule over, when they began to dress in luxurious Median outfits, wear gold necklaces and bracelets, when fresh fish from distant seas was brought to the table of the Persian kings and nobility, fruits from Babylonia and Syria. Even then, during the coronation rites of the Persian kings, the Achaemenid who ascended the throne had to put on the clothes that he had not worn as king, eat some dried figs and drink a cup of sour milk.

The ancient Persians were allowed to have many wives, as well as concubines, and to marry close relatives, such as nieces and half-sisters. Ancient Persian customs forbade women to show themselves to strangers (among the numerous reliefs in Persepolis there is not a single image of a woman). The ancient historian Plutarch wrote that the Persians are characterized by wild jealousy not only towards their wives. They even kept slaves and concubines locked up so that outsiders could not see them, and they transported them in closed carts.

History of ancient Persia

The Persian king Cyrus II from the Achaemenid clan conquered Media and many other countries in a short time and had a huge and well-armed army, which began to prepare for a campaign against Babylonia. A new force appeared in Western Asia, which in a short time managed to - in just a few decades- completely change the political map of the Middle East.

Babylonia and Egypt abandoned many years of hostile policies towards each other, for the rulers of both countries were well aware of the need to prepare for war with the Persian Empire. The outbreak of war was only a matter of time.

The campaign against the Persians began in 539 BC. e. Decisive battle between the Persians and Babylonians occurred near the city of Opis on the Tigris River. Cyrus won a complete victory here, soon his troops took the well-fortified city of Sippar, and the Persians captured Babylon without a fight.

After this, the Persian ruler's gaze turned to the East, where for several years he waged a grueling war with nomadic tribes and where he eventually died in 530 BC. e.

Cyrus's successors, Cambyses and Darius, completed the work he had begun. in 524-523 BC e. Cambyses' campaign against Egypt took place, as a result of which Achaemenid power was established on the banks of the Nile. turned into one of the satrapies of the new empire. Darius continued to strengthen the eastern and western borders of the empire. Towards the end of the reign of Darius, who died in 485 BC. e., the Persian power dominated over a vast territory from the Aegean Sea in the west to India in the east and from the deserts of Central Asia in the north to the rapids of the Nile in the south. The Achaemenids (Persians) united almost the entire civilized world known to them and ruled it until the 4th century. BC e., when their power was broken and conquered by the military genius of Alexander the Great.

Chronology of the rulers of the Achaemenid dynasty:

• Achaemen, 600s. BC.
• Theispes, 600s BC.
• Cyrus I, 640 - 580 BC.
• Cambyses I, 580 - 559 BC.
• Cyrus II the Great, 559 - 530 BC.
• Cambyses II, 530 - 522 BC.
• Bardia, 522 BC
• Darius I, 522 - 486 BC.
• Xerxes I, 485 - 465 BC.
• Artaxerxes I, 465 - 424 BC.
• Xerxes II, 424 BC
• Secudian, 424 - 423 BC.
• Darius II, 423 - 404 BC.
• Artaxerxes II, 404 - 358 BC.
• Artaxerxes III, 358 - 338 BC.
• Artaxerxes IV Arses, 338 - 336 BC.
• Darius III, 336 - 330 BC.
• Artaxerxes V Bessus, 330 - 329 BC.

Map of the Persian Empire

The Aryan tribes - the eastern branch of the Indo-Europeans - by the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. inhabited almost the entire territory of present-day Iran. Self the word "Iran" is the modern form of the name "Ariana", i.e. country of the Aryans. Initially, these were warlike tribes of semi-nomadic cattle breeders who fought on war chariots. Some of the Aryans migrated even earlier and captured it, giving rise to the Indo-Aryan culture. Other Aryan tribes, closer to the Iranians, remained nomadic in Central Asia and the northern steppes - the Sakas, Sarmatians, etc. The Iranians themselves, having settled on the fertile lands of the Iranian Plateau, gradually abandoned their nomadic life and took up farming, adopting the skills of the Iranians. It reached a high level already in the XI-VIII centuries. BC e. Iranian craft. His monument is the famous “Luristan bronzes” - skillfully made weapons and household items with images of mythical and real-life animals.

"Luristan Bronzes"- a cultural monument of Western Iran. It was here, in close proximity and confrontation, that the most powerful Iranian kingdoms arose. The first of them Media has strengthened(in northwestern Iran). The Median kings took part in the destruction of Assyria. The history of their state is well known from written monuments. But Median monuments of the 7th-6th centuries. BC e. very poorly studied. Even the capital of the country, the city of Ecbatana, has not yet been found. What is known is that it was located in the vicinity of the modern city of Hamadan. Nevertheless, two Median fortresses from the times of the fight against Assyria, already studied by archaeologists, speak of quite high culture Medes.

In 553 BC. e. Cyrus (Kurush) II, the king of the subordinate Persian tribe from the Achaemenid clan, rebelled against the Medes. In 550 BC. e. Cyrus united the Iranians under his rule and led them to conquer the world. In 546 BC. e. he conquered Asia Minor, and in 538 BC. e. fell The son of Cyrus, Cambyses, conquered, and under King Darius I at the turn of the 6th-5th centuries. before. n. e. Persian power reached its greatest expansion and prosperity.

Monuments of its greatness are the royal capitals excavated by archaeologists - the most famous and best researched monuments of Persian culture. The oldest of them is Pasargadae, the capital of Cyrus.

Sasanian revival - Sasanian power

In 331-330. BC e. The famous conqueror Alexander the Great destroyed the Persian Empire. In retaliation for Athens, once devastated by the Persians, Greek Macedonian soldiers brutally plundered and burned Persepolis. The Achaemenid dynasty came to an end. The period of Greco-Macedonian rule over the East began, which is usually called the Hellenistic era.

For the Iranians, the conquest was a disaster. Power over all neighbors was replaced by humiliated submission to long-time enemies - the Greeks. The traditions of Iranian culture, already shaken by the desire of kings and nobles to imitate the vanquished in luxury, were now completely trampled upon. Little changed after the liberation of the country by the nomadic Iranian tribe of the Parthians. The Parthians expelled the Greeks from Iran in the 2nd century. BC e., but they themselves borrowed a lot from Greek culture. The Greek language is still used on the coins and inscriptions of their kings. Temples are still being built with numerous statues, according to Greek models, which seemed blasphemous to many Iranians. In ancient times, Zarathushtra forbade the worship of idols, commanding that an unquenchable flame be venerated as a symbol of deity and sacrifices made to it. It was the religious humiliation that was greatest, and it was not for nothing that the cities built by the Greek conquerors were later called “Dragon buildings” in Iran.

In 226 AD e. the rebel ruler of Pars, who wore an ancient royal name Ardashir (Artaxerxes), overthrew the Parthian dynasty. The second story has begun Persian Empire - Sassanid Empire, the dynasty to which the winner belonged.

The Sassanians sought to revive the culture of ancient Iran. The very history of the Achaemenid state had by that time become a vague legend. So, the society that was described in the legends of the Zoroastrian Mobed priests was put forward as an ideal. The Sassanians built, in fact, a culture that had never existed in the past, thoroughly imbued with a religious idea. This had little in common with the era of the Achaemenids, who willingly adopted the customs of the conquered tribes.

Under the Sassanids, the Iranian decisively triumphed over the Hellenic. Greek temples completely disappear, the Greek language goes out of official use. The broken statues of Zeus (who was identified with Ahura Mazda under the Parthians) are replaced by faceless altars of fire. Naqsh-i-Rustem is decorated with new reliefs and inscriptions. In the 3rd century. The second Sasanian king Shapur I ordered his victory over the Roman emperor Valerian to be carved on the rocks. On the reliefs of the kings, a bird-shaped farn is overshadowed - a sign of divine protection.

Capital of Persia became the city of Ctesiphon, built by the Parthians next to the emptying Babylon. Under the Sassanids, new palace complexes were built in Ctesiphon and huge (up to 120 hectares) royal parks were laid out. The most famous of the Sasanian palaces is Tak-i-Kisra, the palace of King Khosrow I, who ruled in the 6th century. Along with monumental reliefs, palaces were now decorated with delicate carved ornaments in lime mixture.

Under the Sassanids, the irrigation system of Iranian and Mesopotamian lands was improved. In the VI century. The country was covered by a network of carises (underground water pipelines with clay pipes), stretching up to 40 km. The cleaning of the carises was carried out through special wells dug every 10 m. The carises served for a long time and ensured the rapid development of agriculture in Iran during the Sasanian era. It was then that cotton and sugar cane began to be grown in Iran, and gardening and winemaking developed. At the same time, Iran became one of the suppliers of its own fabrics - both woolen, linen and silk.

Sasanian power was much smaller Achaemenid, covered only Iran itself, part of the lands of Central Asia, the territories of present-day Iraq, Armenia and Azerbaijan. She had to fight for a long time, first with Rome, then with the Byzantine Empire. Despite all this, the Sassanids lasted longer than the Achaemenids - more than four centuries. Ultimately, the state, exhausted by continuous wars in the West, was engulfed in a struggle for power. The Arabs took advantage of this, bringing a new faith - Islam - by force of arms. In 633-651. after a fierce war they conquered Persia. So it was over with the ancient Persian state and ancient Iranian culture.

Persian system of government

The ancient Greeks, who became acquainted with the organization of government in the Achaemenid Empire, admired the wisdom and foresight of the Persian kings. In their opinion, this organization was the pinnacle of development of the monarchical form of government.

The Persian kingdom was divided into large provinces, called satrapies by the title of their rulers - satraps (Persian, “kshatra-pavan” - “guardian of the region”). Usually there were 20 of them, but this number fluctuated, since sometimes the management of two or more satrapies was entrusted to one person and, conversely, one region was divided into several. This pursued mainly taxation purposes, but sometimes the characteristics of the peoples inhabiting them and historical characteristics were also taken into account. Satraps and rulers of smaller regions were not the only representatives of local government. In addition to them, in many provinces there were hereditary local kings or ruling priests, as well as free cities and, finally, “benefactors” who received cities and districts for life, or even hereditary possession. These kings, rulers and high priests differed in position from satraps only in that they were hereditary and had a historical and national connection with the population who saw them as bearers of ancient traditions. They independently carried out internal governance, retained local law, a system of measures, language, imposed taxes and duties, but were under the constant control of satraps, who could often intervene in the affairs of the regions, especially during unrest and unrest. Satraps also resolved border disputes between cities and regions, litigation in cases where the participants were citizens of various urban communities or various vassal regions, and regulated political relations. Local rulers, like satraps, had the right to communicate directly with the central government, and some of them, such as the kings of the Phoenician cities, Cilicia, and Greek tyrants, maintained their own army and fleet, which they personally commanded, accompanying the Persian army on large campaigns or performing military duties. orders from the king. However, the satrap could at any time demand these troops for the royal service and place his own garrison in the possessions of local rulers. The main command over the provincial troops also belonged to him. The satrap was even allowed to recruit soldiers and mercenaries independently and at his own expense. He was, as they would call him in a more recent era, the governor-general of his satrapy, ensuring its internal and external security.

The highest command of the troops was carried out by the commanders of four or, as during the subjugation of Egypt, five military districts into which the kingdom was divided.

Persian system of government provides an example of the victors’ amazing respect for local customs and the rights of conquered peoples. In Babylonia, for example, all documents from the times of Persian rule are legally no different from those dating back to the period of independence. The same thing happened in Egypt and Judea. In Egypt, the Persians left the same not only the division into nomes, but also the sovereign surnames, the location of troops and garrisons, as well as the tax immunity of temples and priesthood. Of course, the central government and the satrap could intervene at any time and decide matters at their own discretion, but for the most part it was enough for them if the country was calm, taxes were received regularly, and the troops were in order.

Such a management system did not emerge in the Middle East right away. For example, initially in the conquered territories it relied only on the force of arms and intimidation. The areas taken “by battle” were included directly in the House of Ashur - the central region. Those who surrendered to the mercy of the winner often preserved their local dynasty. But over time, this system turned out to be poorly suited for managing the expanding state. Reorganization of management carried out by King Tiglath-pileser III in the UNT century. BC e., in addition to the policy of forced relocations, it also changed the system of governing the regions of the empire. The kings tried to prevent the emergence of overly powerful clans. To prevent the creation of hereditary possessions and new dynasties among the governors of the regions, the most important posts eunuchs were often appointed. In addition, although major officials received huge land holdings, they did not constitute a single tract, but were scattered throughout the country.

But still, the main support of Assyrian rule, as well as Babylonian rule later, was the army. Military garrisons literally surrounded the entire country. Taking into account the experience of their predecessors, the Achaemenids added to the force of arms the idea of ​​a “kingdom of countries,” i.e., a reasonable combination local peculiarities with the interests of the central government.

The vast state needed the means of communication necessary to control the central government over local officials and rulers. The language of the Persian office, in which even royal decrees were issued, was Aramaic. This is explained by the fact that it was actually in common use in Assyria and Babylonia back in Assyrian times. The conquests of the western regions, Syria and Palestine, by the Assyrian and Babylonian kings further contributed to its spread. This language gradually took the place of ancient Akkadian cuneiform in international relations; it was even used on the coins of the Asia Minor satraps of the Persian king.

Another feature of the Persian Empire that delighted the Greeks was there were beautiful roads, described by Herodotus and Xenophon in stories about the campaigns of King Cyrus. The most famous were the so-called Royal, which went from Ephesus in Asia Minor, off the coast of the Aegean Sea, east to Susa, one of the capitals of the Persian state, through the Euphrates, Armenia and Assyria along the Tigris River; the road leading from Babylonia through the Zagros mountains to the east to another capital of Persia - Ecbatana, and from here to the Bactrian and Indian border; the road from the Issky Gulf of the Mediterranean Sea to Sinop on the Black Sea, crossing Asia Minor, etc.

These roads were not only built by the Persians. Most of them existed in Assyrian and even earlier times. The beginning of the construction of the Royal Road, which was the main artery of the Persian monarchy, probably dates back to the era of the Hittite kingdom, which was located in Asia Minor on the way from Mesopotamia and Syria to Europe. Sardis, the capital of Lydia conquered by the Medes, was connected by a road to another large city - Pteria. From there the road went to the Euphrates. Herodotus, speaking about the Lydians, calls them the first shopkeepers, which was natural for the owners of the road between Europe and Babylon. The Persians continued this route from Babylonia further east, to their capitals, improved it and adapted it not only for trade purposes, but also for state needs - mail.

The Persian kingdom also took advantage of another invention of the Lydians - coins. Until the 7th century. BC e. Subsistence farming dominated throughout the East, monetary circulation was just beginning to emerge: the role of money was played by metal ingots of a certain weight and shape. These could be rings, plates, mugs without embossing or images. The weight was different everywhere, and therefore, outside the place of origin, the ingot simply lost the value of a coin and had to be weighed again each time, i.e., it became an ordinary commodity. On the border between Europe and Asia, the Lydian kings were the first to begin minting state coins of clearly defined weight and denomination. From here the use of such coins spread throughout Asia Minor, Cyprus and Palestine. The ancient trading countries -, and - retained the old system for a very long time. They began minting coins after the campaigns of Alexander the Great, and before that they used coins made in Asia Minor.

Establishing a unified tax system, the Persian kings could not do without minting coins; In addition, the needs of the state, which kept mercenaries, as well as the unprecedented growth of international trade, necessitated the need for a single coin. And a gold coin was introduced into the kingdom, and only the government had the right to mint it; local rulers, cities and satraps received the right to mint only silver and copper coins for payment to mercenaries, which remained an ordinary commodity outside their region.

So, by the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. In the Middle East, through the efforts of many generations and many peoples, a civilization arose that even the freedom-loving Greeks was considered ideal. Here is what the ancient Greek historian Xenophon wrote: “Wherever the king lives, wherever he goes, he makes sure that everywhere there are gardens, called paradises, full of everything beautiful and good that the earth can produce. He spends most of his time in them, unless the time of year prevents this... Some say that when the king gives gifts, those who distinguished themselves in war are first called, because it is useless to plow a lot if there is no one to protect, and then - the best way cultivating the land, for the strong could not exist if there were no cultivators...”

It is not surprising that this civilization developed in Western Asia. It not only arose earlier than others, but also developed faster and more energetically, had the most favorable conditions for its development thanks to constant contacts with neighbors and the exchange of innovations. Here, more often than in other ancient centers of world culture, new ideas arose and important discoveries in almost all areas of production and culture. Potter's wheel and wheel, bronze and iron making, war chariot How a fundamentally new means of warfare, various forms of writing from pictograms to the alphabet - all this and much more genetically goes back to Western Asia, from where these innovations spread throughout the rest of the world, including other centers of primary civilization.

In ancient times, Persia became the center of one of the greatest empires in history, stretching from Egypt to the Indus River. It included all previous empires - the Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians and Hittites. The later empire of Alexander the Great included almost no territories that had not previously belonged to the Persians, and it was smaller than Persia under King Darius.

Since its inception in the 6th century. BC. before the conquest by Alexander the Great in the 4th century. BC. for two and a half centuries, Persia occupied a dominant position in the Ancient World. Greek rule lasted about a hundred years, and after its fall the Persian power was reborn under two local dynasties: the Arsacids (Parthian Kingdom) and the Sassanids (New Persian Kingdom). For more than seven centuries they kept first Rome and then Byzantium in fear, until in the 7th century. AD The Sassanid state was not conquered by Islamic conquerors.

Geography of the empire.

The lands inhabited by the ancient Persians only approximately coincide with the borders of modern Iran. In ancient times, such borders simply did not exist. There were periods when the Persian kings were the rulers of most of the then known world, at other times the main cities of the empire were in Mesopotamia, to the west of Persia proper, and it also happened that the entire territory of the kingdom was divided between warring local rulers.

A significant part of the territory of Persia is occupied by a high, arid highland (1200 m), intersected by mountain ranges with individual peaks reaching 5500 m. In the west and north are the Zagros and Elborz mountain ranges, which frame the highlands in the shape of the letter V, leaving it open to the east. The western and northern borders of the plateau approximately coincide with the current borders of Iran, but in the east it extends beyond the country, occupying part of the territory of modern Afghanistan and Pakistan. Three regions are isolated from the plateau: the coast of the Caspian Sea, the coast of the Persian Gulf and the southwestern plains, which are the eastern continuation of the Mesopotamian lowland.

Directly west of Persia lies Mesopotamia, home to the world's most ancient civilizations. The Mesopotamian states of Sumer, Babylonia and Assyria had a significant influence on the early culture of Persia. And although the Persian conquests ended almost three thousand years after the heyday of Mesopotamia, Persia in many ways became the heir to Mesopotamian civilization. Most of the most important cities of the Persian Empire were located in Mesopotamia, and Persian history is largely a continuation of Mesopotamian history.

Persia lies on the routes of the earliest migrations from Central Asia. Slowly moving west, the settlers skirted the northern tip of the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan and turned south and west, where through more accessible areas of Khorasan, southeast of the Caspian Sea, they entered the Iranian plateau south of the Alborz Mountains. Centuries later, the main trade artery ran parallel to the earlier route, connecting the Far East with the Mediterranean and ensuring the administration of the empire and the movement of troops. At the western end of the highlands it descended onto the plains of Mesopotamia. Other important ways connected the southeastern plains through rugged mountains with the highlands proper.

Away from several main roads along long and narrow mountain valleys settlements of thousands of agricultural communities were scattered. They led a subsistence economy; due to their isolation from their neighbors, many of them remained aloof from wars and invasions, and for many centuries they carried out an important mission to preserve the continuity of culture, so characteristic of the ancient history of Persia.

STORY

Ancient Iran.

It is known that the most ancient inhabitants of Iran had a different origin than the Persians and related peoples, who created civilizations on the Iranian plateau, as well as the Semites and Sumerians, whose civilizations arose in Mesopotamia. During excavations in caves near south coast Human skeletons dating back to the 8th millennium BC were discovered in the Caspian Sea. In the north-west of Iran, in the town of Goy-Tepe, skulls of people who lived in the 3rd millennium BC were found.

Scientists have proposed calling the indigenous population Caspians, which indicates a geographical connection with the peoples who inhabited the Caucasus Mountains to the west of the Caspian Sea. The Caucasian tribes themselves, as is known, migrated to more southern regions, to the highlands. The "Caspian" type appears to have survived in a greatly weakened form among the nomadic tribes of the Lurs in modern Iran.

For the archeology of the Middle East, the central question is the dating of the appearance of agricultural settlements here. Monuments of material culture and other evidence found in the Caspian caves indicate that the tribes inhabiting the region from the 8th to the 5th millennium BC. engaged mainly in hunting, then switched to cattle breeding, which, in turn, approx. IV millennium BC replaced by agriculture. Permanent settlements appeared in the western part of the highlands before the 3rd millennium BC, and most likely in the 5th millennium BC. The main settlements include Sialk, Goy-Tepe, Gissar, but the largest was Susa, which later became the capital of the Persian state. In these small villages, mud huts were crowded together along winding narrow streets. The dead were buried either under the floor of the house or in the cemetery in a crouched (“uterine”) position. The reconstruction of the life of the ancient inhabitants of the highlands was carried out on the basis of the study of utensils, tools and decorations that were placed in the graves to provide the deceased with everything necessary for the afterlife.

The development of culture in prehistoric Iran occurred progressively over many centuries. As in Mesopotamia, large brick houses began to be built here, objects were made from cast copper, and then from cast bronze. Seals made of stone with a carved pattern appeared, which were evidence of the appearance private property. The discovery of large jars for storing food suggests that supplies were made for the period between harvests. Among the finds from all periods there are figurines of the mother goddess, often depicted with her husband, who was both her husband and son.

The most remarkable thing is the huge variety of painted clay products, the walls of some of them are no thicker than the shell of a chicken egg. The figurines of birds and animals depicted in profile testify to the talent of prehistoric artisans. Some clay products depict the man himself, engaged in hunting or performing some rituals. Around 1200–800 BC painted pottery gives way to monochromatic ones - red, black or gray, which is explained by the invasion of tribes from as yet unidentified regions. Ceramics of the same type were found very far from Iran - in China.

Early history.

The historical era begins on the Iranian plateau at the end of the 4th millennium BC. Most of the information about the descendants of the ancient tribes who lived on the eastern borders of Mesopotamia, in the Zagros Mountains, is drawn from the Mesopotamian chronicles. (There is no information in the annals about the tribes that inhabited the central and eastern regions of the Iranian plateau, because they had no connections with the Mesopotamian kingdoms.) The largest of the peoples inhabiting the Zagros were the Elamites, who captured ancient city Susa, located on a plain at the foot of the Zagros, and founded there the powerful and prosperous state of Elam. The Elamite records began to be compiled ca. 3000 BC and lasted for two thousand years. Further to the north lived the Kassites, barbarian tribes of horsemen, who by the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. conquered Babylonia. The Kassites adopted the civilization of the Babylonians and ruled southern Mesopotamia for several centuries. Less important were the Northern Zagros tribes, the Lullubei and the Gutians, who lived in the area where the great Trans-Asian trade route descended from the western tip of the Iranian plateau onto the plain.

Invasion of the Aryans and the Kingdom of Media.

Starting from the 2nd millennium BC. The Iranian plateau was hit one after another by waves of tribal invasions from Central Asia. These were Aryans, Indo-Iranian tribes who spoke dialects that were the proto-languages ​​of the current languages ​​of the Iranian plateau and North India. They gave Iran its name (“homeland of the Aryans”). The first wave of conquerors arrived ca. 1500 BC One group of Aryans settled in the west of the Iranian plateau, where they founded the state of Mitanni, another group - in the south among the Kassites. However, the main flow of Aryans passed Iran, turned sharply to the south, crossed the Hindu Kush and invaded Northern India.

At the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. along the same route, a second wave of aliens, Iranian tribes themselves, arrived on the Iranian plateau, and much more numerous. Some of the Iranian tribes - the Sogdians, Scythians, Saks, Parthians and Bactrians - retained a nomadic lifestyle, others went beyond the highlands, but two tribes, the Medes and Persians (Parsians), settled in the valleys of the Zagros range, mixed with the local population and adopted their political , religious and cultural traditions. The Medes settled in the vicinity of Ecbatana (modern Hamadan). The Persians settled somewhat further south, on the plains of Elam and in the mountainous region adjacent to the Persian Gulf, which later received the name Persida (Parsa or Fars). It is possible that the Persians initially settled northwest of the Medes, west of Lake Rezaie (Urmia), and only later moved south under pressure from Assyria, which was then experiencing the peak of its power. On some Assyrian bas-reliefs of the 9th and 8th centuries. BC. battles with the Medes and Persians are depicted.

The Median kingdom with its capital in Ecbatana gradually gained strength. In 612 BC. the Median king Cyaxares (reigned from 625 to 585 BC) entered into an alliance with Babylonia, captured Nineveh and crushed the Assyrian power. The Median kingdom extended from Asia Minor (modern Türkiye) almost to the Indus River. Over the course of just one reign, Media turned from a small tributary principality into the strongest power in the Middle East.

Persian Achaemenid state.

The power of the Medes did not last longer than two generations. The Persian dynasty of the Achaemenids (named after its founder Achaemen) began to dominate Pars even under the Medes. In 553 BC Cyrus II the Great, the Achaemenid ruler of Parsa, led a revolt against the Median king Astyages, son of Cyaxares, which created a powerful alliance of Medes and Persians. The new power threatened the entire Middle East. In 546 BC King Croesus of Lydia led a coalition directed against King Cyrus, which, in addition to the Lydians, included the Babylonians, Egyptians and Spartans. According to legend, an oracle predicted to the Lydian king that the war would end in the collapse of the great state. The delighted Croesus did not even bother to ask which state was meant. The war ended with the victory of Cyrus, who pursued Croesus all the way to Lydia and captured him there. In 539 BC Cyrus occupied Babylonia, and by the end of his reign he expanded the borders of the state from the Mediterranean Sea to the eastern outskirts of the Iranian plateau, making the capital of Pasargadae, a city in southwestern Iran.

Organization of the Achaemenid state.

Apart from a few brief Achaemenid inscriptions, we draw the main information about the Achaemenid state from the works ancient Greek historians. Even the names of the Persian kings entered historiography as they were written by the ancient Greeks. For example, the names of the kings known today as Cyaxares, Cyrus and Xerxes are pronounced in Persian as Uvakhshtra, Kurush and Khshayarshan.

The main city of the state was Susa. Babylon and Ecbatana were considered administrative centers, and Persepolis - the center of ritual and spiritual life. The state was divided into twenty satrapies, or provinces, headed by satraps. Representatives of the Persian nobility became satraps, and the position itself was inherited. This combination of the power of an absolute monarch and semi-independent governors was a characteristic feature of the country's political structure for many centuries.

All provinces were connected by postal roads, the most significant of which, the “royal road,” 2,400 km long, ran from Susa to the Mediterranean coast. Despite the fact that a single administrative system, a single currency and a single official language were introduced throughout the empire, many subject peoples retained their customs, religion and local rulers. The period of Achaemenid rule was characterized by tolerance. The long years of peace under the Persians favored the development of cities, trade and agriculture. Iran was experiencing its Golden Age.

The Persian army differed in composition and tactics from earlier armies, which were characterized by chariots and infantry. The main striking force of the Persian troops were horse archers, who bombarded the enemy with a cloud of arrows without coming into direct contact with him. The army consisted of six corps of 60,000 warriors each and elite formations of 10,000 people, selected from members of the noblest families and called “immortals”; They also constituted the king’s personal guard. However, during the campaigns in Greece, as well as during the reign of the last king from the Achaemenid dynasty, Darius III, a huge, poorly controlled mass of horsemen, chariots and infantrymen went into battle, unable to maneuver in small spaces and often significantly inferior to the disciplined infantry of the Greeks.

The Achaemenids were very proud of their origins. The Behistun inscription, carved on the rock by order of Darius I, reads: “I, Darius, the great king, the king of kings, the king of the countries inhabited by all peoples, have long been the king of this great land, extending even further, son of Hystaspes, Achaemenid, Persian, son Persians, Aryans, and my ancestors were Aryans.” However, the Achaemenid civilization was a conglomeration of customs, culture, social institutions and ideas that existed in all parts of the Ancient World. At that time East and West came into direct contact for the first time, and the resulting exchange of ideas was never interrupted thereafter.

Hellenic dominion.

Weakened by endless revolts, uprisings and civil strife, the Achaemenid state could not resist the armies of Alexander the Great. The Macedonians landed on the Asian continent in 334 BC, defeated Persian troops on the Granik River and twice defeated huge armies under the command of the mediocre Darius III - at the Battle of Issus (333 BC) in southwest Asia Minor and under Gaugamela (331 BC) in Mesopotamia. Having captured Babylon and Susa, Alexander went to Persepolis and set it on fire, apparently in retaliation for Athens burned by the Persians. Continuing east, he found the body of Darius III, killed by his own soldiers. Alexander spent more than four years in the east of the Iranian Plateau, founding numerous Greek colonies. He then turned south and conquered the Persian provinces in what is now West Pakistan. After this, he went on a campaign to the Indus Valley. Back to 325 BC in Susa, Alexander began to actively encourage his soldiers to take Persian wives, cherishing the idea of ​​​​a single state of Macedonians and Persians. In 323 BC Alexander, aged 33, died of fever in Babylon. The vast territory he conquered was immediately divided between his military leaders, who competed with each other. And although Alexander the Great’s plan to merge Greek and Persian culture was never realized, the numerous colonies founded by him and his successors maintained the originality of their culture for centuries and had a significant influence on local peoples and their art.

After the death of Alexander the Great, the Iranian plateau became part of the Seleucid state, which received its name from one of its generals. Soon the local nobility began to fight for independence. In the satrapy of Parthia, located southeast of the Caspian Sea in an area known as Khorasan, the nomadic Parni tribe rebelled and expelled the Seleucid governor. The first ruler of the Parthian state was Arshak I (ruled from 250 to 248/247 BC).

Parthian state of the Arsacids.

The period following Arsaces I's revolt against the Seleucids is called either the Arsacid period or the Parthian period. There were constant wars between the Parthians and the Seleucids, ending in 141 BC, when the Parthians, under Mithridates I, took Seleucia, the Seleucid capital on the Tigris River. On the opposite bank of the river, Mithridates founded a new capital, Ctesiphon, and extended his rule over most of the Iranian plateau. Mithridates II (ruled from 123 to 87/88 BC) further expanded the boundaries of the state and, taking the title “king of kings” (shahinshah), became the ruler of a vast territory from India to Mesopotamia, and in the east to Chinese Turkestan.

The Parthians considered themselves the direct heirs of the Achaemenid state, and their relatively poor culture was supplemented by the influence of Hellenistic culture and traditions introduced earlier by Alexander the Great and the Seleucids. As before in the Seleucid state, political center moved to the west of the highlands, namely to Ctesiphon, therefore in Iran in good condition Few monuments have survived that testify to that time.

During the reign of Phraates III (ruled from 70 to 58/57 BC), Parthia entered a period of almost continuous wars with the Roman Empire, which lasted almost 300 years. The opposing armies fought over a vast area. The Parthians defeated an army under the command of Marcus Licinius Crassus at Carrhae in Mesopotamia, after which the border between the two empires lay along the Euphrates. In 115 AD Roman Emperor Trajan took Seleucia. Despite this, the Parthian power held out, and in 161 Vologes III devastated the Roman province of Syria. However, long years of war bled the Parthians, and attempts to defeat the Romans on the western borders weakened their power over the Iranian plateau. Riots broke out in a number of areas. The satrap of Fars (or Parsis) Ardashir, the son of a religious leader, declared himself ruler as a direct descendant of the Achaemenids. After defeating several Parthian armies and killing the last Parthian king Artabanus V in battle, he took Ctesiphon and inflicted a crushing defeat on the coalition attempting to restore Arsacid power.

Sassanid State.

Ardashir (reigned 224 to 241) founded a new Persian empire known as the Sassanid state (from the Old Persian title "sasan", or "commander"). His son Shapur I (reigned 241 to 272) retained elements of the previous feudal system, but created a highly centralized state. Shapur's armies first moved east and occupied the entire Iranian plateau up to the river. Indus and then turned west against the Romans. At the Battle of Edessa (near modern Urfa, Turkey), Shapur captured the Roman Emperor Valerian along with his 70,000-strong army. The prisoners, who included architects and engineers, were forced to work building roads, bridges and irrigation systems in Iran.

Over the course of several centuries, the Sassanid dynasty changed about 30 rulers; often successors were appointed by the higher clergy and feudal nobility. The dynasty waged continuous wars with Rome. Shapur II, who ascended the throne in 309, fought three wars with Rome during the 70 years of his reign. The greatest of the Sassanids is Khosrow I (ruled from 531 to 579), who was called the Just or Anushirvan (“Immortal Soul”).

Under the Sassanids, a four-tier system was established administrative division, a flat land tax rate was introduced and numerous artificial irrigation projects were carried out. In southwest Iran, traces of these irrigation structures still remain. Society was divided into four classes: warriors, priests, scribes and commoners. The latter included peasants, traders and artisans. The first three classes enjoyed special privileges and, in turn, had several gradations. Governors of the provinces were appointed from the highest rank of class, sardars. The capital of the state was Bishapur, the most important cities were Ctesiphon and Gundeshapur (the latter was famous as a center of medical education).

After the fall of Rome, the place of the traditional enemy of the Sassanids was taken by Byzantium. Violating the treaty of perpetual peace, Khosrow I invaded Asia Minor and in 611 captured and burned Antioch. His grandson Khosrow II (reigned 590 to 628), nicknamed Parviz ("Victorious"), briefly restored the Persians to their former Achaemenid glory. In the course of several campaigns, he actually defeated the Byzantine Empire, but the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius made a bold attack on the Persian rear. In 627, the army of Khosrow II suffered a crushing defeat at Nineveh in Mesopotamia, Khosrow was deposed and stabbed to death by his own son Kavad II, who died a few months later.

The powerful Sassanid state found itself without a ruler, with a destroyed social structure, exhausted as a result of long wars with Byzantium in the west and with the Central Asian Turks in the east. Over the course of five years, twelve half-ghost rulers were replaced, unsuccessfully trying to restore order. In 632, Yazdegerd III restored central power for several years, but this was not enough. The exhausted empire could not withstand the onslaught of the warriors of Islam, who were uncontrollably rushing north from the Arabian Peninsula. They struck their first crushing blow in 637 at the Battle of Kadispi, as a result of which Ctesiphon fell. The Sassanids suffered their final defeat in 642 at the Battle of Nehavend in the central highlands. Yazdegerd III fled like a hunted animal, his assassination in 651 marking the end of the Sassanid era.

CULTURE

Technology.

Irrigation.

The entire economy of ancient Persia was based on agriculture. Rainfall in the Iranian Plateau is insufficient to support extensive agriculture, so the Persians had to rely on irrigation. The few and shallow rivers of the highlands did not provide the irrigation ditches with enough water, and in the summer they dried up. Therefore, the Persians developed a unique system of underground canals. At the foot of the mountain ranges, deep wells were dug, passing through hard but porous layers of gravel to the underlying impervious clays that form the lower boundary of the aquifer. The wells collected meltwater from mountain peaks, which were covered with a thick layer of snow in winter. From these wells, underground water conduits as tall as a man broke through, with vertical shafts located at regular intervals, through which light and air were supplied to the workers. Water conduits reached the surface and served as sources of water all year round.

Artificial irrigation with the help of dams and canals, which originated and was widely used on the plains of Mesopotamia, spread to similar areas. natural conditions the territory of Elam, through which several rivers flow. This region, now known as Khuzistan, is densely cut by hundreds of ancient canals. Irrigation systems have reached their highest development during the Sasanian period. Today, numerous remains of dams, bridges and aqueducts built under the Sassanids are still preserved. Since they were designed by captured Roman engineers, they closely resemble similar structures found throughout the Roman Empire.

Transport.

The rivers of Iran are not navigable, but in other parts of the Achaemenid Empire water transport was well developed. So, in 520 BC. Darius I the Great reconstructed the canal between the Nile and the Red Sea. During the Achaemenid period, there was extensive construction of land roads, but paved roads were constructed mainly in swampy and mountainous areas. Significant sections of narrow, stone-paved roads built under the Sassanids are found in the west and south of Iran. The choice of location for the construction of roads was unusual for that time. They were laid not along valleys, along river banks, but along mountain ridges. Roads descended into valleys only to make it possible to cross to the other side in strategically important places, for which massive bridges were built.

Along the roads, at a distance of a day's travel from one another, post stations were built where horses were changed. There was a very efficient postal service, with postal couriers covering up to 145 km per day. The center of horse breeding since time immemorial has been the fertile region in the Zagros Mountains, located adjacent to the Trans-Asian trade route. Iranians began using camels as beasts of burden from ancient times; This “type of transport” came to Mesopotamia from Media ca. 1100 BC

Economy.

The basis of the economy of Ancient Persia was agricultural production. Trade also flourished. All the numerous capitals of the ancient Iranian kingdoms were located along the most important trade route between the Mediterranean and the Far East or on its branch towards the Persian Gulf. In all periods, the Iranians played the role of an intermediate link - they guarded this route and kept part of the goods transported along it. During excavations in Susa and Persepolis, beautiful artifacts from Egypt were found. The reliefs of Persepolis depict representatives of all satrapies of the Achaemenid state presenting gifts to the great rulers. Since Achaemenid times, Iran has exported marble, alabaster, lead, turquoise, lapis lazuli (lapis lazuli) and carpets. The Achaemenids created fabulous reserves of gold coins minted in various satrapies. In contrast, Alexander the Great introduced a single silver coin for the entire empire. The Parthians returned to a gold currency, and during the Sasanian times silver and copper coins predominated in circulation.

The system of large feudal estates that developed under the Achaemenids survived into the Seleucid period, but the kings of this dynasty significantly eased the situation of the peasants. Then, during the Parthian period, the huge feudal estates were restored, and this system did not change under the Sassanids. All states sought to obtain maximum income and established taxes on peasant farms, livestock, land, introduced per capita taxes, and collected fees for travel on roads. All these taxes and fees were levied either in imperial coin or in kind. By the end of the Sasanian period, the number and magnitude of taxes had become an intolerable burden for the population, and this tax pressure played a decisive role in the collapse social structure states.

Political and social organization.

All Persian rulers were absolute monarchs who ruled their subjects according to the will of the gods. But this power was absolute only in theory; in fact, it was limited by the influence of hereditary large feudal lords. The rulers tried to achieve stability through marriages with relatives, as well as by taking as wives the daughters of potential or actual enemies - both domestic and foreign. Nevertheless, the reign of the monarchs and the continuity of their power were threatened not only by external enemies, but also by members of their own families.

The Median period was distinguished by a very primitive political organization, which is very typical for peoples transitioning to a sedentary lifestyle. Already among the Achaemenids the concept of a unitary state appeared. In the Achaemenid state, satraps were fully responsible for the state of affairs in their provinces, but could be subject to unexpected inspection by inspectors, who were called the eyes and ears of the king. The royal court constantly emphasized the importance of administering justice and therefore continuously moved from one satrapy to another.

Alexander the Great married the daughter of Darius III, retained satrapies and the custom of prostrating himself before the king. The Seleucids adopted from Alexander the idea of ​​merging races and cultures in the vast expanses from the Mediterranean Sea to the river. Ind. During this period, rapid urban development occurred, accompanied by the Hellenization of the Iranians and the Iranianization of the Greeks. However, there were no Iranians among the rulers, and they were always considered outsiders. Iranian traditions were preserved in the Persepolis area, where temples were built in the style of the Achaemenid era.

The Parthians tried to unite the ancient satrapies. They also played an important role in the fight against nomads from Central Asia advancing from east to west. As before, the satrapies were headed by hereditary governors, but a new factor was the lack of natural continuity of royal power. The legitimacy of the Parthian monarchy was no longer indisputable. The successor was chosen by a council composed of nobles, which inevitably led to endless fighting between rival factions.

The Sassanian kings made a serious attempt to revive the spirit and original structure of the Achaemenid state, partly reproducing its rigid social organization. In descending order were vassal princes, hereditary aristocrats, nobles and knights, priests, peasants, and slaves. The state administrative apparatus was led by the first minister, to whom several ministries were subordinate, including military, justice and finance, each of which had its own staff of skilled officials. The king himself was the supreme judge, and justice was administered by the priests.

Religion.

In ancient times, the cult of the great mother goddess, a symbol of childbirth and fertility, was widespread. In Elam she was called Kirisisha, and throughout the Parthian period her images were cast on Luristan bronzes and figurines made of terracotta, bone, ivory and metals.

The inhabitants of the Iranian plateau also worshiped many Mesopotamian deities. After the first wave of Aryans passed through Iran, Indo-Iranian deities such as Mithra, Varuna, Indra and Nasatya appeared here. In all beliefs, a pair of deities was certainly present - the goddess, personifying the Sun and Earth, and her husband, personifying the Moon and natural elements. Local gods bore the names of the tribes and peoples who worshiped them. Elam had its own deities, most notably the goddess Shala and her husband Inshushinak.

The Achaemenid period marked a decisive turn from polytheism to a more universal system reflecting the eternal struggle between good and evil. The earliest inscription from this period, a metal tablet made before 590 BC, contains the name of the god Agura Mazda (Ahuramazda). Indirectly, the inscription may be a reflection of the reform of Mazdaism (the cult of Agura Mazda), carried out by the prophet Zarathushtra, or Zoroaster, as narrated in the Gathas, ancient sacred hymns.

The identity of Zarathushtra continues to be shrouded in mystery. Apparently he was born ca. 660 BC, but perhaps much earlier, and perhaps much later. The god Ahuramazda personified the good principle, truth and light, apparently, in contrast to Ahriman (Angra Mainyu), the personification of the evil principle, although the very concept of Angra Mainyu could appear later. Darius's inscriptions mention Ahuramazda, and the relief on his tomb depicts the worship of this deity at a sacrificial fire. The chronicles give reason to believe that Darius and Xerxes believed in immortality. Worship of the sacred fire took place both inside temples and in open places. The Magi, originally members of one of the Median clans, became hereditary priests. They supervised the temples and took care of strengthening the faith by performing certain rituals. An ethical doctrine based on good intentions was revered, kind words and good deeds. Throughout the Achaemenid period, rulers were very tolerant of local deities, and starting with the reign of Artaxerxes II, the ancient Iranian sun god Mithra and the fertility goddess Anahita received official recognition.

The Parthians, in search of their own official religion, turned to the Iranian past and settled on Mazdaism. Traditions were codified, and magicians regained their former power. The cult of Anahita continued to enjoy official recognition, as well as popularity among the people, and the cult of Mithra crossed the western borders of the kingdom and spread throughout most of the Roman Empire. In the west of the Parthian kingdom, Christianity, which became widespread there, was tolerated. At the same time, in the eastern regions of the empire, Greek, Indian and Iranian deities united in a single Greco-Bactrian pantheon.

Under the Sassanids, continuity was maintained, but there were also some important changes in religious traditions. Mazdaism survived most of Zarathushtra's early reforms and became associated with the cult of Anahita. To compete on equal terms with Christianity and Judaism, the holy book of the Zoroastrians was created Avesta, a collection of ancient poems and hymns. The Magi still stood at the head of the priests and were the guardians of the three great national fires, as well as the holy fires in all important settlements. Christians by that time had long been persecuted, they were considered enemies of the state, since they were identified with Rome and Byzantium, but by the end of the Sasanian reign, the attitude towards them became more tolerant and Nestorian communities flourished in the country.

Other religions also emerged during the Sasanian period. In the middle of the 3rd century. preached by the prophet Mani, who developed the idea of ​​​​unifying Mazdaism, Buddhism and Christianity and especially emphasized the need to liberate the spirit from the body. Manichaeism demanded celibacy from priests and virtue from believers. Followers of Manichaeism were required to fast and offer prayers, but not to worship images or perform sacrifices. Shapur I favored Manichaeism and may have intended to make it the state religion, but this was sharply opposed by the still powerful priests of Mazdaism and in 276 Mani was executed. Nevertheless, Manichaeism persisted for several centuries in Central Asia, Syria and Egypt.

At the end of the 5th century. preached by another religious reformer, a native of Iran, Mazdak. His ethical doctrine combined both elements of Mazdaism and practical ideas about non-violence, vegetarianism and communal life. Kavad I initially supported the Mazdakian sect, but this time the official priesthood turned out to be stronger and in 528 the prophet and his followers were executed. The advent of Islam put an end to national religious traditions Persia, but a group of Zoroastrians fled to India. Their descendants, the Parsis, still practice the religion of Zoroaster.

Architecture and art.

Early metal products.

In addition to the colossal number of ceramic objects, products made from such durable materials as bronze, silver and gold are of exceptional importance for the study of Ancient Iran. A huge number of so-called Luristan bronzes were discovered in Luristan, in the Zagros Mountains, during illegal excavations of the graves of semi-nomadic tribes. These unique examples included weapons, horse harnesses, jewelry, as well as objects depicting scenes from religious life or ritual purposes. Until now, scientists have not come to a consensus as to who and when they were made. In particular, it was suggested that they were created in the 15th century. BC. to 7th century BC, most likely by the Kassites or Scythian-Cimmerian tribes. Bronze items continue to be found in the Azerbaijan province in northwestern Iran. They differ significantly in style from the Luristan bronzes, although both appear to belong to the same period. Bronzes from Northwestern Iran are similar to recent finds from the same region; for example, the finds of an accidentally discovered treasure in Ziviya and a wonderful golden cup found during excavations in Hasanlu Tepe are similar to each other. These items date back to the 9th–7th centuries. BC, Assyrian and Scythian influence is visible in their stylized ornaments and depictions of deities.

Achaemenid period.

Architectural monuments of the pre-Achaemenid period have not survived, although reliefs in Assyrian palaces depict cities on the Iranian plateau. It is very likely that for a long time, even under the Achaemenids, the population of the highlands led a semi-nomadic lifestyle and wooden buildings were typical for the region. Indeed, the monumental structures of Cyrus at Pasargadae, including his own tomb, which resembles a wooden house with a gabled roof, as well as Darius and his successors at Persepolis and their tombs at nearby Naqshi Rustem, are stone copies of wooden prototypes. In Pasargadae, royal palaces with columned halls and porticos were scattered throughout a shady park. In Persepolis under Darius, Xerxes and Artaxerxes III, reception halls and royal palaces were built on terraces raised above the surrounding area. In this case, it was not arches that were characteristic, but columns typical of this period, covered with horizontal beams. Labor, construction and finishing materials, as well as decorations were brought from all over the country, while the style of architectural details and carved reliefs was a mixture of artistic styles then prevailing in Egypt, Assyria and Asia Minor. During excavations in Susa, parts of the palace complex were found, the construction of which began under Darius. The plan of the building and its decorative decoration reveal a much greater Assyro-Babylonian influence than the palaces at Persepolis.

Achaemenid art was also characterized by a mixture of styles and eclecticism. It is represented by stone carvings, bronze figurines, figurines made of precious metals and jewelry. The best jewelry was discovered in a chance find made many years ago known as the Amu Darya treasure. The bas-reliefs of Persepolis are world famous. Some of them depict kings during ceremonial receptions or defeating mythical beasts, and along the stairs in big hall At the reception of Darius and Xerxes, the royal guard lined up and a long procession of peoples bringing tribute to the ruler was visible.

Parthian period.

Majority architectural monuments Parthian period ones are found west of the Iranian plateau and have few Iranian features. True, during this period an element appeared that would be widely used in all subsequent Iranian architecture. This is the so-called ivan, a rectangular vaulted hall, open from the entrance. Parthian art was even more eclectic than the art of the Achaemenid period. In different parts of the state, products of different styles were made: in some Hellenistic, in others Buddhist, in others Greco-Bactrian. Plaster friezes, stone carvings and wall paintings were used for decoration. Glazed pottery, the forerunner of ceramics, was popular during this period.

Sasanian period.

Many structures from the Sasanian period are in relatively good condition. Most of them were made of stone, although baked brick was also used. Among the surviving buildings are royal palaces, fire temples, dams and bridges, as well as entire city blocks. The place of columns with horizontal ceilings was taken by arches and vaults; square rooms were crowned with domes, arched openings were widely used, and many buildings had ivans. The domes were supported by four trumpos, cone-shaped vaulted structures that spanned the corners of the square rooms. Ruins of palaces remain at Firuzabad and Servestan, in southwestern Iran, and at Qasr Shirin, on the western edge of the highlands. The largest palace was considered to be in Ctesiphon, on the river. The tiger known as Taki-Kisra. In its center there was a giant ivan with a vault 27 meters high and a distance between supports equal to 23 m. More than 20 fire temples have survived, the main elements of which were square rooms topped with domes and sometimes surrounded by vaulted corridors. As a rule, such temples were erected on high rocks so that the open sacred fire could be seen on long distance. The walls of the buildings were covered with plaster, onto which a pattern made using the notching technique was applied. Numerous rock-cut reliefs are found along the banks of reservoirs fed by spring waters. They depict kings facing Agura Mazda or defeating their enemies.

The pinnacle of Sasanian art are textiles, silver dishes and cups, most of which were made for the royal court. Scenes of royal hunting, figures of kings in ceremonial attire, and geometric and floral patterns are woven onto thin brocade. On the silver bowls there are images of kings on the throne, battle scenes, dancers, fighting animals and sacred birds made using the technique of extrusion or appliqué. The fabrics, unlike the silver dishes, are made in styles that came from the West. In addition, elegant bronze incense burners and wide-necked jugs were found, as well as clay products with bas-reliefs covered with shiny glaze. The mixture of styles still does not allow us to accurately date the found objects and determine the place of manufacture of most of them.

Writing and science.

The oldest written language of Iran is represented by as yet undeciphered inscriptions in the Proto-Elamite language, which was spoken in Susa ca. 3000 BC The much more advanced written languages ​​of Mesopotamia quickly spread to Iran, and in Susa and the Iranian plateau the population used the Akkadian language for many centuries.

The Aryans who came to the Iranian plateau brought with them Indo-European languages, different from the Semitic languages ​​of Mesopotamia. During the Achaemenid period, royal inscriptions carved on rocks were parallel columns in Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian. Throughout the Achaemenid period, royal documents and private correspondence were written either in cuneiform on clay tablets or in writing on parchment. At the same time, at least three languages ​​were in use - Old Persian, Aramaic and Elamite.

Alexander the Great introduced the Greek language, his teachers taught about 30,000 young Persians from noble families the Greek language and military science. On his great campaigns, Alexander was accompanied by a large retinue of geographers, historians and scribes, who recorded everything that happened day after day and became acquainted with the culture of all the peoples they met along the way. Special attention was devoted to navigation and the establishment of maritime communications. The Greek language continued to be used under the Seleucids, while the ancient Persian language was preserved in the Persepolis area. Greek served as the language of trade throughout the Parthian period, but the main language of the Iranian Highlands became Middle Persian, which represented a qualitatively new stage in the development of Old Persian. Over many centuries, the Aramaic script used to write in the Old Persian language was transformed into the Pahlavi script with an undeveloped and inconvenient alphabet.

During the Sasanian period, Middle Persian became the official and main language of the inhabitants of the highlands. Its writing was based on a variant of the Pahlavi script known as the Pahlavi-Sassanian script. The sacred books of the Avesta were written in a special way - first in Zenda, and then in the Avesta language.

In ancient Iran, science did not rise to the heights that it reached in neighboring Mesopotamia. The spirit of scientific and philosophical search awakened only in the Sasanian period. The most important works were translated from Greek, Latin and other languages. That's when they were born Book of Great Feats, Book of ranks, Iran countries And Book of Kings. Other works from this period survive only in later Arabic translations.