History of Iran
Videos
The history of Iran is intertwined with Greater Iran, a region encompassing all areas that have witnessed significant settlement or influence by the Iranian peoples and Iranian languages — chiefly the
Cylinder with a ritual scene, early 2nd millennium BC, Geoy Tepe, Iran
Chogha Zanbil is one of the few extant ziggurats outside of Mesopotamia and is considered to be the best preserved example in the world.
Rhyton in the shape of a ram's head, gold – Saqqez - Kurdistan - western Iran –, late 7th–early 6th century BCE
A gold cup at the National Museum of Iran, from the first half of the 1st millennium BC
Achaemenid Empire
Videos
The Achaemenid Empire was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. At peak, its territorial extent was roughly 5.5 million square kilometres, making it
History of Iran
…century BC. By 550 BC, the Medes were sidelined by the conquests of Cyrus the Great, who brought the Persians to power with the establishment of the Achaemenid Empire. Cyrus' ensuing campaigns enabled the Persia's expansion across most of West Asia and much of Central Asia, and his successors would conquer parts of…
Family tree of the Achaemenid rulers.
Cyrus the Great's tomb, located at Pasargadae
The Persian queen Atossa, daughter of Cyrus the Great, sister-wife of Cambyses II, Darius the Great's wife, and mother of Xerxes the Great
Greek hoplite and Persian warrior depicted fighting, on an ancient kylix, 5th century BC