Exam (elaborations)
Hist 261-Persia Questions answers latest update
- Course
- HIST 261
- Institution
- Northern Illinois University
Hist 261-Persia Questions answers latest update
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Hist 261-PersiaThe Persian Empire(530-330BCE) - -Before the time of Alexander the Great, it was
the single largest empire in the world and the most efficiently governed
-800's (7th Century) B.C.E. a group of people called the Medes moved into a city
they named Pars which is the root for the modern word Persia: composed of
Tribal Indo-Europeans (the Kurgan Culture). They moved into what is now modern
day Iran
-Persia was a convergence point for Mesopotamian trade, Mediterranean world
trade, and Eastern trade groups from India and even as far away as China
-The dominant ruling group at this time was the Assyrians
The Assyrians - -The Assyrians had conquered Egypt and ruled most of the Fertile
Crescent
-Semitic language group, and a warrior society
-Spread their culture through conquest and war, artwork depicts warriors
-Also had a fairly careful governing of the places they conquer: Assyrian officials
in lands nearest to them, and the lands further from them typically had local
native officials which governed for them. They did this in exchange for tribute
-Rose to power in the 9th century B.C.E. but were finally defeated in 612 by the
Medes and Babylonians.
-The Babylonians and Persians were excellent warriors and banded together to
overthrow the Assyrians.
, -In the aftermath of this, the Medes joined up with another group who had
originally been a rival Indo-European tribe. They consolidated their power and
started to build an empire under king Cyrus II, also known as Cyrus the Great.
Cyrus II "The Great" (r. 559-530 BCE), founder of the Achamenid Dynasty - -Official
founder of the Achaemenid Dynasty: sets up the Persian Empire.
-Wanted an empire with strong borders, but he also wanted one with control of
the trade routes for the Fertile Crescent and Anatolia. His idea was if he got
control of these areas, and got control of other areas too, that was fine—
opportunistic.
-539 he defeated the Babylonians and declared himself "King of the World" and
"King of Kings".
-Reformed his kingdom to make it more efficient to rule
Religious Tolerance:
-one of Cyrus II's first reforms was religious tolerance
-nobles and the kings practiced Zoroastrianism, but the areas he ruled were
multicultural and he understood that.
-allowed a certain amount of religious toleration, for example, he was actually
tolerant of a troublesome group: the Jews. He freed them from Babylonia and
allowed them to return home to Judah and rebuild their religious buildings such
as temples
-so, conquered peoples under his enemies were given a certain sort of amnesty
that makes them grateful to him
-also takes advantage of his religious tolerance by using all the other religions to
legitimate his rule: eg. In Egypt, rulers tend to accept that they are also divinely
blessed by the gods
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