REL 433 - Biblical Archaeology
Course Notes
The Persian Empire
Timeline
- 700-675 BC - Achaemenes of Persia
- Achaemenes was the founder of the Achaemenid dynasty. The Persians held the hilly country to the east of Babylon. They were rich, but not yet one of the leading powers
- 675-640 BC - Teispes (Chishpish) of Persia
- Teispes (Chishpish) was the son of Achaemenes I of Persia
- 640-600 BC - Cyrus I of Persia
- Cyrus I was the son of Teispes
- ca.650 BC
- Zarathustra (Zoroaster) founded Zoroastrianism, a dualistic religion which inspired the Persians to a program of conquest. The Persians were an Indo-European people living to the north of the Persian Gulf, away from the main areas of political unrest and war. Within 100 years of Zoroaster's teaching, the Persians, under Cyrus, founded a great empire and set about trying to conquer the whole world for Zoroastrianism
- 600-559 BC - Cambyses I of Persia
- Cambyses I was the son of Cyrus I
- 585-550 BC - Astyages, king of the Medes
- Astyages was the son of Cyaxares. His daughter Mandana married Cambyses I of Persia, and became the mother of Cyrus II
- 550-539 BC Nabonidus of Babylon.
- Nabonidus gave the Assyrian moon-god Sin precedence over Marduk the god of Babylon.
The Priests of Marduk led a rebellion and welcomed Cyrus into Babylon - 540 BC
- The Persians overcame the Greek cities of Ionia (Asia Minor - what is now the west cost of Turkey)
- 539-530 BC Cyrus II (the Great) of Persia
- Cyrus II was the son of Cambyses I and Mandana, daughter of Astyages the Mede
In 550 BC Cyrus led a Persian revolt against his Median grandfather Astyages, took control of Persia and started to build an empire for himself.
In 539 Cyrus conquered Babylon, and founded the Persian Empire, with the capital at Susa (Shushan). The Persian Empire covered the lands of the Middle East, from the Persian Gulf in the south to India in the east. It lasted from 538 BC to 331 BC, when Alexander the Great invaded and took control.
In 538 Cyrus made a proclamation, the "Edict of Cyrus", which allowed nations whom the Assyrians and Babylonians had taken into captivity to return to their homelands. Cyrus was influenced by Zoroastrianism, which teaches that there is a cosmic battle between a "Good God", Ahura-Mazda, and an evil one one, Shaitan. Cyrus wanted the national groups to return and rebuild their temples, so as to get their gods on the side of Ahura-Mazda.
The Jews were directly affected by the Edict of Cyrus - they were allowed to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. (II Chron. 36:22-23, Ezra 1:1-4, Isaiah 45:1-5).
However, not all the Jewish population in Babylonia/Persia did return - many stayed in Babylonia and continued to develop their own traditions. This is reflected even today - there are two 'versions' of the Talmud (the rabbinic commentary and teachings derived from the Jewish scriptures) - the Jerusalem Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud. Eventually Judah and Jerusalem were absorbed into the Roman Empire, but Babylon and Persia remained free of Rome. So, even when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and scattered or enslaved the Jewish population of Judea, there was still a thriving Jewish community centered on Babylon. - 530-522 BC - Cambyses of Persia
- Cambyses was the son of Cyrus II. He murdered his brother and married his own three sisters, Atossa, Artystone, and Roxane or Meroe(there are variations in the record of names) who was kicked to death by Cambyses.
Cambyses conquered Egypt and had himself made "Pharaoh". Jewish mercenaries were settled in a garrison at Elephantine, an island in the Upper Nile. Numerous papyri from the Jewish community at Elephantine have been discovered.
A revolt back in Persia caused Cambyses to set off back from Egypt, but he died of gangrene from an accidental sword cut while on his way back. He had no surviving sons.
Atossa survived Cambyses and eventually married Darius I (the Great), by whom she became the mother of Xerxes - 522-486 BC - Darius I (the Great)
- Darius (pronounced DRY-us) claimed descent from a collateral branch of the Achaemenids (Achaemenes ► Teispes ► Ariaramnes ► Arsames ► Hystaspes ► Darius ) The Persian Empire was so large that it was difficult to govern from one central city, so Darius divided it into provinces called satrapies, with a satrap as governor over each of them.
In 518 Darius had the Behistun inscription carved - a record of his achievements carved into a sheer rock cliff. He also had a canal dug between the Nile and the Red Sea so that ships could go from Egypt to Persia.
In 516 Darius conquered the "Hindush" region along the River Indus in India.
The Greek city-states of Anatolia rebelled against Persian rule, but in 495 Darius regained control of Anatolia, and in 494 he sacked the island state of Miletus. He advanced against the Greeks of mainland Greece, but in 490 he lost the Battle of Marathon against the Athenians, led by Miltiades. In thanksgiving for the Greek victory, Miltiades gave his helmet as an offering to the Temple of Athena in Athens - it is still in existence today. - 520-515 BC
- One set of possible dates for the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. Ezra and Nehemiah were the leaders, with Haggai and Zechariah as Prophets. (another possible period for the rebuilding of the Temple is 450-400 BC)
- 490-449 BC - the Persian Wars between the Greek city-states and Persia
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In 483 Themistocles, the leader of Athens, built a navy and founded Athenian sea-power. Then in 481 the Hellenic League, including Athens and Sparta, was formed for defence against the Persians.
In 480, at the Battle of Thermopylae, Leonidas and his group of Spartan soldiers were killed holding the mountain pass against the Persians to give the rest of the Greeks time to gather against the Persians. Then at the naval Battle of Salamis the Persian fleet was destroyed, and Xerxes fled for his life, leaving the Persian general Mardonius to try to continue the fight on land.
At the Battle of Plateia in 479 the Athenians and Spartans defeated the Persian general Mardonius, and in 478 the Greeks united to form the Delian League, (organized on the island of Delos) : Athens, led by Cimon (son of Miltiades), and other Greek cities, swore to support one another and fight against Persia.
Themistocles rebuilt the walls of Athens in 478 (it had been overrun and destroyed by the Persians), and fortified the harbor of Piraeus, but in 470 the Athenians (always paranoid about becoming a dictatorship) ostracized him and he fled to Persia for refuge. The process of ostracism involved all the men of Athens voting "Yes" or "No" as to whether someone had become too powerful. They wrote his name on a potsherd (an ostracon) and placed their vote in a jar for counting. Anyone judged guilty was banned from Athens for ten years. This is the origin of the words "ostracize" and "ostracism". During the twentieth century a cache of ostraca with the name of Themistoclces on them was found in Athens - on many of them the handwriting appeared to be from the same hand, leading to speculation as to whether or not the vote was rigged. Ostracism resulted in banishment from Athens for ten years - enough to break anyone's political power, and also enough to turn several of Athens' greatest leaders against their home city.
The Persian Wars ended in victory for the cities of mainland Greece. Though the Greek cities of Anatolia remained under Persian rule, the westward advance of Persia was stopped. However, both side had been exhausted by the wars, and the Greeks compounded their problems by resuming their inter-city rivalries and fighting.
The Persian fleet had been made up mainly of Phoenician ships - these were sunk at Salamis. Phoenician sea-power never recovered. Carthage, the colony founded by Phoenicians, became the leading sea-power in the Mediterranean.
- 486-465 BC - Xerxes I (Ahasuerus I)
- Xerxes was the son of Darius I and Atossa the daughter of Cyrus. Xerxes I was the Persian king who made Esther his Queen. In 482 he put down a revolt in Babylonia and destroyed Babylon. He was assassinated by one of his courtiers in 465 BC
- 464-424 BC - Artaxerxes I (Longimanus)
- Artaxerxes I (Longimanus) was the son of Xerxes
- 423 BC - Xerxes II
- Xerxes II was assassinated after a short reign
- 423-405 BC - Darius II (Nothus)
- 411 BC
- Bagoas (a Persian) was made governor of Jerusalem. The land of Israel became a region administered by Persia. The Jews of Jerusalem were "ruled" by High Priests who formed a hereditary dynasty. Large communities of Jews remained in Babylon or settled in Egypt - they were called the Diaspora
- 404-359 BC - Artaxerxes II
- 358-338 BC - Artaxerxes III
- Artaxerxes III reconquered Egypt in 342 BC, and destroyed Sidon in 341 BC, but was poisoned by his general Bagoas in 338 BC
- 338-336 BC Arses of Persia
- 335-330 BC - Darius III (Codomannus)
- Darius III (Codomannus) was conquered by Alexander the Great
- 356-323 BC - Alexander the Great
- Alexander's father, Philip of Macedon (the mountainous country to the north of the Greek mainland) wanted his son to have a Greek education, so paid for the Greek philosopher Aristotle to set up a school for Alexander and a group of young men in Macedonia. Philip wanted to rule all of Greece, and in 337 BC he was also preparing to attack Persia, but was assassinated in 336 BC. Alexander, aged 21, managed to gain control of Macedon, and set out to conquer the world - with 30,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry, no navy, and no money.
Alexander marched through Asia Minor, then turned south along the Mediterranean coast, besieging and capturing the cities of the Phoenicians, invading Israel in 333 BC, and taking Jerusalem in 332 BC.
Alexander continued south to Egypt, where he founded the city of Alexandria, and announced that it had been revealed to him in a vision that he was the son of the Egyptian sun-god Ammon.
In 331 BC Alexander defeated Darius III of Persia, who fled, leaving his wife and his mother to be captured by Alexander. Alexander treated them as honored royalty, but Darius was betrayed and killed by one of his own princes.
In 330 BC Alexander entered Babylon, and then continued his eastward campaign through what is now Afghanistan, to India.
Copyright © 1999 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved
