BC. The Persian Achaemenid Empire, established half a century earlier under Cyrus the Great, stretched from Northern India to Southeast Europe. The Achaemenid Empire controlled a vast area with ...

The ancient Persian capital of Persepolis, in a vast and arid plain 40 miles from Shiraz in southern Iran, is the greatest ancient site between the Holy Land and India. This is a rare place that ...

The Battle of Issus, fought in 333 BC, was one of the most pivotal moments in ancient history. On one side stood Alexander the Great, the young and ambitious king of Macedon, leading his army of ...

A study of Persia’s Royal Highway uncovers how the Achaemenids built roads to support the empire's royal machinery across ...

For this reason, Cyrus became (and remains) a legendary figure in Jewish history, though he was not Jewish himself. He was more likely a devotee of Zoroastrianism, which was fervently embraced by his ...

The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago is using modern technology to digitally record thousands of tablets that, as they are being pieced together, tell an unusually detailed story of the ...

In Western history, Persians are exotic and malevolent “Others.” The fantasy film 300 (2006) is an extreme example. For many modern Americans, Persians are the Bad Guys. The first great Persian empire ...

The University of Chicago's Oriental Institute is returning a set of 300 ancient Iranian tablets, documents that provide details of the inner workings of the administration of the ancient Persian ...

Legal dispute over Persepolis tablets threatens international lending of cultural assets. [ briefs ] In 1930, archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld came across 30,000 clay tablets on a dig in the ancient city ...

A claim regarding an unusual manner of debate apparently practiced by ancient Persians has appeared on social media every so often. According to the claim, men in the Persian Empire would debate ideas ...