- published: 30 Sep 2008
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Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire (/ækəˈmɛnɪˌdi/; Old Persian: Parsā, name of ruling dynasty: Haxāmanišiya) (c. 550–330 BCE), sometimes known as First Persian Empire, was an Iranian empire in Southwest Asia, founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who overthrew the Median confederation. It expanded to eventually rule over significant portions of the ancient world which at around 500 BCE stretched from the Indus Valley in the east, to Thrace and Macedon on the northeastern border of Greece making it the biggest empire the world had yet seen. The Achaemenid Empire would eventually control Egypt as well. It was ruled by a series of monarchs who unified its disparate tribes and nationalities by constructing a complex network of roads.
Calling themselves the Parsa after their original Aryan tribal name Parsua, Persians settled in a land which they named Parsua, bounded on the west by the Tigris River and on the south by the Persian Gulf. This became their heartland for the duration of the Achaemenid Empire. It was from this region that eventually Cyrus the Great (Cyrus II of Persia) would advance to defeat the Median, the Lydian, and the Babylonian Empires, opening the way for subsequent conquests into Egypt and Asia minor.
wn.com/Achaemenid_Empire -
Akkadian Empire
Coordinates: 33°6′N 44°6′E / 33.1°N 44.1°E / 33.1; 44.1
The Akkadian Empire (Akkadian URUAkkad KI, Hittite KUR A.GA.DÈ.KI "land of Akkad"; Biblical Hebrew אַכַּד Akkad) was an empire centered in the city of Akkad (Sumerian: Agade) and its surrounding region in Mesopotamia.
During the 3rd millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism.Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as a spoken language somewhere around the turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BC (the exact dating being a matter of debate).
The Akkadian Empire reached its political peak between the 24th and 22nd centuries BC, following the conquests of its founder Sargon of Akkad (2334–2279 BC). Under Sargon and his successors, Akkadian language was briefly imposed on neighboring conquered states such as Elam. Akkad is sometimes regarded as the first empire in history, though there are earlier Sumerian claimants.[citation needed]
The precise archaeological site of the city of Akkad has not yet been found.[citation needed] The form Agade appears in Sumerian, for example in the Sumerian King List; the later Assyro-Babylonian form Akkadû ("of or belonging to Akkad") was likely derived from this. The etymology and meaning of Akkad (written a.ga.dèKI or URIKI) are unknown. Centuries later, the neo-Babylonian king Nabonidus mentioned in his archaeological records that Ishtar's worship in Agade was later superseded by that of the goddess Anunit, whose shrine was at Sippar—suggesting proximity of Sippar and Agade. Despite numerous searches, the city has never been found. One theory holds that Agade was situated opposite Sippar on the left bank of the Euphrates, and was perhaps the oldest part of the city of Sippar. Another theory is that the ruins of Akkad are to be found beneath modern Baghdad. Reputedly it was destroyed by invading Gutians with the fall of the Akkadian Empire.
wn.com/Akkadian_Empire -
Anatolia
Coordinates: 39°N 32°E / 39°N 32°E / 39; 32
Anatolia (from Greek Ἀνατολή Anatolē — "east" or "(sun)rise"; also Asia Minor, from Greek: Μικρὰ Ἀσία Mikrá Asía "small Asia"; in modern Turkish: Anadolu) is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west. The Sea of Marmara forms a connection between the Black and Aegean Seas through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, and separates Anatolia from Thrace on the European mainland. Traditionally, Anatolia is considered to extend in the east to a line between the Gulf of Iskenderun and the Black Sea, approximately corresponding to the western two-thirds of the Asian part of Turkey. However, since Anatolia is now often considered to be synonymous with Asian Turkey, its eastern and southeastern borders are widely taken to be the Turkish borders with the neighboring countries, which are Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Iraq and Syria, in clockwise direction.
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Armenia
Armenia
i/ɑrˈmiːniə/ (Armenian: Հայաստան Hayastan [hɑjɑsˈtɑn]), officially the Republic of Armenia (Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն, Hayastani Hanrapetut’yun, [hɑjɑstɑˈni hɑnɾɑpɛtuˈtʰjun]), is a landlocked, mountainous country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south.
A former republic of the Soviet Union, Armenia is a unitary, multiparty, democratic nation-state with an ancient and historic cultural heritage. The Kingdom of Armenia became the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its religion, in the early years of the 4th century (the traditional date is 301 AD). The modern Republic of Armenia recognizes the Armenian Apostolic Church, the world's oldest national church, as the country's primary religious establishment. Armenians have their own unique alphabet invented by Mesrob Mashtots in 406 AD.
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Arya
Aryan /ˈɛərjən/ is an English language loanword derived from the Sanskrit ārya ('Noble'). In present-day academia, the terms "Indo-Iranian" and "Indo-European" have, according to many, made most uses of the term 'Aryan' minimal, and 'Aryan' is now mostly limited to its appearance in the term "Indo-Aryan" to represent (speakers of) North, West and Central Indian languages.
Western notions of an "Aryan race" rose to prominence in late-19th and early-20th century racialist thought, an idea most notably embraced by Nazi ideology (see master race). The Nazis believed that the "Nordic peoples" (who were also referred to as the "Germanic peoples") represent an ideal and "pure race" that was the purest representation of the original racial stock of those who were then called the Proto-Aryans. The Nazis declared that the Nordics were the true Aryans because they claimed that they were more "pure" (less racially mixed with non-native Indo-European peoples) than other people of what were then called the Aryan peoples (now generally called the Indo-European peoples).
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Assembly of Experts
The Assembly of Experts (also Assembly of Experts of the Leadership) of Iran (Persian: مجلس خبرگان رهبری, Majles-e Khobregan or Majles-e Khebregan-e Rahbari), also translated as Council of Experts, is a deliberative body of 86 Mujtahids (Islamic scholars) that is charged with electing and removing the Supreme Leader of Iran and supervising his activities. Members of the assembly are elected from list of candidates by direct public vote to eight-year terms. Current laws require the assembly to meet for at least two days, twice annually. The current chairman of the Assembly is Mahdavi Kani, who was elected in March 2011.
According to the Iranian Constitution, the assembly is in charge of supervising, dismissing and electing the Supreme Leader. In the event of his death, resignation or dismissal, the Experts shall take steps within the shortest possible time to appoint a new Leader. "Whenever the Leader becomes incapable of fulfilling his constitutional duties, or loses one of the qualifications mentioned in the Constitution, or it becomes known that he did not possess some of the qualifications initially, he will be dismissed." The assembly has never dismissed a sitting Supreme Leader, and as all of their meetings and notes are strictly confidential, the assembly has never been known to challenge or otherwise publicly oversee any of the Supreme Leader's decisions.
wn.com/Assembly_of_Experts -
Astyages
Astyages (spelled by Herodotus as Ἀστυάγης - Astyages; by Ctesias as Astyigas; by Diodorus as Aspadas; Akkadian: Ištumegu, was the last king of the Median Empire, r. 585 BCE-550 BCE, the son of Cyaxares; he was dethroned in 550 BCE by Cyrus the Great.
His name derives from the Old Iranian Rishti Vaiga, which means "swinging the spear, lance-hurler."
Astyages succeeded his father in 585 BCE, following the Battle of Halys, which ended a five-year war between the Lydians and the Medes. He inherited a large empire, ruled in alliance with his two brothers-in-law, Croesus of Lydia and Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, whose wife, Amytis, Astyages' sister, was the queen for whom Nebuchadnezzar was said to have built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Married to Aryenis, the sister of King Croesus of Lydia, to seal the treaty between the two empires, Astyages ascended to the Median throne upon his father's death later that year. By her he had perhaps a daughter Amytis (same as Amytis above married to Nebuchadnezzar?) married to Cyrus the Great.
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Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire (German: Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling Kaisertum Österreich) was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire as a result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867. The Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867 to 1918) was itself dissolved by the victors at the end of World War I and broken into separate new states.
The term "Austrian Empire" is also used for the Habsburg possessions before 1804, which had no official collective name, although Austria is more frequent; the term of Austria-Hungary has also been used.[citation needed]
The Austrian Empire was founded by the Habsburg monarch Holy Roman Emperor Francis II (who became Emperor Francis I of Austria), as a state comprising his personal lands within and outside of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.
wn.com/Austrian_Empire -
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (
i/ˌæzərbaɪˈdʒɑːn/ AZ-ər-by-JAHN; Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Respublikası) is the largest country in the Caucasus region located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south. The exclave of Nakhchivan is bounded by Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, while having a short borderline with Turkey to the northwest.
Azerbaijan has an ancient and historic cultural heritage. Aside from having been the first Muslim-majority country to have operas, theater and plays, Azerbaijan today is among the Muslim-majority countries where support for secularism and tolerance is the highest. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the first democratic and secular republic in the Muslim world, was established in 1918, but was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1920. Azerbaijan regained independence in 1991. Shortly thereafter, during the Nagorno-Karabakh War, neighboring Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, its surrounding territories and the enclaves of Karki, Yukhary Askipara, Barkhudarly and Sofulu. The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which emerged in Nagorno-Karabakh, continues to be not diplomatically recognized by any nation and the region is still considered a de jure part of Azerbaijan, despite being de facto independent since the end of the war. Azerbaijan has come under repeated international criticism for its record on human rights.
wn.com/Azerbaijan -
Babylon
Coordinates: 32°32′11″N 44°25′15″E / 32.53639°N 44.42083°E / 32.53639; 44.42083
Babylon (Arabic: بابل, Babil; Akkadian: Bābili(m);Sumerian logogram: KÁ.DINGIR.RAKI;Hebrew: בָּבֶל, Bābel;Greek: Βαβυλών, Babylōn) was an Akkadian city-state (founded in 1867 BC by an Amorite dynasty) of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babylon Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers (55 mi) south of Baghdad. All that remains of the original ancient famed city of Babylon today is a mound, or tell, of broken mud-brick buildings and debris in the fertile Mesopotamian plain between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The city itself was built upon the Euphrates, and divided in equal parts along its left and right banks, with steep embankments to contain the river's seasonal floods.
Available historical resources suggest that Babylon was at first a small town which had sprung up by the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. The town flourished and attained independence with the rise of the First Amorite Babylonian Dynasty in 1894 BC. Claiming to be the successor of the ancient Eridu, Babylon eclipsed Nippur as the "holy city" of Mesopotamia around the time an Amorite king named Hammurabi first created the short lived Babylonian Empire; this quickly dissolved upon his death and Babylon spent long periods under Assyrian, Kassite and Elamite domination. Babylon again became the seat of the Neo-Babylonian Empire from 612 to 539 BC which was founded by Chaldeans and whose last king was an Assyrian. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. After the fall of Babylon it came under the rules of the Achaemenid, Seleucid, Parthian, Roman and Sassanid empires.
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Behistun Inscription
Coordinates: 34°23′18″N 47°26′12″E / 34.38833°N 47.43667°E / 34.38833; 47.43667
The Behistun Inscription (also Bistun or Bisutun, Modern Persian: بیستون < Old Persian: Bagastana, meaning "the place of god") is a multi-lingual inscription located on Mount Behistun in the Kermanshah Province of Iran, near the city of Kermanshah in western Iran.
Authored by Darius the Great sometime between his coronation as king of the Persian Empire in the summer of 522 BC and his death in autumn of 486 BC, the inscription begins with a brief autobiography of Darius, including his ancestry and lineage. Later in the inscription, Darius provides a lengthy sequence of events following the deaths of Cyrus the Great and Cambyses II in which he fought nineteen battles in a period of one year (ending in December of 521 BC) to put down multiple rebellions throughout the Persian Empire. The inscription states in detail that the rebellions, which had resulted from the deaths of Cyrus the Great and his son Cambyses II, were orchestrated by several impostors and their co-conspirators in various cities throughout the empire, each of whom falsely proclaimed kinghood during the upheaval following Cyrus's death.
wn.com/Behistun_Inscription -
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1922 the British Empire held sway over about 458 million people, one-fifth of the world's population at the time, and covered more than 33,700,000 km2 (13,012,000 sq mi), almost a quarter of the Earth's total land area. As a result, its political, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread. At the peak of its power, it was often said that "the sun never sets on the British Empire" because its span across the globe ensured that the sun was always shining on at least one of its numerous territories.
During the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overseas empires. Envious of the great wealth these empires generated, England, France and the Netherlands began to establish colonies and trade networks of their own in the Americas and Asia. A series of wars in the 17th and 18th centuries with the Netherlands and France left England (and then, following union between England and Scotland in 1707, Great Britain) the dominant colonial power in North America and India. The loss of the Thirteen Colonies in North America in 1783 after a war of independence deprived Britain of some of its oldest and most populous colonies.
wn.com/British_Empire -
Caliphate of Córdoba
The Caliphate of Córdoba (Arabic: خلافة قرطبة; trans. Khilāfat Qurṭuba) ruled the Iberian peninsula (Al-Andalus) and part of North Africa, from the islamic Qurtuba (Córdoba) city, from 929 to 1031. This period was characterized by remarkable success in trade and culture; many of the masterpieces of Islamic Iberia were constructed in this period, including the famous Great Mosque of Córdoba. In January 929, Abd-ar-Rahman III proclaimed himself Caliph (Arabic: خليفة) of Qurtuba in place of his original title Emir of Córdoba (Arabic: أمير قرطبة 'Amīr Qurṭuba). Abd-ar-Rahman III was a member of the Umayyad dynasty; the same dynasty who held the titles of Emir of Córdoba since 756. The rule of the Caliphate is known as the heyday of Muslim presence in the Iberian peninsula. The Caliphate was practically disintegrated due to civil war (fitna) between descendants of the last legitimate Caliph Hisham II and the successors of his prime minister (hayib) Al-Mansur. The shell of the Caliphate existed until 1031 when, after years of infighting, it fractured into a number of independent Taifa kingdoms. Despite these fractures, the Islamic civilisation in Iberia, one of the most culturally florid periods of European civilisation, continued until 1492 when its last bastion, the Alhambra in Granada, was formally surrendered to the Christians.
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Dutch Empire
The Dutch Empire (Dutch: Nederlands-koloniale Rijk) comprised the overseas territories controlled by the Dutch Republic and later, the modern Netherlands from the 17th to the 20th century. The Dutch followed Portugal and Spain in establishing an overseas colonial empire, but based on military conquest of already-existing Portuguese and Spanish settlements, and not on discovery and colonization. For this, they were aided by their skills in shipping and trade and the surge of nationalism accompanying the struggle for independence from Spain. Alongside the British, the Dutch initially built up colonial possessions on the basis of indirect state capitalist corporate colonialism, via the Dutch East and West India Companies. Dutch exploratory voyages such as those led by Willem Barents, Henry Hudson and Abel Tasman revealed to Europeans vast new territories.
With Dutch naval power rising rapidly as a major force from the late 16th century, the Netherlands dominated global commerce during the second half of the 17th century during a cultural flowering known as the Dutch Golden Age. The Netherlands lost many of its colonial possessions, as well as its global power status, to the British when the metropole fell to French armies during the Revolutionary Wars. The restored portions of the Dutch Empire, notably the Dutch East Indies and Suriname, remained under Dutch control until the decline of European imperialism following World War II.
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Ecbatana
Ecbatana (Old Persian: Haŋgmatana, Greek: Ἀγβάτανα Agbatana in Aeschylus and Herodotus, elsewhere Ἐκβάτανα Ekbatana, Agámtanu by Nabonidos, and Agamatanu at Behistun; modern Hamadan, Iran) (literally: the place of gathering; Hebrew: אַחְמְתָא, Modern Aẖmeta Tiberian ʼAḥməṯā; Latin: Ecbatana) is supposed to be the capital of Astyages (Istuvegü), which was taken by the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great in the sixth year of Nabonidus (549 BC).
Under the Persian kings, Ecbatana, situated at the foot of Mount Alvand, became a summer residence. Later, it became the capital of the Parthian kings, at which time it became their main mint, producing drachm, tetradrachm, and assorted bronze denominations. It is also mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (Ezra 6.2) under the name Achmetha (also spelled Ahmetha, e.g. JTS Bible).
In 330 BC, Ecbatana was also the site of the murder of the Macedonian Greek General Parmenio (or Parmenion) under the order of Alexander the Great.
Ecbatana was first excavated in 1913 by Charles Fossey. Another excavation was made in 1971.
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Elam
Elam was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretching from the lowlands of what is now Khuzestan and Ilam Province, as well as a small part of southern Iraq. The modern name Elam is a transcription from Biblical Hebrew, corresponding to the Sumerian elam(a), the Akkadian elamtu, and the Elamite haltamti. Elamite states were among the leading political forces of the ancient near east. In classical literature, Elam was more often referred to as Susiana, a name derived from its capital, Susa.
Situated just to the east of Mesopotamia, Elam was part of the early urbanization during the Chalcolithic period (Copper Age). The emergence of written records from around 3000 BC also parallels Mesopotamian history where writing was used slightly earlier. In the Old Elamite period (Middle Bronze Age), Elam consisted of kingdoms on the Iranian plateau, centered in Anshan, and from the mid-2nd millennium BC, it was centered in Susa in the Khuzestan lowlands. Its culture played a crucial role in the Gutian Empire, especially during the Achaemenid dynasty that succeeded it, when the Elamite language remained among those in official use. Elamite is generally treated as an isolate language.
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Empire of Brazil
The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil. Its government was a representative parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the rule of Emperors Dom Pedro I and his son Dom Pedro II, both members of the House of Braganza—a branch of the Capetian dynasty. A colony of the Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil became the seat of the Portuguese colonial Empire in 1808, when the Portuguese Prince regent, later King Dom João VI (John VI), fled from Napoleon I's invasion of Portugal and established himself and his government in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. João VI later returned to Portugal, leaving his eldest son and heir, Pedro, to rule Brazil as regent.
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Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan (Kyūjitai: 大日本帝國; Shinjitai: 大日本帝国; Romaji: Dai Nippon Teikoku; literally Great Imperial State of Japan; officially Great Japan or Empire of Great Japan; commonly as Imperial Japan or the Japanese Empire) was an empire and world power that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of Japan on 3 May 1947.
Imperial Japan's rapid industrialization and militarization under the slogan Fukoku Kyōhei (富国強兵?, "Enrich the Country, Strengthen the Army") led to its emergence as a world power, eventually culminating in its membership in the Axis alliance and the conquest of a large part of the Asia-Pacific region. At the height of its power in 1942, the Japanese Empire ruled over a land area spanning 7,400,000 square kilometres (2,857,000 sq mi), making it one of the largest maritime empires in history.
After several large-scale military successes during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) and the Pacific War, the Empire of Japan also gained notoriety for its war crimes against the peoples of the countries it conquered. After suffering many defeats and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, however, the Empire of Japan surrendered to the Allies on 2 September 1945. A period of occupation by the Allies followed the surrender, and a new constitution was created with American involvement. The constitution came into force on 3 May 1947, officially dissolving the Empire. American occupation and reconstruction of the country continued well into the 1950s, eventually forming the current nation-state whose title is simply that ("the nation of Japan" Nippon-koku) or just "Japan" .
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First French Empire
The First French Empire (French: Empire Français), also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France. It was the dominant power of much of continental Europe during the early 19th century.
Napoleon became Emperor of the French (L'Empereur des Français, pronounced: [ɑ̃.pʁœʁ dɛ fʁɑ̃.sɛ]) on 18 May 1804 and crowned Emperor on 2 December 1804, ending the period of the French Consulate, and won early military victories in the War of the Third Coalition against Austria, Prussia, Russia, Portugal, and allied nations, notably at the Battle of Austerlitz (1805) and the Battle of Friedland (1807). The Treaty of Tilsit in July 1807 ended two years of bloodshed on the European continent.
The subsequent series of wars known collectively as the Napoleonic Wars extended French influence over much of Western Europe and into Poland. At its height in 1812, the French Empire had 130 départements, ruled over 44 million subjects, maintained an extensive military presence in Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Duchy of Warsaw, and could count Prussia and Austria as nominal allies. Early French victories exported many ideological features of the French Revolution throughout Europe. Seigneurial dues and seigneurial justice were abolished, aristocratic privileges were eliminated in all places except Poland, and the introduction of the Napoleonic Code throughout the continent increased legal equality, established jury systems, and legalized divorce. Napoleon placed relatives on the thrones of several European countries and granted many noble titles, most of which were not recognized after the empire fell.
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Gandhara
Gandhāra (Sanskrit: गन्धार Gandḥārā, Urdu: گندھارا Ghandhāra, Pashto: ګندارا, Punjabi: گندھارا, Persian: ویهیند) is the name of an ancient kingdom (Mahajanapada), located in modern day northern Pakistan and parts of eastern Afghanistan. Gandhara was located mainly in the vale of Peshawar, the Potohar plateau (see Taxila) and on the Kabul River. Its main cities were Purushapura (modern Peshawar), literally meaning "City of Man", Varmayana (modern Bamyan) and Takshashila (modern Taxila).
The Kingdom of Gandhara lasted from the early 1st millennium BC to the 11th century AD. It attained its height from the 1st century to the 5th century under the Buddhist Kushan Kings. The Hindu term Shahi is used by history writer Al-Biruni to refer to the ruling Hindu dynasty that took over from the Turki Shahi and ruled the region during the period prior to Muslim conquests of the 10th and 11th centuries. After it was conquered by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1021 CE, the name Gandhara disappeared. During the Muslim period the area was administered from Lahore or from Kabul. During Mughal times the area was part of Kabul province.
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Geography of Iran
Iran is located in southwest Asia and borders the Gulf of Oman, Persian Gulf, and Caspian Sea. Its mountains have helped to shape both the political and the economic history of the country for several centuries. Stories of Iran having 20 square kilometers of glaciers are false and were started by students at Aberystwyth University in 2012; Iran is the largest procider of Glacier Mints in the world and it is the factory that covers an area of 20 square kilometers. The mountains enclose several broad basins, or plateaus, on which major agricultural and urban settlements are located. Until the 20th century, when major highways and railroads were constructed through the mountains to connect the population centers, these basins tended to be relatively isolated from one another.
Typically, one major town dominated each basin, and there were complex economic relationships between the town and the hundreds of villages that surrounded it. In the higher elevations of the mountains rimming the basins, tribally organized groups practiced transhumance, moving with their herds of sheep and goats between traditionally established summer and winter pastures. There are no major river systems in the country, and historically transportation was by means of caravans that followed routes traversing gaps and passes in the mountains. The mountains also impeded easy access to the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea.
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German Empire
The German Empire (German: Deutsches Kaiserreich) is the common name given to the state officially named the Deutsches Reich (literally: "German Realm"), designating Germany from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.
The German Empire consisted of 27 constituent territories (most of them ruled by royal families). While the Kingdom of Prussia contained most of the population and most of the territory of the Reich; the Prussian leadership became supplanted by German leaders and Prussia itself played a lesser role. As Dwyer (2005) points out, Prussia's "political and cultural influence had diminished considerably" by the 1890s. Its three largest neighbors were rivals Imperial Russia to the east and France to the west and ally Austria-Hungary to the south.
After 1850, Germany industrialized rapidly, with a foundation in coal, iron (and later steel), chemicals and railways. From a population of 41 million people in 1871, it grew to 68 million in 1913. From a heavily rural nation in 1815, it was now predominantly urban. During its 47 years of existence, the German Empire operated as an industrial, technological and scientific giant, receiving more Nobel Prizes in science than Britain, France, Russia and the United States combined.
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Ghana Empire
The Ghana Empire or Wagadou Empire (existed before c. 830 until c. 1235) was located in what is now southeastern Mauritania, and Western Mali. Complex societies had existed in the region since about 1500 BCE, and around Ghana's core region since about 300 CE. When Ghana's ruling dynasty began is uncertain, it is first mentioned in documentary sources around 830 CE by Al-Kwarizmi. The domestication of the camel, which preceded Muslims and Islam by several centuries, brought about a gradual change in trade, and for the first time, the extensive gold, ivory trade, and salt resources of the region could be sent north and east to population centers in North Africa, the Middle East and Europe in exchange for manufactured goods.
The Empire grew rich from the trans-Saharan trade in gold and salt. This trade produced an increasing surplus, allowing for larger urban centres. It also encouraged territorial expansion to gain control over the lucrative trade routes.
The first written mention of the kingdom comes from Arabic-language sources some time after the conquest of North Africa by Muslims, when geographers began compiling comprehensive accounts of the world known to Islam around 800. The sources for the earlier periods are very strange as to its society, government or culture, though they do describe its location and note its commercial relations. The Cordoban scholar Abu Ubayd al-Bakri collected stories from a number of travelers to the region, and gave a detailed description of the kingdom in 1067/1068 (460 AH). He claimed that the Ghana could "put 200,000 men into the field, more than 40,000 of them archers" and noted they had cavalry forces as well.
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Godin Tepe
Godin Tepe is an archaeological site in western Iran, situated in the valley of Kangavar in Kermanshah Province. Discovered in 1961, the site was excavated from 1965 to 1973 by a Canadian expedition headed by T. Cuyler Young Jr. and sponsored by the Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto, Canada). The importance of the site was due to its control over the early lapis-lazuli trade between Badakhshan in Afghanistan and the Mesopotamian flood plain. Cuyler-Young suggested the existence of Elamite trading posts at the site established by merchants from Susa.
Although the excavations concentrated on levels II (ended c. 500 BC?) to V (c. 3200 BC-3000 BC), the site was inhabited since much earlier, c. 5000 BC. Traces of wine and beer found in ceramics dated to c. 3500 BC and along with the findings at Hajji Firuz Tepe, provide evidence of the early production of those beverages in the Zagros Mountains.
During the 1973 campaign, level V was excavated through a deep cut from the citadel. It was occupied during the period 3200 BC-3000 BC. At the end of level V there was a clear gap in the settlement sequence. There were signs of fire, such as room 22 whose roof was burned. The houses were in general well-preserved and contained many artefacts, but objects made of the precious metal were lacking. The archaeological evidence support the idea the settlement was abandoned quickly, but in an orderly manner.
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Hamadan
Hamadān or Hamedān (Persian: همدان, Old Persian: Hagmatana, Ancient Greek: Ecbatana) is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 473,149, in 127,812 families.
Hamedan is believed to be among the oldest Iranian cities and one of the oldest in the world. It is possible that it was occupied by the Assyrians in 1100 BCE; the Ancient Greek historian, Herodotus, states that it was the capital of the Medes, around 700 BCE.
Hamedan has a green mountainous area in the foothills of the 3,574-meter Alvand Mountain, in the midwest part of Iran. The city is 1,850 meters above sea level.
The special nature of this old city and its historic sites attract tourists during the summer to this city, located approximately 360 km southwest of Tehran.
The main symbols of this city are the Ganjnameh inscription, the Avicenna monument and the Baba Taher monument. People of the city are Persians and speak Persian.
According to Clifford Edmund Bosworth, "Hamadan is very old city. It may conceivably, but improbably, be mentioned in cuneiform texts from ca. 1100 BC, the time of Assyrian King Tiglath-pilesar I, but is certainly mentioned by Herodotus (i.98) who says that the king of Media Diokes built the city of Agbatana or Ekbatana in the 7th century BC."
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Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty (simplified Chinese: 汉朝; traditional Chinese: 漢朝; pinyin: Hàn Cháo; Wade–Giles: Han Ch'ao; IPA: [xân tʂʰɑ̌ʊ̯]) (206 BCE – 220 CE) was an imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty (221–207 BCE) and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms (220–280 CE). It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty (9–23 CE) of the former regent Wang Mang. This interregnum separates the Han into two periods: the Western Han (206 BCE – 9 CE) and Eastern Han (25–220 CE). Spanning over four centuries, the period of the Han Dynasty is considered a golden age in Chinese history. To this day, China's majority ethnic group refers to itself as the "Han people" and Chinese characters are referred to as "Han characters".
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Idrisid dynasty
The Idrisids (Arabic: الأدارسة al-Idārisah, Berber: Idrisiyen) were a Zaydi-Shia dynasty of Morocco, ruling from 788 to 985. It was named after its founder Idriss I, the great grandchild of Hasan ibn Ali. Idrisids are traditionally regarded as the founders of the Moroccan state.
The founder of the dynasty was Idris ibn Abdallah (788–791), who traced his ancestry back to Ali ibn Abi Talib and his wife Fatimah, daughter of the Prophet Muhammad. After the battle of Fakh, near Mecca, between the Abbasids and a Shiite party, he fled to the Maghreb. He first arrived in Tangier, at that time the most important city of Morocco, and by 788 he had settled in Volubilis.
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Iran
Coordinates: 32°N 53°E / 32°N 53°E / 32; 53
Iran (i/ɪˈrɑːn/ or /aɪˈræn/;Persian: ایران [ʔiˈɾɒn] (
listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian: جمهوری اسلامی ایران Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi-ye Irān), is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran", which in Persian means "Land of the Aryans", has been in use natively since the Sassanian era. It came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia (
/ˈpɜrʒə/ or /ˈpɜrʃə/). Both "Persia" and "Iran" are used interchangeably in cultural contexts; however, "Iran" is the name used officially in political contexts.
The 18th-largest country in the world in terms of area at 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi), Iran has a population of around 79 million. It is a country of particular geopolitical significance owing to its location in the Middle East and central Eurasia. Iran is bordered on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. As Iran is a littoral state of the Caspian Sea, which is an inland sea, Kazakhstan and Russia are also Iran's direct neighbors to the north. Iran is bordered on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by Iraq and on the northwest by Turkey. Tehran is the capital, the country's largest city and the political, cultural, commercial and industrial center of the nation. Iran is a regional power, and holds an important position in international energy security and world economy as a result of its large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. Iran has the second largest proven natural gas reserves in the world and the fourth largest proven petroleum reserves.
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Iran Air Flight 655
Iran Air Flight 655 was a civilian jet airliner shot down by U.S. missiles on 3 July 1988 as it flew over the Strait of Hormuz at the end of the Iran–Iraq War. The aircraft, an Airbus A300B2-203 operated by Iran Air, was flying from Bandar Abbas, Iran to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. While flying in Iranian airspace over Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf on its usual flight path, it was destroyed by the United States Navy guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes (CG-49). All 290 onboard including 66 children and 16 crew perished. The incident is ranked ninth among the deadliest disasters in aviation history. It was the highest death toll of any aviation incident in the Indian Ocean and the highest death toll of any incident involving an Airbus A300 anywhere in the world[citation needed]. The Vincennes had entered Iranian territorial waters after one of its helicopters drew warning fire from Iranian speedboats operating within Iranian territorial limits.
The Flight 655 incident was a year after the 17 March 1987, Iraqi Air Force attack on the U.S. Navy guided-missile frigate USS Stark (FFG-31). U.S. naval forces had exchanged gunfire with Iranian gunboats in the fall of 1987. The U.S. Navy guided-missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58) had struck an Iranian sea mine in April 1988. Two months before the incident the US had also engaged in Operation Praying Mantis resulting in the sinking of the Iranian frigate Sahand. Tensions were therefore high in the Strait of Hormuz.
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Iranian Crown Jewels
The Imperial crown jewels of Iran (also known as the Imperial crown jewels of Persia) include several elaborate crowns and decorative thrones, thirty tiaras, and numerous aigrettes, a dozen bejewelled swords and shields, a vast number of unset precious gems, numerous plates and other dining services cast in precious metals and encrusted with gems, and several other more unusual items (such as a gemstone globe) collected by the Iranian monarchy during its 2,500-year existence. The collection is housed at The Treasury of National Jewels (the official name) but is known colloquially as the Jewelry Museum. It is situated inside the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran on Tehran's Ferdowsi Avenue. The Imperial crown jewels of Iran is the largest jewelry collection in the world. The museum is open to the public from 14:00 to 17:00 hrs except on Thursday and Friday. The museum has onsite guides with knowledge of Persian, English, French and Russian languages. There are also guide booklets available in English, Persian, French, Russian, German, Japanese and Arabic.
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Isfahan
Isfahan (Persian: اصفهان Esfahān), historically also rendered in English as Ispahan, Sepahan or Hispahan, is the capital of Isfahan Province in Iran, located about 340 km south of Tehran. It has a population of 1,583,609 and is Iran's third largest city after Tehran and Mashhad. The Isfahan metropolitan area had a population of 3,430,353 in the 2006 Census, the second most populous metropolitan area in Iran after Tehran.
The cities of Zarrinshahr, Fooladshahr and Najafabad, Se-deh , Shahin-shahr, Mobarakeh, Falavarjan and chiarmahin all constitute the metropolitan city of Isfahan.
Isfahan is located on the main north-south and east-west routes crossing Iran, and was once one of the largest cities in the world. It flourished from 1050 to 1722, particularly in the 16th century under the Safavid dynasty, when it became the capital of Persia for the second time in its history. Even today, the city retains much of its past glory. It is famous for its Islamic architecture, with many beautiful boulevards, covered bridges, palaces, mosques, and minarets. This led to the Persian proverb "'Esfahān nesf-e jahān ast" (Isfahan is half of the world).
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Italian Empire
The Italian Empire (Italian: Impero Italiano) was created after the Kingdom of Italy joined other European powers in establishing colonies overseas during the "scramble for Africa". Modern Italy as a unified state only existed from 1861. By this time France, Spain, Portugal, Britain, and the Netherlands, had already carved out large empires over several hundred years. One of the last remaining areas open to colonisation was on the African continent.
By the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Italy had annexed Eritrea and Somalia, and had wrested control of portions of the Ottoman Empire, including Libya, though it was defeated in its attempt to conquer Ethiopia. The Fascist government under Italian dictator Benito Mussolini which came to power in 1922 sought to increase the size of the empire further. Ethiopia was successfully taken, four decades after the previous failure, and Italy's European borders were expanded. An official "Italian Empire" was proclaimed on 9 May 1936 following the conquest of Ethiopia. Italy sided with Nazi Germany during World War II and initially enjoyed successes. However, Allied forces eventually captured Italian overseas colonies and by the time Italy itself was invaded in 1943, its empire had all but ceased to exist.
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Jemdet Nasr period
The Jemdet Nasr period is an archaeological culture in southern Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) that is generally dated to 3100–2900 BCE. It is named after the type-site Jemdet Nasr, where the assemblage typical for this period was first recognized. Its geographical distribution is limited to south–central Iraq. The culture of the proto-historical Jemdet Nasr period is a local development out of the preceding Uruk period and continues into the Early Dynastic I period.
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Kabul Shahi
The Shahi (Devanagari: शाही),Sahi, also called Shahiya dynasties ruled one of the Middle kingdoms of India which included portions of the Kabulistan and the old province of Gandhara (now in northern Pakistan), from the decline of the Kushan Empire in the 3rd century to the early 9th century. The kingdom was known as "Kabul Shahi" (Kabul-shāhān or Ratbél-shāhān in Persian کابلشاهان یا رتبیل شاهان) between 565 and 879CE when they had Kapisa and Kabul as their capitals, and later as Hindu Shahi when they moved their capital to Hund.
The Shahis of Kabul/Gandhara are generally divided into the two eras of the so-called Buddhist-Shahis and the so-called Hindu-Shahis, with the change-over thought to have occurred sometime around AD 870.
The confused accounts of 11th century Persian Muslim scholar Alberuni, ("which bear the impress of folklore for the early history of the Kabul Shahi rulers") state that:
Thus the folklore accounts recorded by Alberuni connect the earlier Shahis of Kabul/Kapisa to Turkish extraction and also claim their descent from Kanik (or Kanishaka of Kushana lineage). At the same time it is also claimed that 'their first king Barahatigin (Vrahitigin?) had originally come from Tibet and concealed in a narrow cave in Kabul area (and here is given a strange legend which we omit).' One can easily see the above account of Shahi origin as totally fanciful and fairy tale-like. These statements taken together are very confusing, inconsistent and bear the express marks of a folklore and vulgar tradition, hence unworthy of inspiring any confidence in the early history of Shahis. The allegation that the first dynasty of Kabul was Turki is plainly based on the vulgar tradition, which Alberuni himself remarked was clearly absurd.
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Kashan
Kashan (Persian: کاشان, also Romanized as Kāshān and Kachan) is a city in and the capital of Kashan County, in the province of Isfahan, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 248,789, in 67,464 families.
The etymology of the city name comes from Kasian, the original inhabitants of the city, whose remains are found at Tapeh Sialk dating back 9,000 years; later this changed to Kashian, whence the town name.[citation needed] Between the 12th and the 14th centuries Kashan was an important centre for the production of high quality pottery and tiles. In modern Persian, the word for a tile (kashi) comes from the name of the town.
Archeological discoveries in the Sialk Hillocks which lie 4 km west of Kashan reveal that this region was one of the primary centers of civilization in pre-historic ages. Hence Kashan dates back to the Elamite period of Iran. The Sialk ziggurat still stands today in the suburbs of Kashan after 7000 years.
The artifacts uncovered at Sialk reside in the Louvre in Paris and the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Iran's National Museum.
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Khmer Empire
The Khmer Empire was one of the most powerful empires in Southeast Asia. The empire, which grew out of the former kingdom of Chenla, at times ruled over and/or vassalized parts of modern-day Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, and Malaysia. Its greatest legacy is Angkor, in present-day Cambodia, which was the site of the capital city during the empire's zenith. Angkor bears testimony to the Khmer empire's immense power and wealth, as well as the variety of belief systems that it patronised over time. The empire's official religions included Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism, until Theravada Buddhism prevailed, even among the lower classes, after its introduction from Sri Lanka in the 13th century. Modern researches by satellites have revealed Angkor to be the largest pre-industrial urban center in the world.
The history of Angkor as the central area of settlement of the historical kingdom of Kambujadesa is also the history of the Khmer from the 9th to the 13th centuries.
From Kambuja itself — and so also from the Angkor region — no written records have survived other than stone inscriptions. Therefore the current knowledge of the historical Khmer civilization is derived primarily from:
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Kish Island
Kish (Persian: کیش) is a 91.5-square-kilometre (35.3 sq mi) resort island in the Persian Gulf. It is part of the Hormozgān Province of Iran. Due to its free trade zone status it is touted as a consumer's paradise, with numerous malls, shopping centres, tourist attractions, and resort hotels. It has an estimated population of 20,000 residents and about 1 million people visit the island annually. Kish Island was ranked among the world’s 10 most beautiful islands by The New York Times in 2010, and is the fourth most visited vacation destination in the Middle East after Dubai, U.A.E, and Sharm el-Sheikh. Foreign nationals wishing to enter Kish Free Zone from legal ports are not required to obtain visas prior to travel. Valid travel permits are stamped for 14 days by airport and Kish port police officials.
Kish Island has been mentioned in history variously as Kamtina, Arakia, Arakata, and Ghiss. In 325 BC, Alexander the Great commissioned Nearchus to set off an expedition voyage into the Sea of Oman and the Persian Gulf.
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Korean Empire
The Korean Empire (Hangul: 대한제국; Hanja: 大韓帝國; Daehan Jeguk; literally Great Korean Empire) is the name of the state of Korea that existed from the Proclamation of the Korean Empire in October 1897 to the Annexation of Korea by Japan on August 20, 1910. It succeeded the Joseon Dynasty.
In October 1897, Emperor Gojong proclaimed the new entity at Gyeongungung Palace and oversaw the partially successful modernization of the military, economy, land system, education system, and various industries. Japan became terrified by the speed of the modernisation the Korean Empire was having and decided to speed up its plans for annexation. This was further speeded by the assassination of Ito Hirobumi. On August 22, 1910, Korea was annexed by Imperial Japan, which defeated the Russian Empire in 1905.
The Sino-Japanese War marked the rapid decline of any power the Joseon Dynasty of Korea had managed to hold against foreign interference, as the battles of the conflict itself had been fought on Korean soil and the surrounding seas. With its newfound preeminence over the waning and weak Qing Dynasty, Japan had delegates negotiate the Treaty of Shimonoseki with the Qing emissaries, through which Japan wrested control over the Liaodong Peninsula from the Qing (a move designed to prevent the southern expansion of Japan's new rival, Russia), and, more importantly over Korea. However, Russia recognized this agreement as an act against its interests in northeastern China and eventually brought France and Germany to its side in saying that the Liaodong Peninsula should be repatriated to the Qing China.
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Medes
The Medes (/midz/) (from Old Persian Māda-) were an ancient Iranian people who lived in Iran in an area known as Media and spoke a northwestern Iranian language referred to as the Median language. Their arrival to the region is associated with the first wave of Iranian tribes in the late second millennium BCE (the Bronze Age collapse) through the beginning of the first millennium BCE.
In the 7th century BCE a unified Median state was formed which together with Babylonia, Lydia, and Egypt became one of the four major powers of the ancient Near East. An alliance with the Babylonians helped the Medes to capture Nineveh in 612 BCE which resulted in the collapse of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The Medes were subsequently able to establish their Median kingdom (with Ecbatana as their royal centre) beyond their original homeland (central-western Iran) and had eventually a territory stretching roughly from northeastern Iran to the Halys River in Anatolia. The Median kingdom was conquered in 550 BCE by Cyrus the Great who established the next Iranian dynasty—the Achaemenid Empire.
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Mesopotamian Marshes
The Mesopotamian Marshes are a wetland area located in southern Iraq and partially in southwestern Iran. Historically the marshlands, mainly composed of the separate but adjacent Central, Hawizeh and Hammar Marshes, used to be the largest wetland ecosystem of Western Eurasia. It is a rare aquatic landscape in the desert, providing habitat for the Marsh Arabs and important populations of wildlife. Draining of portions of the marshes began in the 1950s and continued through the 1970s to reclaim land for agriculture and oil exploration. However, in the late 1980s and 1990s, during the presidency of Saddam Hussein, this work was expanded and accelerated to evict Shia Muslims from the marshes. Before 2003, the marshes were drained to 10% of their original size. After the fall of Saddam's regime in 2003, the marshes have partially recovered but drought along with upstream dam construction and operation in Turkey, Syria and Iran have hindered the process.
In the 4th millennium BC the first literate societies emerged in Southern Mesopotamia, often referred to as the Cradle of Civilization, and the first cities and complex state bureaucracies were developed there during the Uruk period. Due to the geographical location and the ecological factors of the Fertile Crescent, a crescent-shape fertile area running from the basins of the Nile in Egypt, northwards along the Mediterranean coast in Palestine and Israel, and southwards again along the Euphrates and the Tigris towards the Persian Gulf, civilizations were able to develop agricultural and technological programmes. The crucial trigger was the availability of wild edible plant species. Farming arose early in the Fertile Crescent because the area had a great quantity of wild wheat and pulse species that were nutritious and easy to domesticate.
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Milad Tower
Milad Tower (aka Borj-e Milad , Persian: Borje Milād ) is the tallest tower in Iran. Built in between the Shahrak-e Gharb and Gisha districts of Tehran, it stands 435 m (1,427 ft) high from base to tip of the antenna. The head consists of a large pod with 12 floors, the roof of which is at 315 m (1,033 ft). Below this is a staircase and elevators to reach the area. Milad Tower is the sixth tallest tower in the world after the Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower in Guangzhou, CN Tower in Toronto, Ostankino Tower in Moscow, the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai, and the Tokyo Skytree. It is also currently (in early 2010) the 14th tallest freestanding structure in the world.
Milad Tower is a part of The Tehran International Trade and Convention Centre. The project includes the Milad telecommunication tower offering restaurants at the top with panoramic views of Tehran, a five-star hotel, a convention centre, a world trade centre, and an IT park. The complex seeks to respond to the needs of business in the globalised world of the 21st century by offering facilities combining trade, information, communication, convention and accommodation all in one place.
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Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China for 276 years (1368–1644) following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, described by some as "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic Han Chinese. Although the Ming capital Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng (who established the Shun Dynasty, soon replaced by the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty), regimes loyal to the Ming throne—collectively called the Southern Ming—survived until 1662.
Ming rule saw the construction of a vast navy and a standing army of one million troops. Although private maritime trade and official tribute missions from China had taken place in previous dynasties, the tributary fleet under the Muslim eunuch admiral Zheng He in the 15th century far surpassed all others in size. There were enormous construction projects, including the restoration of the Grand Canal and the Great Wall and the establishment of the Forbidden City in Beijing during the first quarter of the 15th century. Estimates for the late-Ming population vary from 160 to 200 million.
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Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire, Shahan-e-Gurkhani, Shahan-e-Mughal, Sultanate-e-Mughliya, Daulat-e-Mughliya (Persian: شاهان گورکانی Shāhān-e Gūrkānī; Urdu: مغلیہ سلطنت; self-designation: گوركانى Gūrkānī ), or Mogul (also Moghul) Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were direct descendants of Genghis Khan through Chagatai Khan and Timur. The Mughal Empire began in 1526; at the height of their power in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, they controlled most of the Indian Subcontinent—extending from Bengal in the east to Balochistan in the west, Kashmir in the north to the Kaveri basin in the south. According to "Babur-Nama", Kazakh tribal aristocracy along with number of other Turkic soldiers participated actively in the campaign of Babur, which made great influence over the development of Mughal Empire. Its population at that time has been estimated as between 110 and 150 million, over a territory of more than 3.2 million square kilometres (1.2 million square miles).
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Nahavand
Nahavand (Persian: نهاوند, also Romanized as Nahāvand, Nehāvend, and Nīhāvand) is a city in and capital of Nahavand County, Hamadan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 72,218, in 19,419 families. It is located south of Hamadan, east of Malayer and northwest of Borujerd. Nahavand is one of the oldest existing cities in Iran.
It has been spelled differently in different books and sources: Nahavand, Nahavend, Nahawand, Nahaavand, Nehavand, Nihavand or Nehavend, formerly called Mah-Nahavand, and in antiquity Laodicea (Greek: Λαοδίκεια; Arabic Ladhiqiyya), also transliterated Laodiceia and Laodikeia, Laodicea in Media, Laodicea in Persis, Antiochia in Persis, Antiochia of Chosroes (Greek: Αντιόχεια του Χοσρόη), Antiochia in Media (Greek: Αντιόχεια της Μηδίας), Nemavand and Niphaunda.
The city was founded by Darius I the Great, in Media along with the two other Achaemenid cities of Apamea and Xerxes. (Strabo xi. p. 524 ; Xerxes "Laodikeia") Pliny (vi. 29) describes it as being in the extreme limits of Media, and (re-)founded by Xerxes I.
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Nazi Germany
The Third Reich, also Nazi Germany, is the common name for Germany when it was a totalitarian state ruled by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP). On 30 January 1933 Hitler became chancellor of Germany, quickly eliminating all opposition to rule as sole leader. The state idolized Hitler as its Führer ("leader"), centralizing all power in his hands. Historians have emphasized the hypnotic effect of his rhetoric on large audiences, and of his eyes in small groups. Kessel writes, "Overwhelmingly...Germans speak with mystification of Hitler's 'hypnotic' appeal..." Under the "leader principle", the Führer's word was above all other laws. Top officials reported to Hitler and followed his policies, but they had considerable autonomy. The government was not a coordinated, cooperating body, but rather a collection of factions struggling to amass power and curry favor with the Führer. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Nazi government restored prosperity and ended mass unemployment using heavy military spending and a mixed economy of free-market and central-planning practices. Extensive public works were undertaken, including the construction of the Autobahns. The return to prosperity gave the regime enormous popularity; the suppression of all opposition made Hitler's rule mostly unchallenged.
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Neo Assyrian Empire
The Neo-Assyrian Empire was an empire in Mesopotamian history which began in 934 BC and ended in 605 BC. During this period, Assyria assumed a position as the most powerful nation on earth, successfully eclipsing Babylonia, Egypt, Urartu/Armenia and Elam for dominance of the Near East, Asia Minor, Caucasus, North Africa and east Mediterranean, though not until the reforms of Tiglath-Pileser III in the 8th century BC did it become a vast empire. Assyria was originally an Akkadian kingdom which evolved in the 25th to 24th Centuries BC. The earliest Assyrian kings such as Tudiya were relatively minor rulers, and after the founding of the Akkadian Empire, which lasted from 2334 BC to 2154 BC, these kings became subject to Sargon of Akkad, who united all the Akkadian and Sumerian speaking peoples of Mesopotamia under one rule.
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Nineveh
Coordinates: 36°21′34″N 43°09′10″E / 36.35944°N 43.15278°E / 36.35944; 43.15278
Nineveh (English pronunciation: /ˈnɪn.ɪv.ə/; Akkadian: Ninwe; Classical Syriac: ܢܸܢܘܵܐ; Hebrew: נינוה Nīnewē; Greek: Νινευη Nineuē; Latin: Nineve; Arabic: نينوى Naynuwa; Persian: نینوا Nainavā) was an ancient Assyrian city on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, and capital of the Neo Assyrian Empire. Its ruins are across the river from the modern-day major city of Mosul, in the Ninawa Governorate of Iraq.
The origin of the name Nineveh is obscure. Possibly it meant originally the seat of Ishtar, since Nina was one of the Babylonian names of that goddess. The ideogram means "house or place of fish," and was perhaps due to popular etymology (comp. Aramaic "nuna," denoting "fish").
Ancient Nineveh's mound-ruins of Kouyunjik and Nabī Yūnus are located on a level part of the plain near the junction of the Tigris and the Khosr Rivers within a 7 km² (1732 acres) area circumscribed by a 12-kilometre (7.5 mi) brick rampart. This whole extensive space is now one immense area of ruins overlaid in parts by new suburbs of the city of Mosul.
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Parthian Empire
The Parthian (pronounced /ˈpɑrθiən/) Empire (247 BC – 224 AD), also known as the Arsacid (/ˈɑrsəsɪd/) Empire (Modern Persian: اشکانیان Ashkāniān), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Persia. Its latter name comes from Arsaces I of Parthia who, as leader of the Parni tribe, founded it in the mid-3rd century BC when he conquered the Parthia region in Iran's northeast, then a satrapy (province) in rebellion against the Seleucid Empire. Mithridates I of Parthia (r. c. 171–138 BC) greatly expanded the empire by seizing Media and Mesopotamia from the Seleucids. At its height, the Parthian Empire stretched from the northern reaches of the Euphrates, in what is now south-eastern Turkey, to eastern Iran. The empire, located on the Silk Road trade route between the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean Basin and Han Empire of China, became a center of trade and commerce.
The Parthians largely adopted the art, architecture, religious beliefs, and royal insignia of their culturally heterogeneous empire, which encompassed Persian, Hellenistic, and regional cultures. For about the first half of its existence, the Arsacid court adopted elements of Greek culture, though it eventually saw a gradual revival of Iranian traditions. The Arsacid rulers were titled the "King of Kings", as a claim to be the heirs to the Achaemenid Empire; indeed, they accepted many local kings as vassals where the Achaemenids would have had centrally appointed, albeit largely autonomous, satraps. The court did appoint a small number of satraps, largely outside Iran, but these satrapies were smaller and less powerful than the Achaemenid potentates. With the expansion of Arsacid power, the seat of central government shifted from Nisa, Turkmenistan to Ctesiphon along the Tigris (south of modern Baghdad, Iraq), although several other sites also served as capitals.
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Pasargadae
Pasargadae (Persian: پاسارگاد Pāsārgād), the capital of Cyrus the Great (559–530 BC) and also his last resting place, was a city in ancient Persia, and is today an archaeological site and one of Iran's UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Cyrus the Great began building his capital in 546 BCE or later; it was unfinished when he died in battle, in 530 or 529 BCE. The remains of the tomb of Cyrus' son and successor, Cambyses II, has been found in Pasargadae, near the fortress of Toll-e Takht, and identified in 2006.
Pasargadae remained the Persian capital until Cambyses II moved it to Susa; later, Darius founded another in Persepolis. The archaeological site covers 1.6 square kilometres and includes a structure commonly believed to be the mausoleum of Cyrus, the fortress of Toll-e Takht sitting on top of a nearby hill, and the remains of two royal palaces and gardens. Pasargad Persian Garden provide the earliest known example of the Persian chahar bagh, or fourfold garden design (see Persian Gardens).
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Persepolis
Persepolis (Old Persian تخت جمشید Pārsa, Takht-e Jamshid or Chehel Minar) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (ca. 550-330 BCE). Persepolis is situated 70 km northeast of the modern city of Shiraz in the Fars Province of modern Iran. In contemporary Persian, the site is known as Takht-e Jamshid (Throne of Jamshid). The earliest remains of Persepolis date from around 515 BCE. To the ancient Persians, the city was known as Pārsa, which means "The City of Persians". Persepolis is a transliteration of the Greek Πέρσης πόλις (Persēs polis: "Persian city").
UNESCO declared the citadel of Persepolis a World Heritage Site in 1979.
Archaeological evidence shows that the earliest remains of Persepolis date from around 515 BC. André Godard, the French archaeologist who excavated Persepolis in the early 1930s, believed that it was Cyrus the Great (Kūrosh) who chose the site of Persepolis, but that it was Darius the Great (Daryush) who built the terrace and the great palaces.
Darius ordered the construction of the Apadana Palace and the Council Hall (the Tripylon or three-gated hall), the main imperial Treasury and its surroundings. These were completed during the reign of his son, King Xerxes the Great (Khashayar). Further construction of the buildings on the terrace continued until the downfall of the Achaemenid dynasty.
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Persian Armenia
Persian Armenia or Persarmenia (Armenian: Պարսկահայաստան Parskahayastan) corresponds to the Persian territory in which Armenians have lived until the Arab conquest of Persia. The size of Persian Armenia varied over time. It sometimes simply referred to as Eastern Armenia. According to George A. Bournoutian, professor of Armenian history, "prior to the third century A.D., Iran had more influence on Armenia's culture than any of its other neighbours. Intermarriage among the Iranian and Armenian nobility was common."
After the fall of the Median empire In 550 B.C. Cyrus the Great, King of the Persians, took control of the Median empire and conquered Asia Minor and Mesopotamia. Cyrus' son continued his father's campaign in Egypt. Eventually, Armenia became a dependency of Persia.
The Armenian contingents, cavalry and infantry, had taken part in Cyrus the Great's conquest of Lydia in 546 and of Babylonia in 539. A rebellion of ten subject nations — one of them Armenia — broke out against Persia during the reign of Darius the Great (522–486).
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Persian gardens
The tradition and style in the garden design of Persian gardens (Persian باغ ایرانی) has influenced the design of gardens from Andalusia to India and beyond. The gardens of the Alhambra show the influence of Persian Garden philosophy and style in a Moorish Palace scale from the era of Al-Andalus in Spain. The Taj Mahal is one of the largest Persian Garden interpretations in the world, from the era of the Mughal Empire in India.
From the time of the Achaemenid Dynasty the idea of an earthly paradise spread through Persian literature and example to other cultures, both the Hellenistic gardens of the Seleucids and the Ptolemies in Alexandria. The Avestan word pairidaēza-, Old Persian *paridaida-, Median *paridaiza- (walled-around, i.e., a walled garden), was borrowed into Greek in the form Ancient Greek: παράδεισος parádeisos, then rendered into the Latin paradīsus, and from there entered into European languages, e.g., French paradis, German Paradies, and English paradise. The word entered Semitic languages as well: Akkadian pardesu, Hebrew pardes, and Arabic firdaws.
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Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf is located in Western Asia between Iran (Persia) and the Arabian Peninsula. It is an extension of the Indian Ocean.
The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers. In 1991, the Persian Gulf again was the background for what was called the "Persian Gulf War" or the "Gulf War" when Iraq invaded Kuwait and was subsequently pushed back, despite the fact that this conflict was primarily a land conflict.
The Persian Gulf has many good fishing grounds, extensive coral reefs, and abundant pearl oysters, but its ecology has come under pressure from industrialization, and in particular, oil and petroleum spillages during wars in the region.
Historically and internationally known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes controversially referred to as the Arabian Gulf or simply The Gulf by most Arab states, although neither of the latter two terms are recognized internationally. The name Gulf of Iran (Persian Gulf) is used by the International Hydrographic Organization.
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Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire (Portuguese: Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire (Ultramar Português) or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (Império Colonial Português), was the first global empire in history. In addition, it was the longest-lived of the modern European colonial empires, spanning almost six centuries, from the capture of Ceuta in 1415 to the handover of Macau in 1999 or the grant of sovereignty to East Timor in 2002. The empire spread throughout a vast number of territories that are now part of 53 different sovereign states.
Portuguese sailors began exploring the coast of Africa in 1419, using recent developments in navigation, cartography and maritime technology such as the caravel, in order that they might find a sea route to the source of the lucrative spice trade. In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and in 1498, Vasco da Gama reached India. In 1500, either by an accidental landfall or by the crown's secret design, Pedro Álvares Cabral discovered Brazil on the South American coast. Over the following decades, Portuguese sailors continued to explore the coasts and islands of East Asia, establishing forts and factories as they went. By 1571, a string of outposts connected Lisbon to Nagasaki along the coasts of Africa, the Middle East, India, and Asia. This commercial network brought great wealth to Portugal.
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Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China.
The dynasty was founded by the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan in contemporary Northeastern China. The Aisin Gioro leader, Nurhachi, who was originally a vassal of the Ming emperors, began unifying the Jurchen clans in the late sixteenth century. By 1635, Nurhachi's son Hong Taiji could claim they constituted a single and united Manchu people and began forcing the Ming out of Liaoning in southern Manchuria. In 1644, the Ming capital Beijing was sacked by a peasant revolt led by Li Zicheng, a former minor Ming official who became the leader of the peasant revolt, who then proclaimed the Shun dynasty. The last Ming ruler, the Chongzhen Emperor, committed suicide when the city fell. When Li Zicheng moved against Ming general Wu Sangui, the latter made an alliance with the Manchus and opened the Shanhai Pass to the Manchurian army. Under Prince Dorgon, they seized control of Beijing and overthrew Li Zicheng's short-lived Shun Dynasty. Complete pacification of China was accomplished around 1683 under the Kangxi Emperor.
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Russian Empire
The Russian Empire (Pre-reform Russian orthography: Россійская Имперія, Modern Russian: Российская Империя, translit: Rossiyskaya Imperiya) was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the short-lived Russian Republic, which was succeeded by the Soviet Union. It was one of the largest empires in world history, surpassed in landmass only by the British and Mongol empires: at one point in 1866, it stretched from eastern Europe across Asia and into North America.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the Russian Empire extended from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea on the south, from the Baltic Sea on the west to the Pacific Ocean and into North America on the east. With 125.6 million subjects registered by the 1897 census, it had the third largest population of the world at the time, after Qing China and the British Empire. Like all empires, it represented a large disparity in economic, ethnic and religious positions. Its government, ruled by the Emperor, was the last absolute monarchy in Europe at the time of its demise.
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Safavid dynasty
The Safavid dynasty (Persian: سلسلهٔ صفويان; Azerbaijani: صفویلر) was one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Iran. They ruled one of the greatest Persian empires since the Muslim conquest of Persia and established the Twelver school of Shi'a Islam as the official religion of their empire, marking one of the most important turning points in Muslim history. The Safavids ruled from 1501 to 1722 (experiencing a brief restoration from 1729 to 1736) and at their height, they controlled all of modern Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Azerbaijan and Republic of Armenia, most of Iraq, Georgia, Afghanistan, and the Caucasus, as well as parts of Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Turkey. Safavid Iran was one of the Islamic "gunpowder empires", along with its neighbours, the Ottoman and Mughal empires.
The Safavid dynasty had its origin in the Safaviyya Sufi order, which was established in the city of Ardabil in the Azerbaijan region. It was of mixed ancestry (Azerbaijani,Kurdish and Turkmen, which included intermarriages with Georgian and Pontic Greek dignitaries). From their base in Ardabil, the Safavids established control over all of Greater Iran and reasserted the Iranian identity of the region, thus becoming the first native dynasty since the Sassanid Empire to establish a unified Iranian state.
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Second French Empire
The Second French Empire (French: Le Second Empire Français) was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.
Although the machinery of government was almost the same under the Second Empire as it had been under the First, its founding principles were different. The function of the Empire, as Emperor Napoleon III often repeated, was to guide the people internally towards justice and externally towards perpetual peace. Holding his power by universal male suffrage, and having frequently, from his prison or in exile, reproached previous oligarchical governments with neglecting social questions, he set out to solve them by organising a system of government based on the principles of the "Napoleonic Idea", i.e. of the emperor, the elect of the people as the representative of the democracy, and as such supreme; and of himself, the representative of the great Napoleon I of France, "who had sprung armed from the French Revolution like Minerva from the head of Jove", as the guardian of the social gains of the revolutionary period.
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Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire (Spanish: Imperio Español) comprised territories and colonies administered by Spain in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its political and economic power when it became the foremost global power. Its establishment in the 15th century ushered in the modern global era and five centuries of European dominance of global affairs. Spain's territorial reach beyond Europe spanned six centuries, from the first voyages to the Americas in 1492 until the independence of its last African colonies in the 1970s.
After the War of the Castilian Succession (1475–1479), Spain had emerged with a personally unified monarchy, with the marriage of the Catholic Monarchs or los Reyes Catolicos between the Queen of Castile and the King of Aragon: the internal and foreign policy was coordinated although the rule was separate. In 1492, the Spanish monarchs completed the Reconquista with the incorporation of Granada to the Kingdom of Castile. That same year Christopher Columbus commanded the first Spanish exploratory voyage west across the Atlantic Ocean, leading to the Discovery of America and Europe's eventual colonial engagement in the New World. The Americas thereby became the focus of Spanish exploration and colonization.
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Susa
Coordinates: 32°11′21″N 48°15′28″E / 32.18922°N 48.257785°E / 32.18922; 48.257785
Susa (Persian: شوش Shush [ʃuʃ]; Greek: Σοῦσα [ˈsuːsa]; Syriac: ܫܘܫ Shush; Old Persian Çūšā-; Biblical Hebrew שׁוּשָׁן Shushān) was an ancient city of the Elamite, Persian and Parthian empires of Iran. It is located in the lower Zagros Mountains about 250 km (160 mi) east of the Tigris River, between the Karkheh and Dez Rivers.
The modern Iranian town of Shush is located at the site of ancient Susa. Shush is the administrative capital of the Shush County of Iran's Khuzestan province. It had a population 64,960 in 2005.
In historic literature, Susa appears in the very earliest Sumerian records, e.g. in Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta it is described as one of the places obedient to Inanna, patron deity of Uruk.
Susa is also mentioned in the Ketuvim of the Hebrew Bible by the name Shushan, mainly in Esther, but also once each in Nehemiah and Daniel. Both Daniel and Nehemiah lived in Susa during the Babylonian captivity of the 6th century BCE. Esther became queen there, and saved the Jews from genocide. A tomb presumed to be that of Daniel is located in the area, known as Shush-Daniel. The tomb is marked by an unusual white stone cone, which is neither regular nor symmetric. Many scholars believe it was at one point a Star of David. Susa is further mentioned in the Book of Jubilees (8:21 & 9:2) as one of the places within the inheritance of Shem and his eldest son Elam; and in 8:1, "Susan" is also named as the son (or daughter, in some translations) of Elam.
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Syrian Desert
The Syrian Desert (Arabic: بادية الشام, bādiyat ash-shām), also known as the Syro-Arabian desert is a combination of steppe and true desert that is located in the northern Arabian Peninsula covering 200,000 square miles (over 500,000 square kilometers). The desert is very rocky and flat.
The Syrian desert is part of the Al-Hamad, which covers portions of Syria, Iraq, Jordan,and Saudi Arabia. Its border on the west is the Orontes Valley, and its border on the east is the Euphrates. In the north, the desert gives way to the more fertile areas of grass. In the south, it runs into the deserts of the southern Arabian Peninsula. Many mini-deserts exist in the Syrian Desert such as Palmyra. Damascus is located on an oasis. The desert's remarkable landscape was formed by lava flows from the volcanic region of the Jebel Druze in southern Syria. The Syrian Desert is the origin of the Syrian hamster.
The desert was historically inhabited by bedouin tribes, and many tribes still remain in the region, their members living mainly in towns and settlements built near oases. Some bedouin still maintain their traditional way of life in the desert. Safaitic inscriptions, proto-Arabic texts written by literate bedouin, are found throughout the Syrian Desert. These date approximately from the 1st century B.C. to the 4th century A.D.
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Tehran
Tehran (
pronunciation (help·info)) (Persian: تهران Tehrān; pronounced [tehˈɾɒːn]), sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, the largest city in Western Asia, one of the largest in Southern Asia, and the 19th-largest city globally.
In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to mass-migration of people from all around Iran. The city is home to many historic mosques, churches, synagogues and Zoroastrian fire temples. Contemporary Tehran is a modern city featuring many structures, of which the Azadi (Freedom) Tower and the Milad Tower have come to be symbols of Tehran itself. In 2008 Tehran was the least expensive capital in the world and the second-least expensive city globally based on the cost-of-living index presenting the best value for money in the world. Globally it stands 19th by city population, 56th by the size of its GDP and 29th by the population of its metropolitan area. Throughout Iran's history, the capital city has been relocated many times, with Tehran being the 32nd national capital of Iran. Persian is the city's native tongue, with roughly 98% of the population able to speak and understand it. The majority of people in Tehran identify themselves as Persians. In pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, Tehran was called Ray (which in the Avesta occurs in the form of Ragha)[citation needed].
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Tehrangeles
Tehrangeles is a portmanteau deriving from the combination of Tehran, the capital of Iran, and Los Angeles. It is used when referring to the large number (estimates range from 700,000 to 800,000) of former Iranian nationals and their descendants residing in the Los Angeles metropolitan area; it is the largest such population outside of Iran. In common usage, it usually refers to the proportionally larger Persian-American subset of Iranian immigrants, many of whom are second generation citizens. This area is now officially recognized by the City of Los Angeles as "Persian Square".
The Persian community in the L.A. area originally centered in the Westwood neighborhood of west Los Angeles, particularly Westwood Boulevard between Pico Boulevard and the UCLA campus, often referred to as Little Persia or Persian Hills/Persian Square. It is between Beverly Hills and West Los Angeles. Immigration to the area increased several-fold due to the events surrounding the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Westwood Boulevard became known for its many Persian shops and restaurants; and the Persian expatriate community of Los Angeles entered all forms of media including magazines, newspapers, radio and television stations.
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Teotihuacan
Coordinates: 19°41′33″N 98°50′37.68″W / 19.6925°N 98.8438°W / 19.6925; -98.8438
Teotihuacan – also written Teotihuacán, with a Spanish orthographic accent on the last syllable – is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, just 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Mexico City, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas. Apart from the pyramidal structures, Teotihuacan is also known for its large residential complexes, the Avenue of the Dead, and numerous colorful, well-preserved murals. Additionally, Teotihuacan produced a thin orange pottery style that spread through Mesoamerica.
The city is thought to have been established around 100 BC and continued to be built until about 250 AD. The city may have lasted until sometime between the 7th and 8th centuries AD. At its zenith, perhaps in the first half of the 1st millennium AD, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas, with a population of perhaps 125,000 or more, placing it among the largest cities of the world in this period. Teotihuacan began as a new religious center in the Mexican Highland around the first century AD. This city came to be the largest and most populated center in the New World. Teotihuacan was even home to multi-floor apartment compounds built to accommodate this large population. The civilization and cultural complex associated with the site is also referred to as Teotihuacan or Teotihuacano.
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Tigris
The Tigris River (/ˈtaɪɡrɪs/; Arabic: دجله) is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq.
The Tigris is 1,850 km long, rising in the Taurus Mountains of eastern Turkey about 25 km southeast of the city of Elazig and about 30 km from the headwaters of the Euphrates. The river then flows for 400 km through Turkish territory before becoming the border between Syria and Turkey. This stretch of 44 km is the only part of the river that is located in Syria. The remaining 1,418 km are entirely within the Iraqi borders.
The Tigris unites with the Euphrates near Basra, and from this junction to the Persian Gulf the mass of moving water is known as the Shatt-al-Arab. According to Pliny and other ancient historians, the Euphrates originally had its outlet into the sea separate from that of the Tigris.
Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, stands on the banks of the Tigris. The port city of Basra straddles the Shatt al-Arab. In ancient times, many of the great cities of Mesopotamia stood on or near the Tigris, drawing water from it to irrigate the civilization of the Sumerians. Notable Tigris-side cities included Nineveh, Ctesiphon, and Seleucia, while the city of Lagash was irrigated by the Tigris via a canal dug around 2400 BC.
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Warsangali Sultanate
The Warsangali Sultanate (Somali: Saldanadda Warsangeli, Arabic: سلطنة الورسنجلي) was a Somali imperial ruling house centered in northeastern and in some parts of southeastern Somalia. It was one of the largest sultanates ever established in the territory, and, at the height of its power, included the Sanaag region and parts of the northeastern Bari region of the country, an area historically known as Maakhir or the Maakhir Coast. The Sultanate was founded in the late 13th century in northern Somalia by a group of Somalis from the Warsangali branch of the Darod clan, and was ruled by the descendants of the Gerad Dhidhin. In the late 19th century, the influential Sultan Mohamoud Ali Shire governed the Sultanate, assuming control during some of its most turbulent years. The Akil Dhahar ruled south of Sanaag and some portions of the Bari region. In 1884, the United Kingdom established the protectorate of British Somaliland through various treaties with the northern Somali sultanates, including the Warsangali Sultanate.
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Yehud Medinata
Yehud Medinata (Aramaic for "the province of Judah") or simply Yehud, was an autonomous province of the Achaemenid (ancient Persia) empire, roughly equivalent to the older kingdom of Judah but covering a smaller area, within the satrapy of Eber-Nari. The region corresponded to the Babylonian province with the same name, formed after the fall of the kingdom of Judah to the Neo-Babylonian Empire (c.597 after its conquest of the Mediterranean east coast, and again in 585/6 BCE after suppressing an unsuccessful Judean revolt).
The name Yehud is known from coins unearthed in the region. Archaeological evidence is quite limited, and a history of the period is dependent almost entirely on biblical sources of often uncertain reliability.
There is not complete agreement on the chronology of the Babylonian and Persian periods: the following table is used in this article, but alternative dates for many events are plausible - this is especially true of the chronological sequence of Ezra and Nehemiah, with Ezra 7:6-8 stating that Ezra came to Jerusalem "in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the King," without specifying whether this was Artaxerxes I (465-424 BCE) or Artaxerxes II (404-359 BCE); the probable date for his mission is 458 BCE, but it is possible that it took place in 397 BCE.
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Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty (Chinese: 元朝, p Yuán Cháo; Mongolian: Их Юань улс) was the branch of Mongol Borjigin dynasty established by Kublai Khan. Although the Mongols had ruled northern China for decades, it was not until 1271 that Kublai Khan officially proclaimed the dynasty in the traditional Chinese style. His realm – the Great Yuan Empire (t 大元帝國, s 大元帝国, p Dà Yuán Dìguó) – was by this point isolated from the other khanates and controlled only most of present-day China and its surrounding areas including modern Mongolia. It was the first non-Han dynasty to rule all of China and lasted until 1368, after which its remnants in Mongolia were known as the Northern Yuan.
The Yuan is considered both a successor to the Mongol Empire and as an imperial Chinese dynasty. In official Chinese histories, the Yuan Dynasty bore the Mandate of Heaven, following the Song Dynasty and preceding the Ming Dynasty. Although the dynasty was established by Kublai Khan, he placed his grandfather Genghis Khan on the imperial records as the official founder of the dynasty as Taizu.
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Zagros mountains
The Zagros Mountains (Arabic: جبال زغروس, Aramaic: ܛܘܪ ܙܪܓܣ, Kurdish: زنجیرهچیاکانی زاگرۆس, Lurish: کو یه لی زاگروس, Persian: رشته كوه زاگرس) are the largest mountain range in Iran and Iraq. With a total length of 1,500 km (932 mi), from northwestern Iran, and roughly correlating with Iran's western border, the Zagros range spans the whole length of the western and southwestern Iranian plateau and ends at the Strait of Hormuz. The highest points in the Zagros Mountains are Zard Kuh-bakhtiari and Dena. The Hazaran massif in the Kerman province of Iran forms an eastern outlier of the range, the Jebal Barez reaching into Sistan.
The Zagros fold and thrust belt was formed by collision of two tectonic plates — the Eurasian and Arabian Plates. Recent GPS measurements in Iran have shown that this collision is still active and the resulting deformation is distributed non-uniformly in the country, mainly taken up in the major mountain belts like Alborz and Zagros. A relatively dense GPS network which covered the Zagros in the Iranian part also proves a high rate of deformation within the Zagros. The GPS results show that the current rate of shortening in SE Zagros is ~10 mm/yr and ~5mm/yr in the NW Zagros. The NS strike-slip Kazerun fault divides the Zagros into two distinct zones of deformation. The GPS results also show different shortening directions along the belt, i.e. normal shortening in the South-East and oblique shortening in the NW Zagros.
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Zagros Mountains
The Zagros Mountains (Arabic: جبال زغروس, Aramaic: ܛܘܪ ܙܪܓܣ, Kurdish: زنجیرهچیاکانی زاگرۆس, Lurish: کو یه لی زاگروس, Persian: رشته كوه زاگرس) are the largest mountain range in Iran and Iraq. With a total length of 1,500 km (932 mi), from northwestern Iran, and roughly correlating with Iran's western border, the Zagros range spans the whole length of the western and southwestern Iranian plateau and ends at the Strait of Hormuz. The highest points in the Zagros Mountains are Zard Kuh-bakhtiari and Dena. The Hazaran massif in the Kerman province of Iran forms an eastern outlier of the range, the Jebal Barez reaching into Sistan.
The Zagros fold and thrust belt was formed by collision of two tectonic plates — the Eurasian and Arabian Plates. Recent GPS measurements in Iran have shown that this collision is still active and the resulting deformation is distributed non-uniformly in the country, mainly taken up in the major mountain belts like Alborz and Zagros. A relatively dense GPS network which covered the Zagros in the Iranian part also proves a high rate of deformation within the Zagros. The GPS results show that the current rate of shortening in SE Zagros is ~10 mm/yr and ~5mm/yr in the NW Zagros. The NS strike-slip Kazerun fault divides the Zagros into two distinct zones of deformation. The GPS results also show different shortening directions along the belt, i.e. normal shortening in the South-East and oblique shortening in the NW Zagros.
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Achaemenes
Achaemenēs (English pronunciation: /əˈkɛməniːz/, from Ancient Greek: Ἀχαιμένης, Old Persian: 𐏃𐎧𐎠𐎶𐎴𐎡𐏁 Haxāmaniš) was the eponymous ancestor of the Achaemenid Dynasty, who ruled Persia between 705 BC and 675 BC.
The name is a bahuvrihi compound literally translating to "having a friend's mind", or "characterized by a follower's spirit".
As the eponymous ancestor of the clan, Achaemenes is very often held to be legendary. Achaemenes is generally known as the leader of one of the clans, known to the Greeks as the Pasargadae (although this identification may been due to a confusion with the Persian Imperial capital city Pasargadae begun by Cyrus the Great {Cyrus II of Persia} around 546 BC), that was one of the some ten to fifteen Persian tribes. Persian royal inscriptions such as the Behistun Inscription place him five generations before Darius the Great. Therefore, according to the Inscriptions, Achaemenes may have lived around 700 BC. The inscriptions do label him as a "king", which may mean that he was the first official king of the Persians.
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Almohad Caliphate
The Almohad Dynasty (Berber: Imweḥḥden, from Arabic الموحدون al-Muwaḥḥidun, "the monotheists" or "the Unitarians"), was a MoroccanBerber-Muslim dynasty founded in the 12th century that established a Berber state in Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains in roughly 1120.
The movement was started by Ibn Tumart in the Masmuda tribe, followed by Abd al-Mu'min al-Gumi between 1130 and his death in 1163, the Almohads defeated the ruling Almoravids, extending their power over all of the Maghreb. Al-Andalus, Moorish Iberia (modern Portugal and southern Spain) under the Almoravid dynasty, followed the fate of Africa.
The Almohad dominance of Iberia continued until 1212, when Muhammad III, "al-Nasir" (1199–1214) was defeated at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in the Sierra Morena by an alliance of the Christian princes of Castile, Aragon, Navarre, and Portugal. Nearly all of the Moorish dominions in Iberia were lost soon after, with the great Moorish cities of Córdoba and Seville falling to the Christians in 1236 and 1248 respectively.
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Amytis of Media
Amuhia or Amytis of Media (c. 630 - 565 BC) was the daughter or granddaughter of the king Cyaxares, and the wife of Nebuchadnezzar II.
Amytis was either born to Cyaxares and his wife or to Cyaxares's son and daughter-in-law. It is not known whether Cyaxares was her father or grandfather.
585 BC; Amytis married Nebuchadnezzar to formalize the alliance between the Babylonian and Median dynasties.
It is reported that Amytis' homesickness for the forested mountains of the Median Empire led to the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, as Nebuchadnezzar attempted to please her by planting the trees and plants of her homeland.
AMYTIS, Median and Persian female name, attested only in the Greek form A´mytis, which perhaps may reflect (with vowel metathesis) an old Persian *Umati—equivalent to Avestan humaiti— “having good thought ”
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Ariana
Ariana, the Latinized form of (Greek: ἡ 'Αρειανή/Arianē), inhabitants: Ariani (Greek: Αρειανοί/Arianoi), was a general geographical term used by some Greek and Roman authors of the ancient period for a district of wide extent between Central Asia and the Indus River, comprehending the eastern provinces of the Achaemenid Empire that covered entire modern-day Afghanistan, east and southeast of Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and northwestern Pakistan.
At various times, the region was governed by the Persians (Achaemenids, 550-330 BC; Sasanians, 275-650 AD; Kushano-Sasanians, 345-450 AD), Macedonians (Seleucids, 330-250 BC; Greco-Bactrians, 250-110 BC; Indo-Greeks, 155-90 BC), Indo-Iranians (Parthians, 160 BC-225 AD; Indo-Scythians, 90 BC-20 AD; Indo-Parthians, 20-225 AD; Kushans, 110 BC-225 AD), white Huns (Kidarites, 360-465 AD; Hephthalites, 450-565 AD), Indians (Mauryans, 275-185 BC; Hindu-Shahis; 870-1000 AD Pala Empire; 750–1174 AD)
The Greek term Arianē (Latin: Ariana) is based upon Old Iranian Āryana- (Avestan: Airiiana-, esp. in Airiianəm vaēǰō, the name of the Aryans’ mother country, whose localization is disputed). The modern name Iran represents the ancient name Ariana, - a word itself of Avestan origin.; a view which is borne out by the traditions of the country preserved in the Muslim writers of the ninth and tenth centuries.
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Arrian
Lucius Flavius Arrianus 'Xenophon' (ca. AD 86 - 160), known in English as Arrian[pronunciation?] (Ἀρριανός), and Arrian of Nicomedia, was a Roman (ethnic Greek) historian, public servant, military commander and philosopher of the 2nd-century Roman period. As with other authors of the Second Sophistic, Arrian wrote primarily in Attic (Indica is in Herodotus' Ionic dialect, his philosophical works in Koine Greek) .
Anabasis of Alexander is perhaps his best known work and is generally considered one of the best sources on the campaigns of Alexander the Great, not to be confused with Anabasis, then best-known work of the Athenian military leader and author Xenophon from the 4th century BC. Arrian is also considered as one of the founders of a primarily military-based focus on history. His other works include Discourses of Epictetus and Indica.
Arrian was born of Greek ethnicity in the coastal town of Nicomedia (present-day Izmit), the capital of the Roman province of Bithynia, in what is now north-western Turkey, about 70 km from Byzantium (later Constantinople, now Istanbul). He studied philosophy in Nicopolis in Epirus, under the Stoic philosopher Epictetus, and wrote two books about the philosopher's teachings. At the same time he entered the Imperial service, and served as a junior adviser on the consilium of Gaius Avidius Nigrinus, governor of Achaea and a close friend of the future Emperor Hadrian, around 111-114. Very little is known about his subsequent career - though it is probable that he served in Gaul and on the Danube frontier, and possible that he was in Baetica and Parthia - until he held the office of Consul in 129 or 130. In 131 he was appointed governor of the Black Sea province of Cappadocia and commander of the Roman legions on the frontier with Armenia. It was unusual at this time for a Greek to hold such high military command.
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Arsames
Arsames (Old Persian: 𐎠𐎼𐏁𐎠𐎶 Aršāma, modern Persian: ارشام, Greek: Ἀρσάμης; – ca. 520 BC) was the son of Ariaramnes and perhaps briefly the king of Persia during the Achaemenid dynasty, but gave up the throne and declared loyalty to Cyrus II of Persia. After this, Arsames most likely retired to his family estate in the Persian heartland of Parsa, and lived out the rest of his long years there peacefully, though he may nominally have exercised the duties of a "lesser king" under the authority of the "Great King". In an inscription allegedly found in Hamadan he is called "king of Persia", but some scholars believe it is a fraud, either modern or ancient. Another attestation of his reign is the Behistun Inscription, where his grandson Darius I lists him among his royal forebears and counts him among the eight kings who preceded him. This inscription's genealogy, however, is probably suspect.
Arsames was father of Hystaspes, satrap of Parthia, and of Pharnaces. Arsames would live to see his grandson, Darius I, become the Great King of the Persian Empire, though he would die during his reign. In any case, he must have been one of the longest-surviving royals anywhere in the world at that time, probably living well into his nineties.
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Arses of Persia
Artaxerxes (Artaxšacā) IV Arses was king of Persia between 338 BC and 336 BC. He was the youngest son of King Artaxerxes III and Atossa and was not expected to succeed to the throne of Persia. His unexpected rise to the throne came in 338 BC as a result of the murder of his father and most of his family by Bagoas, the powerful Vizier of Persia who had recently fallen in Artaxerxes' disfavor. Bagoas sought to remain in office by replacing Artaxerxes with his son Arses (Artaxerxes IV), whom he thought easier to control. Arses remained little more than a puppet-king during the two years of his reign while Bagoas acted as the power behind the throne. Eventually, disgruntled by this state of affairs and possibly influenced by the nobles of the Royal Court, who generally held Bagoas in contempt, Arses started planning Bagoas' murder. The Vizier again acted first in order to protect himself and managed to poison Arses. Bagoas then raised a cousin of Arses to the throne as King Darius III of Persia. A major concern for Persia during this King's short reign were hostilities on the western borders with Macedonia under Kings Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great. This would lead to war between the two states during the reign of Arses' successor.
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Artaxerxes III
Artaxerxes III of Persia (c. 425 BC – 338 BC) (Old Persian: 𐎠𐎼𐎫𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎠, transliterated as Artaxšaçā), was the Great King (Shah) of Persia and the eleventh Emperor of the Achaemenid Empire, as well as the first Pharaoh of the 31st dynasty of Egypt. He was the son and successor of Artaxerxes II and was succeeded by his son, Arses of Persia (also known as Artaxerxes IV). His reign coincided with the reign of Philip II in Macedon and Nectanebo II in Egypt.
Before ascending the throne Artaxerxes was a satrap and commander of his father's army. Artaxerxes came to power after one of his brothers was executed, another committed suicide, the last murdered and his father, Artaxerxes II died at the age of 86. Soon after becoming king, Artaxerxes murdered all of the royal family to secure his place as emperor. He started two major campaigns against Egypt. The first campaign failed, and was followed up by rebellions throughout the western empire. In 343 BC, Artaxerxes defeated Nectanebo II, the Pharaoh of Egypt, driving him from Egypt, stopping a revolt in Phoenicia on the way.
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Artembares
Artembares was a Median nobleman whose son was whipped by a ten-year-old Cyrus. And later, according to Nicolaus of Damascus, he adopted Cyrus as a helper in the Median court. Herodotus recounts:
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Aryan
Aryan /ˈɛərjən/ is an English language loanword derived from the Sanskrit ārya ('Noble'). In present-day academia, the terms "Indo-Iranian" and "Indo-European" have, according to many, made most uses of the term 'Aryan' minimal, and 'Aryan' is now mostly limited to its appearance in the term "Indo-Aryan" to represent (speakers of) North, West and Central Indian languages.
Western notions of an "Aryan race" rose to prominence in late-19th and early-20th century racialist thought, an idea most notably embraced by Nazi ideology (see master race). The Nazis believed that the "Nordic peoples" (who were also referred to as the "Germanic peoples") represent an ideal and "pure race" that was the purest representation of the original racial stock of those who were then called the Proto-Aryans. The Nazis declared that the Nordics were the true Aryans because they claimed that they were more "pure" (less racially mixed with non-native Indo-European peoples) than other people of what were then called the Aryan peoples (now generally called the Indo-European peoples).
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Aryenis
Aryenis of Lydia was, according to Herodotus, the daughter of King Alyattes of Lydia and the sister of King Croesus of Lydia.
Aryenis was also the Queen consort of Astyages, King of Media and mother of Mandane of Media and a probable Amytis, married to her nephew Cyrus the Great. She was also mother-in-law of Cambyses I of Anshan and maternal grandmother of Cyrus the Great.
She was given in marriage to Astyages to seal a treaty between Cyaxares of Media and Alyattes II of Lydia, following the Battle of the Eclipse.
Herodotus identified her as the mother of Mandane, but there is speculation that Mandane (the wife of Cambyses I of Anshan) may have been born to an earlier wife of Astyages.
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Atropates
Atropates (Greek Aτρoπάτης, from Old Persian 𐎠𐎬𐎼𐎱𐎠𐎬 Aturpat "protected by fire"; c. 370 BC – after 321 BC) was a Persian nobleman who served Darius III, then Alexander III of Macedon, and eventually founded an independent kingdom and dynasty that was named after him. Diodorus (18.4) refers to him as 'Atrapes', while Quintus Curtius (8.3.17) erroneously names him 'Arsaces'.
Towards the end of the Achaemenid Empire, Atropates was governor (satrap) of the Achaemenid province of Media. In the decisive Battle of Gaugamela (October 331 BCE) between Darius and Alexander, Atropates commanded the Achaemenid troops of Media, Caucasian Albania and Sacasene (part of present-day Armenia).
Following his defeat in that battle, Darius fled to the Median capital of Ecbatana, where Atropates gave him hospitality. Darius attempted to raise a new army but was forced to flee Ecbatana in June 330 BCE. After Darius' death a month later at the hands of Bessus, Atropates surrendered to Alexander. Alexander initially chose Oxydates as satrap of Media, but in 328-327 BCE after Alexander lost trust in Oxydates' loyalty, Atropates was reinstated to his old position. In 325-324, Atropates delivered Baryaxes (a sought-after rebel of the region) to Alexander while the latter was at Pasargadae. Alexander's esteem for the governor rose "so high" that soon afterwards Atropates' daughter was married to Alexander's confidant and cavalry commander Perdiccas at the famous mass wedding at Susa in February 324 BCE.
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Bardiya
Bardiya (Old Persian: 𐎲𐎼𐎮𐎡𐎹Bardiya;, Ancient Greek: Σμέρδις, Greek: Smerdis) (possibly died 522 BCE) was a son of Cyrus the Great and the younger brother of Cambyses II, both Persian kings. There are sharply divided views on his life. He may have ruled the Achaemenid Empire for a few months in 522 BCE, or he may have been impersonated by a magus called Gaumata. (Old Persian: 𐎥𐎢𐎶𐎠𐎫Gaumāta)
The prince's name is listed variously in the historical sources. His Persian name is Bardiya. He is called Tonyoxarces (Sphendadates) by Ctesias, he is called Tanooxares by Xenophon, who takes the name from Ctesias, and he is called Mardos by Justin and Aeschylus. In the prevalent Greek form of his name, Smerdis, the Persian name has been assimilated to the Greek (Asiatic) name Smerdis or Smerdies, a name which also occurs in the poems of Alcaeus and Anacreon.
In English-language histories he has traditionally been called Smerdis, but recent histories tend to call him Bardiya.
The traditional view based on the majority of ancient sources, e.g., Darius the Great's Behistun inscription, as well as Herodotus, Justin, and Ctesias, although there are minor differences between them.
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Buyid dynasty
The Buyid dynasty, also known as the Buyid Empire or the Buyids (Persian: آل بویه Āl-e Buye), also known as Buwaihids, Buyahids, or Buyyids, were a Shī‘ah Iranian dynasty that originated from Daylaman in Gilan. They founded a confederation that controlled most of modern-day Iran and Iraq in the 10th and 11th centuries.
The founders of the Būyid confederation were ‘Alī ibn Būyah and his two younger brothers, al-Hassan and Aḥmad. Originally a soldier in the service of the Ziyārīds of Ṭabaristān, ‘Alī was able to recruit an army to defeat a Turkish general from Baghdad named Yaqut in 934. Over the next nine years the three brothers gained control of the remainder of the 'Abbāsid Caliphate. While they accepted the titular authority of the caliph in Baghdad, the Būyid rulers assumed effective control of the state.
The first several decades of the Būyid confederation were characterized by large territorial gains. In addition to Fars and Jibal, which were conquered in the 930s, and central Iraq, which submitted in 945, the Būyids took Kermān (967), Oman (967), the Jazīra (979), Ṭabaristān (980), and Gorgan (981). After this, however, the Būyids went into a slow decline, with pieces of the confederation gradually breaking off and local dynasties under their rule becoming de facto independent.
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Cambyses I
Cambyses I or Cambyses the Elder (via Latin from Greek Καμβύσης; Old Persian: Kambūǰiya-, Elamite: Kanbuziya, Akkadian: Kambuziya, Aramaic Knbwzy; c. 600 BC–559 BC) was king of Anshan in Iran from c. 580 to 559 BC and the father of Cyrus the Great (Cyrus II), younger son of Cyrus I, and brother of Arukku. He should not be confused with his better-known grandson Cambyses II.
Cambyses was an early member of the Achaemenid dynasty. He was apparently a great-grandson of its founder Achaemenes, grandson of Teispes and son of Cyrus I. His paternal uncle was Ariaramnes and his first cousin was Arsames.
According to Herodotus, Cambyses was "a man of good family and quiet habits". He reigned under the overlordship of Astyages, King of Media. He was reportedly married to Princess Mandane of Media, a daughter to Astyages and Princess Aryenis of Lydia. His wife was reportedly a granddaughter to both Cyaxares of Media and Alyattes II of Lydia. The result of their marriage was the birth of his successor Cyrus the Great. According to Nicolas of Damascus his original name was Atradates, and he was wounded and later died in the Battle of the Persian Border which he, with his son, fought against Astyages. It occurred in about 551 BC, and he is reported to have received an honorable burial.
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Cambyses II
Cambyses II (Old Persian: 𐎣𐎲𐎢𐎪𐎡𐎹 Kɑmboujie, (522 BCE) son of Cyrus the Great (r. 559–530 BCE), was a king of kings of the Achaemenid Empire. Cambyses's grandfather was Cambyses I, king of Anshan. Following Cyrus the Great's conquest of the Near East and Central Asia, Cambyses II further expanded the empire into Egypt during the Late Period by defeating the Egyptian pharaoh Psamtik III during the battle of Pelusium in 525 BCE. After the Egyptian campaign and the truce with Libya, Cambyses invaded the Kingdom of Kush (located in what is now the Republic of Sudan) but with little success.
When Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon in 539 BCE, Cambyses was employed in leading religious ceremonies. In the cylinder which contains Cyrus's proclamation to the Babylonians, Cambyses's name is joined to his father's in the prayers to Marduk. On a tablet dated from the first year of Cyrus, Cambyses is called king of Babylon, although his authority seems to have been ephemeral. Only in 530 BCE, when Cyrus set out on his last expedition into the East, did Cyrus associate Cambyses with the throne. Numerous Babylonian tablets of the time date from the accession and the first year of Cambyses, when Cyrus was "king of the countries" (i.e., of the world).
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Caria
Caria ([pronunciation?]; or Karia) (from Luwian Karuwa meaning "steep country", Ancient Greek, Καρία) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joined the Carian population in forming Greek-dominated states there. The eponymous inhabitants of Caria were known as Carians, and they had arrived in Caria before the Greeks. They were described by Herodotos as being of Minoan descent, while the Carians themselves maintained that they were Anatolian mainlanders intensely engaged in seafaring and were akin to the Mysians and the Lydians. The Carians did speak an Anatolian language, which does not necessarily reflect their geographic origin, as Anatolian once may have been widespread. Also closely associated with the Carians were the Leleges, which could be an earlier name for Carians or for a people who had preceded them in the region and continued to exist as part of their society in a reputedly second-class status.
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Chaldea
Chaldea or Chaldaea ( /kælˈdiːə/), from Greek Χαλδαία, Chaldaia; Akkadian māt Kaldu; Hebrew כשדים, Kaśdim;Aramaic: ܟܐܠܕܘ, Kaldo) was a marshy land located in modern-day southern Iraq which came to rule Babylon briefly. Tribes of settlers who arrived in the region from the 8th Century BC became known as the Chaldeans or the Chaldees. The Hebrew Bible uses the term כשדים (Kaśdim) and this is translated as Chaldaeans in the Septuagint.
The short-lived 11th dynasty of the Kings of Babylon (6th century BC) is conventionally known to historians as the Chaldean Dynasty, although only the first four rulers of this dynasty were known to be Chaldeans, and the last ruler was known not to be. Their kingdom in the southern portion of Babylonia lay chiefly on the right bank of the Euphrates. Though the name came to be commonly used to refer to the whole of southern Mesopotamia, Chaldea proper was in fact the vast plain in the far south east formed by the deposits of the Euphrates and the Tigris, extending to about four hundred miles along the course of these rivers, and about a hundred miles in average width.
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Cyaxares II
Cyaxares II was said to be a king of the Medes whose reign is described by the Greek historian Xenophon. Some theories have equated this figure with the "Darius the Mede" named in the Book of Daniel. However, the fact that he is not mentioned at all in the history of Herodotus, nor in the very different history of Ctesias, has caused many scholars to debate whether such a king ever actually existed.
According to Xenophon's Cyropaedia, Cyaxares II followed king Astyages to the throne of the Mede Empire, and was also brother of Mandane, Cyrus the Great's mother. He describes the Persian Cyrus as cooperating with his uncle, Cyaxares, in order to conquer Babylon in 539 BC. However Cyaxares was by then an old man, and because Cyrus was in command of the campaign, the army came to regard Cyrus as king. Cyrus thus received not only the king's daughter (his first cousin), but his kingdom, as dowry, and the aged Cyaxares became Cyrus' viceroy in Babylon for two years until his death, when Cyrus seized that kingdom as well.
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Cyaxares the Great
Cyaxares the Great or Hvakhshathra (Old Persian: 𐎢𐎺𐎧𐏁𐎫𐎼Uvaxštra,Greek: Κυαξάρης; r. 625–585 BC), the son of King Phraortes, was the first king of Media. According to Herodotus, Cyaxares, grandson of Deioces, had a far greater military reputation than his father or grandfather, therefore he is often being described as the first official Median King. The Kurdish people consider Cyaxares as the father of the Kurdish nation.[unreliable source?]
He was born in the Median capital of Ecbatana, his father Phraortes was killed in a battle against the Assyrians, led by Ashurbanipal, the king of Neo-Assyria. After his fall the Scythians took over. In his early age Cyaxares was seeking for revenge. He killed the Scythian leaders and proclaimed himself as King of Medes. After throwing off the Scythians, he prepared for war against Assyria. Cyaxares reorganized and modernized the Median Army, then joined with King Nabopolassar of Babylonia. This alliance was formalized through the marriage of Cyaxares daughter, Amytis with Nabopolassar's son, Nebuchadnezzar II, the king who constructed the Hanging Gardens of Babylon as a present for his Median wife to help with her homesickness for the mountainous country of her birth. These allies overthrew the Assyrian Empire and destroyed Nineveh in 612 BC.
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Cyrus the Great
Cyrus II of Persia (Old Persian:
Kuruš (c. 600 BC or 576 BC–530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much of Central Asia, parts of Europe and the Caucasus. From the Mediterranean sea and Hellespont in the west to the Indus River in the east, Cyrus the Great created the largest empire the world had yet seen. He also pronounced one of the first historically important declarations of human rights via the Cyrus Cylinder sometime between 539-530 BCE.
The reign of Cyrus the Great lasted between 29 and 31 years. Cyrus built his empire by conquering first the Median Empire, then the Lydian Empire and eventually the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Either before or after Babylon, he led an expedition into central Asia, which resulted in major campaigns that were described as having brought "into subjection every nation without exception". Cyrus did not venture into Egypt, as he himself died in battle, fighting the Massagetae along the Syr Darya in December 530 BC. He was succeeded by his son, Cambyses II, who managed to add to the empire by conquering Egypt, Nubia, and Cyrenaica during his short rule.
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Dahae
The Dahae (Persian: داها; Latin: Dahae; Greek: Δάοι (Daoi), Δάαι, Δᾶαι (Daai), Δάσαι (Dasai)), or Dahaeans were a confederacy of three Ancient Iranian tribes who lived in the region to the immediate east of the Caspian Sea. They spoke an Eastern Iranian language.
The first dateable mention of this nomad confederacy appears in the list of nations of Xerxes the great Daeva inscription. In this list of the peoples and provinces of the Achaemenid Empire, the Dahae are identified in Old Persian as Dāha and are immediately followed by a "Saka" group, who are listed as being neighbors of the Dāha. It is however unclear whether the Dahae are also the *Dāha people (or *Dåŋha, only attested in the feminine Dahi) of the Avestan Yasht 13.144. An etymological relationship "is not proof that the two names refer to the same ethnic group."
In the 1st century BCE Strabo (Geographika 11.8.1) refers to the Dahae explicitly as the "Scythian Dahae" ("Scythian" is in Strabo not necessarily an equation with the "Sacae"). The historiographer further places the Dahae in the approximate vicinity of present-day Turkmenistan.
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Darius I
Darius I, the Great (Old Persian:
Dārayava(h)uš) (550–486 BCE), formally known as Darius the Great, was the third king of the Achaemenid Empire. He held the empire at its peak, when it included much of West Asia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, parts of the Balkans (Bulgaria-Romania-Panonia), portions of north and northeast Africa including Egypt (Mudrâya), eastern Libya, coastal Sudan, Eritrea), as well as most of Pakistan, the Aegean Islands and northern Greece/Thrace-Macedonia.
Darius ascended the throne by overthrowing the alleged magus usurper of Bardiya with the assistance of six other Persian noble families; Darius was crowned the following morning. The new king met with rebellions throughout his kingdom and quelled them each time. A major event in Darius's life was his expedition to punish Athens and Eretria for their aid in the Ionian Revolt and subjugate Greece. Darius expanded his empire by conquering Thrace and Macedon and invading Scythia, home of the Scythians, nomadic tribes who invaded Media and had previously killed Cyrus the Great.
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Darius II
Darius II (Dārayavahuš), was king of the Persian Empire from 423 BC to 405 BC.
Artaxerxes I, who died on December 25, 424 BC, was followed by his son Xerxes II. After a month and a half Xerxes II was murdered by his brother Secydianus or Sogdianus (the form of the name is uncertain). His illegitimate brother, Ochus, satrap of Hyrcania, rebelled against Sogdianus, and after a short fight killed him, and suppressed by treachery the attempt of his own brother Arsites to imitate his example. Ochus adopted the name Darius (Greek sources often call him Darius Nothos, "Bastard"). Neither the names Xerxes II nor Sogdianus occur in the dates of the numerous Babylonian tablets from Nippur; here effectively the reign of Darius II follows immediately after that of Artaxerxes I.
Historians know very little about Darius II's reign. A rebellion by the Medes in 409 BC is mentioned by Xenophon. It does seem that Darius II was quite dependent on his wife Parysatis. In excerpts from Ctesias some harem intrigues are recorded, in which he played a disreputable part.
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Darius III
Darius III (the Great) (c. 380 – 330 BC), also known by his given name of Codomannus, was the last king of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia from 336 BC to 330 BC.
After Artaxerxes III of Persia and all of his sons were killed by the vizier Bagoas, the vizier installed a cousin of Artaxerxes III, Codomannus, to the Persian throne as Darius III. When Darius tried to act independently of the vizier, Bagoas tried to poison him, but Darius was warned and forced Bagoas to drink the poison himself. The new king found himself in control of an unstable empire, large portions of which were governed by jealous and unreliable satraps and inhabited by disaffected and rebellious subjects. However, he lacked the skills and experience to deal with these problems.
In 334 BC, Alexander the Great began his invasion of the Persian Empire and subsequently defeated the Persians in a number of battles before looting and destroying the capital Persepolis, by fire, in 331 BC. With the Persian Empire now effectively under Alexander's control, Alexander then decided to pursue Darius, but Darius was killed by a satrap Bessus before Alexander reached him.
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Datis
For other uses of the word Dati, see Dati (disambiguation).
Datis or Datus was a Median admiral who served the Persian Empire, under Darius the Great. He is most notable for his joint leadership with Artaphernes of the Persian forces in the first campaign of the Persian Wars against the Greeks.
Datis was one of the Persian commanders responsible for the siege of Naxos and the sacking of Eretria in 490 BC along with the infamous Persian Immortals. He was also leader of the Persian assault force on the Athenians at the Battle of Marathon in the same year. Ctesias of Cnidus relates that Datis was slain at Marathon and that the Athenians refused to hand over his body, however this conflicts with Herodotus' earlier analysis that Datis survived the battle
Datis was originally called to duty alongside Artaphernes for the Greek invasion because Darius I had decided to temporarily relieve Mardonius of military service due to an injury he suffered in the Thracian campaign. Datis is mocked in Aristophanes' play "Peace", where Trygaeus exclaims: Now is the time to sing as Datis did, as he masturbated at high noon, "Oh pleasure! oh enjoyment! oh delights!"
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David Neil MacKenzie
David Neil MacKenzie FBA (8 April 1926 – 13 October 2001) was a reputed scholar of Iranian languages.
Neil MacKenzie (he never used his given first name) was born in London in 1926 and attended a succession of schools in Southern England. In 1943, aged 17, he enlisted in the British Army. In 1945 and 1946 he served as a soldier on the North-West Frontier Province of British India, where he learned Pashto. Thus acquainted with Iranian languages, he acquired a Bachelor's degree in New Persian and a Master's degree in Old- and Middle Persian at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London. His PhD dissertation, Kurdish Dialect Studies (1961–1962), established his reputation as an Iranist and linguist.
At SOAS, MacKenzie was appointed Lecturer in Kurdish in 1955, a position that was extended to include all Iranian languages in 1961. He was promoted to Reader in 1965, a post he held until 1975 when he received an appointment as Chair of Oriental Philology at the University of Göttingen in Germany.
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David Stronach
David Stronach is a Scottish archeologist of ancient Iran and Iraq. He is currently a professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
Stronach is a leading Western expert on the city of Pasargadae. He obtained an Master of Arts from Cambridge University in 1958. In the 1960s and 1970s he was Director of the British Institute of Persian Studies in Tehran. In the 1990s, he excavated several parts of Nineveh. His scholarship has earned him many honors and awards, including the invitation to deliver endowed lectures at Harvard and Columbia. He is also the recipient of the 2004 Archaeological Institute of America Gold Medal for "Distinguished Archaeological Achievement."
His daughter Tami Stronach played the role of "the Childlike Empress" in the 1984 film The NeverEnding Story.
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Demographics of Iran
Iran's population increased dramatically during the later half of the 20th century, reaching about 75 million by 2011. In recent years, however, Iran's birth rate has dropped significantly. Studies project that Iran's rate of population growth will continue to slow until it stabilizes above 100 million by 2050. In 2009, the number of households stood at 15.3 million (4.8 person/household). According to the central bank of Iran in 2012, in 22.5 per cent of Iranian families, all family members were unemployed. Families earn some 11.4 million rials (around $930) per month on the average (2012).
According to the OECD/World Bank statistics population growth in Iran from 1990 to 2008 was 17.6 million and 32 %. The literacy rate was 80% in 2007.
While nearly 100% of Iran's population is fluent in modern Persian, approximately 75-80% of Iran's peoples exclusively speak Iranian languages (the most common language known as Persian - or "Farsi" as it is known in the Persian language). The major groups in this category include Persians, Kurds, Gilakis, Mazandaranis, Lurs, and Baluchis. Turkic speakers, such as the Azeri, Turkmen, and the Qashqai peoples, comprise a substantial minority. The remainder are primarily Semitics such as Arabs and Assyrians or other Indo-Europeans such as Pashtuns and Armenians. There are also small communities of Brahui in southeastern Iran. The Georgian language is spoken only by those Iranian Georgians that live in Fereydan and Fereydunshahr. All other communities of Iranian Georgians in Iran have already lost their language.
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Drangiana
Drangiana or Zarangiana (Greek: Δραγγιανή, from Old Persian: Zranka "waterland" and Pashto: Dzaranda/Dzaranga "watermill/waterland") was a historical region of the Achaemenid Empire. This region comprises territory around lake Hâmûn, wetlands in endorheic Sīstān basin on the Irano-Afghan-Pakistan border, and its primary watershed Helmand river in nowadays southwestern Afghanistan and the "Nok Kondi" ("blunt point") of western Pakistan.
In ancient times it was inhabited by an Iranian tribe which ancient Greeks were referring to as Sarangians or Drangians. The Drangians were first subdued by another Iranian people, the Medes, and later, by Cyrus the Great. According to Herodotus, during the reign of Darius I, the Drangians were placed in the same district as the Utians, Thamanaeans, Mycians, Drangians, and those deported to the Persian Gulf. In 330 BC, the region was conquered by Alexander the Great.
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Gandhara
Gandhāra (Sanskrit: गन्धार Gandḥārā, Urdu: گندھارا Ghandhāra, Pashto: ګندارا, Punjabi: گندھارا, Persian: ویهیند) is the name of an ancient kingdom (Mahajanapada), located in modern day northern Pakistan and parts of eastern Afghanistan. Gandhara was located mainly in the vale of Peshawar, the Potohar plateau (see Taxila) and on the Kabul River. Its main cities were Purushapura (modern Peshawar), literally meaning "City of Man", Varmayana (modern Bamyan) and Takshashila (modern Taxila).
The Kingdom of Gandhara lasted from the early 1st millennium BC to the 11th century AD. It attained its height from the 1st century to the 5th century under the Buddhist Kushan Kings. The Hindu term Shahi is used by history writer Al-Biruni to refer to the ruling Hindu dynasty that took over from the Turki Shahi and ruled the region during the period prior to Muslim conquests of the 10th and 11th centuries. After it was conquered by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1021 CE, the name Gandhara disappeared. During the Muslim period the area was administered from Lahore or from Kabul. During Mughal times the area was part of Kabul province.
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Herodotus
Herodotus ( /hɨˈrɒdətəs/; Ancient Greek: Ἡρόδοτος Hēródotos) was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria (modern day Bodrum, Turkey) and lived in the fifth century BC (circa 484 – 425 BC). He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a well-constructed and vivid narrative.The Histories—his masterpiece and the only work he is known to have produced—is a record of his "inquiry" (or ἱστορία historía, a word that passed into Latin and acquired its modern meaning of "history"), being an investigation of the origins of the Greco-Persian Wars and including a wealth of geographical and ethnographical information. Although some of his stories were fanciful, he claimed he was reporting only what had been told to him. Little is known of his personal history.
The Histories, otherwise known as The Researches or The Inquiries, were divided by later Alexandrian editors into nine books, named after the nine Muses: the "Muse of History", Clio, representing the first book, then Euterpe, Thaleia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polymnia, Ourania and Calliope for books 2 to 9, respectively. At its simplest and broadest level of meaning, The Histories is structured as a dynastic history of four Persian kings:
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Hunnic Empire
The Hunnic empire was formed under the reign of Attila, centered in present-day Hungary; its territory included parts of Germany, the Balkans, and Ukraine. It bordered the Eastern Roman Empire to the southeast and the Western Roman Empire to the west and southwest; its other boundaries are uncertain. The empire dissolved after Attila's death in 453 as a result of struggles over succession and leadership, finally disappearing around 469.
The origins of the Huns that swept through Europe during the 4th Century remain unclear; they may have been connected with the Xiongnu and the later Northern Xiongnu, defeated and dispersed by China some three centuries before. However, most mainstream historians consider them as a group of nomadic tribes from Central Asia with mixed origin.[citation needed] There was a Hunnic language, and Gothic seems also to have been used as a lingua franca.
European accounts first mention the Huns in the lands north-west of the Caspian Sea about 370, when they conquered a tribe of Alans to their west. Pushing further westward, the Huns subjugated many Ostrogoths. In 395, a Hun raid across the Caucasus mountains devastated Armenia, then captured Erzurum, besieged Edessa and Antioch, and even reached Tyre.
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Inca Empire
The Inca Empire, or Inka Empire (Quechua: Tawantinsuyu), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political and military center of the empire was located in Cusco in modern-day Peru. The Inca civilization arose from the highlands of Peru sometime in the early 13th century.
From 1438 to 1533, the Incas used a variety of methods, from conquest to peaceful assimilation, to incorporate a large portion of western South America, centered on the Andean mountain ranges, including, besides Peru, large parts of modern Ecuador, western and south central Bolivia, northwest Argentina, north and central Chile, and southern Colombia into a state comparable to the historical empires of Eurasia.
The official language of the empire was Quechua, although hundreds of local languages and dialects of Quechua were spoken. The Inca referred to their empire as Tawantinsuyu which can be translated as The Four Regions or The Four United Provinces.
There were many local forms of worship, most of them concerning local sacred "Huacas", but the Inca leadership encouraged the worship of Inti—the sun god—and imposed its sovereignty above other cults such as that of Pachamama. The Incas considered their King, the Sapa Inca, to be the "child of the sun."
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Iranian Azerbaijanis
Iranian Azerbaijanis also known as Iranian Azeris, Iranian Turks, Azeri Turks or Persian Azerbaijanis, are Iranians of Azerbaijani ethnicity. Iranian Azeris are mainly found in the northwest provinces of East Azerbaijan, Ardabil, Zanjan, West Azerbaijan, and in smaller numbers, in other provinces such as Kurdistan, Qazvin, Hamadan, Gilan and Markazi. Iranian Azerbaijanis also constitute a significant minority in Tehran, Karaj and other regions.
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Iranian languages
The Iranian languages (also called Iranic languages) form a subfamily of the Indo-Iranian languages which in turn are a subgroup of the Indo-European language family. The speakers of Iranian languages are known as Iranian peoples.
The Iranian languages are considered in three stages of Old (until 400 BCE), Middle (400 BCE – 900 CE), and New (since 900 CE). From the Old Iranian languages the better understood and recorded ones are Old Persian (a language of Achaemenid Iran) and Avestan (the language of Zarathushtra). Middle Iranian languages included Middle Persian (a language of Sassanid Iran) and Parthian (a language of Arsacid Iran). There are many Iranian languages, the largest amongst them are Persian, Pashto, Kurdish, and Balochi.
Today, there are an estimated 150–200 million native speakers of Iranian languages. The Ethnologue lists 87 Iranian languages.Persian has about 65 million native speakers, Pashto about 50 million, Kurdish about 18 million, Balochi about 7 million, and Lurish about 2.3 million.
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Iranian Languages
The Iranian languages (also called Iranic languages) form a subfamily of the Indo-Iranian languages which in turn are a subgroup of the Indo-European language family. The speakers of Iranian languages are known as Iranian peoples.
The Iranian languages are considered in three stages of Old (until 400 BCE), Middle (400 BCE – 900 CE), and New (since 900 CE). From the Old Iranian languages the better understood and recorded ones are Old Persian (a language of Achaemenid Iran) and Avestan (the language of Zarathushtra). Middle Iranian languages included Middle Persian (a language of Sassanid Iran) and Parthian (a language of Arsacid Iran). There are many Iranian languages, the largest amongst them are Persian, Pashto, Kurdish, and Balochi.
Today, there are an estimated 150–200 million native speakers of Iranian languages. The Ethnologue lists 87 Iranian languages.Persian has about 65 million native speakers, Pashto about 50 million, Kurdish about 18 million, Balochi about 7 million, and Lurish about 2.3 million.
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Iranian peoples
The Iranian peoples (Iranic peoples) are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group that comprise the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of the Indo-European-speaking peoples. Their historical areas of settlement were on the Iranian plateau, and comprised most of Iran and certain areas of Central Asia such as Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and most of Afghanistan, some parts of western Pakistan, northern Iraq and eastern Turkey, and scattered parts of the Caucasus Mountains. Their current distribution spreads across the Iranian plateau, and stretches from Pakistan's Indus River in the east to eastern Turkey in the west, and from Central Asia and the Caucasus in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south – a region that is sometimes called the Iranian cultural continent, or Greater Persia by scholars, and represents the extent of the Iranian languages and influence of the Persian People, through the geopolitical reach of the Persian empire.
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Kingdom of Kush
The Kingdom of Kush or Kush was an ancient African state centered on the confluences of the Blue Nile, White Nile and River Atbara in what is now the Republic of Sudan.
Established after the Bronze Age collapse and the disintegration of the New Kingdom of Egypt, it was centered at Napata in its early phase. After king Kashta ("the Kushite") invaded Egypt in the 8th century BC, the Kushite kings ruled as Pharaohs of the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt for a century, until they were expelled by Psamtik I in 656 BC.
During Classical Antiquity, the Kushite imperial capital was at Meroe. In early Greek geography, the Meroitic kingdom was known as Ethiopia. The Kushite kingdom with its capital at Meroe persisted until the 4th century AD, when it weakened and disintegrated due to internal rebellion. The Kushite capital was subsequently captured by the Beja Dynasty, who tried to revive the empire. The Kushite capital was eventually captured and destroyed by the kingdom of Axum. After the collapse of the Kushite empire several states emerged in its former territories, among them Nubia.
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List of Iranians
This is an alphabetic list of notable people from the Islamic Republic of Iran or its historical predecessors.
(Sorted according to the first letter of the most famous name)
The list here excludes the royalty. An extensive list of Persian royalty appears further down in this page.
See also Ministerial Head of Government in Iran Heads of Government of Iran (1699-1907) and List of Prime Ministers of Iran.
See also: List of current Iranian officials
See List of Marjas.
See List of Ayatollahs.
See comprehensive list of Persian/Iranian royalty.
See comprehensive List of Iranian scientists and engineers of the pre-modern age.
See comprehensive List of Iranian scientists and engineers of the modern age.
See full List of Iranian architects.
world record holder
See separate articles: Persian woman and List of Persian women.
medical college
See separate article: List of Iranian Americans.
See article: Iranian-Canadian
List of British Iranians
Iranians in Germany
Iranian Australian
Iranians in the Netherlands
Iranians in Sweden
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Lydia
Lydia (Assyrian: Luddu; Greek: Λυδία) was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern Turkish provinces of Manisa and inland İzmir. Its population spoke an Anatolian language known as Lydian.
At its greatest extent, the Kingdom of Lydia covered all of western Anatolia. Lydia (known as Sparda by the Achaemenids) was a satrapy (province) of the Achaemenid Empire, with Sardis as its capital. Tabalus, appointed by Cyrus the Great, was the first satrap (governor). (See: Lydia (satrapy)).
Lydia was later the name for a Roman province. Coins are thought to have been invented in Lydia around the 7th century BC.
The endonym Śfard (the name the Lydians called themselves) survives in bilingual and trilingual stone-carved notices of the Achaemenid Empire: the satrapy of Sparda (Old Persian), Aramaic Saparda, Babylonian Sapardu, Elamitic Išbarda. These in the Greek tradition are associated with Sardis, the capital city of Gyges, constructed in the 7th century BC.
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Madai
Madai (Hebrew: מדי, pronounced [maˈda.i]; Greek: Μηδος, [mɛːˈdos]) is a son of Japheth and one of the 16 grandsons of Noah in the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible. Biblical scholars have identified Madai with various nations, from the Mitanni of early records, to the Iranian Medes of much later records. The Medes, reckoned to be his offspring by Josephus and most subsequent writers, were also known as Madai, including in both Assyrian and Hebrew sources. The Kurds still maintain traditions of descent from Madai.
According to the Book of Jubilees (10:35-36), Madai had married a daughter of Shem, and preferred to live among Shem's descendants, rather than dwell in Japheth's allotted inheritance beyond the Black Sea; so he begged his brothers-in-law, Elam, Asshur and Arphaxad, until he finally received from them the land that was named after him, Media.
Another line in Jubilees (8:5) states that a daughter of Madai named Milcah married Cainan, who is an ancestor of Abraham also mentioned in older versions of Genesis.
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Madius
Madius (Ancient Greek: Μάδιος) or Madya was a Scythian king. He conquered and ruled the Median Empire from c.633-625 BCE.
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Mandane of Media
Mandana of Media (b. ca. 584 BCE) was a princess of Media and, later, the Queen consort of Cambyses I of Anshan and mother of Cyrus the Great, ruler of the Persia's Achaemenid Dynasty.
According to Herodotus, Mandana was born to Astyages, King of Media and son of Cyaxares the Great, and Princess Aryenis of Lydia, daughter of Alyattes II, the father of Croesus of Lydia.
Shortly after her birth, Herodotus reports that Astyages had a strange dream where his daughter urinated so much that Asia would flood. He consulted the magi who interpreted the dream as a warning that Mandana's son would overthrow his rule.
To forestall that outcome, Astyages betrothed Mandane to the vassal Achaemenid prince, Cambyses I of Anshan, "a man of good family and quiet habits", whom Astyages considered no threat to the Median throne.
Astyages had a second dream when Mandane became pregnant where a vine grew from her womb and overtook the world. Terrified, he sent his most loyal court retainer, Harpagus, to kill the child. However, Harpagus was loath to spill royal blood and hid the child, Cyrus II (Cyrus the Great), with a shepherd named Mitradates.
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Mary Boyce
Nora Elisabeth Mary Boyce (2 August 1920, Darjeeling - 4 April 2006) was a British scholar of Iranian languages, and an authority on Zoroastrianism. The Royal Asiatic Society's annual Boyce Prize for outstanding contributions to the study of religion is named after her.
She was born in Darjeeling where her parents were vacationing to escape the heat of the plains during the summer. Her father, William H. Boyce, was a Judge at the Calcutta high-court, then an institution of the British imperial government. Her mother Nora (née Gardiner) was a granddaughter of the historian Samuel Rawson Gardiner.
Boyce was educated at Wimbledon High School and then Cheltenham Ladies' College. At the University of Cambridge, Newnham College, she studied English, archaeology and anthropology, graduating with a double first.
In 1944, Boyce joined the faculty of the Royal Holloway College, University of London, where she taught Anglo-Saxon literature and archaeology until 1946. Simultaneously she continued her studies, this time in Persian languages, under the guidance of Vladimir Minorsky at the School of Oriental and African Studies from 1945-47. There she met her future mentor, Walter Bruno Henning, under whose tutelage she began to study Middle Iranian languages.
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Mazares
Mazares (Ancient Greek: Μαζάρης) was a Median general who defected to Cyrus the Great when the latter overthrew his grandfather, Astyages and formed the Persian Empire.
Mazares is mentioned in Herodotus as a Median general in the service of Cyrus the Great who died while putting down a revolt in Asia Minor.
After Cyrus' conquest of Lydia in 539 BC, a Lydian official named Pactyas, whom Cyrus had honored by making him a treasury official in his own government, raised an army of Lydians and Ionian Greeks. He revolted against Tabalus, Cyrus' Satrap at Sardis in Lydia, besieging the Persian forces in the royal enclosure and stealing from the famed Lydian Horde [the riches of King Crœsus] to finance his revolt.
Cyrus, upon hearing of the revolt, was enraged and made plans to punish the Lydians by burning Sardis to the ground. King Crœsus, who had been made an advisor to Cyrus' court after his defeat, entreated Cyrus to leave his former king seat unharmed.
According to Herodotus, Crœsus' recommendation was to disarm the population and enact trade laws that would turn the minds of the people to habits of luxury and pleasure.
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Medes
The Medes (/midz/) (from Old Persian Māda-) were an ancient Iranian people who lived in Iran in an area known as Media and spoke a northwestern Iranian language referred to as the Median language. Their arrival to the region is associated with the first wave of Iranian tribes in the late second millennium BCE (the Bronze Age collapse) through the beginning of the first millennium BCE.
In the 7th century BCE a unified Median state was formed which together with Babylonia, Lydia, and Egypt became one of the four major powers of the ancient Near East. An alliance with the Babylonians helped the Medes to capture Nineveh in 612 BCE which resulted in the collapse of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The Medes were subsequently able to establish their Median kingdom (with Ecbatana as their royal centre) beyond their original homeland (central-western Iran) and had eventually a territory stretching roughly from northeastern Iran to the Halys River in Anatolia. The Median kingdom was conquered in 550 BCE by Cyrus the Great who established the next Iranian dynasty—the Achaemenid Empire.
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Molon
Molon or Molo ([pronunciation?]; in Greek Moλων; died 220 BC) was a general and satrap of the Seleucid king Antiochus the Great (223–187 BC). He held the satrapy of Media at the accession of that monarch (223 BC); in addition to which, Antiochus conferred upon him and his brother Alexander the government of all the upper provinces of his empire. But their hatred to Hermeias, the chief minister of Antiochus, soon led them both to revolt: the two generals at first sent against them by the king were unable to oppose their progress, and Molon found himself at the head of a large army, and master of the whole country to the east of the Tigris.
He was, however, foiled in his attempts to pass that river by Zeuxis. However, Xenoetas, the general of Antiochus, who was now sent against him with a large force, having ventured to cross it in his turn, was surprised by Molon, and his whole army cut to pieces. The rebel satrap now crossed the Tigris, and made himself master of the city of Seleucia on the Tigris together with the whole of Babylonia and Mesopotamia.
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Nabopolassar
Nebopolassar ([pronunciation?]; Akkadian:Nebû-apal-usur) (c.658 BC - 605 BC) was the king of the Babylonia and played a key role in the demise of the Assyrian Empire following the death of the last powerful Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal. He ruled over Babylon for 20 years (625 - 605 BC).
Nabopolassar rose in revolt against the Assyrian Empire (which had ruled Babylon for the previous 200 years), after the last effective Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal died some time between 631 BC and 627 BC. Following his successful revolt, he took on the title of King of Babylonia.
Assyria, weakened by internal strife and ineffectual rule following the death of Ashurbanipal, was unable to resist the alliance of Chaldeans and Medes, who combined to sack the Assyrian capital of Nineveh in 612 BC, following the Battle of Nineveh which involved a prolonged siege of the city. Nabopolassar was left in control of Nineveh. His army and its allies destroyed the remnants of the Assyrian army at Carchemish in 605 BC.
Nabopolassar waged war against Egypt from 610 BC until his death. In 605 BC, Nabopolassar took the Assyrian city of Harran, where Assyrian forces had retreated after the fall of Nineveh. Later that year, his son Nebuchadnezzar fought against the Pharaoh Necho II of Egypt, shortly before Nabopolassar died.
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Peithon
Peithon or Pithon (Greek: Πείθων or Πίθων, about 355 – 314 BC) was the son of Crateuas, a nobleman from Eordaia in western Macedonia. One of the bodyguards of Alexander the Great, later satrap of Media and one of the diadochi.
Peithon was named one of the seven (later eight) Somatophylakes "bodyguards" of Alexander in 335 BC. After Alexander's death in 323 BC, Peithon was made the satrap of Media, the strategically important region that controlled all roads between east and west. Actually, the satrapy was too large for one man; Peithon would be very powerful, and could destabilize the entire empire. Therefore, he had to give up the northern part, which was given to Atropates, from then on known as Media Atropatene.
The soldiers who remained in the eastern part of Alexander's realm after his death grew agitated by their lengthy stay abroad, and began spontaneous revolts. The regent Perdiccas sent Peithon to subdue the revolters. He was given a contingent of Macedonians. Peithon easily defeated his opponents and accepted their capitulation. His men, however, having hoped to plunder, massacred their opponents.
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Phraortes
Phraortes (from Old Persian: 𐎳𐎼𐎺𐎼𐎫𐎡𐏁, Fravartiš, or Frâda via Ancient Greek Φραόρτης; c. 665 - 633 BC), son of Diyako, was the second king of the Median Empire.
Like his father Deioces, Phraortes started wars against Assyria, but was defeated and killed by Ashurbanipal, the king of Neo-Assyria.
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Polybius
Polybius[pronunciation?] (ca. 200–118 BC), Greek Πολύβιος) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his work, The Histories, which covered the period of 220–146 BC in detail. The work describes in part the rise of the Roman Republic and its gradual domination over Greece. Polybius is also renowned for his ideas concerning the separation of powers in government, later used in Montesquieu's The Spirit of the Laws and in the drafting of the United States Constitution.
Polybius was born in Arcadia around 200 BC. He was the son of Lycortas, a Greek politician who became Cavalry Commander of the Achaean League. His father's opposition to Roman control of Macedonia resulted in his imprisonment. Polybius was then deported to Rome, where Lucius Aemilius Paulus employed him to tutor his two sons.
Polybius had the opportunity to return to Macedonia in 152 BC; he elected to stay, however, in Rome, as by that time he had placed his allegiance in the Roman Republic. He became a close friend of the Roman military commander Scipio Aemilianus, accompanying the general to Hispania and Africa. Polybius's The Histories provides a detailed account of Rome's ascent to empire and included his eyewitness accounts of the Roman victory over Hannibal and the Sack of Carthage in 146 BC. Polybius held that historians should only chronicle events whose participants the historian was able to interview, and was among the first to champion the notion of having factual integrity in historical writing, while avoiding bias.
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President of Iran
The President of Iran is the highest popularly elected official in, and the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Iran; although subordinate to the Supreme Leader of Iran, who functions as the country's head of state. According to the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran the president is responsible for the "functions of the executive", such as signing treaties, agreements etc. with other countries and international organizations; the national planning and budget and state employment affairs; appointing ministers, governors, and ambassadors subject to the approval of the parliament.
Unlike some other countries, for example the United States, in Iran the office of president does not bestow full control over foreign policy, the armed forces, or the nuclear policy of the Iranian state, which are ultimately under the control of the Supreme Leader.
The President of Iran is elected for a four-year term by the direct vote of the people and may not serve for more than two consecutive terms.
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Rashidun Caliphate
The Rashidun Caliphate (Arabic: الخلافة الراشدية al-khilāfat ar-Rāshidīyah), (c. 632-661) comprising the first four caliphs in Islam's history, was founded after Muhammad's death in 632 (Year 10 A.H. in the Islamic calendar). At its height, the Caliphate extended from the Arabian Peninsula, to the Levant, Caucasus and North Africa in the west, to the Iranian highlands and Central Asia in the east. At its greatest extent it was one of the largest empires in history. It is also known as the Patriarchal Caliphate.
After Muhammad's death in 632, the Medinan Ansar debated which of them should succeed him in running the affairs of the Muslims while Muhammad's household was busy with his burial. Umar (a Quraish) and Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah pledged their loyalty to Abu Bakr, with the Ansar and the Quraish soon following suit. Abu Bakr thus became the first Khalifa Rasul Allah (Successor of the Messenger of God), and embarked on campaigns to propagate Islam. First, though, he would have to subdue the Arabian tribes which had gone back on their oaths of allegiance to Islam and the Islamic community. As a Khalifa or Caliph he was not a monarch and never claimed such a title nor did his three successors do so.
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Saka
The Saka (Old Persian Sakā, Latinized Sacae; Greek Σάκαι; Sanskrit शक [śaka]; Chinese 塞; Old Chinese *sək) were a Scythian tribe or group of tribes of Iranian origin.
Greek and Latin texts suggest that the term Scythians referred to a much more widespread grouping of Central Asian peoples.
Accounts[which?] of the Indo-Scythian wars often assume that the Scythian protagonists were a single tribe called the Saka (Sakai or Sakas).[original research?] But in earlier Greek and Latin texts the term Scythians referred to a much more widespread grouping of Central Asian peoples.
"Scythia" was a generic term loosely applied to a vast area of Central Asia spanning numerous groups and diverse ethnicities. Ptolemy writes that Skuthia was not only "within the Imaos" (the Himalayas) and "beyond the Imaos" (north of the Himalayas), but also speaks of a separate "land of the Sakais" within Scythia.[original research?] He also notes that the Komedes inhabited "the entire mountainous land of the Sakas".[citation needed]
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Scythians
The Scythians (/ˈsɪθi.ən/ or /ˈsɪði.ən/; from Greek Σκύθης, Σκύθοι), or Scyths /ˈsɪθ/, were an ethnolinguistic group of ancient Iranian nomadic tribal cultures who throughout Classical Antiquity dominated the Pontic-Caspian steppe, known at the time as Scythia. By Late Antiquity the closely related Sarmatians came to dominate the Scythians in this area. Much of the surviving information about the Scythians comes from the Greek historian Herodotus (c. 440 BC) in his Histories and Ovid in his poem of exile Epistulae ex Ponto, and archaeologically from the exquisite goldwork found in Scythian burial mounds in Ukraine and Southern Russia.
The name "Scythian" has also been used to refer to various peoples seen as similar to the Scythians, or who lived anywhere in the area known as Scythia,
Sulimirski views the Histories of Herodotus as the most important literary source relating to ancient Scyths. Herodotus provides a depiction that can be related to the results of archaeological research, but apparently knew little of the eastern part of Scythia. He did say that the ancient Persians called all the Scyths Σάκαι (Sacae, Herodotus 7.64). Their principal tribe, the "Royal Scyths", ruled the vast lands occupied by the nation as a whole (Herodotus 4.20), calling themselves Σκώλοτοι (Scōloti, Herodotus 4.6). Oswald Szemerényi devotes a thorough discussion to the etymologies of ancient ethnic words for the Scythians in his work "Four old Iranian ethnic names: Scythian – Skudra – Sogdian – Saka". In it the names of Herodotus and the names of his title, except Saka, as well as many other words for "Scythian," such as Assyrian Aškuz and Greek Skuthēs, descend from *skeud-, an ancient Indo-European root meaning "propel, shoot" (cf. English shoot). *skud- is the zero-grade; that is, a variant in which the -e- is not present. The restored Scythian name is *Skuda (archer), which among the Pontic or Royal Scythians became *Skula, in which the d has been regularly replaced by an l.
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Seleucus I Nicator
Seleucus I (given the surname by later generations of Nicator, Greek : Σέλευκος Νικάτωρ, i.e. Seleucus the Victor) (ca. 358 BC – 281 BC) was a leading officer of Alexander the Great's League of Corinth and one of the Diadochi. In the Wars of the Diadochi that took place after Alexander's death, Seleucus established the Seleucid dynasty and the Seleucid Empire. His kingdom would be one of the last holdouts of Alexander's former empire to Roman rule. They were only outlived by the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt by roughly 34 years.
After the death of Alexander, Seleucus was nominated as the satrap of Babylon in 320 BC. Antigonus forced Seleucus to flee from Babylon, but, supported by Ptolemy, he was able to return in 312 BC. Seleucus' later conquests include Persia and Media. It is assumed that he was defeated by the emperor of India, Chandragupta Maurya and accepted a matrimony alliance for 500 elephants after ceding the territories considered as part of India. Seleucus defeated Antigonus in the battle of Ipsus in 301 BC and Lysimachus in the battle of Corupedium in 281 BC. He was assassinated by Ptolemy Ceraunus during the same year. His successor was his son Antiochus I.
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Sogdiana
Sogdiana or Sogdia ([pronunciation?]; Old Persian: Suguda-; Ancient Greek: Σογδιανή, Sogdianē; Persian: سغد Soġd; Tajik: Суғд, سغد Suġd; Uzbek: Sơģd; Chinese: 粟特 Sùtè) was the ancient civilization of an Iranian people and a province of the Achaemenid Empire, eighteenth in the list on the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great (i. 16). Sogdiana is "listed" as the second of the "good lands and countries" that Ahura Mazda created. This region is listed second after Airyana Vaeja, Land of the Aryans, in the Zoroastrian book of Vendidad or "Videvdat", indicating the importance of this region from ancient times. Sogdiana, at different times, included territories around Samarkand, Bukhara, Khujand and Shahrisabz in modern Uzbekistan. The inhabitants of Sogdiana were the Sogdians, an Eastern Iranian people who are among the ancestors of modern-day Tajik, Pashun and Yaghnobi peoples.
The Sogdian states, although never politically united, were centered around the main city of Samarkand. Sogdiana lay north of Bactria, east of Khwarezm, and southeast of Kangju between the Oxus (Amu Darya) and the Jaxartes (Syr Darya), embracing the fertile valley of the Zeravshan (ancient Polytimetus). Sogdian territory corresponds to the modern provinces of Samarkand and Bokhara in modern Uzbekistan as well as the Sughd province of modern Tajikistan.
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Somali people
Somalis (Somali: Soomaaliyeed, Arabic: الصوماليون) are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Ethnic Somalis number around 15-17 million and are principally concentrated in Somalia (more than 10 million), Ethiopia (4.6 million), Yemen (a little under 1 million), Kenya (900,000), Djibouti (464,600), and an unknown but large number live in parts of the Middle East, North America and Europe.
Samaale, the oldest common ancestor of several Somali clans, is generally regarded as the source of the ethnonym Somali. The name "Somali" is, in turn, held to be derived from the words soo and maal, which together mean "go and milk" — a reference to the ubiquitous pastoralism of the Somali people. Another plausible etymology proposes that the term Somali is derived from the Arabic for "wealthy" (dhawamaal), again referring to Somali riches in livestock.
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Songhai Empire
The Songhai Empire, also known as the Songhay Empire, was a state located in western Africa. From the early 15th to the late 16th century, Songhai was one of the largest Islamic empires in history. This empire bore the same name as its leading ethnic group, the Songhai. Its capital was the city of Gao, where a Songhai state had existed since the 11th century. Its base of power was on the bend of the Niger River in present day Niger and Burkina Faso.
The Songhai state has existed in one form or another for over a thousand years if one traces its rulers from the first settlement in Gao to its semi-vassal status under the Mali Empire through its continuation in Niger as the Dendi Kingdom.
The Songhai are thought to have settled at Gao as early as 800 CE, but did not establish it as the capital until the 11th century, during the reign of Dia Kossoi. However, the Dia dynasty soon gave way to the Sonni, proceeding the ascension of Sulaiman-Mar, who gained independence and hegemony over the city and was a forbear of Sonni Ali. Mar is often credited with wresting power away from the Mali Empire and gaining independence for the small Songhai kingdom at the time.
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Strabo
Strabo,,[pronunciation?], also written Strabon (Greek: Στράβων; 64/63 BC – ca. AD 24), was a Greek geographer, philosopher and historian.
Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus (modern Amasya, Turkey), a city that he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea. His mother was Georgian. Pontus had recently fallen to the Roman Republic, and although politically he was a proponent of Roman imperialism, Strabo belonged on his mother's side to a prominent family whose members had held important positions under the resisting regime of King Mithridates VI of Pontus.
Strabo's life was characterized by extensive travels. He journeyed to Egypt and Kush, as far west as coastal Tuscany and as far south as Ethiopia in addition to his travels in Asia Minor and time spent in Rome. Travel throughout the Mediterranean and Near East, especially for scholarly purposes, was popular during this era and was facilitated by the relative peace enjoyed throughout the reign of Augustus (27 BC – AD 14). He moved to Rome in 44 BC, and stayed there, studying and writing, until at least 31 BC. In 29 BC, on his way to Corinth (where Augustus was at the time), he visited the island of Gyaros in the Aegean Sea. Around 25 BC, he sailed up the Nile until reaching Philae, after which point there is little record of his proceedings until 17 AD.
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Tajik people
Tajik (Persian: تاجيک, Tājīk; Tajik: Тоҷик) is a general designation for a wide range of Persian-speaking people of Iranic origin, with traditional homelands in present-day Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. There are also smaller communities living in Iran and Pakistan; consisting mainly of refugees from Afghanistan and immigrants from Tajikistan.
In terms of language, culture, and history the Tajiks are closely related to the Persians of Iran.
As a self-designation, the term Tajik, which earlier on had been more or less pejorative, has become acceptable only during the last several decades, particularly as a result of Soviet administration in Central Asia. Alternative names for the Tajiks are Fārsī (Persian), Fārsīwān (Persian-speaker), and Dīhgān (cf. Tajik: Деҳқон, Dehqon, literally "farmer or settled villager", in a wider sense "settled" in contrast to "nomadic").
The Tajiks of China, although known by the name Tajik, speak Eastern Iranian languages and are distinct from Persian Tajiks.
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Talysh language
The Talyshi language is a Northwestern Iranian language spoken in the northern regions of the Iranian provinces of Gilan and Ardabil and the southern regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Historically, the language and its people can be traced through the middle Iranian period back to the ancient Medes. It includes many dialects usually divided into three main clusters: Northern (in Azerbaijan and Iran), Central (Iran) and Southern (Iran). There are a wide variety of estimates for the number of Talyshi speakers with reliable estimates running anywhere from 500,000 to 1 million. Talyshi is partially, but not fully, intelligible with respect to Persian. Talysh is classified as "vulnerable" by UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.
The origin of the name Tolish is not clear but is likely to be quite old. The name of the people appears in early Arabic sources as Al-Taylasân and in Persian as Tâlišân and Tavâliš, which are plural forms of Tâliš. Northern Talysh (in the Republic of Azerbaijan) was historically known as Tâlish-i Guštâsbi. Talysh has always been mentioned with Gilan or Muqan. Hamdallah Mostowfi writing in the 1340s calls the language of Gushtaspi covering the Caspian border region between Gilan to Shirvan is called a Pahlavi language connected to the language of Gilan. Although there are no confirmed records, the language called in Iranian linguistics as Azari can be the antecedent of both Talyshi and Tati. Miller’s (1953) hypothesis that the Âzari of Ardabil, as appears in the quatrains of Shaikh Safi, was a form of Talyshi. That was also confirmed by Henning (1954). In western literature the people and the language are sometimes referred to as Talishi, Taleshi or Tolashi. Generally speaking, the written books and texts concerning Taleshi are rare. However, In the recent decades a scientific and research movement has come about in this old region in poetry, history, literature, etc.
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Teispes
Teispes (Old Persian: 𐎨𐎡𐏁𐎱𐎡𐏁Cišpiš, from Greek: Τεΐσπης ) lived from 675-640 BCE. He was the son of Achaemenes and an ancestor of Cyrus the Great. There is evidence that Cyrus I and Ariaramnes were both his sons. Cyrus I is the grandfather of Cyrus the Great, whereas Ariaramnes is great grandfather of Darius the Great. According to 7th-century BC documents, he captured the Elamite city of Anshan after being freed from Median supremacy, and expanded his small kingdom. His kingdom was an Elamite vassal state. He was succeeded by his second son, Cyrus I.
Schmitt suggests that the name is probably Iranian, but its etymology is unknown. Its connection with either the name of the Mitannian and Araratian storm god Tešup-Theispas, or with the (Elamite) byname Za-iš-pi-iš-ši-ya is likely.
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Teotihuacan
Coordinates: 19°41′33″N 98°50′37.68″W / 19.6925°N 98.8438°W / 19.6925; -98.8438
Teotihuacan – also written Teotihuacán, with a Spanish orthographic accent on the last syllable – is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, just 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Mexico City, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas. Apart from the pyramidal structures, Teotihuacan is also known for its large residential complexes, the Avenue of the Dead, and numerous colorful, well-preserved murals. Additionally, Teotihuacan produced a thin orange pottery style that spread through Mesoamerica.
The city is thought to have been established around 100 BC and continued to be built until about 250 AD. The city may have lasted until sometime between the 7th and 8th centuries AD. At its zenith, perhaps in the first half of the 1st millennium AD, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas, with a population of perhaps 125,000 or more, placing it among the largest cities of the world in this period. Teotihuacan began as a new religious center in the Mexican Highland around the first century AD. This city came to be the largest and most populated center in the New World. Teotihuacan was even home to multi-floor apartment compounds built to accommodate this large population. The civilization and cultural complex associated with the site is also referred to as Teotihuacan or Teotihuacano.
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Timarchus
Timarchus or Timarch was a usurper in the Seleucid empire between 163-160 BCE.
A Greek nobleman, possibly from Miletus in Asia Minor, Timarchus was a friend of the Seleucid prince Antiochus IV Epiphanes during his time as hostage to Rome. He was appointed satrap of Media in western Iran when Antiochus IV Epiphanes became king in 175 BCE, and his brother Heracleides became minister of the royal finances. The Persian part of the empire was threatened by the Parthian kingdom, and Timarchus probably spent much of his time reinforcing the defences. The Seleucid realms probably extended as far as the area of Teheran during this time.
In the turmoil following the death of Antiochus IV during a Persian campaign in 163 BCE, Timarchus became the more or less independent ruler of Media, opposing the general Lysias who acted as steward for the infant king Antiochus V Eupator, son of Antiochus IV.
In 162 BCE Demetrius I, the proper heir to the Seleucid throne, became king, killing Lysias as well as the young Antiochus V. This may well have been the provocation that caused Timarchus to take the final step to independence and declare himself king.
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Vladimir Minorsky
Vladimir Fedorovich Minorsky (Russian: Владимир Фёдорович Минорский; February 5, 1877 – March 25, 1966) was a Russian Orientalist best known for his contributions to Kurdish and Persian history, geography, literature, and culture.
Minorsky was born in Korcheva, Tver, northwest of Moscow on the upper Volga River, a town now submerged beneath the Ivankovo Reservoir. There he was a gold medallist of the Fourth Grammar School. In 1896 he entered Moscow University to study law, graduating in 1900, then entered the Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages where he spent 3 years preparing for a diplomatic career. He made his first trip to Iran in 1902, where he collected material on the Ahl-e Haqq.
In 1903 he entered the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, serving 1904-1908 in Persia (now Iran), first in the Tabriz Consulate-General and then the Tehran Legation, and 1908-1912 in Saint Petersburg and Tashkent. In 1911, jointly the Four-Power (British, Russian, Turkish, and Persian) Commission, he carried out a mission in North-Western Persia to delimit the Turko-Persian border, and also published a monograph on the Ahl-i Ḥaqq religion for which he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Ethnography Section of the Imperial Society of Natural Sciences in Moscow.
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Wojciech Skalmowski
Jan Wojciech Skalmowski (pseud. Maciej Broński, M. Broński, Piotr Meynert), born 24 June 1933 in Poznan, died 18 July 2008 in Brussels, was a Polish scholar, orientalist, essayist, writer, journalist and literary critic.
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Xenophon
Xenophon (Ancient Greek: Ξενοφῶν, Xenophōn; c. 430 – 354 BC), son of Gryllus, of the deme Erchia of Athens, also known as Xenophon of Athens, was a Greek historian, soldier, mercenary, philosopher and a contemporary and admirer of Socrates. He is known for his writings on the history of his own times, the 4th century BC, preserving the sayings of Socrates, and descriptions of life in ancient Greece and the Persian Empire.
Xenophon's birth date is uncertain, but most scholars agree that he was born around 431 BC near the city of Athens. Xenophon was born into the ranks of the upper classes, thus granting him access to certain privileges of the aristocracy of ancient Attica. While a young man, Xenophon participated in the expedition led by Cyrus the Younger against his older brother, king Artaxerxes II of Persia, in 401 BC. Xenophon writes that he had asked the veteran Socrates for advice on whether to go with Cyrus, and that Socrates referred him to the divinely inspired Delphic oracle. Xenophon's query to the oracle, however, was not whether or not to accept Cyrus' invitation, but "to which of the gods he must pray and do sacrifice, so that he might best accomplish his intended journey and return in safety, with good fortune". The oracle answered his question and told him to which gods to pray and sacrifice. When Xenophon returned to Athens and told Socrates of the oracle's advice, Socrates chastised him for asking so disingenuous a question.
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Xerxes I of Persia
Xerxes I of Persia (/ˈzɜrksiːz/; Old Persian: Xšayaršā IPA: [xʃajaːrʃaː] meaning "ruling over heroes",Greek: Ξέρξης, Hebrew: אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ, Modern Aẖashverosh Tiberian ʼĂḥašwērôš), also known as Xerxes the Great (519 BC-465 BC), was the fourth king of the Achaemenid Empire.
Immediately after seizing the kingship, Darius I of Persia (son of Hystaspes) married Atossa (daughter of Cyrus the Great). They were both descendants of Achaemenes from different Achaemenid lines. Marrying a daughter of Cyrus strengthened Darius's position as king. Darius was an active emperor, busy with building programs in Persepolis, Susa, Egypt, and elsewhere. Toward the end of his reign he moved to punish Athens, but a new revolt in Egypt (probably led by the Persian satrap) had to be suppressed. Under Persian law, the Achaemenian kings were required to choose a successor before setting out on such serious expeditions. Upon his great decision to leave (487-486 BC), Darius prepared his tomb at Naqsh-e Rostam and appointed Xerxes, his eldest son by Atossa, as his successor. Darius's failing health then prevented him from leading the campaigns, and he died in October 486 BC.
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Xerxes II of Persia
Xerxes II (Xšayāršā) was a Persian king and the son and successor of Artaxerxes I. After a reign of forty-five days, he was assassinated in 424 BC by his brother Sogdianus, who in turn was murdered by Darius II. He is an obscure historical figure known primarily from the writings of Ctesias. He was reportedly the only legitimate son of Artaxerxes I and his Queen Damaspia. He is known to have served as Crown Prince.
The last inscription mentioning Artaxerxes I being alive can be dated to 424 BC. Xerxes apparently succeeded to the throne but two of his illegitimate brothers claimed the throne for themselves. The first was Sogdianus, Artaxerxes I's son by his concubine Alogyne of Babylon. The second was Darius II, Artaxerxes I's son by his concubine Cosmartidene of Babylon, who was married to their common half-sister Parysatis, daughter of Artaxerxes I and his concubine Andia of Babylon.[citation needed]
Xerxes II was apparently only recognized as king in Persia and Sogdianus in Elam. Ochus' first inscription as Darius II can be dated to January 10, 423 BC. He was already satrap of Hyrcania and was soon recognized by Media, Babylonia and Egypt. Xerxes II only ruled forty five days. He was reportedly murdered by Pharnacyas and Menostanes while drunk on Sogdianus' orders. Sogdianus apparently gained the support of his regions. Sogdianus was killed a few months later. Darius II became the sole ruler of the Persian Empire and would reign till 404 BC.[citation needed]
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The Medes Empire the biggest of ancient age BC 600
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:28
- Updated: 19 Dec 2012
The Medes or Median empire ancient age mesopotamia.the super power of the BC 500 and 600 years.the Medes Empire collapsed the Assyrian Empire and is defeated by Persian empire. GREETINGS FROM TODAY TO THE NAMELESS HEROES OF ANCIENT AGE ! by Cyaxares47 the Kurdish Warrior
http://wn.com/The_Medes_Empire_the_biggest_of_ancient_age_BC_600
The Medes or Median empire ancient age mesopotamia.the super power of the BC 500 and 600 years.the Medes Empire collapsed the Assyrian Empire and is defeated by Persian empire. GREETINGS FROM TODAY TO THE NAMELESS HEROES OF ANCIENT AGE ! by Cyaxares47 the Kurdish Warrior
Aryan Empires : The Medes Empire
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:30
- Updated: 01 Jan 2013
Med,Medes or Median Empire ancestor of the Kurds were over 600 years the biggest power of middle east.they destroyed the Assyrian empire and invented a lot of for the man.
http://wn.com/Aryan_Empires_The_Medes_Empire
Med,Medes or Median Empire ancestor of the Kurds were over 600 years the biggest power of middle east.they destroyed the Assyrian empire and invented a lot of for the man.
- published: 19 Sep 2008
- views: 7118
- author: KurdischMedianEmpire
CGR Undertow - DIVE: THE MEDES ISLANDS SECRET for Nintendo Wii Video Game Review
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:05
- Updated: 25 Nov 2012
Classic Game Room presents a CGR Undertow review of Dive: The Medes Island Secret from Cosmonaut Games, a downloadable game for the Nintendo Wii's WiiWare service. You play Dive: The Medes Island Secret from a 2D perspective, swimming through deep aquatic caverns while searching for treasure. The locations of your targets appear on your radar, but finding them isn't as easy as you might think. The levels have a maze-like quality, inspiring a sense of dread and claustrophobia not unlike Metroid. It's easy to pursue the wrong tunnels, and with limited oxygen, that can be a fatal mistake. This video review features video gameplay footage of Dive: The Medes Island Secret for WiiWare and audio commentary from Classic Game Room's Derek.
http://wn.com/CGR_Undertow_DIVE_THE_MEDES_ISLANDS_SECRET_for_Nintendo_Wii_Video_Game_Review
Classic Game Room presents a CGR Undertow review of Dive: The Medes Island Secret from Cosmonaut Games, a downloadable game for the Nintendo Wii's WiiWare service. You play Dive: The Medes Island Secret from a 2D perspective, swimming through deep aquatic caverns while searching for treasure. The locations of your targets appear on your radar, but finding them isn't as easy as you might think. The levels have a maze-like quality, inspiring a sense of dread and claustrophobia not unlike Metroid. It's easy to pursue the wrong tunnels, and with limited oxygen, that can be a fatal mistake. This video review features video gameplay footage of Dive: The Medes Island Secret for WiiWare and audio commentary from Classic Game Room's Derek.
- published: 28 Jan 2011
- views: 6265
- author: CGRundertow
Dive: The Medes Islands Secret - The Place behind the Secret
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:15
- Updated: 10 Jul 2012
Discover the Medes Islands, a fantastic protected natural landscape located at the heart of the Costa Brava and where "Dive: The Medes Islands Secret" has been inspired.
http://wn.com/Dive_The_Medes_Islands_Secret_The_Place_behind_the_Secret
Discover the Medes Islands, a fantastic protected natural landscape located at the heart of the Costa Brava and where "Dive: The Medes Islands Secret" has been inspired.
- published: 03 Mar 2010
- views: 4550
- author: CosmonautGames
Dive: The Medes Islands Secret Official Trailer (English)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:33
- Updated: 02 Oct 2012
Official trailer for our upcoming WiiWare platform/adventure game: Dive: The Medes Islands Secret.
http://wn.com/Dive_The_Medes_Islands_Secret_Official_Trailer_English
Official trailer for our upcoming WiiWare platform/adventure game: Dive: The Medes Islands Secret.
- published: 10 Apr 2010
- views: 3828
- author: CosmonautGames
Kurdish Median/Medes history
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 10:10
- Updated: 07 Jan 2013
The Kurdish hatti Median Empire
http://wn.com/Kurdish_Median_Medes_history
The Kurdish hatti Median Empire
- published: 18 Jan 2012
- views: 8516
- author: Zagros Newroz Aryan Kurdistan
[WiiWare] Dive: The Medes Islands Secret - First Look
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:22
- Updated: 17 Dec 2012
We take a Dive and explore depths of the ocean in this First Look!
http://wn.com/_WiiWare_Dive_The_Medes_Islands_Secret_First_Look
We take a Dive and explore depths of the ocean in this First Look!
- published: 27 Jul 2010
- views: 7029
- author: NintenDaan1
Diving Video: Spanish Barracuda Illes Medes l'Estartit Spain
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:29
- Updated: 30 Nov 2012
Schools of 50+ European Barracuda at the Illes Medes (Medes Islands), l'Estartit, Costa Brava, Spain. Filmed on 9 and 11 September 2009 near the divingspot L'Escribana at Illes Medes. Details Place: L'Escribana, Illes Medes l'Estartit, Costa Brava Spain Date: 09 and 11 September 2009 Cam&Edit;&©: Olivier van der Post School&Boat;: Calypso Diving Estartit Camera: Canon IXUS 800 IS Buddy: Judy van der Spek
http://wn.com/Diving_Video_Spanish_Barracuda_Illes_Medes_l'Estartit_Spain
Schools of 50+ European Barracuda at the Illes Medes (Medes Islands), l'Estartit, Costa Brava, Spain. Filmed on 9 and 11 September 2009 near the divingspot L'Escribana at Illes Medes. Details Place: L'Escribana, Illes Medes l'Estartit, Costa Brava Spain Date: 09 and 11 September 2009 Cam&Edit;&©: Olivier van der Post School&Boat;: Calypso Diving Estartit Camera: Canon IXUS 800 IS Buddy: Judy van der Spek
- published: 06 Oct 2009
- views: 2894
- author: Oli4Post
Iran's Atomic Bomb and Return of the Medes.MP4
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:04
- Updated: 13 Jun 2012
Iran's Atomic Bomb and Return of the Medes Book The Iran's Atomic Bomb making conflict can be solved peacefully if the US, EU and Israel help to built the people in the region an "Economic Union" instead of waging wars. This is a Religious Analysis following the book, the "Return of the Medes" Hello, my name is Hamma Mirwaisi, and I am the Author of the book "(The) Return of the Medes". Today, I am going to propose different ideas about past Human civilizations. And I am going to point out why this book is different from other books about the region. This book is preaching the peaceful reunion of over 400 million Airyanem (Iranian) people from Pakistan to Turkey and from Kurdistan to former Soviet Union countries. It is preaching the creations of an "Economic Union" with independent for each nation and sub-nation within this proposed "Economic Union". It is preaching to create Job for American, EU and Israeli people by rebuilding the region just like what the US did after World War II in Europe. Yes this is new ideas to accomplish peace and economic prosperity instead of war and destructions. The regions need peace instead of war. The Return of the Medes is not only an analysis of history. It seeks to explain the roots of monotheistic Religions; as a product of the ancient civilizations of Asia and the Middle East (Old Airyanem or Iranian Civilizations). It is an educational document regarding the evolution of religions and cultures of the ancient world; a more holistic ...
http://wn.com/Iran's_Atomic_Bomb_and_Return_of_the_MedesMP4
Iran's Atomic Bomb and Return of the Medes Book The Iran's Atomic Bomb making conflict can be solved peacefully if the US, EU and Israel help to built the people in the region an "Economic Union" instead of waging wars. This is a Religious Analysis following the book, the "Return of the Medes" Hello, my name is Hamma Mirwaisi, and I am the Author of the book "(The) Return of the Medes". Today, I am going to propose different ideas about past Human civilizations. And I am going to point out why this book is different from other books about the region. This book is preaching the peaceful reunion of over 400 million Airyanem (Iranian) people from Pakistan to Turkey and from Kurdistan to former Soviet Union countries. It is preaching the creations of an "Economic Union" with independent for each nation and sub-nation within this proposed "Economic Union". It is preaching to create Job for American, EU and Israeli people by rebuilding the region just like what the US did after World War II in Europe. Yes this is new ideas to accomplish peace and economic prosperity instead of war and destructions. The regions need peace instead of war. The Return of the Medes is not only an analysis of history. It seeks to explain the roots of monotheistic Religions; as a product of the ancient civilizations of Asia and the Middle East (Old Airyanem or Iranian Civilizations). It is an educational document regarding the evolution of religions and cultures of the ancient world; a more holistic ...
- published: 22 Oct 2010
- views: 978
- author: Hamma Mirwaisi
Dive: The Medes Islands Secret - Playtest Video
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:39
- Updated: 10 May 2012
Wiiloveit.com Review: www.wiiloveit.com Watch me as I go on the search for the Gold Ingots in the Bermuda! ++++++++++++++++++ Even more Nintendo goodness at www.wiiloveit.com Follow us on twitter twitter.com Ask us questions on Formspring: www.formspring.me Place review requests: www.wiiloveit.com
http://wn.com/Dive_The_Medes_Islands_Secret_Playtest_Video
Wiiloveit.com Review: www.wiiloveit.com Watch me as I go on the search for the Gold Ingots in the Bermuda! ++++++++++++++++++ Even more Nintendo goodness at www.wiiloveit.com Follow us on twitter twitter.com Ask us questions on Formspring: www.formspring.me Place review requests: www.wiiloveit.com
- published: 28 Jul 2010
- views: 9417
- author: WiiloveitTV
Petra Medes mardrömsentré i Skellefteå Melodifestivalen 2009
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:22
- Updated: 06 Jun 2012
Melodifestivalen 2009
http://wn.com/Petra_Medes_mardrömsentré_i_Skellefteå_Melodifestivalen_2009
L'Estartit - SCUBA diving Iles Medes 2005
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:24
- Updated: 31 Mar 2012
Diving at the Medes Islands in Costa Brava 2005. This is a great place to dive.
http://wn.com/L'Estartit_SCUBA_diving_Iles_Medes_2005
Diving at the Medes Islands in Costa Brava 2005. This is a great place to dive.
- published: 09 Nov 2007
- views: 6911
- author: andymarsh75
In English- Medes - Achaemenid - Parthian - Art and Technology Part IV Audio Overlay
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:41
- Updated: 10 Aug 2012
Suez Canal, Ganats, Kahreez, natural air conditioning, floating bridges have been presented and narrated. Medes, Achaemenid and Parthian era.
http://wn.com/In_English_Medes_Achaemenid_Parthian_Art_and_Technology_Part_IV_Audio_Overlay
Suez Canal, Ganats, Kahreez, natural air conditioning, floating bridges have been presented and narrated. Medes, Achaemenid and Parthian era.
- published: 29 Aug 2008
- views: 793
- author: KARPETPET
The Ancient Medes = Today Kurds & Medes Empire = Kurdistan
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:28
- Updated: 01 Jan 2013
history of the kurds and our ancestors the Medes and their empire Medes or median empire was the biggest empire of the world BC 600
http://wn.com/The_Ancient_Medes_=_Today_Kurds_Medes_Empire_=_Kurdistan
history of the kurds and our ancestors the Medes and their empire Medes or median empire was the biggest empire of the world BC 600
- published: 30 Sep 2008
- views: 3649
- author: KurdischMedianEmpire
dasma medes erdhen tupanat ne tomoc Istog
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:36
- Updated: 03 Dec 2011
http://wn.com/dasma_medes_erdhen_tupanat_ne_tomoc_Istog
Tomb of Cyaxares The Great Emperor of Kurdish Medes Empire !
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:45
- Updated: 03 Jan 2013
Cyaxares The Great was one of the biggest emperor of the world! The emperor of Ancient Kurdish Medes Median Empire conquered whole Anatolia (Turkey,Kurdistan) Mesopotamia(Iraq ,syria)whole Aryan(iran,afghanistan and tadjikistan) a part of arab island west kaukasia(azerbaijan,armenia,georgia) the Kurdish Median Empire was the first great Empire of the aryan race controlled this whole area for 400 years and destroyed the ex world power assyrian empire.The Kurdish Median Empire destroyed by Persian Empire another Aryan Empire!
http://wn.com/Tomb_of_Cyaxares_The_Great_Emperor_of_Kurdish_Medes_Empire_!
Cyaxares The Great was one of the biggest emperor of the world! The emperor of Ancient Kurdish Medes Median Empire conquered whole Anatolia (Turkey,Kurdistan) Mesopotamia(Iraq ,syria)whole Aryan(iran,afghanistan and tadjikistan) a part of arab island west kaukasia(azerbaijan,armenia,georgia) the Kurdish Median Empire was the first great Empire of the aryan race controlled this whole area for 400 years and destroyed the ex world power assyrian empire.The Kurdish Median Empire destroyed by Persian Empire another Aryan Empire!
- published: 04 Jun 2008
- views: 4363
- author: KurdischMedianEmpire
The groupers of the Medes Islands
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:46
- Updated: 16 Nov 2012
The large groupers of the Medes islands. Documental sobre la gran población de meros que viven en las Illes Medes de L'Estartit. Autor: Manel González.
http://wn.com/The_groupers_of_the_Medes_Islands
The large groupers of the Medes islands. Documental sobre la gran población de meros que viven en las Illes Medes de L'Estartit. Autor: Manel González.
- published: 01 Oct 2009
- views: 14030
- author: BioImatge
Kurdish Castle of Medes Empire
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:25
- Updated: 11 Jan 2013
Kurdish castle in Urfa/Xalfeti Northern Kurdistan Euphrates " Kingdom of the Commagene (KomaGele) Nemrut"Median /Medes Empire kurdish people Garden of eden gire navoke ancient history story Gutian Ahura Mazda xwoda mazda mazin tausi melek ezda Mithra Mihtras the children of the Sun and Fire Kurds and Kurdistan Mithraism avesta Mitra mihr mihra mihro mir Zoroastrian zarathustra zerdesht ezidi ezda yezidi yazidi Proto Indo Kurdish Aryan origin language Zagros anatolia taurus Hittites Hurrian kingdom Mitanni luwian Kassites elam Gordiene Gorduene, Cordyene, Cardyene, Carduene, Gordyene, Gordyaea, Korduene, Korchayk, Gordian garden kurds Corduene Gordyene ancient kurdish kingdom Hattusa Anatolian branch hatti luwi luwian kurd Biblical Hittites Hittite Empire, Arzawa anatolia kurds kurdistan ancient ari aryan Neo-Hittite kingdoms Troy Wilusa Truwisa
http://wn.com/Kurdish_Castle_of_Medes_Empire
Kurdish castle in Urfa/Xalfeti Northern Kurdistan Euphrates " Kingdom of the Commagene (KomaGele) Nemrut"Median /Medes Empire kurdish people Garden of eden gire navoke ancient history story Gutian Ahura Mazda xwoda mazda mazin tausi melek ezda Mithra Mihtras the children of the Sun and Fire Kurds and Kurdistan Mithraism avesta Mitra mihr mihra mihro mir Zoroastrian zarathustra zerdesht ezidi ezda yezidi yazidi Proto Indo Kurdish Aryan origin language Zagros anatolia taurus Hittites Hurrian kingdom Mitanni luwian Kassites elam Gordiene Gorduene, Cordyene, Cardyene, Carduene, Gordyene, Gordyaea, Korduene, Korchayk, Gordian garden kurds Corduene Gordyene ancient kurdish kingdom Hattusa Anatolian branch hatti luwi luwian kurd Biblical Hittites Hittite Empire, Arzawa anatolia kurds kurdistan ancient ari aryan Neo-Hittite kingdoms Troy Wilusa Truwisa
- published: 03 Nov 2012
- views: 145
- author: Zagros Aryan
AIR SUPPLY songs plus FOREVER by Kenny Logins at the Music Museum - Jeff Medes
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:25
- Updated: 15 Dec 2012
CENTER FOR POP Kids of Pop concert at the Music Museum august 6, 2011
http://wn.com/AIR_SUPPLY_songs_plus_FOREVER_by_Kenny_Logins_at_the_Music_Museum_Jeff_Medes
CENTER FOR POP Kids of Pop concert at the Music Museum august 6, 2011
- published: 07 Aug 2011
- views: 5720
- author: jeffreymedes
FCW 4.5.09- ( Rosa Medes vs Alicia Fox)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:56
- Updated: 06 Jan 2013
i dont own any rights
http://wn.com/FCW_4509_Rosa_Medes_vs_Alicia_Fox
Ampuriabrava (Empuriabrava): Bootsausflug zum Naturpark der Medes-Inseln
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:04
- Updated: 10 Sep 2012
Von dem Ferienhaus http//:www.ampuriabrava-ferienhaus-urlaub.de in Ampuriabrava mit dem Boot über die Bucht von Roses entlang der Felsküste zwischen La Escala und L'Estartit und durch einen kleinen Felstunnel zu dem Naturpark der Medes-Inseln.
http://wn.com/Ampuriabrava_Empuriabrava_Bootsausflug_zum_Naturpark_der_Medes-Inseln
Von dem Ferienhaus http//:www.ampuriabrava-ferienhaus-urlaub.de in Ampuriabrava mit dem Boot über die Bucht von Roses entlang der Felsküste zwischen La Escala und L'Estartit und durch einen kleinen Felstunnel zu dem Naturpark der Medes-Inseln.
- published: 07 Oct 2010
- views: 4437
- author: FerienhausAmpuria
The Medes Islands
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:12
- Updated: 03 Sep 2012
www.webdehoteles.com In this wonderful video, Guille Cervera takes us to dive the Illes Medes National Reserve in the beautiful Mediterranean Sea off the Costa Brava of Spain. The Illes Medes archipelago is located just off shore from the seaside resort town of L'Estartit, Spain, and is a world-renowned diving location with protected National Park status.
http://wn.com/The_Medes_Islands
www.webdehoteles.com In this wonderful video, Guille Cervera takes us to dive the Illes Medes National Reserve in the beautiful Mediterranean Sea off the Costa Brava of Spain. The Illes Medes archipelago is located just off shore from the seaside resort town of L'Estartit, Spain, and is a world-renowned diving location with protected National Park status.
- published: 08 May 2008
- views: 6409
- author: goulaig
Camping Les Medes
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:04
- Updated: 04 May 2012
Visita al Camping Les Medes, a l'Estartit, Girona, Costa Brava.
http://wn.com/Camping_Les_Medes
Visita al Camping Les Medes, a l'Estartit, Girona, Costa Brava.
- published: 16 Jun 2009
- views: 6595
- author: campinglesmedes
photo: AP / Jacques Brinon
10 Jan 2013
PARIS. Three Kurdish women, including one of the founders of a militant group battling Turkish troops since 1984, were "executed" at a Kurdish center in Paris, the interior minister said on Thursday. Turkey's Anadolu news agency identified one of the victims as Sakine Cansiz, a founding member of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK ... He called it a "totally intolerable act." ... ....(size: 1.7Kb)
photo: AP / Channi Anand
09 Jan 2013
JAMMU, India (Reuters) - India slammed arch-rival Pakistan on Wednesday over a fire fight in the disputed territory of Kashmir in which two of its soldiers were killed, and said the mutilation of one of the bodies was "inhuman". India's Defence Minister A.K. Antony waits to speak at a plenary session of the 11th International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) Asia Security Summit ... REUTERS/Tim Chong ... ....(size: 2.6Kb)
photo: AP / Alexandre Meneghini
10 Jan 2013
Mexican has enacted a law that will ensure that the victims and relatives of crime are compensated with payments and social services from the state. The law, enacted by President Enrique Pena Nieto on Wednesday, comprises the creation of a fund to pay relatives up to $70,000 in compensation for an innocent victim killed in attacks by drug gangs ... “There are thousands of people who have suffered the ravages of violence ... Share ... ....(size: 18.3Kb)
photo: White House / Pete Souza
10 Jan 2013
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. "Lay then, the axe to the root, and teach governments humanity. It is their sanguinary punishments which corrupt mankind." -Thomas Paine, "The Rights of Man". If alive today, Thomas Paine would recognize that the United States Government is not worthy of its citizens ... He would caution the People ... Paine would also empathize with ... In another town, Paine would identify with ... (1) Paine, Thomas....(size: 4.8Kb)
photo: AP / NSW Rural Fire Service, James Morris
10 Jan 2013
Tammy Holmes, second from left, holds 2-year-old Charlotte Walker, left, and Esther Walker, 4, as they find refuge in water as fires rage nearby in Tasmania last week. Joining them were, from right, Caleb Walker, 6, Matilda Walker, 11, and Liam Walker, 9. Record temperatures across southern Australia cooled Wednesday, but the reprieve from the summer's extreme heat is expected to be brief. (Provided by the Holmes family) ... ....(size: 2.9Kb)
New York Post Online
08 Jan 2013
This sicko loves the limelight. Accused “Dark Knight’’ killer James Holmes couldn’t stop himself from smiling in court yesterday as prosecutors showed surveillance video of him entering a Colorado movie theater minutes before he allegedly shot dead 12 people and wounded 58 more ... AP ... AP ... One of his passengers, Caleb Medely, 23, who was shot in the head, “was making a God-awful noise ... Medely survived ... ....(size: 4.1Kb)
Sun Star
05 Jan 2013
VINTAGE has become such a stylish word these days that I checked the dictionary for its meaning? Vintage more commonly referred to wines, meaning of high quality, identified as to the year and the vineyard or district of origin. It is characterized by excellence, maturity and enduring appeal ... Parties from weddings to birthdays and anniversaries have gone vintage in theme ... Crissa Lizares Bagtas glowed with pride using Lola Meding’s gown....(size: 5.7Kb)
The Examiner
02 Jan 2013
Ready to take the plunge, go for a dip in Turquoise calm water's? Island Magazine has rated the top 25 destinations for snorkeling and diving in the world. Time to get out the snorkels and dive gear and head off to your underwater fantasy vacation of a lifetime. Coming in at the 25th spot is Plaza Del Sur in the Galapagos. Imagine swimming with marine Iguanas and some of the worlds largest Sea Turtles ... Les Medes Islands, Spain ... Bonaire ... ....(size: 6.3Kb)
The Examiner
31 Dec 2012
WWE taped this week’s Main Event (airing on ION Network on Wednesday night) and Smackdown (airing Friday night on SyFy) last night in Richmond, Virginia ... MAIN EVENT ... -The Great Khali, Hornswoggle and Natalya defeat Primo, Epico and Rosa Medes ... ....(size: 1.3Kb)
Collider
29 Dec 2012
Now playing is director Tom Hooper’s fantastic adaptation of Les Miserables. Loaded with great performances and top notch filmmaking, Les Mis is absolutely a contender for all the year end awards and it would shock me if Anne Hathaway doesn’t win the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her incredible work as Fantine ... Collider ... Tom Hooper ... Hooper ... It’s a great combination, Same Medes and [Daniel] Craig sounds like a really cool combination ... ....(size: 18.3Kb)
noodls
24 Dec 2012
(Source. Hilton Hotels Corporation). DoubleTree by Hilton Welcomes its First Guests in Spain Stunning Catalan Golf Resort the Location of DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel & Spa Emporda ... English ... The coastline is home to many areas of natural beauty and biodiversity such as the historic Medes Islands, whilst the rich local cuisine sees the province boasting a wealth of Michelin-starred restaurants ... Contacts.. Hayley Douglas. Hilton Worldwide....(size: 8.2Kb)
The Examiner
24 Dec 2012
There is a lot of confusion when it comes to speaking in tongues, and rightfully so. Many of us have witnessed certain churches where people start babbling incoherently and shouting in gibberish that no one can understand ... The word we substitute with tongues is the Greek word glōssa which means quite simply ... 9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, ... ....(size: 10.0Kb)
Business Wire
21 Dec 2012
Stunning Catalan Golf Resort the Location of DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel & Spa Emporda ... “We are delighted to be bringing one of Europe’s fastest growing hotel brands to Spain for the first time ... The coastline is home to many areas of natural beauty and biodiversity such as the historic Medes Islands, whilst the rich local cuisine sees the province boasting a wealth of Michelin-starred restaurants ... About DoubleTree by Hilton ... ....(size: 12.0Kb)
noodls
21 Dec 2012
(Source. European Commission). Comisión Europea. Joaquín Almunia. Vicepresidente de la Comisión europea responsable de Competencia. Aprobación de los planes de reestructuración de del segundo grupo de bancos españoles que precisaban ayuda estatal ... Bruselas,20 Diciembre 2012 ... La aprobación de los planes de estas 4 entidades del Grupo 2 significa que los fondos del MEDE puede ser desembolsados al Fondo de Reestructuración Ordenada Bancaria....(size: 23.8Kb)
noodls
14 Dec 2012
El fons marí de les illes Medes i el Montgrí ... The monograph, which aims at going more deeply into the knowledge of natural areas and providing data to improve their management, collects the main conclusions of the scientific research developed for several decades on the seabed of Medes Islands and Montgrí coastal area in different fields of ecology and marine biology....(size: 3.0Kb)
Jakarta Post
13 Dec 2012
Paper Edition . Page. 9. More than 500 vendors from three traditional markets on Jl ... The vendors, grouped in the Association of Indonesian Traditional Market Traders (APPSI) from the Mede, Cipete and Blok A markets, lamented that the area would be designated as a “park and ride” location with an elevated MRT track ... ....(size: 1.6Kb)
Yahoo Daily News
13 Dec 2012
The experts at Consumer Reports test and write about hundreds of products each year, including coffeemakers and 3D TVs, mowers and refrigerators, treadmills and toilets and much more. Given their hands-on experience in the labs, we asked our technicians and editors what they covet for the holidays, putting price and practicality aside. MORE AT COnsumer Reports. » Coffeemaker reviews » Recommended blenders ... (See also ... The price ... ... Eva Medes....(size: 23.8Kb)
noodls
12 Dec 2012
LUXE WORLDWIDE HOTELS NAMES NORBERT MEDE ... LOS ANGELES, CA (December 12, 2012)-Norbert Mede, of the Hotel Griffon, was named the ... Originally from San Francisco, Mede joined Hotel Griffon as General Manager in 2008, with over 18 years of experience in the industry. Mede graduated from the Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management program at Golden Gate University in San Francisco in 1991....(size: 4.6Kb)
"Mede" redirects here. For the town in Italy, see Mede, Lombardy.
"Medians" redirects here. For other uses, see Median (disambiguation).
| Median Empire or Median Confederation Mādai |
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 |
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| Capital | Ecbatana, modern Hamadan | |||
| Language(s) | Median language | |||
| Religion | Old Iranian religion (related to Mithraism, early Mazdaism or Zoroastrianism) | |||
| Government | Monarchy | |||
| King | ||||
| - 678–665 BC | Deioces or Kashtariti[2] | |||
| - 665–633 BC | Phraortes | |||
| - 625–585 BC | Cyaxares the Great | |||
| - 589–549 BC | Astyages | |||
| Historical era | Golden Age | |||
| - Deioces united Median tribes[1][3] | c. 678 BCE[1] | |||
| - Cyrus the Great | 549 BCE | |||
The Medes (/midz/)[N 1] (from Old Persian Māda-) were an ancient Iranian people[N 2] who lived in Iran in an area known as Media and spoke a northwestern Iranian language referred to as the Median language. Their arrival to the region is associated with the first wave of Iranian tribes in the late second millennium BCE (the Bronze Age collapse) through the beginning of the first millennium BCE.
In the 7th century BCE a unified Median state was formed which together with Babylonia, Lydia, and Egypt became one of the four major powers of the ancient Near East. An alliance with the Babylonians helped the Medes to capture Nineveh in 612 BCE which resulted in the collapse of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The Medes were subsequently able to establish their Median kingdom (with Ecbatana as their royal centre) beyond their original homeland (central-western Iran) and had eventually a territory stretching roughly from northeastern Iran to the Halys River in Anatolia. The Median kingdom was conquered in 550 BCE by Cyrus the Great who established the next Iranian dynasty—the Achaemenid Empire.
A few archaeological sites (discovered in the "Median triangle" in western Iran) and textual sources (from contemporary Assyrians and also Greeks in later centuries) provide a brief documentation of the history and culture of the Median state. These architectural sources, religions temples, and literary references show the importance of Median lasting contributions (such as the Safavid-Achaemenid-Median link of the tradition of "columned audience halls") to the Iranian culture. A number of words from the Median language are still in use and there are languages being geographically and comparatively traced to the northwestern Iranian language of Median. The Medes had an Ancient Iranian Religion (a form of pre-Zoroastrian Mazdaism or Mithra worshipping) with a priesthood named as "Magi". Later and during the reigns of last Median kings the reforms of Zarathustra spread in western Iran.
Besides Ecbatana (modern Hamedan), the other cities existing in Media were Laodicea, modern Nahavand[6] and the mound that was the largest city of the Medes, Rhages (also called Rey), on the outskirts of Shahr Rey, south of Tehran. The fourth city of Media was Apamea, near Ecbatana which its precise location is not known. In later periods, Medes and especially Mede soldiers are identified and portrayed prominently in ancient Persian archaeological sites such as Persepolis, where they are shown to have a major role and presence in the military of the Persian Empire's Achaemenid dynasty.
According to the Histories of Herodotus, there were six Median tribes:
Thus Deioces collected the Medes into a nation, and ruled over them alone. Now these are the tribes of which they consist: the Busae, the Paretaceni, the Struchates, the Arizanti, the Budii, and the Magi.
The six Median tribes resided in Media proper, the triangle between of Ecbatana, Rhagae and Aspadana [3] in todays central Iran,[8][9] the area between Tehran, Isfahan and Hamadan. Of the Median tribes, the Magi resided in Rhaga,[10] modern Tehran.[11]It was a sort of sacred caste, which ministered to the spiritual needs of the Medes.[12] The Paretaceni tribe resided in and around Aspadana, modern Isfahan.,[3][13][14] the Arizanti lived in and around Kashan [3] and the Busae tribe lived in and around the future Median capital of Ecbatana, modern Hamadan.[3] The Struchates and the Budii lived in villages in the Median triangle.[15]
Contents |
Name[link]
The original source for different words used to call the Median people, their language and homeland is a directly transmitted Old Iranian geographical name which is attested as the Old Persian "Māda-" (sing. masc.).[16] The meaning of this word is not precisely established.[16][17] The linguist W. Skalmowski proposes a relation with the proto-Indoeuropean word "med(h)-" meaning "central, suited in the middle" by referring to Old Indic "madhya-" and Old Iranic "maidiia-" both carrying the same meaning.[16]
They also appear in many ancient texts. According to the Histories of Herodotus,
The Medes were called anciently by all people Aryans; but when Medea, the Colchian, came to them from Athens, they changed their name. Such is the account which they themselves give.
Historical geography of Media[link]
The original population area of the Median people was western Iran and named after them as "Media". At the end of the 2nd millennium BCE the Median tribes arrived in the region (one of several Iranian tribes to do so) which they later called Media. These tribes expanded their control over larger areas subsequently and over a period of several hundred years the boundaries of Media moved.[19]
Ancient textual sources[link]
An early description of the territory of Media by the Assyrians dates from the end of 9th century until the beginning of the 7th century BCE. The southern border of Media, in that period, is named as the Elamite region of Simaški in present day Lorestan. From the west and northwest it was bounded by the Zagros mountains and from the east by Dašt-e Kavir. The region of Media was known to the Assyrians and described by them thus: "extended along the Great Khorasan Road from just east of Harhar to Alwand, and probably beyond. It was limited on the north by Mannea, on the south by Ellipi."[20] The location of Harhar is suggested to be "the central or eastern" Mahidasht in Kermanshah province.[21]
On the east and southeast of Media, as described by the Assyrians, another land with the name of "Patušarra" appears. This land was located near a mountain range which the Assyrians call "Bikni" and describe as "Lapis Lazuli Mountain". There are various opinion on the location of this mountain. Damavand of Tehran and Alvand of Hamadan are two proposed identifications of that location. This location is the most remote eastern area that the Assyrians knew or reached during their expansion until the beginning of 7th century BCE.[22]
In the sources from Achaemenid Iran and specifically from the inscription of Darius I (2.76, 77-78) the capital of Media is named as "Hamgmatāna-" in Old Persian (and as Elamite "Agmadana-", Babylonian "Agamtanu-", etc.). The classical authors transmitted this as Ecbatana. This site is the modern Hamadan province.[23]
Archaeological evidence[link]
The Median archaeological sources are rare. The discoveries of Median sites happened only after the 1960s.[24] For sometime after 1960 the search for Median archeological sources has been for most parts focused in an area known as the “Median triangle,” defined roughly as the region bounded by Hamadān, Malāyer (in Hamdan province) and Kangāvar (in Kermanshah province).[24] Three major sites from central western Iran in the Iron Age III period (i.e. 850-500 BCE) are[25]
- Tepe Nush-i Jan (a primarily religious site of Median period),
- The site is located 14 km west of Malāyer in Hamadan province.[24] The excavations started in 1967 with D. Stronach as the director.[26] The remains of four main buildings in the site have "the central temple, the western temple, the fort, and the columned hall" which according to Stronach were likely to have been built in the order named and predate the latter occupation of the first half of the 6th century BCE.[27] According to Stronach, the central temple, with its stark design, "provides a notable, if mute, expression of religious belief and practice".[27] A number of ceramics from the Median levels at Tepe Nush-i Jan have been found which are associated with the time (the second half of the 7th century BCE) of the Median consolidation of their power in the Hamadān areas. These findings show four different wares known as “Common ware” (buff, cream, or light red in color and with gold or silver mica temper) including jars in various size the largest of which is a form of ribbed pithoi. Smaller and more elaborate vessels were in “grey ware”, (these display smoothed and burnished surface). The “Cooking ware” and “Crumbly ware” are also recognized each in single handmade products.[27]
- Godin Tepe (its period II: a fortified palace of a Median king or tribal chief),
- The site is located 13 km east of Kangāvar city on the left bank of the river Gamas Āb". The excavations, started in 1965, were led by T. C. Young, Jr. which, according to D. Stronach, evidently shows an important Bronze Age construction that was reoccupied sometime before the beginning of the Iron III period. The excavations of Young indicate the remains of a part of a single residence of a local ruler which later became quite substantial.[24] This is similar to those mentioned often in Assyrian sources.[25]
- Baba Jan (probably the seat of a lesser tribal ruler of Media).
- The site is located in northeastern Luristan with a distance of roughly 10 km from Nūrābād in Lurestan province. The excavations were conducted by C. Goff in 1966-69. The level II of this site probably dates to 7th century BCE.[28]
These sources have both similarities (in cultural characteristics) and differences (due to functional differences and diversity among the Median tribes).[25] The architecture of this archaeological findings that can probably be dated to the Median period show a link between the tradition of columned audience halls seen often in Achaemenid Iran (for example in Persepolis) and also in the Safavid Iran (for example in "the hall of forty columns" from 17th century CE) and the Median architecture.[25]
The materials found at Tepe Nush-i Jan, Godin Tepe, and other sites located in Media together with the Assyrian reliefs show the existence of urban settlements in Media in the first half of the first millennium BCE which had functioned as centres for production of handicraft and also of an agricultural and cattle-breeding economy of a secondary type.[29] For other historical documentation, the archaeological evidence, though rare, together with cuneiform records by Assyrian make it possible, regardless of Herodotus accounts, to establish some of the early history of Medians.[30]
Rise to power[link]
Pre-dynastic history[link]
Iranic tribes were present in western and northwestern Iran at least from 12–11th century BCE. The significance of Iranian elements in these regions were established from beginning of the second half of the 8th century BCE.[31] By this time the Iranian tribes were the majority in what later become the territory of Median kingdom and also the west of Media proper.[31] A study of textual sources from the region show that in Neo-Assyrian period, the regions of Media and further west and northwest had a population with Iranian speaking people as majority.[32]
In western and northwestern Iran and in areas west to these and prior to the Median rule there were previously political activities of powerful societies of Elam, Mannaea, Assyria and Urartu (Armenia).[31] There are various and up-dated opinions on the positions and activities of Iranian tribes in these societies and prior to the "major Iranian state formations" in the 7th century BCE.[31] One opinion (of Herzfeld, et al.) is that the ruling class were "Iranian migrants" but the society was "autochthonous" while another opinion (of Grantovsky, et al.) holds that both the ruling class and basic elements of the population were Iranian.[33]
During the period of the Neo Assyrian Empire (911-612 BC) the Medes, Persians and other Iranic peoples of northern and western Iran were subject to Assyria. This changed during the reign of Cyaxares, who in alliance with Nabopolassar of Babylon and the Scythians attacked and destroyed the strife riven empire between 616 and 605 BC.[34]
Median dynasty[link]
The list of Median rulers and their dates compiled according to A: Herodotus who calls them "kings" and associates them with the same family, and B: Babylonian Chronicle which in "Gadd's Chronicle on the Fall of Nineveh" gives its own list, ist: Deioces (reign 700-647 BCE), Phraortes (reign 647-625 BCE), Scythian (reign 624-597 BCE), Cyaxares (reign 624-585 BCE) and Astyages (reign 585-549 BCE): a total of 150 years.[35] Not all of these dates and personalities given by Herodotus match the other near eastern sources[35]
In Herodotus (book 1, chapters 95-130), Deioces is introduced as the founder of a centralized Median state. He had been known to Median people as "a just and incorruptible man" and when asked by Median people to solve their possible disputes he agreed and put the condition that they make him "king" and build a great city at Ecbatana as the capital of Median state.[36] Judging from the contemporary sources of the region and disregarding[37] the account of Herodotus puts the formation of a unified Median state during the reign of Cyaxares or later.[38]
Culture and society[link]
In Greek references to "Median" people there is no clear distinction between the "Persians" and the "Medians"; in fact for a Greek to become "too closely associated with Iranian culture" was "to become medianized, not persianized".[25] The Median kingdom was a short-lived Iranian state and the textual and archaeological sources of that period are rare and little could be known from the Median culture which nevertheless made a "profound, and lasting, contribution to the greater world of Iranian culture".[39]
Language[link]
Main article: Median language
Median people spoke the Median language, which was an Old Iranian language. Strabo in his Geography (finished in the early 1st century AD) mentions the affinity of Median with other Iranian languages: "The name of Ariana is further extended to a part of Persia and of Media, as also to the Bactrians and Sogdians on the north; for these speak approximately the same language, but with slight variations".[40]
No original deciphered text is proved to have been written in Median language. It is suggested that similar to later Iranian practice of keeping archives of written documents in Achaemenid Iran, there was also a maintenance of archives by Median government in their capital Ecbatana. There are examples of "Median literature" found in later records. One is according to Herdotus that the Median king Deioces, appearing as a judge, made judgement on causes submitted in writing. There is also a report by Dinon on existence of "Median court poets".[41] Median literature is a part of the "Old Iranian literature" (including also Saka, Old Persian, Avestan) as this Iranian affiliation of them is explicit also in ancient texts, such as Herodotus's account[18] that many peoples including Medes were "universally called Iranian".[42]
Words of Median origin appear in various other Iranian dialects, including Old Persian. A feature of Old Persian inscriptions is the large number of words and names from other languages and the Median language takes in this regard a special place for historical reasons.[43] The Median words in Old Persian texts, whose Median origin can be established by "phonetic criteria",[43] appear "more frequently among royal titles and among terms of the chancellery, military, and judicial affairs".[43] Words of Median origin include:
- *čiθra-: "origin".[44] The word appears in *čiθrabṛzana- (med.) "exalting his linage", *čiθramiθra- (med.) "having mithraic origin", *čiθraspāta- (med.) "having a brilliant army", etc.[45]
- Farnah: Divine glory; (Avestan: khvarənah)
- Paridaiza: Paradise, (as in Pardis پردیس)
- Spaka- : The word is Median and means "dog".[46] Herodotus identifies "Spaka-" (Gk. "σπάχα" - female dog) as Median rather than Persian.[47] The word is still used in modern Iranian languages including Talyshi.
- vazṛka-: "great" (as Modern Persian bozorg)[43]
- vispa-: "all".[48] (as in Avestan). The component appears in such words as vispafryā (Med. fem.) "dear to all", vispatarva- (med.) "vanquishing all", vispavada- (med. -op.) "leader of all", etc.[49]
- Xshayathiya (royal, royalty): This Median word (∗xšaθra-pā-) is an example of words whose Greek form (known as romanized "satrap" from Gk. "satrápēs - σατράπης") mirrors, as opposed to the tradition[N 3], a Median rather than an Old Persian form of an Old Iranian word.[50]
- zūra-: "evil" and zūrakara-: "evil-doer".[43]
Religion[link]
There are very limited sources concerning the religion of Median people. Primary sources pointing to religious affiliations of Medes and found so far include the archaeological discoveries in Tepe Nush-e Jan, personal names of Median individuals, and the Histories of Herodotus. The archaeological source gives the earliest of the temple structures in Iran and the "stepped fire altar" discovered there is linked to the common Indo-Iranian legacy of the "cult of fire". Herodotus mentions Median Magi as a Median tribe providing priests for both the Medes and the Persians. They had a "priestly caste" which passed their functions from father to son. They played a significant role in the court of the Median king Astyages who had in his court certain Medians as "advisers, dream interpreters, and soothsayers". Classical historians "unanimously" regarded the Magi as priests of the Zoroastrian faith. From the personal names of Medes as recorded by Assyrians (in 8th and 9th century BCE) there are examples of use of the Indo-Iranian word arta- (lit. "truth") which is familiar from both Avestan and Old Persian and also examples of theophoric names containing Maždakku and also the name "Ahura Mazdā".[51] Scholars disagree whether these are indications of Zoroastrian religion of Medes. Diakonoff believes that "Astyages and perhaps even Cyaxares had already embraced a religion derived from the teachings of Zoroaster" which was not identical with doctrine of Zarathustra and Mary Boyce believes that "the existence of the Magi in Media with their own traditions and forms of worship was an obstacle to Zoroastrian proselytizing there".[51] Boyce wrote that the Zoroastrian traditions in the Median city of Ray probably goes back to 8th century BCE.[52] It is suggested that from 8th century BCE, a form of "Mazdaism with common Indo-Iranian traditions" existed in Media and the strict reforms of Zarathustra began to spread in western Iran during the reign of the last Median kings in 6th century BCE.[51]
It is also suggested that "Mithra" has a Median name and Medes may have practised Mithraism and had Mithra as their supreme deity.[53]
Media in later periods[link]
Achaemenid Persia[link]
_Relief_Achamenid_Period.JPG)
Further information: Persian Mesopotamia
In 553 BC, Cyrus the Great, King of Persia, rebelled against his grandfather, the Mede King, Astyages son of Cyaxares; he finally won a decisive victory in 550 BC resulting in Astyages' capture by his own dissatisfied nobles, who promptly turned him over to the triumphant Cyrus.[54]
After Cyrus's victory against Astyages, the Medes were subjected to their close kin, the Persians.[55] In the new empire they retained a prominent position; in honor and war, they stood next to the Persians; their court ceremony was adopted by the new sovereigns, who in the summer months resided in Ecbatana; and many noble Medes were employed as officials, satraps and generals. Interestingly, at the beginning the Greek historians referred to the Achaemenid Empire as a Median empire.
After the assassination of the usurper Smerdis, a Mede Fravartish (Phraortes), claiming to be a scion of Cyaxares, tried to restore the Mede kingdom, but was defeated by the Persian generals and executed in Ecbatana (Darius I the Great in the Behistun inscription). Another rebellion, in 409 BC, against Darius II[56] was of short duration. But the Iranian[57] tribes to the north, especially the Cadusii, were always troublesome; many abortive expeditions of the later kings against them are mentioned.[58]
Under Persian rule, the country was divided into two satrapies: the south, with Ecbatana and Rhagae (Rey near modern Tehran), Media proper, or Greater Media, as it is often called, formed in Darius I the Great's organization the eleventh satrapy,[59] together with the Paricanians and Orthocorybantians; the north, the district of Matiane, together with the mountainous districts of the Zagros and Assyria proper (east of the Tigris) was united with the Alarodians and Saspirians in eastern Armenia, and formed the eighteenth satrapy.[60]
When the Persian empire decayed and the Cadusii and other mountainous tribes made themselves independent, eastern Armenia became a special satrapy, while Assyria seems to have been united with Media; therefore Xenophon in the Anabasis always designates Assyria by the name of "Media".[58]
Seleucid rule[link]
Main article: Atropatene
Following Alexander's invasion of the satrapy of Media in the summer of 330 BC, he appointed as satrap a former general of Darius III the Great named Atropates (Atrupat) in 328 BC, according to Arrian. In the partition of his empire, southern Media was given to the Macedonian Peithon; but the north, far off and of little importance to the generals squabbling over Alexander's inheritance, was left to Atropates.
While southern Media, with Ecbatana, passed to the rule of Antigonus, and afterwards (about 310 BC) to Seleucus I, Atropates maintained himself in his own satrapy and succeeded in founding an independent kingdom. Thus the partition of the country, that Persia had introduced, became lasting; the north was named Atropatene (in Pliny, Atrapatene; in Ptolemy, Tropatene), after the founder of the dynasty, a name still said to be preserved in the modern form 'Azerbaijan'.
The capital of Atropatene was Gazaca in the central plain, and the castle Phraaspa, discovered on the Araz river by archaeologists in April 2005.
Atropatene is that country of western Asia which was least of all other countries influenced by Hellenism; there exists not even a single coin of its rulers. Southern Media remained a province of the Seleucid Empire for a century and a half, and Hellenism was introduced everywhere. Media was surrounded everywhere by Greek towns, in pursuance of Alexander's plan to protect it from neighboring barbarians, according to Polybius.[61] Only Ecbatana retained its old character. But Rhagae became the Greek town Europus; and with it Strabo[62] names Laodicea, Apamea Heraclea or Achais. Most of them were founded by Seleucus I and his son Antiochus I.
Arsacid rule[link]
In 221 BC, the satrap Molon tried to make himself independent (there exist bronze coins with his name and the royal title), together with his brother Alexander, satrap of Persis, but they were defeated and killed by Antiochus the Great. In the same way, the Mede satrap Timarchus took the diadem and conquered Babylonia; on his coins he calls himself the great king Timarchus; but again the legitimate king, Demetrius I, succeeded in subduing the rebellion, and Timarchus was slain. But with Demetrius I, the dissolution of the Seleucid Empire began, brought about chiefly by the intrigues of the Romans, and shortly afterwards, in about 150, the Parthian king Mithradates I conquered Media.[63]
From this time Media remained subject to the Arsacids or Parthians, who changed the name of Rhagae, or Europus, into Arsacia,[64] and divided the country into five small provinces.[65] From the Parthians, it passed in 226 to the Sassanids, together with Atropatene.
Kurdologists and Medes[link]
The Russian historian and linguist Vladimir Minorsky suggested that the Medes, who widely inhabited the land where currently the Kurds form the majority, are likely to be the forefathers of the modern Kurds, also on the basis of historical and lingustic evidence that he gathered.[66][page needed].[67]
M. Chahin and Wadie Jwaideh wrote that "The Medes were the ancestors of Xenophon's Carduchi and the modern Kurds.[68][69]
Contemporary linguistic evidence has challenged the previously held view that the Kurds are descendants of the Medes.[70][71] Gernot Windfuhr (professor of Iranian Studies) identified Kurdish dialects as Parthian, albeit with a Median substratum.[72] Even though Kurdish is a northwestern iranian language, David Neil MacKenzie, an authority of Kurdish language, thought that the Medes spoke a northwestern Iranian language, while the Kurdish people speak a southwestern Iranian language.[66] The Kurdologist Martin van Bruinessen argues against the attempt to take Medes as ancestors of the Kurds.[67] Modern scholars who consider central Iranian dialects, mainly those of Kashan area, and Tati of Tehran area as the only direct offshoots of the Median language.[73]
See also[link]
- Achaemenid Empire
- Madai
- Persian Empire
- Greater Persia
- List of rulers of Pre-Achaemenid kingdoms of Iran
- List of kings of Persia
- Qanat water management system
Notes[link]
- ^ from OED's entry: "Mede < classical Latin Mēdus (usually as plural, Mēdī) < ancient Greek (Attic and Ionic) Μῆδος (Cypriot ma-to-i Μᾶδοι, plural) < Old Persian Māda"[4]
- ^ A)"..and the Medes (Iranians of what is now north-west Iran).." EIEC (1997:30). B) "Archaeological evidence for the religion of the Iranian-speaking Medes of the .." (Diakonoff 1985, p. 140). C) ".. succeeded in uniting into a kingdom the many Iranian-speaking Median tribes" ( from Encyclopædia Britannica [5]). D) "Proto-Iranian split into Western (Median, ancient Persian, and others) and Eastern (Scythian, Ossetic, Saka, Pamir and others)..." (Kuz'mina, Elena E. (2007), The origin of the Indo-Iranians, J. P. Mallory (ed.), BRILL, p. 303, ISBN 978-90-04-16054-5 ) ...
- ^ "..a great many Old Persian lexemes...are preserved in a borrowed form in non-Persian languages – the so-called “collateral” tradition of Old Persian (within or outside the Achaemenid Empire).... not every purported Old Iranian form attested in this manner is an actual lexeme of Old Persian."[50]
References[link]
- ^ a b Prof. George Rawlinson, The Seven Great Monarchies, MEDIA, p.158-160
- ^ Assyrian texts speak of a Kashtariti as the leader of a conglomerate group of Medes
- ^ a b c d e http://books.google.no/books?id=kMLKgzj5afMC&pg=PA75&dq=paretaceni+isfahan&hl=no&ei=8ArZTtywPMjQ4QS-u9XGDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=paretaceni%20isfahan&f=false
- ^ OED Online "entry Mede, n.".:
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Online Media (ancient region, Iran)
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=Al0jpyRDGe8C&pg=PA93&dq=Laodicea+nahavand&hl=en&ei=YF6UTdPcGsmEOtrL-KQH&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Laodicea%20nahavand&f=false
- ^ Herodotus 1.101
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=RCDsV41k8A0C&pg=PA204&dq=%22media+in+central+iran%22&hl=en&ei=TwfZTvjRH-P34QTip5H8DQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=%22media%20in%20central%20iran%22&f=false
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=XNZ4KA3GNW8C&pg=PA479&dq=%22medes+of+central+iran%22&hl=en&ei=7gbZTszRKYbd4QTBw53WDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CD4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22medes%20of%20central%20iran%22&f=false
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=Y3sfAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA9&dq=medes+magi+raga&hl=en&ei=lQjZTrabBsb-4QTHypCIDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEwQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=medes%20magi%20raga&f=false
- ^ http://books.google.no/books?id=IBKoUXrF5p0C&pg=PR99&lpg=PR99&dq=%22rhagae+modern%22&source=bl&ots=RIwUtgx1J8&sig=h5DlbCSq0Y3QD90nV3UOYHOtM0g&hl=no&ei=4QjZTtStConO4QSI99ygDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CDoQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=%22rhagae%20modern%22&f=false
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=S883AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA28&dq=%22it+was+a+sort+of+sacred+caste+ministered+to+the+spiritual+needs%22&hl=en&ei=TQnZTv39M6b64QTB9-HaDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
- ^ http://books.google.no/books?id=-IEPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA312&dq=paraetacena+isfahan&hl=no&ei=lwrZTv3WPOfi4QSLyJCRDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=paraetacena%20isfahan&f=false
- ^ http://books.google.no/books?id=ebB_ac13v3UC&pg=PA131&dq=paraetacena+isfahan&hl=no&ei=lwrZTv3WPOfi4QSLyJCRDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=paraetacena%20isfahan&f=false
- ^ http://books.google.no/books?id=rQipbjusDyQC&pg=PA292&dq=%22villages+in+media%22&hl=no&ei=Jg3ZToSBI8T74QTD-tj5DQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CEgQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=%22villages%20in%20media%22&f=false
- ^ a b c (Tavernier 2007, p. 27)
- ^ (Diakonoff 1985, p. 57)
- ^ a b (Herodotus 7.62.1)
- ^ (Diakonoff 1985, pp. 36–41)
- ^ (Levine 1974, p. 119)
- ^ (Levine 1974, p. 117)
- ^ (Levine 1974, pp. 118–119)
- ^ (Levine 1974, pp. 118)
- ^ a b c d (Stronach1982, p. 288)
- ^ a b c d e (Young 1997, p. 449)
- ^ (Stronach 1968, p. 179)
- ^ a b c (Stronach 1982, p. 290)
- ^ (Henrickson 1988, p. ?)
- ^ (Dandamayev & Medvedskaya 2006, p. ?)
- ^ (Young 1997, p. 448)
- ^ a b c d (Dandamaev et al. 2004, pp. 2–3)
- ^ (Zadok 2002, p. 140)
- ^ (Dandamaev et al. 2004, p. 3)
- ^ Oppenheim -- Ancient Mesopotamia
- ^ a b (Diakonoff 1985, p. 112)
- ^ (Young 1988, p. 16)
- ^ (Young 1988, p. 19)
- ^ (Young 1988, p. 21)
- ^ (Young 1997, p. 450)
- ^ Geography, Strab. 15.2.8
- ^ (Gershevitch 1968, p. 2)
- ^ (Gershevitch 1968, p. 1)
- ^ a b c d e (Schmitt 2008, p. 98)
- ^ (Tavernier 2007, p. 619)
- ^ (Tavernier 2007, pp. 157–8)
- ^ (Tavernier 2007, p. 312)
- ^ (Hawkins 2010, "Greek and the Languages of Asia Minor to the Classical Period", p. 226)
- ^ (Tavernier 2007, p. 627)
- ^ (Tavernier 2007, pp. 352–3)
- ^ a b (Schmitt 2008, p. 99)
- ^ a b c (Dandamayev & Medvedskaya 2006, Median Religion)
- ^ (Boyce & Grenet 1991, p. 81)
- ^ (Soudavar 2003, p. 84)
- ^ Briant, Pierre (2006). From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire. Eisenbrauns. p. 31.
- ^ Herodotus, The Histories, p. 93.
- ^ Xenophon, Hellen. 2, 19
- ^ Rudiger Schmitt, "Cadusii" in Encyclopedia Iranica
- ^ a b The Encyclopædia Britannica: a dictionary of arts, sciences, literature and general information, Volume 18, Edited by Hugh Crisholm, University Press, 1911, p. 21
- ^ Herodotus iii. 92
- ^ Herod. iii. 94; cf. v. 49, 52, VII. 72
- ^ Polybius, x. 27
- ^ Strabo, xi. 524
- ^ Justin xli. 6
- ^ Strabo xi. 524
- ^ Isidorus Charac.
- ^ a b M. Gunter, Michael. Historical dictionary of the Kurds. http://books.google.no/books?id=zDRGO6EgapMC&pg=PA208&dq=Medes+Kurdish&hl=no&ei=YDhPTvebHsbc4QT2m_nOBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CFoQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=Medes%20Kurds&f=false.
- ^ a b Hakan Özoğlu, Kurdish notables and the Ottoman state: Evolving Identities, Competing Loyalties, and Shifting Boundaries, SUNY Press, 2004, p. 25.
- ^ The empire of the Medes one of the reputed ancestors of the Kurdish people, was the only great national state that maybe said to have been established by Kurds.
- ^ Before the Greeks, chapter 10, the Persian empire
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=cxr_vqpwVUkC&pg=PA61&dq=%22kurds+are+descendants%22&hl=en&ei=2hTVTrrnIMzT4QSmponTAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CFkQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=%22kurds%20are%20descendants%22&f=false
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=EzzYk_gzpJ0C&pg=PA59&dq=%22kurds+are+descendants%22&hl=en&ei=BBbVTpTgGKnf4QTqx-D0AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CF8Q6AEwCTgK#v=onepage&q=%22kurds%20are%20descendants%22&f=false
- ^ Windfuhr, Gernot (1975), “Isoglosses: A Sketch on Persians and Parthians, Kurds and Medes”, Monumentum H.S. Nyberg II (Acta Iranica-5), Leiden: 457-471
- ^ G. Asatrian, Prolegomena to the Study of the Kurds, Iran and the Caucasus, Vol.13, pp.1-58, 2009.(p.21)
Sources[link]
- Boyce, Mary; Grenet, Frantz (1991), Zoroastrianism under Macedonian and Roman rule, BRILL, ISBN 978-90-04-09271-6
- Dandamayev, M.; Medvedskaya, I. (2006), "Media", Encyclopaedia Iranica Online Edition, http://www.iranica.com/articles/media
- Henrickson, R. C. (1988), "Baba Jan Teppe", Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2, Routledge & Kegan Paul, ISBN 978-0-933273-67-2, http://www.iranica.com/articles/baba-jan-tepe
- Tavernier, Jan (2007), Iranica in the Achaemenid Period (ca. 550-330 B.C.): Linguistic Study of Old Iranian Proper Names and Loanwords, Attested in Non-Iranian Texts, Peeters Publishers, ISBN 90-429-1833-0
- Dandamaev, M. A.; Lukonin, V. G.; Kohl, Philip L.; Dadson, D. J. (2004), The Culture and Social Institutions of Ancient Iran, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, pp. 480, ISBN 978-0-521-61191-6
- Diakonoff, I. M. (1985), "Media", The Cambridge History of Iran, 2 (Edited by Ilya Gershevitch ed.), Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, pp. 36–148, ISBN 0-521-20091-1
- Gershevitch, I. (1968), "Old Iranian Literature", Iranian Studies, Hanbuch Der Orientalistik - Abeteilung - Der Nahe Und Der Mittlere Osten, 1, 1-30: Brill, ISBN 978-90-04-00857-1
- Levine, Louis D. (1973-01-01), "Geographical Studies in the Neo-Assyrian Zagros: I", Iran 11: 1–27, DOI:10.2307/4300482, ISSN 05786967, JSTOR 4300482
- Levine, Louis D. (1974-01-01), "Geographical Studies in the Neo-Assyrian Zagros-II", Iran 12: 99–124, DOI:10.2307/4300506, ISSN 05786967, JSTOR 4300506
- Soudavar, Abolala (2003), The aura of kings: legitimacy and divine sanction in Iranian kingship, Mazda Publishers, ISBN 978-1-56859-109-4
- Young, T. Cuyler, Jr. (1988), "The early history of the Medes and the Persians and the Achaemenid empire to the death of Cambyses", in Boardman, M.; Hammond, N. G. L.; Lewis, D. M. et al., The Cambridge Ancient History, 4, Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–52, DOI:10.1017/CHOL9780521228046.002, http://histories.cambridge.org/extract?id=chol9780521228046_CHOL9780521228046A002
- Young, T. Cuyler (1997), "Medes", in Meyers, Eric M., The Oxford encyclopedia of archaeology in the Near East, 3, Oxford University Press, pp. 448–450, ISBN 978-0-19-511217-7
- Zadok, Ran (2002), "The Ethno-Linguistic Character of Northwestern Iran and Kurdistan in the Neo-Assyrian Period", Iran 40: 89–151, DOI:10.2307/4300620, ISSN 05786967, JSTOR 4300620
- Schmitt, Rüdiger (2008), "Old Persian", in Woodard, Roger D., The Ancient Languages of Asia and the Americas, Cambridge University Press, pp. 76–100, ISBN 978-0-521-68494-1
- Stronach, David (1968), "Tepe Nush-i Jan: A Mound in Media", The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series 27 (3): 177–186, DOI:10.2307/3258384, ISSN 0026-1521, JSTOR 3258384
- Stronach, David (1982), "Archeology ii. Median and Achaemenid", in Yarshater, E., Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2, Routledge & Kegan Paul, pp. 288–96, ISBN 978-0-933273-67-2
- Windfuhr, Gernot L. (1991), "Central dialects", in Yarshater, E., Encyclopaedia Iranica, pp. 242–51, ISBN 978-0-939214-79-2
Further reading[link]
- "Mede." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 16 January 2008.
- Dandamayev, M.; Medvedskaya, I. (2006), "Media", Encyclopaedia Iranica Online Edition, http://www.iranica.com/articles/media
- Gershevitch, Ilya (1985), The Cambridge History of Iran, 2, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-20091-1
- Dandamaev, M. A.; Lukonin, V. G.; Kohl, Philip L.; Dadson, D. J. (2004), The Culture and Social Institutions of Ancient Iran, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, pp. 480, ISBN 978-0-521-61191-6
- Young, T. Cuyler, Jr. (1988), "The early history of the Medes and the Persians and the Achaemenid empire to the death of Cambyses", in Boardman, M.; Hammond, N. G. L.; Lewis, D. M. et al., Persia, Greece and the Western Mediterranean C. 525 to 479 B.C (Cambridge Histories Online ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–52, DOI:10.1017/CHOL9780521228046.002, http://histories.cambridge.org/extract?id=chol9780521228046_CHOL9780521228046A002
External links[link]
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| Alicia Fox | |
|---|---|
 Alicia Fox at a WWE live event in 2011 |
|
| Ring name(s) | Alicia Fox[1] Tori[1] Victoria Crawford[1] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2] |
| Billed weight | 129 lb (59 kg)[2] |
| Born | (1986-06-30) June 30, 1986 (age 25)[3] Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida[1] |
| Billed from | Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida[2] |
| Trained by | OVW Staff[1] FCW Staff[1] |
| Debut | July 1, 2006[1][4] |
Victoria Elizabeth Crawford[1] (born June 30, 1986)[3] is an American model and professional wrestler best known by her ring name Alicia Fox. She is signed to WWE where she performs on the SmackDown brand.
Prior to becoming a professional wrestler, Crawford was a model. She signed a contract with WWE in 2006, and debuted in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), a WWE developmental territory in July. That same year, on October 20, she won the OVW Women's Championship, but lost it the following day. Her reign is not officially recognized by OVW. The following year, she moved to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), another WWE developmental territory, where she competed regularly until 2009.
Crawford debuted on SmackDown in June 2008, using the name 'Alicia Fox' and the gimmick of a wedding planner. In November, she moved to the ECW brand, where she managed DJ Gabriel. As part of the Supplemental Draft, she moved back to SmackDown in April 2009, before being traded to the Raw brand two months later. Throughout the rest of 2009, Fox began unsuccessfully challenging for the WWE Divas Championship. She briefly managed Zack Ryder in May 2010, and the following month she won the Divas Championship for the first time. Fox held the championship until August 15. In late 2010, Fox appeared as a 'Pro' on the third season of NXT. She returned to the SmackDown brand in April 2011, as part of the 2011 supplemental draft.
Contents |
Professional wrestling career[link]
World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE (2006-present)[link]
Developmental territories (2006–2009)[link]
In 2006 Crawford signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was assigned to WWE’s developmental territory.[1] She debuted on July 1, 2006, as a special guest referee in a match between Shelly Martinez and ODB.[4] It was not until September 6 that she made her in-ring debut, under the new ring name Tori, in a OVW Ladies Battle Royal which she ultimately lost when she was thrown over the top rope by ODB.[4] She spent the next month competing regularly in both singles and tag team matches, against opponents including Mickie James, ODB, and Katie Lea.[4] In late September, she began managing Elijah Burke, accompanying him to the ring for matches against Chet The Jet.[4] At the OVW television tapings on October 18, having reverted back to her real name, Crawford challenged Beth Phoenix for the OVW Women's Championship but lost following interference from Serena Deeb.[4] Two days later, on October 20, Crawford won a gauntlet match at a house show to win the OVW Women's Championship.[1][4] The following night, however, Crawford lost the championship to Phoenix, who won an eight-woman elimination match.[1][4] Crawford's championship win is unrecognised by OVW, and the promotion considers Phoenix's two reigns as champion as a single, uninterrupted reign.[1][5] Crawford continued to feud with Phoenix in early 2007, facing her in several tag team matches, in which Phoenix teamed with ODB and Crawford teamed with Lea or Deeb.[6] Simultaneously, Crawford participated in the "Miss OVW" contest, which was won by ODB.[6] Crawford had a series of matches with Milena Roucka in April, before moving onto a feud with Maryse Ouellet.[6] Her final appearance in OVW was on July 21, when she participated in a three-way match for the OVW Women's Championship which was won by ODB.[1][6]
Crawford debuted for Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) on September 2, 2007, participating in a best body contest.[7] Her FCW in-ring debut came on September 25, where she and Nattie Neidhart defeated The Bella Twins (Brianna and Nicole) in a tag team match.[7] She quickly began feuding with The Bella Twins, while allying herself with Neidhart. The Bella Twins defeated the team of Crawford and Neidhart on two consecutive occasions, and on October 23, Crawford lost to Nicole in a singles match.[7] A week later, she and Sheamus O'Shaunessy were defeated by Brianna and Kofi Kingston in a mixed tag team match.[7] In December, Crawford teamed with Tommy Taylor in a loss to Brianna and Robert Anthony.[7] The feud continued into 2008, with the Bellas defeating Crawford and Maryse Ouellet on January 8, and Crawford and Neidhart on January 19 and January 29.[8] Following the completion of this feud, she began competing regularly against her former tag team partner, Neidhart. Neidhart won their first singles encounter on February 5 and was on the winning side of a tag team match on February 23, before Crawford won a singles match on February 26.[8] Following her debut on SmackDown, Crawford changed her ring name to 'Alicia Fox'.[8] She started managing Jack Gabriel in September, and teamed with Gabriel in mixed tag team matches against Mike Kruel and Wesley Holiday and Gabe Tuft and Melina, while continuing to compete in singles competition as well.[8] Fox competed in the Queen of FCW tournament between December 2008 and February 2009, defeating Jenny Cash and Tiffany en route to the final, where she lost to Angela Fong.[8][9]
Brand switches (2008–2010)[link]
Crawford debuted on the June 13, 2008 episode of SmackDown in a backstage segment with Vickie Guerrero, which saw her introduced as Guerrero and Edge's wedding planner, Alicia Fox.[10] During their wedding reception on the July 18 episode of SmackDown, Triple H revealed Edge kissing Fox the day before the wedding on camera.[11] Fox involved herself in the WWE Championship match at The Great American Bash when she attempted to help Edge, but she was stopped by Guerrero.[12] The confusion surrounding her interference caused Edge to accidentally spear Guerrero.[12]
After a three-month hiatus from WWE television, Fox resurfaced on the November 18 episode of ECW managing English wrestler DJ Gabriel, in a fan favorite role.[13] Their on-screen association was explained by WWE claiming that Fox had moved her wedding planner business to England during her hiatus from WWE television, and that she had met Gabriel there, in storyline.[2] Gabriel and Fox began feuding with the Burchill siblings (Paul and Katie Lea) in late December 2008. Fox made her in-ring debut on the January 6, 2009 episode of ECW, in a loss to Katie Lea Burchill.[14] The following week, on the January 13 episode of ECW, Gabriel and Fox defeated the Burchill siblings in a mixed tag team match, giving Fox her first win as part of the brand.[15] In March, Fox and Gabriel feuded with Tyson Kidd and Natalya, with Natalya defeating Fox on March 3 on ECW.[16] Fox competed in the 25 Divas battle royal at WrestleMania XXV, which was won by Santina Marella.[3][17]
Fox was drafted to the SmackDown brand as a part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft on April 15.[18] She made her in-ring debut as a SmackDown diva as a heel on the April 30 episode of WWE Superstars, teaming with Michelle McCool to defeat Maria and Gail Kim.[19] After winning her debut match, Fox became aligned with Michelle McCool, with the pair teaming together in tag team matches as well as accompanying each other to the ring for singles matches.[20][21] She was in the corner of McCool when McCool won the WWE Women's Championship at The Bash.[22]
On June 29 it was revealed that Fox had been traded to the Raw brand.[23] The following week, she made her Raw debut in a tag team match teaming with Maryse against Gail Kim and Mickie James in a losing effort when Kim pinned Maryse.[22] She gained her first victory on Raw on July 13, when Fox, Maryse, and Rosa Mendes won a six-Diva tag team match when Maryse pinned Mickie James.[24] Fox picked up her first pinfall victory by pinning Kelly Kelly during a tag team match on the July 20 episode of Raw.[25] On the August 10 episode of Raw, Fox was involved in a fatal four-way match to determine the number one contender for the WWE Divas Championship, but was unsuccessful.[26] The following month, on the September 14 episode of Raw, she defeated Gail Kim to become the number one contender to the Divas Championship.[27] She received a match for the championship at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view against Mickie James on October 4, but was unsuccessful.[28] Fox became the number one contender to the Divas Championship again on the November 2 episode of Raw, by winning a battle royal which involved The Bella Twins, Eve Torres, Gail Kim, and Kelly Kelly.[29] She challenged Melina two weeks later for the championship, but was unsuccessful.[30] Melina vacated the Divas Championship due to injury, and a tournament was set up to determine the new champion in early January 2010.[31] On the January 11, 2010 episode of Raw, Fox defeated Kelly Kelly in the first round of the tournament, but lost to Gail Kim in the semi-finals two weeks later.[32][33] Fox was on the winning team in a 10-Diva tag team match at WrestleMania XXVI, but on the losing side the following night in a rematch on Raw.[34][35] On the April 5 episode of Raw, Fox was involved in a "Dress to Impress" battle royal to determine the number one contender to the WWE Divas Championship, but was unsuccessful, and the match was won by Eve Torres.[36]
Divas Champion and various feuds (2010–2011)[link]
Fox began a storyline with Zack Ryder in May 2010, after he requested that she and Gail Kim be ringside on several occasions to watch his matches, so he could impress them and find a new valet.[37] During his match with Evan Bourne on the May 10 episode of Raw, Fox interfered on Ryder's behalf, but was stopped by Gail Kim.[38] The following week, Bourne and Kim defeated Ryder and Fox in a mixed tag team match.[39] She later turned on Ryder, attacking him in order to collect a "bounty" from the Raw guest host, Ashton Kutcher. Despite this however she remained a heel. [40]
At the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view on June 20, Fox competed in a fatal four-way match for the WWE Divas Championship, which also involved Gail Kim, Eve, and Maryse. Fox pinned Maryse to win both the match and the championship for the first time.[41][42] She successfully defended the championship for the first time on the July 5 episode of Raw, defeating Eve after feigning an ankle injury.[43] As she faked an injury to retain the championship, Eve was granted a rematch at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view by Raw's anonymous General Manager, where Fox was again able to successfully retain the championship.[44][45] Fox was part of the victorious team in a six-Diva tag team match on August 2, and declared herself to be undefeatable and the greatest Divas Champion in history. The former Divas Champion Melina made her return from injury to attack Fox.[46] The following week Melina pinned Fox in a non-title match.[47] On August 15, Fox lost the Divas Championship to Melina at SummerSlam.[48]
Fox announced that she would be mentoring Maxine on season three of NXT on August 31.[49] Maxine failed to win the competition, and was the second rookie Diva eliminated on the November 2 episode of NXT.[50] On the September 6 episode of Raw, Fox faced Melina in a rematch for the Divas Championship, but was unsuccessful.[51] Fox was involved in a battle royal to determine the winner of the Diva of the Year Slammy Award on the December 13 episode of Raw, but was eliminated by Natalya.[52] The following week, Fox was part of a triple threat number one contenders match, which was won by Melina.[53]
On April 26, 2011, Fox was drafted back to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2011 supplemental draft.[54] At the May 3 SmackDown tapings, Fox suffered a shoulder injury after her first match back for the brand, in which she was defeated by Layla.[55][56] Fox returned on the May 27 episode of SmackDown teaming with Tamina to defeat the team of Kaitlyn and AJ. This began a feud between the two sets of Divas, with Fox and Tamina regularly winning tag team matches and six-Diva tag team matches also including Rosa Mendes and Natalya. During this time, Fox won six straight matches against Natalya, Kaitlyn and AJ. [57][58][59] The alliance between Fox and Tamina ended on the August 11 episode of Superstars, when Fox defeated Tamina in a singles match.[60]
SmackDown and NXT (2011–present)[link]
On the August 19 episode of SmackDown, after losing in a tag team match, Natalya attacked Fox and put her in the Sharpshooter, provoking a feud between the two divas.[61] She began wrestling alongside several different Divas to face Natalya and Beth Phoenix, known as The Divas of Doom in tag team matches, and also regularly competing against them in singles matches.[62][63][64] She started an alliance with divas Eve and Kelly Kelly and the three would begin feuding with the Divas of Doom.[65][66] At the 2012 Royal Rumble, Fox, Kelly Kelly, Eve, and Tamina were defeated by The Divas of Doom and The Bella Twins in an eight diva tag team match.[67] On May 2 edition of NXT Redemption, Alicia offered JTG that she could help him become a future champion if he would let her, he accepted the offer.[68]
Personal life[link]
Crawford has a younger sister named Christina.[69] Prior to becoming a professional wrestler, Crawford was a model, and signed with WWE after being seen in a fashion catalogue by John Laurinaitis.[1][3].
In wrestling[link]
- Finishing moves
- Watch Yo Face (Scissors kick)[70] – 2009–present
- Officer Nasty (Somersault leg drop)[71][72] – 2011-present
- Signature moves
- Entrance themes
- "Shake yo Tail" by Jim Johnston
- "Pa-Pa-Pa-Pa-Party" by Jim Johnston[78]
Championships and accomplishments[link]
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked her #17 of the best 50 female singles wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2010[79]
Footnotes[link]
a Crawford's reign is not officially recognized by OVW.[1][5]
References[link]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Alicia Fox". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/a/alicia-fox.html. Retrieved March 29, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e "Alicia Fox Bio". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/superstars/smackdown/aliciafox/. Retrieved June 30, 2009.
- ^ a b c d "Alicia Fox". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/Bios/fox_alicia.html. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Ohio Valley Wrestling (2006)". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/ovw/_2006/. Retrieved March 29, 2009.
- ^ a b c "OVW Women's Championship". Ohio Valley Wrestling. http://www.ovwrestling.com/titles#womens. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
- ^ a b c d "Ohio Valley Wrestling (2007)". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/ovw/_2007/. Retrieved May 25, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e "Florida Championship Wrestling (2007)". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/fcw/_2007/. Retrieved March 29, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e "Florida Championship Wrestling (2008)". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/fcw/_2008/. Retrieved March 29, 2009.
- ^ "Florida Championship Wrestling (2009)". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/fcw/_2009/. Retrieved March 29, 2009.
- ^ McNamara, Andy (June 14, 2008). "Smackdown: Batista avoids being banished". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2008/06/14/5877586.html. Retrieved March 29, 2009.
- ^ DiFino, Lennie (July 18, 2008). "Love bites". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/archive/07182008/mainarticle. Retrieved July 19, 2008.
- ^ a b Adkins, Greg (July 20, 2008). "Maul in the Family". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080725080008/http://www.wwe.com/shows/thegreatamericanbash/matches/7582302/results/. Retrieved July 26, 2008.
- ^ Bishop, Matt (November 18, 2008). "ECW: Dancing to Survivor Series". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2008/11/18/7456451.html. Retrieved February 8, 2009.
- ^ Medalis, Kara A. (November 11, 2008). "Luck Runs Out". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/11112008/mainarticle. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
- ^ Medalis, Kara A. (January 13, 2009). "ECW Results: The new face of Extreme". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/01132009/mainarticle. Retrieved January 24, 2009.
- ^ Burdick, Michael (March 3, 2009). "Served with a Swagger and a smile". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/03032009/mainarticle. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
- ^ Plummer, Dale (April 6, 2009). "Wrestlemania 25: HBK-Undertaker steals the show". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/PPVReports/2009/04/06/9019551.html. Retrieved April 8, 2009.
- ^ "2009 WWE Supplemental Draft results". World Wrestling Entertainment. April 15, 2009. http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2009draft/2009supplementaldraftresults/. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
- ^ Bishop, Matt (May 1, 2009). "WWE Superstars: Tag division showing signs of life?". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2009/05/01/9309461.html. Retrieved May 9, 2009.
- ^ Waldman, Jon (May 16, 2009). "Smackdown: re-writing a good show". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2009/05/16/9476311.html. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
- ^ McNamara, Andy (June 19, 2009). "Smackdown: Jericho outsmarts Mysterio". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2009/06/19/9867356.html. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
- ^ a b c The Lilsboys (July 18, 2009). "Alicia's one Foxy lady". The Sun. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/wrestling/2541790/Alicias-one-Foxy-lady.html. Retrieved July 19, 2009.
- ^ "Trump's Last Laugh". World Wrestling Entertainment. June 28, 2009. http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/archive/06292009/articles/10680372. Retrieved July 18, 2009.
- ^ Plummer, Dale (July 13, 2009). "RAW: Orton sees Green". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2009/07/13/10122391.html. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
- ^ Plummer, Dale (2009-07-20). "Raw: This show has legs, and it knows how to use them". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2009/07/20/10201961.html. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
- ^ Keller, Wade (August 10, 2009). "Keller's WWE Raw report 8/10: Results, thoughts, observations, nitpicks, quotebook". Pro Wrestling Torch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/kellerstake/article_34323.shtml. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
- ^ Plummer, Dale (September 14, 2009). "RAW: Batista drops a bomb on RAW, Orton". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2009/09/14/10903766.html. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
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- ^ Plummer, Dale (November 3, 2009). "RAW: Superstars ride a Crazy Train with Ozzy". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2009/11/03/11612636.html. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
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External links[link]
|
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alicia Fox |
- WWE profile
- Online World of Wrestling profile
- Victoria Crawford at the Internet Movie Database
- CageMatch profile (German)
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Fox, Alicia |
| Alternative names | Crawford, Victoria; Tori |
| Short description | Professional wrestler and model |
| Date of birth | June 30, 1986 |
| Place of birth | Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Alicia_Fox
Related pages:
http://ru.wn.com/Алисия Фокс
http://fr.wn.com/Alicia Fox
http://nl.wn.com/Victoria Crawford
http://pt.wn.com/Alicia Fox
http://de.wn.com/Alicia Fox
http://it.wn.com/Victoria Crawford
http://pl.wn.com/Alicia Fox
http://cs.wn.com/Alicia Fox
http://es.wn.com/Victoria Crawford
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alicia_Fox
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
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The Medes (/midz/) (from Old Persian Māda-) were an ancient Iranian people who lived in Iran in an area known as Media and spoke a northwestern Iranian language referred to as the Median language. Their arrival to the region is associated with the first wave of Iranian tribes in the late second millennium BCE (the Bronze Age collapse) through the beginning of the first millennium BCE.
In the 7th century BCE a unified Median state was formed which together with Babylonia, Lydia, and Egypt became one of the four major powers of the ancient Near East. An alliance with the Babylonians helped the Medes to capture Nineveh in 612 BCE which resulted in the collapse of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The Medes were subsequently able to establish their Median kingdom (with Ecbatana as their royal centre) beyond their original homeland (central-western Iran) and had eventually a territory stretching roughly from northeastern Iran to the Halys River in Anatolia. The Median kingdom was conquered in 550 BCE by Cyrus the Great who established the next Iranian dynasty—the Achaemenid Empire.
