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iran - Etymology

The term Iran (ایران) in modern Persian derives from the Proto-Iranian term Aryānām first attested in Zoroastrianism's Avesta tradition. "Bailey_Arya" In this inscription, the king's appellation in Middle Persian contains the term ērān (Pahlavi: ʼryʼn ), while in the Parthian language inscription that accompanies it, Iran is mentioned as aryān . In Ardashir's time ērān retained this meaning, denoting the people rather than the state .

Notwithstanding this inscriptional use of ērān to refer to the Iranian peoples, the use of ērān to refer to the empire is also attested by the early Sassanid period. An inscription of Shapur I, Ardashir's son and immediate successor, apparently "includes in Ērān regions such as Armenia and the Caucasus which were not inhabited predominantly by Iranians." "Gignoux_Aneran"

The written history of Persia (Iran) begins around 3200 BCE with the Proto-Iranian civilization, followed by the Elamites. Aryan, (Proto-Iranian) tribes arrived in the third and second millennium BCE, probably in more than one wave of emigration. The Proto-Iranians are traced to the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex, a Bronze Age culture of Central Asia, where the Proto-Iranians first emerged following the separation of Indo-Iranian tribes. "Panshin" Further division of Proto-Iranians into an "Eastern" and a "Western" group is attested in the form of Avestan, an Eastern Old Iranian language that was used to compose the sacred hymns and canon of Zoroastrian Avesta. And Old Persian, which appears primarily in the inscriptions, clay tablets, seals of the Achaemenid era (c. 600 BCE to 300 BCE). Examples of Old Persian have been found in present-day Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt.

Nomadic Iranian tribes settled across the Iranian plateau and by the 1st millennium BC, Medes, Persians, Bactrians and Parthians populated the western part, while Cimmerians, Sarmatians and Alans populated the steppes north of the Black Sea. The Iranian Pashtuns and Baloch began to settle on the eastern edge, on the mountainous frontier of northwestern India and in to what is now Balochistan. Others, such as the Scythian tribes spread as far west as the Balkans and as far east as Xinjiang

The establishing of the Median dynasty (728–550 BC) culminated in the first Iranian Empire. The Medes are credited with the foundation of Iran as a nation and empire, the largest of its day, until Cyrus the Great established a unified empire of the Medes and Persians leading to the Achaemenid Empire (648–330 BC), and further unification between cultures.
After Cyrus's death, his son Cambyses continued his father's work of conquest, making significant gains in Egypt. A power struggle followed Cambyses' death and, despite his tenuous connection to the royal line, Darius was declared king (ruled 522–486 BC). He was to be arguably the greatest of the ancient Persian rulers.

Picture of Avestan is an Eastern Old Iranian language that was used to compose the sacred hymns and canon of the Zoroastrian Avesta. Scholarly consensus floats around 1000 BC. Zoroastrianism became the state religion under the Achamenid empire and later Iranian empires, until the 7th Century AD.
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[[Image:Cyrus portrait.jpg|thumb|170px| Cyrus the Great was the founder of the Persian Empire, and the author of "the world's oldest human rights declaration". "TharoorInterview" [http://www.vohuman.org/Article/The%20First%20Declaration%20of%20Human%20Rights.htm Abbas
Under Cyrus the Great and Darius the Great, the Persian Empire eventually became the largest and most powerful empire in human history up until that point, ruling over most of the known world. Their greatest achievement was the empire itself. The Persian Empire represented the world's first global superpower Holland Lorentz Daniel , and was "a paragon of religious and cultural tolerance". [[Abbas
The borders of the Persian empire stretched from the Indus and Oxus Rivers in the East to the Mediterranean Sea in the West, extending through Anatolia (modern day Turkey) and Egypt.

In 499BC, Athens lent support to a revolt by one of the cities along the cost of Anatolia, Miletus, ruled by a Greek tyrant named Aristagoras, which culminated in the sacking and burning of the city of Sardis. This event escalated into what is known as the Greco-Persian Wars, during which Persia conquered Thrace, Macedonia, then most of the Greek mainland (Battle of Thermopylae), and razed Athens in 480BC.
However Greek victories on land at Marathon and Platea and at sea at Salamis and Mycale forced Persia to withdraw. Fighting continued across the Eastern Mediterranean area from Cyprus to Egypt until the peace of Callias in 449BC.

The rules and ethics emanating from Zorasters teachings were strictly followed by the Achaemenids who introduced and adopted policies based on human rights, banning of slavery and equality. Zoroastrianism spread unimposed during the time of the Achaemenids and through contacts with the exiled Jewish people in Babylon freed by Cyrus, Zoroastrian concepts further propagated and influenced into other Abrahamic religions. The Golden Age of Athens marked by Aristotle, Plato and Socrates also came about during the Achaemenid period while their contacts with Persia and the Near East abounded. The peace, tranquility, security and prosperity that were afforded to the people of the Near East and Southeastern Europe proved to be a rare historical occurrence, an unparalleled period where commerce prospered, and the standard of living for all people of the region improved. __

Picture of The Achaemenid Empire, 559 BC–330 BC
[achaemenid empire en.png]
Alexander of Macedon - referred to as "the accursed" in the Zoroastrian Middle Persian Book of Arda Viraz - invaded Achaemenid territory in 334 BCE, conclusively defeating the last Achaemenid Emperor Darius III at the Battle of Issus in 333 BCE. In 330 BCE, Alexander occupied Persepolis (and according to legend, had it destroyed) and Pasargadae, leaving them and the rest of the Pars province in control of one of his officers before moving on northwards. In the same year, Alexander occupied in quick succession Aspardana (present day Isfahan), Ecbatana in Media (present day Hamadan), Hecatompylos in Hyrancia (present day Mazandaran), Susia in Parthia (in present day North Khorasan). He then turned southwards and occupied Prophtasia in Drangiana (present day Sistan). The next year, in 329 BCE, Alexander took the satrapy capitals at Kandahar in Arachosia, Kabura (Kabul), Bactra (Balkh) in Bactria, and finally Maracanda (Samarkand) in Sogdiana before leaving imperial territory in 328-327. In each of the former Achaemenid territories he installed his own officers as caretakers, which led to friction and ultimately to the partitioning of the former empire after Alexander's death. A reunification would not occur until 700 years later, under the Sassanids (see below). Unlike the diadochic Seleucids and the succeeding Arsacids, who used a vassalary system, the Sassanids - like the Achaemenids - had a system of governors (MP: shahrab ) personally appointed by the Emperor and directed by the central government.



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