Miletus fell under the command of Persia when Cyrus defeated King Croesus of Lydia in 546 BC. 204-05; Strabo, 11.13.6; cf. From about the end of the 7th to the middle of the 6th century b.c. The city was a formidable fortress said to be ringed by seven concentric keeps, although this may be an exaggeration by Herodotus. As per tradition, Croesus withdrew at the end of the campaign season. E. Herzfeld, Pasargadae, Klio. Memphis was one of Egypts oldest and most important cities. 768-774. W. Macomber, The Authority of the Catholicos Patriarch of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, Orientalia Christiana Analecta 181, 1968, pp.
125-53. However, Cyrus pursued him and besieged Sardis. J. Rypka, Poets and Prose Writers of the Late Saljuq and Mongol Periods, in Camb. These dynasties span over centuries, dating back to the 6th century BCE to the 20th century CE. H. R. Roemer, Das frhsafawidische Isfahan als historische Forschungsaufgabe, ZDMG 124, 1974, pp. Of the component towns three were on the east bank of the Tigris: Ctesiphon (old city, Ar. 2022 Encyclopdia Iranica Foundation, Inc. All Rights Reserved. the Achaemenids were local rulers of Anshanin Dat-a Bay (see bayz) and other parts of Frs. Within this great territory, the Achaemenid Empire was divided into several provinces called satrapies. L. Oppenheim, in Camb. Shah ahmsb (q.v. 1, 1968, pp. These provinces were home to some of the greatest cities in the Middle East. Sm, Pasargadae, tr. 219ff.). Special permits are occasionally granted to archaeological expeditions. 72, 80-81) and the seven palaces of Bahrm V Gr (cf. Momen, p. 179). Iran III/2, pp. This fruitful region, however, was covered with villages until the frightful devastations of the eighteenth century; and even now it is, comparatively speaking, well cultivated. Hist. Curzon, II, pp. Hist. Beitrge zur alten Geschichte 8, 1908, pp. In these early centuries there were several minor seats of power in the Alborz mountain chain and the Caspian coastlands beyond it, where the local lords long resisted Arab political and military intrusion, among them Rdbr in the hrd basin, seat of the Jastanids; mol and Sr in the abarestn, in the later 2nd/8th century generally the seats of Arab authority; and Ferrm or Perrm in the Alborz, seat of the Bavandid espahbads. 383ff. When Alexander brought the Achaemenid Empire to its knees, Babylon was one of his most prized conquests. Further construction of Persepolis continued for nearly 200 years and was not complete when the city was captured, looted, and burnt to the ground by Alexander the Great. 681-746. Under the patronage and encouragement of the holders of power such centers of political and military power often developed their own distinctive cultural life and traditions of literary and artistic endeavor, exemplified especially clearly at Npr under the Taherids and their successors in Khorasan, at the Buyid courts of Ray, Isfahan, and Shiraz, and at Herat under the Timurids. ; Lambton, in EI2, p. 102a). Bal remained a political capital in the Hellenistic period (Tarn, pp. amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; Simple buildings around the garden were designed not to detract from the beauty of the park. The city forms one of the main centers along the Persian Royal Road, a vast route stretching for 1700 miles connecting the distant cities of the empire.
However, there were some incidents. to a.d. 651. At this time, at first under the Kurdicized Arab Rawwadids, Tabrz began to assume the dominant role as the provincial capital of Azerbaijan, to become in later times the second city of Iran and, for a brief period after World War II, until 21 ar 1325/9 December 1946, the capital of the short-lived, Soviet-backed autonomous Azerbaijan (see azerbaijan v). G. G. Cameron, Persepolis Treasury Tablets, Chicago, 1948. W. Barthold, An Historical Geography of Iran, tr. 94-95; where the royal palace, Ayvn-e esr, was located), and Weh-Andiyg-Xusraw or Rmagn Roman city (Ar. Idem, Persepolis Illustrated, Tehran, 1976. The city was built on terraces which rise on a larger terrace which is over 125,000 square meters. A. Boyle, Dynastic and Political History of the l-khns, in Camb. The location of Tehran was not particularly well-favored by nature, and a critical factor in its choice as a capital was its being within easy reach of the Qajar Turkmens tribal pastures in the Astarbd-Gorgn area (cf. 1, 1968, pp. A. Sh. In about 333 B.C.E. However, Persepolis is widely considered as the capital of the Persian Empire. Persepolis has a long and complex history, designed to be the central city of the ever expanding Persian empire, besieged and destroyed by Alexander the Great, rebuilt and yet again left to waste, the city has produced many fascinating archaeological finds and is a symbol of contemporary Iranian pride. Other dynasties that formed the Persian Empire include the Parthian Empire and the Safavid Empire. See also EIr. In 539 BC, Cyrus the Great entered Babylon as a peaceful conqueror. Brewminate: A Bold Blend of News and Ideas, Curated/Reviewed by Matthew A. McIntoshPublic HistorianBrewminate. The columns were joined to each other with the help of oak and cedar beams, which were brought from Lebanon. 154-76, who compares the planning and reconstruction of Isfahan by Shah Abbs with that of Baghdad in the 2nd/8th century by the caliph al-Manr). J. Idem, Archologische Reise im Euphrat- und Tigrisgebiet II, Berlin, 1920. From a.d. the early 3rd century, however, Persepolis was eclipsed by the suburb Staxr/Ear (see below). His son, Xerxes I, built his own palace at the site, much larger than his fathers. Nadjmabadi and Gropp), it still survives as a revered monument (Luschey). 1. On the terrace are the ruins of a number of colossal buildings, all constructed of dark-grey marble from the adjacent mountain. R. Pinder-Wilson, Timurid Architecture, in Camb. Hist. al-madna al-atqa), Aspnvar (Shaki, pp. (A)sristn, q.v.). Eastern Iran took some time to recover from the destructions of the Mongols. The Arab warriors who overthrew the Sasanians were based on the garrison cities (amr) of Basra and Kfa in Iraq, and as they spread across the Iranian plateau they established garrisons, normally in existing urban centers and in many cases adjacent to the frontier war zones. The terraces were filled with heavy rocks and soil and fastened with metal clips to create a level terrace. The Medes shifted the political center to Hamadn (OPers. This westward movement of Iranian peoples is traceable in their choice of capital cities, from Bal to Ctesiphon. 1-41. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, Astyages had visions of his grandson usurping his throne. While Babylon celebrated an important festival, the Persians diverted the Euphrates to allow them to breach the walls. South of Seleucia King Vologases (most probably Vologases I; see bal i) founded a new commercial center known as Vologasias (Valpt, later Sabt); it, too, was eventually incorporated into the capital complex (for problems of location, see Frye, 1984, p. 227). Iran IV, pp. A provincial town under the Safavids, although occasionally a residence of the later shahs, it was adopted by the founder of the Qajar dynasty Moammad Khanas his capital in 1200/1786 in the course of his attempts to subdue rival powers in the south and east of Iran from his northern base and to unify the country under his tribe and family. Political, Social and Cultural Change 1800-1925. The ceremonial capital of the first Persian Empire was Persepolis. Bx, Bactria), according to Iranian legend the capital of the Kayanids (Christensen, p. 118), may have been the earliest center of Iranian governmental structure (Barthold, p. 6). The site that Cyrus chose was on a fertile expanse of plains near the Pulvar river. S. Soucek, ed. 21ff. 609-14. Xerxess successors would each add their own monuments to the city. It had become a conglomeration of several towns, and the whole complex was called *ahristnn, a name rendered in Syriac as Mz or Men and in Arabic as al-Maden, all literally cities (Christensen, Iran Sass., pp. Isfahan suffered badly in these middle decades of the century from plundering, famine, and other disasters until peace was brought by Karm Khan Zandin 1172/1758-59, who moved the capital to Shiraz a few years later (1180/1766-77). Iranians most probably first coalesced into an organized community in the Jaxartes and Oxus basins (see most recently Francfort, pp. 205-06), beginning about 520 b.c. He is most fascinated by the Achaemenid Persian Empire and has been interested in the Ancient world his entire life. 199-212. As the administrative hub of the Achaemenid Empire, Darius made sure that Susa was well connected. 66ff. H. Luschey, Der Lwe von Ekbatana, AMI, N.S. Early in a.d. the 3rd century Ardar I (q.v.) 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[2] Festivities and rituals were performed there, but outside the care taking staff and the occasional visiting official, the city was not occupied by a large population. Idem, Archaeological History of Iran, London, 1935. Idem, Excavations at Shahr- Qmis, 1971, JRAS, 1974, pp. The palace had a grand hall in the shape of a square, each side 60m long with seventy-two columns, thirteen of which still stand on the enormous platform.
