The Achaemenid Empire is an ancient Iranian empire based in West Asia, dating back to 550 BC. It was Founded by King Cyrus. It reached its largest extent under Xerxes I and extended the Achaemenid dynasty from the Balkan Peninsula and Eastern Europe in the west to up to the Indian border in the
east. The empire was the largest in history till then, covering a total of 5.5 million square kilometers (2.1 million square miles). The Achaemenid Empire borrows its name from Achaemenes, the apical ancestor of the Achaemenid Empire's founder Cyrus the Great. The Achaemenid Empire was founded by nomadic Persians. The Persians were Iranians who arrived in what is now Iran around 1000 B.C. and settled with native Elamites in areas including northwestern Iran, the Zagros Mountains, and Persis. Cyrus rebelled in 553 BC against the Medes and around 550 BC he defeated the Medes, conquered Astyages and occupied the median capital of Ecbatana. It's mentioned in Hebrew Bible that King Cyrus released the Hebrew captives in Babylon after the Fall of Babylon to resettle and rebuild Jerusalem, including the Second Temple and that gave him an honored place in Judaism. Mithra was the most worshiped and revered God of the Achaemenid Empire. His temples and symbols were the most popular and most people bore names related to him along with most temples being dedicated to Him. The next most popular gods were Varuna and Agni. However at the end of the empire, Ashura Medha or Ahuramazda became more important. Religious tolerance is noted as a "remarkable feature" of the Achaemenid dynasty. During the Achaemenid era, Zoroastrianism reached southwestern Iran, where it was accepted by its rulers and became a decisive element of Persian culture. The Religion not only accompanied the traditional Iranian concept of the Pantheon and the formalization of the gods, but also introduced some novel ideas, including that of "free will". (Credit: Achaemenid_Empire, Wiki)
Iranian Civilization
