Persia

Persia (now Iran) was an ancient empire extending from the Indus to Thrace and from the Caspian Sea to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. The Persians were an Aryan tribe who mixed with the Medic tribe (also Aryan) which settled in Persia, on the eastern side of the Persian Gulf. Their Aryan language belonging to the eastern division of the Indo-European group. One of their chiefs, Teispes[?], conquered Elam in the time of the decay of the Assyrian Empire[?], and established himself in the district of Anzan. His descendants branched off into two lines, one line ruling in Anzan, while the other remained in Persia. Cyrus the Great, king of Anzan, finally united the divided power, conquered Media, Lydia, and Babylonia, and carried his arms into the far East. His son, Cambyses, added Egypt to the empire, which, however, fell to pieces after his death. It was reconquered and thoroughly organized by Darius I[?], the son of Hystaspes[?], whose dominions extended from India to the Danube .....

At Masjid-al-Salaman[?] in southwest Persia, the first major commercial oil strike[?] in the Middle East was made on May 26, 1908. The rights to the resource were quickly acquired by the United Kingdom, however.

Persia was renamed Iran on March 21, 1935.

See also: History of Persia

External link

• The History of the Ancient Near East (http://ancientneareast.tripod.com/Persia)