Ancient persian: Did you mean...?

Abolqasem Ferdowsi (l. c. 940-1020 CE, also given as Abul-Qasem Ferdowsi Tusi, Firdawsi, Firdausi) is the author of the Shahnameh (The Persian Book of Kings), one of the greatest works of world literature and the national epic of Iran. He...

The Sassanian Empire (224-651) was the greatest expression of Persian culture in the ancient world. It was consciously modeled on the earlier Achaemenid Empire (c. 550-330 BCE) which established Persian supremacy in the region and developed...

The Persian Wars, also known as the Greco Persian Wars, were a series of battles fought between Ancient Greece and the Achaemenid Persian Empire in the 5th century BCE. The most famous of these battles are the Battle of Marathon, the Battle...

The Battle of Salamis was a naval battle between Greek and Persian forces in the Saronic Gulf, Greece in September 480 BCE. The Greeks had recently lost the Battle of Thermopylae and drawn the naval Battle at Artemision, both in August 480...

A vision of the afterlife is articulated by every culture, ancient or modern, in an effort to answer the question of what happens after death. Ancient Persia had the same interest in this as any culture of the past or in the present day and...

Women in ancient Persia were not only highly respected but, in many cases, considered the equals of males. Women could own land, conduct business, received equal pay, could travel freely on their own, and in the case of royal women, hold...

The greatest city ever burnt down by Alexander the Great (r. 336 - 323 BCE): Persepolis.

Ancient Persian culture contributed many of the aspects of the modern world which people take for granted as having always existed. The designation “Persia” comes from the Greeks – primarily from the historian Herodotus – but the people of...

Darius I (l. c. 550-486 BCE, r. 522-486 BCE), also known as Darius the Great, was the third Persian King of the Achaemenid Empire. His reign lasted 36 years, from 522 to 486 BCE; during this time the Persian Empire reached its peak. Darius...

Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great (l. 21 July 356 BCE – 10 or 11 June 323 BCE, r. 336-323 BCE), was the son of King Philip II of Macedon (r. 359-336 BCE) who became king upon his father's death in 336 BCE and then...