A series of slides giving information about less known facts about life in ancient Persia and its influence on the world civilization.

1. History of Ancient Persia
What do pajamas, biscotti's and the yellow rose have
in common?
They are all originated in ancient Persia!
Check out this slideshow to learn more about the fascinating
world of ancient Persia!

2. • The First Persian Empire known as
Achaemenian Empire started in 530 BCE and
ended in 330 BCE.
• The Persian Empire is the world’s largest
Empire. More than 20 million people- 44% of
the world population- lived under the Persian
rule.
• Persian Empire stretched from the west to the
Balkans and to the east to the border of China
encompassing 2.9 million square miles of land
in Asia, Africa and Europe.
• Persian Empire pride itself in its diversity. At
least 15 different ethnic groups with their own
culture, language and religion lived and worked
under the Persian rule.

3. Cyrus the Great established the First Persian Empire and
conquered Babylon without much bloodshed. He freed
the captive Jews and ordered the reconstruction of the
Second Temple in Jerusalem. He also produced the first
human rights charter known today as the Cyrus
Cylinder.
This painting by the 17th century Dutch artist, Jacob van
Loo, depicts governor of Judah presenting the plan for
the reconstruction of Jerusalem to King Cyrus.

4. The expression “the writing is on the wall” which
means an unfortunate event is about to happen is
based on a story in the Book of Daniel.
King Belshazzar of Babylon was having a feast when a
hand suddenly appeared and wrote a mysterious
message on the wall.
Prophet Daniel then was summoned to the court to
interpret the message. He predicted that the fall of
Babylon in the hands of the Persian army was
imminent.
Incidentally the very next day, in October 530 BCE,
Babylon was conquered by Cyrus the Great.

5. Ancient Persians invented trousers and the Persian
word Pajamas found its way to English language in
the seventeenth century.
While other ancient people wore long robes, kilts,
or togas, the ancient Persians preferred trousers
and leggings made from fine wool, leather or even
silk. Persian trousers or Sharavara were painted
colorful with floral or geometric patterns.

6. Unlike the ancient Egyptians, Persians did not like to get
sunburned and used parasols to protect their fair skin.
Parasols made of gold, silver and ivory were used by
nobility and given as gifts to important dignitaries.
The Lydian nobility both men and women adopted the
custom of using parasols from the Persians and used it
in their religious ceremonies.

7. Queen Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus the Great and the
wife of Darius I, is the first woman in history who was
diagnosed with breast cancer in 470 BCE.
She is also the first breast cancer survivor after she
survived a grueling surgery by her Greek physician,
Democedes.
The American pharmaceutical company, Atossa
Genetics Inc., is named after her.

8. Ancient Persians followed Zarathushtra, a great thinker
and reformer, who lived around 1500 BCE and
established the first monotheist religion called
Zoroastrianism today.
Zoroastrians worship one God whose name is Ahura
Mazda, the Great Wisdom. The Japanese car, Mazda, is
named after the Persian God.
Many beliefs in Christianity and Judaism such as the
concept of God, the afterlife, the existence of evil and
angels have roots in the Zoroastrian religion

9. Gardening was a favorite pastime of many
Persians. Cyrus the Younger was an avid
gardener and King Xerxes loved a tree so
much, he adorned it with jewels.
The word paradise has come from the
Persian word paridaiza, which means
“enclosed garden.”

10. Tulips and roses are originated in Persia. Rosa
foetida Persiana or the Yellow Persian Rose
has been grown in Persia for centuries.
This fragrant rose found its way to Rudolf II’s
palace in Vienna in the 16th century and from
there spread all over Europe.

11. Wealthy ancient Persians lived in mansions made
of colorful glazed baked bricks, timber and stone.
Interior walls were covered with plaster and
decorated with colorful paintings and rich
tapestries.
Windows had wooden shutters and wooden doors
were inlaid with gold and silver. The interior floors
were made of stones, brick or tiles and covered
with expensive rugs.
Houses had bitumen (natural asphalt) plumbing for
kitchen and bathrooms. Rich people used various
furniture including beds, coaches, tables and
chairs.
Poor people, however, lived in simple unbaked
mud-brick houses with no furniture or rich
decorations.

12. Before the Persians, a group of non-Indo-
European people called the Elamites ruled the
southwest of present day Iran. The Elamite
civilization started around 3200 BCE and
continued until the Assyrians destroyed it in 640
BCE.
However, Elamite writing, culture and customs
later influenced the Persians who conquered
the region and replaced them. Many Elamite
officials worked as scribes and diplomats in the
Persian royal court.

13. This Elamite toy made from ivory dates from 3000 BCE.
Since ancient times, the Elamites as well as the Persians
kept pet hedgehogs to get rid of ants and other insects
at home.
After the Arab invasion, Muslims forbade keeping
hedgehogs as pets. However, many Persians paid Arabs
huge taxes so that they could keep their pet hedgehogs.

14. This picture depicts a group of Elamite
musicians from 2000 BCE playing a
string instrument in nude.
Music formed an integral part of life
in ancient Persia and good musicians
were highly sought after. Various
instruments like harp, flute, and
drums were in use.
Minstrels went from town to town
singing popular songs.
One famous court minstrel was
Angares, who sang songs in praise of
Cyrus the Great in the royal court.

15. Dogs were sacred in ancient Persia, and killing
a dog would result in death penalty. Many
people kept dogs as pets. This fifth century
BCE seal shows a wealthy Persian woman
playing a harp accompanied by her Maltese
dog.
The Persian Greyhound or the Saluki is
originated in Mesopotamia and used for
hunting for centuries. This Elamite vase from
3000 BCE shows a group of Salukis sitting
around a pool.

16. Women in ancient Persia enjoyed many rights. They
could own property, claim an inheritance, work outside
home or even govern. One famous entrepreneur was
Lady Irdabama, who lived at the court of King Darius
the Great in the fifth century BCE.
This powerful woman owned a large estate along with a
textile factory and a vineyard where hundreds of men
and women worked.

17. Persian kings kept many different exotic animals and
birds in their garden palaces. Peacocks brought from
India were prized birds. In Greece, they were known as
the Persian Bird and were worshipped as god.
In Persia, they were the symbol of power and royalty.
Lady Irdabama kept a fleet of these birds in her estate
and paid a good salary to their keepers, who enjoyed a
prestigious job of feeding the birds.

18. This stamp seal from sixth century BCE shows
a seated Persian noblewoman receiving her
daughter who carries a bird in her hand, while
an attendant looks on.
In ancient Persia, government provided
various benefits to women. For example,
pregnant women received extra rations of
wine, beer, sesame, figs and grains from the
government.
Women who gave birth to boys would receive
twice more ration than those with girls.
However, men and women both received
equal pay for equal work.

19. Ancient Greeks and Persians fought many wars. In spite
of their animosity, many Greeks worked and lived in
Persia. One was the Greek politician, Themistocles, who
defeated the Persians at the battle of Salamis in 480
BCE.
Later he was forced to escape his native Athens and
took political asylum in Persia. The Persian King
received him kindly and provided him with sufficient
income and a large estate in Magnesia in today’s
Turkey.

20. Queen Artemisia I was a Greek ruler of Halicarnassus
(today’s Bodrum in Turkey) and a great ally and
confidante of King Xerxes (519 BCE).
She personally led her five navy ships in support of the
Persians against the Greeks in the battle of Salamis. She
was later handsomely rewarded by the King for her
loyalty and was even assigned to protect his younger
sons.
This calcite jar with simple inscription The Great King
Xerxes found in Halicarnassus’s mausoleum was kept in
Artemisia’s family for centuries and was probably a gift
from the King to her.

21. Jewelry like this gold armlet was the sign of status and
wealth in ancient Persia. Both men and women wore
earrings, necklaces, rings and armbands made of gold,
silver, and semi-precious stones like carnelian and
turquoise.
It is said that King Artaxerxes II’s jewels were worth
12,000 talents (more than 3 million dollars in today’s
money).

22. This silver spoon was used in a Persian kitchen in the
fifth or sixth century BCE and the forks are dated from
the Sasanian Empire (224 CE-640 CE).
In ancient Persia, wealthy people dined at wooden
tables decorated with gold, silver or ivory. They ate with
spoon or knife, but they were not familiar with forks,
which were adopted from the Romans later in the
Sasanian times (224-640 CE).
The King sometimes dined with up to 15,000 guests.
Attendants dressed in clean white clothes held napkin
and scent bottle ready for his use. Fresh water as far
away as the Danube River was brought to the King for
his consumption.

23. Lapis Lazuli whose name has come from the Persian
word lajevard meaning blue is a semi-precious stone
extracted from the Badakhshan Mountains in today’s
Afghanistan.
Ancient Persians like the Egyptians prized this stone for
its power and beauty and used it in their jewelry or in
decorative objects like this lion statue.

24. After riding, dancing was a favorite pastime of the
ancient Persians who regularly danced for exercise.
Both men and women danced at weddings, birthday
parties and religious festivals.
Even the King performed a special shield dance during
the fall festival of Mehregan. This seal impression from
the fifth century BCE shows a Persian man dancing.

25. The Parthians, who ruled Persia from around 250 BCE to
227 CE, were skilled horsemen and archers. They would
ride their horses fast and then turned around and shoot
at the enemy while galloping away. The Romans called
this tactic the Parthian Shot.

26. The Italian biscotti has its origins in ancient Persia. The
Parthian soldiers baked their bread twice to keep it
fresh and edible for weeks.
The Roman soldiers learned this technic and brought
this “Persian bread” to Rome. Later, they added honey,
spices and nuts to it and called it biscotti meaning twice
baked bread.

27. People in ancient Persia usually did not wear
open toe sandals. Instead, they wore soft boots
or shoes made of leather and fastened by laces.
Wealthy people wore colorful leather shoes
embroidered with gold and silver.
In the Medieval times, Persian men wore high
heel shoes to help them mount their horses
easier. When Persian diplomats arrived in the
European courts in the 16th century, they
popularized the high heel shoes which quickly
became the symbol of status and eventually
adopted by various European kings including
Louis XIV of France.

28. Although oil-based perfumes were in use in
Egypt and Babylon; Persians are credited with
inventing the distilled perfumes which later
gave way to the alcohol based ones.
Ancient Persians used roses and acacia to make
perfumes and kept them is small glass jars like
this one. Oil of myrrh was used for massaging
the body.
Various hand creams prepared from olive oil
were in vogue. The last Achaemenian king,
Darius III, used a special hand cream made
from lion fat, palm wine and saffron.

29. This ancient stamp seal from the sixth century BCE
shows a Persian woman sitting on chair while looking at
a mirror with feet resting on a stepstool. Behind her
stands an attendant with a fan. Another attendant is
bringing her a container and holding something that
looks like a wig.
Cosmetics was used by both men and women in
ancient Persia. Both sexes lined their eyes with kohl to
protect them from dust and disease.
Women colored their cheeks and lips with red ochre
and used a blue-green copper ore as eyeshadow. Henna
was used to color hair and nails.
Both men and women wore elaborate wigs and hair
extensions and cared for their hair with oils and
perfumes. Wealthy people sometimes powdered their
wigs with gold dust!

30. Unlike any other in the ancient world, the
Persian military personnel wore identical
uniforms and hCE their own special color and
insignia.
The Immortals so called by the Greeks because
their number never changed consisted of 10,000
Persian infantryman who enjoyed great prestige
and respect.
Like today’s US Marines, Persian soldiers went
through a rigorous training that included survival
in the wilderness and hours of practice in
hunting, riding and shooting.

31. Shahr-e Sukhteh or the Burnt City is a Bronze Age
settlement in southeast Iran near the Helmand River.
The oldest artificial eyeball from 2900 BCE made with
bitumen paste and covered in thin gold was discovered
there. The eyeball belonged to a thirty-year old woman
who used it when she was alive.

32. This 5000 year old dice from Persia is made of bone and
belongs to a backgammon set.
The two dices on the left were found in Shahr-e
Sukhteh, and belong to the oldest known backgammon
set made around 3000 BCE.
The backgammon set is made with ebony imported
from India and includes 60 pieces. Board games such as
backgammon and the game of 20 squares were popular
in Persia, Egypt and Mesopotamia.

33. Wine, made from dates or grapes, was a favorite drink
in ancient Persia and used as currency as well. A regular
worker was paid with 2 gallons of wine and a bag of
wheat for his work.
Ancient Persians drank their wine neat (without mixing
with water) and used gold or silver wine horns like this.
Persians drank heavily but they did not approve of bad
language or rowdiness when drunk.
Also, it was customary in Persia to review all the
decisions made drunk on the next day when sober.

34. The earliest barley beer was discovered from the Zagros
Mountains in western Iran and it belongs to 7000 years
ago.
Beer was mainly produced by womenfolk, who
fermented barley at home to produce it. Beer was used
as currency in ancient Persia as well.
Ancient beer was mixed with spices, herbs and honey
and consumed with the help of large straws. This seal
from ancient Mesopotamia shows how people used
straws to drink their beer directly from a jar.

35. Darius the Great (486 BCE) ordered the construction
and improvements to a road connecting Susa to Sardis.
This road is known today as the Royal Road. Messages,
letters and packages could travel the 1677 mile (2699
km) road in just seven days. Fire signals installed on the
road could relay messages very fast. There were 111
staging post on the way for travelers to rest and get
fresh horses and at some places the road was paved
with bitumen (natural asphalt).
A bridge built by the order of King Darius on this road
still stands intact in Diyarbakir (today’s Turkey)!

36. In ancient Persia, every year, inventors, great athletes,
military heroes, as well as women with most children
received lavish gifts and elaborate ceremonial robes
from the King himself.
King Xerxes (519 BCE) once rewarded a man
handsomely for breaking a record in killing the most
scorpions on a road!

37. This coin from the 2nd century BCE belongs to the
Parthian King, Mithridates I whose daughter,
Rhodogune, was known for her courage. It is said that
she was taking a bath when she heard of an upcoming
revolt.
She vowed not to wash her hair until she could
successfully neutralize the revolt. Thereafter, she was
depicted on the coins with disheveled hair to
commemorate her victory.

38. Ancient Persians knew many different spices such as
saffron, turmeric, sumac, cinnamon and black pepper.
Persian chefs also used exotic fruits and vegetables
imported from China and India such as peaches, citrus
and eggplant.
The Persian art of gilding, decorating food with gold or
silver, later found its way to Mediaeval Europe and
became fashionable in the European royal courts.

39. Marzipan is a pastry made from almond paste, honey or
sugar. Today, Lubeck in northern Germany is famous for
its delicious marzipan sweets wrapped in chocolate.
Marzipan, however, has its birthplace not in Germany
but in Persia.
The famous 9th century chemist and physician, Zakariya
Razi (Rhazes) has written extensively about the
medicinal benefits of the almond paste.
In the medieval times, Persians made marzipan pastries
from almond paste and rosewater. When the Crusaders
came to the Middle East, they became familiar with this
Persian sweet and brought it back to Europe, where it
gained popularity.

40. Many fruits and vegetables used in
Europe or Asia today have their origins
either in Persia or have found their way to
Europe through Persia.
For example, spinach or Esfenaj in Persian
is native to Iran. In the seventh century,
spinach traveled to China where it was
known as the “Persian vegetable.”
In the 14th century, spinach was
introduced to Europe via Spain and
became a favorite vegetable of Queen
Catherine de Medici of France.
Spinach was also popular with the Persian
Queen Pourandokht (left), who ruled
Persia in 632 CE. Borani, a dish made with
Spinach and yogurt, is named after her.