Difference between revisions of "Persia"

<p> &nbsp;Ezekiel 27:10; &nbsp;Ezekiel 38:5. "Persia proper" was originally a small territory (Herodot. 9:22). On the N. and N.E. lay Media, on the S. the Persian gulf, Elam on the W., on the E. Carmania. Now Furs, Farsistan. Rugged, with pleasant valleys and plains in the mid region and mountains in the N. The S. toward the sea is a hot sandy plain, in places covered with salt. [[Persepolis]] (in the beautiful valley of the Bendamir), under Darius Hystaspes, took the place of Pasargadae the ancient capital; of its palace "Chehl Minar," "forty columns," still exist. [[Alexander]] in a drunken fit, to please a courtesan, burned the palace. Pasargadae, 40 miles to the N., was noted for Cyrus' tomb (Arrian) with the inscription, "I am Cyrus the Achaemenian." (See [[Cyrus]] .) The Persians came originally from the E., from the vicinity of the [[Sutlej]] ''(Before The First Contact Of The [[Assyrians]] With Aryan Tribes E. Of Mount Zagros, 880 B.C.)'' , down the Oxus, then S. of the Caspian Sea to India. There were ten castes or tribes: three noble, three agricultural, four nomadic; of the last were the "Dehavites" or Dali (&nbsp;Ezra 4:9). </p> <p> The Pasargadae were the noble tribes, in which the chief house was that of the Achaemenidae. Darius on the rock of Behistun inscribed: "from antiquity our race have been kings. There are eight of our race who have been kings before me, I am the ninth." (See [[Elam]] on its relation to Persia.) The Persian empire stretched at one time from India to Egypt and Thrace, including all western Asia between the Black Sea, the Caucasus, the Caspian, the Jaxartes upon the N., the [[Arabian]] desert, Persian gulf, and Indian ocean on the S. Darius in the inscription on his tomb at Nakhsh-irustam enumerates thirty countries besides Persia subject to him, Media, Susiana, Parthia, Aria, Bactria, Sogdiana, Chorasmia, Zarangia, Arachosia, Sattagydia, Gaudaria, India, Scythia, Babylonia, Assyria, Arabia, Egypt, Armenia, Cappadocia, Saparda, Ionia, the Aegean isles, the country of the Scodrae (European), Ionia, the Tacabri, Budians, Cushites, Mardians, and Colchians. The organization of the Persian kingdom and court as they appear in Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, accords with independent secular historians. </p> <p> The king, a despot, had a council, "seven princes of Persia and Media which see his face and sit the first in the kingdom" (&nbsp;Esther 1:14; &nbsp;Ezra 7:14). So [[Herodotus]] (iii. 70-79) and Behistun inscription mention seven chiefs who organized the revolt against Smerdis (the Behistun rock W. of Media has one inscription in three languages, Persian, Babylonian, and Stythic, read by Grotefend). "The law of the Persians and Medes which alters not" (&nbsp;Esther 1:19) also controlled him in some measure. In [[Scripture]] we read of 127 provinces (&nbsp;Esther 1:1) with satraps (&nbsp;Esther 3:12; &nbsp;Esther 8:9; Xerxes in boasting enlarged the list; 60 are the nations in his armament according to Herodotus) maintained from the palace (&nbsp;Ezra 4:14), having charge of the revenue, paid partly in money partly in kind (&nbsp;Ezra 7:21-22). </p> <p> [[Mounted]] posts ''(Unique To Persia And [[Described]] By Xenophon, Cyr. 8:6,17, And Herodotus, Viii. 98)'' , with camels (Strabo 15:2, section 10) and horses pressed into service without pay ''('' angareuein ''; '' &nbsp;Matthew 5:41''; '' &nbsp;Mark 15:21'')'' , conveyed the king's orders (&nbsp;Esther 3:10; &nbsp;Esther 3:12-13; &nbsp;Esther 8:10; &nbsp;Esther 8:14), authenticated by the royal signet (so Herod. iii. 128). A favorite minister usually had the government mainly delegated to him by the king (&nbsp;Esther 3:1-10; &nbsp;Esther 8:8; &nbsp;Esther 10:2-3). [[Services]] were recorded (&nbsp;Esther 2:23; &nbsp;Esther 6:2-3) and the actors received reward as "royal benefactors" (Herodotus iii. 140); state archives were the source of Ctesias' history of Persia (Diod. Sic. 3:2.) The king lived at [[Susa]] (&nbsp;Esther 1:2; &nbsp;Nehemiah 1:1) or Babylon (&nbsp;Ezra 7:9; &nbsp;Nehemiah 13:6). </p> <p> In accordance with &nbsp;Esther 1:6, as to "pillars of marble" with "pavement of red, blue, white, and black," and "hangings of white, green, and blue of fine linen and purple to the pillars," the remains exhibit four groups of marble pillars on a pavement of blue limestone, constructed for curtains to hang between the columns as suiting the climate. (Loftus' Chaldeea and Susiana.) One queen consort was elevated above the many wives and concubines who approached the king" in their turn." To intrude on the king's privacy was to incur the penalty of death (compare Herodotus, iii. 60-84 with &nbsp;Esther 2:12; &nbsp;Esther 2:15; &nbsp;Esther 4:11-16; &nbsp;Esther 4:5). Ρarsa is the native name, the modern Ρarsee; supposed to mean "tigers". Originally simple in habits, upon overthrowing the Medes they adopted their luxury. They had a dual worship, Οromasdes or Οrmuzd , "the great giver of life," the supreme good god; Μithra , the "sun", and Ηome , the "moon", were under him. </p> <p> Ahriman, "the death dealing" being, opposed to Oromasdes. Magianism, the worship of the elements, especially fire, the Scythic religion, infected the Persian religion when the Persians entered their new country. [[Zoroaster]] (the Greek form of Zerdusht), professing to be Ormuzd's prophet, was the great reformer of their religious system, the contemporary of Daniel (Warburton 4:180, but according to Markham 1500 B.C., before the separation of the two Aryan races, the Indians and Persians) and acquainted with the Jewish Scriptures, as appears from his account of creation (Hyde 9; 10; 22; 31, Shahristani Relig. Pers.), and from his inserting passages from David's writings and prophecies of Messiah. </p> <p> He condemns the notion of two independent eternal principles, good and evil, and makes the supreme God [[Creator]] of both ''(And That Under Him The Angel Of Light And The Angel Of [[Darkness]] Are In [[Perpetual]] Conflict)'' as Isaiah teaches, and in connection with the prophecy of Cyrus the Jews' deliverer from Babylon: "thus saith [[Jehovah]] to His anointed, Cyrus ... I will go before thee, I will break in pieces the gates of brass ... I form the light and create the darkness; I make peace and create evil." Zoroaster taught that God created the good angel alone, and that the evil followed by the defect of good. He closely imitates the [[Mosaic]] revelation. As Moses heard God speaking in the midst of the fire, so Zoroaster pretends. </p> <p> As the divine glory rested on the mercy seat, so Zoroaster made the sacred fire in the Persian temples to symbolize the divine presence. Zoroaster pretended that fire from heaven consumed sacrifices, as often had been the case in Israel's sacrifices; his priests were of one tribe as Israel's. In his work traces appear of Adam and Eve's history, creation, the deluge, David's psalms. He praises [[Solomon]] and delivers his doctrines as those of Abraham, to whose pure creed he sought to bring back the Magian religion. In Lucian's (De Longaevis) day his religion was that of most Persians, Parthians, Bactrians, Aryans, Sacans, Medes, and Chowaresmians. His Zendavesta has six periods of creation, ending with man as in Genesis. </p> <p> Αvesta is the name for "Deity". Ζend is related to Κhandas , "metre," from the same root as scandere , scald "a poet," "scan." Mazdao, his name of Ormuzd, "I am that I am," answers to JEHOVAH in Exodus 3. He expected a zoziosh or "saviour". Fire, originally made the symbol of God, became, as Roman [[Catholic]] symbols, at length idolized. The [[Parsees]] observe the nirang; "rubbing the urine of a cow, she goat, or ox over the face and hands", the second thing a Parsee does in getting up in the morning. The women after childbirth undergo it and have actually to drink a little of it! The Parsees pray 16 times a day. They have an awe of light. They are the only orientals who do not smoke. The priests and people now do not understand one word of the Zendavesta. (Muller.) The Persian language was related to the Indian Sanskrit. </p> <p> [[History]] . Achaemenes led the emigrating Persians into their final settlement, 700 B.C. Teispes, [[Cambyses]] I. (Kabujiya in the monuments), Cyrus I, Cambyses II, and Cyrus the Great reigned successively. After 80 years' subjection to the Medes the Persians revolted and became supreme, 558 B.C. Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon and restored the Jews (&nbsp;Isaiah 44:28; &nbsp;Isaiah 45:1-4; &nbsp;Ezra 1:2-4). His son Cambyses III conquered Egypt (Ahasnerus, &nbsp;Ezra 4:6), but failed in Ethiopia. Then the Magian priest Gomates, pretending to be Smerdis, Cyrus' son, whom Cambyses had secretly murdered, gained the throne (522 B.C.), and Cambyses III committed suicide. He forbade the Jews building the temple (&nbsp;Ezra 4:7-22, Artaxerxes). By destroying the Persian temples and abolishing the Oromasdian chants and ceremonies, and setting up fire altars, Pseudo Smerdis aliented the Persians, Darius, son of Hystaspes, of the blood royal, revolted, and slew him after his seven months' reign. </p> <p> He reverted to Cyrus' policy, by grant enabling the Jews to complete the temple in his sixth year (&nbsp;Ezra 6:1-15). Xerxes (Ahasuerus) his son held the feast in his third year at Shushan for "the princes of the provinces," preparatory to invading Greece. His marriage with Esther in his seventh year immediately followed his flight from Greece, when lie gave himself up to the pleasures of the seraglio. His son [[Artaxerxes]] Longimanus befriended Ezra (&nbsp;Ezra 7:1; &nbsp;Ezra 7:11-28) and Nehemiah (&nbsp;Nehemiah 2:1-9) in their patriotic restoration of the Jews' national polity and walls. (See [[Daniel]] ; CYRUS; MEDES; PARTHIA; AHASUERUS; ARTAXERXES.) "Darius the Persian" or Codomanus (&nbsp;Nehemiah 12:22) was conquered by Alexander the Great (&nbsp;Daniel 8:3-7). </p>

<p> In [[Hebrew]] Paras, &nbsp;Ezekiel 27:10 , a vast region in Asia, the southwestern province of which lying between ancient media on the north and the Persian Gulf on the south, appears to have been the ancient Persia, and is still called Pharsistan, or Fars. The Persians, who became so famous after Cyrus, the founder of their more extended monarchy, were anciently called Elamites; and later, in the time of the Roman emperors, Parthians. See PARTHIA. </p> <p> The early history of the Persians, like that of most of the oriental nations, is involved in doubt and perplexity. Their descent is traced to Shem, through his son Elam, after whom they were originally named. It is probable that they enjoyed their independence for several ages, with a monarchical succession of their own; until they were subdued by the Assyrians and their country attached as a province to that empire. From this period, both sacred and profane writers distinguish the kingdom of the Medes from that of the Persians. It is not improbable that, during this period, petty revolutions might have occasioned temporary disjunctions of Persia from Assyria, and that the Persian king was quickly again made sensible of his true allegiance. When Media became independent, under Dejoes and then Phraortes, Persia became also subject to its sway, as a tributary kingdom. Media having vanquished her great rival [[Assyria]] enjoyed a long interval of peace, during the reign of Astyages, son of Cyaxares. But his successor, [[Cyaxares]] the Second, united with the Persians against the Babylonians, and gave the command of the combined armies to Cyrus, who took the city of Babylon, killed Belshazzar, the terminated that kingdom 538 B. C. </p> <p> Cyrus succeeded to the thrones of Media and Persia, and completed the union between those countries, which appear to have been in reality but two nations of he same race, having the same religion (See MAGI and MEDIA,) and using languages near akin to each other and to the ancient Sanscrit. Previously to their union under Cyrus, Daniel speaks of the law of the Medes and Persians as being the same. </p> <p> The union was effected B. C. 536. The principal events relating to Scripture, which occurred during the reign of Cyrus, were the restoration of the Jews, the rebuilding of the city and temple, and the capture of Babylon, B. C. 539, &nbsp;Ezra 1:2 . His dominion extended from the [[Mediterranean]] to the region of the Indus. Cambyses his successor, B. C. 529, added Egypt to the Persian realm, and the supremacy of Egypt and Syria was often in contest during subsequent reigns, &nbsp;Ezra 4:6 . He was followed by Smerdis the Magian, B. C. 522, &nbsp;Ezra 4:7; Darius Hystapis, B. C. 521, &nbsp;Ezra 5:6; Xerxes, the Ahasuerus of the book of Esther, B. C. 485, Artabanus, B. C. 465; Artaxerxes Longimanus, B. C. 464, &nbsp;Nehemiah 2:1; Xerxes 2., B. C. 424; Sogdianus and Darius Nothus, B. C. 424; Artaxerxes Mnemon, B. C. 404; Artaxerxes Ochus, B. C. 364; Arses, B. C. 338; and Darius Codomanus, B. C. 335, who was subdued and slain by Alexander of Macedon, B. C. 330. In the seventh century Persia fell under the power of the Saracens, in the thirteenth it was conquered by Genghis Khan, and in the fourteenth by Tamerlane. Modern Persia is bounded north by Georgia, the Caspian sea, and Tartary; east by [[Afghanistan]] and Beloochistan; south by Ormus; and west by the dominions of Turkey. Its inhabitants retain to a remarkable extent the manners and custom of ancient Persia, of which we have so vivid a picture in Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel. </p>

<p> [[Persia]] (''Per'Shĭah,'' or [[Shah]] ), Heb. ''Pharas,'' ''Pure,'' or ''Tigers?'' &nbsp;Ezekiel 38:5. A country in Central Asia. The term is generally applied in Scripture to the Persian empire, but in &nbsp;Ezekiel 38:5 it designates Persia proper. The Persian empire extended from the Indus on the east to Thrace on the west, and from the Black and Caspian Seas on the north to the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea on the south. It, at times, included Western Asia and portions of Europe and Africa. Persia proper was an unproductive country south of Media. The interior was a great plateau, having an average elevation of 4000 feet above the sea, broken by mountains and valleys and interspersed with fruitful plains. The founder of the Persian dynasty was Achæmes, and it was tributary to the Medes until a revolt under Cyrus about b.c. 588, when it rapidly extended its sway over Asia Minor, and in b.c. 538 over Babylon, where the Persians came into contact with the captive Jews. Cyrus issued a decree permitting the Jewish captives to return to their own land. &nbsp;2 Chronicles 36:20-23; &nbsp;Ezra 1:8. A later king, called Artaxerxes in Scripture, forbade the rebuilding of the temple, but Darius [[Hystaspes]] authorized the work to go on. &nbsp;Ezra 4:5-24; &nbsp;Ezra 6:7-12. Xerxes, who was probably the Ahasuerus of the book of Esther, succeeded him, and was defeated by the Greeks, assassinated, and succeeded by his son Artaxerxes Longimanus, who was friendly to the Jews. &nbsp;Ezra 7:11-28; &nbsp;Nehemiah 2:1-9. Only one of his successors is noticed in Scripture, Darius the Persian. &nbsp;Nehemiah 12:22. After lasting about 200 years the Persian empire was overthrown by Alexander the Great, b.c. 330, and followed by the Macedonian, the third great world-empire. &nbsp;Daniel 8:3-7; &nbsp;Daniel 8:20. </p>

<p> ''''' pûr´sha ''''' , - ''''' zha ''''' ( פּרס , <i> ''''' pāraṣ ''''' </i> ; Περσίς , <i> ''''' Persı́s ''''' </i> ; in [[Assyrian]] <i> ''''' Parsu ''''' </i> , <i> ''''' Parsua ''''' </i> ; in Achemenian Persian <i> ''''' Pārsa ''''' </i> , modern <i> ''''' Fārs ''''' </i> ): In the Bible (&nbsp; 2 Chronicles 36:20 , &nbsp;2 Chronicles 36:22 , &nbsp;2 Chronicles 36:23; &nbsp;Ezra 1:1 , &nbsp;Ezra 1:8; &nbsp;Esther 1:3 , &nbsp;Esther 1:14 , &nbsp;Esther 1:18; &nbsp;Esther 10:2; &nbsp;Ezekiel 27:10; &nbsp;Ezekiel 38:5; &nbsp;Daniel 8:20; &nbsp;Daniel 10:1; &nbsp;Daniel 11:2 ) this name denotes properly the modern province of Fars, not the whole Persian empire. The latter was by its people called <i> '''''Airyaria''''' </i> , the present [[Iran]] (from the [[Sanskrit]] word <i> '''''ārya''''' </i> , "noble"); and even now the Persians never call their country anything but Iran, never "Persia." The province of [[Persis]] lay to the East of Elam (Susiana), and stretched from the Persian Gulf to the Great Salt Desert, having Carmania on the Southeast. Its chief cities were Persepolis and Pasargadae. Along the Persian Gulf the land is low, hot and unhealthy, but it soon begins to rise as one travels inland. Most of the province consists of high and steep mountains and plateaus, with fertile valleys. The table-lands in which lie the modern city of [[Shiraz]] and the ruins of Persepolis and Pasargadae are well watered and productive. Nearer the desert, however, cultivation grows scanty for want of water. Persia was doubtless in early times included in Elam, and its population was then either Semitic or allied to the Accadians, who founded more than one state in the Babylonian plain. The <i> '''''Āryan''''' </i> Persians seem to have occupied the country in the 8th or 9th century BC. </p>

<p> Occupies the tableland 5000 ft. high between the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea on the S., the Caspian Sea and [[Turkestan]] on the N., [[Armenia]] on the W., and Afghanistan and Beluchistan on the E., and is a country three times as large as France; lofty mountain ranges traverse it from NW. to SE. and gird its northern boundary; the highest peak is Mount Demavend, 18,500 ft., in the Elburz, overlooking the Caspian. Most of the rivers evaporate inland; only one is navigable, the Karun, in the SW.; Lake Urumiyah, in the NW., is the largest, a very salt and shallow sheet of water. The eastern half of the country is largely desert, where the sand is swept about in clouds by the winds. With little rain, the climate is intensely hot in summer and cold in winter. Forests clothe the outer slopes of the mountains, and scanty brushwood the inner plains. Wheat and barley are grown on higher levels, and cotton, sugar, and fruits on the lower, all with the help of Irrigation. [[Agriculture]] is the chief industry; there are manufactures of carpets, shawls, and porcelain. The internal trade is carried on by caravans; foreign trade is not extensive, and is chiefly in Russian hands; the exports include opium, carpets, pearls, and turquoises. The capital is Teheran, a narrow, crooked, filthy town, at the southern foot of the Elburz. Tabriz, in the NW., is the emporium of trade. Ispahân, Meshed, Barfurush, and Shiraz are the other important towns. The [[Government]] is despotic; the emperor is called the Shah. The people are courteous and refined in manner, witty, and fluent in speech; they are of Aryan stock and Mohammedan faith. The original empire of Persia was established by Cyrus 537 B.C. A century later decay set in. Revival under [[Parthian]] and Sassanian dynasties lasted from 138 B.C. till A.D. 639. Persia became then a province of the Arabs. From the 14th century it fell under Mongol sway, and again in the 16th century under Turkish. The present dynasty was founded in 1795. The future of the country is in Russian and British hands. </p>