Ancient World
Behistun Inscription: Darius the Great and Decoding Cuneiform
Darius I recorded his version of his rise to power in three languages; copied in the 19th century, the text unlocked Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian cuneiform.
Region
Middle East
Ancient World
Persepolis: Ceremonial Capital of the Achaemenid Persian Kings
Persepolis served as a ceremonial and administrative centre of the Achaemenid kings for nearly two centuries until Alexander the Great looted and burned it in 330 BC.
Ancient World
Daric: The Gold Coin of the Achaemenid Persian Empire
The daric became the standard gold coin of the Persian Empire and a famous tool of Persian diplomacy in the Greek world for nearly two centuries.
Ancient World
Darius I's Scythian Campaign (513 BC): Persia Beyond the Danube
The Scythians avoided battle and Darius withdrew without conquering them, but Persia secured Thrace and a foothold in Europe.
Ancient World
Canal of Darius: The Ancient Nile-Red Sea Waterway
Darius's canal linked the Nile with the Red Sea, allowing ships to sail from Egypt towards Persia; it was later restored by Ptolemaic, Roman and early Islamic rulers.
Ancient World
Royal Road of Persia: Darius's Highway from Sardis to Susa
The Royal Road and the wider Achaemenid road network let the Persian kings move officials, armies and messages across their empire with unprecedented speed.
Ancient World
Naqsh-e Rostam: Tombs of the Persian Kings and Sasanian Reliefs
Naqsh-e Rostam became the royal necropolis of the Achaemenid kings and, centuries later, a stage on which Sasanian rulers proclaimed their legitimacy and victories.
Ancient World
Herodotus and the Histories (c. 430 BC): The First Historian
The Histories became the first great prose history in Western literature and earned Herodotus the title father of history.
Ancient World
Battle of Cunaxa (401 BC): Cyrus the Younger's Bid for Persia
Artaxerxes II won when Cyrus the Younger was killed, although Cyrus's Greek mercenaries were undefeated on their part of the field and later marched home.
Ancient World
March of the Ten Thousand (401 BC): Xenophon's Anabasis
Most of the Greek mercenaries survived a retreat of well over 1,500 kilometres and reached the Black Sea, later returning to service in Thrace and Asia Minor.
Ancient World
Battle of Issus (333 BC): Alexander the Great Defeats Darius III
Decisive Macedonian victory; Darius III fled and his mother, wife and children were captured.
Ancient World
Siege of Tyre (332 BC): Alexander Builds a Causeway to the Island
Tyre was taken by storm; thousands were killed or enslaved and the island was permanently joined to the mainland by Alexander's causeway.