## The Persian Empire
1.	Biblical references about the Persian Empire:
    a.	References to the King of Persia are the most common citations in the Biblical record:	Ezra 1;1f, 8; 3:7; 4:3, 5, 7, 24; 6:14: 7:1; 9:9;  Daniel 10:1 and 13.
2.	Other references to Persia  are found of the name Media or the name Medes
    a.	Esther 1:134, 19f; 10:2; Daniel 5:28; 6:9, 12, 15; 8:20
    b.	Only as a description, Nehemiah 12:33 and Daniel 6:28
    d.	There are references to the province of Fars, a portion of the Persian Empire (see also Ezekiel 28:10 and 38:5)
    e.	Daniel also may use “Persia” as the whole nation,  see 10:13, 20; 11:2. 
    c.	The Greeks used Persis; the Arabic people called it Fars.
2.	The Persians were first referenced in an ancient history, “the Medes and the Persians” in an inscription credited to Shalmaneser III.
3.	Important rules of Persia:   
    a.	Achaemenes (also known as Hakhamanish) about 700 B.C.E.    
    b.	Cyrus overthrew Astyages (his grandfather) in 549 B.C.E.     
    c.	Cyrus united the Medes to the nation of Persia.     
    d.	The shift of Medes as incorporated into Persia caused new conflicts with the Babylonians.    
    e.	Cyrus expanded his kingdom through most of Asia Minor, including Aryan, Parthia, and Bactrian tribes.    
4.	Cambyses II, was the eldest son of Cyrus, and he was the king of Babylon.       
    a.	Upon the death of Cyrus, the sons fought one another for control, Cambyses was killed under suspicious circumstances, as he was heading back to his home (in 522 B.C.E.)    
5.	Darius, son of Hystaspes, the satrap of Parthia, executed his rivals to the throne.   
    a.	Darius was an excellent manager and administrator and he reorganized his empire. He appointed twenty “Satrap” under Persian officials, there were Military “kings” over each of the satraps.   
    b.	Darius expanded the kingdom of Persia over the Greek cities of Ionia, but his assault on Marathon in 490 B.C.E. failed.   
6.	Xerxes (Ahasuerus of Ezra and Esther). He was a powerful leader, lacking the patience of his predecessors, and he broke relations with Egypt and with Babyon.  
    a.	In 480 B.C.E. the Persian army along with ships from Phoenicia, Ionia, Egypt, and Cyrus, moved together to attack Greece.  Soon, Thermopylae, Thebes, and Athens were taken by the Persians.   
    b.	The Greeks destroyed the Persian fleet at Salamis, near to Miletus and Xerxes was forced to abandon Asia Minor, and was soon to be assassinated in 465 B.C.E.