When was Persepolis founded?
Persepolis
Darius I built the greatest palace at Persepolis on the western side of platform. This palace was called the "Apadana". The King of Kings used it for official audiences. The work began in 518 BC, and his son, Xerxes I, completed it 30 years later. The palace had a grand hall in the shape of a square, each side long with seventy-two columns, thirteen of which still stand on the enormous platform. Each column is high with a square Taurus (bull) and plinth. The columns carried the weight of the vast and heavy ceiling. The tops of the columns were made from animal sculptures such as two-headed lions, eagles, human beings and cows (cows were symbols of fertility and abundance in ancient Iran). The columns were joined to each other with the help of oak and cedar beams, which were brought from Lebanon. The walls were covered with a layer of mud and stucco to a depth of 5 cm, which was used for bonding, and then covered with the greenish stucco which is found throughout the palaces.
Bergepolis
Bergepolis () was an ancient Greek city located in Thrace, in the region between the river Nestos to the river Hebros. It was founded by colonists from Abdera. Its citizens were called "Bergepolites".Bergepolis was an urban center dependent of Abdera. Bergepolis survived in the Roman times.
Iranian peoples
Later on, in 550 BCE, Cyrus the Great, would overthrow the leading Median rule, and conquer Kingdom of Lydia and the Babylonian Empire after which he established the Achaemenid Empire (or the First Persian Empire), while his successors would dramatically extend its borders. At its greatest extent, the Achaemenid Empire would encompass swaths of territory across three continents, namely Europe, Africa and Asia, stretching from the Balkans and Eastern Europe proper in the west, to the Indus Valley in the east. The largest empire of ancient history, with their base in Persis (although the main capital was located in Babylon) the Achaemenids would rule much of the known ancient world for centuries. This First Persian Empire was equally notable for its successful model of a centralised, bureaucratic administration (through satraps under a king) and a government working to the profit of its subjects, for building infrastructure such as a postal system and road systems and the use of an official language across its territories and a large professional army and civil services (inspiring similar systems in later empires), and for emancipation of slaves including the Jewish exiles in Babylon, and is noted in Western history as the antagonist of the Greek city states during the Greco-Persian Wars. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was built in the empire as well.
List of Persepolis F.C. managers
Persepolis F.C. is a professional football club based in Tehran, Iran, which plays in the Iran Pro League. The first full-time manager of Persepolis was Parviz Dehdari in 1968. Branko Ivanković is the current head coach of the Persepolis since 6 April 2015.
Perseus
The two main sources regarding the legendary life of Perseus—for he was an authentic historical figure to the Greeks— are Pausanias and the "Bibliotheca". Pausanias asserts that the Greeks believed Perseus founded Mycenae. He mentions the shrine to Perseus that stood on the left-hand side of the road from Mycenae to Argos, and also a sacred fountain at Mycenae called "Persea". Located outside the walls, this was perhaps the spring that filled the citadel's underground cistern. He states also that Atreus stored his treasures in an underground chamber there, which is why Heinrich Schliemann named the largest tholos tomb the Treasury of Atreus.
Antalya
King Attalus II of Pergamon is looked on as founder of the city in about 150 BC, during the Hellenistic period. It was named Attaleia or Attalia in his honour. The city served as a naval base for Attalus's powerful fleet. Excavations in 2008, in the Doğu Garajı plot, uncovered remains dating to the 3rd century BC, suggesting that Attalea was a rebuilding and expansion of an earlier town.
Attalea became part of the Roman Republic in 133 BC when Attalus III, a nephew of Attalus II bequeathed his kingdom to Rome at his death in 133 BC. The city grew and prospered during the Ancient Roman period and was part of the Roman province of Pamphylia Secunda, whose capital was Perga.
Persepolis F.C.
Persepolis F.C. was founded in 1963 by Ali Abdo and has been in the first division of Iranian football since 1968. Persepolis also had three teams in bowling, basketball and volleyball in its first years of establishment. Persepolis F.C. is the football club of the multisport Persepolis Athletic and Cultural Club. The club is owned by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. There have been many attempts to privatize the club with no success due to the large debt the club has accumulated.
Vezirköprü
At the breakup of Alexander the Great's empire the Vezirköprü region became part of the kingdom of Pontus with its capital at Amaseia (Amasya), later at Sinope (Sinop). When the last king Mithradates VI was defeated by the Romans, Pompey the Great founded a "new city", Neapolis (), which later changed its name to Neoklaudioupolis () or Neoclaudiopolis in Latin, the forerunner of modern Vezirköprü. In late antiquity, the town returned to its original name, Andrapa, and became a bishopric.
List of book-burning incidents
The burning of Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, about 330 BC, was one of the stains on the record of
Alexander the Great, contrasting with the efforts he otherwise made to act humanely towards the defeated Persians. Various accounts
attribute it to an accident, a drunken revelry by Alexander's soldiers, or a deliberate act of revenge for the burning of the Acropolis of Athens by the Achaemenid army centuries before. There was evidently no deliberate targeting of books and written material, but – though not mentioned in Greek and Latin accounts – such destruction did result from the setting on fire of palaces made mostly of highly combustible cedar wood. The "Book of Arda Wiraz", a Zoroastrian work composed in the 3rd or 4th century CE, mentions the destruction of Royal Archives and of "all the Avesta (Zoroastrian scriptures) and Zend (commentraries)" which were "written with gold ink upon prepared cow-skins". The "Bundahishn" – an encyclopædiaic collection of Zoroastrian cosmogony and cosmology – also refers to "Aleskandar" (Alexander) having burned the Avesta following his defeat of "Dara" (Darius III). For this act of sacrilege, Alexander's name was regularly accompanied in Middle Persian Zoroastrian texts by the appelation "Gujastak" ("the Damned", or "the Evil"). As late as the 10th century CE, the native Iranian writer Biruni, in his "The Chronology of Ancient Nations", mentioned regretfully the loss of historiographical sources due to that burning.
Persepolis
In 1971, Persepolis was the main staging ground for the "2,500 Year Celebration of the Persian Empire" under the reign of the Pahlavi dynasty. It included delegations from foreign nations in an attempt to advance the Iranian culture and history.
Battle of Thermopylae
The Battle of Thermopylae ( ; Greek: , "Máchē tōn Thermopylōn") was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas of Sparta, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I over the course of three days, during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place simultaneously with the naval battle at Artemisium, in August or September 480 BC, at the narrow coastal pass of Thermopylae ("The Hot Gates"). The Persian invasion was a delayed response to the defeat of the first Persian invasion of Greece, which had been ended by the Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. By 480 BC Xerxes had amassed a huge army and navy, and set out to conquer all of Greece. The Athenian politician and general Themistocles had proposed that the allied Greeks block the advance of the Persian army at the pass of Thermopylae, and simultaneously block the Persian navy at the Straits of Artemisium.
2,500 year celebration of the Persian Empire
The food and the wine for the celebration were provided by the Parisian restaurant Maxim's. The banquet menu was:Six hundred guests dined over five and a half hours thus making for the longest and most lavish official banquet in modern history as recorded in successive editions of the Guinness Book of World Records. A son et lumière show, the "Polytope of Persepolis" designed by Iannis Xenakis and accompanied by the specially-commissioned electronic music piece "Persepolis" concluded the evening. The next day saw a parade of armies of different Iranian empires covering two and half millennia by 1,724 men of the Iranian armed forces, all in period costume. In the evening, a less formal "traditional Persian party" was held in the Banqueting Hall as the concluding event at Persepolis.
Persepolis
Pietro Della Valle visited Persepolis in 1621, and noticed that only 25 of the 72 original columns were still standing, due to either vandalism or natural processes. The Dutch traveler Cornelis de Bruijn visited Persepolis in 1704.
Persepolis F.C.
In 1981, the Physical Education Department declared that the name of the club would change, but club officials, players, and fans opposed the move. The team didn't appear in the match against Homa in the Tehran league as a protest against the Physical Education Department. They lost the match 3–0 by default and Homa became champion. In 1986, The club was taken over by the Oppressed and Veterans Foundation and renamed "Azadi" (meaning "freedom", ). Players declared that they wouldn't play for the club if the name change went through. After a brief period the Foundation did not want the club any more, and it was taken over by the Physical Education Department again.
On 16 February 1987, the Physical Education Department renamed the club "Pirouzi" (meaning "victory", ) with players' agreement, although fans still call the team by its original name, Persepolis. On 10 April 2012 the club chairman Mohammad Rouyanian announced that the club will officially only be known as Persepolis.
Persepolis
After invading Achaemenid Persia in 330 BC, Alexander the Great sent the main force of his army to Persepolis by the Royal Road. He stormed the "Persian Gates", a pass through modern-day Zagros Mountains. There Ariobarzanes of Persis successfully ambushed Alexander the Great's army, inflicting heavy casualties. After being held off for 30 days, Alexander the Great outflanked and destroyed the defenders. Ariobarzanes himself was killed either during the battle or during the retreat to Persepolis. Some sources indicate that the Persians were betrayed by a captured tribal chief who showed the Macedonians an alternate path that allowed them to outflank Ariobarzanes in a reversal of Thermopylae. After several months, Alexander allowed his troops to loot Persepolis.
Around that time, a fire burned "the palaces" or "the palace". Scholars agree that this event, described in historic sources, occurred at the ruins that have been now re-identified as Persepolis. From Stolze's investigations, it appears that at least one of these, the castle built by Xerxes I, bears traces of having been destroyed by fire. The locality described by Diodorus Siculus after Cleitarchus corresponds in important particulars with the historic Persepolis, for example, in being supported by the mountain on the east.
Persepolis
The function of Persepolis remains rather unclear. It was not one of the largest cities in Persia, let alone the rest of the empire, but appears to have been a grand ceremonial complex, that was only occupied seasonally; it is still not entirely clear where the king's private quarters actually were. Until recent challenges, most archaeologists held that it was especially used for celebrating Nowruz, the Persian New Year, held at the spring equinox, and still an important annual festivity in modern Iran. The Iranian nobility and the tributary parts of the empire came to present gifts to the king, as represented in the stairway reliefs.
Column
Some of the most elaborate columns in the ancient world were those of the Persians, especially the massive stone columns erected in Persepolis. They included double-bull structures in their capitals. The Hall of Hundred Columns at Persepolis, measuring 70 × 70 metres, was built by the Achaemenid king Darius I (524–486 BC). Many of the ancient Persian columns are standing, some being more than 30 metres tall.
2,500 year celebration of the Persian Empire
Persepolis remains a major tourist attraction in Iran and apparently there are suggestions to rehabilitate the archeological site as it is a proclamation of Iranian history. In 2005, it was visited by nearly 35,000 people during the Iranian new year holiday.
Horreum (Epirus)
“Ancient Orraon is an impressive ancient Molossian acropolis and archeological site where there is much historical value. Where much has been uncovered, such as various houses, a reservoir, cemetery, and roads". Orraon was founded in the 4th century B.C. while Alcetas I was king. This was the period of the Classical period and Hellenistic period. In 167 BC the Romans destroyed Orraon, but was rebuilt shortly afterwards. The city of Orraon lasted for a short period of time. In 37 BC the town had one hundred houses, twelve streets, and a grave yard. Orraon was abandoned by its people. Its inhabitants were forced to settle in Nicopolis which is located in the south western part of Greece. The city of Nicopolis was founded by Augustus after his victory in the Battle of Actium. Horreum was mentioned by the historian Livy.
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenids thereafter consolidated areas firmly under their control. It was Cyrus the Great and Darius the Great who, by sound and far-sighted administrative planning, brilliant military manoeuvring, and a humanistic world view, established the greatness of the Achaemenids and, in less than thirty years, raised them from an obscure tribe to a world power. It was during the reign of Darius the Great (Darius I) that Persepolis was built (518–516 BC) and which would serve as capital for several generations of Achaemenid kings. Ecbatana ("Hagmatāna" "City of Gatherings", modern: Hamadan) in Media was greatly expanded during this period and served as the summer capital.
Achaemenid architecture
Scholars agree that it was Darius the Great who initiated the construction and expansion of the Persepolis project, however German archaeologist Ernst E. Herzfeld, believed that it was Cyrus the Great who chose the site for the construction, although it ultimately came down to Darius the Great to finish the construction and create its impressive buildings. Excavations on behalf of the Oriental Institute of Chicago University, headed by Herzfeld in 1931 and later cooperation by Eric F. Schmidt in 1933 led to some of the most impressive uncovering of Achaemenid artifacts, palaces, and structures. Herzfeld felt that the site of Persepolis was made for special ceremonies and was meant to convey the power of the Achaemenid empire to its subject nations.
List of national founders
Cyrus the Great (600 BC–530 BC) was the founder of the First Persian Empire under the Achaemenid dynasty an empire without precedent—a first world-empire of historical importance. Many Iranians gather at his tomb in Pasargadae annually on the Cyrus the Great Day and Nowruz, the Persian New Year. Prior to the 1979 Revolution the 2,500th year of Foundation of Imperial State of Iran took place. It consisted of an elaborate set of festivities that took place on 12–16 October 1971 on the occasion of the 2,500th anniversary of the founding of the Imperial State of Iran and First Persian Empire by Cyrus the Great. The intent of the celebration was to demonstrate Iran's old civilization and history to showcase its contemporary advancements under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran.
Theodor Herzl is considered the founder of the Zionist movement and thus indirectly a founder of Israel. David Ben-Gurion was the founder of the State of Israel and the first Prime Minister of Israel.
Hierapolis
In the 12th century, the area came under the control of the Seljuk sultanate of Konya before falling to crusaders under Frederick Barbarossa and their Byzantine allies in 1190. About thirty years later, the town was abandoned before the Seljuks built a castle in the 13th century. The new settlement was abandoned in the late 14th century. In 1354, the great Thracian earthquake toppled the remains of the ancient city. The ruins were slowly covered with a thick layer of limestone.
Persepolis Administrative Archives
Persepolis Treasury Archive furthermore contributes to the study of economic history by providing a record of the introduction of coined silver money to the regional economy of the Persepolis and its eventual adoption. Persepolis Fortification Archive, a generation before the Persepolis Treasury Archive, only attests to the payment in-kind at Persepolis (wine, beer, grain, flour, sheep, and the like).
Xenophon
Xenophon wrote the "Cyropaedia" to outline his political and moral philosophy. He did this by endowing a fictional version of the boyhood of Cyrus the Great, founder of the first Persian Empire, with the qualities of what Xenophon considered the ideal ruler. Historians have asked whether Xenophon's portrait of Cyrus was accurate or if Xenophon imbued Cyrus with events from Xenophon's own life. The consensus is that Cyrus’s career is best outlined in the "Histories" of Herodotus. But Steven Hirsch writes, "Yet there are occasions when it can be confirmed from Oriental evidence that Xenophon is correct where Herodotus is wrong or lacks information. A case in point involves the ancestry of Cyrus." Herodotus contradicts Xenophon at several other points, most notably in the matter of Cyrus’s relationship with the Median Kingdom. Herodotus says that Cyrus led a rebellion against his maternal grandfather, Astyages king of Media, and defeated him, thereafter (improbably) keeping Astyages in his court for the remainder of his life ("Histories" 1.130). The Medes were thus "reduced to subjection" (1.130) and became "slaves" (1.129) to the Persians 20 years before the capture of Babylon in 539 BC.
Persephone (sculpture)
Persephone is an outdoor sculpture by artist Armand Toussaint created c. 1840. The work sits within the center of a pool in Holcomb Gardens on the grounds of Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The sculpture depicts the Greek goddess Persephone. In 1993 the sculpture was examined by the Save Outdoor Sculpture! program produced by the Smithsonian Institution.
Kuşadası
An outpost of Ephesus in ancient Ionia, known as Pygela (Πύγελα), the area between the Büyük Menderes (Maeander) and Gediz (Hermos) rivers, the original Neopolis, is thought to have been founded on the nearby point of Yılancı Burnu. Later settlements were probably built on the hillside of Pilavtepe, in the district called Andızkulesi today. Kuşadası was a minor port frequented by vessels trading along the Aegean coast. In antiquity it was overshadowed by Ephesus, until Ephesus' harbor silted up. From the 7th century BC onwards the coast was ruled by Lydians from their capital at Sardis, then from 546 BC the Persians, and from 334 BC, along with all of Anatolia, the coast was conquered by Alexander the Great. From that point on the coastal cities in Anatolia became a centre of Hellenistic culture.
Persian column
Persian columns or Persepolitan columns are the distinctive form of column developed in the Achaemenid architecture of ancient Persia, probably beginning shortly before 500 BCE. They are mainly known from Persepolis, where the massive main columns have a base, fluted shaft, and a double-animal capital, most with bulls. Achaemenid palaces had enormous hypostyle halls called apadana, which were supported inside by several rows of columns. The Throne Hall or "Hall of a Hundred Columns" at Persepolis, measuring 70 x 70 metres was built by the Achaemenid king Artaxerxes I. The Apadana hall is even larger. These often included a throne for the king and were used for grand ceremonial assemblies; the largest at Persepolis and Susa could fit ten thousand people at a time.
Perseus
In Greek mythology, Perseus (; ) is the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty, who, alongside Cadmus and Bellerophon, was the greatest Greek hero and slayer of monsters before the days of Heracles. He beheaded the Gorgon Medusa for Polydectes and saved Andromeda from the sea monster Cetus. He was the son of Zeus and the mortal Danaë, as well as the half-brother and great-grandfather of Heracles.
Ali Abdo
Abdo returned to Iran from the United States and was a championship boxer. He founded Persepolis Sports Club in 1963, which is also made up of a basketball team, volleyball team and most importantly the famous football team, Persepolis F.C..
Persepolis Qaem Shahr F.C.
Persepolis Qaem Shahr Football Club is an Iranian football club based in Qaem Shahr, Iran. It currently competes in the Mazandaran Provincial League. On September 25, 2012; Persepolis Qaem Shahr's chairman signed a contract with Rouyanian, the chairman of Persepolis, establishing Persepolis Qaem Shahr as one of Persepolis's sections.
The table below shows the achievements of the club in various competitions.
Greek colonisation
On the western shore of the Black Sea region the Megarans founded the cities of Selymbria and a little later, Nesebar. A little farther north in the region of today's Romania the Milesians founded the cities of Istria and Orgame. And Miletus also founded a city on the western shore of the Black Sea, Apollonia. In the south of the Black Sea the most important colony was Sinope which according to prevailing opinion was founded by Miletus. The precise chronology of its foundation is not known at present but it appears that it was founded some time around the middle of the 7th century B.C. Sinope was founded with a series of other colonies in the Pontic region: Trebizond, Cerasus, Cytorus, Cotyora, Cromne, Pteria, Tium, et al. The most important colony founded on the southern shore of the Black Sea was likewise a Megaran foundation: Heraclea Pontica, which was founded in the 6th century B.C.
Sorkhpooshan Delvar Afzar F.C.
The club was originally based in the Iranian province of East Azerbaijan. It was a local club and participated in local club leagues. In 2003, after Ali Parvin left as Persepolis FC's manager, he vowed to never go back, deciding instead to create a new Persepolis. Because Sorkhpooshan is also a nickname of Persepolis FC, and their similar club colors, Parvin along with some other sponsors, bought the team and moved it to Tehran. Former Persepolis players such as Reza Shahroudi joined the team in the 2003–04 season and helped the team reach the Azadegan League. Parvin's dedication to the club was temporary though and he left the club to once again help Persepolis FC. The club was bought by "Delvar Afzar Industrial Group" and had been in the Azadegan League since the 2004–05 season. On September 19, 2006; Sorkhpooshan's chairman signed a contract with Ansarifar, the chairman of Persepolis FC, establishing Sorkhpooshan as Persepolis' reserve team. They plan on exchanging players, having group training sessions, assisting each other in financial matters and to play friend friendlies against each other.
History of Asia
The Achaemenid dynasty of the Persian Empire, founded by Cyrus the Great, ruled an area from Greece and Turkey to the Indus River and Central Asia during the 6th to 4th centuries BCE. Persian politics included a tolerance for other cultures, a highly centralized government, and significant infrastructure developments. Later, in Darius the Great's rule, the territories were integrated, a bureaucracy was developed, nobility were assigned military positions, tax collection was carefully organized, and spies were used to ensure the loyalty of regional officials. The primary religion of Persia at this time was Zoroastrianism, developed by the philosopher Zoroaster. It introduced an early form of monotheism to the area. The religion banned animal sacrifice and the use of intoxicants in rituals; and introduced the concept of spiritual salvation through personal moral action, an end time, and both general and Particular judgment with a heaven or hell. These concepts would heavily influence later emperors and the masses. More importantly, Zoroastrianism would be an important precursor for the Abrahamic religions such as Christianity, Islam, or Judaism. The Persian Empire was successful in establishing peace and stability throughout the Middle East and were a major influence in art, politics (affecting Hellenistic leaders), and religion.
Persepolis
With Darius I, the scepter passed to a new branch of the royal house. Persepolis probably became the capital of Persia proper during his reign. However, the city's location in a remote and mountainous region made it an inconvenient residence for the rulers of the empire. The country's true capitals were Susa, Babylon and Ecbatana. This may be why the Greeks were not acquainted with the city until Alexander the Great took and plundered it.
Persian people
The ancient Persians were a nomadic branch of the Iranian population that, in the early 10th century BC, settled to the northwest of modern-day Iran. They were initially dominated by the Assyrians for much of the first three centuries after arriving in the region. However, they played a major role in the downfall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The Medes, another branch of this population, founded the unified empire of Media as the region's dominant cultural and political power in c. 625 BC. Meanwhile, the Persian dynasty of the Achaemenids formed a vassal state to the central Median power. In c. 552 BC, the Achaemenids began a revolution which eventually led to the conquest of the empire by Cyrus II in c. 550 BC. They spread their influence to the rest of what is called the Iranian Plateau, and assimilated with the non-Iranian indigenous groups of the region, including the Elamites and the Mannaeans.
At its greatest extent, the Achaemenid Empire stretched from parts of Eastern Europe in the west, to the Indus Valley in the east, making it the largest empire the world had yet seen. The Achaemenids developed the infrastructure to support their growing influence, including the creation of Pasargadae and the opulent city of Persepolis. The empire extended as far as the limits of the Greek city states in modern-day mainland Greece, where the Persians and Athenians influenced each other in what is essentially a reciprocal cultural exchange. Its legacy and impact on the kingdom of Macedon was also notably huge, even for centuries after the withdrawal of the Persians from Europe following the Greco-Persian Wars. The empire collapsed in 330 BC following the conquests of Alexander the Great, but reemerged shortly after as the Parthian Empire.
Persepolis F.C.
The club established these restaurants as an economic movement in order to improve its fans feeling of living with the club through their routine life. Persepolis restaurants chain based in different cities of Iran. The first Persepolis restaurant opened in Shiraz where the Iranian precious historical places "Takhte Jamshid" and "Persepolis" are located. As of May 2014, there are four branches of Persepolis restaurants open in Iran.
Persepolis
Darius I's construction of Persepolis were carried out parallel to those of the Palace of Susa. According to Gene R. Garthwaite, the Susa Palace served as Darius' model for Persepolis. Darius I ordered the construction of the Apadana and the Council Hall ("Tripylon" or the "Triple Gate"), as well as the main imperial Treasury and its surroundings. These were completed during the reign of his son, Xerxes I. Further construction of the buildings on the terrace continued until the downfall of the Achaemenid Empire. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the Greek historian Ctesias mentioned that Darius I's grave was in a cliff face that could be reached with an apparatus of ropes.
Arcadia (ancient region)
Arcadia was gradually linked in a loose confederation that included all the Arcadian towns and was named League of the Arcadians. It successfully faced in 7th century BC the threat of Sparta and the Arcadians managed to maintain their independence. They participated in the Persian Wars alongside other Greeks by sending forces to Thermopylae and Plataea. During the Peloponnesian War Arcadia allied with Sparta and Corinth. In the following years, during the period of the Hegemony of Thebes, the Theban general Epaminondas reinforced the Arcadian federation in order to form a rival pole to the neighboring Sparta. Then he founded Megalopolis which became its new capital. Over the next centuries Arcadia weakened. It initially was subjugated by the Macedonians and later the Arcadians joined the Achaean League.
Persepolis B F.C.
The club was founded in 2009 as the reserve or second team of Persepolis signing talented youth players of the club. They became champion of Tehran Province League and promoted to 3rd Division. Esmaeil Halali was named head coach on 12 November 2010, replacing Hossein Abdi. In July 2013, C team and former first-team manager Vinko Begović was promoted as B team's head coach but he resigned three months later to become head coach of a Azadegan League side club. Former team captain Mojtaba Moharrami was appointed as team's head coach on 30 October 2013. In 2013 due to financial issues the club decided to temporarily disband the team and instead Persepolis' young talents played for the U–21's.
Persianate society
The term "nowruz" first appeared in Persian records in the 2nd century CE, but it was also an important day during Achaemenid times (c. 648–330 BCE), on which kings from different nations under Persian rule would present gifts to the emperor ("Shahanshah") of Persia[5]. It has been suggested that the famous Persepolis complex, or at least the palace of Apadana and the "Hundred Columns Hall", were built for the specific purpose of celebrating Nowruz. However, no mention of Nowruz exists in Achaemenid inscriptions (see picture). Later it became the national holiday of the Parthian empire, which ruled western Iran (c. 247 BCE – 224 CE). There are specific references to the celebration of Nowruz during the reign of Vologases I (51–78 CE), but these include no details.
Abdallah ibn Amir
He accordingly marched with a large force to Persepolis; the city surrendered and agreed to pay tribute. From here the army marched to Al j bard, where a small resistance of Muslims had captured the city, and citizens agreed to pay tribute. Thereafter the Muslim force advanced to Jor. The Persians gave battle but they were defeated and the city was captured by the Muslims. Peace was made on the usual term of the payment of Jizya. While the Muslim army was still in Jor, Persepolis again broke into revolt; Abdullah ibn Aamir took the forces to Persepolis and laid siege of the city. After a violent battle the Muslims were able to regain the control of the city once again. All leaders among the Persians who were guilty of instigating the revolt were hunted out and executed. With the fall of Persepolis, other cities in Fars also submitted unconditionally. The Uthman’s appointed governor of Fars, after analyzing the situation, sent Islamic missionaries to various cities of the region to convert the people to Islam to avoid a revolt in future, as the cause of revolt was the spirit of nationalism in Persians and discrimination of Persians by Arab rulers.
Pompey
Syria had once been the heart of the vast Seleucid Empire, which had become increasingly unstable after the death of Antiochus IV in 164 BC. Continuous civil wars made central authority weak. By 163 BC, the Maccabean Revolt established the independence of Judea. The Parthians of Persia gained control of the Iranian Plateau. In 139 BC, they defeated the Seleucid king Demetrius II, and took Babylon from the Seleucids. The following year they captured the king. His brother Antiochus VII gained the support of the Maccabees, regained the submission of the once vassal kingdoms of Cappadocia and Armenia, drove back the Parthians and retook Mesopotamia, Babylon, and Media. However, he was killed in battle and the Seleucids lost all of these gains. By 100 BC, the Seleucid Empire was reduced to a few cities in western Syria. It was still riddled with king makers and civil wars. It survived only because none of its neighbours took it over. In 83 BC Tigranes the Great of Armenia invaded Syria, invited by a faction in one of the civil wars, and virtually ended Seleucid rule. When Lucius Licinius Lucullus defeated Tigranes in the Third Mithridatic War in 69 BC, a rump Seleucid kingdom was restored. However, the civil war continued.
Denizli Province
The city of Hierapolis was established around 190 BC by the Pergamene Kingdom, one of the Hellenistic states of Anatolia. The calcified terraces and pools of Pamukkale ("Cotton Castle") now stand below the ruins of Hierapolis. The two cities, Laodicea and Hierapolis later came under Roman rule, and with the division of the Empire in 395 were left within the boundaries of the East Roman Empire.
Persepolis F.C.
The club has played at its home ground, Azadi Stadium, since 1973. They contest the Tehran derby, which is regarded as one of the biggest in Asia, with archrivals Esteghlal, a match that is always closely followed by Iranian football fans. According to the Asian Football Confederation, Persepolis is the most popular football club in Asia.
At AFC Champions League, Persepolis has the records of the most attendances (11 matches among 20 matches with the most attendances) and five matches with the most attendances. Persepolis has also broken the record of 100,000 attendances in four matches at AFC Champions League.
Persepolis has won a record eleven Iranian league titles, as well as five Hazfi Cups, Two Super Cups and the 1990–91 Asian Cup Winners' Cup. Many notable players have played for the club, including former Bayern Munich players Ali Karimi, Ali Daei, Vahid Hashemian and former Hamburger SV player Mehdi Mahdavikia. However, Ali Parvin is widely regarded as the club's greatest ever player. Parvin has spent 18 years with the club from 1970 to 1988. His shirt number, seven, is retired by the club.
Nablus
Insofar as the hilly topography of the site would allow, the city was built on a Roman grid plan and settled with veterans who fought in the victorious legions and other foreign colonists. In the 2nd century CE, Emperor Hadrian built a grand theater in Neapolis that could seat up to 7,000 people. Coins found in Nablus dating to this period depict Roman military emblems and gods and goddesses of the Greek pantheon such as Zeus, Artemis, Serapis, and Asklepios. Neapolis was entirely pagan at this time. Justin Martyr who was born in the city c. 100 CE, came into contact with Platonism, but not with Christians there. The city flourished until the civil war between Septimius Severus and Pescennius Niger in 198–9 CE. Having sided with Niger, who was defeated, the city was temporarily stripped of its legal privileges by Severus, who designated these to Sebastia instead.
History of Naples
Recent archaeological discoveries show that, in the 6th century (not in the 470 BC, after the battle of Cumae), the city was refounded and the new urban zone of Neapolis (Νεάπολις) was founded inland, eventually becoming one of the foremost cities of Magna Graecia. The primitive center of Parthenope on the hill of Pizzofalcone came to be called simply "Palaipolis" (Latin: "Palaepolis"), the "old city". Neapolis had a powerful line of walls, in front of which the Carthaginian invader Hannibal had to retreat when the city was allied with the Romans. Other features were an odeon and a theatre, and the temple of the city's patron gods, the Dioscuri, or divine twins (Castor and Pollux). Although conquered by the Samnites during the fifth century BC, and then the Romans, Naples long retained its Greek culture; it is significant that modern Neapolitans still refer to themselves often as "Partenopei", "Parthenopeans".
Persepolis (comics)
"Persepolis" depicts Satrapi's childhood in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, while "Persepolis 2" depicts her high school years in Vienna, Austria, including her subsequent return to Iran where she attends college, marries, and later divorces before moving to France. Hence, the series is not only a memoir, but a "Bildungsroman". "Persepolis 1" was written in 2000 and "Persepolis 2" was written in 2004. Both describe her life experiences of being Iranian and the way in which the Revolution shaped her life and the lives of her friends and family. The novel narrates “counter-historical narratives that are mostly unknown by a Western reading public."
Persepolis (disambiguation)
Persepolis is an ancient capital in what is now Iran.
Hierapolis
Hierapolis became a healing centre where doctors used the thermal springs as a treatment for their patients. The city began minting bronze coins in the 2nd century BC. These coins give the name Hieropolis. It remains unclear whether this name referred to the original temple (, "hieron") or honoured Hiera, the wife of Telephus, son of Heracles and the Mysian princess Auge, the supposed founder of Pergamon's Attalid dynasty. This name eventually changed into Hierapolis ("holy city"), according to the Byzantine geographer Stephanus on account of its large number of temples.
Nicopolis (theme)
It is in this context that the theme of Nicopolis was established, although the exact date is unclear. It was founded sometime in the latter half of the 9th century, between 843 and 899, when it is first attested in the "Kletorologion" of Philotheos. The most probable date is some time after 886, in the reign of Emperor Leo VI the Wise (r. 886–912). Sigillographic evidence suggests that the theme may have resulted from a previously-existing subordinate division ("tourma") of the theme of the Peloponnese, although the historian Warren Treadgold has suggested that it formed part of the theme of Cephallenia. The exact boundaries of the Theme of Nicopolis are not known in detail, but must have been approximately coterminous with the territory of the Metropolis of Naupaktos, which was reorganized at the same time: but probably matched the extent of the Metropolis of Naupaktos, established at about the same time, and which encompassed the suffragan sees of Vonditsa, Aetos, Acheloos, Rogoi, Ioannina, Hadrianopolis, Photike, and Buthrotum.
Ploutonion at Hierapolis
Though the exact age of the site is currently unknown, the nearby city of Hierapolis was founded around the year 190 BC by the King of Pergamum, Eumenes II.
Serraepolis
It was a colony from eastern Macedonia whose metropolis was Siris (modern Serres), and after which it was named. It was located 150 "stadia" from another Macedonian colony called Aegeae (modern Yumurtalık) and 250 "stadia" from Antioch (modern Antakya). Although the exact foundation time of the city is unknown, it would be safe to assume that it was either established by refugees from Paeonia, forcibly resettled by the Persian general Megabazus in 486 B.C., or established during the Hellenistic period by colonists from Siris that followed Alexander the Great and the Seleucids.
Berenice, Cyrenaica
Founded as a Greek Colony, the city became Roman when Cyrenaica became a Roman province by being bequeathed to Rome by Ptolemy Apion on his death in 96 BC. At first, the Romans gave Berenice and the other cities of the Pentapolis their freedom. By 78 BC however, Cyrenaica was formally organised as one administrative province together with Crete. It became a senatorial province in 20 BC, like its far more prominent western neighbour Africa proconsularis. Diocletian in 296, made Cyrenaica into two provinces: Libya Inferior and Libya Superior (which comprised Berenice and the other cities of the Pentapolis, with Cyrene as capital). Berenice prospered for most of its 600 years as a Roman city
Persepolis F.C.
Persepolis Football Club (Persian: باشگاه فوتبال پرسپولیس), is a Persian Gulf Pro League professional football club based in Tehran, Iran.
Persepolis Athletic and Cultural Club
The Persepolis Swimming Team was founded after the Iranian Revolution in 1979. The team has won the national competition once in its history.
Battle of the Uxian Defile
The Battle of Uxian Defile was fought by Alexander the Great against the Uxian tribe of the Persian Empire. The battle raged on the mountain range between the key Persian cities of Susa and Persepolis. Persepolis was the ancient capital of the Persian Empire and held a symbolic value among the native Persian population. They believed that if this city were to fall into enemy hands, then, in effect, the whole Persian Empire would fall into the hands of the enemy.
Persepolis
Persepolis (, ) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (). It is situated northeast of the city of Shiraz in Fars Province, Iran. The earliest remains of Persepolis date back to 515 BCE. It exemplifies the Achaemenid style of architecture. UNESCO declared the ruins of Persepolis a World Heritage Site in 1979.
Benghazi
Modern Benghazi, on the Gulf of Sidra, lies a little southwest of the site of the ancient Greek city of "Berenice" or "Berenicis" or "Bernici". That city was traditionally founded in 446 BC (different sources give different dates like 347 BC or 249 BC), by a brother of the king of Cyrene, but got the name Berenice only when it was refounded in the 3rd century BC under the patronage of Berenice ("Berenike"), the daughter of Magas, king of Cyrene, and wife of Ptolemy III Euergetes, the ruler of Egypt. The new city was later given the name Hesperides, in reference to the Hesperides, the guardians of the mythic western paradise. The name may have also referred to green oases in low-lying areas in the nearby coastal plain.
History of Syria
Persian dominion ended with the conquests of the Macedonian Greek king, Alexander the Great in 333-332 BCE after the Battle of Issus which took place south of the ancient town Issus, close to the present-day Turkish town of Iskenderun. Syria was then incorporated into the Seleucid Empire by general Seleucus who started, with the Seleucid Kings after him, using the title of "King of Syria". The capital of this Empire (founded in 312 BCE) was situated at Antioch, then a part of historical Syria, but just inside the Turkish border today as well.
A series of six wars, Syrian Wars, were fought between the Seleucid Empire and the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE over the region then called Coele-Syria, one of the few avenues into Egypt. These conflicts drained the material and manpower of both parties and led to their eventual destruction and conquest by Rome and Parthia. Mithridates II, King of Parthian Empire, extended his control further west, occupying Dura-Europos in 113 BCE.
By 100 BCE, the once formidable Seleucid Empire encompassed little more than Antioch and some Syrian cities. In 83 BCE, after a bloody strife for the throne of Syria, governed by the Seleucids, the Syrians decided to choose Tigranes the Great, King of Armenia, as the protector of their kingdom and offered him the crown of Syria.
Battle of the Persian Gate
The Persian Empire suffered a series of defeats against the Macedonian forces at Granicus (334 BC), Issus (333 BC) and Gaugamela (331 BC), and by the end of 331 BC Alexander had advanced to Babylon and Susa. A Royal Road connected Susa (the first Iranian capital city in Elam) with the more eastern capitals of Persepolis and Pasargadae in Persis, and was the natural venue for Alexander's continued campaign. Meanwhile, King Darius III was building a new army at Ecbatana (western province of Hamadan in present-day Iran). Ariobarzanes was charged with preventing the Macedonian advance into Persis, and to this effect he relied heavily on the terrain Alexander needed to pass through. There were only a few possible routes through the Zagros Mountains, all of which were made more hazardous by winter's onset.
History of the Jews and Judaism in the Land of Israel
In 538 BCE, Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Babylon and took over its empire. Judah remained a province of the Persian empire until 332 BCE. According to the biblical history, Cyrus issued a proclamation granting subjugated nations their freedom. Jewish exiles in Babylon, including 50,000 Judeans, led by Zerubabel returned to Judah to rebuild the temple, a task which they are said to have completed c. 515. A second group of 5,000, led by Ezra and Nehemiah, returned to Judah in 456 BCE although non-Jews wrote to Cyrus to try to prevent their return. Yet it was probably only in the middle of the next century, at the earliest, that Jerusalem again became the capital of Judah. The Persians may have experimented initially with ruling Judah as a Dividic client-kingdom under descendants of Jehoiachin, but by the mid–5th century BCE Judah had become in practice a theocracy, ruled by hereditary High Priests and a Persian-appointed governor, frequently Jewish, charged with keeping order and seeing that tribute was paid. According to the biblical history, Ezra and Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem in the middle of the 5th century BCE, the first empowered by the Persian king to enforce the Torah, the second with the status of governor and a royal mission to restore the walls of the city. The biblical history mentions tension between the returnees and those who had remained in Judah, the former rebuffing the attempt of the "peoples of the land" to participate in the rebuilding of the Temple; this attitude was based partly on the exclusivism which the exiles had developed while in Babylon and, probably, partly on disputes over property. The careers of Ezra and Nehemiah in the 5th century BCE were thus a kind of religious colonisation in reverse, an attempt by one of the many Jewish factions in Babylon to create a self-segregated, ritually pure society inspired by the prophesies of Ezekiel and his followers.
In 332 BCE the Persians were defeated by Alexander the Great. After his death in 322 BCE, his generals divided the empire between them and Judea became the frontier between the Seleucid Empire and Ptolemaic Egypt, but in 198 Judea was incorporated into the Seleucid Kingdom.
Battle of the Persian Gate
The defeat of Ariobarzanes's forces at the Persian Gate removed the last military obstacle between Alexander and Persepolis. Upon his arrival at the city of Persepolis, Alexander appointed a general named Phrasaortes as successor of Ariobarzanes. Alexander seized the treasury of Persepolis, which at the time held the largest concentration of wealth in the world, and guaranteed himself financial independence from the Greek states. Four months later, Alexander allowed the troops to loot Persepolis, kill all its men and enslave all its women, perhaps as a way to fulfill the expectations of his army and the Greek citizens, or perhaps as a final act of vengeance towards the Persians. This destruction of the city can be viewed as unusual as its inhabitants surrendered without a fight and Alexander had earlier left Persian cities he conquered, such as Susa, relatively untouched. In May 330 BC, Alexander ordered the terrace of Persepolis, including its palaces and royal audience halls, to be burned before he left to find Darius III. Sources disagree as to why he ordered the destruction: it could have been a deliberate act of revenge for the burning of the Acropolis of Athens during the Second Greco-Persian War, an impulsive, drunken act, or it could have been out of Alexander's supposed anger over not being recognized as the legitimate successor to Darius III.
Persepolis
It is believed that the fire which destroyed Persepolis started from Hadish Palace, which was the living quarters of Xerxes I, and spread to the rest of the city. It is not clear if the fire was an accident or a deliberate act of revenge for the burning of the Acropolis of Athens during the second Persian invasion of Greece. Many historians argue that, while Alexander's army celebrated with a symposium, they decided to take revenge against the Persians. If that is so, then the destruction of Persepolis could be both an accident and a case of revenge.
History of Shiraz
Shiraz lies in Pars Province, a central area for Persian civilisation. The massive ruins of the Persian Empire's grand palace Persepolis, about 2500 years old, are about 60 km northeast of . Piruzapad, and Pasargadae are other nearby historic settlements.
Persepolis
The first scientific excavations at Persepolis were carried out by Ernst Herzfeld and Erich Schmidt representing the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. They conducted excavations for eight seasons, beginning in 1930, and included other nearby sites.
Herzfeld believed that the reasons behind the construction of Persepolis were the need for a majestic atmosphere, a symbol for the empire, and to celebrate special events, especially the "Nowruz". For historical reasons, Persepolis was built where the Achaemenid dynasty was founded, although it was not the center of the empire at that time.
Nicopolis
In 28 BC, 3 years after his victory in the naval battle of Actium, Octavian founded a new city which he called Nicopolis (the City of Victory), located on the southernmost promontory of Epirus, and across the mouth of the harbour from the ancient town of Actium. This foundation echoed a tradition dating back to Alexander the Great, and more recently illustrated by Pompey, founder of Nicopolis in Little Armenia (63 BC). Symbolically, the new city represented one example of his successful unification of the Roman Empire under one administration. Geographically, it constituted a major transportation and communications link between the eastern and western halves of the Mediterranean. Economically, it served to reorganise and revitalise the region, which had never recovered from its destruction by Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus in the Third Macedonian War (171–167 BC), or the further destruction under Sulla in 87–86 BC. It also established an important commercial centre and port at this strategic position on the Mediterranean sea routes.
Roman Cyprus
Arsinoe (immediately north of the modern city of Polis) was founded in 270 B.C. and continued with varying levels of prosperity into the Roman times and so it is well recorded by the geographers of the Roman period as being an important regional city. Arsinoe's importance depended on its proximity to the south Anatolian coast and the Aegean for trade as well as being a major center of exportation for the Imperial copper mines at Limni through the natural harbor at the site. However, Arsinoe's civic importance in the Roman world is attested to the mile-markers found in the region, which were measured in distance from the city. A Roman theatre and a gymnasium from the Ptolemaic period are the only major ruins left at the site. However Strabo, the Greek geographer, tells about a sanctuary to Zeus and Aphrodite a short distance outside the Roman city. Although there are a few archaeological remains, there is a surprising lack of epigraphical evidence for a city that played such an important role in Roman Cyprus. In the past there have been no major excavations done at the site except for a survey in 1960 conducted by the Cyprus Department of Antiquities. Recent excavations undertaken by Princeton University are still ongoing but a preliminary exhibition of the artifacts found at Arsinoe is available at the Princeton Art Museum. (http://artmuseum.princeton.edu/exhibitions/upcoming)
Acropolis of Athens
Around 500 BC the "Hekatompedon" was dismantled to make place for a new grander building, the "Older Parthenon" (often referred to as the "Pre-Parthenon", "early Parthenon"). For this reason, Athenians decided to stop the construction of the Olympieion temple which was connoted with the tyrant Peisistratos and his sons and, instead, used the Piraeus limestone destined for the Olympieion to build the Older Parthenon. In order to accommodate the new temple, the south part of the summit was cleared, made level by adding some 8,000 two-ton blocks of limestone, a foundation deep at some points, and the rest was filled with soil kept in place by the retaining wall. However, after the victorious Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, the plan was revised and marble was used instead. The limestone phase of the building is referred to as "Pre-Parthenon I" and the marble phase as "Pre-Parthenon II". In 485 BC, construction stalled to save resources as Xerxes became king of Persia and war seemed imminent.
The Older Parthenon was still under construction when the Persians indeed invaded and sacked the city in 480 BC. The building was burned and looted, along with the "Ancient Temple" and practically everything else on the rock. After the Persian crisis had subsided, the Athenians incorporated many architectural parts of the unfinished temple (unfluted column drums, triglyphs, metopes, etc.) into the newly built northern curtain wall of the Acropolis, where they served as a prominent "war memorial" and can still be seen today. The devastated site was cleared of debris. Statuary, cult objects, religious offerings and unsalvageable architectural members were buried ceremoniously in several deeply dug pits on the hill, serving conveniently as a fill for the artificial plateau created around the classic Parthenon. This "Persian debris" is the richest archaeological deposit excavated on the Acropolis by 1890.
Achaemenid architecture
Persepolis is the Latinized version of the Old Persian name, "Parsa" literally meaning the "city of Persians." Another spectacular achievement of the Achaemenids, Persepolis became one of the four capitals of the empire. Initiated by Darius the Great around 518 B.C.E., it would grow to become a center for ceremonial and cultural festivities, a center for dignitaries and visitors to pay homage to the king, a private residence for the Persian kings, a place for satraps to bring gifts for the king in the Spring during the festival of Nowruz, as well as a place of governance and ordinance. Persepolis's prestige and grand riches were well known in the ancient world, and it was best described by the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus as "the richest city under the sun".
Cuneiform
Carsten Niebuhr brought the first reasonably complete and accurate copies of the inscriptions at Persepolis to Europe in 1767. Bishop Friedrich Münter of Copenhagen discovered that the words in the Persian inscriptions were divided from one another by an oblique wedge and that the monuments must belong to the age of Cyrus and his successors. One word, which occurs without any variation towards the beginning of each inscription, he correctly inferred to signify "king". By 1802 Georg Friedrich Grotefend had determined that two kings' names mentioned were Darius and Xerxes (but in their native Old Persian forms, which were unknown at the time and therefore had to be conjectured), and had been able to assign correct alphabetic values to the cuneiform characters which composed the two names. Although Grotefend's Memoir was presented to the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities on September 4, 1802, the Academy refused to publish it; it was subsequently published in Heeren's work in 1815, but was overlooked by most researchers at the time.
Argilus
Argilus or Argilos () was a city of ancient Macedonia in the district Bisaltia, between Amphipolis and Bromiscus. It was founded by a colony from Andros. It appears from Herodotus to have been a little to the right of the route of the army of Xerxes I took in its invasion of Greece in the Greco-Persian Wars, and must therefore have been situated a little inland. Its territory must have been extended as far as the right bank of the Strymon, since Cerdylium, the mountain immediately opposite Amphipolis, belonged to Argilus. During the Peloponnesian War, the Argilians readily joined the Spartan general Brasidas in his Chalcidian expedition in 424 BCE, on account of their jealousy of the important city of Amphipolis, which the Athenians had founded in their neighbourhood. The treaty establishing the Peace of Nicias, in 421 BCE, respected the neutrality of Argilus, Stageirus, Acanthus, Olynthus, Scolus, and Spartolus.
Pallantium (Arcadia)
Pallantium took part in the foundation of Megalopolis, 371 BCE; but it continued to exist as an independent state, since we find the Pallantieis mentioned along with the Tegeatae, Megalopolitae and Aseatae, as joining Epaminondas before the Battle of Mantineia in 362 BCE. Pallantium subsequently sank into a mere village, but was restored and enlarged by the emperor Antoninus Pius, who conferred upon it freedom from taxation and other privileges, on account of its reputed connection with Rome. The town was visited by Pausanias, who found here a shrine containing statues of Pallas and Evander, a temple of Core (Persephone), a statue of Polybius; and on the hill above the town, which was anciently used as an acropolis, a temple of the pure (καθαροί) gods.
Nablus
Flavia Neapolis ("new city of the emperor Flavius") was named in 72 CE by the Roman emperor Vespasian and applied to an older Samaritan village, variously called "Mabartha" ("the passage") or "Mamorpha". Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, the new city lay west of the Biblical city of Shechem which was destroyed by the Romans that same year during the First Jewish-Roman War. Holy places at the site of the city's founding include Joseph's Tomb and Jacob's Well. Due to the city's strategic geographic position and the abundance of water from nearby springs, Neapolis prospered, accumulating extensive territory, including the former Judean toparchy of Acraba.
Iraq
In the 6th century BC, Cyrus the Great of neighbouring Persia defeated the Neo-Babylonian Empire at the Battle of Opis and Iraq was subsumed into the Achaemenid Empire for nearly two centuries. The Achaemenids made Babylon their main capital. The Chaldeans and Chaldea disappeared at around this time, though both Assyria and Babylonia endured and thrived under Achaemenid rule (see Achaemenid Assyria). Little changed under the Persians, having spent three centuries under Assyrian rule, their kings saw themselves as successors to Ashurbanipal, and they retained Assyrian Imperial Aramaic as the language of empire, together with the Assyrian imperial infrastructure, and an Assyrian style of art and architecture.
In the late 4th century BC, Alexander the Great conquered the region, putting it under Hellenistic Seleucid rule for over two centuries. The Seleucids introduced the Indo-Anatolian and Greek term "Syria" to the region. This name had for many centuries been the Indo-European word for "Assyria" and specifically and only meant Assyria; however, the Seleucids also applied it to The Levant (Aramea, causing both the Assyria and the Assyrians of Iraq and the Arameans and The Levant to be called Syria and Syrians/Syriacs in the Greco-Roman world.
The Parthians (247 BC – 224 AD) from Persia conquered the region during the reign of Mithridates I of Parthia (r. 171–138 BC). From Syria, the Romans invaded western parts of the region several times, briefly founding "Assyria Provincia" in Assyria. Christianity began to take hold in Iraq (particularly in Assyria) between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and Assyria became a centre of Syriac Christianity, the Church of the East and Syriac literature. A number of independent states evolved in the north during the Parthian era, such as Adiabene, Assur, Osroene and Hatra.
Achaemenid Empire
The Persians from whom Cyrus hailed were originally nomadic pastoralists in the western Iranian Plateau and by 850 BC were calling themselves the "Parsa" and their constantly shifting territory "Parsua", for the most part localized around Persis. As Persians gained power, they developed the infrastructure to support their growing influence, including creation of a capital named Pasargadae and an opulent city named Persepolis.
Begun during the rule of Darius I "the Great" and completed some 100 years later, Persepolis was a symbol of the empire serving both as a ceremonial centre and a centre of government. It had a special set of gradually progressive stairways named "All Countries" around which carved relief decoration depicted scenes of heroism, hunting, natural themes, and presentation of the gifts to the Achaemenid kings by their various subjects, possibly during the spring festival, Nowruz. The core structure was composed of a multitude of square rooms or halls, the biggest of which was called "Apadana". Tall, decorated columns welcomed visitors and emphasized the height of the structure. Later on, Darius also utilized Susa and Ecbatana as his governmental centres, developing them to a similar metropolitan status.
Persepolis Athletic and Cultural Club
The Persepolis Track and Field team was founded in August 2012 with the permission of chairman Mohammad Rouyanian. Olympic bronze medallist Ehsan Hadadi became the team's first ever signing.
History of Benghazi
Modern Benghazi lies in the province of Cyrenaica, an area which was heavily colonised by the Greeks in antiquity. After the war of Othomi in 464-460 BC. the Messenians settled in Naupaktos. In 399 BC, expelled once more by the Spartians, they took final refuge in Euesperides. The Greek city that existed within the modern day boundaries of Benghazi was founded around 525 BC. It was called Euesperides and was one of five important cities in Cyrenaica known as the Pentapolis — the other four were the chief city Cyrene, its port Apollonia, Taucheira, and Barca. Euesperides was probably founded by people from Cyrene or Barca on the edge of a lagoon which opened from the sea. At the time, the lagoon may have been deep enough to receive small sailing vessels. The name Euesperides was attributed to the fertility of the area, and gave rise to mythological associations with the garden of Hesperides. The city was located on a raised piece of land opposite what is now the Sidi Abeid graveyard, in the Eastern Benghazi suburb of "Sebkha Es-Selmani" (Es-Selmani Marsh).
Antinopolis
Antinopolis (Antinoöpolis, Antinoopolis, Antinoë); (; "Antinow"; modern "Sheikh 'Ibada") was a city founded at an older Egyptian village by the Roman emperor Hadrian to commemorate his deified young beloved, Antinous, on the east bank of the Nile, not far from the site in Upper Egypt where Antinous drowned in 130 AD. Antinopolis was a little to the south of the Egyptian village of Besa (), named after the goddess and oracle of Besa, which was consulted occasionally even as late as the age of Constantine I. Antinopolis was built at the foot of the hill upon which Besa was seated. The city is located nearly opposite of Hermopolis Magna, and was connected to Berenice Troglodytica by the Via Hadriana.
Naples
Naples has been inhabited since the Neolithic period. The earliest Greek settlements were established in the Naples area in the second millennium BC. Sailors from the Greek island of Rhodes established a small commercial port called Parthenope (, meaning "Pure Eyes", a Siren in Greek mythology) on the island of Megaride in the ninth century BC. By the eighth century BC, the settlement had expanded to include Monte Echia. In the sixth century BC the new urban zone of Neápolis () was founded on the plain, eventually becoming one of the foremost cities of Magna Graecia.
Achaemenid architecture
Persepolis was by no means the only large scale Achaemenid project, as Susa also hosted a similar structure initiated by Darius for similar ceremonial purposes. However, that history is able to enjoy the remains of Persepolis as opposed to meager remnants of Susa, owes partly to selection of stone in construction of Persepolis over mud-brick in Susa, and the fact that it had been relatively uninhabited, protecting it from wear and tear of inhabitants. Politically, Persepolis also was a significant find because nearby discovery of Naqsh-e Rustam, the Persian necropolis home to Darius the Great shed light on the significance it has had as one of the major capitals of the empire. Naqsh-e Rustam would not only house Darius the Great, but also his son Xerxes the Great, Artaxerxes I, and Darius II as well. The necropolis complex was looted following invasion of Alexander, and possibly in the Sassanid period and during the Arab invasion.
Persepolis
French voyagers Eugène Flandin and Pascal Coste are among the first to provide not only a literary review of the structure of Persepolis, but also to create some of the best and earliest visual depictions of its structure. In their publications in Paris, in 1881 and 1882, titled "Voyages en Perse de MM. Eugene Flanin peintre et Pascal Coste architecte", the authors provided some 350 ground breaking illustrations of Persepolis. French influence and interest in Persia's archaeological findings would not end until the time of Reza Shah, when such distinguished figures as André Godard helped create Iran's first heritage museum.
Sergius I of Constantinople
It is believed that Sergius was already of some importance prior to being chosen as the patriarch of Constantinople. Sergius was a deacon in Haghia Sophia in addition to be a guardian of the harbor. Sergius became the patriarch of Constantinople on April 18, 610. Following the traditions of the Patriarch of Constantinople, it was Sergius who crowned Heraclius Emperor in October of 610 and baptized Heraclius' daughter. Sergius also counseled Heraclius after the death of his wife Eudokia and prior to his marriage to Martina, Heraclius' niece. As such, Sergius developed a close relationship with the Emperor, a connection that would serve him later on.
In 614, the Persian army seized Jerusalem, in process damaging the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and capturing the True Cross, originally discovered by the Empress Helena. A counterattack was initiated against the Persians in 622 by Heraclius. Sergius provided the necessary wealth for the campaign to succeed through the funds of the church. Sergius succeeded at this by reporting funds in the form of Church revenues and vessels. It is even said that the bronze ox from the Forum Tauri was melted down to help provide materials for coinage. 
Sergius can also be credited with saving Constantinople's status as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. Constantinople had been suffering throughout the campaign against the Persians as grain was the primary source of food for the city and Egypt, the provider, had been lost. Heraclius believed that moving the capital to Carthage would make it easier to provide the population with food. Attempting to save the Empire enough money to allow Constantinople to remain the capital, Sergius traded the free bread citizens received in the city, a practice from older Roman times, as the government could no longer afford this, an idea that didn't logically work. 
By 622, Sergius' abilities were well recognized by Heraclius. As a result, Heraclius assigned Sergius the care of both his son Theotokos and Constantinople. In 626 during the absence of the Emperor's campaign against Sassanid Persia, the Avars and Sassanid Persians, aided by large number of allied Slavs, laid siege to Constantinople. Along with the magister militum Bonus, he had been named regent and was in charge of the city's defense. He led a litany to the Hodegetria icon just before the final attack of the Avars, and right after completing it a huge storm crushed the invading fleet, saving Constantinople. It is reported that Sergius carried the Icon of the Mother of God around the city walls of Constantinople. The storm was credited as a miracle from the Mother of God, though Sergius was credited with persuading her to the point of involvement. It was rumoured that a previous hymn of the Eastern Orthodox Church was composed in honour of this battle and of Sergius.
Persepolis
Next to the Apadana, second largest building of the Terrace and the final edifices, is the Throne Hall or the Imperial Army's "Hall of Honor" (also called the "Hundred-Columns Palace"). This 70x70 square meter hall was started by Xerxes I and completed by his son Artaxerxes I by the end of the fifth century BC. Its eight stone doorways are decorated on the south and north with reliefs of throne scenes and on the east and west with scenes depicting the king in combat with monsters. Two colossal stone bulls flank the northern portico. The head of one of the bulls now resides in the Oriental Institute in Chicago.
Persepolis
About 200 BC, the city of Estakhr, five kilometers north of Persepolis, was the seat of the local governors. From there, the foundations of the second great Persian Empire were laid, and there Estakhr acquired special importance as the center of priestly wisdom and orthodoxy. The Sasanian kings have covered the face of the rocks in this neighborhood, and in part even the Achaemenid ruins, with their sculptures and inscriptions. They must themselves have been built largely there, although never on the same scale of magnificence as their ancient predecessors. The Romans knew as little about Estakhr as the Greeks had known about Persepolis, despite the fact that the Sasanians maintained relations for four hundred years, friendly or hostile, with the empire.
Gate of All Nations
The construction of the Stairs of All Nations and the Gate of All Nations was ordered by the Achaemenid king Xerxes I (486-465 BC), the successor of the founder of Persepolis, Darius I the Great.
Hippos
Hippos traces from as early as 1 ad. The site was again inhabited in the third century BC by the Ptolemies, though whether it was an urban settlement or a military outpost is still unknown. During this time, Coele-Syria served as the battleground between two dynasties descending from captains of Alexander the Great, the Ptolemies and the Seleucids. It is likely that Hippos, on a very defensible site along the border lines of the 3rd century BC, was founded as a border fortress for the Ptolemies. The city of Hippos itself was established by Seleucid colonists, most likely in the middle of the second century BC. Its full name, "Antiochia Hippos" (), reflects a Seleucid founding.
Achaemenid architecture
The runoff and sewer network of Persepolis are among the most complex in the ancient world. Persepolis is constructed on the foot of a mountain (Rahmat Mountain), with an elevated terrace that is partially man made and partially part of the mountain complex. As Persepolis was in essence an important cultural center often used by the beginning of the spring during the festival of Nowruz it enjoyed great precipitation and water runoffs from the molten ice and snow. The sewer network assumed great importance at this critical time as it was meant to both handle the water flow downward from higher areas as well as manage the inhabitant’s sewage runoffs, and their water needs.
Persepolis Administrative Archives
Thousands of clay tablets, fragments and seal impressions in the Persepolis archives are a part of a single administrative system representing continuity of activity and flow of data over more than fifty consecutive years (509 to 457 BCE). These records can throw light on the geography, economy, and administration, as well as the religion and social conditions of the Persepolis region, the heartland of the Persian' Great Kings from Darius I the Great to Artaxerxes I.
Persepolis
Persepolis is near the small river Pulvar, which flows into the Kur River.
History of Greece
Two major wars shaped the Classical Greek world. The Persian Wars (500–448 BC) are recounted in Herodotus's "Histories". By the late 6th century BC, the Achaemenid Persian Empire ruled over all Greek city states and had made territorial gains in the Balkans and Eastern Europe proper as well. The Ionian Greek cities revolted from the Persian Empire, through a chain of events, and were supported by some of the mainland cities, eventually led by Athens. To punish mainland Greece for its support of the Ionian cities (which uprising by that time had already been quelled) Darius I launched the First Persian invasion of Greece, which lasted from 492 BC till 490 BC. The Persian general Megabyzus re-subjugated Thrace and conquered Macedon in the early stages of the war, but the war eventually ended with a Greek victory. Darius's successor, Xerxes I, launched the Second Persian invasion of Greece. Even though at a crucial point in the war, the Persians briefly overran northern and central Greece, the Greek city-states managed to turn this war into a victory too. The notable battles of the Greco-Persian Wars include Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis, and Plataea.)
Parthenon
The first endeavour to build a sanctuary for on the site of the present Parthenon was begun shortly after the Battle of Marathon (c. 490–488 BC) upon a solid limestone foundation that extended and levelled the southern part of the Acropolis summit. This building replaced a "hekatompedon" (meaning "hundred-footer") and would have stood beside the archaic temple dedicated to "Athena Polias" ("of the city"). The Older or Pre-Parthenon, as it is frequently referred to, was still under construction when the Persians sacked the city in 480 BC and razed the Acropolis.
Ancient history of Cyprus
The Ancient Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC) claims that the city of Kourion, near present-day Limassol, was founded by Achaean settlers from Argos. He supports the discovery of a Late Bronze Age settlement lying several kilometres from the site of the remains of the Hellenic city of Kourion, whose pottery and architecture indicate that Mycenaean settlers did indeed arrive and augment an existing population in this part of Cyprus in the twelfth century BC. The kingdom of Kourion in Cyprus is recorded on an inscription dating to the period of the Pharaoh Ramses III (1186–55 BC) in Egypt.
Nicopolis
Nicopolis ( "Nikópolis", "City of Victory") or Actia Nicopolis was the capital city of the Roman province of Epirus Vetus. It was located in the western part of the modern state of Greece. The city was founded in 29 BC by Caesar Augustus in commemoration of his victory in 31 BC over Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium nearby. It was soon made the major city of the wider region of Epirus region. Many impressive ruins of the ancient city may be visited today, although today the old city is associated with the name Preveza, a place south of Nicopolis.
Megalopolis, Greece
The city was founded through a synodical of twenty to forty neighbouring communities between 371 and 368 BC by the Arcadian League in an attempt to form a political counterweight to Sparta. Megalopolis was a member of the Arcadian League after its foundation until the dissolution of the federation in 362 BC. In 331 BC, Megalopolis was invaded by the Spartans and there was a battle with the Macedonians that came to Megalopolis' help. In the 270s BC, Aristodamos the Good, managed to take control over the city as a tyrant backed by Macedon. In 235 BC, the second tyrant of the city, Lydiades, gave up control over the polis and the city became a member of the Achaean League. In 222 BC, the Spartan king Cleomenes III burnt down the city but it was rebuilt in the years after the destruction. As a member of the Achaean League, Megalopolis had a profound influence on the federal politics and it was the hometown of several notable Achaean statesmen and figures such as Philopoemen, Lykortas and Polybius himself. The city remained populated under the Romans but by the 6th century it was almost completely abandoned. The nearby village of "Sinano" (Σινάνο), situated south of the ancient city, was renamed Megalopoli after Greek Independence.
Sivas
Excavations at a mound known as Topraktepe indicate Hittite settlement in the area as early as 2600 BC, though little is known of Sivas' history prior to its emergence in the Roman period. In 64 BC as part of his reorganization of Asia Minor after the Third Mithridatic War, Pompey the Great founded a city on the site called "Megalopolis". Numismatic evidence suggests that Megalopolis changed its name in the last years of the 1st century BC to "Sebaste", which is the feminine form of the Greek name corresponding to Augustus. The name "Sivas" is the Turkish version deriving from the name Sebasteia, as the city was known during the late Roman (Byzantine) empire. Sebasteia became the capital of the province of Armenia Minor under the emperor Diocletian, was a town of some importance in the early history of the Christian Church; in the 4th century it was the home of Saint Blaise and Saint Peter of Sebaste, bishops of the town, and of Eustathius, one of the early founders of monasticism in Asia Minor. It was also the place of martyrdom of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, also 4th century. Justinian I had a fortified wall around it rebuilt in the 6th century.
Achaemenid architecture
In order for such a massive structure to have functioned properly it meant that the weight of the roof, columns and indeed the terrace had to be distributed evenly. Construction at the base of the mountain offered some structural support. The ceiling material was a composite application of wood and stone decreasing its overall weight. Extensive use of stone in Persepolis, not only guaranteed its structural integrity for the duration of its use but also meant that its remains lasted longer than the mud-bricks of Susa palaces.
Scholars agree that it was Darius the Great who initiated the construction and expansion of the Persepolis project, however German archaeologist Ernst E. Herzfeld, believed that it was Cyrus the Great who chose the site for the construction, although it ultimately came down to Darius the Great to finish the construction and create its impressive buildings. Excavations on behalf of the Oriental Institute of Chicago University, headed by Herzfeld in 1931 and later cooperation by Eric F. Schmidt in 1933 led to some of the most impressive uncovering of Achaemenid artifacts, palaces, and structures. Herzfeld felt that the site of Persepolis was made for special ceremonies and was meant to convey the power of the Achaemenid empire to its subject nations.
Decapolis
Except for Damascus, the Decapolis cities were by and large founded during the Hellenistic period, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the Roman conquest of Coele-Syria, including Judea in 63 BC. Some were established under the Ptolemaic dynasty which ruled Judea until 198 BC. Others were founded later, when the Seleucid dynasty ruled the region. Some of the cities included "Antiochia" or "Seleucia" in their official names ("Antiochia Hippos", for example), which attest to Seleucid origins. The cities were Greek from their founding, modeling themselves on the Greek polis.
Naples
First settled by Greeks in the second millennium BC, Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited urban areas in the world. In the ninth century BC, a colony known as Parthenope or Παρθενόπη was established on the Island of Megaride, later refounded as Neápolis in the sixth century BC. The city was an important part of Magna Graecia, played a major role in the merging of Greek and Roman society and a significant cultural centre under the Romans. It served as the capital of the Duchy of Naples (661–1139), then of the Kingdom of Naples (1282–1816) and finally of the Two Sicilies until the unification of Italy in 1861.
Asea, Greece
Asea is said to be named for Aseatas, son of the Spartan king, Lykaon, however it may have been established as early as 6000 BC. Its treasures are kept in archaeological museums in Tripoli, Nafplio, and Athens. The ruins of the ancient city still stand, most notably doric temples dedicated to Poseidon and Athena, and they indicate that Asea was once a prosperous city. According to Pausanias, the two temples were erected by Odysseus after his return to Ithaca. Inhabitants of Asea fought in the historic battles of Plataies (479 BC) and Battle of Mantinea (362 BC). City coins have been found dated 196 BC. Asea took part in the founding of the city of Megalopoli.
Persepolis Athletic and Cultural Club
On 16 August 2012, under the approval of chairman Mohammad Rouyanian the Persepolis Weightlifting Team was established. Behdad Salimi the gold medallist at the 2012 Olympics became the team's first signing.