Ancient History Civilizations

In the mid-1700s a literate people with a Semitic language moved through Canaan, took control of some cities there, and then conquered northern Egypt. It is not known who they were, except that the Egyptians called them Hyksos (hyk khwsht), which identifies them only as foreigners. Like the Kassites, the Hyksos had horses, and they [...]

In the mid-1700s a literate people with a Semitic language moved through Canaan, took control of some cities there, and then conquered northern Egypt. It is not known who they were, except that the Egyptians called them Hyksos (hyk khwsht), which identifies them only as foreigners. Like the Kassites, the Hyksos had horses, and they [...]

Fall of Assyria’s Empire and Rise of the Moses Legend Assyria’s great empire lasted no longer than would the empires that began in the late nineteenth century — about seventy-five years. Assyria weakened itself economically by continuous wars to maintain its empire, including defending against invasions by an Indo-European tribal people, the Cimmerians, who came [...]

In 531, four years after Justinian had come to power at Constantinople, Khosru I, of the Sassanid dynasty, took power in Persia – at the close of decades of unrest and a Communist revolution in Persia. It was Khosru and his father Khavad I who crushed the communistic Mazdakite movement. Its leader, Mazdak, met a [...]

Bahram II and Narseh The Persian Emperor Bahram died the same year as Mani — in 276 — and was succeeded by his son, Bahram II. The priest Kartir remained a dominant figure under Bahram II. The persecution of Manichaeans (Manicheans) continued and included the persecution of Christians, Jews and Buddhists. Then, sometime during the [...]

Cyrus The Great Cyrus II, Kourosh in Persian, Kouros in Greek Artistic portrait of Cyrus the Great Cyrus (580-529 BC) was the first Achaemenid Emperor. He founded Persia by uniting the two original Iranian Tribes- the Medes and the Persians. Although he was known to be a great conqueror, who at one point controlled one [...]