History of Iran - Introduction

The current situation in the Middle East has focused attention on Iran — a country whose history rivals that of any on earth, stretching back over 5,000 years and encompassing 29 UNESCO World Heritage sites.

This multi-part series explores that history. Here is a list of the entries, click to read each part:

Published to-date

  • Part 1 - the Elamites and the Medes - 3000 BCE - 559 BCE

  • Part 2 - Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian empire - 559 BCE - 530 BC

  • Part 3 - Darius the Great - 530 BCE - 486 BCE

  • Part 4 - Xerxes and the invasion of Greece - 486 BCE - 465 BCE

  • Part 5 - Alexander the Great’s conquest of Persia - 465 BCE - 323 BCE

  • Part 6 - Seleucid Empire and the founding of the Parthian Empire - 323 BCE - 53 BCE

  • Part 7 - Parthian Wars against Rome and the fall of the Parthian Empire 53 BCE - 224 CE

  • Part 8 - The Sasanian Dynasty - 224 CE - 602 CE

  • Part 9 - Culture and the Arts of the Sasanian Dynasty

  • Part 10 - The Last Great War of Antiquity - The fall of the Sasanian Dynasty 602 CE - 636 CE

  • Part 11 - The Islamic conquest of Iran 636 CE

  • Part 12 - Zoroastrianism

  • Part 13 - The Shia / Sunni Split, Umayyad Dynasty, and Abbasid Dynasty 636 CE - 821 CE

  • Part 14 - Iranian Intermezzo 821 - 1055 CE

  • Part 15 - The Shahnameh: Iran's Book of Kings - written from about 977 CE - 1010 CE

  • Part 16 - The The Seljuk Empire, Turkey, and the First Crusade - 1040 - 1099 CE

  • Part 17 - Three legendary Schoolboys - a Grand Vizier, a poet/mathematician, and an assassin, and their effect on Iranian history - 1018 - 1131 CE

More to come!

Howard TanzmanComment