Persia and Persepolis, Part I

George Woodcock describes how, towards the end of the seventh century BC, the Persians first began to establish themselves as a rising power in the Middle East.

Palace of 100 Columns and Tomb of Artaxerxes III, June 2014 by Elessar2008. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.Even in antiquity the name of Persia was already applied to the whole of that great desert plateau edged by steep mountain ranges which now, like its people, we call Iran.

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