Loading…
Persia
Excerpt from the Lexham Bible Dictionary, the most advanced Bible dictionary.
Empire that conquered the ancient Near East, including Israel, and ruled for about 200 years (ca. 550–330 bc). Ancient Persia was a region in the Zagros Mountains in what is now southwestern Iran (the province of Fars), situated between the Iranian Plateau and the Mesopotamian lowlands. The name “Persia” later came to be applied to the entire territory ruled by two Persian dynasties—the Achaemenids and the Sassanids.The Achaemenid Persian Empire was founded in 550 bc with Cyrus II the Great’s conquest of Media. In 525 bc, Cambyses II conquered Egypt and brought it under Persian control. At its peak, Persia was the largest empire the world had yet seen, stretching from Macedonia and Ethiopia in the west to India in the east. The Achaemenids ruled until Alexander the Great’s conquest in 330 bc.Starting about 550 years later, the Sassanid Persian Empire (ad 224 to 651) conquered part of the same territory that was ruled by the Achaemenids. (This article focuses on the Achaemenid Persian Empire, which overlapped with the end of the Old Testament period.)
Lexham Bible Dictionary
The most advanced Bible Dictionary
The most advanced Bible dictionary as a part of Biblia Plus, which includes everything you need to take your Bible study to the next level. For less than $1 a week, you'll get devotionals, Bible study guides, thematic studies, and much more!
Expand all
Dictionaries
The Lexham Bible Dictionary
Persia
Persia (פרס‎, prs). Empire that conquered the ancient Near East, including Israel, and ruled for about 200 years (ca. 550–330 bc). Ancient Persia was a region in the Zagros Mountains in what is now southwestern Iran (the province of Fars), situated between the Iranian Plateau and the Mesopotamian lowlands.
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible
Persia, Persians
Persia, Persians. Country laying just to the east of Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and covering virtually the same territory as present-day Iran. It was known in ancient times by various forms of Fars or Pars, which came down to us as Persia. It continued to be known as Persia until 1935, when its name was
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised
Persia
Persia pûrʹzhə [Heb. pāras; Gk. Persis; Old Pers Pārsa; Akk. Parsu, Parsua; Late Egyp Pars (a); Pers Pārs, Fārs]; PERSIAN pûrʹzhin [Heb. parsī; Aram parsay; Gk. Persai; Old Pers Pārsa]. I. Biblical References II. The LandA. Central PlateauB. Climate III. HistoryA. PrehistoryB. Kingdom of Elam
Tyndale Bible Dictionary
Persia, Persians
PERSIA, PERSIANS Country lying just to the east of Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and covering virtually the same territory as present-day Iran. It was known in ancient times by various forms of Fars or Pars, which came down to us as Persia. It continued to be known as Persia until 1935, when its name was
The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (Revised and Updated)
Persia
Persia (puhr´zhuh), an empire that at its height stretched from Greece in the west to India in the east. The Persian Empire came into being with the victories of Cyrus the Great over his Medan overlord (ca. 550 bce) and lasted until the conquests of Alexander the Great (ca. 330 bce). The origin and original
The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia
Persia
PERSIA. The Assyrian kings were the first to mention Persia in their annals. Shalmanezer III received tribute from the kings of Parsua in 836 B. C., Tiglath-pileser III invaded Parsua in 737, and Sennacherib fought them at Halulina in 681. Achaemenes (Hakhmanish in Persian) was the eponymous ancestor
The New Bible Dictionary, Third Edition
Persia, Persians
PERSIA, PERSIANS. The Indo-European Persians, nomadic pastoralists from S Russia, probably entered the Iranian plateau late in the 2nd millennium bc. In 836 bc Shalmaneser III of Assyria received tribute from rulers of a Parsua near Lake Urmia. His successor found the land of Parsuash in the S where
Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible
Persia
Persia (Heb. pāras; Gk. Persɩ́s; O. Pers. Pārsa)An ancient Near Eastern empire which at the height of its power spanned from the borders of India in the east to Ionia in the west. The people themselves called the empire Aryana, from a term in the Zoroastrian scriptures derived from Sanskrit arya,
Eerdmans Bible Dictionary
Persia
Persia [pûrˊzhə] (Heb. pāras; Gk. Persis; O.Pers. Pārsa; Akk. Parsu).† The largest empire of the ancient Near East, which, at the height of its power, spanned from the borders of India in the east to Ionia in the west. The people themselves called the empire Aryana, from a term in the Zoroastrian
Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Persia
Per´sia (pure, splendid), Per´sians. Persia proper was a tract of no very large dimensions on the Persian Gulf, which is still known as Fars or Faristan, a corruption of the ancient appellation. This tract was bounded on the west by Susiana or Elam, on the north by Media, on the south by the Persian
Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Persia
Persia—an ancient empire, extending from the Indus to Thrace, and from the Caspian Sea to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. The Persians were originally a Medic tribe which settled in Persia, on the eastern side of the Persian Gulf. They were Aryans, their language belonging to the eastern division of