a theological essay by Sheila T. Hartyecently, I asked a Middle Eastern man his nationality. He said Persian. I smiled at his side step rather than claim Iranian. Both terms are accurate, so one gets to choose. His choice of self-identity reflects political realities and historical pride. The country's original name was Iran, 1 meaning landof the Aryans, a Sanskrit term for the Indo-European language group originating 5,000 years ago. “ Persis”is Greek for Iran, so Greeks called these people P ersian. R Persian Empire he Persian Empire, strictly speaking, refers to successive dynasties from 6 th to 3 rdcentury BCE. Then Alexander the Great conquered Persia, but the Persian Empire regained autonomy two centuries later. So the Persian Empire, loosely speaking, refers to all successive states from 6 th century BCE up to 1935 CE,when its name changed back to Iran. At its peak, the Persian Empire was three times larger than Iran is today. Its territory included the lands of Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Yemen, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates, and most of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Egypt, and Turkey, andparts of Kazakhstan, Russia, Ind ia, Libya, Tunisia, and Greece. Immense! T Most Americans know that Iran is Islamic and of the Shiite sect. Yet the Persian Empire existed forfifteen centuries before Arabs conquered it for Islam in the 7 th century CE. Another nine centuries passed—into the 150 0s—before Persian Muslims became Shi ite. Yet, a profile of Iran as merely Shiite Islam fails to acknowledge its ancient Persian culture—noted once as the world's first religiously tolerant empire. So here’s 2,600 years of political and religious history for you. 2 yrus the Great, King of Iran in 6 th century BCE, 3 set the standard of the ideal ruler—generous andcompas siona te. When Cyrus captured Babylon, he released the Je ws, captive there for two generations since the destruction of the Jerusalem temple by Assyrians, 4 and assisted them in migrating back to their homeland, th ough only a qu arter o f them d id. Hebrew Scripture record s Cyrus' benevolence in Chronicles IIand in the prophets Ezra andIsaiah. 5 Cyrus' own account is considered the first charter ofhuman rights, predating the Magna Carta by 2,000 years. 6 It is inscribed on a clay cylinder and has been imprisoned in the British Museum since its rediscovery in the 19 th century and only recently allowedhome on “loan.” 7 It reads: C I am Cyrus, king of the world, great king, mighty king... When I... entered Babylon... My numerous troops moved about undisturbed ... I did not allow any to terrorize the land... I kept in view the needs of Babylon and all its sanctuaries to promote their well-being. ... I put an end to their misfortunes... Empire at Its Peak arius the Great, King of Persia, 8 is also recorded in Hebrew scripture, 9 since Cyrus' decree to rebuildthe Jerusalem temple took almost fifty years and into Darius' reign. An inscription on Darius’ tomb D 1 The ancient version is " Aryanam." 2 In summarizing 2,600 years of history, I relied on three major sources: (1) From Ancient Persia to Contemporary Iran by Reza Ladjevardian (Waldorf MD: Mage Publications, 2005); (2) The History of Iran by Khodadad Rezakhani (Iranologie.com, 2007); and (3) The Struggle for Iran by Christopher de Bellaigue (New York NY: New York Review of Books, 2007). A bibliography of additional sou rces is appended with attention to a serie s of articles on Iran by Seymour M. Hersh in The New Yorker, 2006-2008, and aNational Geograph ic profile, August 2008. 3 557-530 BCE. 4 586 BCE. 5 II Chronicl es 36:22,Ezra 1:17, andIsaiah 45:1. 6 Marguerite del Giudice, “Persia: Ancient Soul of Iran,” National Geograph ic, August 2008, pg. 49 7 “Cyrus Cylinder Loaned to Iran by British Museum,”BBS News Online, September 10, 2010. 8 522-486 BCE. 9 Ezra 4:5, 5:6.
