Ancient Persia- A Civilization
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Ancient Persia
Ancient Persia is located where Iran is today. Persepolis, Susa, and Ecbatana were the main cities in Ancient Persia. This was one of the first cities to truly value human rights.
Civilization: What is it?
Civilization has 6 characteristics. These characteristics are government, art, religion, writing, cities, and social structure. These are important things that really bring diversity while having common interests among civilians.
Persian Religion
Religion is the belief in a higher power, which usually is used to explain the unknown. It is important because it serves as comfort for people (they have an idea behind odd things) and it gives them (usually a good) set of rules to follow. It gives them values. Persians followed the Zoroastrian religion. It was monotheistic but also had other symbols and figures in it. They did follow one God, though. They basically believed in karma, so they were taught to do kind things.
Persian art
Art is creative expression. It is important because it gives people who cannot do things that are vital, a place in society. Art is usually very deep and truly affects people, whether it's a stress reliever or it makes someone happy to be around. Persian art commonly consists of painting, sculpting, architecture, and even goldsmithing.
Persian Government
Government is the laws to prevent chaos and harm to civilians. It's important because it keeps order and keeps mostly everyone safe and on the right track. Persia's most influential ruler's name was Cyrus. He wrote his law on a cylinder called Cyrus's Cylinder. He believed in equality. Even when he took over countries, he would still let them speak their language and practice their religion and other things like that.
Persian writing
Writing is communication through drawing symbols. It's important because people don't have to be near each other to communicate (long distance). There are many forms of Persian writing. They are written in Old Persian Cuneiform, Pahlavi, Aramaic, Avestan, Cyrillic, and Latin.
Persian Cities
Cities are where people live and work. They are important because without them, people would be scattered and wouldn't have close relations or jobs. We would all do our own thing without interacting much. We wouldn't get much done. Persia's cities were Persepolis, Shushan, and Ecbatana. Persepolis was the capitol. It was glorious, with huge buildings and carvings incorporated into the architecture. Shushan was in a valley and Ecbatana was beautiful as well. Ecbatana is where Cyrus spent most of his time and kept most of his things.
Persian Social Structure
Social structure is people's class based off of power and money. It's important because it tells us who stands where and sometimes what kind of people they are. In Persia, the top of the pyramid was the Royal family. Next was the Priests and then Council Members or other very popular citizens. After that was soldiers, traders, craftsmen, peasants, and slaves. The Royal family was at the top for obvious reasons and the Priests came next because they were considered powerful due to their closeness with their God. Soldiers and other people involved in the military were higher up as well, because it was considered very honorable to be in the military. As the list goes on, the jobs get harder and the people get poorer. That is why they're closer to the bottom.
Links
http://thepersianpeople.weebly.com/
http://www.hierarchystructure.com/ancient-persian-social-hierarchy/
http://realhistoryww.com/world_history/ancient/Misc/Elam/Zoroastrian_rel.htm
http://www.religionfacts.com/zoroastrianism
http://www.sacred-texts.com/mas/shib/shib10.htm
http://www.ushistory.org/civ/4e.asp
http://www.iranchamber.com/history/articles/ancient_persians_laws1.php
http://www.iranchamber.com/history/cyrus/cyrus_charter.php
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/persian.htm
http://www.ancientscripts.com/oldpersian.html