Much of what we know about the Persians and their writings comes from an outsider writing about them. A true historian, Herodotus, whose famous book “The Persian Wars” talks about Persians a lot. The Persian Achaemenid dynasty was founded in 539 BCE by King Cyrus the Great. Cyrus took his nomadic warriors and conquered most of Mesopotamia, including The Babylonians. His son, Darius the First, extended Persian control east to the Indus Valley, west to Egypt, and north to Anatolia. The Persian Empire was very dreamy. Persians ruled with a light touch. Conquered kingdoms were allowed to keep their king as and elites as long as they pledged allegiance to the Persian King and paid taxes. That is why the Persian king was known as, “The King
