A STYAGES now ruled Media in place of his father Cyaxares. His name in Iranian, Arshtivaiga, meant “lance-hurler,” but it was quite inappropriate for the son, who in his long reign (585-550) showed only weakness. In Persian lands Ariaramnes had been succeeded by his son Arsames (Arshama); in the other line, Cyrus gave place, not […]
PREHISTORIC IRAN LONG before the great plateau was called Iran, it was well popuJ lated. Obsidian flakes have been found under the alluvial deposits from the last glacial period, while men of the late Stone Age left their crude flint implements in the open. By the fifth pre-Christian millennium, numerous tiny hamlets sheltered a peaceful
When Cyrus entered Babylon in 539 B.C.} the world was old. More significant, the world knew its antiquity. Its scholars had compiled long dynastic lists, and simple addition appeared to prove that kings whose monuments were still visible had ruled more than four millenniums before. Yet earlier were other monarchs, sons of gods and so
