Time Period
The Achaemenid empire at its greatest, during the reign of Darius I, 500 B.C. The map below shows the borders of the satrapies which were to fluctuate with numerous revolts. Artaxerxes III reconsolidated the empire in 343 B.C.
Technology
Persians made important contributions to algebra and chemistry, invented the wind-power machine, and the first distillation of alcohol. Trying to revive the golden time of Persian science, Iran’s scientists cautiously reach out to the world. Many individual Iranian scientists, along with the Iranian Academy of Medical Sciences and Academy of Sciences of Iran, are involved in this revival.
Geography
Contributions
Persia" is the Greek name of Pars, a province of modern day Iran. Meanwhile, the name Iran (==Land of the Aryans) is derived from the Aryan people, who first moved from Central Asia, and settled in what is now Iran, some 30,000 years ago. And here are some of the most important contributions of the people of Persia or Iran, to the world civilization:
The Sassanid dynasty was founded by King Ardashir I, who defeated the last Parthian king in the 3rd century. This dynasty ruled the region for three centuries and spread its control across most of the original Persian empire that existed until the invasion of Alexander. However, it was ultimately badly injured by the Byzantine Empire’s expansion in the 6th century, and the last Sassanid Shahanshah (“King of Kings”)lost a 14-year struggle to the early Islamic Caliphate, the first of the Islamic empires. The explosive growth of the Arab Islamic Caliphate coincided with the chaos in Persia, and most of the country was conquered by 650 and subsequently converted. The Sassadnids were the last “Persian” Dynasty to rule the region — all subsequent rulers were Turkic or Mongol, at least until the modern era.