600 BCE to 600 CE

The Persian Empire

Judaism: Founded by Hebrew prophets-Isaiah, Amos, and Jeremiah, 9th-6th centuries, Eastern Mediterranean/Palestine/Israel

Monotheistic

Brahmanism/Hinduism: founded by the annonymous writers of the Upanishads, 800-400 BCE, India

Monotheistic

Confucianism: founded by Confucius, 6th century BCE, China

Philosophy, social harmony

Buddhism: Founded by Siddhartha Gautama in 6th century BCE, India

Worship no gods/goddesses

Daoism: Founded by Laozi and Zhangzi, 6th-3rd centuries BCE, India

Philosophy, simple living

Greek Rationalism: Founded by Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, 5th-4th centuries BCE, Greece

Philosophy, persistent questioning

Christianity: Founded by Jesus in early 1st century CE, Palestine/Israel

Monotheistic

Cyrus (reigned 557-530 BCE)

Darius (reigned 522-436 BCE)

During the Persian Monarchs- Cyrus (reigned 557-530 BCE) and Darius (reigned 522-436 BCE)- Persian conquests reached from Egypt to India, which encompassed 35 million people in a single state

Ahura Mazda

Kings ruled by the will of the Great Persian God, Ahura Mazda, which made them absolute monarchs

Cyrus won the gratitude of the Jews in 539 BCE when he allowed those kicked out of Babylon to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temples

Islamic people were also welcomed into the empire

The Persepolis

The infrastructure of the empire included a system of standardized coinage, predictable taxes on each province, and a dug canal linking the Nile to the Red Sea, which expanded commerce and enriched Egypt

The Persian Empire was a very wealthy empire. Their wealth was reflected in imperial centers especially the Susa and Persepolis

The Susa

600 BCE to 600 CE

The Greeks

The classic Greek civilization emerged around 750 BCE and flourished for about 400 years

After those 400 years, Greece was involved in a succession of foreign empires.

They collided and called themselves Hellenes, with a population of Greeks and Aegeans being around 2 to 3 million. The Persian empire was just a fraction of that.

These empires included that of Athens and Sparta, Plato and Aristotle, and Zeus and Apollo.

Zoroastrianism: Founded by Zoroaster in 7th Century BCE, Persia

Monotheistic

In 499 BCE, some Ionian Greek cities revolted against Persian domination. They went to Athens for support on the Greek mainland

About fifty years after the Greco-Persian wars, the high point of Athenian democracy occurred, and so did the Greek Golden Age.

In response to this, the Persians launched two major military expeditions over the course of ten years (one in 490 and one in 480 BCE) to punish all greeks, Athens in particular. However, the Greeks held them off, winnning the battle.

Major Religions/Philosophies During the Time