A report on Achaemenid Empire, Lydia and Nabonidus

Map of the Lydian Kingdom in its final period of sovereignty under Croesus, c. 547 BC.

Nabonidus as depicted in the Harran Stela

The Achaemenid Empire at its greatest territorial extent under the rule of Darius I (522 BC–486 BC)

Relief of Ashurbanipal, who ruled as king of Assyria 669–631 BC. Nabonidus emulated elements of Ashurbanipal and his dynasty, the Sargonids. Some historians believe that Nabonidus was a descendant of Ashurbanipal, or Ashurbanipal's father Esarhaddon.

Portrait of Croesus, last King of Lydia, Attic red-figure amphora, painted ca. 500–490 BC.

Locations of some major Mesopotamian cities

Map of the expansion process of Achaemenid territories

Tripolis on the Meander is an ancient Lydian city in Turkey.

Nabonidus as depicted in a stele from Harran

Cyrus the Great is said, in the Bible, to have liberated the Hebrew captives in Babylon to resettle and rebuild Jerusalem, earning him an honored place in Judaism.

The tomb of Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid Empire. At Pasargadae, Iran.

Büyük Menderes River also known as Maeander is river in Lydia.

Map of the Neo-Babylonian Empire under Nabonidus. Tayma is in northern Arabia, in the south-west of the empire.

The Achaemenid Empire at its greatest extent, c. 500 BC

The Pactolus river, from which Lydia obtained electrum, a combination of silver and gold.

The Persian queen Atossa, daughter of Cyrus the Great, sister-wife of Cambyses II, Darius the Great's wife, and mother of Xerxes the Great

Early 6th century BC Lydian electrum coin (one-third stater denomination).

The Harran Stela, depicting Nabonidus as praying to the moon (i.e. Sîn), the sun and Venus

Map showing events of the first phases of the Greco-Persian Wars

The Verse Account of Nabonidus, a biased document written about Nabonidus's reign, probably in the reign of Cyrus the Great

Greek hoplite and Persian warrior depicted fighting, on an ancient kylix, 5th century BC

Lydian delegation at Apadana, circa 500 BC

Cyrus the Great, who conquered Babylon in 539 BC, depicted with a Hemhem crown, or four-winged Cherub tutelary divinity

Achaemenid king fighting hoplites, seal and seal holder, Cimmerian Bosporus.

Lydia's borders under the reign of Alyattes's son Croesus

Map of the path of Cyrus the Great during his 539 BC invasion of Babylonia

Achaemenid gold ornaments, Brooklyn Museum

Bin Tepe royal funeral tumulus (tomb of Alyattes, father of Croesus), Lydia, 6th century BC.

Nebuchadnezzar (1795) by William Blake. The painting depicts Nebuchadnezzar II as nude and mad, living like a wild animal. The story of Nebuchadnezzar II's madness originally referred to Nabonidus.

Persian Empire timeline including important events and territorial evolution – 550–323 BC

Terracotta cylinder of Nabonidus, recording the restoration work on the temple of Shamash at Larsa

Relief showing Darius I offering lettuces to the Egyptian deity Amun-Ra Kamutef, Temple of Hibis

Croesus at the stake. Side A from an Attic red-figure amphora, ca. 500–490 BC

The 24 countries subject to the Achaemenid Empire at the time of Darius, on the Egyptian statue of Darius I.

Lydia, including Ionia, during the Achaemenid Empire.

The Battle of Issus, between Alexander the Great on horseback to the left, and Darius III in the chariot to the right, represented in a Pompeii mosaic dated 1st century BC – Naples National Archaeological Museum

Xerxes I tomb, Lydian soldier of the Achaemenid army, circa 480 BC

Alexander's first victory over Darius, the Persian king depicted in medieval European style in the 15th century romance The History of Alexander's Battles

Frataraka dynasty ruler Vadfradad I (Autophradates I). 3rd century BC. Istakhr (Persepolis) mint.

Photo of a 15th-century map showing Lydia

Dārēv I (Darios I) used for the first time the title of mlk (King). 2nd century BC.

Church of St John, Philadelphia (Alaşehir)

Winged sphinx from the Palace of Darius in Susa, Louvre

Volume of annual tribute per district, in the Achaemenid Empire, according to Herodotus.

Achaemenid tax collector, calculating on an Abax or Abacus, according to the Darius Vase (340–320 BC).

Letter from the Satrap of Bactria to the governor of Khulmi, concerning camel keepers, 353 BC

Relief of throne-bearing soldiers in their native clothing at the tomb of Xerxes I, demonstrating the satrapies under his rule.

Achaemenid king killing a Greek hoplite. c. 500 BC–475 BC, at the time of Xerxes I. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Persian soldiers (left) fighting against Scythians. Cylinder seal impression.

Color reconstruction of Achaemenid infantry on the Alexander Sarcophagus (end of 4th century BC).

Seal of Darius the Great hunting in a chariot, reading "I am Darius, the Great King" in Old Persian (𐎠𐎭𐎶𐏐𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁𐎴 𐏋, "adam Dārayavaʰuš xšāyaθiya"), as well as in Elamite and Babylonian. The word "great" only appears in Babylonian. British Museum.

Achaemenid calvalryman in the satrapy of Hellespontine Phrygia, Altıkulaç Sarcophagus, early 4th century BC.

Armoured cavalry: Achaemenid Dynast of Hellespontine Phrygia attacking a Greek psiloi, Altıkulaç Sarcophagus, early 4th century BC.

Reconstitution of Persian landing ships at the Battle of Marathon.

Greek ships against Achaemenid ships at the Battle of Salamis.

Iconic relief of lion and bull fighting, Apadana of Persepolis

Achaemenid golden bowl with lioness imagery of Mazandaran

A section of the Old Persian part of the trilingual Behistun inscription. Other versions are in Babylonian and Elamite.

A copy of the Behistun inscription in Aramaic on a papyrus. Aramaic was the lingua franca of the empire.

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven wonders of the ancient world, was built by Greek architects for the local Persian satrap of Caria, Mausolus (Scale model)

Reconstruction of the Palace of Darius at Susa. The palace served as a model for Persepolis.

Lion on a decorative panel from Darius I the Great's palace, Louvre

Apadana Hall, Persian and Median soldiers at Persepolis

Lateral view of tomb of Cambyses II, Pasargadae, Iran

Plaque with horned lion-griffins. The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Nabonidus (Babylonian cuneiform: Nabû-naʾid, meaning "May Nabu be exalted" or "Nabu is praised") was the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling from 556 BC to the fall of Babylon to the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great in 539 BC. Nabonidus was the last native ruler of ancient Mesopotamia, the end of his reign marking the end of thousands of years of Sumero-Akkadian states, kingdoms and empires.

- Nabonidus

From this region, Cyrus rose and defeated the Median Empire—of which he had previously been king—as well as Lydia and the Neo-Babylonian Empire, following which he formally established the Achaemenid Empire.

- Achaemenid Empire

In 546 BC, it became a province of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, known as the satrapy of Lydia or Sparda in Old Persian.

- Lydia

In October 539 BC, Cyrus won a battle against the Babylonians at Opis, then took Sippar without a fight before finally capturing the city of Babylon on 12 October, where the Babylonian king Nabonidus was taken prisoner.

- Achaemenid Empire

According to Herodotus, an official by the name Labynetus (the same name used for Nabonidus in ancient Greek sources) was present as a mediator and witness on behalf of Babylon at the negotiations conducted between the Median and Lydian empires after the Battle of the Eclipse in 585 BC. It is possible that this ambassador was the same person as the Nabonidus who later became Babylon's king.

- Nabonidus

Croesus also established trade and diplomatic relations with the Neo-Babylonian Empire of Nabonidus, and he further increased his contacts with the Greeks on the European continent by establishing relations with the city-state of Sparta.

- Lydia

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Cyrus the Great

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Cyrus II of Persia (c.

The four-winged guardian figure representing Cyrus the Great or a four-winged Cherub tutelary deity. Bas-relief found on a doorway pillar at Pasargadae on top of which was once inscribed in three languages the sentence "I am Cyrus the king, an Achaemenian." Scholars who doubt that the relief depicts Cyrus note that the same inscription is written on other palaces in the complex.

"I am Cyrus the King, an Achaemenian" in Old Persian, Elamite and Akkadian languages. It is known as the "CMa inscription", carved in a column of Palace P in Pasargadae. These inscriptions on behalf of Cyrus were probably made later by Darius I in order to affirm his lineage, using the Old Persian script he had designed.

Painting of king Astyages sending Harpagus to kill young Cyrus

Detail of Cyrus Hunting Wild Boar by Claude Audran the Younger, Palace of Versailles

Victory of Cyrus over Lydia's Croesus at the Battle of Thymbra, 546 BC

Croesus on the pyre. Attic red-figure amphora, 500–490 BC, Louvre (G 197)

Ancient Near East circa 540 BC, prior to the invasion of Babylon by Cyrus the Great

Achaemenid soldiers (left) fighting against Scythians, 5th century BC. Cylinder seal impression (drawing).

Queen Tomyris of the Massagetae receiving the head of Cyrus

Tomb of Cyrus in Pasargadae, Iran, a UNESCO World Heritage Site (2015)

Cyrus the Great is said in the Bible to have liberated the Jews from the Babylonian captivity to resettle and rebuild Jerusalem, earning him an honored place in Judaism.

Cyrus the Great (center) with his General Harpagus behind him, as he receives the submission of Astyages (18th century tapestry)

Painting of Daniel and Cyrus before the Idol Bel

Statue of Cyrus the great at Olympic Park in Sydney

17th-century bust of Cyrus the Great in Hamburg, Germany

The Cyrus cylinder, a contemporary cuneiform script proclaiming Cyrus as legitimate king of Babylon

600–530 BC; Kūruš), commonly known as Cyrus the Great and also called Cyrus the Elder by the Greeks, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire.

The reign of Cyrus lasted about thirty years; his empire took root with his conquest of the Median Empire followed by the Lydian Empire and eventually the Neo-Babylonian Empire.

The Nabonidus Chronicle records that, prior to the battle(s), Nabonidus had ordered cult statues from outlying Babylonian cities to be brought into the capital, suggesting that the conflict had begun possibly in the winter of 540 BC. Near the beginning of October 539 BC, Cyrus fought the Battle of Opis in or near the strategic riverside city of Opis on the Tigris, north of Babylon.