A report on Achaemenid Empire

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

Map of the expansion process of Achaemenid territories

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.

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

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

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

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

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

Achaemenid gold ornaments, Brooklyn Museum

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Ancient Iranian empire based in Western Asia that was founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. It reached its greatest extent under Xerxes I, who conquered most of northern and central ancient Greece.

- Achaemenid Empire

278 related topics with Alpha

Black Sea

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Marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia.

The estuary of the Veleka in the Black Sea. Longshore drift has deposited sediment along the shoreline which has led to the formation of a spit. Sinemorets, Bulgaria

Black Sea coast of western Georgia, with the skyline of Batumi on the horizon

The Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, crosses the Bosporus strait near its entrance to the Black Sea. Connecting Europe and Asia, it is one of the tallest suspension bridges in the world.

This SeaWiFS view reveals the colorful interplay of currents on the sea's surface.

Phytoplankton blooms and plumes of sediment form the bright blue swirls that ring the Black Sea in this 2004 image.

The Bosporus, taken from the International Space Station

A 16th-century map of the Black Sea by Diogo Homem

Greek colonies (8th–3rd century BCE) of the Black Sea (Euxine, or "hospitable" sea)

Ivan Aivazovsky. Black Sea Fleet in the Bay of Theodosia, just before the Crimean War

Amasra, Turkey, is located on a small island in the Black Sea.

Soviet frigate Bezzavetny (right) bumping the USS Yorktown during the 1988 Black Sea bumping incident

Ukrainian Navy artillery boat U170 in the Bay of Sevastopol

Black Sea common dolphins with a kite-surfer off Sochi

According to this scheme, the name could only have originated with a people living between the northern (black) and southern (red) seas: this points to the Achaemenids (550–330 BC).

Sardis

7 links

Ancient city at the location of modern Sart (Sartmahmut before 19 October 2005), near Salihli, in Turkey's Manisa Province.

Map of Sardis and other cities within the Lydian Empire

Remains of the Greek Byzantine shops and the Bath-Gymnasium Complex in Sardis

Remains of the Byzantine churches at Sardis

Sardes wall tile with three dimensional effect.

Sardis was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia, one of the important cities of the Persian Empire, the seat of a Seleucid Satrap, the seat of a proconsul under the Roman Empire, and the metropolis of the province Lydia in later Roman and Byzantine times.

Pakistan

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Country in South Asia.

Indus Priest King Statue from Mohenjo-Daro.

Standing Buddha from Gandhara, Greco-Buddhist art, 1st–2nd century AD.

Clock Tower, Faisalabad, built by the British government in the 19th century

Queen Elizabeth II was the last monarch of independent Pakistan, before it became a republic in 1956.

Signing of the Tashkent Declaration to end hostilities with India in 1965 in Tashkent, USSR, by President Ayub alongside Bhutto (centre) and Aziz Ahmed (left)

President George W. Bush meets with President Musharraf in Islamabad during his 2006 visit to Pakistan.

The Friday Prayers at the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore

A satellite image showing the topography of Pakistan

Köppen climate classification of Pakistan

President of Pakistan Ayub Khan with US President John F. Kennedy in 1961

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan at the 2019 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit

Pakistan Prime Minister Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai signing the Treaty of Friendship Between China and Pakistan. Pakistan is host to China's largest embassy.

The areas shown in green are the Pakistani-controlled areas.

Hunza Valley in the Gilgit-Baltistan region is part of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.

Pakistan Air Force's JF-17 Thunder flying in front of the 26660 ft Nanga Parbat

Statue of a bull outside the Pakistan Stock Exchange, Islamabad, Pakistan

Surface mining in Sindh. Pakistan has been termed the 'Saudi Arabia of Coal' by Forbes.

Television assembly factory in Lahore. Pakistan's industrial sector accounts for about 20.3% of the GDP, and is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises.

Rising skyline of Karachi with several under construction skyscrapers.

Lake Saiful Muluk, located at the northern end of the Kaghan Valley, near the town of Naran in the Saiful Muluk National Park.

Badshahi Mosque was commissioned by the Mughals in 1671. It is listed as a World Heritage Site.

Tarbela Dam, the largest earth filled dam in the world, was constructed in 1968.

Pakistan produced 1,135 megawatts of renewable energy for the month of October 2016. Pakistan expects to produce 3,000 megawatts of renewable energy by the beginning of 2019.

The motorway passes through the Salt Range mountains

Port of Karachi is one of South Asia's largest and busiest deep-water seaports, handling about 60% of the nation's cargo (25 million tons per annum)

Track of Islamabad-Rawalpindi Metrobus with adjoining station

Central Library of University of Sargodha

Malala Yousafzai at the Women of the World festival in 2014.

Pakistan hosts the second largest refugee population globally after Turkey. An Afghan refugee girl near Tarbela Dam

Faisal Mosque, built in 1986 by Turkish architect Vedat Dalokay on behalf of King Faisal bin Abdul-Aziz of Saudi Arabia

Havana at Shri Hinglaj Mata temple shakti peetha, the largest Hindu pilgrimage centre in Pakistan. The annual Hinglaj Yathra is attended by more than 250,000 people.

Truck art is a distinctive feature of Pakistani culture.

People in traditional clothing in Neelum District

Muhammad Iqbal, Pakistan's national poet who conceived the idea of Pakistan

The Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam is part of Pakistan's Sufi heritage.

Minar-e-Pakistan is a national monument marking Pakistan's independence movement.

Located on the bank of Arabian Sea in Karachi, Port Grand is one of the largest food streets of Asia.

Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore is the 3rd largest cricket stadium in Pakistan with a seating capacity of 27,000 spectators.

The region that comprises the modern state of Pakistan was the realm of multiple empires and dynasties, including the Achaemenid; briefly that of Alexander the Great; the Seleucid, the Maurya, the Kushan, the Gupta; the Umayyad Caliphate in its southern regions, the Hindu Shahis, the Ghaznavids, the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughals, the Durranis, the Sikh Empire, British East India Company rule, and most recently, the British Indian Empire from 1858 to 1947.

Susa

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Ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about 250 km east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh and Dez Rivers in Iran.

Map showing the area of the Elamite kingdom (in orange) and the neighboring areas. The approximate Bronze Age extension of the Persian Gulf is shown.

Assyria. Ruins of Susa, Brooklyn Museum Archives, Goodyear Archival Collection

Goblet and cup, Iran, Susa I style, 4th millennium BC – Ubaid period; goblet height c. 12 cm; Sèvres – Cité de la céramique, France

Puzur-Inshushinak Ensi Shushaki, "Puzur-Inshushinak Ensi (Governor) of Susa", in the "Table au Lion", dated 2100 BCE, Louvre Museum.

Silver cup from Marvdasht, Iran, with a linear-Elamite inscription from the time of Kutik-Inshushinak. National Museum of Iran

Middle-Elamite basrelief of warrior gods, Susa, 1600-1100 BCE

Statue of Darius the Great, National Museum of Iran

Archers frieze from Darius' palace at Susa. Detail of the beginning of the frieze, left. Louvre Museum

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

The marriages of Stateira II to Alexander the Great of Macedon and her sister, Drypteis, to Hephaestion at Susa in 324 BCE, as depicted in a late-19th-century engraving.

A group of Western and Iranian archaeologists at a conference held in Susa, Khuzestan, Iran in 1977. Henry Wright, William Sumner, Elizabeth Carter, Genevieve Dolfus, Greg Johnson, Saeid Ganjavi, Yousef Majidzadeh,Vanden Berghe, and others.

$thumb|Master of animals, Susa I, Louvre Sb 2246.<ref>{{cite web|title=Site officiel du musée du Louvre|url=http://cartelfr.louvre.fr/cartelfr/visite?srv=car_not&idNotice=17338|website=cartelfr.louvre.fr}}</ref>$

$King-priest with bow fighting enemies, with horned temple in the center. Susa II or Uruk period (3800–3100 BCE), found in excavations at Susa. Louvre Museum.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Álvarez-Mon |first1=Javier |title=The Art of Elam CA. 4200–525 BC |date=2020 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-03485-1 |page=101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LxHaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT101 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Louvre Museum Sb 2125 |url=https://www.louvre.fr/oeuvre-notices/fragments-de-scellement-de-jarre-portant-l-empreinte-d-un-sceau-cylindre-representant}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Site officiel du musée du Louvre, Sb 2125 |url=http://cartelfr.louvre.fr/cartelfr/visite?srv=car_not&idNotice=17353 |website=cartelfr.louvre.fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Cheng |first1=Jack |last2=Feldman |first2=Marian |title=Ancient Near Eastern Art in Context: Studies in Honor of Irene J. Winter by her Students |date=2007 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-474-2085-9 |page=48 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t-mvCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA48 |language=en}}</ref>$

Globular envelope with the accounting tokens. Clay, Uruk period (c. 3500 BCE). From the Tell of the Acropolis in Susa. The Louvre

Work in the granaries, Susa II, Louvre.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Álvarez-Mon|first1=Javier|title=The Art of Elam CA. 4200–525 BC|date=2020|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-000-03485-1|page=93|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LxHaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT93|language=en}}</ref>

Priest-King with bow and arrows, Susa II, Louvre.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Álvarez-Mon|first1=Javier|title=The Art of Elam CA. 4200–525 BC|date=2020|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-000-03485-1|page=101|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LxHaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT101|language=en}}</ref>

Prisoners, Susa II, Louvre.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Álvarez-Mon|first1=Javier|title=The Art of Elam CA. 4200–525 BC|date=2020|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-000-03485-1|page=97|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LxHaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT97|language=en}}</ref>

Orant statuette, Susa II, Louvre.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Álvarez-Mon|first1=Javier|title=The Art of Elam CA. 4200–525 BC|date=2020|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-000-03485-1|page=110|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LxHaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT110|language=en}}</ref>

Susa III/ Proto-Elamite cylinder seal, 3150–2800 BC. Louvre Museum, reference Sb 1484

Susa III/ Proto-Elamite cylinder seal 3150–2800 BC Mythological being on a boat Louvre Museum Sb 6379

Susa III/ Proto-Elamite cylinder seal 3150–2800 BC Louvre Museum Sb 6166

Economical tablet in Proto-Elamite script, Suse III, Louvre Museum, reference Sb 15200, circa 3100–2850 BCE

$Impression of an Indus cylinder seal discovered in Susa, in strata dated to 2600–1700 BCE. Elongated buffalo with line of standard Indus script signs. Tell of the Susa acropolis. Louvre Museum, reference Sb 2425.<ref>{{cite web|title=Site officiel du musée du Louvre|url=http://cartelfr.louvre.fr/cartelfr/visite?srv=car_not_frame&idNotice=13544|website=cartelfr.louvre.fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Marshall|first1=John|title=Mohenjo-Daro and the Indus Civilization: Being an Official Account of Archaeological Excavations at Mohenjo-Daro Carried Out by the Government of India Between the Years 1922 and 1927|date=1996|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=9788120611795|page=425|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ds_hazstxY4C&pg=PA425|language=en}}</ref> Indus script numbering convention per Asko Parpola.<ref>{{cite web|title=Corpus by Asko Parpola|url=http://www.mohenjodaroonline.net/index.php/indus-script/corpus-by-asko-parpola|website=Mohenjodaro|language=en-gb}}</ref><ref>Also, for another numbering scheme: {{cite book|last1=Mahadevan|first1=Iravatham|title=The Indus Script. Text, Concordance And Tables Iravathan Mahadevan|date=1987|publisher=Archaeological Survey of India|pages=32–36|url=https://archive.org/stream/TheIndusScript.TextConcordanceAndTablesIravathanMahadevan/The%20Indus%20Script.%20Text%2C%20Concordance%20and%20Tables%20-Iravathan%20Mahadevan#page/n41/mode/2up|language=en}}</ref>$

$thumb|Indus round seal with impression. Elongated buffalo with Harappan script imported to Susa in 2600–1700 BCE. Found in the tell of the Susa acropolis. Louvre Museum, reference Sb 5614<ref>{{cite web|title=Site officiel du musée du Louvre|url=http://cartelfr.louvre.fr/cartelfr/visite?srv=car_not_frame&idNotice=13556|website=cartelfr.louvre.fr}}</ref>$

$thumb|Indian carnelian beads with white design, etched in white with an alkali through a heat process, imported to Susa in 2600–1700 BCE. Found in the tell of the Susa acropolis. Louvre Museum, reference Sb 17751.<ref>{{cite web|title=Site officiel du musée du Louvre|url=http://cartelfr.louvre.fr/cartelfr/visite?srv=car_not_frame&idNotice=13589|website=cartelfr.louvre.fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Guimet|first1=Musée|title=Les Cités oubliées de l'Indus: Archéologie du Pakistan|date=2016|publisher=FeniXX réédition numérique|isbn=9782402052467|pages=354–355|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-HpYDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA354|language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Art of the first cities : the third millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus.|page=395|url=https://archive.org/details/ArtOfTheFirstCitiesTheThirdMillenniumB.C.FromTheMediterraneanToTheIndusEditedByJ/page/n419|language=en}}</ref> These beads are identical with beads found in the Indus Civilization site of Dholavira.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Nandagopal|first1=Prabhakar|title=Decorated Carnelian Beads from the Indus Civilization Site of Dholavira (Great Rann of Kachchha, Gujarat)|publisher=Archaeopress Publishing Ltd|isbn=978-1-78491-917-7|url=https://www.academia.edu/37860117|language=en|date=2018-08-13 }}</ref>$

$thumb|Indus bracelet, front and back, made of Pleuroploca trapezium or Turbinella pyrum imported to Susa in 2600–1700 BCE. Found in the tell of the Susa acropolis. Louvre Museum, reference Sb 14473.<ref>{{cite web|title=Louvre Museum Official Website|url=http://cartelen.louvre.fr/cartelen/visite?srv=car_not&idNotice=13532|website=cartelen.louvre.fr}}</ref> This type of bracelet was manufactured in Mohenjo-daro, Lothal and Balakot.<ref name="FeniXX réédition numérique">{{cite book|last1=Guimet|first1=Musée|title=Les Cités oubliées de l'Indus: Archéologie du Pakistan|date=2016|publisher=FeniXX réédition numérique|isbn=9782402052467|page=355|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-HpYDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA355|language=fr}}</ref> The back is engraved with an oblong chevron design which is typical of shell bangles of the Indus Civilization.<ref>{{cite book|title=Art of the first cities : the third millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus.|page=398|url=https://archive.org/details/ArtOfTheFirstCitiesTheThirdMillenniumB.C.FromTheMediterraneanToTheIndusEditedByJ/page/n422|language=en}}</ref>$

Indus Valley Civilization carnelian beads excavated in Susa.

Jewelry with components from the Indus, Central Asia and Northern-eastern Iran found in Susa dated to 2600–1700 BCE.

An ornate design on this limestone ritual vat from the Middle Elamite period depicts creatures with the heads of goats and the tails of fish, Susa, 1500–1110 BCE.

The Ziggurat at Chogha Zanbil was built by Elamite king Untash-Napirisha circa 1300 BCE.

Susa, Middle-Elamite model of a sun ritual, circa 1150 BCE

Letter in Greek of the Parthian king Artabanus II to the inhabitants of Susa in the 1st century CE (the city retained Greek institutions since the time of the Seleucid empire). Louvre Museum.<ref>Epigraphy of Later Parthia, «Voprosy Epigrafiki: Sbornik statei», 7, 2013, pp. 276-284 </ref>

Glazed clay cup: Cup with rose petals, 8th–9th centuries

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

Marble head representing Seleucid King Antiochus III who was born near Susa around 242 BC.<ref name=" Jonsson, David J. 2005 566 ">{{cite book|author= Jonsson, David J.|title= The Clash of Ideologies|publisher= Xulon Press|year= 2005|page=566|isbn= 978-1-59781-039-5|quote= Antiochus III was born in 242 BC, the son of Seleucus II, near Susa, Iran. }}</ref>

Glazed clay vase: Vase with palmtrees, 8th–9th centuries

Winged sphinx from the palace of Darius the Great at Susa.

Ninhursag with the spirit of the forests next to the seven-spiked cosmic tree of life. Relief from Susa.

19th-century engraving of Daniel's tomb in Susa, from Voyage en Perse Moderne, by Flandin and Coste.

Ribbed torc with lion heads, Achaemenid artwork, excavated by Jacques de Morgan, 1901, found in the Acropole Tomb

Herm pillar with Hermes, from the well of the "Dungeon" in Susa.

One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital of Elam and the Achaemenid Empire, and remained a strategic centre during the Parthian and Sasanian periods.

Greece

14 links

Country in Southeast Europe.

The entrance of the Treasury of Atreus (13th BC) in Mycenae

Herodotus (c. 484 BC—c. 425 BC), often considered the "father of history"

Fresco displaying the Minoan ritual of "bull leaping", found in Knossos

Greek territories and colonies during the Archaic period (750–550 BC)

The Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens, icon of classical Greece.

Alexander the Great, whose conquests led to the Hellenistic Age.

Map of Alexander's short-lived empire (334–323 BC). After his death the lands were divided between the Diadochi

The Antikythera mechanism (c. 100 BC) is considered to be the first known mechanical analog computer (National Archaeological Museum, Athens).

A view from the ancient royal Macedonian tombs in Vergina

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens, built in 161 AD

Dome of Hagia Sophia, Thessaloniki (8th century), one of the 15 UNESCO's Paleochristian and Byzantine monuments of the city

The Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes, originally built in the late 7th century as a Byzantine citadel and beginning from 1309 used by the Knights Hospitaller as an administrative centre

The Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire after the death of Basil II in 1025

The Byzantine castle of Angelokastro successfully repulsed the Ottomans during the First Great Siege of Corfu in 1537, the siege of 1571, and the Second Great Siege of Corfu in 1716, causing them to abandon their plans to conquer Corfu.

The White Tower of Thessaloniki, one of the best-known Ottoman structures remaining in Greece.

The sortie (exodus) of Messolonghi, depicting the Third Siege of Missolonghi, painted by Theodoros Vryzakis.

The Battle of Navarino in 1827 secured Greek independence.

The Entry of King Otto in Athens, painted by Peter von Hess in 1839.

The territorial evolution of the Kingdom of Greece from 1832 to 1947.

Hellenic Army formation in the World War I Victory Parade in Arc de Triomphe, Paris, July 1919.

Map of Greater Greece after the Treaty of Sèvres, when the Megali Idea seemed close to fulfillment, featuring Eleftherios Venizelos as its supervising genius.

People in Athens celebrate the liberation from the Axis powers, October 1944. Postwar Greece would soon experience a civil war and political polarization.

Signing at Zappeion by Constantine Karamanlis of the documents for the accession of Greece to the European Communities in 1979.

Navagio (shipwreck) bay, Zakynthos island

The Greek mainland and several small islands seen from Nydri, Lefkada

Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece and mythical abode of the Gods of Olympus

The building of the Hellenic Parliament (Old Royal Palace) in central Athens.

Count Ioannis Kapodistrias, first governor, founder of the modern Greek State, and distinguished European diplomat

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister since 2019

Representation through:
embassy
embassy in another country
general consulate
no representation
Greece

A proportional representation of Greece exports, 2019

Greece's debt percentage since 1977, compared to the average of the Eurozone

Sun-drying of Zante currant on Zakynthos

Solar-power generation potential in Greece

Greek companies control 16.2% of the world's total merchant fleet making it the largest in the world. They are ranked in the top 5 for all kinds of ships, including first for tankers and bulk carriers.

Santorini, a popular tourist destination, is ranked as the world's top island in many travel magazines and sites.

The Rio–Antirrio bridge connects mainland Greece to the Peloponnese.

Thessaloniki Science Center and Technology Museum

Georgios Papanikolaou, a pioneer in cytopathology and early cancer detection

Hermoupolis, on the island of Syros, is the capital of the Cyclades.

Regions with a traditional presence of languages other than Greek. Today, Greek is the dominant language throughout the country.

A map of the fifty countries with the largest Greek diaspora communities.

The Academy of Athens is Greece's national academy and the highest research establishment in the country.

The Ionian Academy in Corfu, the first academic institution of modern Greece.

The Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, still used for theatrical plays.

Close-up of the Charioteer of Delphi, a celebrated statue from the 5th century BC.

Towerhouses of Vatheia in Mani peninsula

Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfù, the first theatre and opera house of modern Greece

Parnassos Literary Society, painted by Georgios Roilos (Kostis Palamas is at the center)

Cretan dancers of traditional folk music

Rebetes in Karaiskaki, Piraeus (1933). Left Markos Vamvakaris with bouzouki.

Mikis Theodorakis was one of the most popular and significant Greek composers

Theodoros Angelopoulos, winner of the Palme d'Or in 1998, notable director in the history of the European cinema

Spyridon Louis entering the Panathenaic Stadium at the end of the marathon; 1896 Summer Olympics.

Angelos Charisteas scoring Greece's winning goal in the UEFA Euro 2004 Final

The Greek national basketball team in 2008. Twice European champions (1987 and 2005) and second in the world in 2006

Procession in honor of the Assumption of Virgin Mary (15 August)

By 500 BC, the Persian Empire controlled the Greek city states in Asia Minor and Macedonia.

Artaxerxes I

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Inarus, seized by Artaxerxes I in the Zvenigorodsky seal.

The ancient Egyptian god Amun-Min in front of Artaxerxes' cartouche.

Themistocles stands silently before Artaxerxes

Ethnicities of the Empire on the tomb of Artaxerxes I at Naqsh-e Rostam.

Quadrilingual inscription of Artaxerxes on an Egyptian alabaster vase (Old Persian, Elamite, Babylonian and Egyptian).

Artaxerxes I (, Artaxšaçāʰ; ) was the fifth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, from 465 to 424 BC. He was the third son of Xerxes I.

Persians and Spartans fighting at Plataea. 19th century illustration.

Battle of Plataea

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The final land battle during the second Persian invasion of Greece.

A map showing the Greek world at the time of the battle

The Achaemenid Empire and its allied Greek states (Macedonia, Thessaly, Malis, Locris, Phocis and Boeotia) at the time of the Battle of Plataea.

Movements of the Persian and Greek armies in 480–479 BC

Answer of Aristides to the ambassadors of Mardonius: "As long as the sun holds to its present course, we shall never come to terms with Xerxes".

The initial movements at the Battle of Plataea. The Greek line moves forward to the Asopus ridge.

The Spartan general Pausanias commanded the Allied Greek troops.

Disposition of Achaemenid troops beyond the Asopos river at the beginning of the Battle of Plataea. From left to right: Greek allies, Sacae, Indians, Bactrians, Medes and Persians.

Aristides, commander of the Athenians, informed by Alexander I of Macedon (a nominal ally of the Achaemenids) that delaying the encounter with the Persians would help further diminish their already low supplies. Battle of Plataea, 479 BC.

The battlefield of Plataea from the Achaemenid (northern) side.

Pausanias offering sacrifice to the Gods before the battle

Scene of the Battle of Plataea. 19th century illustration.

The main phase of the battle at Plataea. The Greek retreat becomes disorganised, and the Persians cross the Asopus to attack.

Scene of the Battle of Plataea on the south frieze of the Temple of Athena Nike, Athens. The scene on the right may show the fight over the body of Masistius. British Museum.

Coin of Alexander I of Macedon in the decade following the Battle of Plataea and the departure of Achaemenid forces (struck in 480/79-470 BC).

It took place in 479 BC near the city of Plataea in Boeotia, and was fought between an alliance of the Greek city-states (including Sparta, Athens, Corinth and Megara), and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I (allied with Greece's Boeotians, Thessalians, and Macedonians).

Sogdia

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Ancient Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.

Sogdian soldier circa 338 BCE, tomb of Artaxerxes III.

Sogdians on an Achaemenid Persian relief from the Apadana of Persepolis, offering tributary gifts to the Persian king Darius I, 5th century BC

Head of a Saka warrior, as a defeated enemy of the Yuezhi, from Khalchayan, northern Bactria, 1st century BCE.

A Yuezhi (left) fighting a Sogdian behind a shield (right), Noin-Ula carpet, 1st century BC/AD.

Local coinage of Samarkand, Sogdia, with the Hepthalite tamgha Hephthalite_tamgha.jpg on the reverse.

Relief of a hunter, Varahsha, Sogdia, 5th-7th century CE.

The Sogdian merchant An Jia with a Turkic Chieftain in his yurt. 579 AD.

Ambassadors from various countries (China, Korea, Iranian and Hephthalite principalities...), paying hommage to king Varkhuman and possibly Western Turk Khagan Shekui, under the massive presence of Turkic officers and courtiers. Afrasiab murals, Samarkand, 648-651 AD.

Coin of Turgar, the last Ikhshid of Sogdia. Excavated in Penjikent, 8th century CE, National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan.

Chinese silk in Sogdia: Tang Dynasty emissaries at the court of the Ikhshid of Sogdia Varkhuman in Samarkand, carrying silk and a string of silkworm cocoons, circa 655 CE, Afrasiab murals, Samarkand.

A lion motif on Sogdian polychrome silk, 8th century AD, most likely from Bukhara.

Sogdian Huteng dancer, Xiuding temple pagoda, Anyang, Hunan, China, Tang dynasty, 7th century.

Two Buddhist monks on a mural of the Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves near Turpan, Xinjiang, China, 9th century AD. Albert von Le Coq (1913) assumed the blue-eyed, red-haired monk was a Tocharian, modern scholarship however identified similar Caucasian figures of [[:File:BezeklikSogdianMerchants.jpg|the same cave temple]] (No. 9) as ethnic Sogdians, who were a minority in Turpan during the Tang Dynasty in 7th–8th century and Uyghur rule (9th–13th century).

Sogdians having a toast, with females wearing Chinese headdresses. Anyang funerary bed, 550–577 AD.

A Tang Dynasty Chinese ceramic statuette of a Sogdian merchant riding on a Bactrian camel

Details of a replication of the Ambassadors' Painting from Afrasiyab, Samarkand, showing men on a camel, 7th century AD

Sogdians in a religious procession, a 5th–6th-century tomb mural discovered at Tung-wan City.

A Sogdian gilded silver dish with the image of a tiger, with clear influence from Persian Sasanian art and silverwares, 7th to 8th centuries AD

Silk road figure head, probably Sogdian, Chinese Sui Dynasty (581–618), Musée Cernuschi, Paris

A minted coin of Khunak, king of Bukhara, early 8th century, showing the crowned king on the obverse, and a Zoroastrian fire altar on the reverse

Pranidhi scene, temple 9 (Cave 20) of the Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves, Turfan, Xinjiang, China, 9th century AD, with kneeling figures praying in front of the Buddha who Albert von Le Coq assumed were Persian people (German: "Perser"), noting their Caucasian features and green eyes, and comparing the hat of the man on the left (in the green coat) to headgear worn by Sasanian Persian princes. However, modern scholarship has identified [[:File:BezeklikSogdianMerchants.jpg|praṇidhi scenes of the same temple]] (No. 9) as depicting Sogdians, who inhabited Turfan as an ethnic minority during the phases of Tang Chinese (7th–8th century) and Uyghur rule (9th–13th century).

Central Asian foreigner worshipping Maitreya, Cave 188

The tomb of Wirkak, a Sogdian official in China. Built in Xi'an in 580 AD, during the Northern Zhou dynasty. Xi'an City Museum.

A Tang Dynasty sancai statuette of Sogdian merchants riding on a Bactrian camel, 723 AD, Xi'an.

Epitaph in Sogdian by the sons of Wirkak, a Sogdian merchant and official who died in China in 580 CE.

Sogdians, depicted on the Anyang funerary bed, a Sogdian sarcophagus in China during the Northern Qi Dynasty (550–577 AD). Guimet Museum.

Shiva (with trisula), attended by Sogdian devotees. Penjikent, 7th–8th century AD. Hermitage Museum.

Contract written in Sogdian for the purchase of a slave in 639 CE, Astana Tomb No. 135.

Sogdian musicians and attendants on the tomb of Wirkak, 580 AD.

Dragon-King Mabi saving traders, Cave 14, Kizil Caves

Two-headed dragon capturing traders, Cave 17

Sab leading the way for the 500 traders, Kizil Cave 17.

Sogdiana was also a province of the Achaemenid Empire, and listed on the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great.

Armenia

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Landlocked country located in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.

Armenian soldier of the Achaemenid army, circa 470 BC. Xerxes I tomb relief.

The pagan Garni Temple, probably built in the first century, is the only "Greco-Roman colonnaded building" in the post-Soviet states

The Etchmiadzin Cathedral, Armenia's Mother Church traditionally dated 303 AD, is considered the oldest cathedral in the world.

The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, 1198–1375.

In 1501–02, most of the Eastern Armenian territories including Yerevan were conquered by the emerging Safavid dynasty of Iran led by Shah Ismail I.

Capture of Erivan fortress by Russian troops in 1827 during the Russo-Persian War (1826–28) by Franz Roubaud.

The Government house of the First Republic of Armenia (1918–1920).

Advance of the 11th Red Army into the city of Yerevan.

The coat of arms of Soviet Armenia depicting Mount Ararat in the centre.

Armenians gather at Theater Square in central Yerevan to claim unification of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with the Armenian SSR.

Armenian soldiers in 2008, during the ongoing and unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

21 September 2011 parade in Yerevan, marking the 20th anniversary of Armenia's re-independence.

Armenia's mountainous and volcanic topography.

Köppen-Geiger climate classification map for Armenia.

Carbon dioxide emissions in metric tons per capita in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, Germany, Italy, USA in 2000–2012. World Bank data.

U.S. Secretary Mike Pompeo with Armenian President Armen Sarkissian

Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at Armenian Genocide memorial in Yerevan.

Armenian Air Force Su-25s during a military parade.

In April 2018, a quasi-authoritarian regime collapsed as a result of a nationwide protest movement in Armenia

A proportional representation of Armenia exports, 2019

Yerevan is the economic and cultural centre of Armenia.

Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD)to GDP ratio for the Black Sea countries, 2001–2013. Source: UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030 (2015), Figure 12.3

GERD in the Black Sea region by sector of performance, 2005 and 2013. Source: UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030 (2015), Figure 12.5

The Armenian population around the world

'''Historical and modern distribution of Armenians.
'''Settlement area of Armenians in early 20th century:

Portal to the Holy City at Echmiazin, the seat of the Catholicos

The 7th-century Khor Virap monastery in the shadow of Mount Ararat, the peak on which Noah's Ark is said to have landed during the biblical flood.

The Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium in Yerevan

The Armenia national football team in Dublin, Ireland

Chess Grandmaster Levon Aronian is a former FIDE No. 2 rated player and the fourth highest rated player in history.

Ancient Armenian Khachkars (cross-stones)

Queen Zabel's Return to the Palace, Vardges Sureniants (1909)

Between the 16th and 19th centuries, the traditional Armenian homeland composed of Eastern Armenia and Western Armenia came under the rule of the Ottoman and Persian empires, repeatedly ruled by either of the two over the centuries.

Persis

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Fars region, located to the southwest of modern-day Iran, now a province.

A Sassanid relief showing the investiture of Ardashir I

The ruins of Persepolis and Pasargadae, two of the four capitals of the Achaemenid Empire, are located in Fars.