The first known religion to worship one god, Zoroastrianism, began in this region. A form of symbolism that was used in Greek Olympics is a lit torch that isn't allowed to be extinguished. It represents the pursuit of wisdom and looking towards the light (God) to obtain that knowledge.
After breaking free from the Medes, Persians in modern day Iran and the surrounding area conquered a good portion of the Asian continent after the Babylonians were defeated. Persians coerced most of their adversaries rather than outright decimating their enemies. For this reason, the Persians were able to take control over a good portion of Asia until the Greek Empire overtook them.
Primarily, the modern day country where they resided was Iran. Due to the proximity to the region of Elam, it's possible the Persians could also have been from Semitic lineage.
Daniel 6:8, 12, 15 and Esther 1:18 mention Medes and Persians together since the Jews probably couldn't tell the difference.
Cyrus, the Persian, could be considered the liberator of the Jews that were held captive in Babylonia.
Read about him in
2 Chronicles 36:22-23;
Ezra 1; 3:7;
4:3, 5; 5:13-17;
6:3, 14;
Daniel 1:21; 6:28;
10:1, 13, and
Isaiah 44:28; 45:1,
13
Darius I appeared in: Daniel 5:28-31 and 6;
Ezra 4, 5 and 6;
Nehemiah 12:22;
Haggai chapters 1 and 2 as well as Zechariah 1 state
they took place during "the second year of Darius".
Zechariah 7 used "the fourth year of King Darius" as its time stamp.
The book of Esther recorded the rule of Xerxes I (also known as Ahasuerus in the King James version). It said he ruled from Susa (the former capital of the Elamites known as Shushan to the Hebrews) in modern-day Iran. Esther 1:1 states he "ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush". He got rid of Queen Vashti for her perceived disrespect towards him and replaced her with a Jewish woman named Esther. She bravely spoke out against the persecution of the Jews by Haman and a few others. Read about him in Esther 1; 2; 3; 6:2; 7:5; 8; 9; 10:1, 3
Artaxerxes I - Ezra 4, 6,
7 and 8;
time markers: Ezra 7:7 occurred during the 7th yr. of King Artaxerxes;
Nehemiah 2:1 - 20th year of King Artaxerxes;
Nehemiah 5:14 - 20th-32nd yrs. of King Artaxerxes;
Nehemiah 13:6 - 32nd yr. year of King Artaxerxes
Darius II (also known as Darius the Mede): Daniel 9:1 (which identified Darius as Xerxes' son) and Daniel 11:1
