Black Persians

Media - the kingdom of the Medes, was however, soon overthrown by the rise of the Persians, they were lead by their king "Cyrus II" (Cyrus the Great), of Persia. While the Medes had been busy with the Assyrians, Cyrus had managed to unite under his authority several Persian and Elamite tribes who were not under Median control.

Eventually, he openly rebelled against the Medes, who he then bested in battle. In these battles, considerable numbers of Median troops deserted to the Persian side. Thus in 550 B.C, the Median Empire became a part of the first Persian Empire. The Achaemenian kings must have appeared on the international scene, with a suddenness that frightened many.

The religion of the Persians was Zoroastrianism, and their name for their god was "Ahura Mazda". The symbol for their religion - Not their God - was the "Faravahar". The Persians were devoutly religious and had many strict rules and prohibitions. Of particular distaste to the Persians, was the lie. The Achaemenian kings, did not discriminate against other religions, and did not seek to force others to their faith. Many aspects of Zoroastrianism were later incorporated into the Hebrew religion.

In his mind, Cyrus saw the world as being full of evil and disorder, and felt it was incumbent upon him, to bring order to the world. And in his thinking, the only way to do that, was to conquer it!

Cyrus then went about conquering every land that he could find, and then finally, he turned on Babylon. As you will recall from the Sumer section: the Marduk Priesthood in Babylon had already set the stage. The fall of Babylon came about almost as an anticlimax. The fall of the greatest city in the Middle East was swift; Cyrus marched in - this was late in the summer of 539 B.C, and seized the hands of the statue of the god Marduk, this as a signal of his willingness to rule as a Babylonian, and not as a foreign conqueror. With this, he was thus hailed as the legitimate successor to the throne. In this one stride, Cyrus carried Persian power to the borders of Egypt, for with Babylon, came all that it had previously seized from the Assyrians, and also, that which it had later gained on it's own.

Zoroastrianism

Liberation of the Hebrews

By the order of Cyrus, all the captive nationalities that had been held for generations in Babylon were freed, and their return to their homelands was financed by him. Among the liberated captives were 50,000 Hebrews held in Babylon for three generations. Their instruction was to return to their homeland and rebuild their temple. This is a policy that was also followed by Cyrus's successors. Some of the liberated Hebrews were invited to, and did settle in Persia.

Because of such a generous act, Cyrus has been anointed in the Bible. He is the only gentile in the Bible who has been titled Messiah. And he is mentioned explicitly as the Lord's shepherd and his anointed (Messiah). Other references to Cyrus are attested to in Isaiah 45:4, where Cyrus is called by name and given a title of honor; he is also called to rebuild God's city and free His people in (Is. 45:13), and he is chosen, called, and brought through successful by God in (Is. 48:14-15).

Upon the death of Cyrus the Great, the Empire passed to his son Cambyses II (reigned 529–522 B.C). At this time, there may have been some degree of unrest throughout the empire, for with Cyrus's death, Cambyses apparently felt it necessary to secretly kill his brother, Bardiya (Smerdis). The campaign against Egypt began in 525 B.C.

Conquest of Egypt

The Egyptian pharaoh, Ahmose II of the 26th dynasty, sought to shore up his defenses against the Persians by hiring Greek mercenaries, but he was betrayed by the Greeks. Cambyses successfully managed to cross the hostile Sinai Desert, traditionally Egypt's first and strongest line of defense, and engaged the Egyptians forces under the command of Psamtik III in a battle at Pelusium. The Egyptians lost and were forced to retire to Memphis, which subsequently fell to the Persians, as did all of Egypt later.