Quick question about Iran, Iraq and Persia

by The Nothing Man 6 Replies latest jw friends

  • The Nothing Man
    The Nothing Man

    I always thought that Iran was Persia, but in ancient history, did Persia cover parts of Iraq also?

  • RubaDub
    RubaDub

    I'll have to go and pull out my old green Bible with the dinasaur on the inside cover.

    That had all the ancient countries listed.

    Rub a Dub

  • SacrificialLoon
    SacrificialLoon

    The Persian Empire once stretched from Egypt to Pakistan, and into the far south eastern corner of Europe.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Achaemenid_Empire.jpg

  • SacrificialLoon
    SacrificialLoon

    And yes Iran is the modern Persian state.

  • BurnTheShips
    BurnTheShips

    Persia ruled what is now known as Iraq for centuries. Iraqis, however, are not ethnic Persians.

    BTS

  • yadda yadda 2
    yadda yadda 2

    Haha so does that mean Cyrus the Mede was kind of like a modern Ahmadinejad (or Ayatollah) of Iran invading Babylon the Great and Belshazzar who would be like Saddam Hussein of Iraq!

  • james_woods
    james_woods

    I looked this up in my old (approx. 1959) Encyclopedia Britannica last night. It has a rather lengthy chapter on Persia - 20 pages or so; a long one for Britannica. I figured that would be a good source as it was at about the time frame in question for postwar Iran.

    It basically gives various maps over the centuries, but as far back as early to mid 1800s, the borders were settled down to what they basically are now for Iran. I think that the first of the settled treaties was Russia, and then the others followed over about 30 years or so.

    It was interesting to note that for quite some time, the Iranian government alternatively referred to itself as both Iran and Persia; right up into the post WW2 decade.

    But, basically - Iran == Persia. Iraq == Babylon.

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