Bringing together a wide variety of material in many different languages that exists from the substantial body of work left by this large empire, The Persian Empire presents annotated translations, together with introductions to the problems of using it in order to gain an understanding of the history and working os this remarkable political entity. The Achaemenid empire developed in the region of modern Fars (Islam) and expanded to unite territories stretching from the Segean and Egypt in the west to Central Asia and north-west India, which it ruled for over 200 years until its conquest by Alexander of Macedon. Although all these regions had long since been in contact with each other, they had never been linked under a single regime. The Persian empire represents an important phase of transformation for its subjects, such as the Jews, as well as those living on its edges, such as the European Greeks.

D. Durkin-Meisterernst, Late Features in Middle Persian Texts from Turfan, T.E. Gindin, The Tafs-r of Ezekiel: Four Copyists or Four Authors?, J. Gippert, Early New Persian as a Medium of Spreading Islam, E.M. Jeremias, The Formation of Early New Persian Poetry, A. de Jong, Pa-zand and "retranscribed" Pahlavi: On the Philology and History of Late Zoroastrian Literature, J. Josephson, Nominal Sentences and Copula in Middle and Early New Persian, G. Lazard, Du pehlevi au persan: diachronie ou diatopie?, D.N. MacKenzie, The Missing Link, M. Maggi, New Persian Glosses in East Syriac Texts of the Eighth to Tenth Centuries, P. Orsatti, SyroPersian Formulas in Poetic Form in Baptism Liturgy, L. Paul, Early JudaeoPersian in a Historical Perspective: The Case of the Prepositions be, u, pa(d), and the Suffix ra, S. Shaked, Early JudaeoPersian Texts. With Notes on a Commentary to Genesis, D. Shapira, JudaeoPersian Translations of Old Persian Lexica: A Case of Linguistic Discontinuity, W. Sundermann, Ein manichaischer Lehrtext in neupersischer Sprache, D. Weber, Die PahlaviOstraca von Ca-l Tarxa-nE'qabad

About 5,000 years ago the first urban societies developed laying the foundations for the first civilizations. Nearly all civilizations share the same few features- they have abundant food surpluses, contained cities, political bureaucracies, armies, defined religious and social hierarchies and long distance trading. Ancient Egyptian culture flourished between c. 5500 BCE with the rise of technology (as evidenced in the glass-work of faience) and 30 BCE with the death of Cleopatra VII, the last Ptolemaic ruler of Egypt. It is famous today for the great monuments which celebrated the triumphs of the rulers and honored the gods of the land. The culture is often misunderstood as having been obsessed with death but, had this been so, it is unlikely it would have made the significant impression it did on other ancient cultures such as Greece and Rome. Neolithic means "e;new stone"e;, even though agriculture was the crowning achievement of the period. Civilizations started out small. Agriculture at first tended to tie only small groups together. These groups also all settled along rivers, important as a reliable and predictable source of water. As time passed, families usually worked the same plot of land over successive generations, leading to the concept of ownership. Ancient mortars and grinding tools unearthed in a large mound in the Zagros Mountains of Iran reveal that people were grinding wheat and barley about 11,000 years ago. Grass pea, wild wheat, wild barley, and lentils were found throughout the site, including some of the earliest known samples. This was much further east than most sites known for early agriculture. This book furnishes with utmost facility to all classes of readers, the needed information on ancient civilization. The unusual variety of the subject makes this a work of endless fascination.