CULTURE With a long-standing and proud civilization, Persian culture is among the richest in the world.

Two and a half millennia of inspiring literature, thousands of poets and writers, magnificent and impressive architecture, live customs dating back to Zoroastrians over 3000 years ago, and other unique characteristics of the nation are rivaled by only a few countries. RELIGION As Persia had been conquered by Aryan tribes, we should not be surprised to find the same pantheon of gods from the Vedic period in India. These were both beneficent and frightening at the same time. Their religion as very close to nature and their worship was often done outside on top of a mountain, led by the Magi who guarded the sacred five. Mount Elburg was believed to be the holy mountain with cosmic significance as it was from there that souls ascended to the sky. There also one found the donkey with 9 mouths and 6 eyes along with 10 fish who guarded the TREE Gaokerena. The juice from its fruit gave the elixir of immortality which was coveted by an evil lizard. Vayu, the god of the wind, treated the cosmic ocean at the foot of this sacred mountain by gathering the rains brought by the god of water, Tishtrya. The greatest Persian god of antiquity was " AHURA-MAZDA ", the god of light and wisdom. Zarathustra abbreviated his same to OHRMAZD. In the beginning, the god ZURVAN AKARANA (which means "infinite time") bemoaned the fact that he had no son. He offered a sacrifice to the Creator who gave him twins: the first was AHURA-MAZDA, who became the god of truth and light, the second was named AHRIMAN, which can be translated as "destructive thought". Just like Abel and Cain, the 2 brothers represented the good and bad tendencies in humanity. As in Vedic religion, the god of fire ATAR, (the son of Ohrmazd), was very important. He sent the sacrifices to the gods, which enabled them to combat the forces of evil and darkness. The god Rapithwin was considered to be like the warmth of the sun which is reborn each spring. The god of war, was VERETHRAGNA. (Like Vishnu) he had "10 avatars" or incarnations on earth. He thus successively appeared as: a tempest, a bull, with golden horns, a white horse, an impetuous boar, a camel, an adolescent aged 15, a crow, a ram, viscous stag and a man with a golden sword. POLITICAL OR The Persian Empire used a very effective political organization tool. They divided their empire into twenty provinces. These provinces were all ruled by a Persian Satrap who carried out the role of a leader for that province. To ensure that the Satraps did not defect and betray the King and to just keep him in his place, the empire appointed a secretary and a military official to put him in check. Royal inspections were common until the late days of this empire to ensure complete obedience of the Satraps. Satraps being the heads of their states were in charge of collecting taxes for the Persian Empire and also served as the ultimate judicial position. Connecting all these territories together were the royal roads. These roads, which connected the more important cities with the capital, stretched at some points 1600 miles long. To ensure that couriers would be able to make the treks quickly and effectively Sardis and Susa were stationed every so often on the road allowing couriers to have a constant supply of fresh horses allowing them to be able to make this great distance within a week. SOCIAL LIFE FAMILY The family was the basic social unit in Persian society. Fathers had tyrannical authority, treating their children as slaves Priest OCCUPA PREISTS One tribe of the Persians, the Magi became the priest class. They interpreted the teachings of the prophet, Zarathshtra, through their own beliefs. CRAFTSMAN There was a small artisan class within Persian or Median society. In Babylonia, an inscription says that the temples relied on the skilled labour of "carpenters, metal engravers goldsmiths and . CONTRIBUTIIN 10,000 BC) - Earliest known domestication of the goat. (6000 BC) - The modern brick. Some of the oldest bricks found to date are Persian, from ca. 6000

BC. (~5000 BC) - Invention of Wine. Discovery made by University of Pennsylvania excavations at Hajji Firuz Tepe in northwestern Iran. (5000 BC) - Invention of the Tar (lute), which led to the development of the guitar. (3000 BC) - The ziggurat. The Sialk ziggurat, according to the Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran, predates that of Ur or any other of Mesopotamia's 34 ziggurats. (500 BC) - First Banking System of the World, at the time of the Achaemenid, establishment of Governmental Banks to help farmers at the time of drought, floods, and other natural disasters in form of loans and forgiveness loans to restart their farms and husbandries. These Governmental Banks were effective in different forms until the end of Sassanian Empire before invasion of Arabs to Persia. (2500 BC) - The word Check has a Persian root in old Persian language. The use of this document as a check was in use from Achaemenid time to the end of Sassanian Empire. The word of [Bonchaq, or Bonchagh] in modern Persian language is new version of old Avestan and Pahlavi language "Check". In Persian it means a document which resembles money value for gold, silver and property. By law people were able to buy and sell these documents or exchange them. (2000 BC) - Peaches are a fruit of Iranian origin, as indicated by their Latin scientific name, Prunus persicafrom which (by way of the French) we have the English word "peach."