When in 546 BC Cyrus the Great defeated an unholy alliance of Babylon, Egypt, and Sparta summoned by the legendry king of Lydia Croesus (Harun, or Ghaaron), it shook the ancient world at its core. No power dared to stand-up to these armies whose cruelties at times, to this day, rattles the pages of history. Sparta had demolished and terrorised Asia Minor; Egypt was well known for its inhumane treatment of its slaves, and the Babylonian army was well-known for "up-rooting" their conquered subjects and separating them from their homelands, selling hundreds of thousands into slavery, while the unfortunate ones stayed in Mesopotamia itself, labouring for emperror Nabonidus under the scorching Babylonian sun.
Not only their defeat was shocking, but with it now came a revolution in human thought: The young Cyrus had achieved the impossible, and the result of his daring attacks were that for the first time in the history of humankind, the idea of Human Rights and equality for all mankind were implemented by a 'world power', but above all they were promptly carried-out, accordingly. Slavery was abolished, the Jews were freed from captivity in Babylon, and the Persian forces escorted the new freed Judeo tribes back to Israel, rebuilding (and in effect securing the future of) what would become the State of Israel.
These events and much more are highlighted in detail by Dr. Kaveh Farrokh in his new book, Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War. For the first time in the field of Iranian studies, a complete narration of events covering the entire span of Persia's existence from the Achaemenids to the Sassanians, right before ancient Iran fell to invading armies, starting with the Arabs and ending with Russia, has been compiled and presented in one book.
There are comprehensive analysis not found within most books relating to the empires of Persia, and the reader will be introduced to many facets of ancient Persian customs, tactical warfare, as well as ancient Iranian ideologies. Packed with sumptuous details, many readers for the first will learn how Darius (the Great to be), part of 'the three horsemen', met at dawn to choose Persia's future king, in what the author describes as a "ceremonial" gesture.
In an honest narration, Dr. Farrokh (born in Athens, Greece) gives it to both sides equally; he mentions the cruel treatment of captured Arab War Lords by some of the Sassanian kings, while praising Greece for her magnificent accomplishments. And amid countless books giving us the same-old-same-old narrations on Greece and Rome, and warped conceptions of ancient Persia seen recently in fantasy motion pictures such as "300", this book is a refreshing change that aims to balance things a bit.
But above all, there are NEW discoveries unraveled by Farrokh himself, such as new aspects of the impact that Persian architecture had on Gothic Europe, as well much more.
From the bases for Christianity ala Zoroastrianism, the Iranian knighthood rituals and the Sassanian influence on Medieval knights, to the foundation of Human Rights, the thrilling achievements of Persia is right up there with the aesthetically pleasing art and the well-known cultures of Greece and Rome, and this book points them out.
Unlike the "triumphant" Greeks however, the saga of the Persians seem to be that of a tragedy. Perhaps, Dr. David Khupenia of the University of the Republic of Georgia was right, "Persia has given so much to the world and is appreciated so little"