...Week 3 Reading Guide Chapter 6 1. Do Cyrus and Darius merit the title “Great”? In what ways were they different from the rulers that preceded and followed them? -Yes. They both do. Cyrus the Great was a leader who kept his people in mind. He was very successful, as he became known as one of history’s most successful empire builders, but he did not rule with force or fighting—he used respect and compromise. Darius on the other hand was also super successful as a leader, but his methods were all done with the idea of a central rule, used force and was much more distant from his people than Cyrus. 2. What was so distinctive about Zoroastrianism? In what ways did it differ from Hinduism and Buddhism? -Zoroastrianism contained...
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...When Cyrus the Great Was a Boy: What do these stories about Cyrus the Great indicate about his approach to leadership later in life? What qualities do the Persians value in a ruler? In the middle of the sixth century B.C.E., several tribes inhabited what is now modern day Iran. They were ruled by the Medes tribe, they were an ancient Iranian people, and their king was Astyages. He had a daughter named Mandane, and she was married to Cambyses who was a leader of one of the many Persian tribes. One night Astyages had a dream, this dream was of his daughter Mandane and her unborn child. He consulted one of his Magi, who were a kind of Oracle of the time. They interpreted that dream to mean that this unborn son would take Astyages crown away. To prevent this, once Cyrus was born, he would be given to his prime-minister Harpagus so that he could be put to death. Instead of carrying out the deed himself, the prime-minister gave Cyrus to a shepherd named Mithridates. Mithridates was given instruction to kill Cyrus. Instead of killing Cyrus, he took him home and gave him to his wife, who had just had a miscarriage. They raised him as their own. One day, Cyrus was playing with some other children and one of them chose him to play the king. Cyrus began hitting one of the boys that declined to play along. In turn, that boy’s father complained to King Astyages about this, and Cyrus was brought before him. The King immediately recognized him, he then called upon Harpagus...
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...9 Timeless Leadership Lessons from Cyrus the Great Comment Now Cyrus The Great Cyrus The Great (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Forget 1-800-CEO Read. The greatest book on business and leadership was written in the 4th century BC by a Greek about a Persian King. Yeah, that’s right. Behold: Cyrus the Great, the man that historians call “the most amiable of conquerors,” and the first king to found “his empire on generosity” instead of violence and tyranny. Consider Cyrus the antithesis to Machiavelli’s ideal Prince. The author, himself the opposite of Machiavelli, was Xenophon, a student of Socrates. The book is a veritable classic in the art of leadership, execution, and responsibility. Adapted from Larry Hendrick’s excellent translation, here are nine lessons in leadership from Xenophon’s Cyrus the Great: Be Self-Reliant “Never be slow in replenishing your supplies. You’ll always bee on better terms with your allies if you can secure your own provisions…Give them all they need and your troops will follow you to the end of the earth.” Be Generous “Success always calls for greater generosity–though most people, lost in the darkness of their own egos, treat it as an occasion for greater greed. Collecting boot [is] not an end itself, but only a means for building [an] empire. Riches would be of little use to us now–except as a means of winning new friends.” Be Brief “Brevity is the soul of command. Too much talking suggests desperation on the part of the leader. Speak...
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...* Cyrus the Great, without a doubt, had huge impacts to not only world history but impacts that can still be seen today. Cyrus ruled over the first world empire while exercising leadership skills such as military strategy, politics and human rights. He showed respect for the customs and religions of the nations he conquered which was one of the key successes of his rule. Cyrus also had huge impacts to the religious society for his contributions to the Jews after the capture of Babylon. Where and when was Cyrus the Great born? Were there any persons or events in his early life which you believe helped shape this individual’s legacy? Cyrus the Great was born around 600-599BC in Media. In “Cyrus the Great” by Jacob Abbott it speaks about how Cyrus was ordered to be killed by the king for fear that he would take away his throne. This fear was caused by dreams that Cyrus’ grandfather, Astyages, had prior to the birth of Cyrus. Instead of Cyrus being murdered at birth, his death was concealed by slaves of Harpagus whom was the man ordered by the king to kill Cyrus. Harpagus’ herdsman Mitridates was sent for to take the baby out into the woods and left there to die. It happened to be that Mitridates had a wife named Spaco. Spaco had recently given birth to her own son, however their child died soon after birth. Spaco saw this as a chance to fill the void left by her dead son. While Mitridates disagreed at first for fear of what might happen he soon came to agree with his wife. Spaco...
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...Alexander or Cyrus? In our past, we have had many leaders. Some were better than others, but what must a leader do to acquire the label “great”? Of course, one could simply go by the definition of the word and deem the leader “above average”. Did the great ones of ancient times exceed these standards or were they just above average like a standard dictionary would have us believe. Let us focus on two “great” leaders of our past by the names of Alexander and Cyrus. Both of these kings were famous for the way they ran their empires but were they both, so called, great? Cyrus the Great was the first king of the Achaemenid Empire. While he was king, he freed 4,000 Jews from Babylon. He also founded a new capital, invented the first postal system, and was mentioned 22 times in the old testament. Not only did he build one of the most powerful empires in ancient times, but he made its glory last by organizing it and expressing his tolerance of different races and religions. Alexander the Great lost his father and became a king at the age of 20. While he was king, he expanded Macedonian territory. He did this through conquest and was never defeated in battle. In fact, he conquered half of what was known in the world at the time. He also founded a city in Egypt and named it “Alexandria” (after himself, of course) and Wheatley2 discovered trade routes in Asia. But, because of the excellent battle strategies he was known for, he is often called the greatest military leader of all...
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...about God’s desire for human love and the union of a husband and wife. Love, as an earthly illustration in comparison to the beautiful relationship between Christ and His church (Ephesians) is the nurturing relationship between a man and a woman encompassing holiness and safety of the marriage covenant. Setting the foundation for the relationship between God and His love for his people, The Song depicts how God designed sexual union to be a mutually fulfilling, unselfish and nonsecular. Mighty within Gods plan of marriage, it is spiritual; emotionally and physically constructive. Exercised outside of His will proves to be destructive and sinful creating countless problems. Darius Of Persian descent, Darius I (also known as Darius the great) lived in 8th century Persia from 550–486 BC. A descendant of the Achaemenid Dynasty, the first family that ruled in the area of Mesopotamia and Babylonia. At the age of 62, his ascension to the throne of Babylon was paved with manipulation, cunningness, and murder. Regarded as his intellect and architectural...
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...Waters, Matt. “Cyrus and the Achaemenids”. Iran 42 (2004): 91–102. Web. The Feeling of Victory. The Agony of Defeat. The Fires of Rebirth. The Joy of Conquest. The reign of the Achaemenid Dynasty of the Persian Empire, or the Achaemenid Empire, was riddled with emotions and success. It’s everlasting influence that still inspires us to this day leads some historians to deem the Achaemenids, one of the most powerful and influential empires in history (Zeinert 70). The Achaemenid Empire’s influence was only increased by their legendary battles with the Greek. The area from which the Achaemenid Empire sprang(current day Iran) was inhabited by several other peoples before the Achaemenids called it their home. The area was first inhabited...
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...It was during his rule that he freed the Jews who were held captive in Babylon to return to Jerusalem. In addition, he was instrumental to the definition of modern Iran’s national identity. Julius Caesar as mentioned was a great reformer in advancing infrastructure as well as making political reforms. One of the major contributions that we enjoy today that an attachment to Julius Caesar is the calendar. To expand his territory, Cyrus the great used military strategies but after capturing other nations, he allowed them to continue with their lives as far as they did not interfere with his administration. In addition, he is known to have respect for other cultures which earned him respect and loyalty. On his side, Julius Caesar rooted for collaboration with other rulers in order to consolidate his power. He also made pacts which enabled him to win hearts of those he made the pacts with. However, once in power he made himself a consul and turned a dictator in order to rule without opposition. The political structure of the Persian empire changed after the death of Cyrus the great with power moving to the next ruler, Alexander the great who was an adopted son to Cyrus the great and a...
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... It’s just that well I didn’t really believe the things it was saying. Charlize: Like what? Elise: It talked mostly about god’s word and his promises. I just didn’t get how such promises could ever come true. I mean it doesn’t seem real. The thought that God will destroy wickedness and everything bad in the world sounds impossible. Charlize: I can definitely see where you are coming from Elise. Have you ever heard of Cyrus? Elise: No I don’t think so. Charlize: Well, he was a ruler in the Persian Empire and lived over 2000 years ago. You might be thinking what’s interesting about this man? He was someone who was mentioned in the bible and was used by god to fulfil a prophecy. Do you know what a prophecy is????? Elise: Isn’t a prophecy something that will happen in the future? Charlize: Yes exactly. So if someone said something about the future and his words always came true, what would you think of that person? Elise: I suppose I would believe everything he said. Charlize: Well the bible is FULL of prophecies that have come true. For example Cyrus. Why don’t we learn a little bit more about him? Let’s have a look at Isaiah 44:26-28. Do you mind reading that? Elise: (READ) Charlize: Notice in verse 26 it talks about the one making the word of his servant come true. So this is talking about Jehovah God, he is saying that what he says about the future will come true. Now in verse 27 it says that the waters will dry up and we learn in history that the king of Persia invaded...
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...life experiences or the culture in which one was raised in. Instead, personality traits and the ultimate success of life were thought to be set in stone and predetermined. Often known as the first historian, Herodotus, author of The History, displays the importance of genetics and inborn qualities through his in depth narratives of 5th century B.C. empires: the Persians, Egyptians, and Scythians. As the majority of members in this time era believed, one's entire identity was already established at birth. Identity was formed at the hands of fate which served as a self-fulfilling prophecy, foreshadowing people's traits, interests, and actions, causing this predicted identity to in fact, become true in the future. The famous story of “Cyrus the Great” provides a clear example of how and why certain characteristics of one's identity were believed to be genetic and formed from nature instead of nurture. In this particular story, Astyages, newfound Median king, had two strange dreams about his daughter Mandane which the Magi (dream interpreters) prophesied as an end to his rule. In Astyages' first dream, he saw Mandane “making water so greatly that she filled all his city and flooded, besides, all of Asia” (Herodotus 1:107). Assuming that traits were inborn and acquired through genetics, Astyages prevented Mandane from marrying a “worthy” Mede but instead, wed her to a Persian who “was much below a Mede of even middle class” (Herodotus 1:107). Although Astyages' carefully strategized...
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...Who were Cyrus and Darius? Cyrus and Darius were the rulers of the Persian Empire. It all started with the Persians migrating to Persia, who then created clans that took advantage of the weakening, of neighboring empires. They sought the opportunity and they took over neighboring empires. Cyrus was the ruler of the Persian Empire, a growing empire that was responsible for conquering all land between bordering India to bordering Egypt. After his death, his successor Darius took over the role of leader and kept controlling the empire. Darius role in the Persian Empire was to unify the land that Cyrus left for him to rule. He finished what Cyrus always wanted which was to conquer Egypt and after doing that, he took on the role of unifying his...
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...Why Human Rights are Essential The first documented instance of Human Rights was by Cyrus the Great in 539 BCE. Cyrus the Great was an ancient ruler of Persia who freed the slaves of Babylon after defeating them. This was the first known documented instance of human rights. Cyrus’ actions were a model for many later historians. Human Rights have been in existence since ancient times and belong to every human regardless of class, race, or status. Human Rights are standards that allow people to live with, dignity, freedom, equality and peace. These rights are necessary to a functioning society. They are important because they give us the ability to live in equality with one another as humans and live in peace. Human Rights also provide peace and justice in a struggling society and enables us to be clearly entitled to basic necessities as humans....
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...Bible Dictionary Project Name: Breanna Student ID: Course: BIBL 104 Date: 4/20/2015 Old Testament Bible Dictionary Project: Proverbs The book of Proverbs written in 950-700 BC by King Solomon and a few others, primarily focuses on the wisdom, justice, and righteousness of humanity. The author uses the literary device parallelism, which instructs the readers to read and interpret two line units instead of each single line. After Job and Psalms, Proverbs is the third Old Testament book written in Hebrew Poetry. The poetry contained in Proverbs takes many different forms, but the two major types are, discourse and pithy sayings. Discourse is mainly present in the first nine chapters of Proverbs, where they poetically argue the advantages of wisdom. Showing similarity, contrast, and, consequence, in the form of two-liners, are pithy sayings. Contrary to what some may believe, not all of the text in Proverbs is absolute truth, and readers should interpret it as principle. This particular biblical book recognizes the various circumstances of our life and gives us wise insight and instruction to live better in the eyes of God. The ideas of marriage and sexuality, the power of tongue, principles of child-rearing, personal discipline, and friendship are all concepts touched on in Proverbs (Hindson and Towns). Proverbs emphasize that listening to our elders will help us to gain wisdom and knowledge; those who choose to speak and not listen will come into trouble (12:13)...
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...The Babylonian Captivity (the key points) The Babylonian exile was the period in Jewish history during which the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon. According to the Hebrew Bible, there were three deportations of Jews to Babylon. The first, in 597 BCE, involving king Jeconiah and his court and many others, a second in 587 BCE of the next king, Zedekiah, and the rest of the people, and a possible deportation after the assassination of Gedaliah, the Babylonian-appointed governor of Yehud Province, possibly in 582 BCE. The forced exile ended in 538 BCE after the fall of Babylon to the Persian king Cyrus the Great, who gave the Jews permission to return to Yehud province and to rebuild the Temple; but most Jews chose to remain in Babylon.[citation needed] The captivity and subsequent return to the Land of Israel and the rebuilding of the Second Temple in the Jerusalem are considered significant events in Jewish history and culture, which had a far-reaching impact on the development of Judaism. The term "Babylonian captivity" is sometimes used when referring to the Avignon Papacy, a period of Medieval Catholic history, because of perceived parallels between the two.[1] In the late 7th century BCE, the kingdom of Judah was a client state of the powerful Assyrian empire. In the last decades of the century Assyria was overthrown by Babylon, an Assyrian province with a history of former glory in its own right. Egypt, fearing the sudden rise of the Neo-Babylonian...
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...Archeology of Xerxes I King Xerxes I, also known as Xerxes the Great, was a powerful Persian king. He is referred to in the biblical book of Esther. His father was king Darius I and his grandfather was Cyrus the Great. Even though there is evidence like where he was buried, the argument of if he existed or not is still debatable. Now archeologists are starting to uncover artifacts with Persian inscriptions on them that as the name Xerxes carved on them. An alabaster jar was uncovered and it looks to come from 5th century BC Egypt, and is inscribed with the name of the Persian King Xerxes. (“Persepolis and Ancient Iran”) It is inscribed in both cuneiform and hieroglyphs, and is about ten inches high. The ruins of the magnificent palace...
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