The Neo Babylonian Empire succeeded the Neo Assyrian Empire. The Neo Babylonian Empire was the last “Mesopotamia-domestic” empire to rule Mesopotamia. After the fall of the Neo Babylonian Empire, Mesopotamia was subdued under foreign empires and became the battlefield for clashes between new, titanic, much more powerful, and most of all, foreign empires. Among many, the Persian Empire was the first foreign empire to rule Mesopotamia. In this entry, I will talk about to what extent the Persian Empire contributed to the integration of Western and Eastern civilization. There has been a series of contacts between the West and the East before, but I believe it was by the time of the Persian Empire that the two started really engaging with each other. The Persian Empire dramatically contributed to the West-East integration by creating a common currency, constructing a canal connecting two seas, and invading Greece to extend over Europe.
Persia’s first contribution to the West-East integration was creating a common currency called Persian Daric. Persian Daric was initially made for domestic trade within Persia, but the currency’s usage extended over Persian boundaries and spread all over the Mediterranean Sea. I believe the Persian Daric spread all over because everybody hoped to visit Persia in order to trade and gain the benefits of Persian goods. Persia was the most prosperous empire in the world, and I think that potential wealth induced merchants and others around the world to visit Persia. Those merchants brought Persian Daric back to their homelands, and soon Persian Daric became a common currency for the entire Mediterranean civilization from Persia to Egypt, Phoenicia, and Greece. One Persian Daric was around 25 Greek Drachma, and there are records of many Greek mercenaries who came to the Persian Empire in order to earn Persian Daric.
Another contribution of the Persian Empire was the establishment of the Canal of the Pharaohs, otherwise known as the ancient Suez Canal. Darius the Great of Persia ordered the construction of the canal connecting the Nile River Delta to the Great Bitter Lake and the Red Sea. Although not as direct as the modern Suez Canal, the Canal of the Pharaohs built by Persia indirectly connected the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, allowing ships from the Mediterranean to progress further into the Arabian coast, Persian Gulf, and the Indian Ocean. The canal was crucial for transporting goods and products between Egypt, Arabia, and the Persian mainland. I think it has also allowed Mediterranean traders like the Greeks and the Phoenicians to reach further into Asia by going through the Red Sea.
The last evidence of Persia’s contribution to connecting the East and the West is the Greco-Persian War, in which Persia sought to expand its reach beyond Asia towards Europe. Persian expansion gravely terrified many Greek city-states, especially Athens, as Persia was now across their border plotting to conquer Greece. I believe that is why Athens gathered other Greek city-states and established the Delian League to fight off the Persian threat. The war was significant because it was the first major conflict between Eastern and Western civilizations. For Greece, conquering Persia meant infinite possibilities beyond imaginable boundaries, towards the legends of India and China. Persia perceived Greece as the final destination of their campaign, to conquer all known lands and establish their Shah as the “King of the Kings.” For the next thousand years, empires of Greco-Roman bases would fight for eternity against generations of Persian dynasties, hoping to conquer the vast plateau of Iran and reach India.