Cyrus the Shepherd

Sorie Kargbo AP World 1A 10-9-12 In Persia “Cyrus the Shepherd” invited a newer, more sophisticated government that distinguished it from the previous foundation civilization. In this new government, a centralized bureaucracy ruled, meaning that while Cyrus was the king and Persepolis was the capital a highly staffed team helped run the empire. Since the Persian Empire was so large, Cyrus broke it up into many distinct sections called satraps, which had considerable local autonomy (power).
In other words, not only was there a strong central government but there was also bureaucrats who helped rule and maintain order in provinces throughout the empire. The Persian Empire, in addition, was very diverse, containing many different religions and ethnicities. Overall, the Persian Emperors were very tolerant and respected all peoples. The big religion you should know, however, is Zoroastrianism. Many historians consider this the first Monotheistic faith.
Technologically, the Persians had Qantas which were sophisticated irrigation dams. Of course, metallurgy was still an integral part of technological life. In China, as you may know, the foundations period ended with the fall of the Zhou Dynasty and the commencement of Warring States Period, a time of great strife and civil war in China. Finally, however, the Qin Dynasty gained power. Qin Huangde (sp) was the emperor of the Qin and he was very, very power-hungry and intolerant.

He made his people complete many public works project, pay high taxes, and he even ordered the burnings of thousands of books. If someone disagreed with him, they would die – no questions asked! Of course, not all bad came out of this period. First of all, the Qin Dynasty marked the return to stable rule after centuries of ravaging civil war. Also, magnificent structures like The Great Wall of China were commenced at this time. Later, after the fall of the Qin (which only lasted 10 years due to peasant unrest – I wonder why….. the Han Dynasty took over. The Han was much more similar to the Persians. It was centralized and bureaucratic. One important distinction, however, is that the leaders practiced Confucianism and had to pass a civil-service examination to serve as a government leader. While religion formed the backbone of culture in Persia, Confucianism was the cultural hallmark of China. Like Persia, China used progressively more advanced irrigation techniques to stop the flooding of the Yellow River and metallurgy