35009PFSR1I TheCreationof theSilkRoad@theBeginning
Q&@
FROM THE BEGINNING OF TIME, THE CENTRE OF ASIA WAS WHERE EMPIRES WERE MADE.
The alluvial lowlands of Mesopotamia, fed by the Tigris and Euphrates, provided the basis for civilisation
itself for it wàs in thìs region that the first towns and cities took shape! Systematised agriculture developed
in Mesopotamia and across the whole of the 'Fertile Crescent', a band of highly productive land with access
to plentiful water, stretching from the Persian Golf to the Mediterranean coast. It was from here that some
of the first recorded laws were disseminated nearly 4,000 years ago by Hammurabi, King of Babylon, who
detailed his subjects' obligations & set out fierce punishments for their transgressions. Although many of
these kingdoms & empires sprang up from this crucible, the greatest of all was that of the Persians........
Expanding quickly in the 6th century BC from a homeland in what is now southern Iran, the Persians came
to dominate their neighbours, reaching the shores of the Aegean, conquering AeGYPT & expanding eastwards
as far as the Himalayas. Their success owed much to their openness, to judge from the Greek historian Hero-
dotus. "THE PERSIANS ARE GREATLY INCLINED TO ADOPT FOREIGN CUSTOMS," he wrote: THE PERSIANS
WERE PREPARED TO ABANDON THEIR OWN STYLE OF DRESS WHEN THEY CONCLUDED THAT THE FASHIONS
OF A DEFEATED FOE WERE SUPERIOR, LEADING THEM TO BORROW STYLES FROM THE MEDES AS WELL AS
THE AEGYPTIANS! This willingness to adopt new ideas & practices was an important factor in enabling these
Persians to build an administrative system that allowed the smooth running of an empire which incorporated
many different people. A highly educated bureaucracy oversaw the efficient administration of the day-to-day
life of the empire, recording everything from payments made to workers serving the royal household, to our
validating the quality & quantity of goods bought & sold in market places; they also took charge of the main-
tenance & repair of a road system criss-crossing the empire thàt was the envy of the ancient world. Mor and
his female companions did it by foot & vehicle since the beginning of The Sixties to & fro: myDi is the result
of this queeste - once we're curious & willing to discover more there is no end to it 'then death of old age'?!!
Asih, man, 79 jaar
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