A ministry of the Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church

Lee Swor, Pastor

Dr. Joseph Speciale, Instructor

The Revised Roman Empire- Daniel 2:39

Dan 2:39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

After thee shall arise another kingdom. • THE BREAST AND ARMS OF SILVER=

Darius the Mede and Cyrus the Persian; the kingdom of MEDIA and PERSIA

• The Medo-Persian empire (i.e.- the Achaemenid empire) lasted about 200 years (537 BC- 334 BC)

• MEDIA appears in five different forms a total of 24x: (1) MADAI (2x); (2) MEDE (1x); (3) MEDES (14x); (4) MEDIA (6x); and MEDIAN (1x)

• MADAI is the patriarchal or ancestral name for MEDIA (i.e.- the Medes) • Madai was one of the sons of JAPHETH (Gen 10:2; 1 Chr 1:5) so the Medes are

a CAUCASIAN people

The Revised Roman Empire- Daniel 2:39Gen 10:2 The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.

• Ancient Media roughly corresponds to what we know today as NW Iran • The first appearance of MEDES is associated with the CAPTIVITY of the 10

northern tribes of Israel to Assyria (2 Kin 17:6) 2 Kin 17:6 In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

• PERSIA appears in three different forms a total of 36x (6 x 6): (1) PERSIA (29x); (2) PERSIAN (2x); and (3) PERSIANS (5x)

• PERSIA= Gr. Persis; the racial or ethnic name attributed to Iran from the time of Cyrus the Great until 1935, when the Shah insisted the international community refer to the nation as Iran (“land of the Ayrans”)

• Historically, the people of Iran have referred to themselves as Pars (or Fars, as in Farsi) after the Aryan tribal name Parsa

• Ancient Persia roughly corresponds to what we know today as SW and SC Iran; specifically, the contemporary province of FARS

The Revised Roman Empire- Daniel 2:39

Kingdoms Of The Middle East (600 BC)

Caspian Sea

Persian Gulf

Fars (Persia)

IRAN

The Revised Roman Empire- Daniel 2:39• The first appearance of PERSIA is associated with the LIBERATION of the two

southern tribes of Judah from Babylon (2 Chr 36:20-23)

2 Chr 36:20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:

• There are divergent and often conflicting accounts of the history of the Medo-Persian empire and the life of Cyrus the Great

• As with the study of the history of the Babylonian empire, the Bible is the only infallible and inerrant source for the history of the Medo-Persian empire

• The Bible does not contain all the details of history but all the details it contains are TRUE (Psa 119:128)

• The details contained in the various secular historical accounts can be viewed under the lens and light of scripture and determined to be plausible or implausible

• The plausible details are like pieces of a puzzle that can be put together using the scriptural details as a guide

• There is much more Persian history available than Median history

The Revised Roman Empire- Daniel 2:39• The two main, and often contradictory, historical accounts of the rise of the Medo-

Persian empire and the life of Cyrus the Great are: (1) The Histories by Herodotus (Herodotus lived 484 BC- 425 BC); and (2) Xenophon’s Cyropaedia (Xenophon lived 430 BC- 354 BC)

• The following historical information is based on the Bible and a composite of Herodotus’ and Xenophon’s works, in light of the details of scripture

• The Medes were conquered by the Assyrians and paid tribute as part of the Assyrian empire, which lasted 300 years (i.e.- 911 BC- 612 BC)

• The first king of the Medes was Deioces, who ruled for 35 years (i.e.- 710 BC- 675 BC) (The Histories, 1:102)

• He was succeeded by his son Phraortes who reigned for about 50 years (i.e.- 675 BC- 625 BC) (The Histories, 1:102)

• The Assyrian empire was severely crippled following the death of king Ashurbanipal (i.e.- Asnappar) (Ezr 4:10) in 627 BC, and descended into a series of civil wars involving rival kings

• Many subjected lands looked to take advantage of the weakened state of Assyria • In 626 BC, a Chaldean chieftain named Nabopolassar led the Babylonians in a

successful revolt against the Assyrians

The Revised Roman Empire- Daniel 2:39• Nabopolassar declared Babylon free from Assyrian rule and was crowned king • In 625 BC, Phraortes the king of Media, was killed in battle against the Assyrians • The Scythians tried to take advantage of the situation and overran Media • The son of Phraortes, Cyaxares I (pronounces Sy-uh-zare-eez), killed the Scythian

leaders and declared himself king of the Medes • He looked to enact revenge for his father’s death so he reorganized the Median

army and began preparations for war against Assyria (The Histories, 1:103) • Meanwhile in Babylon, Nabopolassar led additional revolts and military

campaigns against the Assyrians, including the capture of Nippur in 620 BC, but was not able to advance into Assyria proper in spite of multiple attempts over the next 3 years (i.e.- 619 BC- 617 BC)

• In 616 BC, Cyaxares and Nabopolassar formed an alliance against their mutual enemy of Assyria and together, they led a coalition against the weakened Assyrian forces

• This alliance was later formalized when Cyaxares gave his daughter Amytis in marriage to Nebuchadnezzar II, the son of Nabopolassar and crown prince of Babylon

• In 612 BC, the Babylonian/Median coalition attacked and destroyed Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire- this signified the end of the ASSYRIAN EMPIRE

The Revised Roman Empire- Daniel 2:39• The kingdom of the Medes assumed control of what we know today is Iran,

including the region of Parsa (Gr. Persis) and its capital Anshan, home of the Persian people

• Cyaxares retained Cyrus I, the grandson of Achaemenes (the founder of the Achaemenid dynasty) and grandfather of Cyrus II (the Great), as the vassal king of Anshan

• In spite of the destruction of Nineveh and the fall of their empire, the Assyrians continued to fight to retain their independence and established a new capital at HARAN (Isa 37:12)

• In 610 BC, they installed Pharaoh-Necho as a vassal king in Egypt • The Babylonian/Median coalition captured Haran in 609 BC and the Assyrians

moved their capital to CARCHEMISH (2 Chr 35:20; Isa 10:9; Jer 46:2) • In 609 BC, Pharaoh-Necho led an Egyptian army to Carchemish to join forces

with the Assyrians in a last stand against the Babylonian/Median coalition • Josiah the king of Judah led a force to confront Pharaoh-Necho at Megiddo to

prevent him from getting to Carchemish to provide military assistance to the Assyrians but died in battle (2 Chr 35:20-24)

• In 606 BC, Nabopolassar died and his son Nebuchadnezzar assumed the throne signifying the beginning of the Neo-Babylonian (i.e- Chaldean) empire

The Revised Roman Empire- Daniel 2:39• In 605 BC, the Babylonian/Median coalition forces trounced the combined forces

of the Assyrians and Egyptians at the battle of Carchemish • Assyria ceased to exist as an independent power and was absorbed into the newly

founded Neo-Babylonian empire, while Pharaoh-Necho and his armies retreated back to Egypt

• Nebuchadnezzar extended the Babylonian empire to include Assyria, Phoenicia, Israel, Philistina, northern Arabia, parts of Asia Minor, and Egypt; meanwhile, the Medes became a regional power under Cyaxares I (the Great)

• In 591 BC, the Medes crossed the Halys river and invaded Lydia instigating the Battle of Halys which continued for six years (i.e.- 591 BC- 585 BC)

• The battle ended in a draw when both sides agreed to cease hostilities as a result of an eclipse; hence, it is also referred to as the Battle Of The Eclipse

• As part of the treaty between the two powers, the Lydian king Alyattes give his daughter Aryenis in marriage to Astyages (pronounced A-sty-uh-geez) the son of Cyaxares (The Histories, 1.73-74)

• Cyaxares died shortly after the Battle of Halys in 585 BC having ruled a total of 40 years (i.e.- 624 BC- 585 BC) (The Histories, 1:107)

• Astyages, the son of Cyaxares I, assumed the throne and a vast kingdom that extended from the Halys river in Anatolia to Parthia and Bactria in the east

The Revised Roman Empire- Daniel 2:39

LYDIA

BABYLON

MEDIA

PERSIA

585 BC- 550 BC

Anshan

Ecbatana

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