Lesson video

Hello, everyone, how are you? Hope you're doing really well today.

My name is Ms. Apsal, and I'll be your teacher for this lesson.

I'm feeling very pleased about that, because we have such an interesting topic, we are looking at "The Persian Empire," that's the title of our lesson.

I wonder, have you heard of the Persian Empire? Do you know much about this topic? Don't worry if you do or you don't, it's okay, we're gonna be getting right into it today.

Our lesson comes from the unit of work, "Ancient Greek civilisation: why is Alexander called The Great?" So if you are ready to get into the topic of "The Persian Empire," if you have some energy, focus, and enthusiasm, we'll begin our lesson now.

The outcome for today's lesson is, "I can explain how the Persian Empire became so powerful." I hope that sounds really interesting to you, I'm really looking forward to getting into this.

We have some keywords in our lesson.

I'd like us to go through them one at a time, saying them out loud.

My turn, your turn.

Mesopotamia.

Sumer.

Persian Empire.

Territory.

Indus Valley.

It's good to hear those keywords.

And now, I'd like you to turn to someone nearby and tell them, have you heard of any of these keywords before? Do you have any idea what they mean? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Let's find out what these keywords mean.

Meaning between two rivers, Mesopotamia is the name given to the region between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

Sumer was the earliest ancient civilization to be known about and was located in the south of Mesopotamia.

The civilization that rivaled Ancient Greece to its east was Persia.

All the lands they ruled were the Persian Empire.

A territory is an area of land that is far away from a country, but is still ruled by the country.

The Indus Valley surrounds the River Indus, a powerful river that flows through India and Pakistan.

So these are our keywords, Mesopotamia, Sumer, Persian Empire, territory, and Indus Valley.

Let's be on the lookout for them, let's listen out for them.

Let's think carefully about these words, which will be coming up in our lesson today.

Today's lesson is called "The Persian Empire," and it has two learning cycles, where did the Persian Empire begin and how did the Persian Empire grow? Let's begin by exploring, where did the Persian Empire begin? Ancient Mesopotamia was a large region in the west of Asia.

Mesopotamia included all the lands that had once been ruled by the Sumer civilization.

And here, we can see a map of Ancient Mesopotamia.

Pause here and share with someone, can you see the two rivers that are running through Mesopotamia? What are they called? Thanks for sharing.

We can see the river Tigris and the river Euphrates.

The Tigris and Euphrates rivers flowed through Mesopotamia.

The areas around the rivers were very fertile, and Babylon, a center for trade, was on the Euphrates River.

Many city-states had been at war with each other for years to try to to gain supremacy of Mesopotamia.

Everybody was after this region, 'cause it was so fertile and such a center for trade.

The Persian Achaemenids wanted control over Mesopotamia.

They conquered the city of Babylon and the Kingdom of Medes in 539 BCE.

This was the start of the Persian Empire, which was led by King Cyrus II.

Here, we can see this map shows us the territory of the early Persian Empire.

So it's all of the Kingdom of Medes and Mesopotamia, which has those two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates running through it.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Take turns to describe each location with your learning partner, Mesopotamia, Tigris, Babylon, and Euphrates.

So pause here while you describe each of these locations to your learning partner.

So how did you get on with describing each location with your learning partner? Your answers could include something like this, "Mesopotamia, a region of western Asia, the Tigris, a river in Mesopotamia, Babylon, a city that was conquered by the Persians, and Euphrates, a river in Mesopotamia." Well done if you described the locations in this way.

King Cyrus's son, Cambyses II, wanted the Persian Empire to grow even bigger.

So in 525 BCE, Cambyses took his army on a mission to conquer more territory in the west.

And here, we can see an illustration of Cambyses II.

Pause here and share with someone your impressions of Cambyses from this image that we can see.

Thanks for sharing your impressions.

He looks like a very strong, imposing leader.

He knows what he wants and is confident in giving instructions.

Cambyses' army took control of Egypt.

Even the great Egyptian pharaohs had to obey the fierce Persians.

And this map shows us the growing territory of the Persian Empire.

So in green, we can see the Persian Empire after conquering Medes and Babylon.

And then, in dark blue, we can see the Persian Empire after conquering Egypt.

Let's have a check for understanding.

What does the map tell us about the growth of the Persian Empire? Explain your ideas to your learning partner.

Challenge yourself by trying to use dates and keywords if you can.

So pause here while you tell someone nearby what this map tells us about the growth of the Persian Empire.

Well done for having a go at that, your answer could include something like this, "The map shows that the Persian Empire began by conquering Babylon and the Kingdom of Medes in 539 BCE.

Then, the empire added more territory by conquering Egypt in 525 BCE." Well done for including place names and dates.

And now, it's time for your first task.

I would like you to write the numbers 1 to 5 to show the correct order of events in the growth of the early Persian Empire.

The first has been done for you.

So here are the events, King Cyrus II conquered Babylon and the Kingdom of Medes, the Persian Achaemenids wanted to conquer Ancient Mesopotamia, King Cambyses II wanted to conquer new territory in the west, Ancient Egypt was conquered by Cambyses' army, the Persian Empire ruled all the lands that were once part of Sumer.

So the first has been done for you, which is the Persian Achaemenids wanted to conquer Ancient Mesopotamia.

So add in the rest of the numbers now to show the correct order of events in the growth of the early Persian Empire.

Enjoy your task, and I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task, writing the numbers 1 to 5 to show the correct order of events in the growth of the early Persian Empire? Your answers should include the numbers in this order.

1, the Persian Achaemenids wanted to conquer Ancient Mesopotamia.

2, King Cyrus II conquered Babylon and the Kingdom of Medes.

3, the Persian Empire ruled all the lands that were once part of Sumer.

4, King Cambyses II wanted to conquer new territory in the west.

5, Ancient Egypt was conquered by Cambyses' army.

Well done if you ordered the events in this way, showing the growth of the early Persian Empire.

And now, we're onto our next learning cycle, how did the Persian Empire grow? By around 490 BCE, the king of the Persian Empire, Darius III, had big plans for expanding the empire more than ever before.

Darius first continued to expand the empire by conquering bordering land to the east of Mesopotamia.

And here is a map showing the growing territory of the Persian Empire.

So remember, first, we had in green the Persian Empire after conquering Medes and Babylon.

Next, there was the Persian Empire after conquering Egypt, which is in dark blue.

And then, the Persian Empire after conquering the Indus Valley.

Darius III took control over lands in the Indus Valley.

This territory then became part of the Persian Empire.

Having access to the Indus River, the River Nile in Egypt, and the River Euphrates and Tigris in Mesopotamia helped the Persians strengthen and expand their empire even further.

And here, we can see a map of the eastern part of the Ancient Persian Empire.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Which of these rivers was not part of the Persian Empire? Choose from this selection, a, Indus, b, Tigris, c, Nile, d, Volga.

Pause here while you decide which of these rivers was not part of the Persian Empire.

Well done if you selected answer d, Volga.

This river was not part of the Persian Empire, the Indus, Tigris, and Nile were all part of the Persian Empire.

Let's have another check for understanding.

Why were the four rivers helpful for the Persian Empire's growth? Choose from this selection, a, provided watersports activities, b, provided fertile farmland, c, provided trading opportunities, d, provided easier transport.

Pause here while you decide why the four rivers were helpful for the Persian Empire's growth.

Well done if you selected options b, c, and d.

Indeed, the four rivers were helpful for the Persian Empire's growth, because they provided fertile farmland, trading opportunities, and easier transport.

Guess what? Darius wanted to expand further, there was no stopping him.

So the empire conquered bordering lands to the north of Mesopotamia, around the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea, as we can see circled on the map, and to the west of Egypt.

The Persian Empire then continued to spread from the edges of the Black Sea heading further west.

Darius wanted to conquer the city-states of Ancient Greece and rule over them.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Talk to a partner, why do you think King Darius wanted to conquer the city-states of Ancient Greece? Pause here while you have this discussion.

Thanks for sharing about why you think King Darius wanted to conquer the city-states of Ancient Greece.

Let's hear it from Laura and Alex.

"I think that Ancient Greece had lots of territory that Darius wanted to add to his empire." "Yes, and Ancient Greece bordered the Persian Empire, stopping it growing further west." Well done if you shared ideas like these.

The Ancient Greek civilization was prepared to defend their territories.

They had well-trained armies and many soldiers.

This was the start of a war between the Ancient Greeks and the Persian Empire that lasted for 50 years.

And here, we can see some Ancient Greek pottery showing a Greek and Persian soldier fighting.

Pause here and share with someone, what are some of the details that you can spot on this piece of pottery depicting a fight? Thanks for sharing.

Let's have a check for understanding.

What does the map tell us about the further growth of the Persian Empire? Explain your ideas to your learning partner.

And challenge yourself by trying to use place names if you can.

Pause here while you do this.

Your answer could include something like this, "The map shows that the Persian Empire grew in the east when they conquered the Indus Valley, in the north when they conquered land around the Black Sea, and in the west when they conquered land near Egypt." Well done if you answered in this way and included these place names.

And now, it's time for your next task.

I would like you to finish the paragraph below to explain how the rivers in the Persian Empire helped the empire become powerful.

You should include, examples of some of the rivers in the Persian Empire, examples of some of the territories the Persians conquered, the words fertile, trading, and travel.

So here's the beginning of the paragraph, "The Persian Empire became powerful by conquering more territory.

The different territories each had major rivers, for example.

." So pause here while you finish this paragraph explaining how the rivers in the Persian Empire helped the empire become powerful.

Enjoy your task, and I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you, how did you get on with that task, finishing the paragraph to explain how the rivers in the Persian Empire helped the empire become powerful? Your answer could have included something like this, "The Persian Empire became powerful by conquering more territory.

The different territories each had major rivers, for example, the River Nile in Egypt and the Indus River in the Indus Valley.

The rivers helped the Persians grow more food as the water made the land fertile.

The rivers also provided trading opportunities and a fast way to travel around the empire.

All these benefits helped the Persian Empire grow more powerful and conquer even more territories." Well done if you finished the paragraph in this way, and well done for including all of those place names and names of rivers.

In our lesson, "The Persian Empire," we've covered the following.

Lots of rulers wanted control over Mesopotamia where the Ancient Sumer civilization had once been.

Cyrus II, king of Persian Achaemenids, was able to conquer Mesopotamia, creating the Persian Empire.

Persian rulers continued to expand the territory of the Persian Empire.

King Cambyses II conquered Ancient Egypt and King Darius III conquered the Indus Valley.

The rivers in the conquered territories helped the empire expand further.

King Darius wanted to rule over the city-states of Ancient Greece.

The Ancient Greeks were prepared to defend themselves, and a long war started between the great empires.

Well done, everyone, for joining in with this lesson.

I thought it was so fascinating to find out about the Persian Empire, how the empire spread, conquering more and more land, expanding into more and more territories.

And especially interesting to see how the rivers played such a part in the Persian Empire's expansion.

I hope you enjoyed this lesson and learning about the Persian Empire, I certainly enjoyed teaching you.

And I look forward to you at another lesson soon.

Bye for now.