Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of maps
- List of text-figures
- List of chronological tables
- Preface
- PART I THE PERSIAN EMPIRE
- 1 The early history of the Medes and the Persians and the Achaemenid empire to the death of Cambyses
- 2 The consolidation of the empire and its limits of growth under Darius and Xerxes
- 3 The major regions of the empire
- 3a Babylonia from Cyrus to Xerxes
- 3b Syria-Palestine under Achaemenid rule
- 3c Central Asia and Eastern Iran
- 3d The Indus Lands
- 3e Anatolia
- 3f Persia in Europe, apart from Greece
- 3g Egypt 525–404 B.C.
- PART II THE GREEK STATES
- PART III THE WEST
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Index
- Map 1. The Achaemenid empire
- Map 6. Central Asia
- Map 9. The Black Sea area
- Map 11. Egypt
- Map 13. Greek and Phoenician trade in the period of the Persian Wars
- Map 15. Greece and the Aegean
- Map 18. Northern and Central Italy
- Map 19. Central and Southern Italy
- References
3c - Central Asia and Eastern Iran
from 3 - The major regions of the empire
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2008
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of maps
- List of text-figures
- List of chronological tables
- Preface
- PART I THE PERSIAN EMPIRE
- 1 The early history of the Medes and the Persians and the Achaemenid empire to the death of Cambyses
- 2 The consolidation of the empire and its limits of growth under Darius and Xerxes
- 3 The major regions of the empire
- 3a Babylonia from Cyrus to Xerxes
- 3b Syria-Palestine under Achaemenid rule
- 3c Central Asia and Eastern Iran
- 3d The Indus Lands
- 3e Anatolia
- 3f Persia in Europe, apart from Greece
- 3g Egypt 525–404 B.C.
- PART II THE GREEK STATES
- PART III THE WEST
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Index
- Map 1. The Achaemenid empire
- Map 6. Central Asia
- Map 9. The Black Sea area
- Map 11. Egypt
- Map 13. Greek and Phoenician trade in the period of the Persian Wars
- Map 15. Greece and the Aegean
- Map 18. Northern and Central Italy
- Map 19. Central and Southern Italy
- References
Summary
Geographical survey
Central Asia consists of three hydrographic basins, namely the Aral Sea to the north, Lake Hamun to the south of the Hindu Kush, and the Lob Nor and Tarim east of the Pamirs. To the first belong the great rivers Syr Darya (Jaxartes) and Amu Darya (Oxus) and the important tributaries of the latter whose waters sometimes run to waste before they join the main stream. The Helmand and the Farah Rud, with their tributaries, belong to the second basin; the Atrak and the area of the Caspian belong to a separate system. The territory is bounded by the Mongol, south Siberian and Kazakh steppes, the Caspian Sea, the desert of Seistan, the Indus basin, the Pamirs and the Himalayas, and the part relevant to the Achaemenids is situated between 55° and 75° longitude east and between 30° and 45° latitude north.
This area can best be divided into a highland and a lowland zone. The mountains include the Hindu Kush, the Pamirs, the Alai, Tian Shan, Altai and their foothills, while the lowlands stretch out along the banks of the Amu Darya and in Seistan, in Xinjiang, Djungaria, Tuva and Mongolia.
Within the highland zone, we must distinguish, because of their different natural resources, between the valleys on one hand and the mountains and plateaux on the other. The high, cool, plateaux provide pasture, means of communication and mineral resources; irrigation in the valleys results in a stable and dense population.
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- Information
- The Cambridge Ancient History , pp. 165 - 193Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1988
References
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