Welcome to Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation
The Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation was established in 1990 with the mission to guarantee the Encyclopædia Iranica's intellectual independence and ensure its ongoing publication both in digital and print versions. Learn More
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Cinema Iranica
Cinema Iranica provides historical articles on movies, genres, film movements, filmographies, directors, composers, stars, cinematographers ...
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Women Poets Iranica
Women Poets Iranica is an integrative encyclopedia of postclassical, modern, and contemporary women poets.
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Encyclopædia Iranica
The Encyclopædia Iranica is a comprehensive research tool dedicated to the study of Iranian civilization in the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.
Featured Articles
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EGYPT iii. Relations in the Seleucid and Parthian periods
It remains difficult to ascertain the proportion of ethnic Persians who survived the transition from Achaemenid to Hellenistic rule in Egypt or who came to that country after the conquest by Alexander.
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ARMOR
The main evidence for the form of armor used under the Achaemenids comes from Xenophon and Herodotus. Xenophon in his Cyropaedia describes the guard of Cyrus the Great as having bronze breastplates and helmets, while their horses wore bronze chamfrons and poitrels together with shoulder pieces (parameridia) which also protected the rider’s thighs.