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King of Persia and Babylonia (486 – 465). Son of Darius I, Xerxes I ruled over Persia and Babylonia until he was assassinated in 465 BCE. In 484 BCE he suppressed two revolts in Babylonia and one in Egypt.

 An ancient civilization and geographical region, covering modern Khuzestan and Ilam Province in Iran, and stretching into southern Iraq. It is also known as Susiana because of its capital Susa. The Elamite states were important political power in ancient Near East from ca. 3200 BCE onwards. Susa became one of the capitals of the Achaemenid Empire during the rule of Cambyses II (ruled 530-522 BCE). Elamite was one of the “official” languages of the Achaemenid Empire.

A Babylonian city located near the Tigris River. It is possibly identified as Tall al-Mujailāt, which is ca. 76 km from ancient Babylon and 32 km from the centre of modern Baghdad.

 A very ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains, located between the Karkheh and Dez Rivers. It was the capital of Elam (Susiana) but was conquered by Cyrus the Great in ca. 540 BCE. During the rule of Cambyses II (ruled 530-522 BCE), it became one of the great capitals of the Achaemenid Empire.

One of the capitals of the Achaemenid Empire (ca. 550-330 BCE). In fact, it was a ceremonial capital which was probably built during the rule of Darius I, but other capitals, such as Susa, Babylon and Ecbatana were used more often. Persepolis is located in Fars Province, Iran, ca. 60 km from Shiraz.

A chronology that places historical events in relation to each other, in a sequential order. The method for determining relative chronology is referred to as relative dating. This can, for example, be the classification of artefacts (e.g. potsherds) in a typological sequence.

A chronology that places historical events according to a chronological era, providing a more or less precise point in time when events took place. Absolute dating is the preferred method of dating events (see relative chronology), but it can be done only when a certain type of evidence is available (e.g. textual sources, coins, radiocarbon dating, dendrochronology, etc). The method is sometimes referred to as chronometric dating or calendar dating.

A scientific method to date objects which contain organic material, known as flora and fauna. It measures the carbon-14 (14C) isotope to find out when the plant or animal has died.

A rabbi active in the 12^th century who wrote in his book The travels of Benjamin about the exploratory expedition that he undertook from 1160 to 1173 to the Jewish communities in the Near East. The original copy of the book was in Hebrew. Later it was among other languages also translated into Latin and English.