Middle Eastern Descent > Iran Archives

Marjane Satrapi

Marjane Satrapi’s masterpiece Persepolis transformed the world’s understanding of Iran

Shahrnush Parsipur

Considered one of Iran’s bravest and boldest literary voices

Cassandane Shahbanu

Cassandane was the wife of Cyrus the Great (r. c. 550-530 BCE), founder of the Achaemenid Empire (c. 550-330 BCE).

Apranik

Apranik was the commander of the Sassanian army against the invading Arab-Muslim forces during the reign of Yazdegerd III (632-651 CE).

Artunis

A Lieutenant Commander of the army under Cyrus the Great.

Pantea Arteshbod served as a military commander under Cyrus the Great and played a pivotal role in the Battle of Opis in 539 BCE (later assisting her husband in the formation of the 10,000 Persian Immortals)

Azadokht Shahbanu

Diplomat for the Sassanian Empire under Shapur I, his primary consort and wife, and a skilled swordswoman and a guiding force in his reign and the one responsible for establishing the great intellectual, cultural, and medical center of Gundeshapur.

Irdabama

The best-known and wealthiest businesswoman attested to in the records of the Achaemenid Empire at Persepolis.

Atossa

Daughter of Cyrus the Great, wife of three kings and mother of Xerxes I, who operated her own business and maintained her own court and military.

Azarmiduxt

Boran (r. 630, 631-632) and Azarmiduxt (r. 630-631) were the only queens of the Sassanian Empire who ruled with the power of absolute monarchs.