17 Science, Technology, and Society in Ancient Persia

Introduction

When looking at ancient history, it is common to focus on the advancements of the Greeks and Romans from a Western perspective. The Greek Cities and the Roman Empire are certainly responsible for great advancements in technology and society. One voice that is often overlooked in Ancient History is the Achaemenid Empire of the Persians. The Achaemenid Empire in history, before it fell, and the advancements in Medicine, Government, and Transportation set the foundations for other great empires afterward. 

Connection to STS

When examining Ancient History, the average person often only hears about the innovations of the Roman Empire and Greek city-states. While the Greeks and Romans certainly play an important role in shaping the world, it is also important to understand the empires that shaped their worlds as well. The Achaemenid Empire of the Persians was the first great empire to conquer an extremely large portion of the known world, but their contributions to technology and society are often overlooked for those of their more Western counterparts. Their history has also been partially masked, as much of the primary sources concerning the early Persians were from outside of the empire. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the great empire of the Persians and follow some ways in which they shaped the world we know today.

Qanats

One crucial technological advancement of the Achaemenid Empire was the development of qanats. The Achaemenid Empire should have been limited by the desert climate in Iran, as over “half of the country” (Kamiar 1983) is considered desert land. While one may expect that the desert climate would have limited the expansion and habitability of Persia, the practice of creating underground water canals, known as qanats, can overcome this limitation. Qanats are underground canals that use gravity to carry water from up in the hills into valleys, expanding water access and therefore the habitability of the territory. While the exact date of this innovation is unknown, it is referenced in primary sources as far back as 700 BC, where the Assyrian King Sargon II spoke of learning the “unknown system” (Kamiar 1983) the Persians had for transporting water underground. These qanats were necessary for two reasons. First, the desert land was uninhabitable, and second, normal canals would not suffice because water would evaporate on the surface. The underground qanats allowed for the expansion of Persian territory and led to the agricultural success of the empire.

Qanats remained an important aspect of water transportation in Iran up into the modern era. As of 1950, “22,000” qanats were still in use, which supplied “75 percent of the country’s water” (Guttman-Bond 2010). They have been slowly phased out in favor of deeper wells and the modern water pump. The technology, however, is still used in China, Pakistan, and many parts of the Arabian Peninsula today, along with some usage in Iran. Some have argued that qanats could be adapted and used today as a method to fight climate change and, more specifically, desertification in the Middle East (Guttman-Bond 2010). While deep wells can be depleted and dry up over time, qanats offer a time-tested, sustainable method of providing water to desert lands. The qanats of the ancient Persians revolutionized water transportation in desert areas, and their effectiveness has made them relevant to this very day.

Transportation

The Achaemenid Empire’s transportation systems were revolutionary for their time period. The biggest issue facing the empire was connectivity. How can the largest empire in the history of the world be ruled if its people cannot be connected to one another? Thankfully, this task did not prove too great to overcome for the Persians. The Persians built an extensive road system, unmatched in the world at the time of its creation. The system was headlined by the Royal Road, a Road that ran the entire length of the empire (Colburn 2013). This system allowed for the movement of “people, goods, and ideas” to even the most remote parts of the empire, and allowed a level of interconnectivity (Colburn 2013) that was unmatched at the time it was built. The Persian Road system stands out as the first system to truly connect massive empires, and its influence would greatly affect the Alexandrian and Roman Empires afterward.

The Achaemenid Empire’s advancement was not limited to simply land travel, but also extended to the waters as well. The empire is responsible for attempting one of the greatest tasks in antiquity, connecting the Red Sea to the Nile. In the 6th Century, the Canal of the Pharaohs was first built, connecting the Nile to the Red Sea. Despite being named for and located in Egypt, the completion of the project is actually attributed to the Persian empire, which undertook the issue upon conquering the nation (Redmount 1997). King Darius of the Achaemenid Empire is often credited with completing the canal upon conquering Egypt. While archaeological evidence is limited today, primary sources estimate the length at 37 Roman miles and over 40 meters wide (Redmount 1997). This canal is considered the predecessor of the Suez Canal, which serves today as perhaps the most economically important waterway in the world. While the Suez Canal may connect the Mediterranean to Asia today, the Achaemenid Empire took the first steps to accomplish this feat as far back as the 6th Century.

Government and Religion

The Achaemenid Empire is responsible for the first steps towards modern government with its complex and vast administrative state. The Academies built an incredibly complex and effective governing system for the time period, with a bureaucratic and administrative state so successful that its traits would be carried all the way into modern democratic states (Farazmand 2003). The system was a monarchy at its core, but it was surrounded by the largest collection of advisors and decision makers in the history of the world to that point, while simultaneously localizing politics through regional executives called Satraps (Farazmand 2003). These local governors would rule small portions of the empire along with their advisors, and allow the empire to have local leadership underneath a sovereign king. The Satraps were not dictators, however, as the government laid out by Cyrus was extremely tolerant by the standards of antiquity, and encouraged locals to live as they wished (Farazmand 2003). When the Romans conquered Persian territory, they picked up their practices of bureaucracy and administration, from which they spread to Europe, and from Europe the ideas spread to the rest of the world (Farazmand 2003). 

The Persian Empire, and more specifically its emperor Cyrus the Great, is also credited with developing some of the first doctrines of religious liberty. Upon conquering the Babylonians, Cyrus the Great implemented policies of religious tolerance and freedom, allowing conquered countries to rebuild their religions and practice in relative peace (Farazmand 2003). Given the size of the empire, Cyrus believed that allowing religious and social liberty would prevent rebellion and build loyalty amongst his provinces. The Cyrus Cylinder, an ancient artifact which gives an account of Cyrus the Great, details Cyrus returning religion to the conquered nations, seemingly in an effort to win their loyalty (Mallowan 1972). While these liberties were not close to what we see today, they provide an early inspiration for modern views on religious liberty. The stories of Cyrus the Great’s policies can even be found in religious texts such as the Bible, where he is praised for allowing the Jewish people to rebuild their temple and practice their faith again. While the West and Enlightenment are often credited with spreading political liberty across the globe, their origins can be found in the Near Eastern empires before the dawn of any of the great empires of Europe.

Conclusion 

When examining the people of antiquity who shaped the world, it is important that the Persians and the Achaemenid Empire are not neglected. While it is easy to focus on the Greeks and Romans due to the surviving primary sources, the Persians made advancements in agriculture, transportation, and government that were fundamental in the expansion of human development into the modern image we see today. While the primary sources on the Persians may be limited, the history we have available to use reveals a society that shaped the ways we live today.

AI Use Disclosure

No generative AI was used in the creation of the chapter content. Scite AI was used for finding sources on the topic.

Refrences

Redmount, C. A. (1995). The Wadi Tumilat and the “Canal of the Pharaohs.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 54(2), 127–135. http://www.jstor.org.libproxy.clemson.edu/stable/545471

Colburn, H. P. (2013). Connectivity and Communication in the Achaemenid Empire. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 56(1), 29–52. http://www.jstor.org.libproxy.clemson.edu/stable/43303512

Mallowan, M. (1972). Cyrus the Great (558-529 B.C.). Iran, 10, 1–17. https://doi-org.libproxy.clemson.edu/10.2307/4300460

Guttmann-Bond, E. (2010). Sustainability out of the past: how archaeology can save the planet. World Archaeology, 42(3), 355–366. http://www.jstor.org.libproxy.clemson.edu/stable/20799432

Kamiar, M. (1983). The qanat system in Iran. Ekistics, 50(303), 467–472. http://www.jstor.org.libproxy.clemson.edu/stable/43620393

Images

Achaemenid Empire, Darius the Great period(BC500).png. (2025, March 3). Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved April 26, 2026,

from https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.phptitle=File:Achaemenid_Empire,_Darius_the_Great_period(BC500).png

&oldid=1005016358.