TEHRAN -- University of Tehran history professor Alaeddin Azari believes that foreign historians distort Achaemenid history, the Persian service of CHN reported on Friday.

“We shouldn’t refer to foreign sources in this case, since there are more authentic sources like books written by Iranian scholar Abdolhossein Zarrinkub,” he said at a seminar entitled Iranian Art and Culture during the Achaemenid Dynasty which was held recently at the Iran Artistic Cultural Complex.

He gave an example, saying that in foreign history books the Achaemenid era has been divided into two periods: before and after the Iran-Greece war. Greek historians describe the latter period as an era of weakness for the Achaemenians but that was not the case, he asserted.

“However, according to the book ‘The History of the Iranians’ written by Zarrinkub, the first period was the time of splendor and military power and the second was the time of gold and diplomacy.

“Contrary to what Greek historians say, gold, and wealth in general, made the Achaemenid kings very powerful after the war, whereas they ruled their territories through military power before that,” he added. He elaborated on some parts of Achaemenid history, saying, “People of different religions were allowed to perform their rituals freely during the time of Cyrus. Various nations were brought together in peace during his time.”

He also said that Cyrus is still very popular in the world, exemplified by the fact that many Europeans name their children after him.