The First Persian in History and the Outcome of His Rule: The Persian Exodus within the Iranian Plateau

The Central Zagros was one of the most populous regions in the Iranian plateau in the first half of the first millennium BC, filled with small and semi-extensive settlements. One of the strange and interesting points observed in Mesopotamian sources, belonging to the first millennium BC, is two completely different locations for a land called Parsuaš or Parsumaš. From the reign of Shalmaneser III to Sargon II of Assyria, the name of this land was always mentioned along with the lands located in the east of Assyria and around the Central Zagros. However, from the time of Sennacherib, the land of Parsuaš has been referred to in the vicinity of Anshan and its ally. Additionally, we know that during the rule of the Achaemenid dynasty, the land of the Persians, both before and after the emergence of the empire, was located in southern Zagros. Deciphering the meaning based on the content of written sources obtained from archaeological excavations is a subject that many researchers have attempted to explain. This study reconsiders the subject by examining the content of these inscriptions and evaluating their geographical data. It is concluded that the name of the first land not only refers to the origin of a population but also indicates that its people have made a large-scale migration, to regain their former political independence and freedom. This experience was similar to the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. The loss of this independence was due to the failure of the ambitious development plans for the land by the king, which resulted in his fall and the rise of a powerful and influential leader over that land.