PERSIAN INVASION: Toward the end of the 7th cen. BC., the Medes, conquering MJsopotamia, gave an end to the Assyrian Kingdom. After a short interval, defeated by the Persians of Achemenid origin, they faded away from the scene of the history. Early Sthcen. BC. is marked by the Persian invasion of Asia Minor. The Persians, under the rule of emperors Cryrus and Xerxes, went all the way to Greece and though they were forced to retreat after a series of battles in Marathon, Salamis and Plataea, they were sovereign in Anatolia till the second half of the 4th cen.BC.

HELLENISTIC AGE: As Alexander the Great crossed the Dardanelles and arrived in Anatolia in 334 BC., a new era of an astounding civilization started. He activated a new and greater synthesis of the East and Western cultures. Alexander the Great defeated Darius, the Persian, many times in battle fields, gave an end to the mighty Persian Empire and extended his territories all the way to India. He was worshipped in Egypt as the son of God Amon and in Persia, people prostrated before him.

Established after the death of Alexander, the Pergamon Kingdom (283-133 BC.), that ruled in lonia and Aeolia, created a high level of civilization, under the strong Greek influence and founded some of the most prestigious citres of Asia Minor, Hierapolis and Attaleia. 11le Pontic Kingdom of Mithridates and the land of Bithynia were under the oriental influence and created thousands of unrivaled works of art.

A great progress in art and science was achieved in the Hellenistic Age. The great architects and urban planners of the ancient times succeeded one another, and carried the already high level of intellectualism even higher. The Ionian school of architecture came into existence; outstanding temples, the Athena temple of Priene, Temple of Apollo in Didyma, etc. were constructed; well planned cities, Priene, Miletus, Teos and Magnesia were built. The cities of Ephesus and Pergamon reached their zenith. With the invention of parchment, Pergamon became one of the most important learning centers of its time with a library of 200,000 volumes.