The Egyptians and the Persians were the great powers of the Ancient World. Egypt under the Pharaohs was a great power for centuries before the rise of Rome and Carthage. The Achaemenid Empire with an area of 8 million sq.kms and a population of 50 million (44% of the population) was a superpower when it lasted. Roman Empire had an area of 6.5 million sq.kms. The Sassanid Empire had an area of 6.6 sq.kms and 38%(80 million out of 210 million) of world population at that time. The British Empire, the largest empire in history had 33.7 million sq.kms of area had only 20 % of the world population. The Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous empire in history was 24 million sq.kms in area and 25.6% of the then world population. Thus Achaemenid Empire could be the most populous empire in history based on the percentage of world population. Thus the Egyptians and the Persians can claim to be the superpowers of the Ancient Middle East at a time when the Middle East was the center of the World.