WI: No Persian Empire

What if the Persian Empire never existed?What would happen to the Middle East and the world? At the time four empires ruled the Middle East; Egypt, Babylon, Media and Lydia. what if?
 

katchen

Banned
Media continues instead of Cyrus taking over. The Jews are not allowed back to Canaan indefinitely. Maybe the Massagatae (who were strong enough to kill Cyrus ITTL when he tried to conquer them) or the Bactrians finally take over Medea. If Bactria takes over, Zoroastrianism predominates as in ITTL, since Bactria is where Zoroastrianism comes from.
 
Iran becomes one great big gateway for Steppe Nomads much earlier. Nomads break through the Iranian Plateau and Caucasus Mountains and wreck havoc.
 

katchen

Banned
Neither Medea (if Assyria fell) nor Assyria (if Assyria didn't fall were any slouches, as far as power went. Both were capable, for a few centuries at least, at holding the line against most incursions from Central Asia. And we're not in the midst of an episode of global cooling that will FORCE mass migration of nomads against empires at this point in time, I don't think. If the Massagatae DID conquer Medea or Assyria, like the Dahae conquering Selucid Persia, they would adopt most of the conquered's customs in order to rule them. Because a more civilized neighbor has a better chance at conquest, I suspect Bactria would finally take over. Or if Medea or Assyria really lasted long enough to become decadent, Mauryan India might finally fill the power vacuum all the way to the Mediteranean Sea.
 
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