Most of us haven't heard of one of the bravest and most important women in history. Her name was Queen Tomyris of Massagetea. It obstructed the conquests of Cyrus the Great. She lost her son to Cyrus during the war. Despite this, she challenged him to another fight to keep her kingdom free. She took revenge on her son and protected Greece from capture by Cyrus. In doing so, she shaped the known world. Cyrus the Great was the founder of the Persian Empire who lived around 350 BC. He was an extraordinary conqueror who was never satisfied with his conquests. He led a group of warriors, the Persians, from their home in what is now Iran (Jackson, 395). In Daniel chapter 5, it was a Persian army that conquered the mighty kingdom of Babylon, as predicted by the writing on the wall (Book of Daniel, “The Holy Bible” and Steele). Even Alexander the Great admired Cyrus as a general equal to himself (“Cyrus the Great”, Wikipedia). Cyrus conquered many lands, including Aryavarta, Media, Anshan, Babylon, Akhad, and Sumer, and he was the backbone of most Persian achievements (Cyrus the Great, Wikipedia). Even though he had conquered so much land, he was not happy, but he still wanted more. He looked at the country of Massagetea (Herodotus, I.205). The ruler of Massagetea was Queen Tomyris, who came to the throne after the death of her husband, the king. His tribe was made up of nomadic Iranian pastoralists. His culture made weapons mainly from brass and never from silver, they did not eat grains but mostly meat, and when someone became too old, they offered them as sacrifices to their gods, cooked their flesh and ate it (Herodotus , I.215). and I.216). Little is known about Queen Tomyris, other than her short interaction with Cyru...... middle of paper ......ve over Cyrus' request to take back his kingdom of Massagetea. She opposed Cyrus and massacred him. His strength of will to stand up to Cyrus may have saved the West from being just part of the Persian Empire.BibliographyAbbott, Jacob. Creators of history, Cyrus the Great. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1904. Ebook. “Book of Daniel”. New King James Version of the Holy Bible. Thomas Nelson Publishers. Nashville. 1982. Herodotus, The History, George Rawlinson, trans., (New York: Dutton & Co., 1862). Ebook.Jackson,Guida. Women leaders through the ages. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. 1999. Ebook. Steele, Andrew. "Personal interview". St. Louis, Missouri. November 23, 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_the _Great. Electronic. Date of consultation November 24, 2013. Xenophon. Cyropedia. Trans. Henry Dakyns. Project Gutenberg. 2011. E-book