CLEP Western Civ I

Answer: C - In 539 BCE, the ancient period in the Near East came to a close when the Achaemenid (or Persian) Empire unified Mesopotamia, once a disparate band of city-states that occasionally battled for control of neighboring city-states. Under Cyrus the Great, the former Mesopotamia merged with Persia, Judea and parts of India, creating the world’s largest empire as of that time. Later, Cyrus the Great’s son and successor, Cambyses II, conquered parts of Egypt, further expanding the empire. Persian control ended in 330 BCE when Alexander the Great toppled the Achaemenid Empire.