Ancient Near East Subsequently, the Medes controlled much of the ancient Near East from their base in Ecbatana (modern-day Hamadan, Iran), most notably most of what is now Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and the South Caucasus. Following the fall of the Medes, the Achaemenid Empire was the first of the Persian Empires to rule over most of the Near East and far beyond, and the second great Iranian empire (after the Median Empire). At the height of its power, encompassing approximately 7.5 million square kilometers, the Achaemenid Empire was territorially the largest empire of classical antiquity, and the first world empire. It spanned three
Turin City Museum of Ancient Art Turin City Museum of Ancient Art The Turin City Museum of Ancient Art (Italian: "Museo civico d'arte antica") is a museum located in the Palazzo Madama palace, in Turin, Italy. The museum has a renowned collection of paintings from the medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods. It reopened in 2006 after several years of restorations. The museum was founded in 1934, as the heir of the Pinacoteca Regia and the Galleria Reale, which had been established in Palazzo Madama by king Charles Albert of Savoy in 1832. A Civic Museum had been founded in 1860 in the wake of the unification