Parthians

Land (roughly corresponding to modern Iran) lying beyond the eastern boundaries of the Roman Empire, and so almost outside the world of the NT.

It is included, however, in maps of the OT world, which generally encompass Eastern territory. Many Jews deported from Palestine after the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions were living in this area when in the sixth century BC it became part of the vast Persian Empire of Cyrus, and thousands stayed on in spite of Cyrus’s offer of repatriation. Two centuries afterward, that empire was conquered by Alexander the Great. But 100 years later several parts of it, including Parthia, threw off the yoke of his successors and became independent.