But, notwithstanding the exceptional fertility of the Shiraz plain and of a few other places, Persia Proper seems to have been rightly characterized in ancient times as “a scant land and a rugged.”  Its area was less than a fifth of the area of modern Persia; and of this space nearly one half was uninhabitable, consisting either of barren stony mountain or of scorching sandy plain, ill supplied with water and often impregnated with salt.  Its products, consequently, can have been at no time either very abundant or very varied.  Anciently, the low coast tract seems to have been cultivated to a small extent in corn, and to have produced good dates and a few other fruits.  The mountain region was, as we have seen, celebrated for its excellent pastures, for its abundant fruits, and especially for its grapes.  Within the mountains, on the high plateau, assafoetida (silphium) was found, and probably some other medicinal herbs.  Corn, no doubt, could be grown largely in the plains and valleys of the mountain tract, as well as on the plateau, so far as the kanats carried the water.  There must have been, on the whole, a deficiency of timber, though the palms of the low tract, and the oaks, planes, chenars or sycamores, poplars, and willows of the mountain regions sufficed for the wants of the natives.  Not much fuel was required, and stone was the general material used for building.  Among the fruits for which Persia was famous are especially noted the peach, the walnut, and the citron.  The walnut bore among the Romans the appellation of “royal.”

Persia, like Media, was a good nursery for horses.  Fine grazing grounds existed in many parts of the mountain region, and for horses of the Arab breed even the Deshtistan was not unsuited.  Camels were reared in some places, and sheep and goats were numerous.  Horned cattle were probably not so abundant, as the character of the country is not favorable for them.  Game existed in large quantities, the lakes abounding with water-fowl, such as ducks, teal, heron, snipe, etc.; and the wooded portions of the mountain tract giving shelter to the stag, the wild goat, the wild boar, the hare, the pheasant, and the heathcock, fish were also plentiful.  Whales visited the Persian Gulf, and were sometimes stranded upon the shores, where their carcases furnished a mine of wealth to the inhabitants.  Dolphins abounded, as well as many smaller kinds; and shell-fish, particularly oysters, could always be obtained without difficulty.  The rivers, too, were capable of furnishing fresh-water fish in good quantity, though we cannot say if this source of supply was utilized in antiquity.

The mineral treasures of Persia were fairly numerous.  Good salt was yielded by the lakes of the middle region, and was also obtainable upon the plateau.  Bitumen and naphtha were produced by sources in the low country.  The mountains contained most of the important metals and a certain number of valuable gems.  The pearls of the Gulf acquired early a great reputation, and a regular fishery was established for them before the time of Alexander.