The Sasanian Empire is the second largest Persian Empire which reigned Iran from 224 to 651 CE. The Sasanian dynasty was founded by Ardashir I after defeating the last Arsacid king of kings, Artabanus IV and ended when the last Sasanian the King of Kings (Shahanshah), Yazdegerd III (632--651), lost the war to Arab invaders. One of the most remarkable empires and civilizations of the first millennium CE was that of the Sasanian Empire. As one of the two great powers of late antiquity, the Sasanian domain eventually encompassed not only modern day Iran and Iraq, but it also controlled or influenced the greater part of Central Asia (Afghanistan, Tukremenestan, Uzbekestan), Caucasus (Republic of Azerbijan, Armenia and Georgia) and the Near East (Syria, Arabia, Persian Gulf Arab states, Israel and Egypt).