Archive for the 'Ancient Iran' Category

What and Where is Persepolis?

Friday, March 5th, 2010

Persepolis is the name of an archaeological ruin, part of the Achaemenid Dynasty of the Persian Empire, established by King Darius about 515 BC. The site is one of the best known archaeological ruins in the world, and probably the most important Achaemenid capital. Persepolis is located about 50 kilometers northeast of Shiraz and is [...]

Ancient Parthian Empire

Friday, March 5th, 2010

Definition: Parthia was an early Persian empire, in between the Achaemenian and Sasanid Empires and centered in northeastern Iran between 247 BC and AD 228. At its height, Parthia ruled all of what is now Iran and everything else between the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea.
Rose, Charles B. 2005 The Parthians in Augustan Rome. [...]

Ctesiphon (Iraq)

Friday, March 5th, 2010

Ctesiphon is the name of a very old city at the confluence of the Tigris and Diyala rivers near Baghdad in what is now Iraq. The earliest urban occupations at the site probably represent the Akkadian town of Opis, the capital city of the Babylonia by the 14th century BC. Opis was the site of [...]

The Persian Nowruz

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

By : Iraj Bashiri
Introduction
The oldest of Iranian traditions, Nowruz (also referred to as eyd-i sar-i sal and eyd-i sal-i now) recalls the cosmological and mythological times of Iran. Its founder is a deputy of Ahura Mazda on earth, a position that imparts to him and the celebration a spiritual dimension and a particular sense of [...]

Nowruz Persian New Year

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

Persepolis all nations staircase.

People from across Persia bring Nowruz gifts for the king.
Nowruz is the traditional Iranian festival of spring which starts at the exact moment of the vernal equinox, commencing the start of the spring. It is considered as the start of the New Year among Iranians. The name comes from Avestan meaning “new [...]

Archaeology Achaemenid Dynasty

Saturday, January 23rd, 2010

The Achaemenids were the ruling dynasty of Cyrus the Great and his family over the Persian empire, from 550-330 BC, when it was conquered by Alexander the Great. Cyrus’s empire included Libya, Ethiopia, Thrace, Macedonia, Afghanistan, and the Punjab and everything in between.