Iran officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a
country in Southern and Western Asia. The name Iran, which in Persian means
"Land of the Aryans, has been in use natively since the Sassanian era. It
came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to
the Western world as Persia (Both "Persia" and "Iran" are
used interchangeably in cultural contexts; however, "Iran" is the
name used officially in political context.
The 18th largest country in the world in terms of
area at 1,648,195km (636,372 sq mi), Iran has a population of around 79
million people. It is a country of particular geopolitical significance owing
to its location in the Middle East and central Eurasia. Iran is bordered on the
north by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. As Iran is a littoral state of
the Caspian Sea, which is an inland sea, Kazakhstan and Russia are also Iran's
direct neighbors to the north. Iran is bordered on the east by Afghanistan and
Pakistan, on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by
Iraq and on the northwest by Turkey Tehran is the capital, the country's
largest city and the political, cultural, commercial and industrial center of
the nation. Iran is a regional power and holds an important position in
international energy security and world economy as a result of its large
reserves of petroleum and natural gas. Iran has the second largest proven
natural gas reserve in the world and the fourth largest proven petroleum
reserves.
Iran is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations. The first dynasty in Iran formed during the Elamite kingdom in 2800 BC. The Iranian Medes unified Iran into an empire in 625 BC. They were succeeded by the Iranian Achaemenid Empire, the Hellenic Seleucid Empire and two subsequent Iranian empires, the Parthians and the Sassanids, before the Muslims conquest in 651 AD. Iranian post-Islamic dynasties and empires expanded the apersian language and culture throughout the Iranian plateau. Early Iranian dynasties which re-asserted Iranian independence included the Tahirids, Saffarids, Samanids and Buyids.
Iran is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations. The first dynasty in Iran formed during the Elamite kingdom in 2800 BC. The Iranian Medes unified Iran into an empire in 625 BC. They were succeeded by the Iranian Achaemenid Empire, the Hellenic Seleucid Empire and two subsequent Iranian empires, the Parthians and the Sassanids, before the Muslims conquest in 651 AD. Iranian post-Islamic dynasties and empires expanded the apersian language and culture throughout the Iranian plateau. Early Iranian dynasties which re-asserted Iranian independence included the Tahirids, Saffarids, Samanids and Buyids.
The blossoming of Persian literature, philosophy,
medicine, astronomy, mathematics and art became major elements of Muslim civilization.
Iranian identity continued despite foreign rule in the ensuing centuries and
Persian culture was adopted also by the Ghaznavids, Seljuk, Ikhanid and Timurid
rulers. The emergence in 1501 of the Safavid dynasty, which promoted Twelver
Shia Islam as the official religion of their empire, marked one of the most
important turning points in Iranian and Muslim history. The Persian
Constitutional Revolution established the nation's first parliament in 1906,
within a constitutional monarchy. Growing dissent with foreign influence
culminated during the Irania Revolution which led to establishment of an
Islamic republic on 1 April 1979.
Iran is a founding member of the UN, NAM, OIC and
OPEC. The political system of Iran, based on the 1979 constitution,
comprises several intricately connected governing bodies. The highest state
authority is the Supreme Leader. Shia Islam is the official religion and
Persian is the official language.
Ali Qapu
is a grand palace in Isfahan, Iran. It is located on the western side of the
Naqsh-e Jahan Square opposite to Sheikh lotf allah mosque and had been
originally designed as a vast portal. It is forty-eight meters high and there
are seven floors, each accessible by a difficult spiral staircase. In the sixth
floor music room, deep circular niches are found in the walls, having not only
aesthetic value, but also acoustic.
Arge Bam, Kerman before the earthquake
Arge Bam, Kerman after the earthquake
The Arg-e Bam was the largest adobe building in
the world, located in Bam, city in the Kerman province of southeastern Iran. It
is listed by UNESCO as part of the World Heritage Site "Bam and its
Cultural Landscape". This enormous citadel on the Silk Road was built
before 500 BC and remained in use until 1850 AD. It is not known for certain why
it was then abandoned.
The entire building was a large fortress in whose
heart the citadel itself was located, but because of the impressive look of the
citadel, which forms the highest point, the entire fortress is named the Bam
Citadel.
On December 26, 2003, the Citadel was almost
completely destroyed by an earthquake, along with much of the rest of Bam and
its environs. A few days after the earthquake, the Iranian President Mohammad
Khatami announced that the Citadel would be rebuilt.
Faravahar
is one of the best-known symbols of Zoroastrianism, the state religion of
ancient Iran. This religious-cultural symbol was adapted by the Pahlavi dynasty
to represent the Iranian nation.
The
etymology of Faravahar is the Middle Persian root the Pahlavi script of Middle
Persian did not represent short vowels), and the word is thus variously
pronounced/written farohar, frohar, frawahr, fravahr and so forth, as there is
no agreed upon method of transliterating the Middle Persian word into English.
In Dekhoda's dictionary and the 17th century Persian dictionary Burhan Qati',
it appears as فروهر "furuhar". The Encyclopedia Iranica renders it as
frawahr (this reflects the Pazend dibacheh form, corresponding to Book Pahlavi.
The
winged disc has a long history in the art and culture of the anciant Near and
Middle east. Historically, the symbol is influenced by the "winged
sun" hieroglyph appearing on Bronze Age royal seals (Luwian SUUS,
symbolizing royal power in particular). In Neo-Assyrian times, a human bust is added
to the disk, the "feather-robed archer" interpreted as symbolizing
Ashur
While
the symbol is currently thought to represent a Fravashi (a guardian angel) and
from which it derives its name, what it represented in the minds of those who
adapted it from earlier Mesopotamian and Egyptian reliefs is unclear. Because
the symbol first appears on royal inscriptions, it is also thought to represent
the 'Divine Royal Glory' (khvarenah), or the Fravashi of the king, or
represented the divine mandate that was the foundation of a king's authority.
This
relationship between the name of the symbol and the class of divine entities it
represents, reflects the current belief that the symbol represents a Fravashi.
However, there is no physical description of the Fravashis in the Avesta the
sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, and in Avestan the entities are grammatically
feminine.
In
present-day Zoroastrianism, the faravahar is said to be a reminder of one's
purpose in life, which is to live in such a way that the soul progresses
towards frasho-kereti, or union with Ahura Mazda, the supreme divinity in
Zoroastrianism. Although there are a number of interpretations of the
individual elements of the symbol, none of them are older than the 20th
century.
The Gate of all Nations, referring to subjects of
the empire, consisted of a grand hall that was a square of approximately
25 meters (82 feet) in length, with four columns and its entrance on
the Western Wall. There were two more doors, one to the south which opened to
the Apadana yard and the other opened onto a long road to the east. Pivoting
devices found on the inner corners of all the doors indicate that they were
two-leafed doors, probably made of wood and covered with sheets of ornate
metal.
A pair of Lamassus, bulls with the heads of
bearded men, stand by the western threshold. Another pair, with wings and a
Persian head (Gopät-Shäh), stands by the eastern entrance, to reflect the
Empire’s power.
Xerxes's name was written in three languages and
carved on the entrances, informing everyone that he ordered it to be built.
Kashan,
The Borujerdi House has become a famous landmark and sample of
Persian traditional residential architecture.
Kashan is a city in and the capital of kashan County, in the province of
Isfahan, Iran At the 2006 census, its population was 248,789, in 67,464
families.
The etymology of the city name comes from Kasian, the original inhabitants
of the city, whose remains are found at Tapeh Sialk dating back 9,000 years;
later this changed to Kashian, whence the town name. Between the 12th and the
14th centuries Kashan was an important centre for the production of high
quality pottery and tiles. In modern Persian, the word for a tile (kashi)
comes from the name of the town.
Khaju Bridge is arguably the finest bridge in the
province of Isfahan, Iran It was built by the Persian Safavid king, Shah Abbas
II around 1650 C.E, on the foundations of an older bridge. Serving as
both a bridge, and a dam (or a weir), it links the Khaju quarter on the north
bank with the Zoroastrian quarter across the Zayandeh River. Although
architecturally functioning as a bridge and a weir, it also served a primary
function as a building and a place for public meeting. This structure
originally was ornated with artistic tile works and paintings serving as a tea
house; In the center of the structure, a pavilion exists inside of which Shah
Abbas would have once sat, admiring the viees. Today remnants of a stone seat
is all that remains of the king's chair. This bridge highlights one of the
finest examples of Persian architecture at the height of Safavid cultural
influence in Iran. In words of Upham Pope and Jean Chardin, Khaju bridge is
"the culminating monument of Persian bridge architecture and one of the
most interesting bridges extant...where the whole has rhythm and dignity and
combines in the happiest consistency, utility, beauty, and recreation.
The
Khaju Bridge is one of the most famous bridges in Isfahan, Iran and has roused
the admiration of travelers since the 17th century. Shah Abbas II built it on
the foundations of an older bridge around 1650. It has 23 arches and is 105
meters long and 14 meters wide. It links the Khaju quarter on the north bank
with the Zoroastrian quarter across the Zayandeh River. It also functions as a
weir; the downstream side is formed as a series of steps carrying the water to
a much lower level.
Persepolis (Old Persian Pārsa, Takht-e Jamshid or
Chehel Minar) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire.
Persepolis is situated 70 km northeast of the modern city of Shiraz in the Fars
Province of modern Iran. In contemporary Persian, the site is known as Takht-e Jamshid
Jamshid). The earliest remains of Persepolis date from around 515 BCE. To the
ancient Persians, the city was known as Pārsa, which means "The City of
Persians". Persepolis is a transliteration of the Greek Πέρσης πόλις (
(Throne of Persēs polis: "Persian city").
UNESCO declared the citadel of Persepolis a World
Heritage Site in 1979.
Si-o-se Pol which means 33 Bridge or the Bridge
of 33 Arches, also called the Allah-Verdi Khan Bridge, is one of the eleven
bridges of Isfahan, Iran It is highly ranked as being one of the most famous
examples of Safavid bridge design.
Commissioned in 1602 by Shah Abbas I from his
chancellor Allahverdi Khan Undiladze, an Iranian etnic Georgian, it consists of
two rows of 33 arches. There is a larger base plank at the start of the bridge
where the Zayandeh River flows under it, supporting a tea house.
And last but not least, us in Iran.
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