Ancient Iran: Did you mean...?

Bronze figurine with Babylonian cuneiform inscription found in Luristan Province, c. 1000-900 BCE (Iron Age II), National Museum of Iran, Tehran, inv. no. 1408. Photo by Neda Tehrani (Baloot Noghrei) The cultural influence of Mesopotamia...

A Tower of Silence, Yazd, Iran. These structures are used in Zoroastrianism when the dead are exposed to scavengers.

Chogha Zanbil is a magnificent, 3300-year-old ancient Elamite complex located 30 kilometres (18 miles) south-east of the ancient city of Susa in the Khuzestan province of western Iran. The principal element of this complex is an enormous...

Meybod is a desert city in the Yazd Province of Iran. It is an ancient city that goes back to the pre-Islamic era. In its stands Narin Castle, a mud-brick fort said to date from the time of the Achaemenids, although most of what can be seen...

This was part of a frieze depicting rows of guards. The vivid colors show how the carved stone sculptures would have looked when they were painted. The guards were thought to be members of the 10,000 special royal guards. They were said to...

Ruins of the Ziggurat from Tepe Sialk, Iran.

The Tomb of Cyrus the Great is the final resting place of Cyrus II (d. 530 BCE), the first king of the Achaemenid Empire. It is located in Pasargadae, an archaeological site in the Fars Province of Iran.

The Stone Lion of Hamadan, which once had a twin, was part of the old gate of the city of Ecbatana in Persia (modern-day Iran). According to some accounts, the lions were built upon the order of Alexander the Great (r. 336-323 BCE) to commemorate...

Bishapur was a Sasanian city in the Fars region of Iran, located on the road that connected the Sasanian capitals of Istakhr (close to Persepolis) and Ctesiphon. It was built near a river crossing in 266 CE on the orders of King Shapur I...

Yazd is the capital of Yazd Province in Iran. Nicknamed the "City of Windcatchers", Yazd is well known for its Zoroastrian fire temples, ab anbars (cisterns), qanats (underground channels) and yakhchals (coolers). Since 2017, the historical...