Ancient Iran: Did you mean...?

Seal impression from Nushi Jan Castle Complex, c. 650 BCE. National Museum of Iran, Tehran, inv. no. 13145. Median art has few remaining examples and almost none that seem free from the impacts of its regional predecessors and contemporaries...

View of the east side of the ziggurat of Chogha Zanbil with the southeastern stairway which provided access to the first terrace. Chogha Zanbil is a magnificent, 3300-year-old ancient Elamite complex located 30 kilometres south-east of the...

Neolithic clay goddess from Tappah Sarab, Kermanshah, 7000-6100 BCE. Clay figurines of female bodies with exaggerated reproductive organs are among the most common features of prehistoric sculpted art. With famous examples from Venus of...

The castle of Alamut, Qazvin, Iran, one-time castle of the Assassins (aka Nizari Ismailis) before their destruction at the hands of the Mongols in the 1250s CE.

The Minaret of the Friday Mosque, Saveh, Iran (1110 CE).

The remains of the Temple of Anahita at Kangavar, Iran. The temple was a major sanctuary erected to the goddess of waters and fertility who was worshipped in ancient Persia alongside Ahura Mazda. Dating back to the Seleucid or Parthian eras...

The Shushtar Hydraulic System is a Sasanian era (3rd century CE) water irrigation system in Shushtar in Iran that included watermills, dams, tunnels and canals. The mills, one of which is still functioning, were used to grind wheat and barley...

Early Sasanian bridge (Kavar bridge) spanning the Qara Aqaj River near Firuzabad in Iran. It was built in the 3rd century CE, possibly by Romans who were taken captive during the campaigns of Shapur I (r. 240-270 CE).

Rock carving in Bisotun (Iran) from the Seleucid era depicting Hercules lying on the back of the lion skin and holding a bowl in his left hand. According to its Greek inscription it was carved in 148 BCE and dedicated to a local Seleucid...

Qal’eh Dokhar was built by Ardašīr I as a “barrier fortress” during his 3rd century founding of the Sasanian Empire in Iran. The fortress’s third floor housed his royal residence but was eventually supplanted by a greater palace he built...