Ancient Iran: Did you mean...?

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...

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...

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...

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.

Seven-bowl sweetmeat dish from Iran, 13th to 14th century. Sweetmeat dishes are notable for their infrequent presence amongst the vast array of Persian ceramic ware. Their history dates back to at least the Seljuk...

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

Ancient Persian culture exerted a powerful influence throughout the Near East, and beyond, for over a thousand years between c. 550 BCE - 651 CE and many aspects of their culture continued to influence others...

Thousands of years ago, Persians created an ingenious system to provide water across their arid landscape. They tapped aquifers at the heads of valleys and designed tunnels...

The palace of king Ardashir I (r. 224-240 CE), the founder of the Persian Sasanian Empire, was built around 224 CE opposite the city he had founded, Ardashir-Khurrah (“Glory of Ardashir”), on the bank of the western branch...

A close up of a pair of wooden doors covered with Khatam at the Royal Balcony of the Marble Throne in Golestan Palace.