#Iran Fars province

[ashitakaxsan]

Tomb Raider would be Eager for Journey in Iran.

The following article outlines the arcaeological value of Iran.And whether guys would refuse it,or not it's True:Tomb Raider would be Eager for aJourney in Iran.

Below:Our beloved action girl,and archaeologist iss in grand adventures:

Nothing can stop her.It's real wholesome:)

TEHRAN – Deep within the heart of Iran lies the awe-inspiring site of Tang-e Chogan, a captivating testament to the grandeur of the Sassanid Empire (224–651).

Visiting Tang-e Chogan (literary meaning “Chogan gorge”) is an immersive experience, allowing travelers to traverse the corridors of time and witness the grandeur of an ancient empire. The journey to this historical site involves navigating through awe-inspiring landscapes, adding to the allure of the excursion.

The site is located near Bishapur (“Shapur’s City”) of Fars province. As visitors explore the ruins, guided tours, and informational placards offer invaluable context, unraveling the mysteries of the Sassanid era. Additionally, the serene surroundings and picturesque vistas create an ambiance that transports visitors to a bygone era, making Tang-e Chogan an unforgettable destination for history enthusiasts and culture aficionados alike.

Tang-e Chogan is home to six reliefs related to Shapur I and Bahram I and II. There is also a large statue of Shapur I, which is six meters high, located in the Shapur Cave, at a height of about 700 meters from the river bed.

Furthermore, the site embraces larger and more crowded reliefs than any other Sassanid era reliefs, with three of them being more than 30 square meters in size and a body of more than 30 persons in each relief.

The first relief, which is larger and more crowded than any other one, is a scene celebrating Shapur I’s victory over the Roman Empire. Shapur I can be seen in the center of the relief riding on a horse and Gordianus’s corpse is under the feet of Shapur’s horse, Valerian’s hands are held captive in Shapur’s hand and Philip kneels in front of Shapoor’s horse and demands peace. The Persian military and officers are also behind Shapur in five rows of horses and the Roman officers and noblemen are seen in 5 rows carrying gifts and offerings in front of King Shapur I.

The second one represents the victory of King Bahram II over the Arabs. On the left is Bahram on horseback, and the Arabs are led by Iranian commanders to offer the king horses and camels.

The third bas-relief shows the ceremony of the Bahram I receiving a royal ring from Ahura Mazda. The engraving of this amazing relief is very artistic and even the wrinkles and the details of the clothes and so on are all beautifully illustrated. Everything in this relief fits in amazingly well. Even the physical details of the horse and the veins on the horse’s legs have been shown.

The fourth one depicts the scene of the victory of Bahram II over the rebels, in which the king sits on the throne in the center, while on his right side stand the Iranian commanders and soldiers with respect, and the rebels and captivates on the left. They are brought by Iranian soldiers to the presence of the king.

The fifth bas-relief located on the right side of the gorge is the most intact and complete relief among the others. It is about Shapur’s victory over the Roman Empire.

The sixth one depicts the ceremony of Shapur I receiving a royal ring from Ahura Mazda, as well as his victory in the war against the Romans. In this relief, both King and Ahura Mazda (the creator and highest deity of Zoroastrianism) are shown riding on horses and facing each other.

The Sassanid era is of very high importance in the history of Iran. Under the Sassanids, Persian art and architecture experienced a general renaissance. Architecture often took grandiose proportions, such as the palaces at Ctesiphon, Firuzabad, and Sarvestan, which are amongst the highlights of the ensemble.

Crafts such as metalwork and gem engraving grew highly sophisticated, yet scholarship was encouraged by the state. In those years, works from both the East and West were translated into Pahlavi, the language of the Sassanians.

Rock-carved sculptures and bas-reliefs on abrupt limestone cliffs are widely deemed as characteristics and striking relics of Sassanian art, top examples of which can be traced at Bishapur, Naqsh-e Rostam and Naqsh-e Rajab in southern Iran.

In 2018, UNESCO added an ensemble of Sassanian historical cities in southern Iran — titled “Sassanid Archaeological Landscape of Fars Region”-- to its World Heritage list. The ensemble comprises eight archaeological sites situated in three geographical parts of Firuzabad, Bishapur, and Sarvestan. It reflects the optimized utilization of natural topography and bears witness to the influence of Achaemenid and Parthian cultural traditions and Roman art, which later had a significant impact on the architecture and artistic styles of the Islamic era.

The Sassanid archaeological landscape also represents a highly efficient system of land use and strategic utilization of natural topography.

source: https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/493561/Tang-e-Chogan-a-peek-into-enigmatic-legacy-of-Sassanids

[wgm-beautiful-world]

ARDASHIR PAPAKAN PALACE - IRAN

[googlemapsrandomplaces]

gerash, fars province, iran

by m.y.

[wetlandsday]

IRAN - Gathering at Kamjan International Wetland.

The rehabilitated wetland of Kamjan, Fars province, Iran. On this day, the people and wetland rehablitators sit next to the wetland to discuss the continuation of the wetland rehabilitation activities, the needs of the wetland and the effects that can help its sustainability and development. Reading poetry while cleansing, holding each other's hands, they consider themselves the permanent supporters of the wetland.

Country : Iran Organizer : Kamjan International Wetland Rehabilitators (NGO), Sirous Zare

[bobemajses]

Ketubah (Jewish marriage contract) from Golpayegan, Iran, 1838

Golpayegan, which stands in Parsi for fortress of flowers and land of tulips, is one of the oldest towns in the Isfahan province. The history of its Jewish community goes back as far as 2,700 years. More than 10,000 Jews lived in Golpayegan before the Iranian revolution, forming the majority of the population and speaking a dialect known as Judeo-Golpaygani. When they arrived in Israel, their Iranian passports got confiscated and they were forbidden to return to their hometown. With no Jews left, both the numerous synagogues and the Jewish cemetery have been razed to the ground.

[ornithorynquerouge]

Tomb of Xerxes I, Fars province, Iran Naqsh-e Rostam. 521 BC

[mariacallous]

Six years ago, the Syrian regime conquered the southern province of Daraa, popularly known by millions of Syrians as the “cradle of the revolution.” That military victory represented a pivotal moment for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. After all, it was the last time the regime captured a sizable swath of opposition territory, and in doing so in July 2018, its impunity was laid bare for all the world to see. On paper, Daraa had been designated a “de-escalation zone” after months of intensive international diplomacy in which the United States had played a central role.

Despite that protected status, regime forces with heavy Russian military assistance proceeded to besiege Daraa; shell it to rubble; and after weeks of brutal violence, coerce it into surrendering. Washington’s most reliable umbrella of opposition allies, the Southern Front, was abandoned—advised to surrender by U.S. officials. Since then, the regime’s status has never been in question, as international actors have methodically backed away, fatigued and disinterested. Since that decisive moment, as far as many were concerned, Assad had won and Syria’s crisis was over, its effects contained.

In truth, Assad never “won,” —he merely survived, thanks to the consistently strong support of Russia and Iran, but also to that international disengagement. In the years since, the world’s interest in working to resolve Syria’s debilitating crisis has completely evaporated. In Washington today, the mere suggestion of doing anything more on Syria in policymaking circles draws exasperated gasps and sarcastic laughs, not attention.

And yet, in many ways, the situation in Syria is worse than it’s ever been. There are clear and sustained signs of an Islamic State recovery; a multibillion-dollar regime-linked international drugs trade; and ongoing geopolitical hostilities involving Israel, Iran, Turkey, Russia, and the United States. The regime’s grip over areas under its control has never looked more frail and unconvincing.

Southern Syria offers a notable example. Six years after bombing the cradle of the revolution into submission, Assad’s rule in the south is fraying at the seams.

While Assad and his Russian sponsor intended for the south to embody a stabilized Syria that was “cleansed” of opponents, the region has been the most consistently unstable anywhere in Syria since 2018. As documented by Syria Weekly, at least 47 people have been killed in Daraa and Suwayda provinces between mid-June and mid-July alone, in a torrent of daily assassinations, ambushes, raids, and kidnappings and hostage executions. Daraa in particular is the embodiment of lawlessness and chaos.

Beyond the crippling disorder, former opposition fighters and other local armed factions in the regime-held southern provinces of Daraa and Suwayda have grown increasingly bold in challenging the regime’s abuses in recent weeks. From mid-June to mid-July, armed fighters—most of them former opposition—have kidnapped at least 25 Syrian military officers in retaliation for the regime’s arbitrary arrest of civilians from their areas. The hostages have then been successfully used as leverage to force the regime into releasing the civilian detainees. Never before has the regime been so consistently challenged and forced to submit.

Local armed factions that on paper are considered “reconciled” have now also taken to launching direct attacks on the Assad regime’s military checkpoints and buildings in retaliation for abuses. For example, when a Syrian woman from the Daraa town of Inkhil was detained while trying to renew her passport in Damascus on July 10, former opposition fighters in Inkhil launched coordinated attacks on three regime checkpoints and the local intelligence headquarters. When regime forces fired back, including with mortars and artillery, local fighters ambushed a regime armored vehicle arriving as reinforcement, destroying it with rocket-propelled grenades. Later that day, the woman was released.

Next door in the province of Suwayda, where locals have now held more than 330 days of consecutive protests demanding Assad’s downfall, regime forces unexpectedly established a new security checkpoint at the main entrance to the provincial capital on June 23. Within hours, at least six local armed factions had mobilized and launched attacks on regime positions, engaging in 48 hours of heavy fighting that drew in regime reinforcements from Damascus.

By June 25, the regime had been forced to back down, reverting the heavily fortified checkpoint into a post with no local authority. Such a direct challenge to regime security policy was remarkable, particularly for a province that never fell under opposition control.

That incident generated considerable regional attention, highlighting the regime’s capitulation. This may explain why one of the most prominent anti-regime armed group leaders in Suwayda, who had commanded many of the above-mentioned attacks, was assassinated in his home at dawn on July 17. Murhaj Jarmani, who went popularly by Abu Ghaith, was shot in the head through his living room window by a hit man equipped with a silencer. His wife had been in their home, but never even heard the shot.

During the same month-long time period, local armed groups in southern Syria have also kidnapped four regime intelligence operatives accused of a variety of abuses, including murder, torture, and organized crime. All four were themselves tortured, forced to confess to their crimes on camera, and then executed—their confession videos then disseminated locally and on social media. On top of that, the right-hand man of Daraa’s infamous military intelligence chief Luay al-Ali was assassinated in the heart of the provincial capital on July 13. The target, known commonly as Abu Luqman, had reportedly overseen nearly a decade of torture in Daraa’s largest detainee holding and interrogation facility.

Insights like these offer a glimpse into the true reality of regime rule in the 14th year of Syria’s crisis. Far from consolidating control, Assad’s authority appears to be crumbling. Meanwhile, the regime continues to fail in its intermittent effort to challenge a resurgent Islamic State. In the past month alone, at least 69 regime security force personnel have been killed in near-daily Islamic State attacks across Syria’s central desert. And that’s amid a month-long regime “clearance operation” against the jihadi group. Meanwhile, Assad’s senior advisor Luna al-Shibl died on June 3 in a mysterious car crash that some believe was an inside job, while a core backbone of the regime economy, Mohammad Bara Qaterji, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on June 15. And so much more.

Despite facing a regime so notorious for stopping short of nothing to eradicate opposition, the people of southern Syria appear to have had enough. From Suwayda’s nearly year-long popular uprising to the recent trend for local fighters to directly challenge regime abuses and security policy, this does not look anything like a resolved crisis, but rather an evolving and potentially escalating one, once again.

[rabbitcruiser]

Alaska (No. 4)

The state is bordered by Canada's Yukon and British Columbia to the east (making it the only state to only border a Canadian territory); the Gulf of Alaska and the Pacific Ocean to the south and southwest; the Bering Sea, Bering Strait, and Chukchi Sea to the west; and the Arctic Ocean to the north. Alaska's territorial waters touch Russia's territorial waters in the Bering Strait, as the Russian Big Diomede Island and Alaskan Little Diomede Island are only 3 miles (4.8 km) apart. Alaska has a longer coastline than all the other U.S. states combined. Alaska's size compared with the 48 contiguous states (Albers equal-area conic projection)

At 663,268 square miles (1,717,856 km2) in total area, Alaska is by far the largest state in the United States. Alaska is more than twice the size of the second-largest U.S. state (Texas), and it is larger than the next three largest states (Texas, California, and Montana) combined. Alaska is the seventh largest subnational division in the world. If it was an independent nation, it would be the 18th largest country in the world; almost the same size as Iran.

With its myriad of islands, Alaska has nearly 34,000 miles (55,000 km) of tidal shoreline. The Aleutian Islands chain extends west from the southern tip of the Alaska Peninsula. Many active volcanoes are found in the Aleutians and in coastal regions. Unimak Island, for example, is home to Mount Shishaldin, which is an occasionally smoldering volcano that rises to 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above the North Pacific. The chain of volcanoes extends to Mount Spurr, west of Anchorage on the mainland. Geologists have identified Alaska as part of Wrangellia, a large region consisting of multiple states and Canadian provinces in the Pacific Northwest, which is actively undergoing continent building.

One of the world's largest tides occurs in Turnagain Arm, just south of Anchorage, where tidal differences can be more than 35 feet (10.7 m).

Alaska has more than 409,000 natural lakes at least one hectare or bigger. Marshlands and wetland permafrost cover 188,320 square miles (487,700 km2) (mostly in northern, western and southwest flatlands). Glacier ice covers about 28,957 square miles (75,000 km2) of Alaska. The Bering Glacier is the largest glacier in North America, covering 2,008 square miles (5,200 km2) alone.

Source: Wikipedia

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia, a US-designated terrorist organization that has disrupted global shipping to display its support for Palestinians in the Gaza conflict, is now offering a place for students suspended from US universities after staging pro-Hamas, anti-Israeli protests.

For more than two weeks, university students have been amassing in the hundreds at a growing number of schools, taking over sections of campuses by setting up “Gaza Solidarity Encampments” and refusing to leave unless administrators condemn and boycott Israel. Footage of the protests has shown demonstrators chanting in support of Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist organization that Israel is fighting in Gaza; calling for the destruction of Israel; and even threatening to harm members of the Jewish community on campus. In many cases, activists have also lambasted the US and Western civilization more broadly.

The protests initially erupted across the US but have since spread to university campuses around the world, primarily in the West.

Many of the schools, including Ivy League Columbia University in New York City, have called in police to quell the protests.

“We are serious about welcoming students that have been suspended from US universities for supporting Palestinians,” an official at Sanaa University, which is run by the Houthis, told Reuters. “We are fighting this battle with Palestine in every way we can.”

Sanaa University had issued a statement applauding the “humanitarian” position of the students in the United States and said they could continue their studies in Yemen.

“The board of the university condemns what academics and students of US and European universities are being subjected to, suppression of freedom of expression,” the board of the university said in a statement, which included an email address for any students wanting to take up their offer.

The US and Britain returned the Houthi militia to a list of terrorist groups this year as their attacks on vessels in and around the Red Sea hurt global economies. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a televised speech on Friday that the terrorist group will target ships heading to Israeli ports in any area that is within their range.

“We will target any ships heading to Israeli ports in the Mediterranean Sea in any area we are able to reach,” he said.

The rebel movement — whose slogan is “death to America, death to Israel, curse the Jews, and victory to Islam” — has also claimed responsibility for attempted drone and missile strikes targeting Israel.

The Houthi’s offer of an education for US students sparked a wave of sarcasm by ordinary Yemenis on social media. One social media user posted a photograph of two Westerners chewing Yemen’s widely-used narcotic leaf Qat. He described the scene as American students during their fifth year at Sanaa University.

In a similar move to the Houthis earlier this week, the head of a major Iranian university reportedly offered scholarships to students expelled from US and European universities over the anti-Israel protests, which have involved students and faculty holding unauthorized demonstrations, occupying school buildings, and in some cases blocking Jews from entering parts of campus.

Mohammad Moazzeni, who runs Shiraz University in the Fars province, made the announcement to show “solidarity” with the anti-Israel agitators.

[heavensdoorways]

Gate of All Nations The Gate of Xerxes -UNESCO World Heritage (r. 486 – 465 BC) Persepolis - IRAN

The bronze trumpets that once signaled the arrival of important foreign delegations to Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the mighty Achaemenid Empire, may now be silent, but it is still possible to capture the sense of awe while visiting the colossal Gate of Xerxes.

Built during the reign of Achaemenid king Xerxes I , who called this his Gate of All Nations, the pillared entrance is guarded by bearded and hoofed mythical figures in the style of Assyrian gate-guards.

On arrival at Persepolis one is confronted by an imposing wall, completely smooth and plain, about 15 meters tall: this is the artificial terrace on which the palaces were built. This vast terrace of Persepolis, some 450 meters long and 300 meters wide, was originally fortified on three sides by a tall wall. The only access was from the monumental staircase, which leads to the Gate of All Nations.

The gateway bears a cuneiform inscription in Old Persian, Neo-Babylonian, and Elamite languages declaring, among other things, that Xerxes is responsible for the construction of this and many beautiful wonders in Persia. Centuries of graffitists have also left their mark, including explorer Henry Morton Stanley.

A pair of colossal bulls guarded the western entrance; two man-bulls stood at the eastern doorway. Engraved above each of the four colossi is a trilingual inscription attesting to Xerxes having built and completed the gate. The doorway on the south, opening toward the Apadana, is the widest of the three.

According to sources, pivoting devices found on the inner corners of all the doors indicate that they must have had two-leaved doors, which were probably made of wood and covered with sheets of ornamented metal.

Persepolis, also known as Takht-e Jamshid, whose magnificent ruins rest at the foot of Kuh-e Rahmat ("Mountain of Mercy"), was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire. It is situated 60 kilometers northeast of the city of Shiraz in Fars Province.

Persepolis was the seat of the government of the Achaemenid Empire, though it was designed primarily to be a showplace and spectacular center for the receptions and festivals of the kings and their empire.

The royal city ranks among the archaeological sites which have no equivalent, considering its unique architecture, urban planning, construction technology, and art.

The city was burnt by Alexander in 330 BC apparently as revenge to the Persians

The immense terrace of Persepolis was begun about 518 BC by Darius the Great, the Achaemenid Empire’s king. On this terrace, successive kings erected a series of architecturally stunning palatial buildings, among them the massive Apadana palace and the Throne Hall (“Hundred-Column Hall”).

This 13-ha ensemble of majestic approaches, monumental stairways, throne rooms (Apadana), reception rooms, and dependencies is classified among the world’s greatest archaeological sites.

[coochiequeens]

All of these stories about femicide are within the last week.

On Jan. 9, Liliana Concha Perez was found dead in Durham alongside her former boyfriend, who was described by Perez's family as jealous, possessive and obsessive. On Jan. 24, an argument between María Teresa Meraz-Cruz and her boyfriend, Miguel Angel Ventura, ended in Ventura killing her in a murder-suicide. On Feb. 7, police arrested Tammy Lynn Hodges’s husband after she was found dead inside her home.

These women are just three recent examples of a tragic, yet growing, epidemic in North Carolina: femicide.

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Sherele counts female victims of violence. This is what she wants you to know

Violence against women is on the rise, and one of the key sources of up-to-date victim data is a lone journalist, not a government body.

Thirty-four Australian women have been killed by violence  so far this year.

This figure wasn't put calculated by a government body or advocacy organisation; it was collated by journalist Sherele Moody.

During her 27 years in the media, Moody has won accolades for her reporting and research, which has involved verifying and cataloguing women and children who have died in violent incidents.

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Last summer, Belgium adopted a pioneering European law on femicide, which aims to make up for lost time in collecting data on gender-based violence. However, feminist associations fear that it will not be enough to effectively curb the problem.

Théo Anberrée, Agathe Decleire – Le Soir April 30th, 2024

Their names were Laurence, Ingrid, Marie-Anne and Stéphanie. All four died this year in Belgium at the hands of their husbands. They were victims of femicide, i.e. the murder of a woman because she is a woman.

Like those women, more than 14,143 women were intentionally killed in Europe between 2012 and 2022. At least 4,334 died at the hands of their partner, and 2,472 at the hands of a family member. These are the numbers taken from Eurostat statistics, supplemented and studied by fifteen European media partners of EDJNet, including Le Soir.

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Samira Akbari, a 35-year-old woman, lost her life at the hands of her ex-husband in the city of Bardeskan, Razavi Khorasan province.

Having separated from her husband three years prior, Samira was murdered in a horrifying act of violence.

According to a report by the human rights organization Hengaw, Samira Akbari was fatally attacked by her ex-husband, Mohammad Zahedi.

Samira, who was also the custodian of their children, fell victim to this assault.

Although Zahedi was apprehended following the incident, detailed information regarding his motive remains undisclosed.

Samira Akbari's case adds to a disturbing trend of femicide in Razavi Khorasan province, marking the seventh such incident in the past four months.

The human rights organization "Hengaw" revealed in a report that over the last hundred days, at least 50 cases of femicide have been documented across various cities in Iran.

Twenty percent of these cases were driven by so-called "honor" motives.

Shargh newspaper, in a report citing official statistics last year, reported that in less than two years, at least 165 women in Iran were killed by a male member of their family, 41 of which were in and around the capital, Tehran.

Eleven months on from her shocking disappearance, the investigation into Cecilia Strzyzowski’s suspected femicide in Chaco Province has been sent to trial.

The case, which rocked politics in the northern region, was referred for oral trial proceedings by the special investigative team probing the missing 28-year-old’s death.

Juan Martín Bogado, Jorge Cáceres Olivera and Nelia Velázquez, of the EFE Special Prosecution Team of Chaco Province, on Tuesday deemed the pre-trial investigation over and a jury trial for the defendants.

Strzyzowski’s former partner, César Sena, is accused of carrying out the murder, which prosecutors say was aggravated by their relationship and in a context of gender-based violence.

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In August 2023, in Gradacac, a small town in Bosnia-Herzegovina (B-H), Nermin Sulejmanović brutally murdered his ex-wife, Nizama Hecimovic, during a live stream, with their child in the room. On the morning of August 11th, the bodybuilder started the live stream with the chilling words that viewers were about to witness a murder. Having killed his wife, Sulejmanović went on to kill two other people before committing suicide.

Over 10,000 people watched the live stream, some even encouraging the violence. The victim had reported the perpetrator to the official institutions, which decided to ignore his previous violence. Indeed, in the live video Sulejmanović cited the fact that she had reported him as a reason for the killing.

In B-H, one in two women has experienced violence since turning 15. Violence against women, particularly in the home, remains a pervasive social issue. Despite the advocacy efforts of non-governmental organisations to enhance legal protection for women against violence in public and private domains, it continues to enjoy alarmingly wide social acceptance.

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[ashitakaxsan]

They achieved the impossible!

TEHRAN – It took 45 years for a Sassanid-era (224–651) petroglyph to be deciphered, ILNA reported on Saturday.

Forty-five years after its discovery in Naqsh-e Rostam, a royal rock-hewn necropolis in southern Fars province, the Sassanid petroglyph has been translated, Iranian archaeologist Abolhassan Atabaki said.

Raising goats in pastures is the subject of the petroglyph, he mentioned.

The petroglyph also mentions a nearby hydro structure that the residents of the region used for drinking and cattle water, he noted.

This rock drawing is one of the most important and largest petroglyphs discovered by the archaeologists during their previous survey of the area, he explained.

The petroglyph has been homogenized by rainwater because it was exposed to the open air, causing a large number of limestone sediments to slowly form a layer of the upper surface, resulting in the destruction of stone inscriptions, and the loss of parts of the letters, he added.

One of the wonders of the ancient world, Naqsh-e Rostam, is home to spectacular massive rock-hewn tombs and bas-relief carvings. Moreover, it embraces four tombs where Persian Achaemenid kings are laid to rest, believed to be those of Darius II, Artaxerxes I, Darius I, and Xerxes I (from left to right facing the cliff), although some historians are still debating this.

The Achaemenid necropolis is situated near Persepolis, itself a bustling UNESCO World Heritage site near the southern city of Shiraz. Naqsh-e Rostam, meaning “Picture of Rostam” is named after a mythical Iranian hero who is most celebrated in Shahnameh and Persian mythology. Back in time, natives of the region had erroneously supposed that the carvings below the tombs represent depictions of the mythical hero.

There are stunning bas-relief carvings above the tomb chambers that are similar to those at Persepolis, with the kings standing on thrones supported by figures representing the subject nations below. There are also two similar graves situated on the premises of Persepolis probably belonging to Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III.

Beneath the funerary chambers are dotted with seven Sassanian eras (224–651) bas-reliefs cut into the cliff depict vivid scenes of imperial conquests and royal ceremonies; signboards below each relief give a detailed description in English.

At the foot of Naqsh-e Rostam, in the direction of the cliff face, stands a square building known as Ka’beh-ye Zardusht, meaning Kaaba of Zoroaster. The building, which is roughly 12 meters high and seven meters square, probably was constructed in the first half of the 6th century BC, although it bears a variety of inscriptions from later periods. Though the Ka’beh-ye Zardusht is of great linguistic interest, its original purpose is not clear. It may have been a tomb for Achaemenian royalty or some sort of altar, perhaps to the goddess Anahiti, also called Anahita believed to be associated with royalty, war, and fertility.

In many ways, Iran under Sassanian rule witnessed tremendous achievements in Persian civilization. Experts say that the art and architecture of the nation experienced a general renaissance during Sassanid rule. In that era, crafts such as metalwork and gem engraving grew highly sophisticated, as scholarship was encouraged by the state; many works from both the East and West were translated into Pahlavi, the official language of the Sassanians.

Of all the material remains of the era, only coins constitute a continuous chronological sequence throughout the whole period of the dynasty. Such Sassanian coins have the name of the king for whom they were struck inscribed in Pahlavi, which permits scholars to date them quite closely.

The legendary wealth of the Sassanian court is fully confirmed by the existence of more than one hundred examples of bowls or plates of precious metal known at present. One of the finest examples is the silver plate with partial gilding in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The dynasty was destroyed by Arab invaders during a span from 637 to 651.

The ancient region, known as Pars (Fars), or Persis, was the heart of the Achaemenid Empire founded by Cyrus the Great and had its capital in Pasargadae. Darius I the Great moved the capital to nearby Persepolis in the late 6th or early 5th century BC. Alexander the Great defeated the Achaemenian army at Arbela in 331 and burned Persepolis apparently as revenge against the Persians because it seems the Persian King Xerxes had burnt the Greek City of Athens around 150 years earlier.

Persis became part of the Seleucid kingdom in 312 after Alexander’s death. The Parthian empire (247 BC– 224 CE) of the Arsacids (corresponding roughly to the modern Khorasan in Iran) replaced the Seleucids' rule in Persis during 170–138 BC. The Sasanid Empire (224 CE–651) had its capital at Istkhr. Not until the 18th century, under the Zand dynasty (1750–79) of southern Iran, did Fars again become the heart of an empire.

Source:https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/483667/Sassanid-petroglyph-deciphered-after-45-years

[wgm-beautiful-world]

NASIR AL-MULK MOSQUE - (Pink Mosque) - Fars Province, Shiraz, IRAN

[dailyanarchistposts]

Traversing a century of revolution, counter-revolution, and regime change in Iran, Arya Zahedi traces out the social, political, and ideological tensions that continuously push the country toward the brink of insurrection.

***

It has been forty-five years since the mass revolution that overthrew the dictatorship of Muhammad Reza Shah and led to the establishment of the Islamic Republic. And it has been over a year now since the 2022 murder of Jina “Mahsa” Amini by the “guidance patrol” set off an insurrectionary uprising large enough to draw comparisons with the revolution of 1979.[1] While talk of the imminent fall of the Islamic Republic now seems premature, the situation is far from the image of order and stability that the state would like to put forth. The past year has seen the state respond with great repression, including show trials ending in executions for participants in the riots. Workers from a variety of sectors have been sacked. As the anniversary of the uprising approached, families of those killed during the riots and those executed were forbidden to hold commemorations. Yet actions continue nationwide. Strikes and demonstrations have been constant, while violent confrontations in the provinces have continued to recur, albeit at a lower degree of intensity. Far from being a sign of strength, the severity of the repression demonstrates just how fragile the situation remains.

Anyone can see that last year’s uprising was about much more than dress codes. It was a product of deep contradictions within the system itself. Revolts have occurred in Iran every year for the past decade. While much of this turbulence is rooted in the particular system in Iran, it must also be situated within the more general social crisis of the global capitalist system. The social causes that provoked last year’s explosion are still present, forming a crisis that cannot be overcome and will, in all likelihood, only become more severe. Not only have such explosions become more frequent, they also are increasing in both scope and depth. Nevertheless, the latest explosion was indeed a turning point. Previously distinct sources of discontent and issues of importance have begun to flow together into a single stream, allowing the totality of the system to be called into question. Whether the Islamic Republic will survive another year or ten years, no one can predict. What is certain is not only that another explosion is inevitable, but that an authentic revolutionary movement and culture has meanwhile reawakened and now exists in Iran today. What we are seeing are not isolated, spontaneous, or random explosions, but a response to the profound alienation and dispossession of an ever-larger mass of people. It may not have the formalities of revolutionary movements of the past, but perhaps we should let some of those go.

The current revolutionary struggle is not only important to the future of Iran but will have consequences for the wider region. As it was during the last decade of the Shah’s regime, the Islamic Republic has grown to be an important participant in inter-imperialist rivalries. As present conflicts in the Middle East threaten to generalize into a broader war, it is important to understand the Iranian regime, what constitutes it, and how it relates to the broader imperialist orbit. At the same time that it is engaged in a revolutionary struggle against “its own” government, the Iranian working class is caught in the crossfire of a potential inter-imperialist war. As the so-called “proxy wars” between Iran and the US/Israel (of which the assault on Gaza is but one theater) threaten to generalize into a broader war, the revolutionary struggle takes on importance for not just Iran but the entire politics of the region, just as the events in the surrounding region impact what goes on inside Iran.

While imperialism is often discussed in relation to Iran and the Middle East, this is usually framed in a unidirectional manner, concerned primarily with external domination. Less attended to is the relation between external imperialist domination, on the one hand, and the internal class conflicts, on the other. But it is precisely this relation between the internal and external that proves most illuminating.

[beardedmrbean]

At least 28 Pakistani pilgrims travelling to Iraq for a Shiite Muslim ritual were killed as their bus crashed in central Iran, state media reported early Wednesday.

"A bus carrying 51 Pakistani pilgrims overturned and caught fire in front of Dehshir-Taft checkpoint in the central province of Yazd on Tuesday night," Iranian state television reported.

It said "28 people have been killed and 23 injured so far with the possibility of the death toll increasing".

Yazd province crisis management chief Ali Malek-zadeh told the broadcaster that some of the injured were in critical condition.

"Of the 23 injured, six have already been discharged from hospital, while the condition of seven others is critical," Malek-zadeh said.

"The dead consisted of 11 women and 17 men," he added.

Head of Iran traffic police, Teymour Hosseini, cited "technical failure in the brake system" and the "high inclination of the road" as the reasons for the crash.

The Iranian and Pakistani foreign ministries expressed their condolences and sympathies to the families of the bereaved.

Pakistan's Foreign Office further said the consul of Pakistan in Zahedan has been asked to visit the accident site to ensure medical relief to the injured and arrange the repatriation of the dead bodies to Pakistan.

Most of the victims are residents of Pakistan's southeastern Sindh province where the bus journey began.

Syed Sultan Ali, the brother of the tour operator, told AFP: "My older brother Syed Shamsi has been running this service since 2010, and it has always gone so well. We have been deeply upset since last night."

He added that his brother is "unhurt" because he was travelling in a separate vehicle.

The Pakistani pilgrims were headed through Iran to Iraq to attend the Arbaeen commemoration, one of the biggest events of the Shiite calendar which marks the 40th day of mourning for Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed.

Last year, some 22 million pilgrims attended the commemoration in the Iraqi shrine city of Karbala, where Hussein and his brother Abbas are buried, according to official figures.

[pure-ablution]

You HAVE to tell us how she bagged a Persian billionaire

The fiancé’s net worth will remain undisclosed, mostly because I don’t actually know and Zoya won’t tell me. I don’t think he’s a billionaire, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if I was proven wrong on that front.

First up, Zoya is the exception, so jot that down. Her existence constantly reminds me that I’m not the exception, and neither are you. She’s stunningly beautiful, fiendishly clever, charming beyond measure and mildly unhinged. She’s ruthless, she’s not afraid of roughing it in times of trouble, and she’s followed some of the most creative and unconventional paths in order to get what she wants and feels she needs. Zoya isn’t afraid of taking risks, and she never has been, right from when we were both kids, because she knows that she’ll always get away with it.

Zoya fits into a niche, and she’s perfected it. She used the boys back home for practice, so that when she arrived in France, she already had enough experience and connections to be able to hit the ground running and work with what she already knew to be her home turf. She dated within a niche and she did very well for herself, she knew how to be the perfect Persian princess from the Old Country and play up to parental pressure, and she never once dabbled outside of that niche because it would mean changing up what was proven to work so, so well for her. She embodies traditional beauty standards and she knows every last line of the Shahnameh, she can cook all the best dishes and dance in the old way, and she gives diasporan men a taste of what they never had, a romanticisation of the roots they’ve never once reached.

Zoya spins the truth, but she rarely lies. She takes risks, but she knows just how far to take them. She ignores all of the modern-day bother surrounding Iran and claims her homeland as the Shah’s country. Even though we’re actually from an entirely different province, and several hours away from Alasht, it doesn’t stop her telling stories of a childhood on the coast of the Caspian. She pulls on the nostalgia for a country that never really was, and she does it so well that I catch myself half-believing her. Zoya has always taken risks and climbed higher than the rest of us; she applied for scholarships abroad and she got them, she used every last connection she had to get herself to France, and once she was there, she just pressed play. I don’t think that she would have done as well anywhere else—anywhere else in Europe wouldn’t have worked for her, and America would have put up too much of a fight—but I’m sure that she knows this much better than me. Nothing Zoya does is without extremely careful, calculated consideration.

Zoya protects her reputation with her life. She’s much more careful than I am. She left home and she left that life completely behind; she doesn’t keep in contact with her old friends spare for a card here and there, and she’s never breathed a word about what it was like for her growing up. She’s also a supreme gatekeeper, and even I don’t know half of her secrets, or exactly what work she’s had done. She’s kept herself in her own apartment and refuses to move in with him until after the wedding, she meets with him on her terms and often fails to pick up his calls, she tells everyone that she’s a virgin and a completely natural beauty, and she refuses point-blank to even look at the press. Zoya loves to treat them mean to keep them keen, and I have to say, it’s worked for her; her man runs panting after her, and he’ll do anything for her if she’ll only ask.

It hasn’t been a typical path for Zoya, and she’s had to deviate from the playbook quite a bit in her time, but at the end of the day, she knows that she’s won and so does everyone else. She’s 24, engaged to be married to someone who is utterly besotted with her, and exactly where she wants to be at this point in time. She has a hell of a career under her belt and she won’t be giving it up for anyone, and she’s living exactly the life that she’s always dreamt of. Zoya doesn’t believe in settling for anything less, and she’s one of the rare few who are actually entitled to do that, but for the rest of us mere mortals, I don’t think that looking to my big sister serves as anything except a reminder that we’re not her. I know for a fact that I’m not; I’m nowhere near pretty, intelligent, or just plain hard enough to take on what she’s taken so readily, and frankly, I don’t think I’d want to. Zoya has sacrificed love for the sake of what she believes to be greater things, and although I respect her for that, I know, deep down, that I couldn’t hack it, and I’d probably never be given the chance.