Ancient Iran: Did you mean...?

The term 'mythology' comes from the Greek mythos (story-of-the-people) and logos (word or speech), meaning the spoken story of a people. Every civilization of the ancient world developed a belief system, which is characterized as 'mythology'...

Tepe Sialk is an archeological site (a tepe, "hill, tell") near Kashan in central Iran consisting of two hills with six main phases of occupation. The oldest settlements in Sialk date to around 6000–5500 BCE while the ziggurat was constructed...

Painted brick from Baba Jan, Luristan, Iron Age III, c. 850 to 550 BCE. National Museum of Iran, inv. no. 6735 This terracotta tile with a painted wheel is one of the c. 200 mural bricks that once decorated the “ceremonial rooms” of the...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Ruins of the Ziggurat from Tepe Sialk, Iran.

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...

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...