History of IranThe history of Iran is intertwined with the history of a larger region known as Greater Iran, comprising the area from Anatolia in the west to the Indus river and the Syr Darya in the east, and from the Caucasus and the Eurasian Steppe in the north to the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman in the south. Central to this area is Iran, commonly known until the mid-20th century as Persia in the Western world. Iran is home to one of the world's oldest continuous major civilizations, with historical and urban settlements dating back to 4000 BC.
HaomaHaoma (ˈhoʊmə; Avestan: 𐬵𐬀𐬊𐬨𐬀) is a divine plant in Zoroastrianism and in later Persian culture and mythology. Haoma has its origins in Indo-Iranian religion and is the cognate of Vedic soma. Both Avestan haoma and Sanskrit soma derived from proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma. The linguistic root of the word haoma, hu-, and of soma, su-, suggests 'press' or 'pound'. In Old Persian cuneiform it was known as 𐏃𐎢𐎶 hauma, as in the DNa inscription (c. 490 BC) which makes reference to "haoma-drinking Scythians" (Sakā haumavargā).
Old PersianOld Persian is one of two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of the Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as ariya (Iranian). Old Persian is close to both Avestan and the language of the Rig Veda, the oldest form of the Sanskrit language. All three languages are highly inflected. Old Persian appears primarily in the inscriptions, clay tablets and seals of the Achaemenid era (c.
Avestan alphabetThe Avestan alphabet (Middle Persian: transliteration: dyn' dpywryh, transcription: dēn dēbīrē, دین دبیره) is a writing system developed during Iran's Sasanian era (226–651 CE) to render the Avestan language. As a side effect of its development, the script was also used for Pazend, a method of writing Middle Persian that was used primarily for Zend commentaries on the texts of the Avesta. In the texts of Zoroastrian tradition, the alphabet is referred to as "the religion's script" (dēn dibīrih in Middle Persian and din dabireh in New Persian).
CharaceneCharacene (Ancient Greek: Χαρακηνή), also known as Mesene (Μεσσήνη) or Meshan, was a kingdom founded by the Iranian Hyspaosines located at the head of the Persian Gulf mostly within modern day Iraq. Its capital, Charax Spasinou (Χάραξ Σπασινού), was an important port for trade between Mesopotamia and India, and also provided port facilities for the city of Susa further up the Karun River. The kingdom was frequently a vassal of the Parthian Empire. Characene was mainly populated by Arabs, who spoke Aramaic as their cultural language.
LazicaLazica (ეგრისი, Egrisi; ლაზიკა, Laziǩa; Λαζική, Lazikí; لازستان, Lâzestân; Եգեր, Yeger) was the Latin name given to the territory of Colchis during the Roman/Byzantine period, from about the 1st century BC. By the mid-3rd century, Lazica was given partial autonomy within the Roman Empire and developed into kingdom. Throughout much of its existence, it was mainly a Byzantine strategic vassal kingdom that briefly came under Sasanian Persian rule during the Lazic War. The kingdom fell to the Muslim conquest in the 7th century.
Lakhmid kingdomThe Lakhmid dynasty (اللخميون), referred to in Arabic as al-Manādhirah (المناذرة, romanized as: ) or Banu Lakhm (بنو لخم, romanized as: ), was an Arab kingdom in Southern Iraq and Eastern Arabia, with al-Hirah as their capital, from the late 3rd century to 602 CE. They were generally but intermittently the allies and clients of the Sasanian Empire, and participant in the Roman–Persian Wars. While the term "Lakhmids" has also been applied to the ruling dynasty, more recent scholarship prefers to refer to the latter as the Naṣrids.
HarranHarran (Sumerian: Ḫarrānu; Ḥaran; Ḥaran) is a rural town and district of Urfa in southeastern Turkey. It is approximately southeast of Urfa and from the Syrian border crossing at Akçakale. Harran was founded at some point between the 25th and 20th centuries BC, possibly as a merchant colony by Sumerian traders from Ur. Over the course of its early history, Harran rapidly grew into a major Mesopotamian cultural, commercial and religious center.
Safavid dynastyThe Safavid dynasty ('sæfəvɪd,_ˈsɑː-; Dudmâne Safavi, d̪uːd̪ˈmɒːne sæfæˈviː) was one of Iran's most significant ruling dynasties reigning from 1501 to 1736. Their rule is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of the gunpowder empires. The Safavid Shāh Ismā'īl I established the Twelver denomination of Shīʿa Islam as the official religion of the Persian Empire, marking one of the most important turning points in the history of Islam.
IranIran, also known as Persia and officially as the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a country located in West Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan to the north, by Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east, and by the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to the south. It covers an area of , making it the 17th-largest country. With an estimated population of 86.8 million, Iran is the 17th-most populous country, and the second largest in the Middle East.
