Sasanian EmpireThe Sasanian Empire (səˈsɑːniən,_səˈseɪniən), officially known as Eranshahr ("Land/Empire of the Iranians"), was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th–8th centuries AD. Named after the House of Sasan, it endured for over four centuries, from 224 to 651 AD, making it the longest-lived Persian imperial dynasty. The Sasanian Empire succeeded the Parthian Empire, and re-established the Persians as a major power in late antiquity alongside its neighbouring arch-rival, the Roman Empire (after 395 the Byzantine Empire).
AhvazAhvaz (Ahvâz ʔæhˈvɒːz) is a city in the Central District of Ahvaz County, Khuzestan province, Iran, and serves as capital of the county, the district, and the province. It is home to Persians, Arabs, Bakhtiaris, Dezfulis, Shushtaris, and others. Languages spoken in the area include Persian and Arabic, as well as of Luri (Bakhtiari), Dezfuli, Shushtari, and others. Ahvaz's population is about 1,300,000 and its built-up area with the nearby town of Sheybani is home to 1,136,989 inhabitants.
Church of the EastThe Church of the East ( ʿĒḏtā d-Maḏenḥā) or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church or the Nestorian Church, was an Eastern Christian church of the East Syriac Rite, based in Mesopotamia. It was one of three major branches of Eastern Christianity that arose from the Christological controversies of the 5th and 6th centuries, alongside the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Chalcedonian Church.
ShushtarShushtar (شوشتر; also Romanized as Shūshtar and Shūstar and Shooshtar) is a city in the Central District of Shushtar County, Khuzestan province, Iran, and serves as both capital of the county and of the district. At the 2006 National Census, its population was 94,124 in 21,511 households. The following census in 2011 counted 106,815 people in 26,639 households. The latest census in 2016 showed a population of 101,878 people in 28,373 households. Shushtar is an ancient fortress city, approximately from Ahvaz, the centre of the province.
Academy of GondishapurThe Academy of Gondishapur (فرهنگستان گندیشاپور, Farhangestân-e Gondišâpur), also known as the Gondishapur University (دانشگاه گندیشاپور Dânešgâh-e Gondišapur), was one of the three Sasanian centers of education (Ctesiphon, Ras al-Ayn, Gundeshapur) and academy of learning in the city of Gundeshapur, Iran during late antiquity, the intellectual center of the Sasanian Empire. It offered education and training in medicine, philosophy, theology and science. The faculty were versed in Persian traditions.
East Syriac RiteThe East Syriac Rite or East Syrian Rite, also called the Edessan Rite, Assyrian Rite, Persian Rite, Chaldean Rite, Nestorian Rite, Babylonian Rite or Syro-Oriental Rite, is an Eastern Christian liturgical rite that employs the Divine Liturgy of Saints Addai and Mari and the East Syriac dialect as its liturgical language. It is one of two main liturgical rites of Syriac Christianity, the other being the West Syriac Rite (Syro-Antiochene Rite).
School of NisibisThe School of Nisibis (ܐܣܟܘܠܐ ܕܢܨܝܒܝܢ, for a time absorbed into the School of Edessa) was an educational establishment in Nisibis (now Nusaybin, Turkey). It was an important spiritual centre of the early Church of the East, and like the Academy of Gondishapur, it is sometimes referred to as the world's first university. The school had three primary departments teaching: theology, philosophy and medicine. Its most famous teacher was Narsai, formerly head of the School of Edessa. The school was founded in 350 in Nisibis.
Khuzestan provinceKhuzestan province (also spelled Xuzestan; استان خوزستان Ostān-e Xūzestān) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the southwest of the country, bordering Iraq and the Persian Gulf. Its capital is Ahvaz and it covers an area of . Since 2014, it has been part of Iran's Region 4. At the 2006 National Census, Khuzestan province had a population of 4,192,598 in 862,491 households. The following census in 2011 counted 4,531,720 people in 1,112,664 households.
Iranian peoplesThe Iranian peoples or Iranic peoples are a diverse grouping of Indo-European peoples who are identified by their usage of the Iranian languages and other cultural similarities. The Proto-Iranians are believed to have emerged as a separate branch of the Indo-Iranians in Central Asia around the mid-2nd millennium BC. At their peak of expansion in the mid-1st millennium BC, the territory of the Iranian peoples stretched across the entire Eurasian Steppe, from the Danubian plains in the west to the Ordos Plateau in the east and the Iranian Plateau in the south.
Middle PersianMiddle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg (𐭯𐭠𐭫𐭮𐭩𐭪) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Persian continued to function as a prestige language. It descended from Old Persian, the language of the Achaemenid Empire and is the linguistic ancestor of Modern Persian, an official language of Iran, Afghanistan (Dari) and Tajikistan (Tajik).
