1.
Iran
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Iran, also known as Persia, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km2, it is the second-largest country in the Middle East, with 82.8 million inhabitants, Iran is the worlds 17th-most-populous country. It is the country with both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline. The countrys central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran is the countrys capital and largest city, as well as its leading economic and cultural center. Iran is the site of to one of the worlds oldest civilizations, the area was first unified by the Iranian Medes in 625 BC, who became the dominant cultural and political power in the region. The empire collapsed in 330 BC following the conquests of Alexander the Great, under the Sassanid Dynasty, Iran again became one of the leading powers in the world for the next four centuries. Beginning in 633 AD, Arabs conquered Iran and largely displaced the indigenous faiths of Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism by Islam, Iran became a major contributor to the Islamic Golden Age that followed, producing many influential scientists, scholars, artists, and thinkers. During the 18th century, Iran reached its greatest territorial extent since the Sassanid Empire, through the late 18th and 19th centuries, a series of conflicts with Russia led to significant territorial losses and the erosion of sovereignty. Popular unrest culminated in the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906, which established a monarchy and the countrys first legislative body. Following a coup instigated by the U. K. Growing dissent against foreign influence and political repression led to the 1979 Revolution, Irans rich cultural legacy is reflected in part by its 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the third-largest number in Asia and 11th-largest in the world. Iran is a member of the UN, ECO, NAM, OIC. Its political system is based on the 1979 Constitution which combines elements of a democracy with a theocracy governed by Islamic jurists under the concept of a Supreme Leadership. A multicultural country comprising numerous ethnic and linguistic groups, most inhabitants are Shia Muslims, the largest ethnic groups in Iran are the Persians, Azeris, Kurds and Lurs. Historically, Iran has been referred to as Persia by the West, due mainly to the writings of Greek historians who called Iran Persis, meaning land of the Persians. As the most extensive interactions the Ancient Greeks had with any outsider was with the Persians, however, Persis was originally referred to a region settled by Persians in the west shore of Lake Urmia, in the 9th century BC. The settlement was then shifted to the end of the Zagros Mountains. In 1935, Reza Shah requested the international community to refer to the country by its native name, opposition to the name change led to the reversal of the decision, and Professor Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, propagated a move to use Persia and Iran interchangeably
2.
Isfahan Province
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Isfahan province, also transliterated as Esfahan, Espahan, Isfahan, or Isphahan, is one of the thirty-one provinces of Iran. It is located in the center of the country in Irans Region 2 and its secretariat is located in the city of Isfahan. The Isfahan province covers an area of approximately 107,027 square km and is situated in the center of Iran, to its north, stand the Markazi Province and the provinces of Qom and Semnan. To its south, it is bordered by the provinces of Fars, aminabad is the most southern city of Isfahan province just 2 km north of the border. To the east, it is bordered by the province of Yazd, to the west, it is bordered by the province of Lurestan and to the southwest by the province of Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiyari. According to the census in the year 2006, the population of the province was 4,559,256 of which approximately 83.3 percent were urban residents and 16.7 percent resided in the rural areas, the literacy rate was 88.65 percent. In 2011 population of Isfahan grew up to 4,879,312, the province experiences a moderate and dry climate on the whole, ranging between 40.6 °C and 10.6 °C on a cold day in the winter season. The average annual temperature has been recorded as 16.7 °C, the city of Sepahan however experiences an excellent climate, with four distinct seasons. With an elevation of 4,040 metres, the Shahankuh is the highest peak in Isfahan Province and this mountain is located about 20 kilometres southwest of the city of Fereydunshahr in the western part of Isfahan Province. Historians have recorded Espahan, Sepahan or Isfahan initially as a defense and these historical castles were Atashgah, Sarooyieh, Tabarok, Kohan Dej, and Gard Dej to name a few. The oldest of these is Ghaleh Sefeed and the grounds at Tamijan from prehistoric times, the historic village of Abyaneh, a nationwide attraction, also has Sassanid ruins and fire temples among other historical relics. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Isfahan province enjoyed high standards of prosperity as it became the capital of Safavid Persia, while the city of Sepahan was their seat of monarchy, Kashan was their place of vacation and leisure. Isfahan province encompasses various sects today, the majority of the people in the province are Persian speakers, but Bakhtiari Lurs, Georgians, Armenians, Qashqais and Persian Jews also reside in the province. The official language of the province is Persian, though different ethnic groups and tribes abide by their own such as Judeo-Persian, Armenian, Georgian. Isfahan province is noted for its reputed personalities such as writers, poets and other eminent figures who have been born, london, J. Murray and Royal Geographical Society. The Georgians’ position in the Iranian history and civilization, Sepahan, Yekta Rahimi, the Georgians of Iran, Fereydunshahr, Sepahan, Yekta Sepiani, M. Georgian Iranians, Sepahan, Arash Isfahans tourist exhibition mentions the Georgians from Fereydunshahr and Fereydan. The report of this exhibition is available in the web site of the Iranian Cultural Heritage News agency. com Naein News
3.
Kashan
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Kashan is a city of Isfahan, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 248,789, between the 12th and the 14th centuries Kashan was an important centre for the production of high quality pottery and tiles. In modern Persian, the word for a tile comes from the name of the town, Kashan is divided into two parts, mountainous and desert. In the east side of the city Kashan opens up to the desert of Iran which the city is famous for. Kashan is also known for Maranjab Desert and Caravanserai located near the namak lake, today Maranjab and the surrounding Shifting Sands is a popular destination at the weekends. On August 9,2007 Iran placed the Historical Axis of Fin, Sialk, hence, Kashan dates back to the Elamite period of Iran. The Sialk ziggurat still stands today in the suburbs of Kashan after 7,000 years, the artifacts uncovered at Sialk reside in the Louvre in Paris and the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Irans National Museum. By some accounts, although not all, Kashan was the origin of the three men who followed the star that guided them to Bethlehem to witness the nativity of Jesus. Whatever the historical validity of this story, the attribution of Kashan as their original home testifies to the citys prestige at the time the story was set down and his tomb is one of Kashans conspicuous landmarks. Sultan Malik Shah I of the Seljuk dynasty ordered the building of a fortress in the middle of Kashan in the 11th century, the fortress walls, called Ghaleh Jalali still stand today in central Kashan. Kashan was also a vacation spot for Safavi Kings. Bagh-e Fin, specifically, is one of the most famous gardens of Iran and this beautiful garden with its pool and orchards was designed for Shah Abbas I as a classical Persian vision of paradise. The original Safavid buildings have been replaced and rebuilt by the Qajar dynasty although the layout of trees. The garden itself however, was first founded 7000 years ago alongside the Cheshmeh-ye-Soleiman, the garden is also notorious as the site of the murder of Mirza Taghi Khan known as Amir Kabir, chancellor of Nasser-al-Din Shah, Irans king in 1852. The earthquake of 1778 leveled the city of Kashan and all the edifices of Shah Abbas Safavi, but the city started afresh and has today become a focal tourist attraction via the numerous large houses from the 18th and 19th centuries, illustrating the finest examples of Qajari aesthetics. Notable towns around Kashan are Qamsar and Abyaneh, which attract tourists all year around, the nearby town of Niasar features a man-made cave and fireplace of historical interest. Kashan is internationally famous for manufacturing carpets, silk and other textiles, today, Kashan houses most of Irans mechanized carpet-weaving factories, and has an active marble and copper mining industry. Kashan and suburbs have a population of 400,000, there are more than 10,000 students currently studying in various fields at universities of kashan
4.
Cobalt
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Cobalt is a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. Like nickel, cobalt is found in the Earths crust only in chemically combined form, the free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal. In 1735, such ores were found to be reducible to a new metal, today, some cobalt is produced specifically from various metallic-lustered ores, for example cobaltite, but the main source of the element is as a by-product of copper and nickel mining. The copper belt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, cobalt is primarily used in the preparation of magnetic, wear-resistant and high-strength alloys. The compounds, cobalt silicate and cobalt aluminate give a deep blue color to glass, ceramics, inks, paints. Cobalt occurs naturally as only one isotope, cobalt-59. Cobalt-60 is an important radioisotope, used as a radioactive tracer. Cobalt is the center of coenzymes called cobalamins, the most common example of which is vitamin B12. As such, it is a trace dietary mineral for all animals. Cobalt in inorganic form is also a micronutrient for bacteria, algae, cobalt is a ferromagnetic metal with a specific gravity of 8.9. The Curie temperature is 1,115 °C and the moment is 1. 6–1.7 Bohr magnetons per atom. Cobalt has a relative permeability two-thirds that of iron, metallic cobalt occurs as two crystallographic structures, hcp and fcc. The ideal transition temperature between the hcp and fcc structures is 450 °C, but in practice, the difference is so small that random intergrowth of the two is common. Cobalt is a weakly reducing metal that is protected from oxidation by an oxide film. It is attacked by halogens and sulfur, heating in oxygen produces Co3O4 which loses oxygen at 900 °C to give the monoxide CoO. The metal reacts with fluorine at 520 K to give CoF3, with chlorine, bromine and iodine and it does not react with hydrogen gas or nitrogen gas even when heated, but it does react with boron, carbon, phosphorus, arsenic and sulfur. At ordinary temperatures, it reacts slowly with mineral acids, and very slowly with moist, common oxidation states of cobalt include +2 and +3, although compounds with oxidation states ranging from −3 to +5 are also known. A common oxidation state for simple compounds is +2 and these salts form the pink-colored metal aquo complex 2+ in water
5.
Cobalt blue
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Cobalt blue is a blue pigment made by sintering cobalt oxide with alumina at 1200 °C. Chemically, cobalt blue pigment is cobalt oxide-aluminium oxide, or cobalt aluminate, Cobalt blue is lighter and less intense than the pigment Prussian blue. It is extremely stable and has historically used as a coloring agent in ceramics, jewelry. Transparent glasses are tinted with the cobalt pigment smalt. Cobalt blue in impure forms had long used in Chinese porcelain. Commercial production began in France in 1807, the first recorded use of cobalt blue as a color name in English was in 1777. The leading world manufacturer of blue in the 19th century was Benjamin Wegners Norwegian company Blaafarveværket. Germany was also famous for production, especially the blue colour works in the Ore Mountains of Saxony, capable, by its superior brilliancy and contrast, to subdue the brightness of other blues. Cobalt blue has been used in paintings since its discovery by Thénard by painters such as Turner and it is stable and lightfast and also compatible with all other pigments. Maxfield Parrish, famous partly for the intensity of his skyscapes, used cobalt blue, Cobalt blue was the primary blue pigment used in Chinese blue and white porcelain for centuries, beginning in the late 8th or early 9th century. Automobiles Several car manufacturers including Jeep and Bugatti have cobalt blue as one paint options, construction Because of its chemical stability in the presence of alkali, cobalt blue is used as a pigment in blue concrete. Glassmaking The blue seen on many pieces is cobalt blue. Cobalt glass almost perfectly filters out the bright yellow emission of ionized sodium, sports Major League Soccers Sporting Kansas City have had cobalt blue as the secondary color of its home uniforms since 2008. Vexillology Several countries including the Netherlands and Romania, and a U. S. state - Nevada - have cobalt blue as one of three shades of their flags, video Games Segas official logo color is cobalt blue. Sonic the Hedgehog, Segas current mascot, was colored to match, Cobalt blue is toxic when inhaled or ingested. Potters who fail to take precautions when using cobalt blue may succumb to cobalt poisoning. List of colors List of inorganic pigments Cobalt glass Roy, A, Cobalt blue, in Artists’ Pigments, Berrie, B. H. National Gallery of Art Washington,2007 History of Cobalt blue
6.
Fritware
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Fritware, also known as stone-paste, is a type of pottery in which frit is added to clay to reduce its fusion temperature. The formula may include quartz or other siliceous material, an organic compound such as gum or glue may be added for binding. The resulting mixture can be fired at a lower temperature than clay alone, a glaze is then applied on the surface to harden the object. The manufacture of fritware began in Iraq in the 9th century, between the 10th and the 12th centuries the main centre of manufacture moved to Egypt, but the technique then spread throughout the Middle-East. Fritware was invented to give a white body, which, combined with tin-glazing of the surface. True porcelain was not manufactured in the Islamic world until modern times, Frit was also a significant component in some early European porcelains. In the 13th century the town of Kashan in Iran was an important centre for the production of fritware, abūl-Qāsim, who came from a family of tilemakers in the city, wrote a treatise in 1301 on precious stones that included a chapter on the manufacture of fritware. His recipe specified a fritware body containing a mixture of 10 parts silica to 1 part glass frit and 1 part clay, the frit was prepared by mixing powdered quartz with soda which acted as a flux. The mixture was heated in a kiln. This type of pottery has also referred to as stonepaste. A ninth-century corpus of proto-stonepaste from Baghdad has relict glass fragments in its fabric, the glass is alkali-lime-lead-silica and, when the paste was fired or cooled, wollastonite and diopside crystals formed within the glass fragments. The lack of inclusions of crushed pottery suggests these fragments did not come from a glaze, Iznik pottery was produced in Ottoman Turkey beginning in the last quarter of 15th century AD. It consists of a body, slip, and glaze, where the body, the frits in both cases are unusual in that they contain lead oxide as well as soda, the lead oxide would help reduce the thermal expansion coefficient of the ceramic. Microscopic analysis reveals that the material that has been labeled frit is interstitial glass which serves to connect the quartz particles, the glass was added as frit and that the interstitial glass formed on firing. Egyptian faience Chinese influences on Islamic pottery Allan, J. W. Abūl-Qāsims treatise on ceramics, Iran,11, 111–120, atasoy, Nurhan, Raby, Julian, Iznik, The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, London, Alexandra Press, ISBN 978-1-85669-054-6. The beginnings of Islamic stonepaste technology, Archaeometry,36, 77–91, Iznik pottery, an investigation of the methods of production, Archaeometry,31, 115–132, doi,10. 1111/j. 1475-4754.1989. tb01008. x. The petrology of Syrian stonepaste ceramics, the view from Aleppo, the technological development of stonepaste ceramics from the Islamic Middle East. History of World Ceramics Technology of Frit Making in Iznik, okyar F. Euro Ceramics VIII, Part 3
7.
Kaaba
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The Kaaba, also referred as Al Kaaba Al Musharrafah, is a building at the center of Islams most sacred mosque, Al-Masjid al-Haram, in Mecca, al-Hejaz, Saudi Arabia. It is the most sacred site in Islam and it is considered the House of Allah and has a similar role to the Tabernacle and Holy of Holies in Judaism. Wherever they are in the world, Muslims are expected to face the Kaaba when performing salat, from any point in the world, the direction facing the Kaaba is called the qibla. The sanctuary around the Kaaba is called Al-Masjid al-Haram, one of the Five Pillars of Islam requires every Muslim who is able to do so to perform the hajj pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime. Multiple parts of the hajj require pilgrims to make tawaf, the seven times around the Kaaba in a counter-clockwise direction. Tawaf is also performed by pilgrims during the umrah, however, the most significant times are during the hajj, when millions of pilgrims gather to circle the building within a 5-day period. In 2013, the number of pilgrims coming from outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to perform hajj was officially reported as 1,379,531. In 2014, Saudi Arabia reported having completed Hajj permits for 1,389,053 international pilgrims and 63,375 for residents. The building is called by names in the Quran and Hadith, such as Bait, Bait ul Haram, Bait Ullah, Bait al-Ateeq. The Arabic word Bait is cognate to the Hebrew Bait, also meaning House, the Arabic word Kaaba means square or cube. The Quran also mentions Bait al-Mamur, the House of God in Heavens which the Kaaba symbolizes, the Kaaba is a stone cube structure made of granite. The Kaaba is approximately 13.1 m high, with sides measuring 11.03 m by 12.86 m, inside the Kaaba, the floor is made of marble and limestone. The interior walls, measuring 13 m by 9 m, are clad with tiled, white marble halfway to the roof, the floor of the interior stands about 2.2 m above the ground area where tawaf is performed. The wall directly adjacent to the entrance of the Kaaba has six tablets inlaid with inscriptions, along the top corners of the walls runs a green cloth embroidered with gold Quranic verses. Caretakers anoint the marble cladding with the same scented oil used to anoint the Black Stone outside, three pillars stand inside the Kaaba, with a small altar or table set between one and the other two. Lamp-like objects hang from the ceiling, the ceiling itself is of a darker colour, similar in hue to the lower trimming. A golden door—the Babut Taubah —on the right opens to an enclosed staircase that leads to a hatch. Both the roof and ceiling are made of stainless steel-capped teak wood, each numbered item in the following list corresponds to features noted in the diagram image
8.
Mecca
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Mecca or Makkah is a city in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia that is also capital of the Makkah Region. The city is located 70 km inland from Jeddah in a valley at a height of 277 m above sea level. Its resident population in 2012 was roughly 2 million, although more than triple this number every year during the hajj period held in the twelfth Muslim lunar month of Dhu al-Hijjah. Mecca is home to the Kaaba, by majority description Islams holiest site, Mecca was long ruled by Muhammads descendants, the sharifs, acting either as independent rulers or as vassals to larger polities. It was conquered by Ibn Saud in 1925, during this expansion, Mecca has lost some historical structures and archaeological sites, such as the Ajyad Fortress. Today, more than 15 million Muslims visit Mecca annually, including several million during the few days of the Hajj, as a result, Mecca has become one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the Muslim world, despite the fact that non-Muslims are prohibited from entering the city. The Saudi government adopted Makkah as the spelling in the 1980s. The full official name is Makkah al-Mukarramah or Makkatu l-Mukarramah, which means Mecca the Honored, the ancient or early name for the site of Mecca is Bakkah. An Arabic language word, its etymology, like that of Mecca, is obscure, the form Bakkah is used for the name Mecca in the Quran in 3,96, while the form Mecca is used in 48,24. In South Arabic, the language in use in the portion of the Arabian Peninsula at the time of Muhammad. Other references to Mecca in the Quran call it Umm al-Qurā, another name of Mecca is Tihamah. Arab and Islamic tradition holds that the wilderness of Paran, broadly speaking, is the Tihamah, yaqut al-Hamawi, the 12th century Syrian geographer, wrote that Fārān was an arabized Hebrew word. One of the names of Mecca mentioned in the Torah, Mecca is governed by the Municipality of Mecca, a municipal council of fourteen locally elected members headed by a mayor appointed by the Saudi government. As of May 2015, the mayor of the city was Dr. Osama bin Fadhel Al-Bar, Mecca is the capital of the Makkah Region, which includes neighboring Jeddah. The provincial governor was prince Abdul Majeed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud from 2000 until his death in 2007, on 16 May 2007, prince Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud was appointed as the new governor. The early history of Mecca is still disputed, as there are no unambiguous references to it in ancient literature prior to the rise of Islam. The Roman Empire took control of part of the Hejaz in 106 AD, ruling cities such as Hegra, even though detailed descriptions were established of Western Arabia by Rome, such as by Procopius, there are no references of a pilgrimage and trading outpost such as Mecca. The first direct mention of Mecca in external literature occurs in 741 AD in the Byzantine-Arab Chronicle, claims have been made this could be a reference to the Kaaba in Mecca
9.
Isfahan
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Isfahan, historically also rendered in English as Ispahan, Sepahan, Esfahan or Hispahan, is the capital of Isfahan Province in Iran, located about 340 kilometres south of Tehran. The Greater Isfahan Region had a population of 3,793,104 in the 2011 Census, the counties of Isfahan, Borkhar, Najafabad, Khomeynishahr, Shahinshahr, Mobarakeh, Falavarjan, Tiran o Karvan, Lenjan and Jay all constitute the metropolitan city of Isfahan. Isfahan is located on the main north–south and east–west routes crossing Iran and it flourished from 1050 to 1722, particularly in the 16th and 17th centuries under the Safavid dynasty, when it became the capital of Persia for the second time in its history. Even today, the city retains much of its past glory and it is famous for its Persian–Islamic architecture, with many beautiful boulevards, covered bridges, palaces, mosques, and minarets. This led to the Persian proverb Esfahān nesf-e- jahān ast, the Naghsh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan is one of the largest city squares in the world. It has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, the city also has a wide variety of historic monuments and is known for the paintings, history and architecture. Isfahan City Center is also the 5th largest shopping mall in the world, see also, Names of Isfahan The name of the region derives from Middle Persian Spahān. Spahān is attested in various Middle Persian seals and inscriptions, including that of Zoroastrian Magi Kartir, the present-day name is the Arabicized form of Ispahan. The region appears with the abbreviation GD on Sasanian numismatics, in Ptolemys Geographia it appears as Aspadana, translating to place of gathering for the army. It is believed that Spahān derives from spādānām the armies, Old Persian plural of spāda, the history of Isfahan can be traced back to the Palaeolithic period. In recent discoveries, archaeologists have found artifacts dating back to the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze and Iron ages. It is said that after Cyrus the Great freed the Jews from Babylon some Jews returned to Jerusalem whereas some others decided to live in Persia, but, actually this happened later in the Sasanid period when a Jewish colony was made in the vicinity of the Sasanid. They did not settle anywhere or in any city without examining the water. They did all along until they reached the city of Isfahan, there they rested, examined the water and soil and found that both resembled Jerusalem. Upon they settled there, cultivated the soil, raised children and grandchildren, under the Parthians, Arsacid governors administered a large province from Isfahan, and the citys urban development accelerated to accommodate the needs of a capital city. The next empire to rule Persia, the Sassanids, presided over changes in their realm, instituting sweeping agricultural reform and reviving Iranian culture. The city was called by the name and the region by the name Aspahan or Spahan. The city was governed by Espoohrans or the members of seven noble Iranian families who had important royal positions, extant foundations of some Sassanid-era bridges in Isfahan suggest that the kings were also fond of ambitious urban planning projects
10.
Aran va Bidgol
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Aran va Bidgol is a city in and the capital of Aran va Bidgol County, Isfahan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 55,651 and it is one of the ancient desert cities of the province, close to Kashan. As suggested by its name, the city is an amalgam of two separate settlements, Aran and Bidgol. In the past, there were two distinct and separate villages but adjacent named “Aran” and the other “Bidgol”, and each had its own customs, social communications and it was situated near the Silk Road and many caravans passed it on their way from Europe to the Orient. About 40 years ago, the wall of separation collapsed and these two small towns unified. The town is surrounded by desert from the north and east, and thus it has a climate of hot and dry in summer, cold and dry in winter. Carpet making is the industrial product of the town. Recently, natural gas and oil resources have been discovered near the city, Iran Kashan Isfahan Province Iranian history ĀRĀN, Encyclopædia Iranica http, //www. persiadesert. com
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