1.
Nakhal Fort
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Nakhal Fort is a large fortification in the Al Batinah Region of Oman. It is named after the Wilayah of Nakhal, the fort houses a museum, operated by the Ministry of Tourism, which has exhibits of historic guns, and the fort also hosts a weekly goat market. The fort, also known as Husn Al Heem, was named after the state of Nakhal where it exists above the old village of Nakhl and it has a history which dates back to the pre-Islamic period. Over the centuries, it underwent many renovations and improvements and it was re-built by Omani architects in the 17th century. Built as a measure for an area oasis and nearby trade routes. The gateway and towers seen now were built in 1834 attributed to imam Said bin Sultan. In 1990, it was fully renovated, imams of Wadi Bani Kharous and the Yaarubah dynasty resided here in the past. In November 2003, Prince Charles visited the fort during an official visit to Oman. The fort is approximately 120 kilometres to the west of Muscat and it is situated on a rocky prominence at the foot of Jebel Nakhal, a spur of the main Western Hajar range. It is to the northeast of Jabal Akhdar also called green mountain, Nakhal Fort is surrounded by orchards of palm trees. Its battlements provide a view of the Al-Batinah Region, the ancient Nakhal village is below the fort and close by is the warm springs of Ain AThawwarah. Nakhal Fort is one of several fortifications in the Al Batinah Region, the others being Al Hazim, Al-Sifalah, Rustaq, and Shinas forts. Built in the style of the Sultanate of Oman, it is unique in that it was built to fit around an irregularly-shaped rock. The fort houses a museum, operated by the Ministry of Tourism with exhibits of historic guns, a weekly Friday goat auction market takes place within the precincts of the fort. During recent renovations the fort has been fitted with traditional furniture, handicrafts, media related to Nakhal Fort at Wikimedia Commons
2.
Al Hajar Mountains
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The Al Hajar Mountains in northeastern Oman and also the eastern United Arab Emirates are the highest mountain range in the eastern Arabian peninsula. They separate the low plain of Oman from the high desert plateau. In Arabic, Al means The and Hajar means Stone or Rock, so Al Hajar would be defined as The Stone or The Rock. Therefore, Al Hajar Mountains could mean the stony mountains or the rocky mountains and these mountains are chiefly made of Cretaceous limestones and ophiolites. The mountains begin in the north, forming the peninsula, the central section of the Hajar is the highest and wildest terrain in the country. Jebel Akhdar and the smaller Jebel Nakhl range are bounded on the east by the low Samail Valley, east of Samail are the Eastern Hajar, which run east to the fishing town of Sur, almost at the eastern point of Oman. The mountains extend for 500 km in total, the low coastal land north and east of the Jebel Hajar is called the Al Batinah region. The climate is cool and wet from December to March, and warmer, the mountains are rich in plant life compared to most of Arabia, including a number of endemic species. Fruit trees such as pomegranate and apricot are grown in the cooler valleys, the flora shows similarities with mountain areas of nearby Iran, as well as with areas along the Red Sea in the Horn of Africa. For example, the tree Ceratonia oreothauma is found here and also in Somalia, a number of birds are found in the mountains including Egyptian and lappet-faced vultures. Mammals include mountain gazelles and the Arabian tahr, which is endemic to the Al Hajar, the endangered Arabian leopard is still found in the Musandam Peninsula, according to records of the Oman Ministry of Environment. Poaching of wildlife is another issue, the Oman government has created the Wadi Sareen Reserve and an area of Jebel Qahwan-Jebal Sebtah in the Eastern Hajar for the protection of Arabian tahr and mountain gazelle. For visitors there is a road into the mountains from the town of Birkat al-Mawz, there are 11 marked trails / routes of varying intensity and duration published by Ministry or Tourism, Oman along the Hajar Mountain range. Hatta Heritage Village Regions of Oman, a new species of Asaccus from the mountains of northern Oman
3.
Eastern Arabia
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Eastern Arabia was historically known as Bahrain until the 18th century. This region stretched from the south of Basra along the Persian Gulf coast and included the regions of Bahrain, Kuwait, Al-Hasa, Qatif, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Southern Iraq, the entire coastal strip of Eastern Arabia was known as “Bahrain” for ten centuries. Until very recently, the whole of Eastern Arabia, from southern Iraq to the mountains of Oman, was a place where people moved around, the people of Eastern Arabia shared a culture based on the sea, they are seafaring peoples. The Arab states of the Persian Gulf are solely Eastern Arabia, the modern-day states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and UAE are the archetypal Gulf Arab states. Saudi Arabia is often considered a Gulf Arab state although most Saudis do not live in Eastern Arabia, in Arabic, Bahrayn is the dual form of bahr, so al-Bahrayn means the Two Seas. However, which two seas were originally intended remains in dispute, the term appears five times in the Quran, but does not refer to the modern island—originally known to the Arabs as “Awal”—but rather to the oases of al-Katif and Hadjar. It is unclear when the term began to refer exclusively to the Awal islands, in addition to wells, there are places in the sea north of Bahrain where fresh water bubbles up in the middle of the salt water, noted by visitors since antiquity. The term Gulf Arab solely refers, geographically, to inhabitants of eastern Arabia, the term Khaleejis is often misused to identify all the inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula. The inhabitants of Eastern Arabias Gulf coast share similar cultures and music such as fijiri, sawt. The most noticeable trait of Eastern Arabias Gulf Arabs is their orientation. Maritime-focused life in the small Gulf Arab states has resulted in a society where livelihoods have traditionally been earned in marine industries. The Arabs of Eastern Arabia speak a dialect known as Gulf Arabic, most Saudis do not speak Gulf Arabic because most Saudis do not live in Eastern Arabia. There are approximately 2 million Gulf Arabic speakers in Saudi Arabia, before the GCC was formed in 1981, the term “Khaleeji” was solely used to refer to the inhabitants of Eastern Arabia. In pre-Islamic times, the population of Eastern Arabia consisted of partially Christianized Arabs, Arab Zoroastrians, Jews, some sedentary dialects of Eastern Arabia exhibit Akkadian, Aramaic and Syriac features. The sedentary people of pre-Islamic Bahrain were Aramaic speakers and to some degree Persian speakers, Dilmun appears first in Sumerian cuneiform clay tablets dated to the end of fourth millennium BC, found in the temple of goddess Inanna, in the city of Uruk. The adjective Dilmun is used to describe a type of axe and one specific official, Dilmun was mentioned in two letters dated to the reign of Burna-Buriash II recovered from Nippur, during the Kassite dynasty of Babylon. These letters were from an official, Ilī-ippašra, in Dilmun to his friend Enlil-kidinni in Mesopotamia. The names referred to are Akkadian and these letters and other documents, hint at an administrative relationship between Dilmun and Babylon at that time
4.
Mesopotamia
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In the Iron Age, it was controlled by the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Empires. The Sumerians and Akkadians dominated Mesopotamia from the beginning of history to the fall of Babylon in 539 BC. It fell to Alexander the Great in 332 BC, and after his death, around 150 BC, Mesopotamia was under the control of the Parthian Empire. Mesopotamia became a battleground between the Romans and Parthians, with parts of Mesopotamia coming under ephemeral Roman control. In AD226, eastern part of it fell to the Sassanid Persians, division of Mesopotamia between Roman and Sassanid Empires lasted until the 7th century Muslim conquest of Persia of the Sasanian Empire and Muslim conquest of the Levant from Byzantines. A number of primarily neo-Assyrian and Christian native Mesopotamian states existed between the 1st century BC and 3rd century AD, including Adiabene, Osroene, and Hatra, Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the Neolithic Revolution from around 10,000 BC. The regional toponym Mesopotamia comes from the ancient Greek root words μέσος middle and ποταμός river and it is used throughout the Greek Septuagint to translate the Hebrew equivalent Naharaim. In the Anabasis, Mesopotamia was used to designate the land east of the Euphrates in north Syria, the Aramaic term biritum/birit narim corresponded to a similar geographical concept. The neighbouring steppes to the west of the Euphrates and the part of the Zagros Mountains are also often included under the wider term Mesopotamia. A further distinction is made between Northern or Upper Mesopotamia and Southern or Lower Mesopotamia. Upper Mesopotamia, also known as the Jazira, is the area between the Euphrates and the Tigris from their sources down to Baghdad, Lower Mesopotamia is the area from Baghdad to the Persian Gulf and includes Kuwait and parts of western Iran. In modern academic usage, the term Mesopotamia often also has a chronological connotation and it is usually used to designate the area until the Muslim conquests, with names like Syria, Jazirah, and Iraq being used to describe the region after that date. It has been argued that these later euphemisms are Eurocentric terms attributed to the region in the midst of various 19th-century Western encroachments, Mesopotamia encompasses the land between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, both of which have their headwaters in the Armenian Highlands. Both rivers are fed by tributaries, and the entire river system drains a vast mountainous region. Overland routes in Mesopotamia usually follow the Euphrates because the banks of the Tigris are frequently steep and difficult. The climate of the region is semi-arid with a vast desert expanse in the north which gives way to a 15,000 square kilometres region of marshes, lagoons, mud flats, in the extreme south, the Euphrates and the Tigris unite and empty into the Persian Gulf. In the marshlands to the south of the area, a complex water-borne fishing culture has existed since prehistoric times, periodic breakdowns in the cultural system have occurred for a number of reasons. Alternatively, military vulnerability to invasion from marginal hill tribes or nomadic pastoralists has led to periods of trade collapse and these trends have continued to the present day in Iraq
5.
Persian Gulf
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The Persian Gulf is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Hormuz, the Shatt al-Arab river delta forms the northwest shoreline. The Persian Gulf was a battlefield of the 1980–1988 Iran–Iraq War and it is the namesake of the 1991 Gulf War, the largely air- and land-based conflict that followed Iraqs invasion of Kuwait. The gulf has many fishing grounds, extensive coral reefs, and abundant pearl oysters, the body of water is historically and internationally known as the Persian Gulf. Some Arab governments refer to it as the Arabian Gulf or The Gulf, the name Gulf of Iran is used by the International Hydrographic Organization. The Persian Gulf is geologically young, having been formed around 15,000 years ago. Its length is 989 kilometres, with Iran covering most of the northern coast, the Persian Gulf is about 56 km wide at its narrowest, in the Strait of Hormuz. The waters are very shallow, with a maximum depth of 90 metres. Various small islands lie within the Persian Gulf, some of which are the subject of territorial disputes between the states of the region. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the Persian Gulfs southern limit as The Northwestern limit of Gulf of Oman and this limit is defined as A line joining Ràs Limah on the coast of Arabia and Ràs al Kuh on the coast of Iran. The Persian Gulf and its areas are the worlds largest single source of crude oil. Safaniya Oil Field, the worlds largest offshore oilfield, is located in the Persian Gulf, large gas finds have also been made, with Qatar and Iran sharing a giant field across the territorial median line. Using this gas, Qatar has built up a substantial liquefied natural gas, the oil-rich countries that have a coastline on the Persian Gulf are referred to as the Persian Gulf States. In 550 BC, the Achaemenid Empire established the first ancient empire in Persis, consequently, in the Greek sources, the body of water that bordered this province came to be known as the Persian Gulf. In the travel account of Pythagoras, several chapters are related to description of his travels accompanied by the Achaemenid king Darius the Great, to Susa and Persepolis, and the area is described. This water channel separates the Iran Plateau from the Arabia Plate, has enjoyed an Iranian Identity since at least 2200 years ago. Before being given its present name, the Persian Gulf was called many different names, the classical Greek writers, like Herodotus, called it the Red Sea. In Babylonian texts, it was known as the sea above Akkad, the name of the gulf, historically and internationally known as the Persian Gulf after the land of Persia, has been disputed by some Arab countries since the 1960s
6.
Arabian Peninsula
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The Arabian Peninsula, simplified Arabia is a peninsula of Western Asia situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian plate. From a geological perspective, it is considered a subcontinent of Asia and it is the largest peninsula in the world, at 3,237,500 km2. The Arabian Peninsula consists of the countries Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the Arabian Peninsula plays a critical geopolitical role in the Middle East and the Arab world due to its vast reserves of oil and natural gas. Before the modern era, it was divided into four regions, Hejaz, Najd, Southern Arabia. Hejaz and Najd make up most of Saudi Arabia, Southern Arabia consists of Yemen and some parts of Saudi Arabia and Oman. Eastern Arabia consists of the coastal strip of the Persian Gulf. The most prominent feature of the peninsula is desert, but in the southwest there are mountain ranges, harrat ash Shaam is a large volcanic field that extends from the northwestern Arabian Peninsula into Jordan and southern Syria. The peninsulas constituent countries are Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the island nation of Bahrain lies off the east coast of the peninsula. Six countries form the Gulf Cooperation Council, however, this is a disputed term. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia covers the part of the peninsula. The majority of the population of the live in Saudi Arabia. The peninsula contains the worlds largest reserves of oil, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are economically the wealthiest in the region. Qatar, a peninsula in the Persian Gulf on the larger peninsula, is home of the Arabic-language television station Al Jazeera. Kuwait, on the border with Iraq, is an important country strategically, though historically lightly populated, political Arabia is noted for a high population growth rate - as the result of both very strong inflows of migrant labor as well as sustained high birth rates. The population tends to be young and heavily skewed gender ratio dominated by males. In many states, the number of South Asians exceeds that of the local citizenry, the four smallest states, which have their entire coastlines on the Persian Gulf, exhibit the worlds most extreme population growth, roughly tripling every 20 years. In 2014, the population of the Arabian Peninsula was 77,983,936. Listed here are the human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups in Arabia Haplogroup J is the most abundant component in the Arabian peninsula and its two main subclades, show opposite latitudinal gradients in the Middle East
7.
Syrian Desert
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To the south it borders and merges into the Arabian Desert. The land is open, gravely desert pavement, cut with occasional wadis, the desert is bounded by the Orontes Valley and volcanic field of Harrat al-Shamah to the west, and by the Euphrates to the east. In the north, the desert gives way to the fertile areas of grass. Several parts of the Syrian Desert have been referred to such as the Palmyrene desert around Palmyra. The name Shamiyah has also used for the Syrian Desert. The 700-900m high region in the middle of the desert is the Hamad Plateau, what little rain arrives on the plateau flows into local salt flats. The highest peaks of the Plateau are those of the 1000m+ Khawr um Wual in Saudi Arabia, together with the other deserts of the Arabian Peninsular, the Hamad Desert has been described as one of the most arid deserts of the world. The Syrian Desert is the origin of the Syrian hamster, storks, herons, cranes, small waders, waterfowl and also raptors visit the seasonal lakes. The large mammals are now no longer to be found, thought to be due to hunting by man, the desert was historically inhabited by Bedouin tribes, and many tribes still remain in the region, their members living mainly in towns and settlements built near oases. Some Bedouin still maintain their way of life in the desert. Safaitic inscriptions, proto-Arabic texts written by literate Bedouin, are throughout the Syrian Desert. These date approximately from the 1st century B. C. to the 4th century A. D, the desert was first traversed by motor vehicle in 1919. A series of Coalition military operations were ineffective at removing the resistance presence in the Desert. Arabian desert Fertile Crescent List of deserts by area Syrian steppe
8.
Pre-Islamic Arabia
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Pre-Islamic Arabia refers to the Arabian Peninsula prior to the rise of Islam in the 630s. Pre-Islamic religion in Arabia consisted of indigenous beliefs, Ancient Arabian Christianity, Nestorian Christianity. In the latter stages of the era, Christianity gained converts with some unorthodox sects, such as the gnostics. Archaeological exploration in the Arabian Peninsula has been sparse but fruitful, the most recent detailed study of pre-Islamic Arabia is Arabs and Empires Before Islam, published by Oxford University Press in 2015. This book collects a range of ancient texts and inscriptions for the history of the region during this time period. Ubaid period - could have originated in Eastern Arabia, umm an-Nar Culture Sabr culture Magan is attested as the name of a trading partner of the Sumerians. It is often assumed to have located in Oman. The Aadids established themselves in South Arabia, settling to the east of the Qahtan tribe and they established the Kingdom of ʿĀd around the 10th century BCE to the 3rd century CE. The ʿĀd nation were known to the Greeks and Egyptians, claudius Ptolemys Geographos refers to the place by a Hellenized version of the inhabitants of the capital Ubar. The sedentary people of pre-Islamic Eastern Arabia were mainly Aramaic speakers, in pre-Islamic times, the population of Eastern Arabia consisted of Christianized Arabs, Aramean Christians, Persian-speaking Zoroastrians and Jewish agriculturalists. Nestorian Christianity was the dominant religion in pre-Islamic Eastern Arabia, Zoroastrianism was also present, the Zoroastrians of Eastern Arabia were known as Majoos in pre-Islamic times. The sedentary dialects of Eastern Arabia, including Bahrani Arabic, were influenced by Akkadian, Aramaic, the Dilmun civilization was an important trading centre which at the height of its power controlled the Persian Gulf trading routes. The Sumerians regarded Dilmun as holy land, Dilmun is regarded as one of the oldest ancient civilizations in the Middle East. The Sumerians described Dilmun as a garden in the Epic of Gilgamesh. The Sumerian tale of the paradise of Dilmun may have been an inspiration for the Garden of Eden story. Dilmun appears first in Sumerian cuneiform clay tablets dated to the end of fourth millennium BCE, found in the temple of goddess Inanna, in the city of Uruk. The adjective Dilmun is used to describe a type of axe and one specific official, Dilmun was an important trading center from the late fourth millennium to 1800 BCE. At the height of Dilmuns power, Dilmun controlled the Persian Gulf trading routes, Dilmun was very prosperous during the first 300 years of the second millennium
9.
Sasanian Empire
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The Sasanian Empire was founded by Ardashir I, after the fall of the Parthian Empire and the defeat of the last Arsacid king, Artabanus V. According to a legend, the vexilloid of the Sasanian Empire was the Derafsh Kaviani, in many ways, the Sasanian period witnessed the peak of ancient Iranian civilization. Persia influenced Roman culture considerably during the Sasanian period, the Sasanians cultural influence extended far beyond the empires territorial borders, reaching as far as Western Europe, Africa, China and India. It played a prominent role in the formation of both European and Asian medieval art, much of what later became known as Islamic culture in art, architecture, music and other subject matter was transferred from the Sasanians throughout the Muslim world. Conflicting accounts shroud the details of the fall of the Parthian Empire, the Sassanid Empire was established in Estakhr by Ardashir I. Papak was originally the ruler of a region called Khir, however, by the year 200, he managed to overthrow Gochihr, and appoint himself as the new ruler of the Bazrangids. His mother, Rodhagh, was the daughter of the governor of Pars. Papak and his eldest son Shapur managed to expand their power all of Pars. The subsequent events are unclear, due to the nature of the sources. It is certain, however, that following the death of Papak, Ardashir, sources reveal that Shapur, leaving for a meeting with his brother, was killed when the roof of a building collapsed on him. By the year 208, over the protests of his brothers who were put to death. Once Ardashir was appointed shahanshah, he moved his capital further to the south of Pars, the city, well supported by high mountains and easily defendable through narrow passes, became the center of Ardashirs efforts to gain more power. The city was surrounded by a high, circular wall, probably copied from that of Darabgird, in a second attempt to destroy Ardashir, Artabanus V himself met Ardashir in battle at Hormozgan, where Artabanus V met his death. Following the death of the Parthian ruler, Ardashir I went on to invade the provinces of the now defunct Parthian Empire. Ardashir was aided by the geography of the province of Fars, in the next few years, local rebellions would form around the empire. Nonetheless, Ardashir I further expanded his new empire to the east and northwest, conquering the provinces of Sistan, Gorgan, Khorasan, Margiana, Balkh and he also added Bahrain and Mosul to Sassanids possessions. In the west, assaults against Hatra, Armenia and Adiabene met with less success, in 230, he raided deep into Roman territory, and a Roman counter-offensive two years later ended inconclusively, although the Roman emperor, Alexander Severus, celebrated a triumph in Rome. Ardashir Is son Shapur I continued the expansion of the empire, conquering Bactria, invading Roman Mesopotamia, Shapur I captured Carrhae and Nisibis, but in 243 the Roman general Timesitheus defeated the Persians at Rhesaina and regained the lost territories
10.
Banu Bakr
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The tribe is reputed to have engaged in a 40-year war before Islam with its cousins from Taghlib, known as the War of Basous. The pre-Islamic poet, Tarafah was a member of Bakr, the region of Diyar Bakr, and later the city of Diyarbakır in southern Turkey, take their names from this tribe. The tribe is distinct from the tribe of Bani Bakr ibn Abd Manat, during the Islamic Prophet Muhammads era the Banu Bakr tribe was involved in various military conflicts. Banu Hanifa - mostly sedentary, were the tribe of al-Yamama. Banu Shayban - mostly nomadic, led the Battle of Dhi Qar against the Sassanid Persians in southern Iraq prior to Islam, the jurist Ahmad ibn Hanbal claimed descent from this tribe. Banu Qays ibn Thalabah - bedouin and sedentary, were the inhabitants of the town of Manfuha, the pre-Islamic poets al-Asha and Tarafah were among its members. Banu Yashkur - bedouin and sedentary, inhabitants of al-Yamama, al-Harith ibn Hillizah, one of the purported authors of the Seven Hanged Poems of pre-Islamic Arabia, was a member of Yashkur. Banu Ijl - mostly bedouin, located in al-Yamama and the borders of Mesopotamia. Abdul Qays in eastern Najd Taghlib ibn Wail, migrated northwards to the Jazirah plain in northern Mesopotamia in the 6th century, anz ibn Wail al-Nammir ibn Qasit Turkey - Southeastern Anatolia P621
11.
Banu Abdul Qays
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The Banu Abdul Qays is an ancient Arabian tribe from the Rabiah branch of the North Arabian tribes. In pre-Islamic times, the Abd al-Qays frequently raided Iran, when he became of age, Shapur II made it his first order of business to punish the Abd al-Qays. He led an army across the Persian Gulf and devastated large parts of Eastern Arabia and Syria, later in his reign, Shapur moved many Abd al-Qays people to Kerman Province in Iran. During the Arab conquest of Iran, the Abd al-Qays migrated to Iran in large numbers, sizable groups of them settled down in Tavvaz near Dalaki in Bushehr Province. In the early 8th century,4,000 Abd al-Qays warriors accompanied Qotayba on his campaign into Khorasan in Iran, the Abd al-Qays were one of the inhabitants of the coast of Eastern Arabia, including Bahrain island. There are many gaps and inconsistencies in the genealogies of Abd al-Qays in Bahrain, bahraini society has traditionally divided itself into three genealogical categories in order, ansab, la ansab and bani khudair. According to one author, Baharna were probably la ansab because they have unclear genealogies, Abd al-Qays were mostly Christians before the advent of Islam
12.
Shapur II
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Shapur II, also known as Shapur II the Great, was the tenth king of the Sasanian Empire. The longest reigning Sasanian monarch, he reigned from 309 to 379 and he was the son of Hormizd II. During Shapur IIs long reign, the Sasanian Empire saw its first golden era. When Hormizd II died in 309, he was succeeded by his son Adur Narseh and they then blinded the second, and imprisoned the third. The throne was reserved for the child of Hormizd IIs wife Ifra Hormizd. It is said that Shapur II may have been the king in history to be crowned in utero. However, according to Alireza Shapour Shahbazi, it is unlikely that Shapur was crowned as king while still in his mothers womb, during the childhood of Shapur II, Arab nomads made several incursions into the Sasanian homeland of Pars, where they raided Gor and its surroundings. Furthermore, they also made incursions into Meshan and Mazun and he then attacked the Banu Tamim in the Al Hajar Mountains. Shapur II reportedly killed a number of the Arab population. After having dealt with the Arabs of eastern Arabia, he continued his expedition into western Arabia and Syria, because of his cruel way of dealing with the Arabs, he was called Dhū l-Aktāf he who pierces shoulders by them. Not only did Shapur II pacify the Arabs of the Persian Gulf, Shapur II, in order to prevent the Arabs from making more raids into his country, ordered the construction of a wall near al-Hirah, which became known as war-i tāzigān. This was the beginning of two long drawn-out wars which were inadequately recorded, after crushing a rebellion in the south, Shapur II invaded Roman Mesopotamia and captured Armenia. Apparently, nine major battles were fought, gibbon asserts that Shapur II invariably defeated Constantius, but there is reason to believe that the honours were fairly evenly shared between the two capable commanders. The most notable feature of war was the consistently successful defence of the Roman fortress of Nisibis in Mesopotamia. Shapur besieged the fortress three times and was repulsed each time by Roman general Lucilianus, although often victorious in battles, Shapur II had made scarcely any progress. At the same time he was attacked in the east by Scythian Massagetae and he had to break off the war with the Romans and arrange a hasty truce in order to pay attention to the east. After a prolonged struggle they were forced to conclude a peace, in 358 Shapur II was ready for his second series of wars against Rome, which met with much more success. The delay forced Shapur to halt operations for the winter, early the following spring he continued his operations against the Roman fortresses, capturing Singara and Bezabde
13.
Siege of Amida
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The Siege of Amida took place when the Sassanids, under Shah Shapur II besieged the Roman city of Amida in 359. In this battle Ammianus Marcellinus, a historian of Greek origin from Antioch, was a Roman army officer, when Shapur II took control of the Sassanid Empire he sought to regain old territories previously lost to the Roman Empire. After crushing the Arabs in the south, he moved east to deal with nomadic forces, following a prolonged struggle from the Xionites were forced to conclude a peace, and their king, Grumbates, accompanied Shapur II in the war against the Romans. In 358 the Romans had failed to dissuade Shapur from attacking Mesopotamia, Shapur started the western campaign in 359. Emperor Constantius II had increasingly been doubting the loyalty of general Ursicinus, as a result, he did not give him command of the Roman forces in the East, and instead gave it to Sabinianus. Carrhae was to be evacuated immediately, because of the weakness of its fortifications, in the panic which followed, several Roman legions chaotically escaped the Persian advance to the safety of Amida. These included the Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix and the Legio X Fretensis and it appears the Sassanid plan was to bypass difficult fortresses like Nisibis and to then march straight into Syria. When his forces approached Amida, the Sassanids were provoked into attacking the city and this came about when the son of Grumbates, while inspecting the defences of Amida, was shot and killed with an arrow shot by the city garrison. Ammianus described how the Grumbates, outraged at his sons death, demanded revenge from the Romans, the Sassanids began the attack with siege towers and attempted to take the city hastily, but were largely unsuccessful. Unable to gain a victory, Shapur had to commit to capturing Amida in order to appease his ally. But it was clear that he would try the effect of a conference on the defenders of the walls. Shapur attempted to capture the city several times but every time it ended with disaster, many times siege towers were set on fire by the Romans. During the siege, plague broke out in Amida but ended after ten days by a light rain, a day before capture of the city, Ammianus Marcellinus escaped to Melitene, and thence returned to Antioch. After capturing the city, the garrison and its inhabitants were put to the sword, the Persians lost approximately 30,000 in the siege but Shapur II advanced further and took Singara and some other fortresses in the following years. In 363, Emperor Julian, at the head of a strong army and his successor Jovian signed a treaty of peace, by which the districts on the Tigris and Nisibis were ceded to the Persians and the Romans promised to interfere no more in Armenia. Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae, Cambridge MA,1982, abd al-Husayn Zarrin’kub, Ruzgaran, tarikh-i Iran az aghz ta saqut saltnat Pahlvi, Sukhan,1999. ISBN 964-6961-11-8 The Siege of Amida in 359 by Ammianus Marcellinus
14.
Julian's Persian War
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Julians Persian War, or the Perso-Roman War of 363, was the last undertaking of the Roman emperor Julian, begun in March 363. It was a war against the Persian Empire ruled by the Sassanian king Shapur II. Shapur is believed to have expected an invasion by way of the Tigris valley, Julian sent a detachment to join with his ally Arshak II of Armenia and take the Tigris route. In one of the skirmishes Julian was wounded and later died of his wounds leaving his successor along with his army trapped in Persian territory, the leaderless Roman army chose Jovian as Julians successor. Thus Arsaces II of Armenia was left without any military or diplomatic support and he was captured and imprisoned by Shapur in 368, he committed suicide in 369 or 370 whilst in Persian captivity. A devout believer in the old Roman religion, Julian asked several major oracles about the outcome of his expedition. The philosopher Sallustius, a friend of Julian, wrote advising him to abandon his plan, and numerous adverse omens were reported, at the urging of other advisers he went ahead. He instructed Arshak II of Armenia to prepare a large army and these preparations are thought by scholars to have suggested to Shapur that an invasion from the north, by way of the Tigris valley, was Julians plan. Julian had wintered at Antioch in Roman Syria, on 5 March 363 he set out north-west with his army by way of Aleppo and Manbij, where fifty soldiers were killed in the collapse of a portico while they were marching under it. He sent a detachment under Procopius and Sebastianus towards the Tigris where they were to join Arshak and they were then to attack the Persians from the north. Julian himself, with the part of his army turned south towards the lower Euphrates, reaching Callinicum on 27 March. There he was met by leaders of the Saraceni, who offered Julian a gold crown and he refused to pay the traditional tribute in return. The army followed the Euphrates downstream to Circesium and crossed the river Aboras with the help of a pontoon bridge assembled for the purpose, teitler, Philological and Historical Commentary on Ammianus Marcellinus XXIV. Kriterien einer Katastrophe in Richard Klein, ed. Julian Apostata p.455 ff
15.
Battle of Samarra
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The Battle of Samarra took place in June 363, after the invasion of Sassanid Persia by the Roman Emperor Julian. A major skirmish, the fighting was indecisive but Julian was mortally wounded in the battle, the Romans, stranded deep in Persian territory and suffering from a lack of supplies, were forced to accept terms for peace. Julian invaded Sassanian Empire with a force of 65,000 men, hoping to win a victory against Persians in the east. Julian made two blundering mistakes at the onset of the invasion. He split his force into two, one under General Procopius numbering 30,000 men, which went to northern Mesopotamia and his second mistake was not defeating the main Sassanid army before attacking the capital, which would eventually lead to expeditions failure in 363. Julian at first won a victory outside Ctesiphon, but could not take the city. Even worse, Procopius failed to join him with his army, david S. Potter suggests that Julians main faults was that he made a very risky campaign and that he didnt bring adequate siege train. Therefore, he had to retreat after realizing that Ctesiphon was too strongly defended to be taken by assault while his army was running out of supplies. However, the Sassanid army, under Shapur, implemented a scorched earth policy while harassing Romans all their way back to Roman Mesopotamia. Julian, realizing that his army could not be resupplied or reinforced, tried to force a set piece battle with his enemy, so decision was taken to retreat through the district of Corduene to the north, where there was hope to find adequate supplies. After three quiet days, the Roman army was attacked during its cautious advance in square formations, the battle at Samarra was a Persian skirmish, first against the rear guard of the Roman column. Then they fell on the center and the wing of the Romans. According to Ammianus Marcellinus narrative, Julian hastened to rally his forces against the Persians and he managed to raise their morale and reverse the possibility of collapsing but his personal guard was dispersed during the fighting and Julian was fatally hit on his back by a spear. The spear was most probably thrown by a Saracen auxiliary in Persian service, after treatment by the doctors, he returned to the battlefield. The battle continued indecisively until the darkness of the night put an end to the fighting, according to other views, the Roman army was victorious or was defeated by the Persian forces. Julian died from his wound, in his tent, a few hours later, the Roman armys general staff proclaimed Jovian, the commander of Julians guard, as his successor. He led his army to the east bank of Tigris, under continuous harassing from the Persians, after failing to cross the Tigris, Jovian clearly saw that the situation was desperate. Thus he was forced to accept humiliating terms from Shapur, in order to save his army, the treaty with Shapur included surrendering Eastern Mesopotamia, Georgia and Armenia, as well as fifteen fortresses, including the strategic cities of Nisibis and Singara, without their inhabitants
16.
Arabs
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Arabs are an ethnic group inhabiting the Arab world. They primarily live in the Arab states in Western Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Arabs are first mentioned in the mid-ninth century BCE as a tribal people dwelling in the central Arabian Peninsula. The Arabs appear to have been under the vassalage of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, tradition holds that Arabs descend from Ishmael, the son of Abraham. The Arabian Desert is the birthplace of Arab, there are other Arab groups as well that spread in the land and existed for millennia. Before the expansion of the Caliphate, Arab referred to any of the largely nomadic Semitic people from the northern to the central Arabian Peninsula and Syrian Desert. Presently, Arab refers to a number of people whose native regions form the Arab world due to spread of Arabs throughout the region during the early Arab conquests of the 7th and 8th centuries. The Arabs forged the Rashidun, Umayyad and the Abbasid caliphates, whose borders reached southern France in the west, China in the east, Anatolia in the north, and this was one of the largest land empires in history. The Great Arab Revolt has had as big an impact on the modern Middle East as the World War I, the war signaled the end of the Ottoman Empire. They are modern states and became significant as distinct political entities after the fall and defeat, following adoption of the Alexandria Protocol in 1944, the Arab League was founded on 22 March 1945. The Charter of the Arab League endorsed the principle of an Arab homeland whilst respecting the sovereignty of its member states. Beyond the boundaries of the League of Arab States, Arabs can also be found in the global diaspora, the ties that bind Arabs are ethnic, linguistic, cultural, historical, identical, nationalist, geographical and political. The Arabs have their own customs, language, architecture, art, literature, music, dance, media, cuisine, dress, society, sports, the total number of Arabs are an estimated 450 million. This makes them the second largest ethnic group after the Han Chinese. Arabs are a group in terms of religious affiliations and practices. In the pre-Islamic era, most Arabs followed polytheistic religions, some tribes had adopted Christianity or Judaism, and a few individuals, the hanifs, apparently observed monotheism. Today, Arabs are mainly adherents of Islam, with sizable Christian minorities, Arab Muslims primarily belong to the Sunni, Shiite, Ibadi, Alawite, Druze and Ismaili denominations. Arab Christians generally follow one of the Eastern Christian Churches, such as the Maronite, Coptic Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic, or Chaldean churches. Listed among the booty captured by the army of king Shalmaneser III of Assyria in the Battle of Qarqar are 1000 camels of Gi-in-di-buu the ar-ba-a-a or Gindibu belonging to the Arab
17.
Firuzabad, Fars
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Firuzabad is a city in and the capital of Firuzabad County, Fars Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 58,210, Firuzabad is located south of Shiraz. The town is surrounded by a mud wall and ditch, Alexander of Macedonia destroyed the original city of Gōr. Centuries later, Ardashir I, founder of the Sassanid Dynasty, Firuzabad is situated in a low-lying area of the region, so Alexander was able to drown the city by directing the flow of a river into the city. The lake he created remained until Ardashir I built a tunnel to drain it and he founded his new capital city on this site. Ardashirs new city was known as Khor Ardashīr, Ardashīr Khurah and it had a circular plan so precise in measurement that the Persian historian Ibn Balkhi wrote it to be devised using a compass. It was protected by a trench 50 meters in width, and was 2 kilometers in diameter. The city had four gates, to the north was the Hormozd Gate, to the south the Ardashir Gate, to the east the Mithra Gate, the royal capitals compounds were constructed at the center of a circle 450 m in radius. At the center point of the city was a Zoroastrian fire temple 30 m high and spiral in design, the citys importance was revived again in the reign of Adud al-Dawla of the Buyid dynasty, who used the city as his frequent residence. It is at time that the old name of the city—Gōr, was abandoned in favor of the new. In New Persian, spoken at the time, Gōr had come to mean grave, king Adud al-Dawla, as the story goes, found it distasteful to reside in a grave. Per his instruction, the name was changed to Peroz-abad. Since then, the city has been known by variations of that name, among the attractions of the city are the Ghaleh Dokhtar, the Palace of Ardeshir, and the fire temple tower among the remains of Gōr. Bishapur Cities of the Ancient Near East Round city of Baghdad, modeled after Firuzabad Ernst Herzfeld Papers, Series 5, Drawings and Maps, Records of Firuzabad Collections Search Center, a guided tour of Firouzabad Palace, Ardeshirs Palace, YouTube
18.
Meshan
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Meshan was a province of the Sasanian Empire. It consisted of the Parthian vassal kingdoms of Mesene and Characene and reached north along the Shatt al-Arab river and then the lower Tigris to Madhar and its inhabitants included Babylonians, Arabs, Iranians, and even some Indians and Malays. The province was very fertile, the best place for barley according to Strabo and it was also an important trading province along the Persian Gulf. In, the first ruler of the Sasanian dynasty, Ardashir I after having conquered his native province, Pars, invaded Meshan, killing its ruler, Ardashir had a city named Karkh Meshan rebuilt, and had it renamed as Astarabad-Ardashir. According to a fraction of a Manichean source, a brother of the Sasanian king Shapur I, Mihrshah, ruled as the vassal-king of Meshan - however, Ardashir also built a town named Vahman-Ardashir, also known as Forat Meshan. A son of Shapur I, Shapur Mishanshah, is confirmed to have ruled Meshan from a date until his death in 260. During the 5th century, Vahman-Ardashir had seemingly succeeded Karkh Meshan as the capital of Meshan, Iranians had also begun to settle in the province, along with the Zutt, who had been deported from India. Other Indian groups such as the Malays may also have been deported to Meshan, the Encyclopedia of Islam, Volume 5. The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. V. Brill, Arabs and Iran in the pre-Islamic period. The Cambridge History of Iran, The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian periods
19.
Bahrain
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Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is a small Arab monarchy in the Persian Gulf. Bahrains population is 1,234,567, including 666,172 non-nationals and it is 780 km2 in size, making it the third smallest nation in Asia after the Maldives and Singapore. Bahrain is the site of the ancient Dilmun civilisation and it has been famed since antiquity for its pearl fisheries, which were considered the best in the world into the 19th century. Bahrain was one of the earliest areas to convert to Islam, following a period of Arab rule, Bahrain was occupied by the Portuguese in 1521, who in turn were expelled in 1602 by Shah Abbas I of the Safavid dynasty under the Persian Empire. In 1783, the Bani Utbah clan captured Bahrain from Nasr Al-Madhkur and it has since been ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family, in the late 1800s, following successive treaties with the British, Bahrain became a protectorate of the United Kingdom. Formerly a state, Bahrain was declared a Kingdom in 2002, in 2011, the country experienced protests inspired by the regional Arab Spring. Bahrain had the first post-oil economy in the Persian Gulf, since the late 20th century, Bahrain has invested in the banking and tourism sectors. Many large financial institutions have a presence in Manama, the countrys capital, Bahrain has a high Human Development Index and was recognised by the World Bank as a high income economy. In Arabic, Bahrayn is the form of bahr, so al-Bahrayn means the two seas, although which two seas were originally intended remains in dispute. The term appears five times in the Quran, but does not refer to the modern island—originally known to the Arabs as Awal— but rather to all of Eastern Arabia. Today, Bahrains two seas are generally taken to be the bay east and west of the island. In addition to wells, there are areas of the sea north of Bahrain where fresh water bubbles up in the middle of the water as noted by visitors since antiquity. An alternate theory with regard to Bahrains toponymy is offered by the al-Ahsa region, another supposition by al-Jawahari suggests that the more formal name Bahri would have been misunderstood and so was opted against. Until the late Middle Ages, Bahrain referred to the region of Eastern Arabia that included Southern Iraq, Kuwait, Al-Hasa, Qatif, the region stretched from Basra in Iraq to the Strait of Hormuz in Oman. This was Iqlīm al-Bahrayns Bahrayn Province, the exact date at which the term Bahrain began to refer solely to the Awal archipelago is unknown. The entire coastal strip of Eastern Arabia was known as Bahrain for a millennium, the island and kingdom were also commonly spelled Bahrein into the 1950s. Bahrain was home to the Dilmun civilization, an important Bronze Age trade centre linking Mesopotamia, Bahrain was later ruled by the Assyrians and Babylonians. From the 6th to 3rd century BC, Bahrain was part of the Persian Empire ruled by the Achaemenian dynasty, by about 250 BC, Parthia brought the Persian Gulf under its control and extended its influence as far as Oman
20.
Qatar
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Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a sovereign country located in Western Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its surrounded by the Persian Gulf. A strait in the Persian Gulf separates Qatar from the island country of Bahrain, as well as sharing maritime borders with the United Arab Emirates. Following Ottoman rule, Qatar became a British protectorate in the early 20th century until gaining independence in 1971, Qatar has been ruled by the House of Thani since the early 19th century. Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani was the founder of the State of Qatar, Qatar is a hereditary monarchy and its head of state is Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Whether it should be regarded as a constitutional or a monarchy is a matter of opinion. In 2003, the constitution was approved in a referendum. In early 2017, Qatars total population was 2.3 million,313,000 Qatari citizens and 2.6 million expatriates, Qatar is a high income economy and is a developed country, backed by the worlds third largest natural gas reserves and oil reserves. The country has the highest per capita income in the world, Qatar is classified by the UN as a country of very high human development and is the most advanced Arab state for human development. Qatar is a significant power in the Arab world, supporting several rebel groups during the Arab Spring both financially and through its globally expanding media group, Al Jazeera Media Network. For its size, Qatar wields disproportionate influence in the world, Qatar will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, becoming the first Arab country to do so. A century later, Ptolemy produced the first known map to depict the peninsula, the map also referenced a town named Cadara to the east of the peninsula. The term Catara was exclusively used until the 18th century, after which Katara emerged as the most commonly recognised spelling, eventually, the modern derivative Qatar was adopted as the countrys name. In Standard Arabic, the name is pronounced, while in the local dialect it is, Human habitation of Qatar dates back to 50,000 years ago. Settlements and tools dating back to the Stone Age have been unearthed in the peninsula, Mesopotamian artefacts originating from the Ubaid period have been discovered in abandoned coastal settlements. Al Daasa, a settlement located on the western coast of Qatar, is the most important Ubaid site in the country and is believed to have accommodated a small seasonal encampment. Kassite Babylonian material dating back to the second millennium BC found in Al Khor Islands attests to trade relations between the inhabitants of Qatar and the Kassites in modern-day Bahrain, among the findings were 3,000,000 crushed snail shells and Kassite potsherds. It has been suggested that Qatar is the earliest known site of shellfish dye production, in 224 AD, the Sasanian Empire gained control over the territories surrounding the Persian Gulf
21.
Medina
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Medina, also transliterated as Madīnah, is a city in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia that is also the capital of the Al Madinah Region. The city contains al-Masjid an-Nabawi, which is the place of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It served as the base of Islam in its first century where the early Muslim community developed. Medina is home to the three oldest mosques, namely the Quba Mosque, al-Masjid an-Nabawi, and Masjid al-Qiblatayn, Muslims believe that the chronologically final surahs of the Quran were revealed to Muhammad in Medina, and are called Medinan surahs in contrast to the earlier Meccan surahs. Similar to Mecca, non-Muslims are forbidden from entering the core of Medina or the city centre by the national government. The Arabic word al-Madīnah simply means the city, before the advent of Islam, the city was known as Yathrib. The word Yathrib has been recorded in Surat al-Ahzab of the Quran, an alternative name is al-Madīnah an-Nabawīyah or al-Madīna-tu an-Nabī. As of 2010, the city of Medina has a population of 1,183,205, in addition to its Arab inhabitants, during the pre-Islamic era Yathrib was inhabited by Jewish tribes. Later the citys name was changed to al-Madīna-tu n-Nabī or al-Madīnatu l-Munawwarah, Medina is celebrated for containing al-Masjid an-Nabawi and also as the city which gave refuge to him and his followers, and so ranks as the second holiest city of Islam, after Mecca. Muhammad was buried in Medina, under the Green Dome, as were the first two Rashidun caliphs, Abu Bakr and Umar, who were buried next to him in what used to be Muhammads house. Medina is 210 miles north of Mecca and about 120 miles from the Red Sea coast and it is situated in the most fertile part of all the Hejaz territory, the streams of the vicinity tending to converge in this locality. An immense plain extends to the south, in every direction the view is bounded by hills and mountains. The historic city formed an oval, surrounded by a wall,30 to 40 feet high, dating from the 12th century CE. Of its four gates, the Bab-al-Salam, or Egyptian gate, was remarkable for its beauty, beyond the walls of the city, west and south were suburbs consisting of low houses, yards, gardens and plantations. These suburbs also had walls and gates, almost all of the historic city has been demolished in the Saudi era. The rebuilt city is centred on the vastly expanded al-Masjid an-Nabawi, the graves of Fatimah and Hasan, across from the mosque at Jannat al-Baqi, and Abu Bakr, and of Umar, the second caliph, are also here. The mosque dates back to the time of Muhammad, but has been twice reconstructed, because of the Saudi governments religious policy and concern that historic sites could become the focus for idolatry, much of Medinas Islamic physical heritage has been altered. Medinas importance as a religious site derives from the presence of al-Masjid an-Nabawi, the mosque was expanded by the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I
22.
Arabic
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Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested
23.
Deportation
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Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term expulsion is often used as a synonym for deportation, through expulsion is often used in the context of international law. Definitions of deportation apply equally to nationals and foreigners, transportation is by way of punishment of one convicted of an offense against the laws of the country. Extradition is the surrender to another country of one accused of an offense against its laws, there to be tried, deportations widely occurred in ancient history. Deportation was practiced as a policy toward rebellious people in Achaemenid Empire, one notable example was the deportaion of the Mards in Charax, near Rhages by Phraates I. The 10,000 Roman prisonors of war after the Battle of Carrhae appear to have been deported to Alexandria Margiana near the border in 53 BC. It is hypothesized that some of them founded the Chinese city of Li-Jien after becoming soldiers for the Hsiung-nu, Deportation was widely used by the Sasanians, especially during the wars with the Romans and the Byzantines. During Shapur Is reign, the Romans who were defeated at the Battle of Edessa were deported to Persis, other destinations were Parthia, Khuzestan, and Asorestan. There were cities which were founded and were populated by Romans prisoners of war, including Shadh-Shapur in Meshan, Bishapur in Persis, Wuzurg-Shapur, agricultural land were also given to the deportees. These deportations initiated the sread Christianity in the Sassanian empire, in Rēw-Ardashīr, Persis, there was a church for the Romans and another one for Carmanians. After the Arab incursion into Persia during Shapur IIs reign, he scattered the defeated Arab tribes by deporting them to other regions, some where deported to Bahrain and Kirman, possibly to both populate these unattractive regions and bringing the tribes under control. The author of the text Liber Calipharum has praised the king Yazdegerd I for his treatment of the deportees, major deportations occurred during the Anastasian War. Major deportations occurred during the campaigns of Khosrau I from the Roman cities of Sura, Beroea, Antioch, Apamea, Callinicum, the city was founded near Ctesiphon especially for them, and Khosrow reportedly did everything in his power to make the residents want to stay. The number of the deportees is recorded to be 292,000 in another source, in 1954, the executive branch of the U. S. government implemented Operation Wetback, a program created in response to public hysteria about immigration and immigrants from Mexico. Operation Wetback led to the deportation of nearly 1.3 million Mexicans from the United States, already in natural law of the 18th century, philosophers agreed that expulsion of a nation from the territory that it historically inhabits is not allowable. Deportation often requires a process that must be validated by a court or senior government official. It should not be confused with administrative removal, which is the process of a country denying entry to an individual at a port of entry and expelling them. Deportation can also happen within a state, when an individual or a group of people is forcibly resettled to a different part of the country, if ethnic groups are affected by this, it may also be referred to as population transfer
24.
Kerman Province
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Kerman Province is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Kerman is in the southeast of Iran with its center in the city of Kerman. In 2014 it was placed in Region 5, mentioned in ancient times as the Achamenid satrapy of Carmania, it is the second-largest province of Iran with an area of 180,726 km2, that encompasses nearly 11 percent of the land area of Iran. The population of the province is about 3 million, see also, Kerman Province history Kerman province is considered a paradise for palaeontologists because of an abundance of vertebrate fossils from different geological eras. Fossils include Placodermi, jawed and jawless armoured fish dating back to the Devonian period, dinosaurs, the history of human settlements in the territory of Kerman dates back to the 4th millennium BC. This area is considered as one of the ancient regions of Iran, Jiroft is an example, where a previously unknown settlement dating back to around 2500 BC has been established by archeologists. Kerman has an abundance of sites and landmarks,283 in total. Ancient abandoned citadels such as Arg-e Bam and Rayen Castle have been preserved in the desert for 2,000 years, historical documents refer to Kerman as Karmania, Kermania, Germania, Carmonia, and Žermanya, which means bravery and combat. Geographers have recorded Kermans ancient name as Goasheer, the altitudes and heights of the province are the continuation of the central mountain ranges of Iran. They extend from the volcanic folds beginning in Azarbaijan and, by branching out in the plateau of Iran. These mountain ranges have brought about vast plains in the province, the Bashagard and Kuh-e Banan Mountains are the highest in this region and include peaks such as Toghrol, Aljerd, Palvar, Sirach, Abareq and Tahrood. Most of the province is largely steppe or sandy desert, although there are some oases where dates, oranges, in antiquity Carmanian wine was famed for its quality. The province is dependent on qanats for its irrigation, in the central parts, Mount Hezar is the highest peak,4501 meters above sea level. Kerman is prone to natural disasters, a recent flood for example, unearthed the archeological ancient city of Jiroft, in the south of Kerman province. Arg-é Bam on the hand, the worlds largest adobe structure, was destroyed in an earthquake in December 2003. On February 22,2005, an earthquake killed hundreds of residents in the town of Zarand. The climate in the province varies across regions, the north, northwest, and central areas experience a dry and moderate climate, whereas in the south and southeast, the weather is warm and relatively humid. The city of Kerman and the regions have a semi-moderate and dry climate, with a maximum and minimum temperature of 39.6 °C
25.
Ahvaz
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Ahvaz or Ahwaz is a city in the southwest of Iran, and the capital of the oil and natural gas wealthy Khuzestan province. At the 2011 census, its population was 1,112,021, Irans only navigable river, Karun passes by the middle of the city. It has a history dating back to the Achaemenid period. In the ancient times, it had one of the main centers of the Academy of Gondishapur. It is home to several universities, institutions, prominent companies, in Iran, it is known for its ethnic diversity. It is home to Persians, Lurs, Iranian Arabs, Jews, Iranian Armenians and Mandaeans, the word Ahvaz is a Persianized form, which in turn itself is derived from a Persian word. Thus, Ahvaz in Persian means the Huz-i people, which refers to the original inhabitants of Khūzestān. The name of the region appears in medieval Syriac sources as ܒܝܬ ܗܘܙܝܐ Beṯ Huzáyé, the term Huz, meanwhile, is the Old Persian rendition of Suz, the native Elamite name of the region. See Origin of the name Khuzestan and Elam#Etymology for more details, Ahvaz is the analog of Avaz and Avaja which appear in Dariuss epigraph. This word appears in Naqsh-Rostam inscription as Khaja or Khooja too and it became the seat of the province, and was also referred to as Hūmšēr. During the Sassanid era, a system and several dams were constructed. Examples of Sassanid-era dams are Band-e Bala-rud, Band-e Mizan, Band-e Borj Ayar, the city replaced Susa, the ancient capital of Susiana, as the capital of what was then called Khuzestān. The city had two sections, the nobles of the city lived in one part while the other was inhabited by merchants. When the Arabs invaded the area in 640, the part of the city home to the nobility was demolished but the Hūj-ī-stānwāčār Market of Khūz State, the merchant area, remained intact. During the Umayyad and Abbasid eras, Ahvaz flourished as a center for the cultivation of sugarcane and it is discussed by such respected medieval historians and geographers as ibn Hawqal, Tabari, Istakhri, al-Muqaddasi, Yaqubi, Masudi, and Mostowfi Qazvini. Nearby stood the Academy of Gundishapur, where the teaching hospital is said to have been first established. Ahvaz was devastated in the bloody Mongol invasions of the 13th and 14th centuries, the dam and irrigation channels, no longer maintained, eroded and finally collapsed early in the 19th century. During this time Ahvaz was primarily inhabited by the original Khuzhis, although most Arab migrants fled the city, a few stayed
26.
Al-Hira
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Al-Hirah was an ancient city in Mesopotamia located south of what is now Kufa in south-central Iraq. Al-Hirah was a significant city in pre-Islamic Arab history, al-Hirah was a vassal of the Sasanian Empire, whom it helped in containing the nomadic Arabs to the south. The Lakhmid rulers of al-Hirah were recognized by Shapur II, the tenth Sasanian emperor, Ḥīrā was a Christian centre, being a diocese of the Church of the East between the fourth and eleventh centuries. A particular Mār Abdīšo was born in Maysan and moved to Ḥīrā after studying elsewhere under Mār Abdā, there he gained widespread respect as he built a monastery and lived a pious life. The Sasanian emperor Bahram V won the throne with support of al-Mundhir I ibn al-Numan, king of Ḥīrā and he was amazed and showed great respect as he encountered the saint near the village of Bēṯ Arbī on his way back from the imperial capital Seleucia-Ctesiphon. 527, al-Hirah was opposed by the Ghassanids, a Byzantine-sponsored Arab state in Syria, the two powers engaged in a long conflict of their own that functioned as a proxy war for the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires. In 531, the Sasanians defeated the Byzantine general Belisarius at the Battle of Callinicum south of Edessa, in 602, Khosrow II deposed al-Numan III ibn al-Mundhir and annexed al-Hirah. The Muslim conquest of Persia occurred in the 7th century, following the Battle of Hira, the city was captured by army of the Rashidun Caliphate under the command of Khalid ibn al-Walid in May 633. Abda of Hira Lakhmids Bosworth, Clifford Edmund, ed, the History of Al-Ṭabarī, Volume V, The Sāsānids, the Byzantines, the Lakhmids, and Yemen. State University of New York Press, morris, John, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Volume III, AD 527–641, Cambridge University Press, p.258, ISBN 0-521-20160-8
27.
Bundahishn
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Bundahishn, meaning Primal Creation, is the name traditionally given to an encyclopædiaic collections of Zoroastrian cosmogony and cosmology written in Book Pahlavi. The original name of the work is not known, although the Bundahishn draws on the Avesta and develops ideas alluded to in those texts, it is not itself scripture. The content reflects Zoroastrian scripture, which in turn reflects both ancient Zoroastrian and pre-Zoroastrian beliefs, in some cases, the text alludes to contingencies of post-7th century Islamic Iran, and yet in other cases reiterates scripture even though science had by then determined otherwise. The traditionally given name seems to be an adoption of the word from the first sentence of the younger of the two recensions. Most of the chapters of the date to the 8th and 9th centuries, roughly contemporary with the oldest portions of the Denkard. The later chapters are several centuries younger than the oldest ones, the oldest existing copy dates to the mid-16th century. The Bundahishn survives in two recensions, a shorter was found in India, and is thus known as the Lesser Bundahishn, or Indian Bundahishn. A copy of this version was brought to Europe by Abraham Anquetil-Duperron in 1762, a longer version was brought to India from Iran by T. D. Anklesaria around 1870, and is thus known as the Greater Bundahishn or Iranian Bundahishn or just Bundahishn. The greater recension is about twice as long as the lesser, the two recensions derive from different manuscript traditions, and in the portions available in both sources, vary in content. The greater recension is also the older of the two, and was dated by West to around 1540, the lesser recension dates from about 1734. Traditionally, chapter-verse pointers are in Arabic numerals for the lesser recension, the two series are not synchronous since the lesser recension was analyzed before the extent of the greater recension was known. The chapter order is also different, the Bundahishn is the concise view of the Zoroastrianisms creation myth, and of the first battles of the forces of Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu for the hegemony of the world. According to the text, in the first 3,000 years of the year, Ahura Mazda created the Fravashis. He used the insensible and motionless Void as a weapon against Angra Mainyu, the Bundahishn finally recounts the creation of the primordial bovine, Ewagdad, and Gayomard, the primordial human. Following MacKenzie, the chapter names in quotation marks reflect the original titles. Those without quotation marks are summaries of chapters that have no title, the chapter/section numbering scheme is based on that of B. T. Anklesaria for the greater recension, and that of West for the lesser recension, excerpt from Chapter 2, - On the formation of the luminaries. Ohrmazd produced illumination between the sky and the earth, the stars and those also not of the constellations, then the moon
28.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
29.
House of Sasan
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The House of Sasan ruled the Sasanian Empire from 224 to 651. It began with Ardashir I, who named the dynasty as Sasanian in honour of his grandfather, the Shahanshah was the sole regent, head of state and head of government of the empire. At times, power shifted de facto to other officials, namely the spahbed, list of shahanshahs of the Sasanian Empire Sasanian family tree Sasanian architecture Pourshariati, Parvaneh. Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire, The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran
30.
Sasanian architecture
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Sasanian architecture refers to the Persian architectural style that reached a peak in its development during the Sasanian era. In many ways the Sasanian Empire period witnessed the highest achievement of Persian civilization, in fact much of what later became known as Muslim culture, architecture, writing and other skills, were taken from the Persians into the wider Muslim world. The Sasanian dynasty, like the Achaemenid Empire, originated in the province of Persis and they saw themselves as successors to the Achaemenians, after the Hellenistic and Parthian dynasty interlude, and perceived it as their role to restore the greatness of Persia. In reviving the glories of the Achaemenian past, the Sasanians were no mere imitators, the art of this period reveals an astonishing virility. In certain respects it anticipates features later developed during the Islamic period, the conquest of Persia by Alexander II had inaugurated the spread of Hellenistic art into Western Asia, but if the East accepted the outward form of this art, it never really assimilated its spirit. Already in the Parthian period Hellenistic art was being interpreted freely by the peoples of the Near East, Sasanian art revived forms and traditions native to Persia, and in the Islamic period these reached the shores of the Mediterranean. The splendour in which the Sasanian monarchs lived is well illustrated by their surviving palaces, such as those at Firouzabad and Bishapur in Fars, in addition to local traditions, Parthian dynastic architecture must have been responsible for a great many of the Sasanian architectural characteristics. All are characterised by the barrel-vaulted iwans introduced in the Parthian period, the arch of the great vaulted hall at Ctesiphon attributed to the reign of Shapur I has a span of more than 80 ft, and reaches a height of 118 ft. from the ground. This magnificent structure fascinated architects in the centuries that followed and has always considered as one of the most important pieces of Persian architecture. Many of the palaces contain an audience hall which consists, as at Firuzabad. The Persians solved the problem of constructing a circular dome on a building by the squinch. This is an arch built across each corner of the square, the dome chamber in the palace of Firouzabad is the earliest surviving example of the use of the squinch and so there is good reason for regarding Persia as its place of invention. The early palaces of the Sassanid have ceased to exist, but these residences have almost wholly disappeared. Its main features are simple, and are uniform from first to last, the oblong square is variously proportioned. The depth may be a more than the breadth, or it may be nearly twice as much. In either case, the front occupies one of the shorter sides, the outer wall is sometimes pierced by one entrance only, but, more commonly, entrances are multiplied beyondthe limit commonly observed in modern buildings. The great entrance is in the centre of the front. From the outer air, we look, as it were, straight into the heart of the edifice, in one instance to the depth of 115 feet, a distance equal to the length of Henry VII. s Chapel at Westminster
31.
Sasanian art
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Sasanian art, or Sassanid art, was produced under the Sasanian Empire which ruled from the 3rd to 7th centuries AD, before the Muslim conquest of Persia was completed around 651. In 224 AD, the last Parthian king was defeated by Ardashir I, the resulting Sasanian dynasty would last for four hundred years, ruling modern Iran, Iraq, and much territory to the east and north of modern Iran. At times the Levant, much of Anatolia and parts of Egypt and it began a new era in Iran and Mesopotamia, which in many ways was built on Achaemenid traditions, including the art of the period. Nevertheless, there were other influences on art of the period that came from as far as China. The surviving art of the Sassanids is best seen in its architecture, reliefs and metalwork, stone reliefs were probably greatly outnumbered by interior ones in plaster, of which only fragments have survived. There are important Sassanid rock reliefs, and the Parthian tradition of moulded stucco decoration to buildings continued, surviving Sassanid art depicts courtly and chivalric scenes, with considerable grandeur of style, reflecting the lavish life and display of the Sassanid court as recorded by Byzantine ambassadors. Images of rulers dominate many of the works, though none are as large as the Colossal Statue of Shapur I. Hunting and battle scenes enjoyed a popularity, and lightly-clothed dancing girls. Representations are often arranged like a coat of arms, which in turn may have had a influence on the production of art in Europe. Although Parthian art preferred the front view, the representations of the Sassanian art often features figures shown in the profile or a three-quarter view. Free standing sculptures are rare in this period, compared under the Parthians, the Colossal Statue of Shapur I is the single outstanding exception to survive. It begins with Lullubi and Elamite rock reliefs, such as those at Kul-e Farah and Eshkaft-e Salman in southwest Iran, and continues under the Assyrians. The Behistun relief and inscription, made around 500 BC for Darius the Great, is on a far grander scale, reflecting and proclaiming the power of the Achaemenid empire. Persian rulers commonly boasted of their power and achievements, until the Muslim conquest removed imagery from such monuments, other Persian reliefs generally lack inscriptions, and the kings involved often can only be tentatively identified. The problem is helped in the case of the Sassanids by their custom of showing a different style of crown for each king, Naqsh-e Rustam is the necropolis of the Achaemenid dynasty, with four large tombs cut high into the cliff face. The three classes of figures are sharply differentiated in size, the entrance to each tomb is at the centre of each cross, which opens onto to a small chamber, where the king lay in a sarcophagus. The horizontal beam of each of the facades is believed to be a replica of the entrance of the palace at Persepolis. Well below the Achaemenid tombs, near ground level, are reliefs with large figures of Sassanian kings, some meeting gods
32.
Academy of Gondishapur
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It offered training in medicine, philosophy, theology and science. The faculty were versed in the Zoroastrian and Persian traditions, according to The Cambridge History of Iran, it was the most important medical center of the ancient world during the 6th and 7th centuries. Here, Nestorian scholars, together with Hellenistic philosophers banished from Athens by Justinian in 529, carried out important research in medicine, astronomy, and mathematics. However, it was under the rule of the Sassanid emperor Khosrau I, known to the Greeks and Romans as Chosroes, Khosrau I gave refuge to various Greek philosophers and Syriac-speaking Nestorian Christians fleeing religious persecution by the Byzantine empire. The Sassanids had long battled the Romans and Byzantines for control of present-day Iraq, emperor Khosrau I commissioned the refugees to translate Greek and Syriac texts into Pahlavi. They translated various works on medicine, astronomy, philosophy, Khosrau I also turned towards the east, and sent the physician Borzouye to invite Indian and Chinese scholars to Gondeshapur. These visitors translated Indian texts on astronomy, astrology, mathematics and medicine and Chinese texts on herbal medicine, Borzouye is said to have himself translated the Pañcatantra from Sanskrit into Persian as Kalila u Dimana. A Church of the East monastery was established in the city of Gondishapur sometime before 376/7, by the 6th century the city became famed for its theological school where Rabban Hormizd once studied. According to a letter from the Catholicos of the East Timothy I, although almost all the physicians of the medical academy were Persians, yet they wrote their treatises in Syriac, because medicine had a literary tradition in Syriac. O a very large extent, the credit for the hospital system must be given to Persia. There is even evidence that graduates had to pass exams in order to practice as accredited Gondeshapur physicians, Gondeshapur also had a pivotal role in the history of mathematics. In 832 AD, Caliph al-Mamūn founded the famous House of Wisdom, there the methods of Gondeshapur were emulated, indeed, the House of Wisdom was staffed with graduates of the older Academy of Gondeshapur. It is believed that the House of Wisdom was disbanded under Al-Mutawakkil, the significance of the center gradually declined. Al-Muqaddasis Best Divisions for Knowledge of the Regions described Gondeshapur as falling into ruins, Jondishapur University was renamed to Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz in 1981 in honor of Mostafa Chamran. It has been renamed again as Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences recently, ancient Gondeshapur is also slated for an archaeological investigation. Experts from the Archaeological Research Center of Irans Cultural Heritage Organization and the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago plan to start excavations in early 2006. Nezamiyeh The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol 4, ISBN 0-521-20093-8 Winkler, Dietmar W. Baum, Wilhelm, The Church of the East, A Concise History, Taylor & Francis, ISBN9780415600217 Dols, Michael W. The origins of the Islamic hospital, myth and reality Bulletin of the, History of Medicine,61,3,1987, pp 367–90 Frye, Richard Nelson
33.
Sasanian glass
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Sasanian Glass is the glassware produced between the 3rd and the 7th centuries AD within the limits of the Sasanian Empire, namely Northern Iraq, Iran and Central Asia. Thus the decoration consists of solid and visual motifs from the mould, with ribbed and deeply cut facets, although other techniques like trailing. Despite there being a general agreement concerning what Sasanian Glass is, therefore, before continuing with a further explanation is necessary to clarify it. Usually it is defined by means of Period, Territory and Style, Sasanian glass is frequently referred to with the ambiguous term Pre-Islamic Glass. Sasanian Glass is also named Persian Glass, incorporating all the assemblage manufactured in Persia from the 3rd to the 19th centuries AD. The Sasanian Empire spanned a vast area from the Fertile Crescent to the Central Asian steppe, Some of the works were produced in the peripheral regions bordering the Empire and others came from beyond but following Sasanian designs. Finally, the criteria can be very tricky due to several reasons. Second, the most characteristic method of decoration utilized by Sasanian artisans, there are splendid examples of wheel-cut vessels at least from the 5th century BC among the Achaemenians that are known both in East and West. However, there is no such continuity in glassmaking, Sasanian glass is a silica-soda-lime composition with high levels of K and Mg, this means the use of plant-ash as a source of soda. The Roman and the Parthian glass, on the other hand, consequently, there is no continuation of the formula. Moreover, Sasanian glasses also show differences when compared with other plant-ash soda glasses, in fact, the Sasanian glass is different even within itself. Three recipes have been identified for the glassmaking, the first one is a silica-soda-lime glass with one evaporite as a flux that mainly appears in the earliest stages of the Empire. The second group is divided into two subgroups, both using sodic ash but exploiting different plants. One of them is present from the beginning of the Dynasty, a crucial difference between them, apart from the one mentioned, is that the second subgroup always utilised a purer source of silica. It is significant that, in the quest for the meeting the taste of the Sasanians. The only technological innovation attributed to Sasanian glassworkers is ‘the casting of a glass blank that could be carved as if it were a hard-stone’, the rest of the arts were acquired from previous artisans. Thus wheel-cutting from Achaemenians, applied ornaments like trails and blobs of glass were introduced around the 3rd–2nd centuries BC, Sasanian glass craftsmen did not invent anything revolutionary but rather developed the available arts to a degree of mastery. In fact, their expertise in glassworking settled the ‘foundation for virtually all the used to produce glass in the Islamic world’
34.
Middle Persian literature
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Middle Persian was the prestige dialect during the era of Sassanid dynasty. These compositions, in the Aramaic-derived Book Pahlavi script, are known as Pahlavi literature. The earliest texts in Zoroastrian Middle Persian were probably written down in late Sassanid times, the surviving manuscripts are usually 14th-century copies. Pahlavi literature traditionally defines the writings of the Zoroastrians in the Middle Persian language and Book Pahlavi script which were compiled in the 9th, the literary corpus in Middle Persian in Book Pahlavi consists of, translations and commentaries of the Avesta. Other exegetical compositions on religious subjects and these divisions are not mutually exclusive. Several different literary genres are represented in Pahlavi literature, zand texts The zand corpus include exegetical glosses, paraphrases, commentaries and translations of the Avestas texts. Although such exegetical commentaries also exist in other languages, the Middle Persian zand is the only to survive fully, with the notable exception of the Yashts, almost all surviving Avestan texts have their Middle Persian zand, which in some manuscripts appear alongside the text being glossed. These glosses and commentaries were not intended for use as theological texts by themselves, in contrast, the Avestan language texts remained sacrosanct and continued to be recited in the Avestan language, which was considered a sacred language. The Bundahishn, Original Creation, is an important source of information on Zoroastrian cosmogony, Manushchihrs Dadestan i Denig and Epistles the Vichitakiha i Zatsparam, the Treatises of Zatsparam, by Manushchihrs brother Zatsparam. The Arda-Viraf Namag relates the dream-journey of a devout Zoroastrian through the next world, the Shikand-gumanic Vichar, a partly apologetic and partly polemic review of other religions. The Shayast ne-shayast, Proper and Improper, a compilation of laws and customs regarding sin and impurity, with other memoranda about ceremonies. The Shahrestaniha i Eranshahr, is a catalogue of the four regions of the Sassanid empire with mythical and/or historical stories related to their founding, several andarz texts, the Iranian type of wisdom literature containing advice and injunctions for proper behavior. The Drakht i Asurig, the Assyrian tree, is an originally Parthian poem recast into Book Pahlavi but retaining many Parthian phrases, the Abdih ud Sahigih i Sagistan is a description of the Wonders and Remarkable Features of Sistan. The Khusraw va Redag, Khusraw and the Page, is an account of a conversation between the king and a boy who would like to be a page. This work is a source of information on the delights of the Sassanian court. Only a single manuscript of this text survives. Scribes also created several glossaries for translating foreign languages, of these, two have survived, Frahang-i Pahlavig, a glossary of common Aramaic heterograms used in written Middle Persian. Frahang-i Oim-evak, a dictionary of Avestan words and phrases, several other works, now lost, are known of from references to them in other languages. e
35.
Sasanian music
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Sasanian music refers to the golden age of Persian music that occurred under the reign of the Sasanian dynasty. Persian classical music dates to the sixth century BC, during the time of the Achaemenid Empire, music played an important role in prayer, but Persian music had its zenith during the Sasanian dynasty from 224 until 651 AD. In this era, many of Persian musics dastgahs and modes were invented and he employed 30 sounds for music. Naturally he recorded his inspirations and performed them for his audience, since if he did not, dance and chanson were prevalent in court banquets. Another important role that music played was in the reception of foreign diplomats and kings from neighbouring countries, five centuries after Barbods death, Farabi made a record of all the musical pieces of his period and described the ancient note recording method. The history of performance in Sassanid Iran is however better documented than earlier periods. This is specially more evident in the context of Zoroastrian ritual, by the time of Khusro Parviz, the Sassanid royal court was the host of prominent musicians. The relief depicts two boats and the picture shows these boats at two successive moments within the same panel. The musical instruments which appear distinctly on the Sassanid sculptures are the harp, the horn, the Daf, the drum, the harp is triangular, and has seven strings, it is held in the lap, and played apparently by both hands. The drum is of small size, the horns and pipes are too crudely represented for their exact character to be apparent. Concerted pieces seem to have sometimes played by harpers only. A portion of the musicians occupy an elevated orchestra, to there is access by a flight of steps. By the time of Khusro Parviz, the Sassanid royal court was the host of prominent musicians such as Ramtin He was also a remarkable musician, bamshad He was another court musician of Khosrau II. He used to play early morning songs which could please the king and people, Nakisa She was also the court musician of the Sassanid Empire. The main theme of her songs were in praise of King Khosrau II, the main instrument that she played was a harp. Azad Sarkash Though not as renowned as Barbod or Nakisa, he was a remarkable musician, Barbad Barbad is remembered in many documents and has been named as remarkably high skilled. He has been credited to have given an organisation of musical system consisting of seven Royal modes named Khosrovani, thirty derivative modes named lahn and these numbers are in accordance with Sassanids calendar of number of days in a week, month, and year. The theories based on which these modal system was based are not known, there are also some of a descriptive nature like roshan cheragh
36.
Military of the Sasanian Empire
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The Sasanian army was the primary military body of the Sasanian armed forces, serving alongside the Sasanian navy. The birth of the dates back to the rise of Ardashir I. He restored the Achaemenid military organizations, retained the Parthian cavalry model, in the character of their warfare, the Persians of the Sasanian period differed greatly from their forebears under the Achaemenid kings. Four main arms of the service were recognized, each standing on a different level, the elephants, the horse, the archers, in Pahlavi language, smaller divisions of the spāh were referred to as vasht and larger divisions were designated as gond. Interestingly, the Arabic word jund, meaning army, is derived from the latter, pāygōsbān or Padhuspan, Commander of each of the four provincial divisions devised during the reign of Khosrau I. Marzbān or Kanārang, Equivalent to margrave or commander of the guards, according to Procopius. Pushtigbān-sālār, Head of the royal guard, erān anbāraghbad, Senior rank responsible for army supplies. Stor Bezashk, Senior vet who looked after the cavalry elites mounts, argbed, Castellan, commander of a castle or fort. Pāygān Sālār, Chief of an infantry division, savārān Sardār, Head of a cavalry division. Gond Sālār, Commander of a gond division, the backbone of the Spâh in the Sasanian era was its heavy armoured cavalry, known since Classical antiquity in the west as Cataphracts. This was made up of noblemen who underwent extensive exercises in warfare and military manoeuvres through military training, gaining discipline, within the Sasanian military, the cavalry was the most influential element, and Sasanian cavalry tactics were adopted by the Romans, Arabs, and Turks. Their weaponry, battle tactics, tamgas, medallions, court customs, the Romans called these newly formed units clibanarii, It is said that the word clibanarii is derived from Persian word grivpanvar or griva-pana-vara meaning neck-guard wearer. The Roman term appears for the first time in the vita Alexandri Severi in the Historia Augusta, shapur II further reformed the army by adopting heavier and more effective cavalry. These mounted units were clad in iron plates which covered their entire body. This made them very much like moving iron statues. Some were armed with a lance and some with a sword and/or mace, depictions of aforementioned cavalry still survive, with one of the best preserved ones being a rock relief at Taq-e Bostan where Khosrau II is seen riding his favourite horse, Shabdiz. The heavy cavalry was complemented by lighter cavalry, which were not made up of Sasanian, gelani, Albani, Hephthalites, Kushans and the Khazars were the main suppliers of this light- to medium-armoured cavalry. They were a part of the Spâh because of their endurance
