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A world of ancient mystery is located in Iran, with some sites dating back over 7,000 years, far before the civilization of the Persian Empire and its capital, Persepolis. This archaeological site is the number one tourist destination in the country, and with good reason. Culture Trip takes a look into why this forgotten empire is one of the greatest wonders of the ancient world. Persepolis is no doubt the main attraction that lures tourists to Iran. Located about 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) outside of the modern city of Shiraz, these ancient ruins served as the capital of the...

Written by an Iranian woman who once told her schoolteacher in Tehran that she wanted to “be a prophet,” the memoir “Persepolis” has been banned in Iran, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates because the work is considered to be Islamophobic and blasphemous to Muslims. What’s more, it has also been banned in a Chicago public school for ostensibly the same reasons. Teachers, students and parents at Chicago’s Lane Tech College Prep are staging a protest Friday after all traces of Marjane Satrapi’s novel was purged from the North Side school — a decision made by Principal Christopher Dignam, who...

Rome – A joint Iranian-Italian archeological mission in Iran has made an exceptional discovery: the archeologists have found the first traces of the urban settlement in Persepolis, one of the five capitals of the Achaemenid Empire in ancient Persia, the construction of which began in 520 BC under the Emperor Darius the Great and lasted almost seventy years. In an interview with the “Tehran Times”, translated by the magazine “Archeologia Viva” (Giunti Editore), the Italian director of the mission, Pierfrancesco Callieri, professor of Archeology and Iranian Art History at the University of Bologna, affirmed that the new findings at the...

The ancient town of Parsa has begun to emerge from the shadows of Persepolis. An Iranian-Italian joint archaeological team has brought to light the first remains of the town of Parsa, which was the residential area of commoners just outside the palaces of Persepolis... Professor Callieri said the team, in collaboration with the Parsa-Pasargadae Research Foundation, is also studying the possibility of setting up a centralized data base compiling all the information on Persepolis and the surrounding area, which may also be put online on a web site. Asked if the excavation provided further evidence of the fact that Persepolis...

BEIRUT - The Oscar-nominated film ”Persepolis”, which has annoyed authorities in Iran for its critical portrayal of the Islamic revolution, has been banned in Lebanon, officials said Wednesday, sparking an outcry. One official at the interior ministry’s general security department would not say why the French animated feature was banned, even though a censored version has been screened in Iran. But another official said the film had displeased the head of security services, who he claimed is close to the militant Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran. “It is clear that... General Wafiq Jizzini is close to...

I've been reading a lot of great things about this flick and figured that Freepers might want a peek. The usually left leaning Ain't it Cool News has been giving it rave review and hopefully, it will educate folks on what kind of horrific damage Jimmy Carter did ... not only to our nation's security, but to the people forced to live under the thumb of the mullahs. From AICN: Does the title Persepolis got you down? Well, it could just as very well be titled Why It Sucks to Have Girl Parts in the Middle East or possibly even...

`Glory of Persepolis' goes on screen in response to insulting movie `300'Tehran, May 1, IRNA Iran-Movie-Persepolis A number of experts and critics attending the screening and analysis session of the documentary dubbed `Glory of Persepolis' said that it reflects the dignity of Iranians and Persepolis, adding that it is a proper response to the insulting Hollywood movie `300'. The screening of a new series of films started at Nour film house of Imam Ali (AS) Religious Arts Museum on Monday afternoon and `Glory of Persepolis' was the first film that was screened and analyzed. The session was attended by the...

Ancient history as taught today is a disaster area. The chronology of the first and second millennium BCE is badly wrong. The history of ancient history revisionism offered here is drawn largely from the pages of SIS publications over the last 25 years. The Revision of Ancient History - A Perspective By P John Crowe. An edited and extended version of a paper presented to the SIS Jubilee Conference, Easthampstead Park, Sept. 17-19th 1999 [1] Internet Paper Revision no.1 March 2001 Contents Introduction An Outline History of Revising Ancient History - Up to 1952. 2.1 Exaggerating Antiquity. 2.2 The Early...

A red floor which dates back to the reign of Darius the Great was recently unearthed in the treasury of Persepolis, the Persian service of CHN reported on Wednesday. Archaeologists working on Persepolis were not informed about the floor, which was discovered while gardeners worked on the green area over top of one section of the treasury... [C]urator of the Persepolis site-specific museum Mohammad-Taqi Ataii said... the discovery confirms the view of German archaeologist Erich Frederich Schmidt about the dimensions of the treasury at the time of Darius I. Schmidt excavated Persepolis in the mid 1930s. Archaeological studies show that...

Persepolis architects were geologists, too Tehran Times Culture Desk TEHRAN – Recent geological studies at the Persepolis historical site indicate that Achaemenid era architects used their unique knowledge of geology and mines in the construction of Persepolis, the Persian service of CHN reported on Thursday. The experts were well aware of the science of geology and were keen to discover underground sources of water, geologist Azam Zare said. The studies show that the Achaemenid experts had acquired specialized knowledge and technology, but it is unclear how they mastered these skills, she added. “The studies of the geological team at Persepolis...

A Rush to Excavate Ancient Iranian Sites NAZILA FATHI November 27, 2005 TEHRAN, Nov. 26 - Archaeologists from around the world have been rushing to excavate scores of newly identified ancient sites in southern Iran before the area is flooded by a new dam. Iran has been planning for a decade to build the Sivand Dam in Fars Province, between the ruins of the ancient Persian cities of Persepolis and Pasargadae. But the Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization knew little about the broader region until three years ago, when archaeologists identified 129 potentially important sites in the region that will be...

WATCH THE VIDEO HEREThe video is about the recent "Forgotten Empire" exhibition at British Museum in London

Why Iran, asked friends and relatives. Why should a group of women journalists decide to go on a busman’s holiday to Iran of all places? “You will have to cover your heads and won't be allowed to talk to men,” exclaimed a colleague. Iranian embassy officials were equally curious. The usual reasons were trotted out — it is an unlikely destination for a holiday with the family, but it is of interest to journalists as an important country in India’s neighbourhood. The visas finally arrived, just as we were giving up hope, and were accompanied by elaborate instructions — heads...

Persia's kings are history's great villains. Does the British Museum's show do them justice? By Jonathan Jones The title of this exhibition is a bit misleading. Forgotten Empire, the British Museum calls its spectacular resurrection of ancient Persia. Yet the Persians are as notorious in their way as Darth Vader, the Sheriff of Nottingham, General Custer, or any other embodiment of evil empire you care to mention. They are history's original villains. In its day, which lasted from the middle of the 500s BC until the defeat of Darius III by Alexander the Great in 331 BC, the Persian empire...

The Islamic regime is to submerge part of Iran's past in a shameful historical cleansing, in order to avoid facing more nationalistic problems with future generations. The construction of a very controversial dam project is near completion and soon, the tomb of "Cyrus the Great" and "Persepolis" would be submerged under water. Cyrus the Great (580-529 BC) (known as Kourosh in Persian; Kouros in Greek; Kores in Hebrew) was the first Achaemenian Emperor and founder of Iran, who issued a decree on his aims and policies, later hailed as his charter of the rights of nations. Inscribed on a clay...

Iranian history to go under hammer at Christie’s 4/19/05 TEHRAN, Apr. 19 (MNA) -- A collection of Iran’s historic and ancient artworks are to be sold at Christie’s auction house in London during three sales entitled “Faces from the Ancient World, a European Private Collection”, “Islamic Art and Manuscripts”, and “Oriental Rugs and Carpets.” An Achaemenid era bas-relief depicting the head of a soldier, which had been severed from the eastern staircase of the Apadana Palace in Persepolis, will be sold in Faces from the Ancient World on April 20. The bas-relief was smuggled from Iran about 70 years ago...

Cyrus the Great Cylinder, The First Charter of Human Rights By 546 BCE, Cyrus had defeated Croesus, the Lydian king of fabled wealth, and had secured control of the Aegean coast of Asia Minor, Armenia, and the Greek colonies along the Levant. Moving east, he took Parthia (land of the Arsacids, not to be confused with Parsa, which was to the southwest), Chorasmis, and Bactria. He besieged and captured Babylon in 539 and released the Jews who had been held captive there, thus earning his immortalization in the Book of Isaiah. When he died in 529, Cyrus's kingdom extended as...

TEHRAN (AFP) -- One of Iran's main historical sites, the ancient Elamite capital of Susa, has been used for the secret nightly dumping of rubbish by the local municipality, a culture official in the area told AFP Tuesday. "We have filed several complaints against the municipality, but it firmly denies its workers have ever done such a thing -- even though they have been frequently spotted by our guards," said the head of the Cultural Heritage Organization in Shush, the modern name for Susa. But the official, Mahdi Qanbari, also complained that the municipality was also planning to build a...

Archeologists have discovered quarries mined for stones used in constructing and decorating Persepolis, the splendid capital city of the Achaemenid Empire (550-330 B.C.). Working on the Parse and Pasargadae Project, experts found out stones used in Persepolis had been quarried from some mines located in the Marvdasht plateau. “Over the past year, we have discovered 11 mines in the highland area, all pointing to the fact that they had been the main source for different kinds of stones used in Achaemenids’ palaces,” said Hamid Amanollahi, head of the research team in Marvdasht. He added the archeologists are going to continue...

The mausoleum of Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid Empire, would be buttressed and renovated following its recent inscription on UNESCO’s prestigious World Heritage List. The mausoleum is part of the Pasargadae historical site, added as Iran’s sixth entry on the list during the 28th Session of the World heritage Committee in China. It is one of the outstanding examples of the first phase of royal Achaemenid art and architecture and an exceptional testimony of Persian Civilization. Dating back to 2,500 years ago, the burial chamber is surrounded by royal gardens and has been a sacred place ever since,...