Several ancient cities of Mesopotamia and Persia are known to have had a circular plan.
City/town | Establishment | Coordinates | Notes | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sagbat/Hagmatana | 700 BC | [1] | ||
Sam'al | Hittite period | [1] | ||
Ctesiphon | Details are still under discussion. Circularity may be a result of natural growth of the city rather than design. | [2] | ||
Metropolis (Thessaly) | 3rd and 2nd century BC | Early Western travelers reported that the fortifications surrounding the ancient city was completely circular. | [3] | |
Hatra | 3rd or 2nd century BC | The plan is round, but it lacks "a genuine geometrical concept". | [2] | |
Gōr (old Firuzabad) | 3rd century[ dubious ] | The city plan was a perfect circle of 1,950 m diameter, divided into twenty sectors. The plan also featured a circular city center, with a tower at its very center. | [4] | |
Veh-Ardashir | 3rd century | The circular wall is uncovered. | [5] | |
Harran | Sasanian period | [1] | ||
Gay / Jay (Isfahan's twin city) | [6] | |||
Isfahan | The round city of Isfahan is not uncovered yet. | [2] | ||
Basra | 630s | Known mostly from literature. | [1] | |
Kufa | 630s | Known mostly from literature. | [1] | |
Baghdad | 762 | Known as "the round city of Baghdad". | [2] [7] | |
Darab | 8th century | The uncovered imperfect circular perimeter is reportedly a defensive work built in the 8th century, and the city itself was triangular in design. | [8] | |
Heraqla | 790s | [1] | ||
Venus Project (design) | 1955 | In Miami, Jacques Fresco presented designs of a circular city. |
Zoroastrianism, also known as Mazdayasna and Behdin, is an Iranian religion. One of the world's oldest organized faiths, it is based on the teachings of the Avesta and the Iranian prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic-style ontology; meaning that the religion's eschatology predicts the ultimate triumph of good over evil. Zoroastrians exalt an uncreated and benevolent deity of wisdom, commonly referred to as "Ahura Mazda", as the universe's supreme being; opposed to Ahura Mazda is "Angra Mainyu", who is personified as a destructive spirit and the adversary of all things good. Historically, the unique features of Zoroastrianism, such as monotheism, messianism, belief in free will and judgement after death, conception of heaven, hell, angels, and demons, among other concepts, may have influenced other religious and philosophical systems, including the Abrahamic religions and Gnosticism, Northern Buddhism, and Greek philosophy.
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Encyclopædia Iranica is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English-language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times.
Pāpak Fort or Babak Castle, ″Ghal’eh-e Baz″ is a large citadel on the top of a mountain in the Arasbaran forests, 50 km from Ahar, one parasang from Ardabil, 6 km southwest of Kalibar City in northwestern Iran. According to Ibn al- Nadim, it was the stronghold of Javidhan and Babak Khorramdin, the leaders of the Khurramites in Iranian Azerbaijan who fought the Islamic caliphate of Abbassids. The fort was conquered and ruined by Afshin′s army in 837.
Firuzabad is a city in the Central District of Firuzabad County, Fars province, Iran, serving as both capital of the district and of the county. Firuzabad is south of Shiraz. The city is surrounded by a mud wall and ditch.
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Chalus, also Romanized as Chālūs, Chaloos, Chalousse, Chalous, and Čâlus, is a city in the Central District of Chalus County, Mazandaran province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district.
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Kazerun County is in Fars province, Iran. Its capital is the city of Kazerun.
Chalus County is in Mazandaran province, Iran. Its capital is the city of Chalus.
The Amardians, widely referred to as the Amardi, were an ancient Iranian tribe living along the mountainous region bordering the Caspian Sea to the north, to whom the Iron Age culture at Marlik is attributed. They are said to be related to, or the same tribe as, the Dahae and Sacae. That is to say, they were Scythian. Herodotus mentions a tribe with a similar name as one of the ten to fifteen Persian tribes in Persis.
Meshan was a province of the Sasanian Empire. It consisted of the Parthian vassal kingdom of Characene and reached north along the Shatt al-Arab river and then the lower Tigris to Madhar and possibly further. 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 contained many date palms. It was also an important trading province along the Persian Gulf.
Mangur is one of the largest Kurdish tribe of northwestern Iran and has a minor presence in northern Iraq. Historically semi-nomadic and war-like, they are native to a basin on the little Zab river called “Mangurayeti” in Mukriyan and also inhabit the districts and cities of Sardasht, Piranshahr, Mahabad, and Pshdar District, the latter of which is in Iraq and not considered to be apart of the geo-cultural region of Mukriyan.
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Chartaq, chahartaq (چهارطاق), chartaqi (چارطاقی), or chahartaqi (چهارطاقی), literally meaning "having four arches", is an architectural unit consisted of four barrel vaults and a dome.
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The High Middle Ages, or Classic Feudalism Period in what constitutes the present-day Republic of Azerbaijan, lasted from around the 11th century to the 15th century AD. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended around the 15thcentury AD. Key historical trends of the High Middle Ages include the incorporation of the territories that constitute present-day Azerbaijan into the Seljuk Empire, the establishment of the Eldiguzids, the Mongol invasions and the rule of the Ilkhanate, the invasions of Timur and the establishment of the Turkoman Kara Koyunlu and Aq Qoyunlu tribal confederations.