https://airyanematlas.github.io/Indo-European & Iranian history, language and maps. Sources on every graphic.enhttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w4-4/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w4-4/Thu, 05 Nov 2026 07:00:00 -0700Parthia, gatekeeper of the Silk Road. Mithridates II (121–91 BC) opened the road toward China, and about 106 BC a Parthian embassy reached the Han court. The Chinese name An-hsi comes from the dynasty’s own: Arsak. #Parthia #SilkRoad #Arsacidhttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w4-3/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w4-3/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 07:00:00 -0700Reading Xerxes’ expedition from the sources. Aeschylus, in 472 BC, gives the fleet as 1,000 ships and 207 fast ones. Herodotus lists 1,207 warships. 1,000 + 207 = 1,207: two Greek witnesses, one total. #Xerxes #Salamis #Herodotushttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/d18-who-ruled-the-steppe-scythian-family-trees/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/d18-who-ruled-the-steppe-scythian-family-trees/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 07:00:00 -0700DNA from 85 Scythians buried 900-200 BC shows elite graves were tied together by family: the elite were about 11 times more likely to be related to each other, and nearly half were women. Who held power on the steppe? #Scythians #AncientDNAhttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w4-2/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w4-2/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 07:00:00 -0700Twenty provinces, one empire. Darius I gave the Achaemenid world governors called satraps, fixed tribute and a gold coin, the daric. Herodotus lists twenty tax districts, from Ionia’s 400 talents of silver to India’s 360 talents of gold dust. #Achaemenid #Persia #Historyhttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/d17-siraf-the-port-that-linked-persia-to-the-world/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/d17-siraf-the-port-that-linked-persia-to-the-world/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 07:00:00 -0700Siraf, on the Gulf coast of Bushehr, was a harbour for Sasanian and early Islamic trade with East Africa, India and China. It has been on UNESCO's Tentative List since 2007; Alamut was inscribed in July 2026. #Siraf #PersianGulfhttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w4-1/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w4-1/Mon, 02 Nov 2026 07:00:00 -0700The king’s own account. At Behistun, Darius I tells in three languages how he took the throne: nineteen battles and nine captive kings in a single year. Henry Rawlinson copied it, and it helped unlock cuneiform. #Behistun #Persia #AncientHistoryhttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/d16-bazeh-hur-last-image-of-the-last-king/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/d16-bazeh-hur-last-image-of-the-last-king/Mon, 02 Nov 2026 07:00:00 -0700A stucco panel at Bazeh Hur, near Mashhad, may show Yazdegerd III, the last Sasanian king. Only the feet of four figures survive, so the name is a proposal. How much can four pairs of feet tell us? #Sasanian #Archaeology #Iranhttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w3-7/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w3-7/Sun, 01 Nov 2026 07:00:00 -0700Five books from the Iranian world, 964 to 1273: al-Sufi’s Book of Fixed Stars, Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine, Saadi’s Gulistan and Rumi’s Masnavi. Astronomy, epic, medicine and poetry in 309 years. #Persian #Literature #IranianWorldhttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/ph-w2-7/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/ph-w2-7/Sun, 01 Nov 2026 07:00:00 -0700Iran's foreign relations, 1925-1979, in three lanes: neighbours, alliances and great powers. Which relationship shaped the era most? #Iran #ForeignPolicy #PahlaviErahttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/d15-abanegan-feast-of-the-waters/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/d15-abanegan-feast-of-the-waters/Sun, 01 Nov 2026 07:00:00 -0700Abanegan, the Feast of the Waters, falls when the day Aban meets the month Aban, both named for the Waters. Zoroastrians gather at streams, lakes and the sea to honour the Waters and Ardvi Sura Anahita. Which water festival does your culture keep? #Abanegan #Zoroastrianhttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w3-6/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w3-6/Sat, 31 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700A visit to Persepolis, stop by stop. Gate of All Nations, Apadana, Palace of Darius, Treasury, Hall of One Hundred Columns, on a terrace of 450 by 300 metres. Darius founded it in 518 BC; of the Apadana’s 72 columns, 13 still stand. #Persepolis #Achaemenid #Iranhttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/ph-w2-6/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/ph-w2-6/Sat, 31 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700Twelve cultural milestones, 1930 to 1977: a heritage law, a university, a national museum, radio, television, the Shiraz Arts Festival and more. Which one would you like to see in a full thread? #Iran #Culture #PahlaviErahttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w3-5/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w3-5/Fri, 30 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700The Qanat: water without a pump. A mother well reaches the aquifer, an almost horizontal tunnel carries the water by gravity, shafts let spoil out and air in, and the mazhar delivers it to the fields. Eleven qanats were inscribed together by UNESCO in 2016. #Qanat #Persia #WorldHeritagehttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/ph-w2-5/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/ph-w2-5/Fri, 30 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700Education's share of government spending rose from 4% in 1926 to 14.1% in 1976. The University of Tehran opened with 1,043 students in 1935; by 1973 higher-education enrolment topped 115,000. Which number surprises you? #Iran #Education #PahlaviErahttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w3-4/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w3-4/Thu, 29 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700Inside the Cyrus Cylinder. A 22 cm fired-clay barrel found in Babylon in 1879, with 45 lines of Babylonian cuneiform. It tells how Cyrus entered Babylon in 539 BC without a fight and restored temples and cults. A replica stands at UN Headquarters in New York. #CyrusCylinder #Cyrus #Achaemenidhttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/ph-w2-4/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/ph-w2-4/Thu, 29 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700The Trans-Iranian Railway: 1,394 km from the Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea, built 1927-38 and paid for by a tax on tea and sugar. Have you ever travelled on it? #Iran #Railway #PahlaviErahttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w3-3/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w3-3/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700The Royal Road: 111 stages from Sardis to Susa. Herodotus counts 111 staging posts, about 2,500 km, in 90 days on foot. His stage lists add up to 2,474 km across six regions. Of the royal couriers he wrote: “Nothing mortal accomplishes a course more swiftly.” #Achaemenid #RoyalRoad #Herodotushttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/ph-w2-3/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/ph-w2-3/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700Between 1963 and 1977 Iran's real GDP grew about 10.5% a year. Income per person rose from $170 to $2,060 in current dollars, and cars, TV sets and city life all expanded fast. Which number stands out most? #Iran #Economy #PahlaviErahttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/d14-ulugh-beg-astronomer-king/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/d14-ulugh-beg-astronomer-king/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700Ulugh Beg, the astronomer-king of Samarkand (born 22 March 1394, killed 27 October 1449). His observatory, founded in 1420, held the Fakhri sextant: an arc of about 40 m radius set in a trench half a metre wide. His Persian Zīj-i Sultānī lists 1,018 stars, and Thomas Hyde printed it at Oxford in 1665, in Persian and Latin. #UlughBeg #Samarkand #Timurid #Astronomyhttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w3-2/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w3-2/Tue, 27 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700Iranian-speaking horsemen in Roman Britain. After the Iazyges were defeated, 8,000 Sarmatian horsemen were levied, and 5,500 were sent to Britain (Cassius Dio). Their trail runs from the Danube–Tisza plain to Ribchester, about 1,800 km, and their language lives on as Ossetic in the Caucasus. #Sarmatians #Iranian #RomanBritainhttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/ph-w2-2/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/ph-w2-2/Tue, 27 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700Forty cabinets in 54 years, from Foroughi in 1925 to Bakhtiar in 1979. Every prime minister, in order, with how long each served. Which name would you like us to profile? #Iran #PahlaviEra #Politicshttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w3-1/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w3-1/Mon, 26 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700One language, three lives. Six everyday words (night, stone, gold, horse, land, king) traced from Old Persian through Sasanian Pahlavi to modern Persian. Five of the six keep the same form in Pahlavi and today. Even “King of Kings” survived: Xšāyaθiya Xšāyaθiyānām → Šāhān šāh → شاهنشاه. #Persian #Linguistics #IndoEuropeanhttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/ph-w2-1/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/ph-w2-1/Mon, 26 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700Two shahs, one dynasty, fifty-three years: 16 under Reza Shah, 37 under Mohammad Reza Shah. The milestones of each reign on one timeline. Which moment on this timeline mattered most? #Iran #PahlaviEra #Historyhttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/d13-mohammad-reza-shah-birthday/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/d13-mohammad-reza-shah-birthday/Mon, 26 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700Born in Tehran on 26 October 1919, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi became Shahanshah of Iran in 1941 and reigned until 1979. On his 48th birthday, 26 October 1967, he was crowned at Golestan Palace, with Empress Farah crowned beside him. A life in six moments, 107 years on. Photos: coronation portrait, 1967, unknown photographer, National Library of Iran via Wikimedia Commons (public domain). State visit to the Netherlands, 20 May 1959: Harry Pot / Anefo, Nationaal Archief (CC0). Helsinki, June 1970: Markku Lepola, Finnish Heritage Agency (CC BY 4.0). With President and Mrs Carter, Washington, 15 Nov 1977: White House Photographic Office / National Archives (public domain). With President Nixon, Washington, 21 Oct 1969: Robert Knudsen, White House Photo Office / National Archives (public domain).https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w2-7/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w2-7/Sun, 25 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700Iran has 29 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Stacked by when they began, 14 of the 23 with a datable start began before Islam, from Susa (late 5th millennium BCE) to Persepolis. Only two are modern. Six more are natural or layered, like the Lut Desert and the qanats.https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/ph-w1-8/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/ph-w1-8/Sun, 25 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700The rank ladder of the Imperial Iranian army, air force and navy: from Arteshbod to Sarbaz in the army and air force, and from Daryabod down in the navy, whose titles all begin with darya, "sea". Which rank title should we explain next? #Iran #Militaryhttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/d12-khusro-ii-bust-taq-e-bostan/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/d12-khusro-ii-bust-taq-e-bostan/Sun, 25 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700Khusro II’s statue at Taq-e Bostan, one of the few freestanding Sasanian sculptures to survive, fell into the spring. Mis’ar bin al-Muhalhil (10th c.), Ker Porter (1818), Flandin (1840) and Herzfeld recorded it. Now in the Stone Museum; re-erection is proposed. #Iran #Sasanianhttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w2-6/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w2-6/Sat, 24 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700One message, three languages. Darius carved Behistun in Old Persian (414 lines), Elamite (260) and Babylonian (112). Rawlinson copied it by climbing the cliff (1835–47). Old Persian was read first, and became a key to Elamite and Babylonian cuneiform. UNESCO site since 2006.https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/ph-w1-7/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/ph-w1-7/Sat, 24 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700Women were 28% of Iran's university students by 1976, up from 8% in 1946-47. They entered Tehran University in 1936, won the vote in 1963 and joined the Literacy Corps in 1969. Which milestone should we explore next? #Iran #Women #PahlaviErahttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/d11-qareh-tepe-before-the-medes/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/d11-qareh-tepe-before-the-medes/Sat, 24 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700Life before the Medes: a five-year Iran–Poland study at Qareh Tepe on the Qazvin Plain (c. 1100–750 BC) describes a largely settled farming-and-herding community, not mainly nomads. About 80% of 60 people tested grew up on the plain. #Iran #Archaeology #IronAgehttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w2-5/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w2-5/Fri, 23 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700Sanskrit S is Persian H. sapta/haft (7), sahasra/hazār (1000), soma/hōm, asura/ahura, sindhu/hindu, sama/ham (same), māsa/māh (moon), svar/khor (sun). One regular shift. It’s why the river Sindhu became “Hindu” to the Persians, and “India” via Greek.https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/ph-w1-6/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/ph-w1-6/Fri, 23 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700The army grew from 125,000 troops in 1941 to about 220,000 in 1978, 80 F-14 Tomcats were ordered in 1974, and 400 more jets were ordered in 1976. What would you add from sources you trust? #Iran #Military #PahlaviErahttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w2-4/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w2-4/Thu, 22 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700Every Persian month is a spirit’s name. Farvardin: fravashis. Ordibehesht: Asha. Khordad: wholeness. Tir: Sirius. Mordad: immortality. Shahrivar: dominion. Mehr: Mithra. Aban: the waters. Azar: fire. Dey: the Creator. Bahman: good mind. Esfand: the earth.https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/ph-w1-5/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/ph-w1-5/Thu, 22 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700The White Revolution began in 1963 with six principles, from land reform to votes for women. Land reform reached about 2.5 million families, and the Literacy Corps sent 200,591 conscripts to teach in villages. Which part should we examine next? #Iran #WhiteRevolutionhttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/d10-jiroft-halil-rud/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/d10-jiroft-halil-rud/Thu, 22 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700Jiroft and the Halil Rud: a Bronze Age civilisation in southeastern Iran. Konar Sandal’s two mounds, 150+ seal impressions and carved chlorite vessels were uncovered by the excavations of Yousef Majidzadeh (d. 19 Oct 2026). In memory. #Iran #Archaeology #Jirofthttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w2-3/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w2-3/Wed, 21 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700How big were Iran’s empires? Banner length = peak area; width = years in power. Achaemenids ~5.5M km² (3.3× modern Iran), Timurids 4.4M, Seljuks 3.9M. The Parthians lasted longest (~470 years) but peaked smaller. Each banner is a peak, not a constant. Estimates vary by source.https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/ph-w1-4/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/ph-w1-4/Wed, 21 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700Iran counted 18.95 million people in 1956, 25.79 million in 1966 and 33.71 million in 1976, and the urban share rose from 31% to 47%. The median age in 1976 was 16.5. What would you like to see counted next? #Iran #Demographics #PahlaviErahttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/d09-persian-day-names/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/d09-persian-day-names/Wed, 21 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700Every day of the Zoroastrian month had a name: 30 days, 30 divine names, from Ohrmazd on day 1 to Endless Light on day 30. When a day's name matched its month, it became a feast: Mehregan on 16 Mehr, Tirgan on 13 Tir. #Iran #Persian #Historyhttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/d08-board-game-burnt-city/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/d08-board-game-burnt-city/Wed, 21 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0700A board game from the Burnt City. From Grave 731 at Shahr-e Sukhteh came a carved board with 20 circular spaces, 27 pieces and four dice (c. 2600–2400 BCE), kin to the Royal Game of Ur. In 2026 the dig found a second, different game, about 4,600 years old. #Iran #Archaeologyhttps://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w2-2/https://airyanematlas.github.io/p/w2-2/Tue, 20 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -070020 English words that began in Persian: orange, lemon, spinach, candy, pajamas, shawl, khaki, bazaar, caravan, kiosk, divan, paradise, check, magic, azure, lilac… Almost none came straight. Most travelled by relay through Arabic, Turkish or Urdu, then Greek, French or Italian.