Sunday, July 05, 2026

History Highlights

The excavated ruins of the ancient site of Metsamor

Metsamor: Armenia’s Bronze Age Metal Center Beneath Mount Ararat

On the broad plain west of Yerevan, within sight of the snow-capped peak of Mount Ararat, rises a modest hill that holds one of the oldest and most fascinating archaeological

The ruins of ancient Gabala in Azerbaijan

Gabala: The Six-Hundred-Year Capital of a Forgotten Caucasian Kingdom

In the green foothills of the Greater Caucasus, in what is now northern Azerbaijan, lie the ruins of a city that was once the capital of a kingdom most people

The stepped ziggurat of Tepe Sialk near Kashan

Tepe Sialk: The 7,000-Year-Old Mound Where Iran’s History Begins

On the outskirts of Kashan, an old oasis city on the edge of the great central desert of Iran, rises a weathered mound crowned by the eroded remains of a

The excavated Hegmataneh mound at ancient Ecbatana in Hamadan

Ecbatana: The Golden Median Capital Buried Beneath Modern Hamadan

Beneath the busy streets of Hamadan, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Iran, lies the buried capital of a vanished empire. This is Ecbatana, known in ancient times

The excavated remains of Shahr-i Sokhta in eastern Iran

Shahr-i Sokhta: The Burnt City That Made an Eye Before Kings Ruled

In the far southeast of Iran, near the border with Afghanistan, lies a vast field of low mounds and scattered pottery baking under the sun of the Sistan desert. This