Wednesday, July 08, 2026

History Highlights

The megalithic standing stones of Zorats Karer on the Syunik plateau

Zorats Karer: The Standing Stones Armenians Call Their Stonehenge

High on a windswept plateau in the far south of Armenia, a scatter of upright stones stands where it has stood for thousands of years. There are more than two

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