July 5, 2021 Museum restoration E mergency restoration of Pirahmad Zahrnush Museum in Abhar in the northern province of Zanjan was completed, said the city’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism 5 and Handicrafts Department, CHTN reported. Iranica SSefidrud,efidrud, tthehe llongestongest rriveriver iinn nnorthorth ooff IIranran

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riginating from Chehel Chesh- their direction to the southeast. such as Abroud, Siah , Tuysen, it is not surprising that along with the meh Mountain in the moun- Then Zanjan River, which origi- and Sheli to Sefidrud and after pass- beautiful nature of Gilan, this region Otains of Kurdestan, the Se- nates from Soltaniyeh, and other small ing the farms along the river to the also has many historical and cultural fidrud River easily opened its way tributaries flowing from Tarom Moun- northeast and Tajan region. Finally, the attractions. The ancient Marlik Hill, among the northern mountains of tains, join it and finally reaches main branch of the river flows into the the Lushan Brick Bridge, the nomad- to the . This beauti- Strait. Caspian Sea through hundreds of ag- ic life of the people in a part of the ful river, known in ancient history as Up to this point, the river is called ricultural canals and waterways near Amarloo area, the summer village of Amard (Greek: Amardus), has many Qezel Uzan (or Red River). In this Bandar Anzali. Bareh Sar, etc. are some of these tour- other names. But these days everyone place, another branch called Shahrud ist attractions. knows it by the name Sepid or Sefid joins it. This branch supplies almost a Tourist attractions of Sefidrud It is not possible to specify a time (white) Rud (river), iranindepth.com quarter of the water of the river of Se- to visit this river. Because like the wrote. fidrud. Sefidrud, like all rivers in the constant flow of Sefidrud among the From the confluence of the Shahrud world, has various significances. The mountains and plains of northern Iran, The birth of Sefidrud and Qezel Uzan rivers, the river of Se- aquatic biodiversity of this river is as seeing this white and shiny river can fidrud emerges. important as its key role in the agri- be a daily practice. But if you are inter- Sefidrud follows a tortuous path ARIO BARZAN cultural activities of Gilan. The fish ested in boating on this river while you to reach the Caspian Sea. The story Manjil Dam, an important The Lushan Brick Bridge in the northern province of Gilan, Iran of this river are the most popular fish feel the cool and pleasant wind blow- of this river begins in Kurdestan. stop of Sefidrud of northern Iran. Trout, ozone, white- ing on your skin in the summer heat, The main source of this river is Che- the plain of Gilan and also to generate farm located on the hills of this city. fish, and carp alone are the starry list and if you like to watch the view of the hel Cheshmeh Mountain, to which a In 1962, after nearly ten years, the electricity. of aquatic species. But along with all evergreen olive trees on the heights of branch of the Panjeh Ali Mountains in or Manjil Dam was This dam is located on the old Caspian Sea, the final the ecological and environmental ef- the high cliffs along the fertile plains the northwest of Hamedan and other opened on the Sefidrud. This dam, -Qazvin Road at the beginning of stop of Sefidrud fects of Sefidrud, the tourist attrac- and rice paddies, we suggest spring branches in the Bijar area is connected which has remained stable all these the city of Manjil and welcomes trav- tions of this roaring river should not and summer. and flows to the north. They join in the years, is used to regulate the water of elers with a beautiful view of its wide In Manjil, the route of this river con- be overlooked. This river has a long middle of other rivers and then change Sefidrud for agricultural purposes in and calm lake next to the wind turbine tinues with the joining of waterways way to go to reach its destination. So Written by Mahsa Ashouri

Ernst Herzfeld excavations unearth the Persepolis administrative archives

mooredestinations.co.uk Between 1933 and 1934 excavations directed by a German archaeologist and Iranologist, Ernst Herzfeld, for the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago discovered the administrative archives of the Persian city of Persepolis, consist- ing of the Persepolis Fortification Archive and the Persepolis Treasury Archive. Persepolis (Old Persian: Pārśa, New Persian) literary meaning “city of Persians”, was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire. The modern name of the location is Takht-e Jamshid in Fars near Shiraz in southern Iran, historyofinforma- tion.com wrote. The thousands of clay tablets, fragments and seal impressions in the Persepolis archives are a part of a single administrative system, representing continuity of activity and flow of data over more than fifty years from 509 to 457 BCE. These records contain information on the geography, economy, administration, religion and social conditions of the Persepolis region, the heartland of the Persian Great Kings from Darius I the Great to Artaxerxes I. The Persepolis Fortification Archive was found at the northeastern corner of the terrace of Persepolis, in two rooms in the fortification wall in March 1933. The entrance to the rooms were bricked up in antiquity. The tablets had been stored in a small space near the staircase in the tower in the fortification wall, arranged in iraniantours.com Elamite tablets order, as if in a library. The upper floor of the fortification wall may have collapsed at the time of the Macedonian invasion, in the process partially destroying the or- fication Archive to the Oriental Institute for research and publication. The archive der of the tablets while protecting them until 1933. Paradoxically, the burning of arrived in Chicago in 1936 and has been under studies since 1937. It was not until Persepolis by Alexander the Great in 330/329 BCE contributed to the preserva- 1969 when Richard Hallock published his magisterial edition of 2087 Elamite tab- tion of the Achaemenid administrative archives that might have been lost due to lets [in] Persepolis Fortification Tablets leading to the renaissance of Achaemenid passage of time by natural and manmade causes. Herzfeld estimated that the find studies in 1970s. The long term project spanning over seven decades is far from included about 30,000 or more inscribed and sealed clay tablets and fragments. completion. “Persepolis Fortification Archive (PFA), also known as Persepolis Fortification “153 tablets, approximately 30,000 fragments and an unknown number of unin- Tablets (PFT, PF), is a fragment of Achaemenid administrative records of receipt, scribed tablets were returned to Iran in the 1950s. So far about 450 tablets and tens taxation, transfer, storage of food crops (cereals, fruit), livestock (sheep and goats, of thousands of fragments have already been returned to Iran in total” (Wikipedia cattle, poultry), food products (flour, breads and other cereal products, beer, wine, article on Perepolis Administative Archives, accessed 04-26-2014.) processed fruit, oil, meat), and byproducts (animal hides) in the region around The Persepolis Treasury Archive was found on the southeastern part of Persepo- Persepolis (larger part of modern Fars), and their redistribution to gods, royal fam- lis terrace in the block of buildings identified as the “Royal Treasury” where small ily, courtiers, priests, religious officiants, administrators, travelers, workers, arti- pieces of gold leaves were found. The find consisted of 746 clay tablets and frag- sans, and livestock. ments, covering 35 years from 492 to 457 BCE, from regnal year 30th of Darius en.wikipedia.org “But before Persepolis archives could have offered any clues to the better un- I the Great, to regnal year 7th of Artaxerxes I, with the largest concentration from German Ernst Emil Herzfeld at Perspolis, Iran derstanding of the Achaemenid history, the clay tablets, mostly written in a late regnal years 19th and 20th of Xerxes. dialect of Elamite, an extremely difficult language still imperfectly understood, In April 2014 a history of the excavations and study of the Persian Achaeme- bones by A. J. Cave was available from academia.edu at this link. The book was had to be deciphered. So, in 1935, Iranian authorities loaned the Persepolis Forti- nid Administative Archives entitled Persian.ology. Gate-keepers of (clay) dinosaur presented in an imaginative illustrated and typographic format.