Iran questions

The Zoroastrians used the Towers of Silence as open burial pits, placing their deceased relatives in rows so their bodies would be feasted upon by birds of prey, usually vultures. The doctrinal rationale for exposure is to avoid contact with Earth or Fire, both of which are considered sacred in the Zoroastrian religion. Contaminating the elements (Earth, Air, Fire and Water) with decaying matter such as a corpse is considered sacrilege. Orthodox Zoroastrians continued to maintain a tower until the 1970s when ritual exposure was prohibited by law.

Iran is subdivided into thirty-one provinces (Persian: Ostān), each governed from a local center, usually the largest local city, which is called the capital of that province. The provincial authority is headed by a Governor-General, who is appointed by the Minister of the Interior subject to approval of the cabinet.

Qeshm, formerly also known as Kishm, is an Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz, separated from the mainland by the Clarence Strait/Khuran in the Persian Gulf (26°50′N 56°0′E). It is the largest island in Iran. Fishing is a leading occupation practiced by the inhabitants of the island. Earliest evidence of human presence at Qeshm dates back to Paleolithic Period.

Tomyris was a Massagetean ruler who reigned over the Massagetae, an Iranian people from Scythian pastoral-nomadic confederation of Central Asia east of the Caspian Sea. Tomyris led her armies to defend against an attack by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid Empire, and, according to Herodotus, defeated and killed him in 530 BC. The names of Tomyris, and her son Spargapises, who was the head of her army, are of Iranian origins.

The Shahnameh is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 "distichs" or couplets the Shahnameh is the world's longest epic poem written by a single poet. It tells mainly the mythical and to some extent the historical past of the Persian Empire from the creation of the world until the Arab conquest of Iran in the 7th century.

The Arg-e Bam is the largest adobe building in the world, located in Bam, a city in Kerman Province of southeastern Iran. It is listed by UNESCO. The origin of this enormous citadel on the Silk Road can be traced back to the Achaemenid Empire (sixth to fourth centuries BC) and even beyond. The entire building was a large fortress containing the citadel, but because of the impressive look of the citadel, which forms the highest point, the entire fortress is named the Bam Citadel.

The color blue in many cultures is significant in religious beliefs, brings peace, or is believed to keep the bad spirits away. In Iran, blue is the color of mourning while in the West the something blue bridal tradition represents love

Mount Damavand stands at 18,410 feet. The volcanic mountain is in the middle of the Elburz Range. The mountain is an integral part of Persian mythology. According to a popular legend, a three-head dragon was chained to the mountain to stay there until the end times. The mountain is so significant that it is printed on Iranian 10,000 Rial banknote. Mount Damavand is also believed to have magical powers.

A kiosk (from Turkish köşk) is an open summer-house or pavilion usually having its roof supported by pillars with screened or totally open walls. As a building type, it was first introduced by the Seljuks as a small building attached to the main mosque, which consisted of a domed hall with open arched sides.

In Zoroastrianism, water (apo, aban) and fire (atar, azar) are agents of ritual purity, and the associated purification ceremonies are considered the basis of ritual life. Both water and fire are considered life-sustaining, and are represented within the precinct of a fire temple.