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The legend of the lost Persian army has survived over two and a half millennia - despite a blatant lack of hard evidence. But now two Italian experts believe they have found its remains. Twin brothers Angelo and Alfredo Castiglioni uncovered hundreds of human bones, weapons and jewelery in the Sahara desert, west Egypt, that they believe belonged to the 50,000-strong army.

July 30 Spiritual Bouquet: I am the vine, you are the branches. St. John 15:5 SAINTS ABDON and SENNENPersian Martyrs at Rome(†254) The emperor Decius, enemy of Christians, had defeated the king of Persia and become master of several countries over which he reigned. He had already condemned to torture and death Saint Polychrome, with five members of his clergy. Saint Abdon and Saint Sennen, illustrious Persian dignitaries of the third century whom the king of Persia had highly honored, were secretly Christian; it was they who had taken up the body of the martyred bishop, which had been cast...

International diplomacy has failed to end Iran's nuclear program, halt its support for terrorist groups, or force the regime to respect basic human rights. But a new strategy is at hand: In a four-part National Post series, presented in partnership with the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, prominent writers explain how the world can apply pressure on Iran. In today's instalment, Canadian human-rights activist Nazanin Afshin- Jam explains how Iran's persecution of its own citizens is feeding the nation's appetite for reform.

-snip- The opposition website Rooz Online carried what it said was an interview with a man the government had shipped in to Tehran to quell the demonstrations. He said he was being paid 2m rial (£122) per day to assault protesters with a heavy wooden stave, and that other volunteers, most of them from far-flung provinces, were being kept in hostel accommodation, reportedly in east Tehran. With the independent media banned from covering street protests, the reports could not be verified. There were also unconfirmed reports tonight that Zahra Rahnavard, the wife of opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, had been...

Many Americans seem to entertain the illusion that Iranians are Arabs. This may be due to the fact that many people in both communities practise Islam, which I'll mention below. Another coincidence that may have contributed to this confusion is the apparent similarity of the names Iran and Iraq. It is true that the Persian language and the Arabic share the same alphabet, namely the Arabic alphabet, which was imposed upon the Iranians centuries ago. But originally Persian had its own alphabet. Anyway, in Arabic script the names of the countries are entirely different, 'Iraq' beginning with the letter 'ain'...

FEW Americans have heard of Howard Conklin Baskerville, but most Iranians know his name. A native of Nebraska, Baskerville graduated from the Princeton Theological Seminary and moved to Iran as a Presbyterian missionary. He was 23. The year was 1907. Baskerville was an idealist at a time of idealism in Iran. The year before Baskerville’s arrival, the ailing king of Iran, Mozaffar ud-Din Shah, had bowed to popular demands for a constitutional monarchy and Iranians had drafted the first Constitution of their 25-century-long history. A parliament, the Majlis, was established and each city elected an assembly, or Anjoman. Tabriz —...

"In November 1978, President Carter named the Bilderberg group's George Ball, another member of the Trilateral Commission, to head a special White House Iran task force under the National Security Council's Brzezinski. Ball recommended that Washington drop support for the Shah of Iran and support the fundamentalistic Islamic opposition of Ayatollah Khomeini. Robert Bowie from the CIA was one of the lead 'case officers' in the new CIA-led coup against the man their covert actions had placed into power 25 years earlier. Their scheme was based on a detailed study of the phenomenon of Islamic fundamentalism, as presented by British...

At Palestine Square, opposite a mosque called Al-Aqsa, is a synagogue where Jews of this ancient city gather at dawn. Over the entrance is a banner saying: “Congratulations on the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution from the Jewish community of Esfahan.” The Jews of Iran remove their shoes, wind leather straps around their arms to attach phylacteries and take their places. Soon the sinuous murmur of Hebrew prayer courses through the cluttered synagogue with its lovely rugs and unhappy plants. Soleiman Sedighpoor, an antiques dealer with a store full of treasures, leads the service from a podium under a...

Ending weeks of speculation, former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami announced Sunday that he will run against the hardline incumbent, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, according to Iranian media reports. "I declare that I will stand for the next elections," Khatami told reporters on Sunday, according to Iran's state-run news agency, IRNA. Khatami, a leading reformist, had indicated for weeks that he intended to run in the June elections. Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency also reported that Khatami formally declared his candidacy on Sunday.

Early in 2007, as the American presidential campaign started to gather momentum, critics of Pres. George W. Bush’s War on Terror invented a scheme that allowed them to oppose the administration’s strategy while dodging charges of appeasement. Under that scheme, Iraq was presented as “the bad war” or, according to Sen. Barack Obama, “the wrong war, at the wrong time, and in the wrong place.” In contrast, Afghanistan was presented as “the good war,” the “just war,” or even “the necessary war.” The argument was that the war in Iraq was wrong because it had not been explicitly approved by...

Far removed from Tehran's bustling tin-roofed teashops and Isfahan's verdant pomegranate gardens, the deserts known as Dasht-e Kavir and Dasht-e Lut meet at the city of Yazd,once the heart of the Persian Empire. Walking across the wind-whipped plains of the forgotten city, a young Iranian woman dressed in colorful floral garbs points out a sand-dusted tower hovering in the distance like a dormant volcano under a relentless sun. "This is where we put tens of thousands of corpses over the years," she explains with a congenial smile. The funerary tower is part of the ancient burial practice of Zoroastrianism, the...

The head of the Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Office has announced that the tomb of Esther and Mordecai has been added to the country's list of national monuments. Asadollah Bayat told the Iranian news service that the ancient tomb is an important Jewish shrine and one of the most historically important buildings in the Hamedan province of Iran. The monument bears Hebrew inscriptions, both on the plaster wall of the main hall as well as on the finely worked wooden tomb boxes. Bayat stressed the monument's importance to the Jewish community, adding that "Jews gather here in the...

The ancient town of Parsa has begun to emerge from the shadows of Persepolis. An Iranian-Italian joint archaeological team has brought to light the first remains of the town of Parsa, which was the residential area of commoners just outside the palaces of Persepolis... Professor Callieri said the team, in collaboration with the Parsa-Pasargadae Research Foundation, is also studying the possibility of setting up a centralized data base compiling all the information on Persepolis and the surrounding area, which may also be put online on a web site. Asked if the excavation provided further evidence of the fact that Persepolis...

It's what you think...

The US plans to establish a diplomatic presence in Tehran for the first time in 30 years as part of a remarkable turnaround in policy by President George Bush. The Guardian has learned that an announcement will be made in the next month to establish a US interests section - a halfway house to setting up a full embassy. The move will see US diplomats stationed in the country. ~ snip ~

A 2500 year old Persian treasure dubbed the world's 'first bill of human rights' has been branded a piece of shameless 'propaganda' by German historians. The Cyrus cylinder, which is held by the British Museum, is a legacy of Cyrus the Great - the Persian emperor famed for freeing the Jews of ancient Babylon after conquering the city in 539 BC. A copy of the cylinder, which is covered in cuneiform script supposed to detail the ancient charter of rights, also hangs next to the Security Council Chamber in the United Nations headquarters in New York, where it is held...

PERSEPOLIS, once the capital of the Persian empire, and the massive mud-brick Bam citadel are among the nine listed World Heritage Sites in Iran. Yet leading archaeologists are urging colleagues to refuse any military requests to draw up a list of Iranian sites that should be exempted from air strikes. "Such advice would provide cultural credibility and respectability to the military action," said a resolution agreed by the World Archaeological Congress in Dublin, Ireland, last week. Instead, delegates were advised to emphasise the harm that any military action would do to Iran's people and heritage.

A Monument to an American's Selflessness in Iran by Davar Iran Ardalan Weekend Edition Saturday, June 7, 2008 · Imagine finding out that a nomadic tribe has named a mountain after your grandmother. My mother and I learned just that when a relative phoned to say the storied Bakhtiari tribe had so honored my grandmother, Helen Jeffreys Bakhtiar, to commemorate her public health work there in the 1950s. It's quite a legacy for a woman born in Weiser, Idaho, at the beginning of the 20th century. Located in the central Zagros Mountains of Iran, near the ancient city of Isfahan,...

ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey and Iran have been carrying out coordinated strikes on Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq, a top Turkish general said Thursday in the first military confirmation of Iranian-Turkish cooperation in the fight against separatists there. Gen. Ilker Basbug, Turkey's land forces commander, said the two countries have been sharing intelligence and planned more coordinated attacks in the future against the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, and PEJAK, the group's Iranian wing.

Zoroastrian texts such as the Avesta clearly define the status of Persian women and reveal that at a time when many women in the world were deprived of their basic rights, Persian women enjoyed social and legal freedom and were treated with great respect. Avestan texts mention both genders asking them to share responsibility and make decisions together. They are equally praised for their good deeds rather than their gender, wealth or power. “Whoever, man or woman, does what Thou, O Ahura Mazda, knowest to be the best in Life. Whoever does right for the sake of Right; Whoever in...

Your change in approach is now stunning for many Iranians. It is not that we want our country to be bombed, but the point is, why did you so suddenly and without explanation go from that extreme to the extreme of “unconditional dialogue”? Senator, since 1979 the Mullahs of Iran have killed upwards of one million Iranians, not to mention the nearly one million sacrificed to the 8-year-long Iran/Iraq war. And what the Iranian people have withstood in terms of outrageous human rights violations is shocking; public hangings, stoning, flogging, cutting off limbs, tongues and plucking out eyeballs are an...

Zoroastrian texts such as the Avesta clearly define the status of Persian women and reveal that at a time when many women in the world were deprived of their basic rights, Persian women enjoyed social and legal freedom and were treated with great respect. Avestan texts mention both genders asking them to share responsibility and make decisions together. They are equally praised for their good deeds rather than their gender, wealth or power. “Whoever, man or woman, does what Thou, O Ahura Mazda, knowest to be the best in Life. Whoever does right for the sake of Right; Whoever in...

Exhibit Shows Ancient Links Between Persia and Korea Cultural exchange between Korea and Persia goes back more than a thousand years. Some historians say through the Silk Road, Muslim traders put the name, Shilla, Korea's ancient dynasty, on the world map. To open a window into this intriguing past, the National Museum of Korea is hosting an exhibit of Persian artifacts. "Glory of Persia" showcases the history of Persia over a span of twelve centuries when it was one of the world's biggest empires. Shilla-period artifacts such as pottery and daggers show Persian influences in the form of artistic techniques...

Achaemenid inscription names uncle of Darius in Old Persian for first time Tehran Times Culture Desk TEHRAN -- The name of Farnaka, who was the uncle of Darius I, has been identified in a newly discovered Old Persian Achaemenid inscription for the first time. Written in cuneiform, the stone inscription bears the names of Darius the Great and his uncle, Farnaka, the Persian service of CHN reported on Friday. His name had previously only been found in historical texts written in other languages. Greek texts refer to him as Pharnaces and Elamite texts call him Parnaka. “Sometime ago, I discovered...

Ten more "official" executions last week bring the number to 50 or the same pace of one a day since January 1st, 2008. Perma Link http://terrornewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/02/iran-executions-continue-at-one-day.html Also look at the video article asking to compare 30-yeafrs of the Mullahs with about that of the Monarchy and deciding which you rather have now in Iran.

Jewelry and makeup in ancient Persia Sun, 17 Feb 2008 18:12:00 By Hedieh Ghavidel, Press TV, Tehran Archaeological finds in Iran show that women and men applied makeup and arrayed themselves with ornaments approximately 10,000 years ago, a trend which began from religious convictions rather than mere beautification motivations. Archaeologists have discovered various instruments of make-up and ornamental items in the Burnt City, which date back to the third millennium BCE. The caves of the Bakhtiari region, where the first hunter-gatherers settled at the end of the ice age, have yielded not only stone tools, daggers and grindstones but also...

Iran's salt men hazardously exposed Thu, 07 Feb 2008 10:38:28 The company owning the right to the salt mines in which Iran's invaluable salt men lie wishes to renew its permit to continue operations. A renewed permit issued by the mining industry will allow operations to continue for another ten years, beginning this week. The industry is obliged to give authorization, as all conditions stipulated in the previous contracts have been met by the company. If archaeological groups lose the fight to block this renewal, mining in even the most archaeologically sensitive areas will begin. It is very likely these...

 In Remembrance of Cyrus the Great by Amil Imani The Islamic Republic of Iran seems to be fearful.   It happened on January 26, 2008, at the UCLA Freud PlayHouse in Los Angeles, California. It brought the world's most renowned scholars and top performing artists together to remember the life of Cyrus the Great, the founding father of Persia and the mighty Persian Empire - perhaps the most exemplary, magnificent and just king the worldPerhaps the most exemplary, magnificent and just king the world has ever known.has ever known.   The event put together visual arts, the ambiance of...

The History of medicine in ancient Persia Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:18:00 By Hedieh Ghavidel, Press TV, Tehran The history of medicine in Iran is as old and as rich as its civilization. In the Avesta, science and medicine rise above class, ethnicity, nationality, race, gender and religion. Some of the earliest practices of ancient Iranian medicine have been documented in the Avesta and other Zoroastrian religious texts. During the Achaemenid era (559-330 BCE), the 21 books of Avesta encompassing 815 chapters were an encyclopedia of science consisting of medicine, astronomy, law, social science, philosophy, general knowledge, logic and biology....

They come so frequently, it's hard to get worked up, but there's a dead giveaway this time. The teaser for the piece reads, "At the risk of sounding like an apologist for the Islamic Republic..." The author is Hooman Majd, who accuses the Pentagon of manufacturing the incident with Iran in the Gulf this week. The Pentagon's version of the encounter in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday morning, involving U.S. Navy warships and Iranian Revolutionary Guard patrol boats is, at the very least highly suspicious. On Tuesday, the Navy released video footage and an audiotape to back its claims...

40 Iranian Jews Make Exodus from Iran, Arrive in Israel to Escape Dangers December 25, 2007 TEL AVIV, Israel — Greeted by joyous relatives and a crowd of Israeli TV reporters, about 40 Iranian Jews landed in Israel Tuesday, leaving behind their lives in an increasingly bellicose Islamic regime for new homes in the Jewish state. The new immigrants took a covert route, facilitated by the Israeli government and backed with funding from American evangelical Christians who see their efforts as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. Relatives screamed in delight and threw candy at the newcomers as they emerged into...

Overnight Islamic Republic have Wiped out 3000-Years of Iranian History 30 October 2007 Pol-Borideh after its destruction by the Islamic Republic Ministry of Road & Transportation" LONDON, (CAIS) -- The destruction of one of the biggest historical sites in the Chahar-Mahal Bakhtiari province by the Islamic Republic Ministry of Road and Transportation was reported by the Persian service of ISNA on Monday, October 22. "Overnight %60 of the architectural and archeological remains of Pol-Borideh in Chahar-Mahal Bakhtiari province is being destroyed to construct a road. The ancient site was registered on the National Heritage List", said Aliasghar Noruzi, an archeologist...

PACIFIC OCEAN (NNS) -- The Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group (BHRESG) entered the 7th Fleet area of responsibility (AOR) Oct. 7, after nearly four months of operations in the Persian Gulf. The strike group proved their capability and versatility by completing multiple operations and participating in training with Coalition forces during their time in the Gulf. “Throughout our deployment, the Sailors and Marines of the BHRESG have shown great flexibility and distinguished themselves with great tactical sense and unwavering focus to the task at hand,” said Capt. Bradley D. Martin, BHRESG and Amphibious Squadron (PHIBRON) 7 commander. “The crews of...

God Bless the Shah of Iran and the 2,500 years of Persian Monarchy. I hope my friends find peace in this video of our historical friendship. The Shah was always supported: he fought the true war on 'terror' against fundamentalists, communists, radicals, but the US turned it's back. Shah with kennedyBUCK Carter!

TEHRAN (Reuters) - For the men who practice it, it's about not just fitness but a connection with God. Zurkhaneh, an ancient Persian sporting ritual whose name means "House of Strength," is a historic breeding ground for wrestlers in Iran, and now enjoying something of a comeback. It looks to a Western eye like an exotic mixture of body-building and aerobics. But for the men whirling like dervishes to frenetic drumbeats, juggling heavy wooden clubs and doing push-ups in the pit of a "House of Strength" in northern Tehran, the ritual is about much more. "It is a holy thing,"...

Last month in explaining the cataleptic state of mainstream Islam over the past three centuries, I wrote on the internecine conflicts that bloodied the Muslim world in the 1500s. I have discovered since that many readers were unfamiliar with the subject, and because the forces loosed then are still forging the destiny of the Middle East — far more than the current U.S. intervention in Iraq — I'll do the subject in greater depth. For starters, a quote from William H. McNeill's "The Rise of the West," which won a National Book Award in 1961: "The two and seventy sects...

Hinduism pertains to Hindus but the word Hindu itself is actually a Persian word coined by Cyrus the great in the 6th century B.C. to describe people who lived beyond the river Indus which was the eastern boundary of the ancient Persian empire. The Persians had a phonetic problem with the letter ‘S’ hence, Sindhu became Hindu just as Rigveda’s Soma came from Zend Avesta’s Hoama. Such fascinating phonetic affinities! Even the word Shudra in Hinduism’s caste-system came from the Persian word Hatoksha. Originally, there were only three castes but the camp followers collected by Persians on their travels were...

In ancient Iran, many libraries were established by the Zoroastrian elites and the Persian Kings. They were possibly one of the first Bibliophilists (more informally Bookworms) of the world. According to reliable documents the oldest library of Iran was possibly the Royal Library of Kohan Dej or Jay in Isfahan, which was founded during Achaemenids (550 BC�330 BC). In the north-eastern Iran there was a Royal Library in Nisa, one of the capital cities of Persian Empire during the Parthian Dynasty (248 BC-224 AD). Nisa is now one of the historical places in present day Republic of Turkmenistan. In the...

Tehran, 27 June 2007 (CHN Foreign Desk) – For the first time, a text has been found in Old Persian Language that shows the written language was used for practical recording and was not just limited to the royal family. The text is inscribed on a damaged clay tablet from the Persepolis Fortification Archive which is currently kept at the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago for being decoded. The tablet is an administrative record of the payout of at least 600 quarts of an as-yet unidentified commodity belongign to 2500 years ago in five villages near Persepolis world...

From: Omar Ibn Al Khatab Khalifat Al Muslemin To: Yazdgird III Shahanshah of Persian Empire Yazdgird, I see not a fruitful future for you & your nation unless you accept my offer & commit Bei'at (Joining with Khalifat & bringing Islam). Once upon a time your land ruled half the known world but what has it come down to now? Your troops are defeated in all fronts & your nation is bound to collapse. I offer you a way to rescue yourself. Start praying to a mono God, a single union God, the only God who created everything in the...

`Glory of Persepolis' goes on screen in response to insulting movie `300'Tehran, May 1, IRNA Iran-Movie-Persepolis A number of experts and critics attending the screening and analysis session of the documentary dubbed `Glory of Persepolis' said that it reflects the dignity of Iranians and Persepolis, adding that it is a proper response to the insulting Hollywood movie `300'. The screening of a new series of films started at Nour film house of Imam Ali (AS) Religious Arts Museum on Monday afternoon and `Glory of Persepolis' was the first film that was screened and analyzed. The session was attended by the...

Paris, March 17, IRNA Paris-UNESCO-Movie `300' Iran's representative to the Paris-based UNESCO, Mohammad-Reza Dehshiri, in a letter to UNESCO director general criticized screening of Warner Brothers anti-Iran movie `300' and called for its severe reaction and condemnation of such an insult. In his letter, Dehshiri protested over the inciting nature of the movie, deliberately insulting the Iranian nation, as the founder of dialogue among cultures and civilizations. Meanwhile, he underlined UNESCO's responsibility towards this sensitive issue, given the need for promotion of international peace and solidarity based on the introduction to the UNESCO Charter, calling for a proper reaction to...

CHAK CHAK, Iran (AP) - Dressed in white to symbolize purity, a priest recited from the Zoroastrian holy book at a shrine as members of this ancient pre-Islamic religion marked what they see as one of the most bitter events in Iran's history: the 7th century Arab conquest of Persia. The Arab invasion changed history for Persia, the ancient name for non-Arab Iran: Islam was imposed as the new religion, replacing Zoroastrianism, whose followers were dispersed. Thousands of Zoroastrians from Iran's small remaining community and from India, the United States and other countries gathered at this mountain shrine this week...

Forgotten Post-Achaemenid Archer Still Waits to Shout!Bas-relief of the post-Achaemenid archerRelief of a unique post-Achaemenid archer, which was remained unknown for hundreds of years, has been discovered during archeological excavations in the furthest parts behind Salman-e Farsi dam in Fars province. Tehran, 6 May 2007 (CHN Foreign Desk) – Continuation of archeological excavations in the vicinity of Salman-e Farsi reservoir, Iranian Fars province, resulted in discovery of a huge rock with relief of a archer who is riding a horse dating back to post-Achaemenid period (333-248 BC). This unique bas-relief is on verge of destruction. Announcing this news, Alireza Jafari...

Search on for ancient king with five rings of power TEHRAN, May 6 (Mehr News Agency) -- Iranian archaeologists are searching for a king who possessed five rings of power. The rings were discovered by chance by the Khuzestan Water and Waste Water Company during a grading operation in the city of Ramhormoz, Khuzestan Province last week. The rings have been discovered in two U-shaped coffins, which, unfortunately, have been seriously damaged by bulldozers. They are similar to a ring that belonged to the Elamite king Kidin-Khutran (1235-1210 BC), whose coffin was discovered in 1982 in the ruins of the...

The movie "300" - based on a "graphic novel" (read comic book), itself loosely based on the battle of Thermopylae (480 BC) - has drawn the usual thoughtful and nuanced response from the turbaned thugs who run Iran. The last stand of King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans denigrates the glorious Persian antecedents of present day Iran, charges Javad Shangari, art advisor to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "Art advisor" to a terrorist state - now there's a non sequitur. Does he critique artists who work in body parts? "Hollywood declares war on Iranians" blared the headline in a Tehran daily....

“It is possible to govern based on an approach that is distinctly different from one of coercion, force and injustice,” wrote Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recently in an open letter he thoughtfully scribed for the benefit of the American people. “It is possible to sincerely serve and promote common human values, and honesty and compassion. It is possible to provide welfare and prosperity without tension, threats, imposition or war.” These statements sound almost reasonable until it is remembered that they came from the pen of an individual whose repressive regime funds proxy paramilitary forces and outright terrorist groups in Iraq,...

Let us focus on the people and issues that truly matter Nema Milaninia is right [See "The ridiculous truth"]. Iranians, especially those with "political" motivations and Zoroastrian ideals, ought to have far greater priorities than drafting petitions against 300. The fact that this movie has gathered their attention only indicates the lack of proper priorities and power these "groups" possess. If 300 was touted as an actual historical portrayal, the outrage indicated by this petition would be valid. However, it is based on a comic book. It is the creative fantasy of a comic book genius. The mere connection drawn...

Occupations and Intercourse with Mohammedans Under Mahommed Shah and Baba Khan Shah—Fanaticism of the Mullahs­—Shah’s Tax and Mode of Collection—Fearful Bigotry and Ignorance of the Mahommedans Exemplified —Their Attempts at Conversion. A people persecuted with all the relentlessness of which cruel, demi-civilized and powerful masters are capable, can have but few channels in which their spirit of enterprise and industry may find scope,—but few chances of becoming wealthy. The slave, with the sweat of his brow, the wear of his frame, and the risk of his life, may produce, even from the bowels of the earth, riches of incalculable worth;...

Iran on Monday strongly condemned the US film company Warner Bros. over the allegedly "anti-Iranian" blockbuster film 300. Javad Shamqadri, art advisor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, told Fars news agency that the film was an insult to Persian culture and in line with the American "psychological war" against Iran. Zack Snyder's film, based on a comic book by Frank Miller, tells the story of the battle of Thermopylae in Greek history in which 300 Spartan warriors led by King Leonidas heroically fought a massive Persian army attack, delaying an invasion by King Xerxes' forces and giving Greeks time for a...