Bam and its Cultural Landscape Iran

Bam and its Cultural Landscape are situated in a desert environment on the southern edge of the Iranian high plateau. The origins of Bam can be traced back to the Achaemenid period (6th to 4th centuries BC). Its heyday was from the 7th to 11th centuries, being at the crossroads of important trade routes and known for the production of silk and cotton garments. The existence of life in the oasis was based on the underground irrigation canals, the qanāts, of which Bam has preserved some of the earliest evidence in Iran. Arg-e Bam is the most representative example of a fortified medieval town built in vernacular technique using mud layers.Bam developed at the crossroads of important trade routes at the southern side of the Iranian high plateau, and it became an outstanding example of the interaction of the various influences.

Continent: Asia

Country: Iran

Category: Danger List

Criterion: (I) (II) (III) (IV) (V)

Date of Inscription: 2004

Mud layer technique

The Bam and its Cultural Landscape represents an exceptional testimony to the development of a trading settlement in the desert environment of the Central Asian region. The city of Bam represents an outstanding example of a fortified settlement and citadel in the Central Asian region, based on the use mud layer technique combined with mud bricks.

Bam and its Cultural Landscape

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Man and nature in a desert environment

The cultural landscape of Bam is an outstanding representation of the interaction of man and nature in a desert environment, using the qanats. The system is based on a strict social system with precise tasks and responsibilities, which have been maintained in use until the present, but has now become vulnerable to irreversible change.

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#961 Esfahan, Iran

Beautiful, romantic, historic Esfahan: even the name sounds beautiful and evokes emotion! If ever there was a city to evoke the essence of Iran and Persian culture, Esfahan is a pretty good place for it. With its hot summers and cool winters, its iconic blue-tiled domes and muqarnas (the sheer quantity of which is an Islamic architecture buff's dream), the fantastic shopping, and its place on silk trade routes of antiquity, it is memorable and atmospheric.

Its Naghsh-e Jahan Square (Imam Square) is one of the biggest public squares in the world, and is faced with buildings each spectacular in their own right. With Ali Qapu Palace, the Grand Bazaar, Madrassas, Mosques, across the river there is even Vank Cathedral, it is a mixture of heritage and culture.

12th C Pol-e Sharestan Bridge of 33 arches.

The Grand Bazaar during the lunch hour siesta.

One mosque off of Iman Square

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isfahan

#991 Persepolis, Iran

One of the most famous sites of the ancient world, it was sacked by Alexander the Great in 330BC.  Parsa, or Persepolis (meaning city of Persia as it was called by the Greeks) is a city that wasn't really a city. It was purely ceremonial and palatial, with the plebes living half a day's trek away in Istakhr (which remains completely unexcavated, almost a memorial to the conquering massacre of the 8th century).

Why is it amazing?

1. Buried Treasure: Although known and visible, its most precious treasures were completely buried by sand until 1930.
2. Linguistics: There are cuneiform inscriptions in Old Persian, Neo-Babylonian and Elamite.
3. Famous visitors: It is easy to see the graffiti dating through the ages, especially on the famous gateway.
4. Incredibly carvings that tell many stories and document history: bas-reliefs on the Apadana staircase show many traditions of the Achaemenids, and include members of the various ethnicities in the Persian empire like Arabs, Thracians, Indians, Parthians, Cappadocians, Elamites, Medians, and Ethiopians giving offerings to the emperor.
5. Living Iranian/Persian Pride: Iranians love to visit Persepolis during 'No Ruz' and celebrate their New Year (March 21) which dates back to Zoroastrian and Persian times.
6. Controversy: security is tight because Islamic Fundamentalists still try to destroy and deface it.
7. No longevity, but fame: It wasn't actually lived in for that long - only around 250 years, but it is one of the most famous ancient cities, and is taught about in schools around the world.

Information adapted partially from Lonely Planet Iran 5th edition.

Offerings from the various tribes of the Persian empire.

Soldiers lined up on the Apadana staircase. The hairstyle is a distinctively Persian carving style.

The famous mythical bull-like beasts that guard the gates to Persepolis. They were disfigured by Arab conquerors who believed animal/face depictions to be anti-Islamic.

The Necropolis - tombs to famous Achaemenid kings. Note: These are not in Persepolis itself, but close by.

View of Persepolis from the cliff behind.

Most Popular Places on Earth's Surface

 Dasht-e Lut desert valleys also are the most dry and hot in the world. According to NASA satellite records, there is one area where surface temperatures never reached 71 degrees Celsius. This is the record highest temperature ever happened on Earth's surface.

The area was called Gandom Beriyan (parched grain), the wide reach of about 480 square kilometers. As quoted from the Earth Snapshot, 27 April 2011, the cause of high temperatures in the region is because the surface is covered by volcanic lava.

 The dark layer absorbs a lot of sunlight. Due to the temperature difference with the area that have different heights in the vicinity, the region formed a wind tunnel.

The eastern part of Dasht-e Lut is a low-lying filled with salt content. In the center of the crater there are mountains and parallel grooves carved naturally by winds that reached 150 kilometers in length and height to 75 meters.

This area is also full of gaps and holes. In the southeast, there is a vast desert with dunes reaching a height of 300 meters. Dunes in the region is among the highest in the world.