Left: Golden cup, Marlik Gilan, Early 1st mill B.C.
Center: Stone vessel, Shahdad (Kerman), 3rd Mill B.C.
Right: Bust Woman, Shahdad (Kerman) 3rd Mill B.C.
Photo by Ibrahim Khadem Bayyat / Iran National Museum / ICHTO

Paleolithic Age

Paleolithic age as the human prehistory refers to a period between around 3.2 million and 18 thousand years ago; the time when the human discovered fire. Hunting, gathering plants, stone tools, and settlement in natural shelters are the main characteristics of this age. About 200 thousand years ago, Neanderthal appeared on the earth and sharpening tools were invented, simple shelters were formed and humans started using animal furs to create cloths.

The first traces of burial traditions belong to the Paleolithic age as well, the age when the intelligent human made impressive development in tools making. Also, the first traces of art on the walls of caves and rocks appeared in this age. At the end of the Paleolithic age, humans were able to sew clothes.

The oldest evidence of humankind in Iran Plateau has been unearthed in the Kashafrud River region in Khorasan province dating back to 800 thousand years ago. Mount Khajeh in Sistan, Bisotun Caves, Do-Ashkaft Cave, and Niasar are other places where the evidence of the human presence in the Paleolithic age has been discovered in Iran.

Mesolithic Age

Mesolithic age is the period between 18 and 10 thousand years ago when humans intentionally started gathering and preserving food, cultivating plant seeds, and domesticating animals. The traces of humankind’s existence in this era can be seen in the caves of Kamarband, Hotu, and Gomishan, and Ganj Dareh in Hersin.

Mesolithic age is the period between 18 thousand years until 10 thousand years ago when human beings deliberately started to gather and preserve food, cultivate plant seeds, and domesticate animals. The traces of humankind’s existence in this era can be seen in the caves of Kamarband, Hotu, and Gomishan, Ganj Dareh in Hersin, and the banks of Zayanderud River.

Gold plaque, Ziwiyeh (kurdestan), 1st mill B.C.
Photo by Ibrahim Khadem Bayyat / Iran National Museum / ICHTO

Neolithic Age

The period from 10 to 6 thousand years ago is called the Neolithic age. The early human successfully began farming and domesticating animals in this era. The dishes made of clay and straw came into use to preserve and have their foods. The houses were also built with mud in a circular shape and evolved gradually.

The most important evolution in this era was the rise of faith and the creation of gods and goddesses that led to specific burial traditions and the formation of cemeteries. The art of this era was abstract and stylized. The most well-known sites of Neolithic age in Iran include Tall-i Bakun, Tall-I Jarri, Susa, Chogha Bonut, Chogamish and Sarab Teppe.

Left: Bronze statue, Shahr-e-Soukhteh (Sistan) 3rd Mill B.C.
Center: Pottery Granary Vessel, Probably South – Western of Iran. 3rd Mill B.C.
Right: Female-head vessel, made of frit, Chogha-zanbil (Khuzestan), 2nd mill B.C.
Photo by Ibrahim Khadem Bayyat / Iran National Museum / ICHTO

Rural Settlement

Following the formation of agriculture, people emigrated from mountainous areas to the plains, which led to a permanent settlement and creation of villages dating back to 6,000 to 3,500 years B.C. The evidence of the primary villages of Iran can be found in Jiroft, Sialk, Ganj Dareh, and Susa.

Chalcolithic

With the discovery of metals in general and copper in particular, the world began a new phase. Tools consisted of copper and stone were built in this age; that is the reason behind calling this age Chalcolithic which was roughly from 2500 to 3000 BC. The presence of metal, however, did not mean the disappearance of pottery and clay related works.

Clay became more important and the use of potter’s wheel became common in many regions. In this age, potteries were adorned with pictures of horned animals, birds, reptiles as well as humans in different patterns and styles. The various Chalcolithic sites in Iran include Tall-i Bakun, Godin Tepe, Teppe Gian, Tepe Sialk, Tepe Hissar, Chogamish, and Susa.

Left: Wooden comb, Shahr-e-Soukhteh (Sistan) 3rd Mill B.C.
Right: Bitumen vessel, Susa (Khuzestan). 2nd mill B.C.
Photo by Ibrahim Khadem Bayyat / Iran National Museum / ICHTO

Urbanization Age

The beginning of urbanization in Iran dates back to 4000 B.C. The first cities of Iran are Susa, Shahr-e Sukhteh (Burnt City) in Zabol, Jiroft, Tepe Hissar, and Sialk. Following the formation of urbanization, different social classes and jobs were gradually created. In this era, the architecture of the places included houses with roof gutters for rainwater and special places for the flowing of water in the passageways.

Disk – head of bronze pin, Lorestan, Early 2nd mill B.C.
Photo by Ibrahim Khadem Bayyat / Iran National Museum / ICHTO

Bronze Age

At the beginning of the fourth millennium B.C., the human discovered an alloy called Bronze. This era starts from the beginning of the fourth millennium until the middle of the second millennium. The oldest bronze objects of Iran were found in Lorestan province. Grey pottery was produced on a large scale in Iran plateau. Before the Bronze Age, dead bodies were buried in the floors of houses in an embryonic style, but burial tradition in cemeteries appeared in this age.

Left: Silver cup, Marvdasht (Fars), 3rd Mill B.C.
Right: Silver plaque, Kalmakare (Lorestan) Early 1st mill B.C.
Photo by Ibrahim Khadem Bayyat / Iran National Museum / ICHTO

Iron Age

From 1500 to 1000 B.C, the human achieved the technique of making metal tools. The most important accomplishment during the Iron Age was the ability to make more durable war equipment. Another important invention in this age was glass objects. In this era, the ethnics like the Medes and Persis emerged as the great ethnics of the region and Iran.

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Iran After Islam – Quran Naskh Script, 13 Century AD
Photo by Ibrahim Khadem Bayyat / Publisher: ICHTO

During 635-641 A.D., Iran became the target of the Muslim Arabs who were conquering the neighboring lands. In a series of battles such as Al-Qādisiyyah, Al-Mada’in, and Nahavand, Iran was defeated by the Arabs during the Sassanid Empire. As the Arabs advanced across Iran, the Sassanid Empire got gradually closer to demise as the local rulers and peasants were not satisfied with the empire system and the existing economic and social gaps and therefore, they made a compromise with Arabs with no war and serious resistance.

After the advent of Islam, for two centuries, Iran experienced one of the most sensitive periods of its history. Arabs entrance to the country and the encounter of their cultural, social, and economic structures with locals’, influenced significantly the country which can be observed in today’s history as well. It is worth mentioning that the Arabs did not insist that the Iranian should convert to Islam but the Iranians gradually converted to it by themselves and the fire temples in central and southern areas of this land were burning during several centuries.

The fertile lands, huge wealth, and Iran’s suitable geographical location appealed to be the main motivations for the Arabs who were searching for a place to immigrate. The culture of these two nations was gradually blended and the Iranian-Islamic culture emerged accordingly. One of the biggest impacts of Arab immigration was the development of urbanism, a tendency that began during the Sassanid Empire but was expanded and flourished in the Islamic era.

Nasir Ol Molk Mosque, 19 Century AD, Shiraz, Fars Province, Iran
Photo by Alexander Mazurkevich/ Shutterstock

The First Two Centuries of Islam

The first two centuries after the advent of Islam in Iran is known by the slow conversion of locals to Islam, numerous political and religious movements and the lack of an independent government. In Umayyad time, Iranians did not experience appropriate economic and cultural conditions which were mainly because of the Arab racism who felt superior against the Iranians. Such led to the establishment of anti-Umayyad movements.

In this time, many Shiite elites and holy figures of the country immigrated to various parts especially to the impassable land of Tabaristan to escape from the Umayyad rulers. This is one of the reasons behind the existence of numerous holy shrines scattered all over in Iran.

In 749 A.D., the Umayyad ruling over the Islamic lands came to its end by the rebellion of Abu Muslim and Abbasid Caliphs. During the Abbasid caliphs and rulers, Iranians who were good at administrative positions found their way in the court of the rulers. Having power and influence in the court led drastically to the condition improvement of the Iranians. At the same time, there were some movements against Abbasid Caliphate such as political independence which were all suppressed.

The Abbasid’s golden age was during the governance of Harun Al-Rashid. After Harun, Abbasid became weaker and the Caliphs had to hand over some parts of Iran to their agents to provide the needed funding of their courts. One of these parts was the Great Khorasan that included the Sistan region as well.

Finally, in the ninth century and after two centuries of silence, the first semi-independent government was established entitled the Tahirid dynasty (821-873 A.D.). Although it was a short dynasty in length, it paved the way for the upcoming dynasties to gain power with the main goal of freedom.

Iran After Islam – Brass candlestick, 17 Century AD
Photo by Ibrahim Khadem Bayyat / Publisher: ICHTO

Iran After the Tahirid Dynasty

After the overthrow of Tahirid Dynasty, 15 dynasties came to the throne, each of which with a significant role in the culture, civilization and socio-political system in Iran. During some of these dynasties such as Samanid (819-999) and Timurid (1370-1507), art and culture were highly flourished.

A Focus on architecture was made in Ilkhanate (1256-1335) and Safavid (1501-1736) Empires. From Safavid time, Shia (one of the two main branches of Islam) became for the first time the official religion of the country. During the Qajar Dynasty (1796-1925), the first instances of the country’s encounter with modernity were formed, on the other hand, Iran was influenced by the Constitutional Revolution as well, which happened under the effect of European Revolutions.

However, modernity (e.g., road construction) reached its peak in the Pahlavi Dynasty (1925-1979). In a religious-based country, insistence on modern elements that are not defined well for its followers can lead to the dissatisfaction of the people and religious figures. Such resulted in the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

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Mud brick at the ancient Elamite complex of Chogha Zanbil Ziggurat – Khuzestan Province, Iran
Photo by alexreynolds / ShutterStock

By the historic Iran, we mean the time about a century and a half before the Old Persian language was decoded. The decipherment of cuneiform and its alphabet has made a major revolution in reading the ancient inscriptions and scriptures. This helped archeologists understand that the official Iranian history dates back to 2500 years ago which is around the beginning of the Achaemenid era (550-330 B.C.). Before this era, the history of Iran is limited to the civilization of Elam (Elamite: 2700-539 B.C.) and Medes (678-549 B.C.). and their roles in the formation of the first great empire of the world i.e. Achaemenid Empire.

The history and culture of Iran has been always important in the course of world history, mainly because of the country’s geographical location. Each dynasty in Iran has had a great impact on religion, writing, architecture, culture, and the civilization of the ancient world.

The important issue in Iranian history is the relation of nomadic tribes and residents and their effects on the designation and dethronement of rulers. In general, it can be noted that the establishment of new Iranian dynasties happened either by conflicts between indigenous people or by the invasion of foreign tribes/nations. The entry of these tribes into Iran was always accompanied by conflict, war, and bloodshed with the locals. However, they brought their own culture and art to Iran and combined them with the local culture and art as well. The result of this combination was the emergence of a more powerful and advanced government. It should be mentioned that the study of culture and politics in Iran is not possible unless we get to know

Elam

In order to understand historic Iran, we have to start with Elamites, the indigenous people of the Iran plateau. Elamites included large powers in the Middle East such as Babylon, Sumer, and Assyria. The Assyrian inscriptions show the power of Elam and present Iran as a country that has had civilization since 3500 B.C.

Elamites chose Susa as their capital and ruled over the regions of Khuzestan, Lorestan, and Bakhtiari mountains but were overthrown by the Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal in 645 B.C. The folk of Aryan was divided into several tribes once they immigrated to Iran Plateau and each of them scattered in different parts of the Plateau. The most important Aryan tribes were Medes, Persis, and Parthia.

Medes Dynasty

At the beginning of the 7th century B.C., Diocese initiated the Medes Dynasty with Ecbatana as the capital, inhabited in Azerbaijan and Kurdistan. Several years later, they managed to eliminate the great Mesopotamian power i.e. Assyrians, but they were eventually dethroned by the tribe of Persis.

Achaemenid Dynasty

The Persis people established the great Achaemenid Empire ruled first by Cyrus the Great in 550 B.C. During this period, Iran reached its political power peak and its greatest geographical territory. The ruling kings managed to eliminate Babylon and had numerous wars with the Greeks.

At the time of Darius and Xerxes, the Achaemenid Empire was stabilized and reached its climax. However, like any other dynasties, they suffered from internal disputes and decay of power. Eventually, they were dethroned by the Greek army ruled by the Great Alexander in 330 B.C.

Clay impression of Seleucid – National Museum of Iran
Photo by Ibrahim Khadem Bayyat / Publisher: ICHTO

Seleucid Dynasty

After the death of Alexander, his territory was divided among his commanders and Iran fell into the hands of Seleucus and his successors for 73 years. Some historians prefer to call this period the Interval Era because of the introduction of the philhellenic culture (Greek culture) to Iran and its impacts on Iranian art and civilization.

Parthian Dynasty

The Parthian managed gradually to remove some areas from the domination of the Seleucids and eventually, in 247 B.C., Arsaces I founded the Parthian dynasty lasting its power until 224 A.D. i.e. for 471 years. The Parthian government was the only Iranian power that had a Feudal system of governing.

The most salient features of this era were freedom of speech and religious tolerance. The Parthians are also known for their numerous attrition battles against Romans; the wars that were mostly fruitless and did nothing but to weaken the country. The Parthian governance which is known as the longest dynasty in Iran was finally destroyed by Ardashir Babakan– the founder of the Sassanid Empire- after about five centuries of the ruling.

Silver coins of Parthain and Sasanian
Photo by Ibrahim Khadem Bayyat / Publisher: ICHTO

Sassanid Dynasty

Sassanid, as the last pre-Islamic dynasty in Iran, came to the throne in the city of Persis whose inhabitants called it Iranshahr and considered themselves the descendants of the Achaemenid. The Sassanid dynasty began its governance around 224 A.D. by Ardashir Babakan but unlike Parthians, it was ruled through a central government.

The official religion in this period was Zoroastrianism that was not separate from the ruling system, leading to high power for the Magus and the Zoroastrian priests. The Sasanians reigned over Iran for 427 years with its Kings interested in luxurious and aristocratic life and as a result, the social gap between commoners and courtiers increased.

Besides, dissatisfaction was appeared among people due to religious rigors of Zoroastrian priests. Finally, the Sassanid government started its period of decline and was finally heavily defeated by the Arabs. With the destruction of Sassanid rule, the Islamic time in Iran began.

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