According to internetsailors, the summers in the highlands are dry and very hot. Many plants thrive in the Caspian lowlands with its warm, humid climate (subtropics), while the Persian Gulf is hot and humid. It rains the most on the northern slope of the Elbursgebirge. Beech and oak forests grow there. The Zagros Mountains are largely deforested except for the northwest. In the northern mountain regions, winter can be very severe and snowy. Due to the different habitats, Iran has a species-rich fauna. These include large predators such as tigers, leopards and bears, birds of prey and, in the Persian Gulf, flamingos and pelicans. There are also deer, roe deer and wild goats.
The Persian Kanat System (World Heritage)
The cultivation of crops in arid areas is only possible through artificial irrigation. The Kanat irrigation was already in the Middle East in the first millennium BC. Known. From Persia this technique spread to many countries. They can be found under other names, for example, in Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, North Africa, on the Arab and Iberian Peninsulas and in Latin America.
The Persian Kanat System: Facts
| Official title: | The Persian Kanat Irrigation System |
| Cultural monument: | 11 irrigation systems in five provinces; Kerman Province: Gowhariz-Kanat and Akbar Abad-Kanat and Ghasem Abad-Kanat (Kanate of Bam); Khorasan-e Rasawi Province: Baladeh-Kanat near Ferdows and Kasabeh-Kanat near Gonabad (with more than 2500 years the oldest Kanat in the world); Yazd Province: Hassan Abad-e Moschir-Kanat and Zardsch-Kanat (with a length of 71 km the longest Kanat of Iran); Markazi Province: Ebrahim Abad-Kanat; Isfahan Province: Mun-Kanat near Ardestan (two-story) and Mozd Abad-Kanat and Wazwan-Kanat near Mimeh / Meymeh |
| Continent: | Asia |
| Country: | Iran |
| Location: | Iranian highlands; in the provinces of Khorasan-e Rasawi, Markazi, Yazd, Isfahan and Kerman |
| Appointment: | 2016 |
| Meaning: | exceptional testimony to cultural traditions and the way of life of people in arid regions |
Watering like in ancient times
A Kanat is an underground canal or tunnel. In it, the groundwater and seepage water is collected at the foot of mountains or from wadis and, on a slight slope, is channeled over several kilometers to the irrigation areas or settlements in the arid regions. At the Kanat outlet, the water finally reaches the surface of the earth. The starting point of a Kanat is the mother well. The course of a canal can be followed through the openings of the numerous well shafts, which are necessary for the construction of the tunnels and for the maintenance of the system.
In Iran, up until the middle of the 20th century, canoes not only irrigated fields and gardens, but also supplied most villages and cities – including the capital Tehran – with drinking water. Today, in general, new canals are no longer being built and existing ones are gradually being replaced by modern dam and canal systems. But several thousand systems are still doing their job, especially in the highlands of Iran. Because the tried and tested, environmentally friendly water management has advantages: The underground system protects the water in arid and semi-arid areas from evaporation. Although the construction and maintenance of the Kanat system are very labor-intensive, they do not require a great deal of technical effort.
Susa (World Heritage)
Susa was the capital of Elam and one of the capitals of the Persian Empire under the Achaemenids. The place, which has been inhabited continuously for several millennia, exemplifies the succession of different high cultures and their different influences on the development of architecture and art.
Susa: Facts
| Official title: | Susa |
| Cultural monument: | Several mounds of ruins with layers of different settlement epochs lying one on top of the other; important finds from different epochs, including the palace complex of Dareios I. |
| Continent: | Asia |
| Country: | Iran |
| Location: | Shush, Khusistan Province |
| Appointment: | 2015 |
| Meaning: | The ruins and sites illustrate the development of the city and architecture over a period of several millennia |
Traces of the millennia
The earliest settlement (Susa I, 4200-3700 BC) developed into a regional religious center, which is characterized by a high mud brick terrace, on which there were presumably temples. In the Susa II period (3500-3100 BC) there were close ties to Mesopotamia, BC. a. Uruk, which are particularly clear through clay objects (clay tokens, so-called tokens) as well as clay tablets with picture writing and unrolled seals. In the Susa III period (3100–2700 BC) the city was more closely integrated into the surrounding Iranian cultures and its own »Proto-Elamite script« was developed. In the armed conflicts of the following centuries (2700–1500 BC) Susa was partly under Mesopotamian and partly Iranian rule, ruled by indigenous Elamite dynasties. It flourished and was involved in international trade. After victorious clashes with Kassite rulers in Babylonia, the Elamite ruler Schutruk-Nachunte I (1190–1155 BC) abducted important monuments such as the legal stele of Hammurabi to Susa. Under the Achaemenid ruler Dareios I, the great, in the late 6th century BC. A royal palace. With a living area based on the Babylonian model, he had a reception hall (Apadana) with 72 columns. After its destruction, Artaxerxes II. To build a successor palace. Susa continued as a settlement well into the Islamic period, an Islamic grave monument (cenotaph for the prophet Daniel) is visited by pilgrims today. From the 1880s onwards, Susa became one of the main focuses of French archeology. In 1902 the hijacked legal stele of Hammurabi was found in Susa.
