The ancient Elamites remain one of the great puzzles of early history. Once powerful in what is now southwestern Iran, their language and origins have long been debated. In this video, we explore what ...

Before Persia ruled half the known world, Iran was shaped by forgotten civilizations. This episode traces the region’s path ...

On a serene plain in southwestern Iran, the stepped ziggurat of Tchogha Zanbil has stood for more than 3,500 years, making it the best-preserved ziggurat outside Mesopotamia and one of the rare ...

The room we are in is locked. It is windowless and lit from above by a fluorescent bulb. In the hallway outside—two stories beneath the city of London—attendants in dark suits patrol silently, giving ...

The Apadana, which was used as a gathering hall for receptions, was the largest building in Persepolis. A relief on the stairway includes depictions of delegates to the Achaemenid royal court (left), ...

Narrator: Hello, future people of the UK. Would you like to visit me at the dawn of civilisation in ancient Sumer? Well, to do that, you’ve got to travel back in time. Back before the Vikings, before ...

The ziggurat is arguably the most distinct architectural feature of the Mesopotamian civilization. Nevertheless, some of these structures have been found to exist outside the area once occupied by ...

Ancient Iran, historically known as Persia, was the dominant nation of western Asia for over twelve centuries, with three successive native dynasties—the Achaemenid, the Parthian, and the ...

Nabopolassar was the founder of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, which existed between the 7th and 6th centuries BC. But the Neo-Assyrians that were losing power at the time didn’t make his rise easy. If ...

These ruins of the city of Babylon in Iraq date to the Neo-Babylonian Empire (626–539 B.C.). A 22-inch-high basalt stela depicting Babylon’s king Nabonidus (r. 556–539 B.C.) shows him wearing a ...

According to Soltani, the carving’s imagery and compositional structure suggest it represents a ritual or mythological scene. While deeply rooted in local religious traditions, the relief may also ...

Commentary on Jeremiah 49:34-39 (Read Jeremiah 49:34-39) The Elamites were the Persians; they acted against God's Israel, and must be reckoned with. Evil pursues sinners. God will make them know that ...