Khuzestan and Behbahan | |||||||||||||||||||
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BEHBAHĀN (also pronounced Behbehān), Iranian city and county (šahrestān) in the province of Ḵūzestān.The city of Behbahān (30° 35’ N, 50° 16’ E) lies in a plain 400 in above sea level and has a climate typical of Iran’s warm regions (garmsīr), with 50° C maximum and O° C minimum temperature.The entire length of the Shiraz-Behbahān-Ahvāz highway is asphalted. The Behbahān-Ahvāz stretch, 200 km long, after crossing the Mārūn and passing through the western suburbs of Behbahān, leads to Rām-Hormoz and thence to Ahvāz. The Behbahān-Shiraz stretch, 360 km long, after passing through the eastern suburbs of Behbahān and crossing the Ḵayrābād river, extends 72 km to Gačsārān (headquarters of the county of Do Gonbadān in the province of Kūhgīlūya and Boir Aḥmadī) and thence to Shiraz History of Behbahan – To the north of the city lie the ruins of the ancient city Arjan, built during the Sassanian period, where important remnants from the Elamite era can be found.The people of Behbahan (Behbahanis) speak a Persian dialect distinct to their group, as well as Sassanid language Middle Persian, and may still use words of Khuzi origin, the language of the original inhabitants of Khuzestan. the land of what is currently known as Behbahan was part of Arya-gan (Arjan=Arregan=Argan) city instead; back then, the land of the current Behbahan was not inhabited. Arjan Elamite city is located 10 kilometers north of the city of Behbahan in Khuzestan province. A grave belonging to the New Elamite era was discovered during the construction of a dam on Maroon River in fall 1982. The grave belongs to Kidin Hutran, an Elamite king who ruled during the seventh century BC. A unique and remarkable gold ring with the design of two winged lions on two sides of a holly tree was also discovered in this grave. On this ring, a phrase written in the Elamite cuneiform is evident which reads: “Kidin Hutran son of Cyrus”. Some clay relics belonging to the New Susan era (about 4500 years BC) and the Lapoyi era were found in Homayoon Tepe. In addition, remains of a kind of special clay from the beginning of the writing period (around 3500 BC) were discovered during the 1970s in Tal Sabz (a pre-historical site five kilometers east of Arjan). discoveries indicate to a continuous settlement in Behbahan plain for some 29000 years.. |
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Khuzestan Province – Khuzestan Province (Persian: Ostān-e Khūzestān) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the southwest of the country, bordering Iraq and the Persian Gulf. Its capital is Ahvaz and it covers an area of 63,238 km2. Since 2014 it has been part of Iran’s Region 4. As the Iranian province with the oldest history, it is often referred to as the “birthplace of the nation”, as this is where the history of the Elamites begins. Historically, one of the most important regions of the Ancient Near East, Khuzestan is what historians refer to as ancient Elam, whose capital was in Susa. The Achaemenid Old Persian term for Elam was Hujiyā when they conquered it from the Elamites, which is present in the modern name. Khuzestan, meaning “the Land of the Khuz”, refers to the original inhabitants of this province, the “Susian” people (Old Persian “Huza” or Huja, as in the inscription at the tomb of Darius the Great at Naqsh-e Rostam). They are the Shushan of the Hebrew sources where they are recorded as “Hauja” or “Huja”. In Middle Persian, the term evolves into “Khuz” and “Kuzi”. The pre-Islamic Partho-Sasanian inscriptions gives the name of the province as Khwuzestan. Khuzestan province with the centrality of Ahvaz is located in the southwest of Iran at the coast of Persian gulf and is considered to be the center of oil and gas production in Iran. In terms of having different subcultures, Khuzestan province is the most diverse in Iran. Bakhtiaris, native Arabs, Persians, Lurs and etc reside in Khuzestan. Khuzestan province is the richest province of Iran in terms of oil and gas reservoirs, exports of which are the main source of revenue for the country at the moment. Khuzestan province, due to its ancient history and being the cradle of civilization has many historical monuments. |
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