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The Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation was established in 1990 with the mission to guarantee the Encyclopædia Iranica's intellectual independence and ensure its ongoing publication both in digital and print versions. Learn More
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Cinema Iranica
Cinema Iranica provides historical articles on movies, genres, film movements, filmographies, directors, composers, stars, cinematographers ...
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Women Poets Iranica
Women Poets Iranica is an integrative encyclopedia of postclassical, modern, and contemporary women poets.
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Encyclopædia Iranica
The Encyclopædia Iranica is a comprehensive research tool dedicated to the study of Iranian civilization in the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.
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CERAMICS ii. The Neolithic Period in Northwestern Persia
The initial occupation of Persian Azerbaijan by farming groups took place in the second half of the 7th millennium B.C.E. The best known site of this period is Hajji Firuz (Ḥājī Fīrūz) Tepe, located in the Ošnū-Soldūz valley and approximately contemporary with Hasanlu X (ca. 6000-5000 B.C.E.).
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DERAFŠ
lit. “banner, standard, flag, emblem,” in ancient Iran. In the Avesta Bactria “with tall banners,” a fluttering “bull banner,” and enemy banners are mentioned. In the Achaemenid period each Persian army division had its own standard (Herodotus, 9.59), and “all officers had banners over their tents" (Xenophon, Cyropaedia 8.5.13).