🇮🇷 Iran · Tell
Tal-i Iblis
Chalcolithic to Early Bronze (c.5000–2500 BCE; Iblis I–VI) · Yahya-related Chalcolithic → Early Bronze Kerman
Kerman Chalcolithic copper centre (5000 BCE) with earliest slag/crucibles south of Kerman.
🇮🇷 Iran · Tell
Tall-i Bakun
Chalcolithic (c.4200–3500 BCE; Bakun B–A 4200–3700) · Bakun (Fars Chalcolithic, Ubaid-related)
Tall-i Bakun (Mound A, Fars) is the type-site of Bakun Chalcolithic (c.4200–3700 BCE) — elaborate black-on-buff painted ware with ibex and geometric motifs, sea...
🇮🇷 Iran · Ancient city
Tepe Musiyan
Early Village to Islamic (6000 BCE–1000 CE; peaks Ubaid–Uruk and Old Elamite) · Deh Luran Village → Ubaid → Uruk → Proto-Elamite → Elamite → Islamic
Deh Luran's largest tell (15.5 ha) with 6000 BCE-to-Elamite sequence and Amorite seal.
🇮🇷 Iran · Ancient city
Baba Jan Tepe
Iron Age I–II (1200–700 BCE; Phase II c.1000 BCE, Phase I c.800 BCE) · Central Zagros Iron Age (Luristan) → Median zone
Nurabad Iron Age pillared hall — 12-column prototype of Persian apadana.
🇮🇷 Iran · Pyramid
Ziggurat of Tepe Musiyan (Deh Luran)
Late Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age (Uruk to ED) · Proto-Elamite / Jemdet Nasr
Early highland proto-ziggurat at Tepe Musiyan, Deh Luran — 50×70 m oval platform c.3100 BCE linking Uruk Susiana to Elamite highland terraces.
🇮🇷 Iran · Tell
Tepe Qabrestan
Chalcolithic–Early Bronze Age (c.5000–2900 BCE) · Qazvin plain Chalcolithic (Zagheh–Qabrestan)
Qazvin tell 12 m high (c.5000–2900 BCE, Zagheh→Qabrestan, cemetery) south of Qazvin.
🇮🇷 Iran · Tell
Tall-i Bakun (A & B)
Late Chalcolithic Bakun phase (c.4800–4000 BCE); Ubaid-related Bakun painted ware · Bakun (Fars Chalcolithic) with Ubaid–Susiana ties and early Elamite precursor
Bakun painted Chalcolithic capital (c.4800–4000 BCE) with 20-room admin complex and seals — Marvdasht chiefdom precursor (Persepolis 7 km).
🇮🇷 Iran · Tell
Tepe Giyan (Tappeh Giyan)
Chalcolithic to Iron Age (5000–1000 BCE; peak Giyan IV 2000–1500 BCE) · Central Zagros Chalcolithic → Bronze Age Luristan → Iron I Luristan bronzes
Zagros valley tell with Giyan I–V paint sequence and 120-grave Luristan bronze cemetery.
🇮🇷 Iran · Rock-cut
Karaftu Caves — Heraclean Greek Inscription
Hellenistic–Parthian (Seleucid to Mithridates I) · Seleucid Greek–Iranian magus syncretism (Heracles–Verethragna)
Zagros cave 4 triple chambers with koine 'Heracles rests here' inscription 3rd–1st BCE and spring cistern.
🇮🇷 Iran · Temple complex
Taq-e Bostan Rock Reliefs
Sassanian Empire (224–651 CE), late Sassanian zenith · Sassanian Zoroastrian (Ahura Mazda, Anahita, Mithra) court art
Sassanian Zagros spring iwans: Shapur II/III small and Khosrow II great with boar hunt and armored cavalry.
🇮🇷 Iran · Hydraulic works
Qanat of Kashan - Fin Garden
Sassanian 470 CE to Safavid UNESCO 2011 · Sassanian hydraulic engineers; Safavid Shah Abbas I
Sassanian qanat (5th c. CE, 12 km, 400 shafts) feeding Fin Garden, UNESCO Persian Garden archetype hydraulic core.
🇮🇷 Iran · Hydraulic works
Shushtar Extension - Band-e Mizan
Achaemenid to Sassanian (5th c. BCE core; 260 CE Band-e Mizan by Valerian captives) · Sassanian with Roman engineering
Band-e Mizan – upstream regulator weir of Shushtar Hydraulic System (Khuzestan): 390m limestone weir across Karun splitting into Gargar canal (40 mills) vs Shatit, built 260 CE by Roman captives of…
🇮🇷 Iran · Pyramid
Tepe Giyan Ziggurat Mound (Nahavand)
Early to Middle Bronze Age (Giyan III–IV) · Elamite / Highland Zagros (Giyan culture)
Zagros highland terrace shrine at Tepe Giyan c.2800–1700 BCE — 40 m proto-ziggurat mound linking Elamite terraces to later Median fire temples.
🇮🇷 Iran · Hydraulic works
Band-e Golestan — Timurid Arch Dam, Mashhad
Timurid (Tamerlane) to Safavid (1350–1590) · Timurid Persian (Turko-Mongol Persianized); Mashhad Imam Reza shrine
1350 Timurid 24-m arch 96 m on Golestan gorge feeding Mashhad Imam Reza 8-km garden canal, still lake.
🇮🇷 Iran · Hydraulic works
Qanat-e Zarch West Branch (Yazd Zarch Qanat Western Gallery)
Ilkhanid branch on Achaemenid–Sasanian trunk · Ilkhanid Yazd (branch) on Persian qanat tradition
Qanat-e Zarch west: 11.2-km Ilkhanid branch of world's longest 71-km Yazd qanat, UNESCO 1476.
🇮🇷 Iran · Hydraulic works
Qanat-e Gonabad South Gallery (Ghasemabad South Branch Qanat)
Achaemenid to present (520 BCE–ongoing) · Achaemenid Gonabad oasis (Khorasan piedmont)
South Gonabad gallery 4.1 km with 62 shafts 42 m mother well: Achaemenid 520 BCE saruj, 12 L/s to Ghasemabad saffron.
🇮🇷 Iran · Hydraulic works
Shushtar Band-e Kaisar — Roman Bridge-Dam Caesar's Dam
Sassanian (Roman capture) · Sassanian Persian, Roman legion engineers
Karun 500-m Roman arch bridge-dam by Valerian's legion 260 CE with Gargar mills, core of UNESCO Shushtar system.
🇮🇷 Iran · Pyramid
Choga Gavaneh Ziggurat Mound (Islamabad-e Gharb)
Old Babylonian to Kassite (Middle Bronze) · Kassite / Highland Zagros
Zagros highland ziggurat at Choga Gavaneh c.1800 BCE — 60 m square mudbrick platform 15 m high with Kassite pottery linking Babylonia to Sialk highland line.
🇮🇷 Iran · Hydraulic works
Qanat of Hasan Abad-e Moshir — Yazd Desert Water
Timurid to Safavid–Qajar (14th–19th c.), Sasanid precursor mythic · Yazdi Persian (Imam Reza pilgrimage route water, Zoroastrian Yazd water wisdom)
Yazd 45-km 70-m mother well qanat 150 L/s since Safavid, feeding Mehriz 800 ha pistachio under Shirkuh, UNESCO 550.
🇮🇷 Iran · Hydraulic works
Zayandeh River — Marnan Bridge and Hydraulic Mills
Safavid Isfahan (1598–1722) · Safavid Persian (Isfahani school, Shah Abbas)
1599 Safavid 300-m 11-arch bridge-weir with 11 pier-embedded mills and Chahar Bagh 8-km canal, Isfahan's western Zayandeh.
🇮🇷 Iran · Pyramid
Ziggurat of Chogha Mish (Proto-Urban High Temple)
Chalcolithic to Late Uruk (Susa A) · Susiana Elamite (Proto-Elamite horizon)
Chalcolithic high temple platform at Chogha Mish c.4000–3100 BCE: 27 m mound with proto-urban administration and early sealings, Susiana precursor to Elamite ziggurats.
🇮🇷 Iran · Temple complex
Takht-e Soleyman — Throne of Solomon and Azargoshnasb Fire Temple
Sasanian Empire 224–651 CE (peak 5th–7th century) → Ilkhanid 13th century reuse · Sasanian Zoroastrian → Ilkhanid Mongol Islamic palace phase
Sasanian Great Fire temple on a 120 m artesian lake — shahs' coronation sanctuary, later Ilkhanid palace.
🇮🇷 Iran · Tell
Abdul Hosein
Aceramic Neolithic (c.8500–7300 BCE; Abdul Hosein phase) · Zagros PPN (Abdul Hosein horizon)
Luristan PPN eponym (8500 BCE) on Seimareh — coarse ware before Deh Luran.
🇮🇷 Iran · Hydraulic works
Band-e Ashura — Shushtar Gargar Outflow Regulator (Ashura Weir)
Sasanian to Safavid re-use (260 CE Sasanian–1650 Safavid regulation) · Sasanian
Outflow regulator weir (8 m high, 95 m crest) on Gargar Canal 2.1 km downstream of Band-e Gargar–Darian Canal head (already in DB as band-e-gargar-canal) at 45 m elevation.