Way Back Wednesday

Today I'll be looking at: Hammurabi Stele

 Material - Polished Black Diorite Pillar
Old Babylonian
Approx Date: 1790 BC
Height: 2.26 m (88.976378 inches)
Width: 2 feet
Depth: 1.5 feet
Text: Cuneiform
Babylon, Iraq
Excavated in ancient Susa (Shushan) by French Archaeologists 1901-1902
Location: Louvre Museum, France

 Detail of the top of the Hammurabi Stele:
Picturing King Hammurabi coming before the god Shamash

Did you know?

Hammurabi was the sixth king of Babylon and ruled from 1792 BC to 1750 BC. But what is most fascinating was his laws - Hammurabi's Law Codes. It was the first written codes of law in recorded history.

I wrote a few exams about these law codes and they are fascinating!!

Hope you enjoyed my Way Back Wednesday!

* All photo's taken by me at the Archeology Museum in Iran 2009 - This is a replica.

Way back Wednesday

Today i will be looking at:

Masouleh Village In Northern Iran

The Village is embedded in the mountains of Northern Iran and what is so unique about it is that the roofs of the houses also serve as the streets of the village.

 

The village doesn't have a lot to offer visitors but it was such a beautiful place!

I hope you enjoyed my Way Back Wednesday!

Way back Wednesday

Today i will be looking at:

An excavation in the Kruger National Park 2009 

Lunch Time relaxing :)

The Beautiful View

Group Photo

(I'm on the right in the black shirt)

Hope you enjoyed my Way Back Wednesday!

Way back Wednesday

Today i will be looking at The Tower known as the "Ka'bah of Zoroaster"

This magnification structure is called "Ka'ba-ye Zardosht" because popular imagination wrongly interpreted it as a fire temple. This tower was built during the Achaemenid period.

It can be found opposite the rock-cut tomb attributed to Darius II.

The structure has a square base and stands on a three-stepped platform. Its lower half is solid and the upper is formed as a chamber (5 meters high) provided with one door in the north wall reached by a 30-stepped staircase the upper section of which has been destroyed the roof is made up of four huge blocks, and various rectangular niches formed of black stone set into the whitish walls give the structure the appearance of a three-story tower with many "blind windows."

Hope you enjoyed my Way Back Wednesday!

Way back Wednesday

This week i will be looking at The stone tower Zendan e soleyman

The ruined monument which appears as a tall tower is severely damaged. It stands at a height of 14m.

Surroundings the building is a number of features and structures.

The ruins originally consisted of an almost square, 4-meter-high tower in which a single, raised room that was accessed by a projecting monumental stone staircase. 

The plaque at the site:

I hope my Way Back Wednesday was enjoyable!

Way back Wednesday

Today I will look at The wind catcher of "Dowlat-abad"

The city of Yazd dates back more than 3,000 years to the Median Empire. The city's name derived from Yazdegerd I, a Sassanid ruler. 

The wind tower was developed from early 'wind scoops' first built about 2,000 years ago in Iran (then Persia). The same technique can be found in examples of Persian ice houses to help control temperature.

The wind catcher of "Dowlat-abad" in Yazd, Iran, one of the tallest extant wind catchers; used in many parts of the Middle East.

The "canal" extends a long way!

Windcatchers are a common architectural feature in Yazd, owing to the extremely hot summers.

Hope you enjoyed my Way back Wednesday!

Way back Wednesday

Today i will be looking at my trip to The Chak Chak Zoroastrian Fire Temple!

"The village of Chak Chak, also known as Pir-e Sabz, consists of a shrine perched beneath a towering cliff face in the desert of central Iran. It is the most sacred of the Zoroastrian mountain shrines. Located near the city of Ardakan in Yazd province, Chak Chak serves as a pilgrimage point for pious Zoroastrians"

Now let me just tell you this was one hell of a climb!

Just a bit up the mountain

View from the top

Inside the Fire Temple

Me looking gloomy and the view :)

I hope everyone enjoyed this weeks Way back Wednesday!

Way back Wednesday

Today i will show some pictures i took at the glass museum in Iran. Don't ask me which one, i went to too many museums lol. But i want to share these pictures because these items are exquisite!

I wish i took pictures of each one!

Glass wide-mouthed jug

Free Blown

9th - 11th Century A.D. Gorgan

So Strange

Love this one!

I hope everyone enjoyed this weeks Way back Wednesday!

Way back Wednesday

Today i will be looking at Tear Catchers

Taken by me

Free Blown

18th Century A.D - Shiraz

I found these fascinating when i first saw them in a museum in Iran. I did a bit more research and this is what I found:

Tear Catchers/Bottles have been around for a long time. They have been found in Rome and Egypt and it is suggested they had their origins there.

Tear Catchers were used by mourners to collect their tears in these vessels. They could also be used for other rites of passages.

I think these are really beautiful!

Source: http://www.tearbottle.com/

Hope you enjoyed my Way back Wednesday!

Way back Wednesday

Today i'll be talking about... Salt Man

Salt Man was discovered in the Chehrabad salt mines (Iran) in 1993. They found a body with long hair and a beard (see below).

 

Taken by me 

They also found a foreleg inside a leather boot (see below).

Taken by me

Tons of artifacts were also found, including iron knives, a silver needle a grindstone and some pottery etc. He has been dated to around 1700 years ago and has a B+ blood group. It has also been determined that he had rank or influence. Nobody knows what happened to him, but its thought that a hard blow was delivered to his head.

He is now in The National Museum of Iran in Tehran.

Hope you enjoyed my Way back Wednesday!

Way back Wednesday

Today i will look at my trip to Persepolis!

I took millions of photos but will show a few :)

First off what is Persepolis?

Persepolis was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire and is situated in Modern day Iran. It is believed that Cyrus the Great chose the site of Persepolis, but that Darius the Great built the terrace and the great palaces. It was destroyed by Alexander the Great in 331 BC.

On our way

Me at The Gate of Xerxes or "The Gate of The Nations"

All visitors had to pass through this gate, because its the only entrance if you wanted to get to the terrace. The building had a room that's roof was supported by four stone columns.
 

 The Palace of Darius taken by me

The Throne Hall taken by me

This hall was started by Xerxes and completed by his son Artaxerxes I by the end of the fifth century BC.

 A double-headed lion and me :)

 The Harem

Me at Apadana (yip that little bit at the bottom is me)

The Apadana was begun by Darius and finished by Xerxes and was used mainly for the reception of important people. Thirteen of its seventy-two columns still stand.
  

Thats all i have for you today!

Hope you enjoyed the show :)