03-22-2010, 10:13 PM
Quote:So, Jona, how did you get on in Iran? How long did you go for?Easily, as always. I had to guide a group of people, and I usually use the second week for a visit to Shiraz (+ Firuzabad, Bishapur, Naqsh-e Rustam, Istakhr, Naqsh-e Rajab, Persepolis) and Isfahan. My agent has found a hotel very close to Persepolis, which makes it easier to visit that splendid site twice: on an afternoon and at dawn.
I am increasingly convinced that there was a substantial number of people living in Persepolis after Alexander. There are Seleucid coin finds, there's at least one piece of Greek sculpture, the Second Book of Maccabees refers to Persepolis as a living city (quote), and this time, I spotted a piece of Hellenistic bronze sculpture that was labeled "Achaemenid". I have the feeling that archaeologists have too easily dated every find prior to 330; something similar has happened in Germany, where every Roman find east of the Rhine has been dated prior to the battle in the Teutoburg Forest. Archaeologists are sometimes too credulous.
The first week is always different. Sometimes we go to Hamadan, Behistun, Susa, and the Persian Gate; next time we will go to the northwest; this time it was Mazandaran, Gorgan, and the road to Nishapur and Mashhad. Unfortunately, we were this time unable to visit the shrine of the eighth Imam, which was the only indication I had that the authorities are tightening up the rules.
