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a town of central Iran between Kāšān and Nāʾīn. A version of this article is available in print Volume II, Fascicle 4, pp. 385-387 i. Geography The town is undoubtedly a very ancient one, and its name should probably be explained not as Moqaddasī (p. 390) would have it from the whitish color of its soil compared to flour ( ārd), but, following Jackson’s suggestion as derived from Old Persian ardastāna ( aΘangaina, a stone construction) attested in Achaemenid inscriptions. Arab geographers located there the birth-place of Ḵosrow I Anōšīravān and also a fire-temple, t…

The history of archeological research in Iran may be divided into two periods, before and after the Second World War. The early period can in turn be subdivided into a first phase of mainly French activity (ca. 1884-1931), and a second phase in which archeology in Iran became a multinational affair (1931-40). The modern period can be subdivided into what might best be called the “quiet phase” (1940-57) and the “explosive phase” (1958-78). A version of this article is available in print Volume II, Fascicle 3, pp. 281-326 For Afghanistan, see Afghanistan viii. Archeology. ARCHEOLOGY i. Pre…

(OŠTORJĀN), name of a subdistrict (dehestān) and its chief village, lying southwest of Isfahan. A version of this article is available in print Volume II, Fascicle 8, pp. 846-847 AŠTARJĀN (OŠTORJĀN), name of a subdistrict ( dehestān) and its chief village, lying southwest of Isfahan on the road connecting this city with Šahr-e Kord. The village (population 2065 in 1345 Š./1966) is noteworthy for its medieval Friday mosque dating from the early 8th/14th century. The mosque, significant for its architecture, decoration, and epigraphy, comprises a dome chamber, an unusually wide qebla a…

(or ABARQŪYA), a town in northern Fārs; it was important in medieval times, but, being off the main routes, it is now largely decayed. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 64-67 ABARQUH i. History The Islamic geographers of the 4th/10th century describe Abarqūh as lying in the Shiraz-Isfahan-Eṣṭaḵr road, at a point where another road led off northeastwards to Yazd, and as 28 farsaḵs from Yazd, 20 from Isfahan, and 39 from Shiraz. According to Ebn Ḥawqal, Abarqūh was administratively the chief town of the nāḥīa or district of Rūdān; formerly dependent…