We stopped overnight in the large industrial town of Ahvaz on the way to Shushtar.
The wide pedestrian mall was lined with makeshift stalls
Multi coloured chicks for sale
The Karoon River
Enjoying dinner with Iranian friends
Shushtar’s ancient “watermills”, built by the defeated Romans under Emperor Valerian, was a collection of man-made chutes, dams and tunnels used to channel water from the Karoon River for irrigation
Modern Iranian art
Impromptu dancing by Azeri women at Mostofi House, in defiance of official policy (not everyone approved)
The scenic banks of the Karoon River
Ancient Sassanian weir on the river
The 12th century Abbasid (Arab invaders from Baghdad) Jameh Mosque
Water buffalo on the way to Choqa Zanbil ziggurat
Choqa Zanbil, built 3,300 years ago at the centre of a small city
The outer building with fired bricks has survived better than the inner construction of mud brick
Cuneiform script on brick row surrounding the building details the king who was the builder, the materials used in construction and the curse on anyone interfering with the ziggurat. Assyrian king Ashurbanipal ignored the warning and wrecked the joint in 685 BC.
Rediscovered in 1935 by Anglo Iranian Oil (now BP) from an aerial survey (it had been preserved by being totally buried)
Drainage designs
Fired brick pavers surrounded the outside
A youthful footprint preserved in a paver
The south west of Iran was fertile mud plain with a strong Arab presence
Transporting a sheep in the family car
The evening view from our hotel window in Kermanshah
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The morning view of the edge of Kermanshah from our hotel window
At one end of Kermanshah and tucked into a towering cliff was Taq-e Bustan, a series of three bas reliefs from the Sassanid era carved into the rock
In the largest niche was a relief showing the coronation of the Sassanid king Khosrow II above a relief of him in full battle armour on horseback.
One of two winged angels above the arch
Shapur II trampling over the defeated Roman Emperor Julian
At the base of the cliff were gardens and ponds fed by a spring
Women wearing black chadors buying revealing belly dancing outfits in the Kermanshah Bazaar
These handmade melt in your mouth biscuits are a specialty of Kemanshah
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