# @shabnamnasimi on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C6RHvj-CQd5
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/32261888-shabnamnasimi-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/e202fedd9b.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-04-27T14:01:05.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Shabnam Nasimi (@ShabnamNasimi) — https://gondola.cc/ShabnamNasimi

## Caption

DID YOU KNOW? 💡

Herat dates back to Avestan (Zoroastrian) times and was traditionally known for its wine. During the Middle Ages, Herat became one of the important cities of Khorasan, as it was known as the “Pearl of Khorasan”.

In the second image, the late 19th century map of Herat which is centred on the citadel of Herat dating back to 330 BC.  The map also details plots of cultivated land surrounding the citadel.  These plots are divided between vineyards and gardens.  If you look closely at the map you’ll see that there are many vineyards surrounding all four sides of the citadel.

Herat is first recorded in ancient times, but its precise date of foundation is unknown. Under the Persian Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BC), the surrounding district was known by the Old Persian name of Haraiva (𐏃𐎼𐎡𐎺), and in classical sources, the region was correspondingly known as Areia (Aria). In the Zoroastrian collection of Avesta, the district is referred as Haroiva.

Herāt was the name of one of the chiefs among the followers of the Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh hero Narīmān, and it was he who first founded the city. After it had fallen to ruin Alexander the Great rebuilt it, and the circuit of its walls was 9000 paces.

Apart from its architectural heritage, Herat has long been an important centre for the arts and sciences, with a rich tradition of music, calligraphy and painting, astronomy, mathematics and philosophy, under the leadership of Gawharshad Begum.  Among others whose names are associated with the city are Kamāl ud-Dīn Behzād, Jami and Ansari.

At the time of Alexander the Great, Areia was an important district. It was administered by a satrap, called Satibarzanes, who was one of the three main Persian officials in the East of the Empire, together with the satrap Bessus of Bactria and Barsaentes of Arachosia. This would mean that the capital of Satibarzanes, which would have been Herat, was one of the three main Achaemenid centre in this part of the world, together with ancient Bactra (modern Balḵh, the capital of ancient Bactria), and Old Kandahār, the capital of ancient Arachosia. 

#Afghanistan #Herat #ancienthistory #Persia #Khorasan #Aria #History #Art

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## Tags

aria, history, art, herat, afghanistan, ancienthistory, persia, khorasan

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