Philologos
Bible Prophecy Research
Submitted by: research-bpr@philologos.org
Update: April 06, 2001

Eclipse Path Contents

August 11, 1999 Eclipse Path
Iran, Pakistan

1. Capital of Kurdistan prov., W Iran. The population of Sanandaj is comprised mostly of Kurds. The city was attacked during the Iran-Iraq War and has been an area of Kurdish unrest.

2. An Abbasid fortress is located there.

3. Was the center of Aramaic-speaking Jewry in Persia, but little is known about it before the 17th century. It is listed as a Jewish community in the Judeo-Persian chronicles of Babai ibn Lutf and Babai ibn Farhad. The community dwindled considerably as a result of immigration to Israel.

1. Capital of Bakhtaran (formerly Kermanshah) Province, in the Karkheh R. valley. The city is the commercial center for grain and other produce of the countryside. Founded in the 4th century, Bakhtaran has long been an important market center by virtue of its position on the caravan route from Hamadan to Baghdad. East of the city are the cliffs that bear the Behistun inscription , which became the key to deciphering several ancient Middle Eastern writings. Pop. (1991) 624,084. (http://www.funkandwagnalls.com)

Behistun Inscription, cuneiform writing on the precipitous limestone rock of a mountain above the village of Behistun, in western Iran. The inscription was carved in parallel columns, repeating the same text in the Old Persian, Assyrian, and Elamite languages, by order of the Persian king Darius I; it recounts his genealogy and conquests. By 1846 the British Assyriologist Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson deciphered the Persian part of the inscription. As a result of this achievement, the parallel columns of the Behistun Inscription were deciphered and became the key to deciphering other ancient Elamite and Assyrian writings.

1. After the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great in 331 BC, and the assumption of power by the Seleucid dynasty, Persian architecture followed the styles common to the Greek world.

2. The great Greek-style Temple of Anahita at Kangavar was excavated by the Archaeological Service of Iran with a view to eventual restoration. The temple had been destroyed by a severe earthquake in antiquity. (http://www.funkandwagnalls.com)

1. Hamadan governorate, Kermanshah prov., W Iran. It is an agricultural trade center. Nahavand was the scene of a decisive victory of the Arabs over the Persians in 641 or 642. The name also appears as Nehavand and Nihavand.

2. The town is mentioned in the Talmud together with Hulvan (Halah) and Hamadan as belonging to the "cities of Media" to which the Israelites were exiled in the time of the Assyrian kings. Continuing to exist throughout the centuries, the Jewish community is mentioned among those which were searched for hidden magic Hebrew books during the persecutions of Abbas I.

1. Esfahan prov., W central Iran, near Esfahan. It is the trade center for an agricultural region noted for its pomegranates.

1. Capital of Esfahan prov., central Iran, on the Zayandeh River. The city is located on a high plain at the foot of the Zagros mts., where the nearby peaks are c.1,400 ft (430 m) high. An ancient and picturesque city, rich in history. A noteworthy city in Sassanid times, Esfahan passed to the Arabs in the mid-7th cent. and served as a provincial capital. In the 11th cent. it was captured by the Seljuk Turks, who made it (1051) the capital of their empire. In the early 13th cent. Esfahan was taken by the Mongols. Tamerlane conquered the city in 1388 and, after its inhabitants rebelled, slaughtered c.70,000 persons in revenge; it is said that he built a large hill with the skulls of the dead. At its zenith, under the Safavid dynasty in the 17th cent., Esfahan had a population of c.600,000, making it one of the world's great cities of the time. However, the city declined rapidly after it was captured (1723) by the Afghans, who massacred most of its inhabitants. Russian troops occupied Esfahan in 1916. The city is the site of the Univ. of Esfahan. The name also appears as Ispahan.

2. Under Shah Abbas I, who made (1598) Esfahan his capital, the city was embellished with many fine building. Esfahan was renowned ] for its architectural grandeur and for the beauty of its public gardens. Most of the old city is now in ruins, but a number of buildings have been preserved or restored. In the central part of Esfahan is Masjid- i-Shah, a 17th-century royal mosque, faced with colored tile and considered an outstanding example of Persian architecture. The mosque is located in a huge garden, now surrounded by bazaars. Nearby is the Masjid-i-Shaikh-Lutfullah, a mosque famous for its dome of blue tiles. The Ali-Kapu gate leads to the former royal gardens, which holds the throne room, Chihil Sutun, or Forty Pillars. Also here are the Shah Hussain madrasah, a magnificent building constructed in 1710 as a school for dervishes, and an arcaded bridge spanning the Zaindeh Rud. (Some info from 1. and 2. from www.funkandwagnalls.com.).

3. Jewish settlement in Isfahan, one of the oldest in Persia. 472 C.E. half the Jewish population put to death on a charge of killing two Magian priests. When the Arabs conquered Persia, they found a strong Jewish community in Isfahan. The Arab chronicler Abu Nuaym reported that at that time the Jews were celebrating, dancing, and playing music in expectation of a "Jewish king." Under the caliphate, the Jewish quarter in Isfahan, known as Jayy, had grown to such a degree in number and size that Arab and Persian geographers called it al-Yahudiyya, "the city of the Jews." Suffered greatly in 17th century. Is the seat of some revered "holy places," especially the alleged tomb of Serah bat Asher b. Jacob (granddaughter of the patriarch mentioned in Num. 26:46), situated in the vicinity of Pir Bakram, a popular place of pilgrimage for all Persian Jews, with an inscription dated 1133 C.E. According to the census of 1956, Isfahan was the third-largest Jewish community in Iran, after Teheran and Shiraz.

4. Antiochus IV Epiphanes died there.

1. Largest city and former capital of Pakistan, on the Arabian Sea near the Indus River delta. The capital of Sind prov., it is Pakistan's chief seaport and industrial center, a transportation, commercial, and financial hub, and a military headquarters. Karachi airport, one of the busiest in Asia, is a major link in international air routes. An old settlement, Karachi was developed as a port and trading center by Hindu merchants in the early 18th cent. In 1843 it passed to the British, who made it the seat of the Sind government. Steady improvements in harbor facilities made Karachi a leading Indian port by the late 19th cent., while agricultural development of the hinterland gave it a large export trade. Karachi served as Pakistan's capital from 1947, when the country gained independence, until 1959, when Rawalpindi became the interim capital pending completion of Islamabad. It was bombed during the 1971 war with India that led to the independence of Bangladesh.

2. Karachi has a university and several other educational institutions; the national museum, with a fine archaeological collection; and the tomb of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan. The political base of the Bhutto family and Bhutto, Benazir, Karachi is troubled by political violence between local Sindhis and the descendants of muhajirs, the Muslim immigrants who fled to Pakistan following partition in 1947. More impressive is the remarkable white-marbled Defence Housing Society Mosque. The single dome, claimed to be the largest of its kind in the world, Above the mosque is Honeymoon Lodge, birthplace of the Aga Khan. Other sights include the Holy Trinity Cathedral and St Andrew's Church, the city's zoo, and the Zoroastrian Towers of Silence, hills where the dead are traditionally exposed to vultures. (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/dest/ind/pak.htm)

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