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The Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation was established in 1990 with the mission to guarantee the Encyclopædia Iranica's intellectual independence and ensure its ongoing publication both in digital and print versions. Learn More
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Cinema Iranica
Cinema Iranica provides historical articles on movies, genres, film movements, filmographies, directors, composers, stars, cinematographers ...
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Women Poets Iranica
Women Poets Iranica is an integrative encyclopedia of postclassical, modern, and contemporary women poets.
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Encyclopædia Iranica
The Encyclopædia Iranica is a comprehensive research tool dedicated to the study of Iranian civilization in the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.
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BORJ
The use of a word meaning “tower” in this special astronomical sense presumably arose from the conception of the zodiac as a barrier between heaven and earth through which access was gained by means of twelve zodiacal gates, each of which was assumed to be guarded by a tower.
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ḤABAQUQ, TOMB OF
This brick monument, the overall shape of which is comparable with the tomb of Amir Timur in Samarqand, consists essentially of an octagonal tower topped by a conical roof. Each of the eight sides of the roughly 7 meter high tower is embellished with the design of an inset arch.