Welcome to Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation
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.
Featured Articles
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MIR-E NOWRUZI
The carnivalesque ritual of electing a commoner to rule for a period of one to five days over the country; The custom of the “false emir” or “Nowruz ruler” leading a procession through the city has been traced back to pre-Islamic Nowruz, the traditional Persian New Year.
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HYENA
Hyaena hyaena (Linnaeus, 1758), Pers. kaftār. The striped hyena is the only current Asian representative of the mammalian family Hyaenidae. Principal threats to hyena populations today are vehicular traffic (since they scavenge road kills at night), wanton shooting, and secondary poisoning. The hyena is a protected species in Iran.