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
-
Cinema Iranica
Cinema Iranica provides historical articles on movies, genres, film movements, filmographies, directors, composers, stars, cinematographers ...
start exploring -
Women Poets Iranica
Women Poets Iranica is an integrative encyclopedia of postclassical, modern, and contemporary women poets.
start exploring
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
-
BATS
(Pers. šabpara, mūš(-e)kūr; Ar. ḵoffāš). All but two Iranian bat species fall into one of three geographic groups in Iran. Rousettus aegyptiacus is known from Baluchistan, Qešm island, and three sites near Jahrom in Fārs. Records indicate that it ranges across southern Iran wherever dates and other fruits are grown.
-
EDUCATION iii. THE TRADITIONAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Before the establishment of a modern educational system in Persia, children received their early and intermediate education in the maktab (or maktab-ḵāna, lit., “place of writing”) under the tutelage of an āḵūnd, mulla (clerical teacher), or moʿallem (teacher).