Masjed Soleyman is a city in and the capital of Masjed Soleyman County, Khuzestan Province

Khuzestan Province

Khuzestan Province is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the southwest of the country, bordering Iraq's Basra Province and the Persian Gulf. Its capital is Ahwaz and covers an area of 63,238 km²...

, Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

. At the 2006 census, its population was 106,121, in 22,393 families. Masjed Soleiman is a historical city which is located among the Zagros Mountains

Zagros Mountains

The Zagros Mountains are the largest mountain range in Iran and Iraq. With a total length of 1,500 km , from northwestern Iran, and roughly correlating with Iran's western border, the Zagros range spans the whole length of the western and southwestern Iranian plateau and ends at the Strait of...

Geography

Masjed Soleyman was inhabited by various clans of Bakhtiari

Bakhtiari

The Bakhtiari are a southwestern Persian tribe. They speak the Bakhtiari dialect, a southwestern Persian dialect, belonging to the Luri dialects....

 tribes but oil exploration in this area attracted other people from other parts of Bakhtiari zones to this city for trade or jobs.

Main sights

Masjed Soleiman's most interesting parish is Tembi, and historical and ancient site is Sarmasjed Temple in the northeast. Sarmasjed temple is on the verge of Sarmasjed terrace, in ancient time fire had been continuously flaming inside it. And according to historians was the capital of Achaemenian Reign. Among other Masjed Soleiman ancient relics, we can suggest the ancient Temple of Bard-e-Neshande.

Ancient history and Etymology

According to historical scripts, when the Arians of Parsova were forced to decamp, they took refuge in Bakhriarian Mountains from outskirts of Oromiieh Lake.

They founded the city of Parsomash in memory of their motherland near the city of Anshan which is the fatherland of Pasargadae

Pasargadae

Pasargadae , the capital of Cyrus the Great and also his last resting place, was a city in ancient Persia, and is today an archaeological site and one of Iran's UNESCO World Heritage Sites.-History:...

 and Persepolis

Persepolis

Perspolis was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire . Persepolis is situated northeast of the modern city of Shiraz in the Fars Province of modern Iran. In contemporary Persian, the site is known as Takht-e Jamshid...

.

This ancient city changed its name to Masjed Soleyman, after the Arab destructive attack to Iran.

Contemporary history

French archaeology expedition under the supervision of Professor Roman Ghirshman made some important discoveries. Ghirshman believes the present site of Masjed Soleyman (Parsomash) was the oldest capital of the Achaemenian Kingdom.

Masjed Soleyman's importance today is in oil exploration. William Knox D'Arcy

William Knox D'Arcy

William Knox D'Arcy was one of the principal founders of the oil and petrochemical industry in Persia .-Early life:...

, by contract with King Mozaffaroddin Qajar, obtained permission to explore for oil for the first time in the Middle East, near this city. This event changed the history of Iran and the Middle East. The oil discovery led to petrochemical industry development and also the establishment of industries that strongly depended on oil.