Parthian Sites in Iran and Central Asia

Abstract The Parthian Empire was a vast state whose territories included most of Mesopotamia and the Iranian Plateau. Due to the extreme interest of the former region to all scholars working on the more ancient periods of Near Eastern history, the Parthian sites in present-day Iraq have enjoyed a lot of attention. Every historian of the Arsacid empire knows that the Parthian eastern satrapies and vassal kingdoms played a fundamental role in the history and development of Parthia, a role no less relevant than that of the more well-known and better investigated western ones. From the Zagros Mountains to the steppes of central Asia a network of cities, towns, and cult sites existed, whose importance has for too long been overshadowed by their western neighbors.