Unearthed in Khuzestan Province, this votive or commemorative relief shows a woman being fanned by an attendant while she holds what may be a spinning device before a table with a bowl containing a whole fish

Lying in southwestern Iran at the head of the Persian Gulf, Khuzestan was settled about 6000 BC by a people with affinities to the Sumerians, who came from the Zagros Mountains region. Urban centers appeared there nearly contemporaneously with the first cities in Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium. 

 

Spanned in an area of 63,213 square kilometers, the province of Khuzestan can be divided into two regions, the plains and mountainous regions. The agricultural lands are fertile and mainly in the west of the province, which are irrigated by the Karun, Karkheh and Jarahi rivers. These three large and permanent rivers flow over the entire territory contributing to the fertility of the land. Karun, Iran’s largest river, 850 kilometers long, flows into the Persian Gulf through this province, Iranreview.org wrote.

 

Ahvaz is the capital of this province and its famous cities are Abadan, Behbahan, Dezful, Khorramshahr, Bander Imam, Shoush (Susa), Masjed Soleiman, Andimeshk, Mah Shahr, Ramhormoz, Omidiyeh, Shushtar, Izeh, Hoveizeh, Aqa Djari, Shadegan and Soosangerd.

 

The name Khuzestan, which means “The Land of the Khuzi,” refers to the original inhabitants of this province, the Khuzi people. 

 

Khuzestan comprises a southeastern extension of the Mesopotamian plain and includes part of the forested Zagros Mountains to the northeast. 

 

The plains of Khuzestan have a desert climate, and they are excessively hot and dry in the summer. Rainfall, which is concentrated in the winter, ranges from 12 to 20 inches (300 to 500 mm) in the plains and increases in the mountains. The climate allows for the irrigated cultivation of date palms, citrus and other fruit trees, wheat, barley, cotton and rice, sorghum, sesame, melons, and vegetables. Sugarcane, oilseeds, indigo, and pulses were introduced into the region’s agriculture during the 1970s.

 

Seafood is the most important part of Khuzestani cuisine, some few to mention are “Qaliye-mahi” (fish stew), “Qaliye-meygu” (shrimp stew), “ashe-mohshala” (a Khorramshahri breakfast soup) and “soboor” which is prepared with heavy spices, onions and cilantro.

 

Khuzestan is inhabited by a number of ethnic groups and peoples. Indigenous Persians in major cities, Iranian Arab tribes, the Bakhtiari, Behbahani and Lori of the north, the Qashqai and Afshari tribes, Armenians, the peoples of Dezful, Shushtar and the inhabitants of the coastal regions of the Persian Gulf all make up the population of the province of Khuzestan.

 

The Persian groups of western Khuzestan all speak distinct dialects unique to their areas. Many Khuzestanis are bilingual, speaking both Persian and Arabic. It is also not uncommon to find people able to speak a variety of indigenous dialects in addition to their own. Khuzestanis are also very well regarded for their hospitality and generosity.

In the 20th century the region’s prosperity revived with development of oil fields, the building of the Trans-Iranian railway, and the expansion of ports at Abadan and Khorramshahr. 

 

Iraq’s armed forces in 1980 invaded and occupied the western half of Khuzestan, including the city of Khorramshahr, and bombed the oil refineries at Abadan. But Iran’s resistance quickly stiffened, and the Iranians had recaptured the region by 1982. The economic rehabilitation of the region and the revival of oil and natural-gas production there gained momentum only after the Iran-Iraq War ended in 1988.

 

Historical background

The province of Khuzestan is one of the centers of ancient civilization, based around Susa. French archeologists such as Jaques De Morgan date the civilization here as far back as 8000 BCE when excavating areas such as Tal-e Ali Kosh. The first large scale empire based here was that of the powerful 4th millennium BCE Elamites, a non-Semitic kingdom independent of Mesopotamia. Archeological ruins verify the entire province of Khuzestan to be home to the Elamite civilization.

 

In previous ages, Iranians referred to Khuzestan as Elam; and historically historians refer to this province as ancient Elam, whose capital was in Susa. Khuzestan is the most ancient Iranian province and is often referred to in Iran as the “birthplace of the nation”, as this is the area where Aryan tribes first settled, assimilating the native Elamite population, and thus laying the foundation for the future Persian Empires of Median, Achaemenid, Parthian and Sassanid.

 

In 640 BCE, the Elamites were defeated by Ashurbanipal coming under the rule of the Assyrians who wrought destruction upon Susa and Chogha Zanbil. But in 538 BCE Cyrus the Great was able to re-conquer the Elamite lands. 

 

The city of Susa was then proclaimed as one of the Achaemenian capitals. Darius the Great then erected a grand palace known as Hadish there in 521 BCE. But this astonishing period of glory and splendor of the Achaemenian dynasty came to an end by the invasion of Alexander of Macedon. And after Alexander, the Seleucid dynasty ruled the area.

 

As the Seleucid dynasty weakened, Mehrdad I the Parthian (171-137 BCE), gained victory over the region. During the Sassanid dynasty this area thrived tremendously and flourished, and this dynasty was responsible for the many constructions that were erected in Ahvaz, Shushtar and Andimeshk.

 

The intellectual center or city of Sassanid Empire was Jondishapour founded in 271 CE, by Shapur I, one the most powerful rulers of the Sassanid dynasty, in Khuzestan near Ahvaz and not far from the Karun River. Gundishapur was home to the world’s oldest known teaching hospital, and also comprised a library and a university. According to “The Cambridge History of Iran (vol 4, p396.)”, it was the most important medical center of the ancient world during the 6th and 7th centuries. Jondishapour medical center used to attract the distinguished medical scientists from Greece, Egypt, India, and Rome, shows the importance and prosperity of this region during ancient times.

 

Jondishapour academy offered training not only in medicine but also in philosophy, theology and science. The faculties were versed not only in the Zoroastrian and Persian traditions, but in Greek and Indian learning as well.