INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
TEHRAN- A selection of 24 historical objects being kept in West Azarbaijan province has recently been inscribed on the national heritage
list.The Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts announced the inscriptions on Monday in separate letters to the
governor-general of the northwestern province, CHTN reported.Clay bowls and jars, gravestones, and a minbar (pulpit), where the imam stands
to deliver sermons in a mosque, were among the properties added to the prestigious list.The provincial capital of Urmia, also spelled
Orumiyeh, lies just west of Lake Urmia on a large fertile plain that yields grains, fruits, tobacco, and other crops
The population is mainly Azeri Turkish, with Kurdish, Assyrian Christian, and Armenian minorities
The remains of ancient settlements are scattered over the plain, as are traces of the ancient kingdom of Urartu.West Azarbaijan embraces a
variety of lush natural sceneries, cultural heritage sites, and museums including the UNESCO sites of Takht-e Soleyman and Qareh Klise (St
Thaddeus Monastery), Teppe Hasanlu, and the ruined Bastam Citadel.The region has been the seat of several ancient civilizations
It formed part of Urartu and later of Media
established a small kingdom there
century until Turkish nomads overran it in the 11th century
Thenceforth the inhabitants of the region were Turkish speakers
The region was overrun by the Mongols in the 13th century, and, under the ruler Hulegu, Azarbaijan became the center of a Mongol empire
