all the gardens are covered by rose leaves all the mountains have put on their holy dress a thousand years ago the poet ferdowsi sang the praises of spring among purges mountains today the people of iran still look to their mountains for water precious water for the high arid plane on which most of the people live but too often rivers flowing down from the snows disappear in the great central desert of iran east and west lie other muslim lands turkey iraq saudi arabia pakistan afghanistan north the soviet union lies beyond the elburz mountains iran knew greatness in the days when it was known as persia from this vast throne room part of his renowned capital persepolis king darius ruled over the first great empire in history the hall of a hundred columns the halam for the many royal wives and a wonderful sculptured stone stairway were among the marvels here focus of the sculptures was the life sized carving of darius himself seated on his throne receiving tribute from the peoples he ruled from europe africa and asia came men bearing gifts in the procession was syrians bringing golden bowls bracelets shaped like horse shoes and small horses from what is today arabia this was sort of tax day twenty five centuries ago there were medes there were sapiens to what is today southwest russia there were sheep from what is today turkey there were vessels with exotic shapes full of precious liquids there were hunt back cattle from what is today india all these part of the persian empire in it's days of gracious glory there was a chariot like those of the pharaohs even egypt was ruled by this persian king and there was a bactrian camel from what is today afghanistan the tax collectors were the men of his mighty army and on these golden tablets various inscribed i am darius king of kings the great god ahura mazda has given me the rulership of all races this is my kingdom here in gold was outlined the empire which was handed him to xerxes his son xerxes at the head of vast armies extended persian rule to the limits of the known world the persian armies met defeat in greece at the battle of marathon under alexander greeks pursued the persians back to persepolis through this gateway alexander the great strode and triumph conquerors of a different kind came a thousand years later went in from the arabian peninsula swept men with flaming sword and a fiery new faith as this new faith of islam grew and mellowed the followers of the prophet muhammad built great churches called mosques the mosque judi shah the royal blue mosque of isfahan was completed in the 17th century by shah abass he ruled during persia's second golden age polo was developed in isfahan and played in the great square while the shah watched from this porch over the palace gateway from his palace shah abass ruled a reborn expanding persia he built roads irrigation systems and great bridges like this one but even his empire finally crumbled centuries later in one thousand nine hundred and twenty five reza shah rose to power and a new era began marked by a turn from old customs toward western ways of thought under reza shah's son needed land reforms or changing old patterns and bringing hope to the people the young shah's palace is typical of the architecture of modern tehran former rulers lived in the golestan a rose garden palace in it's mirror throne room is one of the world's most fabulous objects the peacock throne this golden seat of state was designed so that its occupants sat crosslegged with his back against the bolster crusted with pearls and rubies and gold settings built for the great mogul of india it was captured by nadir shah and brought to persia two hundred years ago above there's the jewel peacock from which the throne gets its name tehran is the capital of iran located in the north with the alverez mountains in the background tehran is a modern city with roots in the past the great muslim religious college of sepahsalar is one of the intellectual centers of the islamic world these young men are studying to become mullahs religious leaders their tranquil place is contrast with the busy life of the city a woman wearing the enveloping chador is a reminder that even here in this modern city has strong links with eastern tradition new buildings and modern apartments are among the visible signs of progress in tehran at their national university young iranians with a growing spirit of national pride are becoming the doctors teachers engineers and leaders of the future isfahan is the art and craft center of iran as it was in the days of shah abass when her people boasted isfahan is half the world much of the imperial splendor survives and then the bazaar the ancient crafts like copper smithing continue little changed modern machinery has come to iran but it still as far less difficult to hire a skilled hand craftsman by the day then to find capital to buy an important machine to do his job the hands of isfahan craftsman turn with special skill to the creation of fine articles of silver machinery will never be able to replace all its craftsman like these silversmiths their skill is not easily acquired for fifty years these hands have guided tiny chisels none over a 10th the size of a finger with never ending taps of his hammer one of the world's great silver masters mohammed zufan creates things of lasting loveliness this small case is ornamented with figures of legendary heroes hunting lions and a scene from a persia of long ago the shop windows of isfahan display other traditional arts here are miniature paintings themes use today a little changed from those of the time of the great shah abass and the technique is also little changed men sit all day seeming scarcely to move a muscle his brush three camel hairs and this is some of the work he does the best known product of isfahan hands is of course the persian rug an average rug is made up of at least a million tiny knots every one of which must be tied by hand the knots make the woolen tufts or pile of the rug the woof or foundation of the rug consists of cotton threads wound between large wooden rollers rug industry wages are low one of these skilled weavers earns less in a week than an average american laborer receives for two hours work after a few rolls of knots have been tied they are founded tightly together with this comb faced hammer children's tiny hands tie the smallest knots of the most delicate designs although employment of children and rug factories is discouraged by new labor laws as modern industry like this textile mill come to isfahan mill owners and workers alike face the problems of sudden adjustment of the machine age shiraz is the capital of the province of fars from which persia took its name the monumental city gates and the princely palace of the kashkari suggest the beauty of shiraz whose history is full of the names of astronomers philosophers and poets the climate is agreeable here oranges grow near reflecting pools in which muslim poets saw the tranquility they sought in their faith with this monument shiraz honors its most beloved son the poet sadi seven hundred years ago he wrote poetry of such beauty that it still is the basis of the living persian language of today the people of shiraz are among the most progressive in iran behind the caravan still used for transport rises their modern grain elevator they build a fine new technical school where young men are learning to use machine tools and thus reduce iran's dependence on foreign manufacturers they point with special pride to their rapidly expanding medical school in which young people are being trained to fill the syria shortage of doctors some of the students are women evidence of change disturbing to the conservative muslim clergy medical care has not yet reached much of rural iran about ninety of the people live in villages like kinare kinare exists because it has water water drawn by this primitive hoist three centuries ago elaborate irrigation systems operated the land fed twice its present population today this hoist reaches only sixty feet its capacity to goatskins about eight gallons of water a minute here are the people of the village come to wash their clothes and in this same water they do their dishes they see nothing wrong about having the sheep and goats come to drink at the same source from which they draw their water to take home for cooking and drinking a girl named zara carries on her head the quarter of water she's walked half a mile to get there is no spool in kinare so zara has not heard of the dangers of bacteria in drinking water kinare is cold and dusty in winter hot even dustier and much more uncomfortable in summer because of the flies at home zara's mother makes bread from wheat flour that was the family's share of the crop the landlord owns the fields and also the house in which zara and her family live sickness breeds easily here it comes from dust flies unclean drinking water and often just from too little soap because soap is expensive main food is bread only occasionally are the vegetables and a little goat meat is scarce so the diet is mostly bread and not much else yet for all that poverty these people are kind and decent honest honorable and friendly they have bedding is the most precious thing they own they have a copper samovar i broken kerosene lantern a teapot a few cups and saucers a mirror and a picture of the shah together with their clothing and cooking utensils these things are all that this hard working family owns the house has two rooms a sleeping room upstairs and a cooking room downstairs this is the only stairway mother is baking bread this morning although iran is rich in oil oil products are still too expensive for this family so mother walked fifteen miles to gather twigs for her fire zara's father mustafa walks to work he realizes that he is neither much better nor much worse off than his neighbors or neither much better nor much worse off than most of the sixteen million people of iran and as he works in the fields with the landlords oxygen he knows that little has changed in kinare in twenty five centuries there is still the old system of land ownership which sometimes requires the tenants to pay eighty of their crop for the privilege of working the owner's land the only changes most of is clothing and now the steel tip on the wooden plow like most people in the middle east mustafa wants the benefits of mechanized civilization change is coming as the great natural resources of iran are developed the most important resource is oil at abadan is one of the world's largest refineries built to serve customers of many nations developed by british interests iranian oil has been the subject of bitter dispute with no tradition of mechanical experience iranian technicians are developing skills to operate complex machinery high industrial wages have attracted men from all over the country to work in the unfamiliar dingle of technical equipment men from the highland tribes men from the city bazaars have put on the workman's helmet this then is the new man of iran a man who looks with hope to the time when with further development of industry and her great natural resources iran may know again some of the glory it new when darius ruled the persepolis over the mightiest empire the world had ever known