The Lehi sun. [volume] (Lehi, Utah) 1913-1949, 1921-10-20

fpr.pared by the National Geographic So
ciety, washington. ID. CO.
Unlike Babylonia. Assyria ana
Chaldea, which existed little longer
than during their periods of great
power. Persia, once the peer OF any
of them, has maintained Its enti'y
through an ebb and flow OF fortune
down TO the present day. And now
the World war may be said to nave
caused the "rediscovery" of this his
torlc country. though Ats recent align
ment with soviet Russia holds out
possibilities that II may not receive
from the Western world the reJuve-
nation that was promised.
Darius would fail to recognize as
his mighty empire the narrow limits
Of modern Iran, Its borders now far
withdrawn from the waters OF the
Oxus and the Indus, from the shores
Of the Mediterranean and the wide
spread Mesopotamian plains; but the
nucleus still is there In territory, race,
language and customs.
Persia of today includes within a
territory still three times the size OF
France, ancient Media. mountainous
Parthla and the province OF Ears,
whence sprang her first great dynasty.
Such monuments to the glory OF the
great kings as the ruined capitals of
Susa, Persepolls and Ekbatana still
stand on Persian soil.
The majority Of the present inhabi-
tants, although tlnged with the blood
Of Greek, Arab, Turk and Mongol con-
querors, are the lineal descendants OF
the original Iranian, or Aryan, popu.
latlon, and speak language which
has for its basic element the ancient
Persian tongue.
Sultan Ahmed Shah, the one hun
dred fffty-sixth liking of kings" sits
on the tottering Persian throne, while
the future Of his kingdom rests In the
hands OF outside powers.
Vast Desert Plateau With Gases.
Modern Persia. with the exception
If the prosperous northwest provinces
Of Turkish-speaking Azerbaljan anC
the semi-troplcal region between thu
Elburz mountains and the Caspian
sea, can be characterized as q vast
mountain-rlbbed desert plateau, stud
ded here and there with Gases whicl
most frequently form ribbons of fer
tile green frlnging the desert at tn
bases Of sterile mountain slopes iron
whose snow-clad SUBMITS comes tn
llfe-giving moisture.
The encircling mountain walls shu
out the rain from the central tabl
land. Rivers with sources but n
mouths flow half the year and los
themselves In the parched deser
wastes.
The density Of population is les
han that Of Texas, and more tina
Lalf the country is an unlnhablte
Sahara, some Of II unexplored Niue
)f the remainder Is suitable only fC
sheep-grazing part Of the year, thu
forcing upon fourth OF her ten mi
, ion people seml-nomadic existenC
? between the high, well-watered moul
I ain valleys in the summer and Il
warm plains In the brief winter Sc
r son.
: Some Of these tribes, like the Kurd
rarely leave their mountain home
= where they exist independently @
4 central government control. Other
E Ike the Ghashgnis and Bakht'a rl
sometimes by coercion and sometlm
e through necessity Of political alllanC
e 're vassals of the state, although tn,
o 1ay allegiance only to their chic
Who arrange with regal authority (
their followers the matters OF tax
md military service.
Cities are naturally few and sma
here being but two or three of mo
" han 100000 Inhabitants. The low
mountain valleys and the GASES a
The centers for both town and az
: cultural population, and the wond
. ful fertility Of these scattered nre
snatched from the bughtlng grasp
he desert, forms the basis for
startling contrasts in the climate
% his unusual country.
y Water is the chief concern of
u Persian peasant. Wherever he c
o llvert the flow Of a mountain sire
u 1r build crude canal from a "
U or spring, a small portion OF the d
srt becomes a paradise and he pr