TEHRAN – Tehran will be hosting an international conference on archaeology, which is scheduled to be held from February 26 to 28.

Organized by the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage & Tourism, the 20th edition of the Annual Symposium on the Iranian Archaeology will take place in the National Museum of Iran, ISNA reported on Sunday.

An important part of this conference includes presenting the results of recent Iranian archeology research, holding specialized roundtables, and organizing workshops and exhibitions.

Ancient Iran, also known as Persia, historic region of southwestern Asia that is only roughly coterminous with modern Iran. The term Persia was used for centuries, chiefly in the West, to designate those regions where the Persian language and culture predominated, but it more correctly refers to a region of southern Iran formerly known as Persis, alternatively as Pars or Parsa, modern Fars.

During the rule of the Persian Achaemenian dynasty (559–330 BC), the ancient Greeks first encountered the inhabitants of Persis on the Iranian plateau, when the Achaemenids —natives of Persis— were expanding their political sphere. The Achaemenids were the dominant dynasty during Greek history until the time of Alexander the Great, and the use of the name Persia was gradually extended by the Greeks and other peoples to apply to the whole Iranian plateau.

ABU/AM