Land. Iran is bounded to the north by Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkmenistan, and the Caspian Sea, to the east by Pakistan and Afghanistan, to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and to the west by Turkey and Iraq.

The Persian Empire spanned from Egypt in the west to Turkey in the north, and through Mesopotamia to the Indus River in the east. …

Physical Landscape

• Rivers: Nile River, Tigris River, Euphrates River, Indus River, Amu Darya (Oxus) River, Syr Darya (Jaxartes) River.
• Bodies of Water: Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Red Sea, Caspian Sea, Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean [Aegean Sea]

By the time of Darius the Great and his son, Xerxes, the Achaemenid Empire had expanded to include Mesopotamia, Egypt, Anatolia, the Southern Caucasus, Macedonia, the western Indus basin, as well as parts of Central Asia, northern Arabia and northern Libya.

Hinduism is the world’s oldest religion, according to many scholars, with roots and customs dating back more than 4,000 years.

After centuries of rural facelessness, the Parsis flowered under British rule. Their philanthropy came to be as fabled as their fortunes, many made from the opium “trade” with China. Apart from spacious community housing, wealthy families endowed scholarships, hospitals and fire temples.

So to the extent that none of the other religions clash with the tenets of Christian-Catholicism, there’s no reason you can’t extract those truths or practices to enhance your spiritual practice. In this sense, Buddhism is compatible with Catholicism, because Buddhism in its barest form makes no assertions about God.

In Theosophical texts, Maitreya is said to have had numerous manifestations or incarnations: in the theorized ancient continent of Atlantis; as a Hierophant in Ancient Egypt; as the Hindu deity Krishna; as a high priest in Ancient India; and as Christ during the three years of the Ministry of Jesus.