Rey, Iran Rey, Iran Rey or Ray (; , Šahr-e Rey, “City of Ray”), also known as Rhages (; , or Europos (Ευρωπός) "Rhagai"; or "Rhaganae") and formerly as Arsacia, is the capital of Rey County in Tehran Province of Iran, and the oldest existing city in the province. Ray today has been absorbed into the Greater Tehran metropolitan area. Ray is connected via the Tehran Metro to the rest of Tehran and has many industries and factories in operation. Limited excavations of what was not bulldozed began in 1997 in collaboration with the Iranian Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO), the
Greater Iran Mesopotamia is considered as the cradle of civilization and the place where the first empires in history were established. These empires, namely the Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian, dominated the ancient middle east for millennia, which explains the great influence of the Mesopotamia on the Iranian culture and history, and it is also the reason why the later Iranian and Greek dynasties chose Mesopotamia to be the political centre of their rule. For a period of around 500 years, what is now Iraq formed the core of Iran, with the Iranian Parthian and Sasanian empire having their capital in what