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Bill (law)

A bill is a proposal for a new law, or a proposal to significantly change an existing law. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and has been, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law by the legislature, it is called an act of the legislature, or a statute. Bills are introduced in the legislature and are discussed, debated and voted upon.

Usage
The word bill is mainly used in English-speaking nations formerly part of the British Empire whose legal systems originated in the common law of the United Kingdom, including the United States. The parts of a bill are known as clauses, until it has become an act of parliament, from which time the parts of the law are known as sections.

In nations that have civil law systems (including France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain and Portugal), a proposed law is known as a "law project" (Fr. projet de loi) if introduced by the government, or a "law proposition" (Fr. proposition de loi) if a private member's bill. Some legislatures do not make this terminological distinction (for example the Dutch parliament uses wetsontwerp and wetsvoorstel interchangeably).

Preparation
Bills generally include titles, enacting provisions, statements of intent, definitions, substantive provisions, transitional clauses, and dates which the bill will be put into effect. The preparation of a bill may involve the production of a draft bill prior to the introduction of the bill into the legislature. In the United Kingdom, draft bills are frequently considered to be confidential. Pre-legislative scrutiny is a formal process carried out by a parliamentary committee on a draft bill.

In the Parliament of India, the draft bill is sent to individual ministry relating to the matter. From there the bill goes to the Ministry of Law and Justice and then is passed on to the Cabinet committee which the prime minister heads.

Pre-legislative scrutiny is required in much of Scandinavia, occurs in Ireland at the discretion of the Oireachtas (parliament) and occurs in the UK at the government's discretion.

In the Parliament of Ireland under Poynings' Law (1494–1782) legislation had to be pre-approved by the Privy Council of Ireland and Privy Council of England, so in practice each bill was substantively debated as "heads of a bill", then submitted to the privy councils for approval, and finally formally introduced as a bill and rejected or passed unamended.

Introduction
In the Westminster system, where the executive is drawn from the legislature and usually holds a majority in the lower house, most bills are introduced by the executive (government bill). In principle, the legislature meets to consider the demands of the executive, as set out in the King's Speech or speech from the throne.

Mechanisms exist to allow other members of the legislature to introduce bills, but they are subject to strict timetables and usually fail unless a consensus is reached. In the US system, where the executive is formally separated from the legislature, all bills must originate from the legislature. Bills can be introduced using the following procedures:

 * Leave: A motion is brought before the chamber asking that leave be given to bring in a bill. This is used in the British system in the form of the Ten Minute Rule motion. The legislator has 10 minutes to propose a bill, which can then be considered by the House on a day appointed for the purpose. While this rule remains in place in the rules of procedure of the US Congress, it is seldom used.
 * Government motion: In jurisdictions where the executive can control legislative business a bill may be brought in by executive fiat.

Legislative stages
Bills are generally considered through a number of readings. This refers to the historic practice of the clerical officers of the legislature reading the contents of a bill to the legislature. While the bill is no longer read, the motions on the bill still refer to this practice.

India
In India, for a law to be made it starts off as a bill and has to go through various stages:

 * 1) There will be "first reading" of the bill where minister takes leave from the house and introduces title and objectives of the bill. Here, no discussion or voting takes place. And then the bill is published in Gazette of India.
 * 2) After this there is a "second reading" of the bill, where the bill receives its final shape.
 * 3) The bills first go through the 'stage of general discussion' where the bill is referred to select committee/joint committee for detailed scrutiny through a motion.
 * 4) Under 'committee stage' the bill is scrutinized in detail in the committee and a report is submitted in the respective house.
 * 5) Under 'consideration stage' the bill is discussed in detail in the house and is voted upon.
 * 6) Then under "third reading" the bill is voted upon as a whole and if majority of the house present and voting favours the bill, then the bill is considered passed and is authenticated by presiding officer.
 * 7) The bill is then passed to the other house for its consideration.
 * 8) And if both houses agree, the bill reaches the president where he can assent, withhold assent, return for consideration and can also sit on the bill.

United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, a proposed new law starts off as a bill that goes through seven stages of the legislative process: first reading, second reading, committee stage, report stage, third reading, opposite house, and royal assent. A bill is introduced by a member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons or by a member of the House of Lords.

There will be a first reading of the bill, in which the proposition in the bill is read out, but there is minimal discussion and no voting.

A second reading of the bill follows, in which the bill is presented in more detail and it is discussed between the MPs or Lords.

The third stage is the committee stage, in which a committee is gathered. This may include MPs, Lords, professionals and experts in the field, and other people who the bill may affect. The purpose of this stage is to go into more detail on the bill and gather expert opinions on it (e.g. teachers may be present in a committee about a bill that would affect the education system) and amendments may be brought.

After this is the report stage, in which the entire house reviews any and all changes made to the bill since its conception and may bring further amendments.

The fifth stage is the third reading of the bill, in which the full bill is read out in the house along with all amendments and is given final approval by the House.

The next stage is where the bill is handed over to the opposite house for approval. (If it started in the House of Commons it will be handed to the House of Lords and vice versa.) Here the bill will go through the same process as before, with amendments able to be brought. If amendments are brought, the bill will again be handed to the opposite house, going through the same process, which repeats until both houses arrive at an agreement on the bill. (In the rare circumstance that the two houses cannot agree, the House of Commons has the final say since it is an elected body, whereas the House of Lords is not).

Once the bill is finalised, it will move to the final stage, royal assent, when the monarch signs or otherwise signifies approval for the bill to become law. Theoretically, the monarch could refuse assent to a bill, but no monarch has done so since Queen Anne in 1708, and the royal veto has fallen into disuse. Once the assent is granted, the law comes into effect at the date and time specified within the act; if this is not specified within the act, it comes into effect at midnight on the same day it is granted royal assent.

Enactment and after
Where a piece of primary legislation is termed an act, the process of a bill becoming law may be termed enactment. Once a bill is passed by the legislature, it may automatically become law, or it may need further approval, in which case enactment may be effected by the approver's signature or proclamation.

Approval
Bills passed by the legislature usually require the approval of the head of state such as the monarch, president, or governor to become law. The refusal of such an approval is typically known as a veto.

Exceptions are the Irish Free State from the abolition of the governor-general in December 1936 to the creation of the office of president in December 1937, and Israel from its formation until today, during which period bills approved by the Oireachtas and Knesset respectively became/become law immediately (though, in Israel's case, the laws are ceremonially signed after their passage by the president).

In parliamentary systems, approval of the head of state is normally a formality since the head of state is a ceremonial figurehead. The exercise of the veto is considered a reserve power and is typically only used in rare circumstances, and the legislature can usually override the veto by a simple majority vote. However, in most cases, the executive – a cabinet of ministers responsible to parliament – takes a veto by the head of state into account.

In presidential systems, the head of state is also the chief executive, and the need to receive approval can be used as a political tool by them. The legislature is only able to override the veto by means of a supermajority vote.

In some jurisdictions, a bill passed by the legislature may also require approval by a constitutional court. If the court finds the bill would violate the constitution it may annul it or send it back to the legislature for correction. In Ireland, the president has discretion under Article 26 of the Constitution to refer bills to the Supreme Court. In Germany, the Federal Constitutional Court has discretion to rule on bills.

Some bills may require approval by referendum. In Ireland this is obligatory for bills to amend the constitution; it is possible for other bills via a process that has never been used.

Afterwards
A bill may come into force as soon as it becomes law, or it may specify a later date to come into force, or it may specify by whom and how it may be brought into force; for example, by ministerial order. Different parts of an act may come into force at different times.

An act is typically promulgated by being published in an official gazette. This may be required on enactment, coming into force, or both.

Numbering of bills
Legislatures may give bills numbers as they progress.

Australia
Bills are not given numbers in Australia and are typically cited by their short titles. They are only given an act number upon royal assent.

Brazil
In Brazil, bills originating in both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies are numbered sequentially, prefixed with "PL" (Projeto de Lei) and optionally suffixed with the year they were proposed, separated by a slash, as in PL 1234/1988. Until 2019, each house used a different numbering and naming system, but the system was unified by a 2018 joint act by the secretaries of both houses.

Before the 2019 unification, the Senate numbered bills starting at the beginning of each year, while the lower house numbered bills starting at the beginning of each legislature. This meant that bills sent from one house to another could adopt two or more different names.

Canada
In the House of Commons of Canada, the pro forma bill is numbered C-1, Government Bills are numbered C-2 to C-200, numbered sequentially from the start of each parliamentary session, and Private member's bills are numbered C-201 to C-1000, numbered sequentially from the start of each Parliament.

The numbering system is identical in the Senate of Canada, except that bills first introduced in the Senate of Canada begin with "S" instead of "C".

Ireland
In the Irish Oireachtas, bills are numbered sequentially from the start of each calendar year. Bills originating in the Dáil and Seanad share a common sequence. There are separate sequences for public and private bills, the latter prefixed with "P". Although acts to amend the constitution are outside the annual sequence used for other public acts, bills to amend the constitution are within the annual sequence of public bills.

Philippines
In the Philippines, all bills passed into law, regardless of whether they were introduced in the House of Representatives or the Senate, are numbered sequentially beginning with the first Republic Act that became law on July 15, 1946. There have been 11,646 Republic Acts as of January 21, 2022. All laws passed by Congress, once given presidential assent, become law and are given a sequential number and are prefixed with "Republic Act" or "R.A." for short. They are also given a secondary sequential number by the chamber they are introduced in. Aforementioned numberings restart every three years after the formation of a new Congress.

United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, for example, the Coroners and Justice Act in 2009 started as Bill 9 in the House of Commons. Then it became Bill 72 on consideration by a public bill committee; after that it became House of Lords Bill 33. Then it became House of Lords Bill 77, returned to the House of Commons as Bill 160, before finally being passed as Act 29. Parliament recommences numbering from one at the beginning of each session. This means that two different bills may have the same number. Sessions of parliament usually last a year. They begin with the State Opening of Parliament, and end with prorogation.

United States
In the United States, all bills originating in the House of Representatives are numbered sequentially and prefixed with "H.R." and all bills originating from the Senate begin with an "S.". Every two years, at the start of odd-numbered years, the Congress recommences numbering from 1, though for bills the House has an order reserving the first 20 bill numbers and the Senate has similar measures for the first 10 bills. Joint resolutions also have the same effect as bills, and are titled as "H. J. Res." or "S. J. Res." depending on whether they originated in the House or Senate, respectively.

This means that two different bills can have the same number. Each two-year span is called a congress, tracking the terms of Representatives elected in the nationwide biennial House of Representatives elections, and each congress is divided into year-long periods called sessions.

Hong Kong

 * Bills Committees of the Legislative Council

India

 * The Indian Constitution
 * Government of India Laws

Ireland

 * How laws are made
 * Find bills and acts (since 1922; partial)
 * Bills (since 1997; complete)

New Zealand

 * Parliamentary Counsel Office—Terminology: What are Acts, Bills, regulations, and Supplementary Order Papers (SOPs)?
 * List of current bills

United Kingdom

 * UK Parliament Guide: Passage of a Bill
 * BBC Parliament Guide:
 * Making new law
 * Types of bill
 * Bill procedure
 * First reading
 * Second reading
 * Commons committee stage
 * Lords committee stage
 * Report stage
 * Third reading
 * Passage through the other House
 * Royal assent
 * Delegated legislation

United States

 * Bills, Resolutions at THOMAS
 * Government 101: How a bill becomes a law at Project Vote Smart
 * Federal legislation at GovTrack
 * How a law is made at the North Carolina General Assembly

title: Bill (law)


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Julia Soaemias

Julia Soaemias Bassiana (180 – 11 March 222) was a Syrian noblewoman and the mother of Roman emperor Elagabalus, who ruled over the Roman Empire from 218 to 222. She was one of his chief advisors, initially with the support and accompaniment of her mother Julia Maesa. She and her mother guided the young emperor until growing unrest and a family division led to her son's replacement by her nephew Severus Alexander. Julia Soaemias was killed along with her son by the Praetorian Guard.

Julia Soaemias was born and raised in Emesa, Syria and through her mother was related to the Royal family of Emesa, and through marriage, to the Severan dynasty of Ancient Rome.

Family
She was the first daughter of the powerful Syrian Roman noblewoman Julia Maesa and Gaius Julius Avitus Alexianus, sister of Julia Avita Mamaea, niece of Julia Domna, and a niece by marriage of Emperor Lucius Septimius Severus.

At some point, she married Syrian equestrian and politician Sextus Varius Marcellus, a native of Apamea. As members of the imperial Roman family of the Severan dynasty, they resided in Rome, and Julia's husband rose to the Roman senate. Julia bore Marcellus two children: one son whose name is unknown and another son called Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus, who became the Roman emperor Elagabalus.

Her husband died in c. 215, during his time as Roman governor in Numidia. The recently widowed Soaemias and her two sons later dedicated a tombstone to him, which was found in Velletri, not far from Rome. The tombstone has two preserved bilingual inscriptions in Latin and Greek. The inscriptions reveal his political career, his various titles, designations and distinctions he received.

Background
In 217, her maternal cousin, the Roman emperor Caracalla, was killed and Macrinus ascended to the imperial throne. Her family was allowed to return to Syria with their enormous wealth, and they returned to Emesa. Back in Emesa, her son, Bassianus, ascended as the chief priest of the Syrian deity Elagabalus.

Restoration of the Severan dynasty
Using her enormous wealth and the claim that Caracalla had slept with her daughter and that the boy was his bastard, Julia Maesa, Soaemias's mother, persuaded soldiers from The Gallic Third Legion stationed near Emesa to swear loyalty to Bassianus. Later, Bassianus was invited alongside his mother and her daughters to the military camp, clad in imperial purple and crowned as emperor by the soldiers. Cassius Dio records a different story, citing that Gannys, a "youth who has not yet reached manhood" and the lover of Soaemias was the reason for the revolt. Since the boy's father was no longer alive, Gannys acted as the boy's protector and foster father, and late at night, he dressed him in Caracalla's clothing and smuggled him to camp, without either Maesa or Soaemias's knowledge, and persuaded the soldiers to swear loyalty to him.

The story is likely a fabrication, seeing as it is unlikely that Maesa, who has much to gain if her grandson would become emperor, would be totally unaware of the coup, Herodian's story, which tells that the coup was handled by Maesa and her family alone is also unlikely, seeing that Dio's story tells that the boy later had the support of many Equestrians and Senators from Emesa, which was most likely.

Whatever the circumstances for Elagabalus's rise to the purple were, he later rode to battle against Macrinus, and entered the city of Antioch emerging as emperor, with Macrinus fleeing, before being captured near Chalcedon and executed in Cappadocia.

Reign of Elagabalus
Bassianus emerged as emperor and was styled Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus. Soaemias, his mother, was styled as Iulia Soaemias Augusta. Elagabalus as emperor was mainly concerned with religious matters, and as sun worship had increased throughout the Empire since the reign of his maternal great-uncle by marriage, Septimius Severus, Elagabalus and his mother saw this as an opportunity to install Elagabal as the chief deity of the Roman pantheon. The god was renamed Deus Sol Invictus, meaning God of the Undefeated Sun, and was honored even above Jupiter.

Elagabalus and his entourage spent the winter of 218 in Bithynia at Nicomedia, where the emperor's religious beliefs first presented themselves as a problem. The contemporary historian Cassius Dio suggests that Gannys was killed by the new emperor because he pressured Elagabalus to live "temperately and prudently". To help Romans adjust to having an oriental priest as emperor, Julia Maesa (Soaemias's mother) had a painting of Elagabalus in priestly robes sent to Rome and hung over a statue of the goddess Victoria in the Senate House. This placed senators in the awkward position of having to make offerings to Elagabalus whenever they made offerings to Victoria.

The duo attempted to gain popularity with Roman religion, and as a token of respect, joined either Astarte, Minerva, or Urania to Elagabal as his consort. Julia Soaemias and her mother feature in literary accounts of Elagabaus's reign, and were credited with exercising much influence. Julia Soaemias and her mother significantly assisted the emperor, and appeared in the Senate beside Elagabalus during his adoption of Severus Alexander. She assumed the senatorial title of clarissima and also held a "Women's Senate" deciding on matters of fashion and protocol. She was honored with various titles, honours and privileges, including 'Augusta, mater Augusti' (Augusta, mother of Augustus) and 'Mater castrorum et senatus et totius domus divinae' (Mother of camp and the senate and the all divine house).

Their rule was not popular, and soon discontent arose, mainly because of the strange sexual behaviour and the Eastern religious practices of Elagabalus. Elagabalus lost the favour of both the Praetorian Guard and the senate, mainly because of his many eccentricities. In particular his relationship with Hierocles increasingly provoked the Praetorians. When Elagabalus' grandmother Julia Maesa perceived that popular support for the emperor was waning, she decided that he and his mother, who had encouraged his religious practices, had to be replaced. As alternatives, she turned to her other daughter, Julia Avita Mamaea, and her grandson, the thirteen-year-old Severus Alexander.

Controversy and transition of power
Maesa arranged for Elagabalus to appoint his cousin Severus Alexander as his heir and to give him the title of Caesar. Alexander shared the consulship with the emperor that year. Elagabalus reconsidered this arrangement when he began to suspect that the Praetorian Guard preferred his cousin to himself.

Death
After failing in various attempts to slay his cousin, Elagabalus decided to strip Alexander of his titles and revoked his consulship. Elagabalus then invented the rumor that Alexander was near death, in order to see how the Praetorians would react. A riot ensued, and the Guard demanded to see Elagabalus and Alexander in the Praetorian camp.

Julia Soaemias entered the camp to protect her son, and was slain along with Elagabalus by the Praetorian Guard in 222. Their bodies were dragged through the streets and disposed of in the Tiber River. Julia Soaemias was later declared a public enemy and her name erased from all records.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Julia Soaemias


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Julia Avita Mamaea

Julia Avita Mamaea or Julia Mamaea (14 or 29 August around 182 – March 21/22 235) was a Christian Syrian noble woman and member of the Severan dynasty. She was the mother of Roman emperor Alexander Severus and remained one of his chief advisors throughout his reign. She was killed in 235 by rebel soldiers alongside her son.

Family
Julia Avita Mamaea was the second daughter of Julia Maesa, a powerful Roman woman of Syrian origin, and Syrian noble Gaius Julius Avitus Alexianus. She was a niece of empress Julia Domna, emperor Lucius Septimius Severus, and sister of Julia Soaemias Bassiana. She was born and raised in Emesa (modern Homs, Syria), where her family was very powerful.

Julia's first husband was an unknown former consul who died. Her only undisputed child, Severus Alexander, whom she gave birth to on October 1, 208 in Arca Caesarea, may have been from this marriage instead of her second as Dio claimed. She then married her second husband, a Syrian promagistrate named Marcus Julius Gessius Marcianus from Arca Caesarea (Arqa in Lebanon). She may have had a son named Marcus Julius Gessius Bassianus and a daughter named Theoclia with him.

When her cousin, emperor Caracalla, was killed near Carrhae, Macrinus proclaimed himself emperor. Mamaea's mother Maesa and sister Soaemias organized a revolt against Macrinus to declare Soaemias' son, Varius Avitus Bassianus (Elagabalus), as emperor. As a response, Macrinus's camp killed a number of individuals with connections to Elagabalus, including Mamaea's husband Gessius, around 218. Julia provided education of her son Alexander, before his becoming emperor of Rome. Alexander thought much of his mother's advice and followed what she told him to do.

Reign of Elagabalus (218-222)

As a member of the imperial Roman family, under the authority of her aunt Julia Domna, she closely watched the death of her cousin Caracalla and the ascension of her nephew Elagabalus: the oldest grandson of Julia Maesa and initially, her favorite. When Elagabalus successfully overthrew Macrinus and reigned as emperor, Mamaea and her son are described as being present at the imperial court, where her mother Julia Maesa and sister Julia Soaemias, the mother of Elagabalus, also lived. Due to his unorthodox behavior, Elagabalus and Julia Soaemias alienated the Praetorian Guard and their favor instead fell on Alexander, Mamaea's son. Mamaea distributed gold to the Praetorians to usher up support for her son, and guarded him against plots devised by the increasingly desperate Elagabalus. Elagabalus' continued machinations against Alexander spurred Praetorians to murder Elagabalus, and Alexander became emperor in 222.

The reign of Alexander
Julia Mamaea and her mother Maesa played an instrumental role in the imperial accession of Alexander, then 13 years old, by securing the Praetorians' loyalty to him. They remained influential figures during his reign. Julia Mamaea attained the title Augusta immediately following his acquisition of the throne. When Maesa died in 224, Mamaea took over the state affairs alongside an advisory board.

The two women had collaborated in choosing 16 distinguished senators to form this advisory board and relied heavily on the lawyer Ulpian, who was also from Syria. This created a court environment in which the advisory board ran the Roman Empire with Alexander as the mere figurehead. The new regime garnered the approval of surviving historical sources for overturning Elagabalus' measures and reinstating a more traditional form of government. Ulpian, who held influence during Alexander's early reign, was made head of the Praetorian Guard. However, he was unable to control the Praetorians, who eventually rebelled. Despite the swift flight to the palace under the protection of Julia Mamaea and Severus Alexander, Ulpian was murdered around 223 or 228.

Upon reaching adulthood, Alexander confirmed his esteem for his mother and listened to her advice. She accompanied her son in his campaigns, and like her aunt Julia Domna, she too held many titles in addition to Augusta: mater augusti nostri et castrorum et senatus et patriae ("mother of the emperor, the camp, the senate and the country") and mater universi generis humani ("mother of the all humanity"). The historian Herodian and text Historia Augusta characterize Alexander as a mama's boy who never managed to escape her maternal domination but that he resented her love of money. Mamaea's influence over him led some sources to call him Alexander Mamaeae. Though she was credited with her son's principled upbringing and the stability during his early reign, Alexander's military shortcomings were attributed to Mamaea by the army and ancient historians. By preventing his exposure to battles as a protective measure, Mamaea may have contributed to her son's deteriorating relationship with the army.

According to Herodian, Julia had become jealous of her daughter-in-law, Sallustia Orbiana, whom Alexander married in 225, and whose father Seius Sallustius had been possibly made caesar, because she disapproved that there was another Augusta. Julia Mamaea had Barbia expelled from the palace and had her father executed, against the will of Alexander Severus, because his mother had too much influence over him and he obeyed all her orders. However, the same historian conflictingly credits Julia for selecting Sallustia Orbiana as an Augusta. The downfall of Orbiana's father, a result of his hostile relation with Mamaea, and the murder of Ulpian are two episodes which demonstrate the prevalence of political intrigues in Alexander's early reign.

Julia called on Origen, the Alexandrian Christian leader, to provide her with instructions in Christian doctrine. As a result of her embrace of the religion, Alexander avoided persecution of Christians.

Death
After an inconclusive expedition to repel a Persian invasion in 232, Julia Mamaea and Alexander went north to deal with a German attack. Alexander alienated the Rhine legions by his lack of military prowess and his inflexibility towards pay demands, leading to the troops proclaiming Maximinus Thrax emperor in 235. The army also blamed Mamaea for Alexander's passiveness and stinginess. On March 21, troops sent to kill Alexander found him clinging to Mamaea in a tent, where he is said to have been blaming her for his upcoming death. The mother and son were murdered together, ending the Severan dynasty. The following regime placed them under damnatio memoriae. Buried together, the sarcophagus of Mamaea and Alexander was found within the Monte Del Grano by excavators, and later installed in 1590 to the courtyard of the Palazzo Dei Conservatori. Today, the sarcophagus can be found in the Capitoline Museums in Rome.

title: Julia Avita Mamaea


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Severan dynasty family tree

This is a family tree of the Severan dynasty of the Roman Empire.

title: Severan dynasty family tree


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Nishapur

Nishapur (, also ) is a city in the Central District of Nishapur County, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district.

Nishapur is the second-largest city of the province in the northeast of Iran, situated in a fertile plain at the foot of Binalud Mountain Range. It has been the historic capital of the Western Quarter of Greater Khorasan, the historic capital of the 9th-century Tahirid dynasty, the initial capital of the 11th-century Seljuk Empire, and is currently the capital city of Nishapur County and a historic Silk Road city of cultural and economic importance in Iran and the region of Greater Khorasan.

Nearby are turquoise mines that have supplied the world with turquoise of the finest and the highest quality for at least two millennia.

The city was founded in the 3rd century by Shapur I as a capital city of Sasanian satrapy known as Abarshahr or Nishapur. Nishapur later became the capital of Tahirid dynasty and was reformed by Abdullah Tahir in 830, and was later selected as the capital of Seljuk dynasty by Tughril in 1037. From the Abbasid era to the Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia and Eastern Iran, the city evolved into a significant cultural, commercial, and intellectual center within the Islamic world. Nishapur, along with Merv, Herat and Balkh, was one of the four great cities of Greater Khorasan and one of the greatest cities of the Old World in the Islamic Golden Age with strategic importance, a seat of governmental power in the eastern section of caliphates, a dwelling place for diverse ethnic and religious groups and a trading stop on commercial routes from Transoxiana, China, Iraq and Egypt.

Nishapur reached the height of its prosperity under the Samanids in the 10th century but was destroyed and most of its population was slaughtered by the Mongols in 1221. This massacre, combined with subsequent earthquakes and other invasions, is believed to have destroyed the city several times. Unlike its near neighbor Merv, Nishapur managed to recover from these cataclysmic events, and survive until the present day as an active modern city and county in tourism, agriculture, health care, industrial production and commerce in Razavi Khorasan Province of Iran; however, many of its older and historical archeological remains are left to be uncovered.

The modern city of Nishapur is composed of three main administrative areas/districts (Persian: منطقه های شهر نیشابور) and is surrounded by many villages which are joining in to the urban area and structure of the city. The Area/district 1 of the city comprises the newer urban developments (initiated mostly in the 1980s and the 1990s) made to the north of the Road 44 and is home to most of the main higher educational institutions of Nishapur such as the University of Neyshabur and the IAUN. The Area/district 2 of the city comprises the downtown of the city and the older and more historic urban structures situated on the south of the Road 44. It is home to some of the main tourists attractions of the city such as the National Garden of Nishapur and the Khanate Mansion of Amin Islami. The Area/district 3 of the city is home to the ruins and the remains of the ancient city of Nishapur destroyed by Mongols in the Middle Ages and is located on the south and the southeast of the city. The third district of the city is a national and registered protected archeological area by law and any unauthorized archeological excavation is considered illegal. This district is also home to the burial and historical monuments (some are shown on the city infobox) of most of the renowned persons of the city throughout history such as the Mausoleum of Omar Khayyám and the Mausoleum of Attar of Nishapur. The third district is also used as one of the main touristic hotspots of the city.

Many of this city's archeological discoveries are held and shown to the public in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the British Museum in London, the National Museum of Iran in Tehran, other international museums and the museums of the city of Nishapur. The city of Nishapur is also a member of international organizations such as the LHC and the ICCN UNESCO.

Abarshahr of Sassanid Empire
Abarshahr was a satrapy (province) of the Sassanid Empire. Cities in the region were Candac, Artacauan, Apameia, and Pushang (founded by Shapur I). Nishapur was the capital. Abarshar was the name used for Nishapur during the Sassanid Empire and Rashidun Caliphate. The capital was a vital center of administration and of communications between Bactria, India, and Sagistan. The region was involved in the Indian and Chinese trade. Its governor bore the title of kanarang.

Names of Nishapur throughout history

 * Abarshahr or Aparshahr was a satrapy (province) of the Sassanid Empire now located in Nishapur. Cities in the region were Candac, Artacauan, and Apameia, and Pushang (founded by Shapur I) and the capital was Nishapur. Abarshar was the name of Nishapur during the Sassanid Empire and the Rashidun Caliphate. The capital was a vital point of administration and of communications between Bactria, India, and Sagistan. The region was involved in the Indian and Chinese trade. Its governor bore the unique title of kanarang.
 * Neysabur or Naysabur was named Abarshahr during the Muslim occupation of Khorasan and Nishapur, and was the city's official name during the Rashidun Caliphate, Umayyad Caliphate, and Abbasid Caliphate.

Muslim Conquest
Nishapur was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate, without struggle, during the caliphate of Umar. The Caliph appointed Ahnaf Ibn Qais as the chief command of the Rashidun army out of Isfahan. From Isfahan, two routes led to Khorasan: the main route via Rayy and the other via Nishapur. The people of Nishapur chose not to fight and surrendered on the condition of paying a tribute.

Having conquered the region around Nishapur, the Muslim force advanced to Nishapur itself. The city was divided into four sectors, with each sector under a Persian chief. These chiefs shut themselves in the city and closed the gates. The Muslims laid siege to the city for some days. In the meantime, the Persian chiefs quarreled among themselves. One of the chiefs entered into negotiations with the Muslims. He offered to open one of the gates for the Muslim army to enter, provided he was granted immunity. The Muslims accepted the offer. The Persians were taken by surprise, and the Muslims became the new rulers of Nishapur. After consolidating their position at Nishapur, the Muslims conquered other cities around Nishapur, including Pusht, Ashband, Rukh, Zar, Khaf, Osparain and Arghian.

Nishapur capital of Abu Muslim
Abu Muslim became the governor of Khorasan, and chose Nishapur as his capital. He seems to have initiated a huge building program in which he stimulated the growth of the city. Nishapur increased in importance, and two of the ‘Abbasids were governors of this city before becoming caliphs. It was the governor of Khurasan (‘Ali ibn Isa ibn Mahan) who presented the large gift of Chinese imperial porcelains to Harun al-Rashid (see Abbasid Ceramics Section), demonstrating the strategic importance of the province on trade routes.

Tahirid dynasty in Nishapur
The Tahirid dynasty was a dynasty of Persian dehqan origin that ruled from 820 to 872 in Khorasan, northeastern Greater Iran, a region now split between Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The Tahirid capital was originally Merv, but Nishapur became their capital from 828 to 845. Although nominally subject to the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad, the Tahirid rulers were effectively independent. The dynasty was founded by Tahir ibn Husayn, a leading general in the service of the Abbasid caliph Al-Ma'mun. Tahir's military victories were rewarded with the gift of lands in the east of Persia, which were subsequently extended by his successors as far as the borders of India. Tahirid influence extended to Baghdad when the Abbasids granted them the military affairs in Mesopotamia.

Saffarids/Samanids/Seljuks
In 873, the Tahirids were replaced by the Saffarids. Saffarids expanded their sphere of influence through the north of Khurasan and also in south towards Sistan. They also made Nishapur their capital and rebuilt the Tahirid palace. In 900, Ismail Samani defeated the Saffarids and was made governor of Nishapur. The Samanids had been placed in power in Transoxiana by Caliph Al-Ma'mun, and ruled first from Samarqand and then moved to Bukhara. After defeating the Saffarids, their "empire", with nominal sanction from the Abbasids, extended from India to Iraq, making Nishapur a provincial capital. Khurasan was thus an international entrepôt, with merchants coming not only from Iraq, India and Egypt, but also from Russia; additionally, Vikings came from Scandinavia to trade with the Bulghars and Khazars on the Caspian Sea. Nishapur occupies an important strategic position astride the old Silk Road that linked Anatolia and the Mediterranean Sea with China. On the Silk Road, Nishapur has often defined the flexible frontier between the Iranian plateau and Central Asia. The town derived its name from its reputed founder, the Sassanian king Shapur I, who is said to have established it in the third century CE. Nearby are the turquoise mines that supplied the world with turquoise for at least two millennia.

It became an important town in the Greater Khorasan region but subsequently declined in significance until a revival in its fortunes in the 9th century under the Tahirid dynasty, when the glazed ceramics of Nishapur formed an important item of trade to the west. For a time Nishapur rivaled Baghdad or Cairo: Toghrül, the first ruler of the Seljuk dynasty, made Nishapur his residence in 1038 and proclaimed himself sultan there, but it declined thereafter, as Seljuk fortunes were concentrated in the west. Nishapur was sacked by the Oghuz Turks in 1154, and suffered several earthquakes in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

Mongol siege of Nishapur
In 1221, after the death of Tuqachar, the husband of Genghis Khan's daughter, the entire city of Nishapur was destroyed by the Mongols over the course of 10 days. Genghis Khan's daughter requested the death of every resident of the city as vengeance for her husband's death. In order to become sure that no wounded would survive the massacre, Khan's troops killed and beheaded most of the population of the city and their skulls were reputedly piled in pyramids by the Mongols. Women, Infants, children, and even cats and dogs were among the beheaded. After the massacre a much smaller settlement was established just north of the ancient town, and the once bustling metropolis lay underground—until a team of excavators from the Metropolitan Museum of Art arrived in the mid-20th century. They worked at Nishapur between 1935 and 1940, returning for a final season in the winter of 1947–48. What remains of old Nishapur is a 3500-hectare "Kohandejh (Persian: کهن دژ)" area, south of the current city of Nishapur.

Ilkhanate and Timurid reign

After the fall of Nishapur in 1221 by the Mongols, the structures of the city were weakened and the agricultural output of the city was reduced. Mahmud Ghazan and Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan tried to make the city flourish again and the city's population grew once more and some of the villages around the city were improved and rebuilt. Hamdallah Mustawfi had visited the city of Nishapur in the Year 1339 or 1340. During this era, the ambassador of Henry III of Castile, Ruy González de Clavijo reached Nishapur and according to him, Nishapur had become a highly productive agricultural center with 40 non-stop working mills along the  Abe Bostan  (Mir Ab River of Nishapur). The current position of the city was formed during this era and on the North West of the older position of the city which is now home to the Mausoleum of Attar of Nishapur and Shadiyakh Archeological Site and other remains of the old position of the city (the old position of the city is also now a protected archeological site by law though it is endangered). Mausoleum of Attar of Nishapur and the Jame mosque of Nishapur (congregational mosque of the city) are among the examples of the buildings built during this era in Nishapur. Many poets, scholars and renowned historical figures of the city and the wider region of Abarshahr (one of the main four regions of Greater Khorasan with the city capitals of Nishapur, Merv, Herat and Balkh) were also born in this period.

Safavid Era (16th to early 18th century)
Due to a conflict between the supporters of the Mohammad Khodabanda, the Safavid Shah of Persia, and his son Abbas the Great. In 1581, the castle of Nishapur went under siege. This siege became one of the events that helped the Abbas the Great to become the Ruler of Greater Khorasan and later the Shah of Persia in the Safavid Empire. In 1592 Abbas the Great took back the control of Nishapur from the Shaybanids. Shah Abbasi Caravanseri of Nishapur was also built during his reign and later on, he left his two epigraphs on Jame Mosque of Nishapur on the Ramadan of October 1612.

Saadat Ali Khan I Nishapuri, Nawab of Awadh (the ruler who governed the state of Awadh of India), was also born in this period in an influential family in Nishapur.

Independence and Qajar Era (18th & 19th century)
After the death of Nader Shah Afshar in 1747, the area became an independent khanate under the reign of the Bayat chieftains. In 1754 Ahmad Shah Durrani captured Nishapur with the support of heavy artillery and imposed Shahrokh Shah as the ruler (Shah) of the western part of Greater Khorasan as a protectorate of the Durrani Empire.

The city was conquered in 1800 by the Qajars. In 1828, the city came under the influence of the Zafaranlu Confederacy but was given back to the Qajars in 1829. During the Revolt of Hasan Khan Salar, the city was an isolated outpost of Qajar rule led by Imamverdi Khan Bayat when most of Khorasan was under the wrath of Hasan Khan Salar. On March 21, 1849, Qajar forces entered Nishapur.

Pahlavi dynasty
The reconstruction of the Mausoleum of Omar Khayyam in Nishapur was commissioned by Reza Shah. Omar's previous tomb was separated from his tomb, and a white marble monument (Current Mausoleum), designed by the Iranian architect Hooshang Seyhoun, was erected over it. This mausoleum became one of the main symbols of the city and one of the known works of the modern Persian architecture. The influence of the architectural design of this mausoleum is visible on the coat of arms of the University of Neyshabur, Neyshabur University of Medical Sciences (NUMS) and other public, civil and private organizations of the city. The construction of the new mausoleum was completed in the year 1963. The Tomb of Kamal-ol Molk was also built in Nishapur and designed by Seyhoun. The Wooden Mosque of Neyshabur was also built in the year 2000.

The Second Asia-Pacific Jamboree was held at Baghrud Scots Park of Nishapur in preparation for The 15th World Scout Jamboree which was scheduled to be held 15–23 July 1979 in Nishapur but due to the political uncertainty of the Iranian Revolution in the country, the event was cancelled.

Post Iranian revolution
On February 18, 2004, in the Nishapur train disaster, a train carrying flammable goods derailed and caught fire near the town. Five hours later, during fire fighting and rescue work, a massive explosion destroyed the train and many nearby buildings. Around 300 people were said to have been killed, mainly fire and rescue workers but also the local governor and mayor and the heads of the fire and rail services. This disaster has become known as one of the worst railway industry disasters of the world.

Archaeological discoveries
Little archaeology has been done on this vast and complicated site. George Curzon remarked that Nishapur had been destroyed and rebuilt more times than any other city in history, an evocative statement whether or not it is statistically true. The Metropolitan Museum of Art undertook excavations from 1935 that were interrupted in 1940. Searching largely for museum-worthy trophies that they shared with the government of the Shah, the Metropolitan's publications were limited to its own Nishapur ceramics. The site of Nishapur has been ransacked for half a century since World War II, to feed the international market demand for early Islamic works of art.

Shadiyakh ("Palace of Happiness") was one of the main palaces of old Nishapur up to the 9th century AD, which became more important and populated after that. Some notable people like Attar lived there. Attar's tomb is nowadays in that area. This palace was perhaps completely ruined in the 13th century.

Language
Most people speak Persian and are monolingual, however, there are several private foreign language-teaching institutions in the city that teach English and other languages.

Population
At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 205,972 in 56,652 households. The following census in 2011 counted 239,185 people in 71,263 households. The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 264,375 people in 83,143 households. It is the third most-populous city in the eastern provinces of Iran after Mashhad and Zahedan.

Geography
Nishapur is located at an elevation of 1250 meters on a wide fertile plain at the southwestern foot of the Binalud Mountain range in northcentral Razavi Khorasan Province. The city is connected by both railways and highways to the cities of Mashhad and Tehran. The city also has local routes and highways to the cities of Kashmar and Quchan.

Sources of the Middle Ages
Throughout the Middle Ages, Nishpaur had been praised by many due to its many gardens and its healthy climate in Khorasan. Ibn Hawqal has commented the following about the weather and the climate of this city at that time:"Throughout all of Khorasan, no such companion as enriched with the health of the air, quantity and the vastness of its mansions can be found."In the same cited work, Hakim Nishapuri praises Nishapur with many favourable nicknames such as " " and compares and claims that the weather and climate (or air Persian: هوا) of Nishapur was better and more healthier (according to him, cholera and other such diseases and disasters could not be found in Nishapur) than many neighboring regions such as Sistan (due to its winds), Indus valley (or سند in Persian) and Hindustan (due to their severe hotness), Khwarazm and Turkestan (due to their coldness) and Merv (due to presence of many insects).

Modern
Nishapur generally has a warm and semi-dry climate called  central Iranian plateau climate . Precipitation mostly happens in spring and winter. Nishapur is situated on a relatively higher elevation (1250 meters) than its neighboring cities such Sabzevar and Mashhad hence the weather is milder and better than these cities.

Climate
Nishapur has a cold semi-arid climate (BSk).

Geology
The city of Nishapur lies on a Holocene alluvial plain on top of the Pleistocene sediments in the southwestern part of the Binalud Mountains. The Binalud Range, running northwest–southeast, is made predominantly of Triassic and Jurassic rocks. On the southern side of the northwestern part of the range there is a section of Eocene rocks that are volcanic in origin. The well-known Nishabur turquoise comes from the weathered and broken trachytes and andesites of the Eocene volcanic rocks of this part of the mountain range. The main turquoise mines are situated about 50 kilometers northwest of the city of Nishapur in the foothills of the Binalud Range.

Seismicity
Nishapur is located in a region with a rather high risk of earthquakes. Many earthquakes have seriously harmed the city; among the important ones are the historical earthquakes that ruined the city in the 12th and 13th centuries.

Economy
The economy of Nishapur is diverse and it is based on several industries like Agriculture, Industrial parks, mining, tourism, health-care, retailing, banking etc.

Food & Agriculture
Many agricultural products such as saffron, cereals, cotton, herbs, plums, walnut, wheat, corn, apples, cherries and pistachio are exported from the county of Nishapur. The city is also a dairy and sugar exporter.

Water supply
Most of the water supply of the city is provided from the Binalud Mountain Range's mostly seasonal rivers, qanats, dams and modern wells.

Mining
Natural recourses such as turquoise and salt are mined from around the city.

Energy
The electrical power supply of the city is provided from Neyshabur Combined Cycle Power Plant and Binalood Wind Farm. The excessive electrical energy of the city is mostly exported from the city's public power grid.

Industry
Khorasan Steel Complex and two main industrial parks called the Khayyam Industrial Park and the Attar Industrial Park are near the city of Nishapur. Many industrial products such as sugar, cooking oils and gas heaters are exported from the city and its county.

Tourism
Several hotels, ecolodges, resorts, parks, tourist hot-spots, restaurants, museums, a planetarium, cultural centers, mausoleums, religious pilgrimage sites and historic mosques are in and near the city. The tourism industry of the city has a lot of protentional but it needs further development.

Health care
There are two active hospitals (Hakim Hospital and 22 Bahman Hospital) in the city of Nishapur and a third one is also currently under construction.

Banks
Nearly all of reputable public and private Iranain banks have branches in the city.

Companies
Major Iranian companies such as Refah Chain Stores Co., Iran Hyper Star, Ofoqh Kourosh and other companies have active branches in Nishapur.

Road 44
Road 44, a major national expressway that connects the two major cities of Tehran and Mashhad, is connected to the city of Nishapur and it passes through it.

Rail transport
Nishapur is connected to the Trans-Iranian Railway System which is a UNESCO world heritage. The Nishapur train station became operational during the reign of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and it is located on the southern part of the city.

Nishapur train disaster
On 18 February 2004, runaway train wagons crashed into the village of Khayyam near Nishapur. This accident caused several major explosions and it kill over 300. The entire village of Khayyam was destroyed due to the explosions.

Public transport
The intercity bus terminal of the city is located at the eastern part of the city close to the road 44. Several public bus lines and stations are also active within the city.

Airport
Currently there is only one airport near the north of the city that is only authorized to be used for gliders and small aircraft however, there are plans for building a proper airport near the south of the city of Nishapur.

Notable people
Sorted by date
 * Mazdak – (died c. 524 or 528) was a Zoroastrian prophet, Iranian reformer and religious activist
 * Kanarang – was a unique title in the Sassanid army, given to the commander of the Sassanid Empire's northeastern most frontier province, Abarshahr (encompassing the cities of Tus, Nishapur and Abiward).
 * Behafarid – was an 8th-century Persian Zoroastrian heresiarch
 * Sunpadh – (died 755) cleric
 * Ishaq Ibn Rahwayh – muhaddith, faqih
 * Abu al-Abbas Iranshahri – 9th-century philosopher, mathematician, natural scientist, historian of religion, astronomer and author
 * Ibn Khuzaymah – Muslim scholar
 * Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj – Muslim scholar and one of the most prominent muhaddith in history
 * Abu al-Hassan al-Amiri – (died 992) was a Muslim theologian and philosopher
 * Abū al-Wafā' Būzjānī – (10 June 940 – 15 July 998) was a mathematician and astronomer
 * Hakim al-Nishaburi – (933–1012), was a Sunni scholar and historian
 * Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Naysaburi – Isma'ili theologian and historian
 * Tha'ālibī -(961–1038), Muslim philologist, writer and poet
 * Ahmad ibn 'Imad al-Din – was a Persian physician and alchemist. He was probably from Nishapur in the 11th century.
 * Ibn Abi Sadiq – was an 11th-century Persian physician
 * Abū-Sa'īd Abul-Khayr – (December 7, 967 – January 12, 1049) was a famous Persian Sufi and poet
 * Al-Juwayni (1028–1085 CE) was a Sunni Shafi'i Faqih and Mutakallim.
 * Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Tha'labi – was an 11th-century Islamic scholar.
 * Abd al-Karīm ibn Hawāzin Qushayri – was born in 986 CE (376 AH), Philosopher and Sufi
 * Omar Khayyám – (18 May 1048 – 4 December 1131) was a Persian polymath, philosopher, mathematician, astronomer and poet.
 * Abd al-Ghafir al-Farsi – (1059-1135), Persian scholar of Arabic, history and hadith
 * Mu'izzi – was an 11th and 12th-centuries poet
 * Haji Bektash Veli – was a Muslim mystic
 * Attar of Nishapur – (c. 1145 – c. 1221), was a Muslim poet, theoretician of Sufism, and hagiographer.
 * Abu al-Qasim al-Habib Neishapuri – physician mid-15th century.
 * Saadat Ali Khan I – (b. c. 1680 – d. 19 March 1739) was the Subahdar Nawab of Oudh. All the rulers of Oudh State in India belonged to a Shia Muslim dynasty of Persian origin from Nishapur. They were renowned for their secularism and broad outlook. After they rebelled against the British their state was annexed to form the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh.
 * Hamid Hussain Musavi – i (born 1830 – died 1880) was a leading Shia scholar
 * Heydar Yaghma –
 * Badi' –
 * Abolghasem Sakhdari – wrestler
 * Saeed Khani – footballer
 * Yaghoub Ali Shourvarzi – wrestler
 * Nur-Ali Shushtari –
 * Esmail Shooshtari –
 * Parviz Meshkatian –
 * Mohammad-Reza Shafiei Kadkani – i (born 1939) is a Persian writer, poet, literary critic, editor, and translator.
 * Hossein Vahid Khorasani—(born January 1, 1921) is an Iranian Twelver Shia Marja
 * Abdolreza Kahani— Director
 * Hamed Behdad—(1973–) Actor

Mythology and religion
Nishapur has been of importance in Iranian mythology. Before the Islamization of Iran, Zoroastrianism had been the major religion of Nishapur. Rivand (one of the ancient names of Nishapur) has been mentioned in Avesta    and subsequently in Shahnameh. Adur Burzen-Mihr a Zoroastrian fire temple of the highest grade was situated in Rivand Mountains (Binalud mountains) of Nishapur and the lake Rivand of Nishapur was built due to a fight between Ahriman and water (probably by water it was meant Anahita in the Persian text of the Persian wiki). Also, according to Hakim Nishapuri, Dež-e Sɑngi was built by Seth on a giant round soft (flat) stone There are also signs of the influence of Christianity in Nishapur (a street in Nishapur has been called and is still called Masih and also a village on the south of the city was called Masih Abad). After the rise of Islam however, the people living in and near the city of Neyshabur became Muslims. Nishapur and its people have also had an influence on Sufism (an Islamic mystic practice). Poets and Sufis such as Attar of Nishapur who had been born in this city had had a profound influence on Islamic mysticism. In the 10th century, Nishapur had been one of the centers of Ismaili missionary spread in Iran and Greater Khorasan. Most of the Ismailis of Nishapur now live in Dizbad and some in the main city itself. Jama'at Khana Dizbad is the most important Ismaili center in Nishapur today. From the third to the sixth of Hejri Ghamari, Nishapur was one of the centers of Sufism. Most Sufis and Sufi elders in Nishapur were Sunnis and followers of the Shafi'i school.

During the 10th century, Nishapur was a thriving economic center home to many religious scholars and artists. Nishapur was located along the Silk Road. An influential trade route connecting China to the Mediterranean Sea. It was a center for cotton, silk, textile and ceramic production. In efforts to uncover the history of life in this city, the Metropolitan Museum of Art put together an excavation team composed of researchers Joseph Upton, Walter Hauser and Charles Wilkinson. From 1935 to 1940, the team worked to rediscover the ancient city. They were authorized to work under the conditions that half of the material found must be shared with the Iran Bastan Museum in Tehran. Along with pottery, excavators uncovered glass, metalwork, coins and decorated wall fragments. Over the years of excavations, thousands of items were uncovered which provided information on local artistic traditions.

Tepe Madraseh
The most elaborate architectural excavation took place at the site called Tepe Madraseh. This massive complex had been thoughtfully planned and embellished with many decorative elements. Plaster panels had been carved and painted, along with walls, brickwork and glazed ceramic tiles. A madraseh is a place for religious learning. Such sites have peaked the interest of scholars for centuries for their function and architectural designs. Like most Islamic architecture the entire complex of Tepe Madaseh was oriented to face Mecca. The bricks used to construct most of the structures had been dried in the kilns located on the outskirts of the complex.

Pottery
Nishapur during the Islamic Golden Age, especially the 9th and 10th centuries, was one of the great centers of pottery and related arts. Most of the Ceramic artifacts discovered in Nishapur are preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museums in Nishapur, Tehran and Mashhad. Ceramics produced at Nishapur showed links with Sassanid art and Central Asian. Nowadays there are 4 Pottery workshops in Nishapur.

Bowls including bold black inscriptions in the so-called Kufic angular calligraphy were apparently produced in the important ceramic centers of Nishapur in eastern Iran, and Afrasiyab, or Old Samarqand, in present-day Uzbekistan. The text often contains a proverb in Arabic or, as in this case, a series of wishes: "Blessing, happiness, prosperity, good health, and success."

Form and function of Nishapur pottery
"Although the decoration of pottery may only tell us a little about the people who used it, the form of a vessel is directly related to its function". The Pottery of Nishapur incorporated strong colored slips and bold patterns. Common decoration included geometric and vegetal patterns, calligraphy, figures and animals. The ceramic pieces uncovered at Nishapur consisted mainly of vessels and utilitarian wares. Objects such as plates, bowls, bottles, jars, pitchers, coin banks and even a toy hen were found. One decorative technique specifically utilized by Nishapur potters was the refined use of chattering, a rippled texture achieved when trimming a vessel on the wheel. The polychrome ware of Nishapur indicates the significant advances in glaze technology that were being discovered during the 10th century. It also indicates how an objects aesthetic became an important part of the piece as a whole.

A selection of these discoveries is shown in the gallery below:

Anthem of Nishapur
The special Anthem of Nishapur was unveiled for the first time on April 14, 2011; it has introduction and three parts, noted on three invasive and destructive in the history of Nishapur, delineated by frightening sounds of bells, along with sounds of percussion and wailing women represent the miseries caused by these attacks.

Literature
Throughout history, Nishapur has been mentioned and praised in the Persian literature for several times (Mostly due to its prosperity and gardens). This city has been the birthplace and home of many famous Persian poets such as Omar Khayyam, Attar of Nishapur, Heydar Yaghma, Shafiei Kadkani and more. Foreign writers such as André Gide (in The Fruits of the Earth) and Jorge Luis Borges have also mentioned this city in their work(s).

Music
Throughout history, music in Nishapur has been influenced by Sassanid, Maqami and traditional styles and is a part of the Khorasani Folk Music that has been popular in Nishapur. Following the UNESCO World Register of Maqami Music in Northern Khorasan, research on music in Nishapur has been considered. Maghami music festivals have been also active in Nishapur. One of the oldest study sources related to Iranian music is Resal-e Neyshaburi (in Persian:رساله نیشابور) written by Mohammad bin Mahmoud of Nishapur, which highlights the importance of music in old Nishapur. Among the influential people of Nishapur in music Ratebe Neyshaburi (during the reign of Tahirids), and the contemporary Parviz Meshkatian can be named.

Other influences

 * Yo-Yo Ma released an instrumental track entitled "Blue as the Turquoise Night of Neyshabur" as part of the Silk Road Project.
 * US band Santana released an instrumental track entitled "Incident at Neshabur" on their 1970 LP release, Abraxas. Carlos Santana says this was a reference to a place in Haiti.

Sports
The 15th World Scout Jamboree was scheduled to be held 15–23 July 1979 and was to be hosted by Pahlavi Iran at Nishapur, but was cancelled due to the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

Video games

 * Nishapur is included as a playable setting in a historical video game series called  Crusader Kings .
 * Nishapur is included as a playable setting in a historical video game called Historinica.

Gastronomy and food culture
The most important foods and drinks in Nishapur are rhubarb and sharbat. Rhubarb (Persian or '), a sour vegetable, grows at the foot of the eponymous Rivand Mountains (Mount Binalud). Soft drinks made from the stems of the plant, such as (شربت ریواس) and  (خوشاب ریواس), are sold at some Nishapur resorts. Aush Komay is also a local Aush made from a vegetable called کمای. Haleem of Neyshabur is also popular in the region along with other common Iranian foods and drinks.

Carpet-weaving
Weaving carpets and rugs common in the more than 470 villages in Nishapur County, the most important carpet Workshop located in the villages of: Shafi' Abad, Garineh, Darrud, Baghshan, Kharv, Bozghan, Sayyed Abad, Sar Chah, Suleymani, Sultan Abad and Eshgh Abad. Nishapur Carpet workshops weaved the biggest Carpets in the world, like carpets of: Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Armenian Presidential Palace, Embassy of Finland in Tehran, Mohammed Al-Ameen Mosque in Oman.

Modern art of carpet in Nishapur began in 1946 after inauguration of a carpet-weaving workshop in a caravansary.

Turquoise masonry
For at least 2,000 years, Iran, known before as Persia, has remained an important source of turquoise, which was named by Iranians initially "pirouzeh" meaning "victory" and later after Arab invasion "firouzeh". As an important source of turquoise, Nishapur has been sometimes referred to as the "city of turquoise" throughout history. In Iranian architecture, the blue turquoise was used to cover the domes of the Iranian palaces because its intense blue color was also a symbol of heaven on earth.

This deposit, which is blue naturally, and turns green when heated due to dehydration, is restricted to a mine-riddled region in Nishapur, the 2012 m mountain peak of Ali-mersai, which is tens of kilometers from Mashhad, the capital of Khorasan province, Iran. Nishapur's turquoise has been sold as souvenirs and jewelry in Nishapur and Mashhad. A weathered and broken trachyte is host to the turquoise, which is found both in situ between layers of limonite and sandstone, and amongst the scree at the mountain's base. These workings, together with those of the Sinai Peninsula, are the oldest known.

Architecture and monuments
A selection of historical buildings and monuments of the city is shown in the city info box on the top of this article, and on the gallery below:

Popular culture

 * Nasir Khusraw saw Nishapur and wrote about it in Safarnama.
 * Abraham Valentine Williams Jackson in "From Constantinople to the home of Omar Khayyam" explain ending of his Travel in Nishapur.

High schools
There are several high schools in the city and the county. The most famous and the oldest of which is Omar Khayyam High School.

Higher education
The University of Neyshabur, Neyshabur University of Medical Sciences (NUMS), the Islamic Azad University of Neyshabur (IAUN), the Payame Noor University of Neyshabur and the Technical and Vocational University of Neyshabur, are the main universities of the city along with several other public and private technical, vocational, and part-time colleges and schools.

Sport centers
Enghelab Sports Complex is an indoor arena in Nishapur. The arena houses Nishapur's basketball, volleyball, and futsal teams. Nishapur has one professional football team, Jahan Electric Nishapur, that competes in the Razavi Khorasan's Provincial Leagues.

Newspaper publishing
General publications in Nishapur includes the weekly and local newspapers. The first local newspaper of Khorasan province is Morning of Nishapur, published since 1989. Others include Shadiakh, published since 2000, Khayyam Nameh, since 2004, Nasim, since 2006, and Far reh Simorgh, since 2010.

Public Broadcasting
IRIB center of Mashhad covers the news of Nishapur.

Printing
Two book publishers working in the city are Klidar & Abar Shahr.

Twin towns – sister cities
Nishapur is twinned with:

 * 🇮🇶 Baghdad, Iraq
 * 🇦🇫 Balkh, Afghanistan
 * 🇮🇶 Basra, Iraq
 * 🇺🇿 Bukhara, Uzbekistan
 * 🇦🇫 Ghazni, Afghanistan
 * 🇦🇫 Herat, Afghanistan
 * 🇹🇳 Kairouan, Tunisia
 * 🇮🇶 Karbala, Iraq
 * 🇺🇿 Khiva, Uzbekistan
 * 🇮🇷 Khoy, Iran
 * 🇹🇯 Khujand, Tajikistan
 * 🇹🇷 Konya, Turkey
 * 🇹🇯 Kulob, Tajikistan
 * 🇹🇲 Merv, Turkmenistan
 * 🇺🇿 Samarkand, Uzbekistan
 * 🇮🇷 Shahin Shahr, Iran

title: Nishapur


text:
Benazir Bhutto International Airport

Benazir Bhutto International Airport (بینظیر بھٹو بین الاقوامی ہوائی اڈے, ) is an airport which formerly served the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area. It was the second-largest airport by air traffic in Pakistan, until 12 May 2021 when it was replaced by the new Islamabad International Airport. Also known as Chaklala Airbase, it was renamed after the late Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto (1953–2007) in June 2008. The airport handled 4,767,860 passengers in 2015–16, compared to 3,610,566 in 2010–11.

The airport was located in the area of Chaklala in Rawalpindi, which neighbours Islamabad. Following the establishment of the new Islamabad International Airport, the airport is no longer used for civil aviation and now forms a part of the adjoining PAF Base Nur Khan (also known as PAF Base Chaklala).

History
In March 2006, Pakistan International Airlines launched a direct flight from Islamabad to Toronto on Boeing 777s. In the fiscal year 2008–2009, over 3,136,664 passengers used the Benazir Bhutto International Airport and 34,025 aircraft movements were registered. The airport served as a hub for the flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines. It was also the hub of Shaheen Air and a focus city of Airblue.

In January 2015, the government launched a Rs. 399 million project to renovate and expand the airport, including the 1700 by taxi way link adjacent to the lone runway of the airport. The renovation was completed by March 2015.

The last flight to depart from this airport was PK791, operated by Pakistan International Airlines, heading for Birmingham, UK which departed at 11:39 AM PST marking the end of scheduled commercial flights to the airport.

New airport
A new airport was constructed in Fateh Jang, Attock District, approximately 20 km west of the twin cities. It was built to replace the existing Benazir Bhutto International Airport in response to increasing air traffic and passenger load. It is now completed, and has become the first greenfield airport in Pakistan and the first to support the landing of an Airbus A380. Built on an area of 3,289 acres, the project consisted of 90 check-in counters and a parking facility for 2,000 vehicles and will cater to an upward of 10 million people every year in its first phase and up to 25 million in the second phase. The terminal includes 15 gates with ten remote gates, a four-star hotel, duty-free shops, two runways, six taxiways, a food court and 42 immigration counters.

The airport is connected to Islamabad via the Srinagar Highway, and Rawalpindi via the GT Road. In April 2022, the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metrobus was expanded to connect the airport with the metropolitan area. The airport was opened for commercial flight operations on 3 May 2018.

Facilities
Benazir Bhutto International Airport was a civil and military airport which handled VIPs as well as scheduled public operations for many airlines. Foreign diplomats, high level government officials as well as military officials were welcomed at this airport.

The airport was only able to handle eleven wide body aircraft at one time, with an additional five parking places for general aviation aircraft. It could not accommodate large aircraft such as the Airbus A380 or the Boeing 747-8. This airport did not have any air bridges installed, so buses took the passengers from the airport terminal to the aircraft, where air stairs were used.

Current status
Since the airport was built on an airbase, the Pakistan Air Force has taken ownership of the apron and old terminal building of the airfield in a similar fashion to when Lahore's Allama Iqbal International Airport moved its terminals.

The runway is expected to remain in use by the PAF in the near future and VIPs and other dignitaries will continue to use the airbase instead of Islamabad International Airport.

General aviation by private companies is also expected to continue to use this airport instead of the new Islamabad International Airport.

Accidents and incidents

 * On 28 July 2010, Airblue Flight 202, a domestic flight from Karachi operated by Airbus A321 AP-BJB, crashed into the Margalla Hills in Islamabad while trying to land at the airport. The aircraft crashed into mountainous and wooded terrain near the city, killing all 152 people on board.
 * On 20 April 2012, a Boeing 737-200 (AP-BKC), Bhoja Air Flight 213, which took off from Karachi's Jinnah International Airport, was destined for Islamabad's Benazir Bhutto International Airport, but crashed near Chaklala, killing all 127 people on board.

title: Benazir Bhutto International Airport


text:
1957 Rugby League World Cup

The 1957 Rugby League World Cup was the second World Cup held for men’s national rugby league teams and was held between 15 and 25 June and hosted by Australia. Table toppers Australia were the winners as there was no Final at this World Cup.

1957 marked the 50th anniversary of rugby league in Australia but the hosts were not confident of their ability to lift the trophy, having capitulated in the Ashes series in England barely seven months previously. Great Britain, under Alan Prescott, and boasting world-class backs such as Billy Boston, Mick Sullivan, Jeff Stevenson and Lewis Jones, and a formidable pack, were expected to win with Jacques Merquey's French side a dark horse.

Best and fairest awards were made to individual nations, the recipients being Gilbert Benausse (France), Brian Carlson (Australia), Phil Jackson (Great Britain) and Bill Sorensen (New Zealand).

Referees
Referee Vic Belsham from New Zealand controlled three matches at the World Cup, including controlling one of New Zealand's matches. New Zealand included his brother Sel at halfback.

Try scorers

 * 3

 * 🇦🇺 Ian Moir
 * 🇦🇺 Kel O'Shea
 * 🇬🇧 Mick Sullivan

 * 2

 * 🇦🇺 Brian Carlson
 * 🇦🇺 Ken McCaffery
 * 🇦🇺 Harry Wells
 * 🇫🇷 Jean Foussat
 * 🇬🇧 Phil Jackson
 * 🇳🇿 Tom Hadfield

 * 1

 * 🇦🇺 Brian Clay
 * 🇦🇺 Bill Marsh
 * 🇦🇺 Dick Poole
 * 🇦🇺 Norm Provan
 * 🇫🇷 Gilbert Benausse
 * 🇫🇷 Jacques Merquey
 * 🇬🇧 Billy Boston
 * 🇬🇧 Jack Grundy
 * 🇬🇧 Lewis Jones
 * 🇬🇧 Sid Little
 * 🇬🇧 Jeffrey Stevenson
 * 🇳🇿 Cliff Johnson
 * 🇳🇿 Bill McLennan
 * 🇳🇿 George Menzies
 * 🇳🇿 Jim Riddell
 * 🇳🇿 Bill Sorensen
 * 🇳🇿 George Turner

title: 1957 Rugby League World Cup