9. Choga Zanbil
The Choga Zanbil is one of the few ziggurats outside of Mesopotamia. The structure was built about 1250 BC to honor the great god Inshushinak. But it also contains eleven temples for lesser gods in the middle area. Thus some scholars believe that the king Untash-Napirisha attempted to create a new religious center which would unite the gods of both highland and lowland Elam at one place. The outer area displays royal palaces and a funerary palace with five subterranean royal tombs. This is the first Iranian site inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979.
