thus makes it "very likely" that ērānšahr "properly denoted the empire". Next to Darius's inscription, this inscription of Shapur at walls of Ka'ba-ye Zartosht is among the most important inscriptional records. It records parts of Persian-Roman wars and gives "a clear picture of the extent of his empire" by naming of provinces, mentioning religious foundations and mentioning senior officials of the court of Papak, Ardashir and Shapur I. According to the inscription, after death of Shapur's father and his accession, the Roman emperor Gordianus III “marched on Assyria, against Ērānšahr and against us”. Beside the royal title, the term "Eran" was also used as an abbreviation of "Eranshahr" and referred to the empire in the early Sasanian era. In this case the Roman west was correspondingly referred to as “anērān”. As references to empires, Eran and Aneran occur already in a calendrical text from Mānī (dating back probably to Ardashir I's era.) This shorter term "Eran" appears in the names of the towns build by Shapur I and his successors as well as in the titles of several high-ranking administrative officials and military commanders. For the former there are examples such as "Eran-xwarrah-Shapur" (The glory of Eran (of) Shapur), "Eran-ashan-kard-kavad" (Kavad pacified Eran) and for the latter "Eran-amargar" (Accountant-General), ”Eran-dibīrbed" (Chief Secretary), ”Eran-drustbed“ (Chief Medical Officer), ”Eran-hambāragbed" (Commander of the Arsenal), and ”Eran-spāhbed“ (Commander-in-Chief). Kusts of Eranshahr According to the book and as an ancient Iranian tradition, Ērānšahr is divided into four "mythologically and mentally" defined regions or sides called kusts. These parts/regions/sides of the state during and after Khosrow I, on the pattern of the four cardinal points, are (1) Xwarāsān “northeast”; (2) Xwarwarān “southwest”; (3) Nēmrōz “southeast”; and (4) Ādurbādagān “northwest”. The kusts were named diagonally beginning from northeast to southwest, and from southeast to northwest-a style likely following an Old Persian tradition in naming satraps. The usual Middle Persian term "abāxtar" (loanword from MIr.s: abāxtar, abarag <Av.: apāxtara) used for northern direction in ancient Iranian tradition has been avoided in this designation and replaced by the name of their province ādurbādagān. This is believed to be because of "the Zoroastrian association of the north with the abode of evil" which "would be evoked by use of abāxtar". Notes Bibliography Middle Persian literature Geography of the Sasanian Empire Geography books 8th-century books 9th-century books