Al-Ahwāz (Pers. Ahvāz) is a city in Khūzistān (a province of southwestern Persia), located at 31° 19' N, 48° 46' E. It is situated on both sides of the Kārūn River (also known as Dujayl, the "small Tigris"), where the river enters the plain after cutting through a chain of sandstone hills that cause rapids that long prevented the river's navigation. The city was probably built on the site of the Achaemenid city of Tareiana, where the royal road connecting Susa with Persepolis crossed the river by a