India, April 5 -- Today, lions are either identified with Africa or with India's Gir Forest. They do occur in the history of the Roman Empire, in stories from the Bible's Old Testament, in Mesopotamian cultures from West Asia like Babylon and Assyria. However, the lion also plays a key role in the cultures and history of what is today Iran.

Indeed, the world's second largest has been Iran's very symbol for millennia. The Lion-and-Sun symbol has been used for centuries by Iranian monarchs or Shahenshahs as symbols of their authority.

In Illuminating an empire: Solar symbolisms in Mughal Art and Architecture, Robin Thomas notes that the lion in itself was an ancient symbol of royalty in both Persia.

But first, let us understand why the l...