Basmenj

Basmenj باسمنج
city
Basmenj
Coordinates: 37°59′45″N 46°28′29″E / 37.99583°N 46.47472°ECoordinates: 37°59′45″N 46°28′29″E / 37.99583°N 46.47472°E
Country	Iran
Province	East Azerbaijan
County	Tabriz
Bakhsh	Central
Elevation	1,791 m (5,876 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	11,190
Time zone	IRST (UTC+3:30)
• Summer (DST)	IRDT (UTC+4:30)

Basmenj (Persian: باسمنج‎‎; also Romanized as Bāsmenj; also known as Bāsmej and Bāsmīnj)^[1] is a city in the Central District of Tabriz County, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 10,736, in 2,873 families.^[2]

Basmenj is located 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) southeast of Tabriz. It lies at an altitude of 1,791 metres (5,876 ft) and covers an area of 2 square kilometres. The city is best known for its fresh and pickled cucumber.

Naming

From the eighth century the word "Basmenj" occurs in some texts as "uoosbenj", "wahoosphenj", "fahoosphenj" and "esphenj". There were two fire temples many years ago. One of them was "miyarrar" or "miadgah" that was very Sacred and there was an idol called "ENJ". The word "basmenj" derived from the name of this idol; and the word "basme+enj" is formed from the two word "basme" & "enj". The word "basme" means "in the name of" and in other languages including Sanscrit, Old Persian, and medial Persian, the prefix of the words "uoosbenj", "wahoosphenj", "fahoosphenj" and "esphenj" means "in the name of" too. Thus the meaning of "basmenj" is "in the name of ENJ" same the word "in the name of GOD".

References

1. Basmenj can be found at GEOnet Names Server, at this link, by opening the Advanced Search box, entering "-3055738" in the "Unique Feature Id" form, and clicking on "Search Database".
2. "Census of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1385 (2006)". Islamic Republic of Iran. Archived from the original (Excel) on 2011-11-11.