خلاصة:
This article seeks to answer the question of what the name Isfahan means and on what basis it was chosen to refer to this geographical region. To answer this question, all existing hypotheses were collected, and the supporting arguments for each of these hypotheses were evaluated. These hypotheses are, in order: Ispah not, Asb Khan, Isfahan bin Faluj bin Sam bin Noah, Asaf-han, Sepahan, Ostabanan, Aspadana, Ispahan, Sag (Dog), and Ispan. Each of these hypotheses has been evaluated separately, and ultimately, the author prefers the 'Sag' (Dog) hypothesis over the others. Finally, relying on the hypothesis of Hamzeh Isfahani, this suggestion is supported that 'Sepah' (Army) and 'Sag' (Dog) may have simultaneously been the roots of this city's name.
ملخص الجهاز:
The explanation is that this statement should have been issued in Hebrew, Babylonian, or Old Persian, but these words do not convey the intended meaning in any of the mentioned languages; therefore, this etymology cannot be accepted.
On the other hand, Isfahan was not a good environment for breeding horses, and in none of the ancient historical sources has a large cavalry force been attributed to this city.
Abu Bakr Ahmad bin Muhammad, known as Ibn al-Faqih al-Hamadani, in the third century AH, in the book Al-Buldan, refers to an individual named "Isfahan bin Faluj bin Sam bin Noah" and considers this mythological narrative as the reason for the attribution of the name Isfahan.
If we accept the word 'Isfahan' with a kasra or fat-ha on the Alif, according to linguistic rules, it would mean a place where there is no army.
Ispahan Yaqut says in the book Mu'jam al-Buldan: "Isfahan is a compound name from 'asb' (horse) in the Persian language and 'han', which in the Persian language attributes something to a land" (Yaqut al-Hamawi, 1995: 1/207) Asp is a word that, besides Yaqut al-Hamawi, Mohammad Mehryar has also referred to as the root of the name Isfahan.
Based on ancient writings, the Azar Tower, which is known in Greek as Centaurus, is attributed to the city of Isfahan.
The current research accepts Hamza Isfahani's hypothesis regarding the dog as the totem of Isfahan and, consequently, the source of the city's name.
(
, 
, 
)
