Though the world it portrays is fictional (users "time travel" through cartoon landscapes like the Wild West, and ancient Persia), the dilemmas are all real.

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Qanats have proved to be an extraordinarily valuable and sustainable traditional technology, which throughout the historical ages has been transferred from ancient Persia where it originated to numerous countries all over the world, particularly those with arid and semi-arid climates.

UNESCO: Communication and Information

Some 20, 000 pieces--including arms, armour, ceramics, earthenware, seals and decorative arts from ancient Persia, Mamluk Egypt and the Mughal emperors in India and Kuwait of the Bronze Age--were packed in crates and driven to the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad in a 17-lorry convoy.

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He referenced botanical motifs and brocade patterns from civilizations as far back as ancient Greece, and moved up through the Baroque, the Enlightenment and Art Nouveau, taking side trips to Persia, Turkey and China.

WSJ: The Rich Pleasures of Pleats | Fortuny | Spanish Institute | By Laura Jacobs