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Fig. 1462 . View of Zir-e taq. The edge of the
vaulted roof that covers the kucheh can be seen at the top of the
photograph. Shiraz. At the time of Reza Shah a new street called
Khiaban-e Now (New Street) was driven through Shiraz’s mahalleh,
dividing the Jewish residential area into two separate sections.
One continued to be called mahalleh, and the other was referred
to as Zir-e taq (under the dom), so called because many of its
alleys (kucheh), often no wider than a meter, were covered with
a vaulted roof (see fig. 1462). In colloquial parlance, these narrow
side streets were referred to as Ashti-konun (see fig. 1461) --
a term that vaguely translates into “forgive-and-forget” -- because
the passage was so tight that if two estranged friends encountered
each other in them they could not pass by each other without their
bodies touching and would hence be “forced” to resolve
the issue that stood between them. (Courtesy of CIJOH. Photograph
by Prof. Laurence Loeb)
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The culture heroes
Dissimulation and the legacy of Esther’s
children September 16, 2004
iranian.com
Introduction
Esther's
Children: A Portrait of Iranian Jews
by Houman Sarshar
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