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Archive

CHARACTER
21st century values

The Persian empire was not really anything to be proud of
Ben Madadi

As long as Iranians link their presence to a very distant huge and powerful empire, this connection bears some responsibilities as well. Mohammad Reza Shah, or the Shah as he is known in the West, was like his father, very keen in exploiting Iran's imperial past, trying to build a nation based on that lost glory. That can easily be the case for many other nations, such a Egypt, Greece, Iraq and so on. What the Shah, his father, and their then entourage actually missed (beyond the dodginess of the link between such a distant past and the modern realities of the Iranian society) was that the Persian empire was not really anything to be proud of.

WEDDING
Picking flowers

"The Persian Wedding": Rituals throughout history
Bijan Moridani

Nâmzad-bâzi (engagement flirtation): There is no married person who does not remember the exciting, wonderful memories of the period of time in which they were engaged. In a culture where any contact between a man and a woman is strictly limited, even after nâmzadi (engagement), this episode, which lasts from the night of the engagement to the actual wedding, is treasured. It usually starts with brief visits, most often in the presence of family members, an exchange of loving looks and occasionally, if they are brave and an opportunity presents itself, stealing a kiss, which is always associated with a feeling of anxiety and excitement...

WORDS
Gerdu

An Iranian love affair
Guive Mirfendereski

The other day I went past the baking section of the supermarket in quest of dried walnut (Persian: gerdu) for the winter salad that I planned to build for our cherished Iranian guests. Unlike them, we hardly entertain, largely because I have such an exaggerated sense of hospitality that usually the thought of entertaining renders me paralytic for an entire day in advance. What adds to my anxiety is also that I will not accept a new invitation from the same people without first reciprocating for their last invite. It is a dance.

HERITAGE
Rich lore of astronomy

Yalda's historical roots
Keyvan Tabari

Marking Yalda -- the rebirth of the sun on the longest night of the year (Shab-e Chelleh) -- has been important for Iranian-Americans since Christmas is the season of special identity crisis for many non-Christians in the United States. We will gain from an affirming celebration of our own. And how felicitous that the mainstream holiday of Christmas is in fact rooted in our Yalda. As we, in turn, inherited much of this tradition from the Babylonians and others, to honor Yalda now is to rejoice in the syncretic heritage of all humanity. Thus, in proclaiming our ethnic contribution we gain acceptance; and that is the best way for us to enter and stay on the public stage of our adopted land.

CULTURE
Yalda

The longest night of the year
Fereidoun Farahandouz

CHARACTER
The Ahmadinejad in us

I am not sure what exactly is it about Mr. Ahmadinejad’s recent anti-Jewish pronouncements that grate on me. Is it his courage that speaks truth to power and all those who have turned the cause of Zionism and Jewish imperialism into a sacred cow? Or is it that he has managed to tear the curtains of hypocrisy and show to the world an elemental aspect of the psyche of majority of Iranians that is decidedly anti-Jew, if not vocal and in public, then in the quiet and private? Or is that his statements make a mockery of each of the three reasons that most Iranians of my generation always offered as evidence that Iranians are not Jew-haters.

ARMS
Artistic warriors

The development of arts and armour in Iran
Manouchehr Moshtagh Khorasani

This book is the result of years of research in the field of Iranian arms and armor, illustrating for the first time a selected array of Iranian arms and armor from ten Iranian museums: the Military Museum Tehran, the Military Museum Shiraz, the Military Museum Bandar Anzali, the National Museum of Iran in Tehran, the Museum Reza Abbasi in Tehran, the Niavaran Palace in Tehran, the Melat Museum in Tehran, the Sabz Museum in Tehran, the Pars Museum in Shiraz, and the Naderi Museum in Mashad. One of the important features of these artifacts is that many bronze items come from controlled excavations, yet some are items confiscated from smugglers on illegal excavations.

HOMOSEXUALITY
Beyond bounds

A brief history of male homosexuality in Islamic culture
Keyan Keihani

The lack of consistent information pertaining to Islam and homosexuality is generating a global indifference in a world where gender norms are deeply internalized. The modern attitude in Islamic countries has not been constructively explored, let alone recognized through a homosexual perspective. In this paper, I will confer the historical significance regarding homosexuality and analyze the contemporary dynamics of gays in Saudi Arabia and Iran while exploring the belief that it is not the existence of same-sex sexual relations that is new, but rather their association with essentialist sexual identities. Furthermore, I will derive parallels from within the Saudi Arabian and Iranian penal codes and note their prevalence with regards to Islamic law.

HERITAGE
Decolonizing Persian history

Review of British Museum's "Forgotten Empire" exhibit
Touraj Daryaee

"The Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia" exhibition at the British Museum and the subsequent publication of the volume with the same name is a welcome addition to the study of Achaemenid civilization. With this work J. Curtis and N. Tallis have made an effort to bring balance to the realities of the ancient world, demonstrating the immense importance of one of the greatest empires in antiquity. Ancient Persia and its history are rarely discussed on its own terms and importance and when done, it is usually as only an appendix or a footnote to Greek history. This is true of the textbooks in grade schools to the universities in the United States, and I suspect in most other countries. The reason for their marginal role in history books is that most of the sources that have remained provide a skewed vision of the ancient world.

MEMOIR
A man of many worlds

Ghasem Ghani's diaries and memoirs
Excerpt

Dr. Ghani's reflective writings offer a profoundly civilized insight into the great changes that took place inside Iran during the first half of the 20th century. Ghani was born and brought among the educated elite of Sabezevar. a remote, traditional, even medieval city on the edge of the desert. His lifelong quest for useful knowledge and understanding let him into the heart of the continuing political and social turmloil in Tehran, where he became a lifetime friend and advisor to the leaders of Iran from Reza Shah to Mossadegh.

HERITAGE
Persia reinstated

Scholastic Inc. reverses decision to exclude Persia from Ancient Civilization section of "The New Book of Knowledge"
David N. Rahni

In response to concerns expressed by the academic, scholarly and Iranian communities worldwide, the majority of which were from the U.S., Scholastic, Inc. has revised the article Ancient Civilizations in its 2006 twenty volume, The New Book of Knowledge so as to ensure that the Ancient Persia (Iran) is included both in its text, its chronological pictorial Timeline and map, in addition to the existing coverage under Persia in Volume P. This outcome is the result of a dialogue between a few community leaders, and Scholastic, Inc. representatives.

LANGUAGE
Farewell, Dehkhoda!

A few days ago, I repacked the 50-volume collection into my car and drove it to Sabatico’s house. Letting go was hard to do...
Guive Mirfendereski

One summer morning we drove to the customs clearance office on the wharf and began loading the crates into my hatchback. Among them, a few boxes were particularly heavy and upon examination I learned that they comprised a 50-volume collection known as the Loghat-Nameh, the encyclopaedia of the Farsi language. It was begun by Ali Akbar Dehkhoda and finished years later by a cast of notable Iranian literati, lexicologists and linguists. As parts of the Loghat-Nameh were being printed and published in fascicles, Sabatico’s father had them bound into volumes. The result was a magnificent and ornate series. As Sabatico’s one-bed room rental apartment at the time was too tight for the new cargo from Europe, he had rented a storage space in town. I shuddered at the thought of the Loghat-Nameh ending up in that damp and dark environment. So, I offered to house the tomes at my house until Sabatico could find a more suitable space for them.

BOOK
History in short

New book: A Concise History Of Iran
Saeed Shirazi

Persian history and mythology form a fundamental identity of Iranians. It is imperative for our younger Iranian generation to know about Iran’s historic strong points and weaknesses. Our newer generations outside of Iran can hopefully benefit from history books that can give them most of this information. Living among different cultures, children of Iranian descent have the chance to become positively better human beings by first knowing East before appreciating West.

NEW YORK
The Met

Photo essay: New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art
>>> Ancient Persia/Near East
Jahanshah Javid

HERITAGE
Wine good and fine

The art of wine in ancient Persia
Touraj Daryaee

The history of wine making and wine drinking is an old one in Persia, and today the Darioush vineyard in the Napa Valley which has become renowned in the art of wine making, is attempting to revive this tradition in the United States. Wine connoisseurs today may be familiar with the word Shiraz, the name of a town in southwest Persia famed for its grapes.

PICTORY
Comic grandeur

Comic book about history of Pahlavis
Ramin Tork

ARCHITECTURE
Forgotten wateropolis

Photo essay: Founded by Shapur II in 250CE, Qazvin is a city rich in unnoticed architectural gems
Nima Kasraie

To begin with, archeological findings in the Qazvin plain reveal the existence of urban agricultural settlements as far back as 7000BCE. The name "Qazvin" or "Kasbin" is derived from Cas, an ancient tribe that lived south of the Caspian Sea millennia ago. The Caspian Sea itself in fact derives its name from the same origin. With the gradual growth of the city, wells and qanats could no longer respond to the needs of the locals. That is when some wealthy residents started building private reservoirs called ab anbars. These sub-level spaces were connected to the city's qanat network and were filled by someone called a meerab. It was he who was responsible for distributing the qanat network.

HERITAGE
Civil empire

At it’s Zenith the Persian empire ruled over 30 countries which paid tribute to it
Cyrus Raft

Mr. Jonathan Jones author of article “The Evil Empire” is a man of ignorance and obviously biased of historical facts and documentations.  It is evident he does not know anything about history.  His subject as far as I know is art and for some reason he fancies Greeks and praises them. Mr. J. Jones does not have any knowledge of ancient Persia and does not know how much Persians have contributed towards world civilisation.  Here I have dealt with facts and reality avoiding historical exaggeration and fiction which one can easily discern in the books written by the military victors. Even a renowned historian such as Herodotus who contributed a considerable amount of information with regards to ancient Persian and Greek history has injected his personal imagination into his accounts.

LANGUAGE
For the love of P

Farsi is not Arabic
Guive Mirfendereski

To be able to stand in the public square for any extended period of time and express oneself requires that one be poust-koloft (thick-skinned) and porru (cheeky). Notice how both these Persian words begin with the letter “p.” Today, I would like to examine the place of this sound in the Persian language and why the Iranian hyper-nationalists are wrong to build their entire identity on the power of “p” at the exclusion of its naturally occurring substitute “f” in the Persian language itself. I take the view that the word “Farsi” is Persian and that the occurrence of the sound “f” in the word “Farsi” came about as the result of the Persian language’s own survival mechanism – its own rules of sound substitution -- and, therefore, Farsi is not Arabic.

PICTORY
Comic grandeur

1977 comic book on Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi's reign
Ramin Tork

OBITUARY
Hidden force

Saadi Diba never lost his zeal for Iran, but had lost hope for any chances for his countrymen to ever be directed to the righteous path of democracy
Mahmoud Ghaffari

Mohandes Saadi Diba passed away in Geneva Switzerland on September 24th, 2005.  Although the Tabatabi Dibas have a long and distinguished lineage within the Iranian history, their prominence into Iran’s 20th century politics and their sudden visibility was due to the marriage of Her Majesty Empress Farah Diba to the Late Shahanshah of Iran. Diba was the uncle of her Majesty Shahbanou Farah.  Diba once said “the Diba’s had for centuries been involved with politics only from behind the scenes.  They masterfully organized and shaped events whilst being the hidden force to the ruling Shahs. 

LANUGUAGE
Beyond far and good

Faraatar & behtar
Guive Mirfendereski

The English word “far” derives from the Original Teutonic (German) root fer, which in Old Aryan was per and in Sanskrit appeared as paras, meaning distant or beyond. In Darius the Great’s time the word para also meant (away from or beyond). Hence we read in his inscriptions [DPh, DNa] about his empire stretching from para Sugda (beyond Sogdia) and about his subjects the Saka para draya (Scythians beyond sea). The sounds vara and bara both represent variants of para in the pre-Islamic Persian languages.

MEMOIR
Nuclear dreams

The late shah of Iran's attempt to obtain access to the nuclear technology and knowhow
Abolfath Mahvi

HISTORY
Persian passion

If motion and emotion were the only yardsticks to measure art by, then a painting of “Dogs playing poker“ would be superior to the Mona Lisa
Manesh

Jonathan Jones’ review of the Ancient Persian exhibit at the British Museum is a bit  bizarre, to say the least.   How is it that an art critic goes to look at some  (very) ancient Persian relics at a museum, and comes out lecturing about modern “Western political theory”?  I think what he is saying is quite interesting to Persians.  If you understand his central point, which has little to do with art, archeology, or history, you’ll start to see why Persia has been treated like the Rodney Dangerfield of world civilizations: no respect. His main point is to reassert Persia’s role in Western civilization as the original “evil empire”. 

HERITAGE
Bloghestaane Sa'di

Sa'di's blog entry about the Sivand Dam and the debate over preserving Iran's heritage
Gahrib Ghorbati

LANGUAGE
Labor of lab

What if the giving of lip-kiss “lab dadan” and receiving of it “lab ghereftan” served the religiosity of some distant time by covering the true desire of the participants -- to engage in carnal relations?
Guive Mirfendereski

I went into the Labor Day weekend with a nagging question in mind: Could there be a connection between the Persian lab (lip) and English/Latin labiapudendi meaning “the lips of the female pudendum, the folds on either side of the vulva.” If so, then the most significant etymological discovery of our time would be at hand – love equals vagina! By the time I came out of Labor Day weekend, I had my answer, but not without the inspiring contribution of Lake Habeeb to my thinking process. Once there, I let my filthy imagination run wild with lab and labia. It is obvious to most that a woman’s horizontal lips in the penthouse resembles the vertically oriented lips located at the foyer.

SHORTS
The World of Ancient Persia: British Museum
Peyvand Khorsandi writes: Forgotten Empire is an apt name for an exhibition of ancient Iranian artifacts sponsored by BP, which started life as The Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, the most prominent symbol of British imperial interest in Iran. Anglo-Iranian’s successor, the National Petrochemical Company is backing the event, along with Bank Melli and Iran’s Cultural Heritage & Tourism Organisation, all under the umbrella of London’s Iran Heritage Foundation. Still, it is a fascinating exhibition, if in a cramped space, especially if you want to transmit notions of Persian historical grandeur to your children and ensure that they grow up knowing their ancient royals had some serious tupperware. (In an age when the Queen Elizabeth takes breakfast from plastic containers that's no small thing.) One of the most memorable exhibits, however, is in fact Greek: a goblet shaped like the head of a bearded Persian man. It is also a wonder to learn that the famous Cyrus cylinder is barely bigger than a bar of soap. Visitors to the event were largely non-Iranian. Needless to say, the Iranians there tolerated them and accepted their practices.

RIGHTS
Naghd-e "Bahaiat dar Iran"

A review of a book published on the history of the Bahai faith in Iran
Kavian Sadeghzadeh Milani

HERITAGE
Wish there was more time

Perhaps all of us can also hope that the date for the Sivand Dam flooding can be postponed beyond this coming spring -- and that at least one more round of rescue excavations can take place
David Stronach

The Sivand Dam project is not intended to flood the precious site of Pasargadae (which thanks to the efforts of the Iranian Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization was named as a World Heritage Site just over a year ago) nor will it flood the extremely important site of Persepolis, which lies over 35 km downstream from the dam. If archaeologists could have their way all dams would be situated in remote areas with no cultural significance whatsoever. But since the distribution of water and the distribution of human settlement have always been inseparable, perhaps especially in Iran, hydrological priorities and archaeological priorities are always likely to clash to some extent.

HERITAGE
Cyrus can rest in peace

Pasargadae and rumors about the dangers of Sivand Dam
Ali Mousavi

Recently a rumor has been spread among Iranians, especially those who live outside Iran, that the World Heritage site of Pasargadae and even Persepolis will be drowned after Sivand dam in Fras is put into service next year. The 160-hectar site of Pasargadae, the first capital of the Achaemenid empire, was inscribed on the World Heritage List of UNESCO in June 2004, and has been since a World Heritage site. As the person who prepared and compiled the World Heritage file for Pasargadae under the supervision of Dr. Chahryar Adle in cooperation with the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization of Iran, I had to visit and record all the ancient remains in the plain of Murqab -- where the site is located – including the 18-kilometer Tang-e Bulaqi that stretches like a canyon between Pasargadae and Sivand.

PERSIA
So much for Mr. Jones

Where does such deep antagonism toward the Persian Empire originate from?
Zohreh Khazai Ghahremani

Enjoying a peaceful last quarter of my life, it now takes a lot to make me angry. Having graduated from London University and familiar with the crafty ways of a few Brits, I should have known that if anyone could make my blood boil, it would be one of them! I am referring to a shameless article by Jonathan Jones in The Guardian, The Evil Empire, dated September 8. Considering that half the world refers to the Brits that way, I wanted to know who had dared to insult a power that, despite its small country, continues to manipulate the world.

HISTORY
The Saka nomenclature

A Persian appraisal
Guive Mirfendereski

Like a hot wind of the high hills... he cometh up as clouds... his chariots ... as the whirlwind, his horses ... swifter than eagles. -- Thus prophesized Jeremiah of Judea around 627 BC. In about 625 BC the horsemen known to the Assyrians as Iskhuzai and Greeks as Skythos or Skutai (Scythian) invaded Syria and Judea and would press as far south as Egypt. This essay examines the nomenclature of the nation known to Darius I the Great (r. 522-486 BC) as Saka and it is based primarily on the words and images contained in Darius' records. Where there is need for extrinsic evidence or material to illustrate a point, I shall rely on other Achaemenian records and on Herodotus.

FOOD
Nuts about fruits

What fruits and nuts to eat in ancient Persia?
Touraj Daryaee

If you are Persian there is a 99.9% chance that at least once or probably many times you have heard these sayings: "Eat some fruit..." "Should I peel a cucumber for you?" "Have some pistachios..." In this brief essay I would like to go back in time and see what fruits were eaten in ancient Persia and look at the way in which the Persians looked at fruits and how they classified them in antiquity. I believe these matters often are neglected in Persian Studies and need to be elucidated from the fragmentary evidence that exists for the period to better shed light on the culture of Persia.

HERITAGE
Sensationalism vs. Rationalism

The Sivand Dam: political sensationalism vs. archaeological rationalism
Kamyar Abdi

I must stress that hundreds of archaeological sites are being destroyed every day as a result of construction work or illicit excavations, not in Iran alone, but all around the world. In the past quarter of century, thousands of archaeological sites have been lost in Iran alone. For instance, eight years of war with Iraq took a heavy toll on archaeological sites in western Iran, a major loss that very few people noticed or paid attention to. Even right now, many other dams are being built all over Iran, but most of them either lack a salvage archaeology component, or it is meager compared to that of the Sivand dam. The Sivand dam and Tang-e Bolaghi is a case that gained exposure, exactly for the opposite reason, because it was one of the handful of examples that has been given a chance through salvage excavations and airtime in media.

HERITAGE
Faaje'eyeh melli

The Sivand dam project is a national disaster
Shokooh Mirzadegi & Esmail Nooriala

TRAVELERS
Jaja Fortress

Photos essay: Seljuk era remains outside Isfahan
Abbas Soltani

These are photos of the Jaja Fortress which is in the village of Jaja which is also locally known as Chaja. It is located about 100 kms outside of Isfahan past Najababad and Tiran. This fortress, from what I heard, dates back to the Seljuk era (11th to 13th century). It's in pretty bad shape as the roof has collapsed and caved in so you really are walking on the roof. s

REVOLUTION
Brigaade ghazzaagh

A review of of Ervand Abrahamian's Iran Between Two Revolutions
Ali Shahandeh

HERITAGE
Drowning in noise

Iranian experts say Pasargadae will not be drowned. But what do they know? The British know better!
Touraj Daryaee

Unfortunately, everything that is done in Persian Studies has taken a political dimension. Fear of reprisals is making it difficult to say what seems to be the truth in research. It would have been easy for me to get on the bandwagon and rise up my banner (alam) and say “Oh people our beloved tomb of Cyrus is in danger.” If it was the case, I would not scream from abroad. I would go down to Pasargadae and defend it with my life and they would have to kill me before they flood the place. But my scientific obligation tells me to judge based on facts and the facts say that it will not be flooded.

HERITAGE
Not expendable

Pasargad "safe and sound"? You must be joking!
Shokooh Mirzadegi & Esmail Nooriala

It seems very strange to us that these gentlemen have decided to emphatically shoulder the flag of defending IRI’s irresponsible action of building this dam without any prior planning for offsetting the dangers posed by it to our historical heritage. They are employing old tricks - such as referring to fake archeological stories - to degrade the present debate, calling it a politically motivated and sensationalist action. We actually wonder if their own position and stand in this letter is void of such labels. In fact, by bluntly refuting the possibility of any future damage to Pasargad site by the lake that will eventually take shape behind the Sivand Dam, they are now partners in crime with the Islamic republic, in whatever that happens in the future.

HERITAGE
Safe & sound

Sivand dam is posing NO threat to Pasargadae
Touraj Daryaee & Kamyar Abdi

Not only the Sivand dam is posing NO threat to Pasargadae, but it has proven to be the first opportunity for Iranian and foreign archaeologists to collaborate on a salvage project since the 1979 Revolution, discovering valuable and important information relevant to Achaemenid and other periods of occupation in the region. Unfortunately, those who do not know about these matters and only have political agendas have rallied the people to an ill-informed cause. This reminds us of the finding of the so-called MUMIFIED PERSIAN QUEEN" Rhodogoune" which appeared to be a fake from the beginning, except to those how wanted to make it a political issue or create sensationalism.

LANGUAGE
Sweet Farsi

It is any Farsi-speaking person’s god-given right to call his or her language Farsi in any language
Guive Mirfendereski

I honestly do not give a flying fuck what a foreigner thinks of how I choose to refer to my mother tongue, the state language (lingua franca) of my birthland, as we all refer to it among ourselves, regardless of what language I express myself in. Last time I checked we all learned and still do learn Farsi, we sat or sit through interminable Farsi classes and not once anyone said or says that we should be doing some "pershan" today. To ask me to do otherwise is like asking me to call a khiyar Cucumis sativas when I write about mast-o-khyar for an English-reading audience.

LANGUAGE
Lovely word

Next time when I say “I love you” to an English-speaking person I will do so with the reminder that the word “love” is of Persian origin
Guive Mirfendereski

This summer, I learned about the origin of the word “love.” It is an Indo-Iranian word. I would think that in Old Persian luvu or lubu would have existed as a word for love or desire. In the Slavic language of southern Russia, which was influenced by the Median and Scythian (Saka) languages, the word for love is lubov. The word lobat in contemporary Farsi applies to a beautiful woman and, despite the Arabicization of its orthography, could have derived from libet of Old Aryan/Old Persian. I wonder also if the word lavat (love between two men, sodomy) too belongs to this group of Sanskrit/Old Aryan leubh family of words.

burying history
* Farhad Heyrani: Sivand Dam will bury Pasargad and other ancient remains
* Related article: The Guardian

HISTORY
Walled city

Photo essay: Izadkhast in Fars Province
Abbas Soltani

Two years ago, as I was driving on my way to Shiraz to see Persepolis and Pasargade, I noticed this fortress that dates back from the Sassanian era (224-651 CE) in the Shahr-Reza area in a small village/town called Izadkhast, which is also known az Yazdekhast. So, I made a point to go there on my next trip. So, two years later, I made it to Izadkhast. The fortress is actually much bigger than I had imagined and going inside it, I can tell you that it's easily a walled city.

LESSONS
Miraase Mossadegh

Mossadegh's legacy and today's struggle for a secular democracy
Ramin Kamran
Full text pdf

DIPLOMAT
Signed, sealed & delivered

Casting the affirmative vote for Iran in approving the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948
Fereydoun Hoveyda

It was past midnight December 10, 1948, in the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations, in the Palais de Chaillot, place du Trocadero in Paris. The President 's tired voice pattered in the microphone: "52 in favor, none against, 8 abstentions. Adopted ". The rasping of his gavel was covered by a burst of applause, mainly in the public and press areas. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights had just been approved. As a the Iranian delegate looking back at that historic night I can affirm with absolute certainty that despite what cynics believed in 1948, events have vindicated the Declaration. Rights are as global as the economy and the flow of information.

REVIEW
The transparent sphinx

Political biography and the question of intellectual responsibility
Afshin Matin-Asgari

Abbas Milani’s The Persian Sphinx is an ambitious and sophisticated undertaking, easily the most outstanding example in the genre of twentieth-century Iranian political biographies. Moreover, its controversial topic, engaging style, and readable prose make it appealing and accessible to an audience beyond academia. Any such work is by definition controversial and provocative, but Milani’s book requires special critical attention because of its potential impact, particularly on the non-specialist public at large. While it has much merit, The Persian Sphinx is ultimately a disappointing work because Milani has injected strong doses of political bias into his historical reconstruction.

HISTORY
Touching god

Visiting Darius and Ahuramazda at Behistun Inscription was as close to a religious experience that I have ever had
Touraj Daryaee

I climbed up until I was face to face with Darius, king of kings. My heart was beating evermore faster as I looked into his eyes, and saw the details of his beautifully curled beard, the earlobes and his golden crown. It was a magnificent work of art, but it was much more than that. It showed a confident king of kings, at ease and at peace in the face of a great revolt which shook his young empire. But the most exciting moment of my life was when I TOUCHED GOD.

WOMEN
Haramsaraahaaye mashregh zamin

Harems of the East
Hossein Nushazar

HERO
Voytek

The Iranian soldier-bear of Monte Cassino
Ryszard Antolak

After the Battle of Monte Cassino, one of the fiercest and bloodiest conflicts of the Second World War, many accounts emerged of the bravery and heroism of the soldiers. But perhaps the strangest story of all was of an Iranian brown bear who served alongside the allied soldiers in the worst heat of the battle. Despite the incessant bombardment and constant gunfire, the bear carried vital supplies of ammunition and food to his fellow-soldiers fighting on the mountainside. Many observers who witnessed his remarkable actions doubted the reality of what they were seeing. But the story was no legend.

LIFE
Azinja moondeh, azoonja roondeh

For all bi-cultural Iranians who feel they don't really belong anywhere
Mahsa Meshki

Sami beckoned to the waiter to bring over an ashtray. He lit a cigarette and took a sip of his cappuccino. He looked at Nousha and said, "I am so confused Noush, azinja moondeh azoonjan roondeh ... Do you ever get the feeling that we don't belong anywhere? When my parents sent me to the West I was a child of 12 years. With my dark features and strange name I became a hermit in a strange land trying to make sense of what had happened. Looking back, I don't know how I got through it. The other day my mom told me to be careful when I cross the street. It made me laugh and cry at the same time. Parents can be such a nuisance."

SHIRAZ
Enduring kindness

What is in this magical word Shiraz that makes everyone sit up and take notice?
Reza Bayegan

Is it the poetry, the wine or the fabulous gardens? Is it Shiraz’s proximity to the ruins of Persepolis or Cyrus’s tomb in Pasargad awakening in us a reverence for the roots of our civilized humanity? What is in Shiraz’s land and water that makes it different from any other place? It has a soil not in any way unique. The oxygen one breathes there is like any other oxygen. The trees and vegetation are not that different from those found in a land of similar climate. And still we know that Shiraz evokes in us feelings and sensations that no other place is able to.

GEOGRAPHY
Unveiling Ashuradeh and Absukun

Searching for the origins of names off the southeast corner of the Caspian Sea
Guive Mirfendereski

On any given day, the quaint porch of Whole Foods provides an adequate vantage point for watching the bustle along Main Street in Orleans, Cape Cod. On this 4th of July the deck of the grocery store served us as an observation post for a very folksy parade celebrating the declaration of independence, crass commercialism and individual liberty. Half-hour into the proceeding, I began to muse involuntarily about the etymological origin of the word “parade.” The word has a significant meaning for boys of my generation who paced up and down Shah Reza Avenue waiting for the right moment to buy a censored copy of a girly magazine called “Parade.”

RIGHTS
The Mandaeans

The persecution of a minority in Iran
Amnesty International - Australia

The Mandaeans (known also as Sabians in Arabic) are followers of John the Baptist. They fled East from the Jordan Valley in approximately A.D. 70 and settled in what is now Southern Iraq and South Western Iran. Since the Islamic conquest in the seventh century they have suffered savage persecution by Moslem groups. This persecution has periodically varied in intensity. At present the Mandaean community is estimated to be approximately 5,000-10,000 in Iran.

PRESS ATTACHÉ
Embassy magazine

In 1960s the tools were an IBM typewriter, lots of glue and a ruler for the galleys
Farhad Sepahbody

These were the days, my friend. Following four years in the boring but picturesque city of Bern, Switzerland and then a stay of two years in Tehran at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in 1961 I finally got an a new assignment at the Embassy of Iran in Washington D.C., where I had studied a decade before at Geogetown University's School of Foreign Service. America here I come!

ASSASSIN
Baazbiniye yek estentaaghiyeh

A personality study of Nasseredin Shah's assassin, Mirza Reza Kermani and the political fall out
Tooraj Amini

LANGUAGE
More caviar, please
And other afterthoughts
Guive Mirfendereski

GEOGRAPHY
Unveiling Ashuradeh and Absukun
Searching for the origins of names off the southeast corner of the Caspian Sea
Guive Mirfendereski

HISTORY
History, in depth?
We don't have one tenth of the amount of information we have about the economy of Britain or France for Iran
Khodadad Rezakhani

LANGUAGE
Kneading a meaning
Etymology of caviar
Guive Mirfendereski

ESSAY
Bileh dig, bileh choghondar
Extraordinary insight into the Iranian character
Mohammad Ali Jamalzadeh

ETHNIC
The melting pot
Like the EU, our region needs to think of an economic union and open trade routes instead of sticking to futile and counterproductive racist ideas
Hirad Dinavari

ETHNIC
Turk khodeti
Azaris are not Turks. They are Iranians who speak Turkish
Keyvan Valizadeh

HISTORY
Done & buried
Saka tombs in Iran
Guive Mirfendereski

IRAN
Damaged
I can't hold on to the glorious past when the present is rotting before my eyes
Lobat Asadi

HISTORY
The Saka legacy
... in ancient Iran
Guive Mirfendereski

HOMOSEXUALITY
HamjensGARAA
Evolving Iranian homosexual lexicon
Jahangir Shirazi

PRISON
Responses to state terror
Reflections on Iran’s prison system during the Montazeri years
Maziar Behrooz

MOSSADEGH
Long ago
Interview with Barbara Waller, widow of Operation AJAX man in 1953
Fariba Amini

RELIGION
The good teachings
Monotheism & equality of the sexes, and conversion of faith in Zoroastrianism
Maneck Bhujwala

HIGH TIMES
Homavarka
The potheads of ancient Iran
Guive Mirfendereski

IRAN-IRAQ WAR
Thesis
For University of California, Berkeley, History degree
Mazi (Mazyar) Bahadori

MAP
West Asian
From "Middle East" to Near West then to Middle West then to "Far East" and now to Far West in search of a centre
Vida Kashizadeh

RELIGION
Equal? Please...
Zoroastrian women have not always been on equal footing with men
Maziar Shirazi

GEOGRAPHY
Band and Vand -- Reappraisal
Mountain majesties of Iran
Guive Mirfendereski

GEOGRAPHY
The riddle of Abvand
Mountain majesties of Iran, Part 2
Guive Mirfendereski

RELIGION
Pouruchista
Equality of men and women in Zarathushtra’s original teachings is well recognized
Dina G. McIntyre

PUBLIC SERVANT
A woman for all seasons
In memory of Farrokhrou Parsa
Ardavan Bahrami

GEOGRAPHY
From Ardebil to Ardeville
The mystery of the names of Ardebil & Birjand
Guive Mirfendereski

FOOD
Goudar gourmet
Roast pork from northern Iran
Guive Mirfendereski

REVIEW
Samadiyat-e Sayyad
Parviz Sayyad's book and statement in defense of Salman Rushdie
Ramin Kamran

RELIGION
Not that old hat again
From the daughter of Ahriman to the rib of Adam
Vida Kashizadeh

CHEERS
Of wine and war
Party time in ancient Iran
Guive Mirfendereski

IDENTITY
On the Aryan trail
Honest discussion of Iranian identity is essential to building a prosperous future for Iran
Mohammad R. Jahan-Parvar

LANGUAGE
Cohen kohan
Hebrew and Persian
Farhad M.

LANGUAGE
When "kaboud" is not
Illusions of color
Guive Mirfendereski

FREE SPEECH
Bayaani-ye 50 nafari
Statement by 50 Iranian writers and artists in defense of Salman Rushdie
From 1992

FREE SPEECH
Bogzaarid mardom beh kaar o zendegishaan beresand
One of the first articles in defense of Salman Rushdie in Persian (1989)
Ramin Kamran

KHUZESTAN
Al-Fiction
Al-Ahwazi's claims show the diabolic legacy of Saddam lives on
Nima Kasraie

REVOLUTION
For children's sake
Parents, children and the 1979 Revolution
Lobat Asadi

MINORITIES
Buried treasure
A review of "Zoroastrian Houses of Yazd" by Mary Boyce
Ryszard Antolak

BOOK
A love letter to Iran
Fasten your seat belts. You are going to meet the most notable Iranology scholars of the 20th century
Majid Tehranian

BOOK
Time tells
Former Mojahed tries to come clean
Farid Parsa

IDENTITY
Are Iranians really Aryans?
That's not important. We should find common grounds based on respect, understanding, and finally, freedom -- not race
Ben Madadi

GEOGRAPHY
Plain of paradise
Origins of Fenderesk
Guive Mirfendereski

REVIEW
Cheraagh-e haghighat... nakhaahad mord
A reply to Iraj Mesdaghi prison memoirs "Nah zeestan, nah marg"
Hamneshine Bahar

HISTORY
Amir Abbas Hoveyda's memoirs
* Years of youth
* University years
* Military service
* World War II

LANGUAGE
Modern Persian
New books with audio CD
Donald Stilo, Kamran Talattof and Jerome Clinton

HISTORY
The glorious Gutians
Historic Kurdistan as ancient Gutium
Samar Abbas

LANGUAGE
Iranians speak Persian
The English called it Persian, the French Persane, the Germans Persisch, the Italians Persano, the Russians Persiska. So should we.
Khodadad Rezakhani

GEOGRAPHY
Greater Iran
Federated commonwealth of Iranian states
Nima Kasraie

OPINION
Distant stars
Welcome to the wasteland of Persian intellectual history
Fouad Kazem

POLITCS
Fresh look back
Iran-U.S. relations in 1977
Mahmoud Foroughi

HISTORY
The shah and the people
Part 2: A tentative sketch of the Shah's personality
Afshin Afshari

ESSAY
Death & rebirth
An essay on the 1979 Revolution for English class
Jahanshah Javid

CULTURE
The other terror
Part Two: The art scene
Fatema Soudavar Farmanfarmaian

HISTORY
The other terror
Part One: How real is the threat to Persian culture if those who are fanning separatism succeed?
Fatema Soudavar Farmanfarmaian

FORGERY
Faking Yazdgerd
Anti-Arab forgery
Khodadad Rezakhani

WOMEN
Ups and (mostly) downs
Women and freedom in Iran
Masoud Kazemzadeh

HISTORY
Start reading
Resources on Ancient Iranian history
Ali Yadegar

OUTCAST
Khaaneh hanooz siaah ast
My life as a leper
Shahram Farhangi

CULTURE
My journey with the Shahnameh
Turning Rostam into an American comic hero
Behrouz Bahmani

LANGUAGE
Persian today
Questions and answers
Fouad Kazem

NATIONALISM
More than green, white, and red
History of the Iranian flag
Davood N. Rahni

OBITUARY
Amin-ol-Molk
Manoucher Marzban was able to voyage the world in search of other cultures and sacrosanct beliefs
Mahmoud Ghaffari

RELIGION
Sohrawardi
Restoration of Mazdean motifs in Islamic Iran
Afshin Afshari

POLITICS
We are the outsiders
Interview with Khosrow Seif, leader of Mellat Iran Party
Fariba Amini

RELIGION
Spirit matter
Mani and Manichaeaism
Mehrak Golestani

28 MORDAD
Finding Mossadegh
Reconstructing the story of a coup that changed history
Masoud Kazemzadeh

HISTORY
The shah and the people
Part One: The life
Afshin Afshari

>>> History archive

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