Research Paper
Samin Espargham; Abu-al-Ghasem Ghavam; Samira Bameshki
Volume 8, Issue 2 , February 2019, Pages 1-19
Abstract
In fairy tales, pregnancies and births, like other incidents and elements of this genre, have supernatural and transformed forms. This paper examines the diverse types of supernatural pregnancies and births in Iranian fairy tales. With the help of Claude Levi Strauss's structural mythology, these fairy ...
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In fairy tales, pregnancies and births, like other incidents and elements of this genre, have supernatural and transformed forms. This paper examines the diverse types of supernatural pregnancies and births in Iranian fairy tales. With the help of Claude Levi Strauss's structural mythology, these fairy tales are analyzed structurally, and they are compared with myths of Iran and the two neighboring lands, India and Mesopotamia, which have cultural and historical bonds with Iran. Thus, the structural similarities of pregnancy and birth in Iranian fairy tales with these myths are discussed. Finally, with respect to the common mythemes of these narratives, the structural model of them is determined, criticized and analyzed on the basis of the signs and symbols in the narratives. The comparative study of these stories and myths reveals that the unconventional forms of pregnancy and birth are in fact mythical forms, transformed over time and presented in various forms in fairy tales. These fairy tales represent infertility/fertility and natural world/supernatural world binary oppositions and the attempts to resolve them. In these narratives, the confrontation is often resolved with the help of supernatural mediators. Such supernatural pregnancies and births are peculiar to the heroes of fairy tales. They connect the heroes to the other worlds from the first moment of their creation, reveal their superhuman and hereditary features, and clarify the prerogative of them and their world.
Research Paper
Behrouz Afkhami; Zeynab Khosravi
Abstract
The Persian garden is one of the most prominent cultural phenomena of Iran. According to the historical documents and archeological evidence, the first Persian gardens were constructed in the Achaemenid period. This paper seeks to answer the question that which cultural and social meanings the Persian ...
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The Persian garden is one of the most prominent cultural phenomena of Iran. According to the historical documents and archeological evidence, the first Persian gardens were constructed in the Achaemenid period. This paper seeks to answer the question that which cultural and social meanings the Persian garden represents. The theoretical framework of the research is based on heterotopia theory of Foucault. Multiple meanings and functions of the Persian garden are discussed in this paper; the first is related to the removal of human constraints and the dominance of the Iranians living culture over the geography of their land, which appears in the landscape of the garden; the second is that the political entity utilizes the garden or its symbols in creating a sense of power and legitimacy; and the third is the harmony, integrity, and order of the natural phenomena. The Persian garden’s order created peace, and possibly a sense of closeness to God. The multiple and dense functions of the Persian garden have become part of the collective unconscious of the Iranians, and the garden becomes a central place in their culture; therefore, it has been constructed continuously during the history of Iran.
Research Paper
Hamidreza Peighambari
Abstract
The historical studies of the turbulent and obscure period of the Macedonian rule in Iran are mainly focused on regions such as Persis and Parthia. The role of other areas including Media has remained neglected in these studies, while the land of Media had always been one of the significant parts of ...
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The historical studies of the turbulent and obscure period of the Macedonian rule in Iran are mainly focused on regions such as Persis and Parthia. The role of other areas including Media has remained neglected in these studies, while the land of Media had always been one of the significant parts of the ancient Iranian kingdoms. This paper attempts to answer the question of what role the Greater Media played in the course of events in the aforementioned period. The study of historical sources, archaeological evidence, and analysis of the high economic and geographical potentials of Media reveal the continuation of the administrative significance of this land during the reign of Alexander and his successors in Iran. Although the Lesser Media (Azerbaijan) soon became an independent state, the Greater Media remained an important region for the Macedonians, and Ecbatana became the capital of the upper Satraps. Nevertheless, major events such as the uprising for independence led by the Baruaxes the Medes and major rebellions by Macedonian Satraps occurred in Ecbatana during this period. This city ultimately performed an important role in collaboration with the Parthians to terminate the Seleucid domination in Iran. Therefore, the common perception of the progression of independence in Iran during this period should be reconsidered.
Research Paper
Pedram Jam
Abstract
The private law of Zoroastrians of the Sasanian era, as reflected in Mādayān ī hazār dādestān (The Book of Thousand Judgments), acknowledges two types of surety-bond: pāyandānīh pad xwāstag and pāyandānīh pad tan. The first one, which is obviously comparable to żamāna bi-al-šayʾ ...
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The private law of Zoroastrians of the Sasanian era, as reflected in Mādayān ī hazār dādestān (The Book of Thousand Judgments), acknowledges two types of surety-bond: pāyandānīh pad xwāstag and pāyandānīh pad tan. The first one, which is obviously comparable to żamāna bi-al-šayʾ or zamāna bi-al-māl of Islamic jurisprudence, is less ambiguous, but the latter one, somehow because of its apparently complex formulation and its lesser recognized legal context is not properly perceived and the relationship between its elements remains vague. The incorrect perceptions and translations of these cases have led to incorrect lexical equivalents such as tan/slave and incorrect legal outcomes such as the notion of debt slavery in Sasanian Zoroastrian law. Comparing these cases with a kind of surety-bond in Islamic jurisprudence, ie. żamāna bi-al-nafs, which has clear formulations and its semantic and legal background is also well-known, produces vital clues for solving difficulties of aforementioned Middle Persian legal cases. The comparison of these two demonstrates the high degree of similarity of between these Sasanian Zoroastrian legal cases and similar ones in Islamic jurisprudence.
Research Paper
Shahrokh Razmjou
Abstract
A small terracotta figurine of a rider is held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which was found in Cyprus. The rider has a Persian attire, possibly showing a Persian character with signs and features of the Achaemenid era. Comparing the details of the figurine with similar artifacts can ...
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A small terracotta figurine of a rider is held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which was found in Cyprus. The rider has a Persian attire, possibly showing a Persian character with signs and features of the Achaemenid era. Comparing the details of the figurine with similar artifacts can suggest its functions. It was made in the Hellenistic style; therefore, it belongs to the post-Achaemenid period. The Persian and Achaemenid features and elements in the figurine may represent the continuation of Iranian presence in the social structure and cultural affairs of the region after the collapse of the Achaemenid empire; on the other hand, they prove the presence of the Persians in Cyprus throughout the 3rd century BC. Given the insufficient evidence of this period, such pieces can be extremely significant.
Research Paper
Ayda Shahanians; Mohammad Ziar
Abstract
Commitment means taking responsibility, and the author is responsible for expressing the truth. Moreover, the responsible writer and philosopher is not a dreamer. He should not consider himself as an omniscient; for instance, he should not show hostility to religions or a specific religion. In the history ...
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Commitment means taking responsibility, and the author is responsible for expressing the truth. Moreover, the responsible writer and philosopher is not a dreamer. He should not consider himself as an omniscient; for instance, he should not show hostility to religions or a specific religion. In the history of French literature, Montesquieu is a prominent author and philosopher of the eighteenth century, but there exist distortions in his works that do not reflect the truth. Such distortions are both in his travel literature, Lettres Persanes (Persian Letters) which includes his anecdotal ideas and subjectivism in history, and in De l'esprit des lois (The Spirit of the Laws), in which his historicism is obvious. In Mélanges inédits de Montesquieu, which comprises a mixture of Montesquieu’s unpublished pieces of writing, it is mentioned that The Spirit of the Laws includes his developed thoughts on the incomprehensible complexities in Persian Letters. Therefore, these two books are inseparable, according to their contents. Although some have considered Montesquieu as a committed author, commitment in his writings is questionable. In this paper, his works are examined regarding the subject matter of commitment to record the truth, and the result is that they are fallacious from this point of view.
Research Paper
seyyed Ahmad Reza Qaemmaqami
Abstract
Navigation is essentially an international art; therefore, its vocabulary may also travel from one side of the world to the other by the seamen. Some nautical words and terms used by Muslim sailors, which have been the subject of research, are Persian or Iranian. Hence, this particular branch is important ...
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Navigation is essentially an international art; therefore, its vocabulary may also travel from one side of the world to the other by the seamen. Some nautical words and terms used by Muslim sailors, which have been the subject of research, are Persian or Iranian. Hence, this particular branch is important in Persian and Iranian lexical and linguistic studies as well. Some of these words, according to previous studies, are borrowed from Indian languages, and their transfer is the result of the interactions of the Persians and Arabs with India. It is not always easy to determine whether these words entered into Arabic directly or through Iranian languages. In the absence of documents, sometimes the phonetic indications could help. This paper studies the origins and meanings of some of these words and termes afresh. It tries, while correcting some of the previous scholars’ opinions, provide a more accurate lexical description on the names of some ships, boats, and sailing words related to Iran’s southern seas.
Research Paper
Kamal Aldin Niknami; Mohammad Amin Mirghaderi
Abstract
The Anubanini relief is Sarpol-e Zahab is one of the most ancient rock reliefs in Iran, which was identified by Rawlinson in 1836 and de Morgan published the first drawing of it in 1896. It is located on the main route to the Greater Khorasan and adjoins the highlands of the central Zagros to the low-lying ...
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The Anubanini relief is Sarpol-e Zahab is one of the most ancient rock reliefs in Iran, which was identified by Rawlinson in 1836 and de Morgan published the first drawing of it in 1896. It is located on the main route to the Greater Khorasan and adjoins the highlands of the central Zagros to the low-lying plains of Mesopotamia. An inscription at the bottom of the relief adds further importance to it and introduces more details including the information about the characters. The relief is known as Anubanini, after one of the dominant Lullubi rulers, and it has undergone several modifications over time. This paper attempts arguing these changes and presents a clear commentary on the role of the captive added to the relief and the features of its role. In addition, the paper suggests an explanation for the connection between the relief of Anubanini and the relief of Iddin-Sin, located in front of it. It seems that Anubanini carved this relief on the mount of Batir, but the Lullubis local adversaries, the Simurrums modified it to some extent.
