Culture of Iran

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Safavid era painting kept at The Grand Shah Abbas Caravanserai Hotel in Isfahan.

To best understand Iran and her people, one must first attempt to acquire an understanding of its ancient culture. It is in the study of this area where the Iranian identity optimally expresses itself. Hence the first sentence of prominent Iranologist Richard Nelson Frye's latest book on Iran reads:

"Iran's glory has always been its culture."^[1]

In short, Iran's culture has manifested itself in several facets throughout the history of Iran, as well as that of many Central Asian states, many of which are presented in this article.

[edit] Art

Main article: Iranian art

Iranian art has gone through numerous phases of evolution. The unique aesthetics of Persia is evident from the Achaemenid reliefs in Persepolis to the mosaic paintings of Bishapur. The Islamic era drastically brought changes to the styles and practice of the arts, each dynasty with its own particular foci. The Qajarid era was the last stage of classical Persian art, before modernism was imported and suffused into elements of traditionalist schools of aesthetics.

[edit] Language and literature

Iranian cinema continues to produce controversially acclaimed works

Main articles: Persian language and Persian literature

The Persian language has been in continuous use for over 2500 years. Yet it is a subset of the superset of Iranian languages.

Persian literature inspired Goethe, Ralph Waldo Emerson and many others, and it has been often dubbed as a most worthy language to serve as a conduit for poetry.

[edit] Cinema

Main article: Cinema of Iran

With 300 international awards in the past 25 years, films from Iran continue to be celebrated worldwide. Perhaps the best known director is Abbas Kiarostami.

[edit] Music

Main articles: Music of Iran, List of Iranian musicians and singers, and Persian music

The music of Persia goes back to before the days of Barbod in the royal Sassanid courts. This is where many music cultures (e.g. Flamenco) trace back their distant origins to.^[2]

Painting of Persian women musicians from Hasht-Behesht Palace ("Palace of the 8 heavens"), Isfahan, Iran, dated 1669.

[edit] Architecture

Main article: Iranian Architecture

[edit] Traditional teahouses of Iran

There are nearly countless numbers of traditional teahouses (chai khaneh) throughout Iran, and each province features its own unique cultural presentation of this ancient tradition. However, there are certain traits which are common to all teahouses, especially the most visible aspects, strong chai (tea) and the ever-present ghaluyn. Almost all teahouses serve baqleh, steam boiled fava beans (in the pod), served with salt and vinegar, as well as a variety of desserts and pastries. Many teahouses also serve full meals, typically a variety of kababs as well as regional specialities.

[edit] Persian rugs

Main article: Persian rugs

Gottfried Semper called rugs "the original means of separating space". Rug weaving was thus developed by ancient civilizations as a basis of architecture. Persian rugs have a history dating back over two millennia.

[edit] Persian gardens

Main article: Persian Gardens

The Persian Garden was designed as a reflection of paradise on earth; the word "garden" itself coming from Persian roots. The special place of the garden in the Iranian heart can be seen in their architecture, in the ruins of Iran, and in their paintings.

[edit] Cuisine

Main article: Iranian cuisine

In Persian mythology, Persian food is so delicious and tempting that Ahriman (the devil) uses it to corrupt the King of the land, causing two serpents to sprout from the King's shoulders, turning him into an evil tyrant; Zahhāk The Dragon King.

[edit] Dance of Iran

Main article: Persian dance

Kurdish wedding dance in Sanandaj, Iran.

[edit] Religion

Iran has been the birthplace of many of the world's most influential religions and religion in Iran has always had a direct impact on its culture. Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Mazdakism, Yazdanism, Bábísm and the Bahá'í Faith are some of the religions that originated there.

Today, the Shia version of Islam continues to have an immediate bearing on Iranian culture and identity.

[edit] Sports

Main article: Sport in Iran

The game of Polo originated with Iranian tribes in ancient times and was regularly seen throughout the country until the revolution of 1979 where it became associated with the monarchy. It continues to be played, but only in rural areas and discreetly. Recently, as of 2005, it has been acquiring an increasingly higher profile. In March 2006, there was a highly publicised tournament and all significant matches are now televised.
The Iranian Zoor Khaneh

[edit] Women in Persian culture

Main article: Iranian women

In the tales of the 1001 Nights, it is a woman, Sheherazade, who is the protagonist and heroine of the frame tale.

[edit] Traditional Important Days

Main article: Iranian festivals

Iranians celeberate the following days based on a Solar calendar, in addition to important religious days of Islamic and Shia calendars, which are based on a lunar calendar.

Norouz
Sizdah be dar
Jashn-e-Tirgan (Water Festival)
Jashn-e-Sadeh (Fire Festival)
Jashn-e-Mehregan (Autumn Festival)
Shab-e-Yalda (Winter Feast)
Charshanbeh Suri

[edit] Traditional cultural inheritors of the old Persia

Prince Muhammad-Beik of Georgia, 1620. Artist is Reza Abbasi. Painting is located at Berlin's Museum Für Islamische Kunst.

Like the Persian Rug that exhibits numerous colors and forms in a dazzling display of warmth and creativity, Persian culture is the glue that bonds the peoples of western and central Asia. In the words of Iranologist Richard Nelson Frye:

"Many times I have emphasized that the present peoples of central Asia, whether Iranian or Turkic speaking, have one culture, one religion, one set of social values and traditions with only language separating them."

The Culture of Persia has thus developed over several thousand years. But historically, the peoples of Islamic Republic of Iran, Tajikestan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, and Kyrgyzstan originate from the same or similar stock, and are related to one another as part of the larger group of peoples of Greater Iran. Armenia^{[citation needed]}, Georgia^{[citation needed]}, and Daghestan were also well within the sphere of influence of Persian culture as well, as can be seen from the many remaining relics, ruins, and works of literature from that region.(e.g. 1) (e.g. 2)

In particular, Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikestan have been able to almost fully retain their Persian identity, while the other aforementioned entities still exhibit considerable traces of their Iranian past.

[edit] Contributions to humanity in ancient history

From the humble brick, to the windmill, Persians have mixed creativity with art. What follows is a list of just a few examples of the cultural contributions of Iran.

(10,000 BC) - Earliest known domestication of the goat.^[3]
(6000 BC) - The brick. The oldest brick found to date are Persian, from ca. 6000 BC.^{[citation needed]}
(~5000 BC) - Invention of Wine. Discovery made by University of Pennsylvania excavations at Hajji Firuz Tepe in northwestern Iran.^[4]
(5000 BC) - Invention of Tar (lute), that led to the development of the guitar.^[5]
(3000 BC) - The ziggurat. The Sialk ziggurat, according to the Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran, predates that of Ur or any other of Mesopotamia's 34 ziggurats.
(2000 BC) - Peaches are a fruit of Persian origin, as indicated by their Latin name, persica, from which (by way of the French) we have the English "peach."^[6]
Tulips were first cultivated in ancient Persia.^[7]
(1700 BC) - The windmill.^[8]
(1400 BC) - The game of Backgammon appears in the east of Iran.
(1400 BC to 600 BC) - Zoroastrianism, a religion which had an important impact on Judaism, and thus indirectly, on Christianity and Islam. Some experts however, claim that Zoroaster was actually born in 6184BC, and was himself a follower of the religion called Mehr introduced by Mehabad who lived 3593 years before Zoroaster i.e. 9700 BC or 11706 years ago (retroactive 2006).^[9]
(576 BC to 529 BC) - Under the rule of Cyrus II the Great, the Cyrus Cylinder was issued. This is considered to be the first universal declaration of human rights. It was discovered in 1879 in Babylon and today is kept in the British Museum.^[10]
(576 BC to 529 BC) - Under the rule of Cyrus II the Great, Cyrus frees the Jews from Babylonian captivity. See Cyrus in the Judeo-Christian tradition.
(521 BC) - The game Polo.^[11]
(500 BC) The first Taxation system(under the Achemenid empire).
(500 BC) The courier post. Also called the "Royal Road".^[12]
(500 BC) - Source for introduction of the domesticated chicken into Europe.
(500 BC) - First cultivation of spinach

An ancient ice house, called a yakhchal, built in ancient times for storing ice during summers.

Spoon crafted in 550BC.

Iranian chess (shatranj) set, glazed fritware, 12th century. New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Figurines playing the ancestor of the Guitar. Excavated in Susa, Iran. Dated 2000-1500 B.C. National Museum of Iran.

(400 BC) - Yakhchals , ancient refrigerators. (See picture above)
(400 BC) - Ice Cream.^[13]
(250 BC) - According to archaeological digs, the Parthians created the world's first batteries. Their original use is still uncertain, though it is suspected that they were used for electroplating.^[14]
(250 BC) Original excavation of a Suez Canal.^[15]
(271 AD) - The teaching hospital
(700 AD) - The Cookie.
(762 AD) - Designing Baghdad: The original city was based on Persian precedents such as Firouzabad in Persia. The two designers who were hired by the caliph al-Mansur to plan the city were Nowbakht, a former Persian Zoroastrian, and Mashallah, a former Jew from Khorasan.^[16]
(864 AD-930 AD) - First systematic use of alcohol in Medicine: Rhazes.^[17]
(1000 AD) - Introduction of paper to the west.^[18]
(935 - 1020) - Ferdowsi writes the Shahnama (Book of Kings) that resulted in the revival of Iranian culture and the expansion of the Iranian cultural sphere.
(980 - 1037) - Avicenna, a physician, writes The Canon of Medicine one of the foundational manuals in the history of modern medicine.
(1207 AD - 1273 AD) - Rumi writes poetry and in 1997, the translations were best-sellers in the United States.^[19]
Algebra and Trigonometry: Numerous Iranians were directly responsible for the establishment of Algebra, the advancement of Medicine and Chemistry, and the discovery of Trigonometry.^[20]
Qanat , subterranean aqueducts.
Wind Catchers , ancient air residential conditioning.