Banquets, Power, and Identity - Mediation of Power and Identity through Royal Feasts and Banquets in Persia

Feasting and banquets played a significant role in defining and strengthening cultural identity. Archaeological-historical studies demonstrated that feasting and banquets were more than a time for celebration and consuming food and wine, they could be of political importance and they have played a major role in the negotiation of power and identity. Indeed, they have contributed to historical transformations. The richest source of banquets in ancient Persia dates back to ‘Chogha Mish’, the largest pre-Sassanian site in the Susiana area, in the western province of Khuzestan, a state located in today’s Iran. Artifacts from ancient Persia, especially from the Achaemenid (539–330 BC) and its successor the Sassanid Empire, have proven to contain extremely valuable information to shine light on the nature of the royal banquets. This paper examines artefacts and a mural from different Persian eras depicting such royal banquets. It focuses on these remnants of culture which allow a glimpse into the Persian past.

Henry Corbin’s Oriental Philosophy and Iranian Nativist Ideologies

This paper aims to explore the roots of the nativist discourse among Iranian intellectuals in the 20th century prior to the Islamic Revolution, a discourse based on Eastern authenticity and the felt need for a return to Islamic, Persian, or Asian traditions. This general tendency took various forms among anti- and even pro-regime intellectuals, including severe anti-modernist evaluations of Al-e-Ahmad, Hossein Nasr, Ahmad Fardid, and Ehsan Naraqi. This nativist movement, as some scholars have shown, played a significant role in the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. This paper aims to discuss some philosophical origins of these East-based and anti-West ideologies in the specific interpretation of Henry Corbin of the East/West spiritual split. This paper demonstrates that these ideas, to a considerable extent, stemmed from Corbin’s “Eastern scheme,” based on the authenticity of spiritual illumination. This paper explores how this Oriental philosophy, rooted in ancient Persia and medieval Iranian wisdom, has been used for political purposes through the ideologization of tradition in contemporary Iran. Therefore, it discusses Corbin’s theological scheme’s political and social ramifications to demonstrate the traces of his scheme in the works of a few nativist intellectuals in an ideologized form.

Evaluating the role of the National Museum of Iran in the development of cultural tourism

In addition to acquainting the public with the culture of a particular region, cultural tourism creates economic opportunities. Taking into account various tourist sites, museums are definitely among the most important ones. In Iran, the National Museum is one of the most important museums because of its rich collection of historical monuments related to the ancient Persia and Islamic periods. The authors of this article analyse the role of the National Museum of Iran in the development of the country’s cultural tourism. The analysis is based on information obtained from the database of the Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization and the National Museum of Iran. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were employed for data analysis. The results confirm the importance of the National Museum of Iran in the development of cultural tourism.

Ancient WEF: Water–Energy–Food Nexus in the Distant Past

The concept of water–energy–food (WEF) nexus is gaining favor as a means to highlight the functions of the three individual nexus elements as interrelated components of a single complex system. In practice, the nexus approach projects forward from the present, seeking to maximize future WEF synergies and avoid undesirable tradeoffs. A complementary approach was employed here to gain insights into how the ancients dealt with WEF relationships, whether currently relevant nexus principles were practiced long ago, and how past WEF dynamics compare to those of today. Two examples, both dating to before the common era (BCE), are considered in detail. The qanats of ancient Persia brought groundwater to the surface and directed it to clusters of agricultural fields in arid areas where crop production was not otherwise feasible. In contrast, the Dujiangyan irrigation scheme of ancient China harnessed previously destructive surface water flows to stabilize food production across a vast agricultural plain. Designed and constructed under highly uncertain conditions and with a long-term perspective, both relied on local resources and expertise to exploit the tight coupling of water and the intrinsic energy from its flows to produce food. Ingenious infrastructure combined with sound governance allowed both to achieve remarkable synergies among the WEF components with minimal apparent tradeoffs. Although both are now challenged by climate change and the increasing complexity of modern WEF relationships, qanat systems and the Dujiangyan irrigation scheme have survived for millennia and still exist in recognizable form. This is due in large part to the persistence of governance systems that devolved significant decision-making authority to those who used water and energy for food production. Although it is not feasible to roll back technology to that of an earlier time, the successful attributes of earlier WEF governance systems warrant more attention in the future.

History, rhetoric, and legends

This chapter examines the role of the rhetorical Demades in debates and interpretations of Homeric epics and the Persian Wars—as well as other less monumental episodes from Greek history. Homeric heroes and themes substantiated many types of progymnasmata exercises—including synkrisis, or comparison (between heroes, or between them and other characters), confirmation, laudation, and invective—and provided rich material for antilogia, approaching the same subject from opposite perspectives, a technique that was a sign of rhetorical mastery. The figure of Demades was employed to develop rhetorical themes on Homeric subjects—such as the Cyclops, Helen’s fleeing to Troy, and the Trojan Horse—which produced “wandering expressions” that were attributed to Demades and other historical characters. The liberal rhetorical approach put references to ancient Persia and its rulers in the mouth of Demades, who lived more than a century after the Persian Wars and who, according to other texts, allegedly lacked schooling and paideia.

The model of clinical reasoning in approach to febrile infectious diseases in medieval Persia

Reviewing ancient manuscripts of Persian medicine (PM) reveals that there have been some basic principles for decision-making in epidemic infectious diseases that existed in the past. These PM rules for clinical reasoning were applied through a personalized approach along with public health advice in such situations. Currently, the coronavirus pandemic has been the biggest problem in the world. Its mainstay of treatment is based on preventative measures and symptomatic treatments. Meanwhile, traditional medical systems for providing preventive, supportive, and rehabilitative care to patients have received more attention than before. Thus, the specific individual approach considered by PM scholars for clinical courses of epidemic infectious diseases may help shed more light on the spread of knowledge on epidemic diseases in ancient Persia.

Filsafat Sufistis Suhrawardi Al-Maqtul

<p class="07KatakunciKeywords">Suhrawardi built his philosophical thinking with the spirit of combining “intuition-mystical vision” with “rational-philosophical vision”. The combination of “intuition-mystic and rational-philosophical vision” is known as "hikmah al-Isyraq". The concept of Wisdom al-Isyraq is the second school of thought in Islamic Philosophy. This paper is a study of Suhrawardi's Sufistic philosophy with a historical and philosophical approach. The historical approach is used to review the thought settings that influence Suhrawardi's thoughts from the historical point of view of previous Islamic thought. In addition, a philosophical approach is also used to analyze documentary data in a fundamental, integral, and systematic manner with the descriptive-analysis method. The purpose of this paper is to trace the basic thinking of the concept of "Hikmatul Isyraq" Suhrawardi from the point of view of Sufistic philosophy. The findings of this study indicate that there are five sources of Isyraq Suhrawardi's thoughts: first, Sufism thoughts, especially al-Hallaj and al-Ghazali. Second, the thinking of Paripatetik Islamic Philosophy, especially Ibn Sina, which is considered important to understand Isyraqi's teachings. Third, philosophical thinking before Islam, namely the flow of Pytagoras, Platonism, and Hermenism. Fourth, the thought (wisdom) of ancient Persia which he considered to be the direct heir of the wisdom of the Prophet Idris As. (Hermes). Fifth, the teachings of Zoroaster, especially in using the symbol "light" and "darkness".</p>