The Cyrus Cylinder

On October 29, 539 BC, Cyrus the Great, the king of Persia, entered Babylon after his army entered without resistance and claimed himself king of Babylon. After an overbearing introduction, he freed all the Jewish slaves in Babylon and, in essence, allowed freedom of religion. The speech Cyrus gave was inscribed in a cylinder and placed under one of the walls of Babylon as a foundation deposit. It was found by Hormuz Rassam, an archaeologist, 2114 years later and recognized as the world's first charter of human rights. This cylinder has a replica in the United Nations building to remind those who see it to their basic right to freedom. Part of its content has been affirmed in the Hebrew bible and the style of ruling that Cyrus practiced was studied by the founding fathers of the United States.
Today, Cyrus the Great is seen as one of Persia's greatest rulers. He created the largest empire the world had ever seen and with a style of ruling that was possibly the first of its kind. Iran is a radically different country now, but many Iranians still see themselves as Cyrus's people for the same reasons Thomas Jefferson read about Cyrus when outlining the U.S. government and the Babylonians revered him thousands of years ago.

Persian, Farsi, or Iranian?

When I talk to Americans (non-Iranians that is) I always seem to hear someone say something along the lines of:
"Wait, so . . . you speak Arabic?"
"Sort of, a couple words, prayers."
"So they speak Arabic in Iran?"
(By the way, it's EE-ron not EYE-ran)
"No, I speak Farsi."
"Oh yeah! That's what they speak! I was thinking of Iraq."
"Yeah."
The Iranian language is called Farsi or Persian, not Iranian. It's its own language without precursors or derivatives other than Proto-Iranian, Old Persian and Middle Persian and its not Semitic. Other than its alphabet, which is Arabic, it has no relation to Arabic or Hebrew at all. Proto-Iranian was the language spoken in Iran as far back as 1500 BC. Old Persian was the language of ancient Persia spoken by the likes of Cyrus the Great and his grandson Darius the Great. As time went on, the language, like English, evolved into Middle Persian and when the Islamic conquest occurred, it began to die. Thanks to poets like Ferdosi, who wrote solely in Persian without any Arabic, the language was saved. Ferdosi also saved such traditional Persian names as Khosro, Shapur, Curosh and names of other Persian kings and heroes. Names like Mohammad, Hossain, and Ali are Arabic in origin. Persian script was sacrificed and became Perso-Arabic script (basically Arabic with a few extra letters to represent the sounds unheard in Arabic). This was where the term Farsi was used. Parsi was the original word for Persian but "p" was a sound that Arabs couldn't pronounce. Therefore, the term Farsi
was used and eventually employed as the official name of the language. Incidentally, Persians who left for India after the Islamic conquest are known today as Parsis (Parseez). Most still practice Zoroastrianism. Around 800 AD began the era of Modern Persian, the language spoken from 800 AD until present day.
Today, Farsi is the world's 12th most spoken language. It's an official language in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. It is the second most spoken language in the Middle East, full of beauty and historical importance.

Happy Norooz!

I just wanted to wish everyone a happy Norooz and may everyone have a happy and healthy year to come!

Norooz Article Series #9: Seezdah Be Dar

After nearly two weeks of Norooz festivities people try to let go of the New Year. Kids finish their homework, people take advantage of their last hours of time off, and everyone has one more celebration! The 13th day of Norooz is called "Seezdah be Dar" (also pronounced "Seezdeh be Dar"). The 13th at/out the door is a day you must spend out of the house based on the belief that 13 is an unlucky number.
People set up picnics in the park and spend the day there. They take their Sabzeh and Mahi Ghermez (goldfish) and throw them in a body of water to complete the cycle of life. Some other things people do are tell white lies and play pranks (similar to April Fools Day although it's the day after!) and tie pieces of Sabzeh together while making love related wishes.
Seezdah be Dar is also the day of the Zoroastrian angel of rain which is depicted as a horse. Games involving horses represent the angel's victory and rain ought to fall soon after.
Afterwards, Norooz ends and people go back to work and school and are left with a little "Norooz Fever"!

Norooz Article Series #8: Khaneh Tekani

A huge part of Norooz is Khaneh Tekani (also pronounced Khooneh Tekoonee). Khaneh Tekani, literally means "House Shaking" and is simply Spring Cleaning! A fresh clean house is necessary for the new year. Everything is cleaned, organized, and prepared for entertaining guests.
The main tasks completed during Khaneh Tekani are the cleaning of rugs, cleaning the yard and attic, and sometimes painting the house. The rug cleaning can be very treacherous especially since almost every square foot of an Iranian house is covered with a rug, sometimes even the walls!
Historically, Khaneh Tekani was a Zoroastrian tradition that signaled the deceased that their relatives were ready for their visit. The arrival of the deceased nourishes the growth of the sabzeh which is necessary for a complete Haft Seen. Additionally, Khaneh Tekani releases the Evil from one's house and revives the domination of Good.

Norooz Article Series #7: Salam Alaykom

Norooz, in addition to celebrating the new year, celebrates family, a huge part of the new year. You celebrate Norooz with your family, you honor lost members of your family, and you spend a good chunk of the 13 days of Norooz visiting your family.
Throughout Norooz, one visits family members daily starting with the oldest. The "oldest first" concept is called neshastan or sitting. The people to visit on a given day are sitting at home expecting visitors. After visiting "the sitting," other relatives are also visited when convenient. By the end one will have seen everyone and all will have experienced some hearty Iranian hospitality. Upon arrival at a relative's house, one is almost always greeted with a warm, "Salam Alaykom!" This is a greeting derived from the Arabic word meaning "Peace be unto you!" and can be used to greet anyone at any time of day. Its soon followed by a warm, "Aid-e shomah mobarak!" or "Happy New Year!"
In Iran, it is rude not to feed a guest. The offering of food to guests is called pazeerayee. This is often practiced by constantly walking up to the guest while holding out a platter of food and saying, "Befarmayeed!" which means please, or help yourself.

Norooz Article Series #6: Aidee

Norooz is gift time and kids are always excited to count their aidee. Aidee derives from the Arabic word Aid (also spelled Eid) which means feast. In Arabic, holiday names always begin with the word Aid such as Eid-ul-Fitr, the feast at the end of Ramadan. In Iran the word Aid is used to mean the same thing and often Norooz is referred to as Aid-e Norooz or just Aid given that it is the principal holiday of the year. Aidee is the money given from and older person to a youger person and sometimes from the rich to the poor for Norooz. Norooz gratuities are considered aidee. Usually, when kids go to see different family members during Norooz, they recieve Aidee. During Norooz, children gather their Aidee and spend it on something special. What they spend it on must be special because the money they spend is not just any money, it's Aidee.
My mother recalls an Aidee experience from her childhood in Tehran. . .

I used to love the movies so, I would get my aidees and in one day I would go and see at least two or three movies with two or three friends. At the time I loved Norman Wisdom and Jerry Lewis because I loved comedies. My cousin loved scary movies, but I didn't. She would go and see comedies so that I would go and see a scary movie with her. Some relatives gave us gold coins [Called rob-e Pahlavi. 21 karat gold coins with Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi's profile engraved on them.] but in a way we liked the money that was worth much less because we could go to the movies with it. I would also buy paint. Nobody else supported my painting so I had to buy it with my aidee.