PERSIA/IRAN

• The Persian civilization developed in what is current Iran. It is a

plateau in Asia, neighbor to Mesopotamia, which was a witness to
important historical events.

• The heart of its territory is a desert zone, surrounded by high

mountains. The fertile lands, fit for cultivation and livestock, are found
on the slopes and the valleys of these mountains. In the present, the
region is occupied by the states of Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

• In ancient times, it was the site chosen by two peoples to settle and
develop their civilization: the Medes and the Persians.
550-330 BCE
• Persians now had a choice, they could accept a new culture, including
nationality, language (Arabic) and religion (Islam), or they could hold
tight to the unique attributes making up their Persian identities.

• Anyone who has heard of Persian pride knows they fought to remain
as Persians, not Arabs.

• Islam did eventually displace the native Zoroastrian religion, however,

the Persians held onto their identity through their language, literature
and arts.
Persian was developed in three phases: Old, Middle, and Modern.
• Old Iranian is represented by Avestan and Old Persian. Old Persian is recorded in
the cuneiform inscriptions of the Persian kings of the Achaemenid dynasty (circa
550-330 BC), and it has close affinity with Sanskrit, and, like Greek, and Latin,
are highly inflected languages.

• Middle Iranian is represented by the closely related Parthian language and several
Central Asian tongues. Middle Persian has a simpler grammar than Old Persian
and was usually written in an ambiguous script with multivalent letters, adopted
from Aramaic.

• Modern Persian had considerable Parthian and Middle Persian elements, with
influences from other Iranian languages. It had developed by the 9th century, and
was written in Perso-Arabic script. Its grammar is simpler than that of Middle
Persian.
The Language:
• The major language in Iran, former Persia, is Farsi.
• It is a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages which is a group of the Indo-
European languages.
• Aside from Iran, Farsi is spoken in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and the Pamirs
Mountains.
• In keeping their native tongue, Persians expanded the nature of Islam from a
religion with primary Arabic origins to a more encompassing world religion.
• Persian language became the major literary instrument for many poems and
religious works.
RELIGION:
• Prior to the foundation of Islam in Iran, Persians are noted for the development of one of
the oldest monotheistic religions, Zoroastrianism.

• In this religion, there is one “Lord Wisdom”, known as Ahura Mazda. Also important to
the religion is the concept of the nature of good (Senta Mainyu) and evil (Angra Mainyu).

• One can see how the later monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have
taken many of their teachings from this religion.

• Zoroastrianism, while having a small following, is still in practice today and many Iranian
festivals still center around the Zoroastrian calendar.
ALPHABET & NUMERALS
• Perso-Arabic script is based on the Arabic script, although it has four letters more than
Arabic
• It only includes letters for consonants, where vowels, are written with diacritics and/or
combinations of consonant letters.
• Persian is a right to left language; although numerals are written from left to right.
• In order to represent non-Arabic sounds, new letters were created by adding dots, lines,
and other shapes to existing letters.
• The script is written in cursive, so the majority of letters in a word are connected to each
other. Therefore, the appearance of a letter changes depending on its position.
• Farsi numerals, like Arabic, are the Arabic-Indic numerals, although the symbols for 4, 5
and 6 are different from the standard numerals used for Arabic. It is also worth
mentioning that the numbers are pronounced differently in Arabic and Farsi.
FOOD
Ancient Persian doctors considered food and beverages are important
factors to revive the mind aand body
1. Fesenjan (Pomegranate Walnut Stew)
This iconic stew, an essential part of every Persian wedding menu, pairs tart pomegranate
with chicken or duck. Ground walnuts, pomegranate paste and onions are slowly simmered
to make a thick sauce. Sometimes saffron and cinnamon are added, and maybe a pinch of
sugar to balance the acid. Fesenjan has a long pedigree. At the ruins of Persepolis, the
ancient ritual capital of the Persian Empire, archaeologists found inscribed stone tablets
from as far back as 515 B.C., which listed pantry staples of the early Iranians. They
included walnuts, poultry and pomegranate preserves, the key ingredients in fesenjan.
2. Bademjan (Eggplant And Tomato Stew)
This stew has the shimmering red-gold color of tomatoes cooked with turmeric, with a
sheen of oil on top, a prized characteristic in Persian cooking that shows a stew has been
cooked long enough for the oils to rise up. Slightly tart, with the tang of tomatoes, lemon
juice, and sometimes the juice of unripe grapes, its tanginess is kept in check by the
eggplant, which is first fried on its own until golden-brown, then cooked with onions, lamb
and the tomatoes and seasoning. Like all Persian stews, bademjan is thick and meant to be
eaten over rice with a fork.
3. Baghali Polo (Rice With Dill And Fava Beans)
In Iranian cooking, rice can be prepared simply with butter and saffron, known as chelo. But just as
often, it’s cooked with other ingredients and called polo. Polo can be made with herbs, vegetables,
beans, nuts, dried fruit, meat and even noodles, and acts as the centerpiece of the meal. This polo is
particularly good in the spring, when fava beans are young and tender and dill is in season. The dish
is flecked with green dill and favas, and is often cooked with very tender chunks of lamb. Alternately,
it may be served alongside lamb on the bone. The rice should have a mild saffron flavor, with the
saffron mixed into the rice just before serving.
4. Zereshk Polo (Barberry Rice)
Iranians love sour flavors. Like cranberries, barberries have a vibrant red color, but they’re even more
sour. This classic rice dish is studded with the red berries, which are dried and then rehydrated before
cooking. The rice is cooked with plenty of butter, which helps to soften the intensity of the berries.
Quince, rhubarb, green plums, sour oranges, lemons, limes, dried limes, sour cherries, tamarind,
sumac and pomegranate are all used in Persian cooking to make food more tart.
5. Gormeh Sabzi (Green Herb Stew)
Made from herbs, kidney beans and lamb, deep green gormeh sabzi satisfies two Persian flavor
obsessions: it’s sour and full of herbs. The stew is seasoned with dried limes, limoo omani in Farsi.
These limes are extra intense and sour, with a bittersweet taste that gives the stew a unique flavor.
The other constant in gormeh sabzi is fenugreek leaves, a taste unfamiliar to most westerners. Other
herbs include parsley, coriander and scallions.
6. Ash e Reshteh (Noodle and Bean Soup)
A richly textured soup full of noodles, beans, herbs and leafy greens like spinach and beet
leaves. It’s topped with mint oil, crunchy fried onions and sour kashk, a fermented whey
product eaten in the Middle East that tastes akin to sour yogurt. The noodles, which made
their way to Iran from China, are thought to represent the many paths of life, and this soup
is traditionally served when someone sets off on a long journey. Because of its auspicious
ingredients, it’s also part of the menu for Norooz, the Persian new year, which occurs at the
spring equinox in March.
7. Tahdig (Crunchy Fried Rice)
Tahdig is the soul food of Persian cooking. It’s the crisp, golden layer of fried rice at the
bottom of the rice pot, and it tastes like a combination of popcorn and potato chips, but with
the delicate flavor of basmati ice. (Tahdig is usually not printed on the menu, so you may
have to ask for it.) At Iranian family gatherings, there are always plenty of leftovers, but the
one dish that disappears completely is tahdig. It’s eaten as a side dish, and it’s forgivable to
pick it up and eat it with your fingers.
8. Jeweled Rice (Rice with Nuts and Dried Fruit)
Dotted with brightly colored dried fruit and nuts, like little jewels, this is a sweet-and-savory dish that shows off some of
the native ingredients of Iran, including pistachios, almonds, candied orange peel, barberries, carrots and saffron. It’s
cooked with a little sugar to balance the sourness of the barberries. Jeweled rice is served for special occasions,
particularly at weddings, because the sweet elements symbolize a sweet life. It’s traditionally served with chicken, which
contrasts nicely with the sweetness.
9. Kebab (Lamb, Chicken, Lamb Liver, Ground Meat)
Kebabs have more variety than you might think. First, there’s koobideh, ground meat seasoned with minced onion, salt
and pepper. It sounds simple, but the taste is sublime. There is kebab-e barg, thinly sliced lamb or beef, flavored with
lemon juice and onion and basted with saffron and butter. Chicken kebab, known as joojeh, is traditionally made from a
whole chicken, bones and all, for more flavor (although in American restaurants it’s often made from skinless chicken
breast), marinated in lemon and onion, and basted with saffron and butter. If you’re lucky, you’ll find jigar, lamb liver
kebab, garnished with fresh basil leaves and a wedge of lemon.
10. Sabzi Khordan (Herb and Cheese Plate)
No Persian meal is complete without a dish of sabzi khordan, or edible herbs. The plate can include mint, tarragon, basil
and cilantro, alongside scallions, radishes, walnuts, feta cheese and Iranian nan (flatbread). Simply tear off a piece of
flatbread, tuck a bit of the herbs and cheese and other garnishes inside, and fold it up like a rustic sandwich. The plate
stays on the table throughout the meal, and the herbs are a crunchy palate cleanser between bites of stew and rice. Fresh
and dried green herbs are eaten daily in Iran. The Zoroastrian new year Norooz celebrates rebirth and renewal, and the
Norooz menu includes several dishes made with green herbs representing new life, including rice with herbs, an herb
omelet and the herb platter.
Noosh-e jan!
(Farsi for “bon appétit.”)
CHELO-KEBAB is the national dish
of Iran consist of steamed, saffroned
Persian rice and kebab
FESTIVALS
NowRuz:now means new and the word ruz means day, so nowruz means starting a new day and it is the
Celebration of the start of spring ("Rejuvenation"). It starts on the first day of spring (also the first day of the
Iranian Calendar year), 21 March, in that 12 days as a sign of the past 12 months, all Iranian families gather
around and visit each other. It is also the best time to re-experience the feeling of mehr (pure love). In nowruz all
families talk about their best experiences of the last year and the things they are looking forward in the next year
and they all become bonded again in peace. There are many other things Iranians do for nowruz including khane
tekani (cleaning the house) and haji firooz, where a person who makes his face black and wears a red dress,
walks around the streets and entertains people by singing a special song
Sofreye Haft Sin: sofre (tablecloth), haft (seven), sin (the letter S [‫)]س‬. Al-Bīrūnī said: haftsin came from
jamshid because he destroyed the evil that made pars lands weak so in first day of Iranian calendar people called
it nowruz (starting of a new day) and they put 7 different beans on their table as a sign of thanking nature for
giving humans all they need. Since then every year Iranians put haftsin on their tables, but nowadays they put 7
things that start with letter [‫]س‬. Some people also believe that sasanian had a very beautiful plate that was given
to them from China and they called it chini plate, and after some years the word chini changed into sini (a
beautiful plate) so people would put 7 things in a sini.
Sizdah Bedar: Persian Festival of "Joy and Solidarity". The 13th and last day of Nowruz celebration. Because
of the end of twelve days (a sample of twelve month) they celebrate the 13th day as a new beginning of the next
twelve month and it has no relations with the number 13 (as an unlucky number). It is celebrated outdoors along
with the beauty of nature. Al-Bīrūnī also called this day: tir ruz: blissed day.
Mehregan: Festival of Mehr (or Mihr). A day of thanksgiving. It is a day which
everyone show the mehr or the love they have for each other and it is one of the
most important days in the year.
Jashne Sade: A mid-winter feast to honor fire and to "defeat the forces of
darkness, frost and cold" in which people gather around and build a fire so that
they can receive good things from the fire and give the fire their incompleteness.
Shabe Chelle: The turning point. End of the longest night (darkness) of the year,
and beginning of growing of the days (Lights). A celebration of Good over Evil.
Also known as Shab-e Yaldā they have special nuts for that night.
Sepandarmazgan: Day of Love, Friendship and Earth in ancient Persian
culture.
Chaharshanbe Suri: Festival of Fire, last Wednesday night in the Iranian
Calendar year. It marks the importance of the light over the darkness, arrival of
spring and revival of nature.
Yaldā Night: longest night of the Iranian calendars
Poetry:
• Persian poetry is some of the most beautiful poetry in the world and the
Persians cultivated four unique types of poetry; the “epic”, the “ghasideh” a
purpose poem, the “masnavi” a narrative poem, and the “ghazal” a lyrical
poem.

• Ferdowsi, author of Shahnameh, took 35 years to write his epic poem about the
heroes of Ancient Persia.

• In the 13th and 14th centuries Saadi, Rumi and Hafez perfected the ghazal,
lyrical poems but filled with passion. And Rumi’s Masnavi is considered one
of the most beautiful Persian literary works, if not of all Islamic writings.
ART:
• In the north, where horticulture is tantamount, the carpets are woven to represent
Persian gardens
• The most notable Persian artwork is seen in the masterful woven carpets.
• Persian weaving flourished in the second half of the 15th century during the
Safavid Dynasty.
• The cities of Ardabil, Tabriz, Kashan, and Isfahan are the chief producers of
Persian carpets.
• The colorful displays are usually designs taken from book covers, but geography
can influence the tapestries as well.
• In Tabriz, for instance, many of the rugs are made for prayer and contain a
centralized medallion of sorts.
 • Earliest known distinctive style
of Persian paintings dates back
PAINTINGS to the Seljuk period.
• Early paintings were used to
decorate manuscripts and versions
of the Holy Quran – which had
been drawn from the same art style
used for pottery.
• With that, you see pottery art
derives from all over Persia.
 Architecture
• Persian architecture has made the greatest contribution to the
world’s culture.
• Although Persian architecture styles differ from any Islamic styles today,
they have influenced many building work through much of the Islamic
world.
• Persian style of architecture also has influenced Islam, Central Asia,
Afghanistan, Pakistan and India as well in structures all over their history.
POTTERY

• Pottery is one of the

oldest Persian art
forms
• The “Animal Style,”
which was big in the
Persian culture first
appeared in their pottery.
LITERATURE
• Persian literature spans two and a half millennia, though much of the
pre-Islamic material has been lost. Its sources have been within
historical Persia including present-day Iran as well as regions of
Central Asia where the Persian language has been the national
language through history.
• As one of the great literatures of mankind the Persian literature has its
roots in surviving works in Old Persian or Middle Persian dating back
as far as 522 BCE, the date of the earliest surviving Achaemenid
inscription, the Bisotun Inscription. The bulk of the surviving Persian
literature, however, comes from the times following the Islamic
conquest of Persia circa 650 CE. After the Abbasids came to power
(750 CE), the Persians became the scribes and bureaucrats of the
Islamic empire and, increasingly, also its writers and poets.
PERSIAN CARPET
The Persian carpet reached its zenith during the reign of the Safavid
Dynasty in the 16th century. Indeed the first concrete proofs of this craft
date back to this period. Approximately 1500 examples are preserved in
various museums and in private collections worldwide. During the reign
of Shah Abbas (1587 - 1629), commerce and crafts prospered in Persia.
Shah Abbas encouraged contacts and trade with Europe and transformed
his new capital Esfahan, into one of the most glorious cities of Persia.
He also created a court workshop for carpets where skilled designers
and craftsmen set to work to create splendid specimens.
The Iranians were among the pioneer carpet weavers of the ancient
civilizations, having achieved a superlative degree of perfection through
centuries of creativity and ingenuity. The skill of carpet weaving has
been handed down by fathers to their sons, who built upon those skills
and in turn handed them down to their offspring as a closely guarded
family secret. To trace the history of Persian carpet is to follow a path of
cultural growth of one of the greatest civilizations the world has ever
seen.