The Persian Empire

by Kia, Mehrdad;

  Imitating the members of the royal family, each Persian governor (satrap) had a palace, which had its own large garden (firdu). In these large gardens or parks, the satraps grew trees and plants. To ensure the richness and diversity of their gardens and parks, Persian officials transplanted trees and plants from one province of the empire to another. Through Greek sources, we learn that at least one Persian satrap transplanted trees and plants from Syria to Sardis in western Asia Minor.

  The word for a walled garden or a pleasure park in Old Persian, paridaida, was converted into Greek as paradeisos and into Latin as paradisus. Subsequently the Latin version was adopted in French as paradis and in English as “paradise” (Fakour: 1; Yamauchi: 332). The word was also introduced into the languages of the ancient Near East. “In Akkadian it appears as pardesu, and in Hebrew as pardes. The Greek (i.e., Hellenistic) version of the Old Testament dating from the 3rd century BCE used the word paradeisos for the garden of Eden [Gen. 3:8–10]” (Yamauchi: 333). The Arabic word for “paradise” in the Quran, the Muslim holy book, is ferdaws (Quran: 18.107, 23.11), which also originates from Old Persian.

  See also: Primary Documents: Document 19

  Further Reading

  Arrian. Campaigns of Alexander. Translated by Aubrey De Sélincourt. New York: Dorset, 1986.

  Dandamayev, M. A. “Royal Paradeisoi in Babylonia.” In Orientalia J. Duchesne-Guillemin Emerito Oblata, 117. Leiden: Brill, 1987.

  Fakour, Mehrdad. “Garden I: Achaemenid Period.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2000, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/garden-i.

  Hobhouse, Penelope. Gardens of Persia. Carlsbad: Kales, 2003.

  Plutarch. Lives. Translated by John Dryden. New York: Barnes and Noble, 2006.

  Stronach, David. Pasargadae: A Report on the Excavations Conducted by the British Institute of Persian Studies from 1961 to 1963. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978.

  Xenophon. The Persian Expedition. Translated by Rex Warner. London: Penguin Books, 1972.

  Xenophon. Oeconomicus. Translated by Sarah Pomeroy. Oxford: Clarendon, 1994.

  Yamauchi, E. M. Persia and the Bible. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1990.

  Sadeh

  Sadeh is an ancient celebration that symbolizes Iran’s rich cultural heritage. It is a feast of the creation of fire, a midwinter festival that has been observed among Iranians since ancient times. Fire plays a central role in Zoroastrian beliefs and ceremonies. According to the Avesta, the Zoroastrian holy scripture, Fire was the son of the great god Ahura Mazda, his holiest creation and a symbol of the religion. Prayer is often performed in front of a fire, and consecrated fires are kept perpetually burning in major temples.

  Jashn means “festival,” and Sadeh means “hundred.” Jashn-e Sadeh therefore means the “Festival of 100” and offers the opportunity to the faithful to express their gratitude for the invention of fire. During the Sadeh festivities, ancient Iranians honored fire and celebrated the anticipated end of winter and its long, dark nights. Today, the Zoroastrians in Iran gather after sunset to mark Sadeh—an ancient midwinter feast dating to Iran’s pre-Islamic past that is also drawing new interest from Muslim Iranians. Zoroastrian priests, dressed in white to symbolize purity, recite verses from the Avesta before the community of the faithful. Men and women in traditional dress carry torches and set a huge bonfire as young people dance. Although the feast of fire has traditionally been marked by Zoroastrians, many Muslim Iranians have begun to join the festival.

  See also: Religion: Adur; Ahura Mazda; Amesha Spentas

  Further Reading

  Boyce, Mary. “Iranian Festivals.” In The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 3(II), edited by Ehsan Yarshater, 792–818. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.

  Boyce, Mary. A Persian Stronghold of Zoroastrianism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977.

  Boyce, Mary. Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990.

  Boyce, Mary. Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. London: Routledge Kegan and Paul, 2001.

  Bundahishn: The Sacred Books of the East; Pahlavi Texts. Translated by E. W. West. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.

  Saffron

  Saffron became greatly prized as both a plant and a spice among the kings of the Persian Achaemenid dynasty (r. 550–330 BCE) and went on to become one of the most sought-after spices throughout the ancient world. Official documents of the Iranian court and the robes of the emperors were frequently dyed with saffron. Wall carvings and sculptures at their ancient palace of Persepolis depict garments of indigo and saffron coloring. In his play Persians, the Greek playwright Aeschylus alluded to the use of saffron dye when he described King Darius’s footgear: “Shah, great Shah, Lord King of past times, come, draw near, appear! Appear on the peak of your burial mound! Raise your saffron-tinted slipper! Show the perfume of your kingly tiara! Ever benevolent Dareios [Darius], appear” (Aeschylus: 153–154). Second only to purple, the yellow derived from the saffron crocus was the most common color used to clothe the elite units of the Iranian army. The Achaemenid army units, including the 10,000 Immortals, the elite unit within the imperial army, also wore saffron-colored hoods.

  Saffron was greatly prized among the ancient Iranians. Official documents and the robes of the members of the Persian royalty were dyed with saffron. The three stigmas inside the flower bulbs were plucked, dried, and used as natural dye, medicine, and seasoning in various dishes. (Michael Peuckert/Eye Ubiquitous/Corbis)

  Aside from using it in dyeing garments, ancient Iranians used saffron in weaving their rugs. Although rugs from the Achaemenid period have not survived, the literature of the time offers strong evidence of their existence and popular use. In describing the arrival of a certain Pharnabazus, the Greek writer Xenophon wrote that he “arrived wearing clothing that was worth a great deal of gold, and as his servants placed embroidered carpets beneath him, on which the Persians, with their soft style of living, are accustomed to sit” (Xenophon: Helenika, 4.1.29–30).

  Central to daily life in ancient Iran were the private gardens, or pairidaeza, watered by aqueducts. The ancient Persians were the master gardeners of antiquity. The kings of the Achaemenid dynasty displayed a genuine affection and support for the art, science, and technique of plant cultivation. Persian kings and their provincial governors promoted farming as “among the noblest and most essential concerns,” introducing varieties of plants throughout their empire (Xenophon: Oeconomicus, IV.4). Whenever a Persian king bestowed gifts, he first summoned those who had “proved themselves brave in war,” and then he rewarded those who cultivated “their lands best and make them productive” (Xenophon: Oeconomicus, IV.4). Cyrus, “who was without any doubt the most illustrious of all the Persian kings, once told those who had been summoned to receive rewards that he himself had the right to receive the rewards in both categories: for, he said he was best at cultivating land and at defending the land he had cultivated” (Xenophon: Oeconomicus, IV.4). The archaeological excavations at the tomb of Cyrus the Great at Pasargadae and at the Achaemenid capitals in Persepolis, Susa, and Babylon have unearthed large, complex, and beautifully designed gardens, parks, and irrigation canals. The Persian Achaemenid kings took a special pride in designing their own large gardens and parks, which were watered by rivers or “an aqueduct—the earliest known record of gravity-fed water rills and basins arranged in a geometric system” (Hobhouse: 8). It was in these enclosed gardens or paradises that ancient Iranians celebrated life by gardening and preparing sumptuous meals to serve to family, friends, and guests. They also planted saffron crocus in their gardens. The three stigmas inside the flower bulbs were plucked, dried, and used as natural dye, medicine, and seasoning in various dishes and delicacies. Through their highly sophisticated dishes, the ancient Iranians introduced a new culinary culture. The Greeks and Romans, who feared the Iranians and suspected their saffron of “being an aphrodisiac,” warned their compatriots who dined with “this wily race to be wary, fo
r saffron was stirred into their flavorful dishes for no other reason than to befuddle and weaken the brain” (Willard: 41).

  Under Arsacid (Parthian) rule (247/238 BCE–224 CE), the famed Silk Road connected China to Central Asia, Iran, and Rome, allowing Iranian plants, spices, foodstuffs, medicine, and musical instruments to travel eastward. Saffron from India and Greater Iran was introduced to China by way of the Silk Road. The Chinese used saffron to flavor wines as well as to perfume their clothes and hair. To the west, the Parthians established a close trading relationship with Rome. Among Parthian exports to Rome were textiles, spices, and a variety of lotions and creams, including an ointment called “royal,” used by the Parthian kings. This ointment, which was derived from several plants and spices including saffron, was very popular among Rome’s rich and powerful families.

  The Parthians were overthrown by the Sasanian dynasty (r. 224–651 CE), which imposed Zoroastrianism as the state religion of its empire. The fragments of Zoroastrian literature that have survived reveal a culture fascinated with nature and plants. The Zoroastrian text Bundahishn includes extensive writings on plants, which is characteristic of other Persian texts of the era. Bundahishn lists extensive categories of plants, including trees and shrubs, fruit trees, corn, flowers, aromatic herbs, salads, spices, grass, wild plants, medicinal plants, gum plants, and all plants used to produce oil, dyes, and clothing. Saffron, along with other plants that could be used for dyeing clothes, was included as a distinct category called dye-plants. The ancient Chinese attributed the origins of saffron to Kashmir and Sasanian Iran. The role of ancient Iranians in popularizing the use of saffron is revealed by examining the Tibetan word for saffron: kur-kum, gur-kum, or gur-gum, which is traceable to the Persian word kurkum or karkam. Experts believe that “the Tibetans carried the word to Mongolia, and it is still heard among the Kalmuk on the Volga” (Laufer: 320).

  Aside from its culinary and medicinal usage, saffron was utilized in dyeing Persian carpets and rugs. Pre-Islamic Iran “reached a high level of achievement in textiles and although specimens of the works of Sasanian weavers have … rarely survived, the details of costume in the great rock-cut reliefs of the kings of the third to the seventh centuries CE show their mastery of pattern” (Robinson: 16). The Sasanian monarch Shapur II (r. 309–379 CE) established a successful weaving industry in various urban centers of his empire, including Susa in southwestern Iran. The dye from saffron was undoubtedly used to provide coloring for these Iranian handicrafts, the precursors of today’s world-renowned Persian carpets.

  See also: Cultures: Persian Gardens

  Further Reading

  Aeschylus. Complete Plays, Vol. 2, Persians. Translated by Carl R. Mueller. Hanover: Smith and Kraus, 2002.

  Bundahishn. Edited by Mehrdad Bahar. Tehran: Tus Publishers, 1991.

  Bundahishn: The Sacred Books of the East; Pahlavi Texts. Translated by E. W. West. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.

  Herzfeld, Ernst. Zoroaster and His World. New York: Octagon Books, 1974.

  Hobhouse, Penelope. Gardens of Persia. Carlsbad: Kales, 2003.

  Laufer, Berthold. Sino-Iranica: Chinese Contributions to the History of Civilization in Ancient Iran, Vol. 15, No. 3. Chicago: Publications of Field Museum of Natural History Anthropological Series, 1923.

  Robinson, Stuart. A History of Dyed Textiles. Boston: MIT Press, 1969.

  Sekunda, N. Nicholas. The Persian Army, 560–330 BC. Oxford: Osprey, 1992.

  Willard, Pat. Saffron: The Vagabond Life of the World’s Most Seductive Spice. Boston: Beacon, 2002.

  Wood, Frances. The Silk Road: Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002.

  Xenophon. Hellenika. Translated by John Marincola. New York: Anchor Books, 2010.

  Xenophon. A History of My Times. Translated by Rex Warner. New York: Penguin, 1996.

  Xenophon. Oeconomicus. Translated by Sarah B. Pomeroy. Oxford: Clarendon, 1995.

  Sports

  Sports were enormously popular among ancient Iranians, who were fond of a variety of games and athletic competitions. As they migrated from the steppes of Central Asia, these Iranians brought their ancient sporting traditions to the Near East. Public contests were held in the presence of the king, who handed prizes and medals to the winners in pentathlon competitions, which included jumping, discus throwing, running, wrestling, javelin throwing, and at times boxing (Strabo: 7.179). The winners were adorned with gold (Strabo: 7.179). Hunting was also very popular not only as a sport activity but also as a means of training young men for war. Ancient Iranians were superb riders, archers, and javelin throwers. While riding on his horse, the hunter threw spears, bows, javelin, and slings (Strabo: 7.179). Hunting and wrestling numbered among the most favorite pastimes. In addition to learning how to read and write and studying various sciences, the members of the royal family, the pages of the palace, and the children of the Persian nobility received physical training and gained skills in horseback riding, weightlifting, wrestling, archery, sword training, and javelin throwing. It is not surprising therefore that throughout their long and rich history, Iranians have been known for their extraordinary achievements in various athletic fields.

  Athletic and sport activities were an integral part of daily life in ancient Persia. The Persian Achaemenid prince Cyrus the Younger told a surprised Spartan commander, Lysander, that whenever he was in good health he never dined before working up a sweat either by practicing some military skill or doing some gardening (Xenophon: Oeconomicus, 4.24). One of the most popular sports among ancient Persians was polo, a game of Central Asian origin, that was first played in ancient Iran as a form of training the Persian cavalry units. The game took the form of a miniature battle, and both men and women of the Persian nobility participated in it. During the reign of the Sasanian monarch Khosrow II Parvez (Parviz), the queen and her attendants played polo against the king and his officials. Polo spread from Iran to India, Central Asia, and China and as far east as Japan.

  The Parthian armies were greatly feared by the Romans. They relied heavily on lightly armed cavalrymen equipped with bows and arrows and special cavalry units that were both heavily armed and heavily armored so that both horse and rider were protected by coats of chain mail. (Private Collection/Ancient Art and Architecture Collection Ltd./Bridgeman Images)

  Besides polo, archery was also a very popular sport in ancient Persia. The ancient Iranians were master archers from the time they emerged as a distinct people in Central Asia. While the sword was used in the close-range battle, the bow and arrow remained the standard long-range weapon. In the legendary history of Iran, the greatest heroes and warriors were also master archers. No archer in the Iranian culture can match the greatness and popularity of Arash. The story goes that King Manuchehr of Iran is engaged in a fierce battle against Iran’s sworn enemy, the Turanian king Afrasiyab. Afrasiyab, who is on the verge of defeating the Iranians, proposes to end the war and conclude a peace treaty if the Iranians agree that the boundary between Iran and Turan be established by an archer who would shoot his arrow in an easterly direction from the top of a mountain. Wherever the arrow lands would be recognized as the boundary between the two kingdoms. Afrasiyab’s expectation is that his kingdom of Turan will seize much of the territory of Iran, since no archer can shoot his arrow beyond a short distance. The brilliant archer Arash volunteers to discharge his arrow as far east as he can. Arash climbs Mount Damavand in the Alborz mountain range and discharges his arrow. Arash’s arrow travels long and far before it lands at the end of the day on the banks of the Oxus River. Upon releasing his arrow, Arash’s body disintegrates. Arash is viewed as a great champion and a true hero of Iran for saving the country from falling into hands of its enemies. Two other great archers in the legendary history of Iran are Rostam and Esfandiyar, who appear as the two greatest heroes in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh [Book of Kings]. During the long reign of the Arsacid dynasty (247/238 BCE–224 CE), members of the Arsacid (Parthian) nobility attacke
d the enemy with long spears, lances, and pikes or from a distance by shooting extremely swift arrows with their strong bows. To the shock of their enemies, the barbed arrowheads pierced through hard and soft armor, inflicting severe damage on veins and muscles. The Parthian cavalry was known for the unique and exceptional ability of its horsemen to shoot arrows as they fled, an old and extremely difficult technique known as the “Parthian shot.” Archery remained a passion of Iranian kings down to the 19th century. Polo and archery went hand in hand with other war-related games, such as horseback riding, hunting, swordplay, fencing, spear throwing, putting the stone or throwing the boulder, and the game of wielding a mace (gorz), a heavy spiked club whose handling required strong arms. Spear throwing was such a prominent skill that the Persian Achaemenid kings had their own spear-bearers. Thus, before seizing the throne of the Persian Empire, the Achaemenid monarch Darius I served as the spear-bearer of Cambyses II. When Darius became king, he gave his close friend and confidant Gobryas the title arshtibara (spear-bearer) as reflected in his inscription at Naqsh-e Rostam in southern Iran near Persepolis (Briant: 108). All the above-mentioned sports and activities were directly connected to military training and battlefield performance.

  Another popular game was wrestling, which dates back to ancient Iran and particularly the long reign of the Arsacid (Parthian) Empire. This sport continued after the fall of the Sasanian Empire and the introduction of Islam. Zur khanehs (houses of strength) served as traditional Iranian gymnasiums. Here athletes, who exercised to build a strong body, also learned the philosophical and spiritual principles of Persian mysticism, such as purity of heart, selflessness, compassion, humility, and respect toward fellow human beings. They were also taught that abstinence from sexual intercourse and bodily indulgence preserved their physical strength and emotional balance. The wrestler who emerged from this long and arduous training was called a pahlavan (hero warrior). The word pahlavan derives from “Parthian,” and we come across this term when reading about the Parthian dignitaries of ancient Iran. The great Parthian commander who inflicted a crushing defeat on the Romans at Carrhae in 53 BCE was Surena or Suren Pahlav. A true pahlavan was not only a man of muscles and physical strength but also a spiritual being with unique and distinct personal and ethical qualities. These included grace and humility, particularly when he defeated a challenger. Today in Iran, this traditional system of training an athlete is referred to as Varzesh-e Pahlavani (Heroic Sport) or Varzash-e Bastani (Ancient Sport). The traditional training combines physical exercises and strength training, which are performed while the epic poetry of Ferdowsi as composed in his Shahnameh [Book of Kings] is recited.