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Culture of Iran

The culture of Iran (Persian: فرهنگ ایران) or culture of Persia[1][2][3] is among the most influential in the world. Iran (Persia) is widely considered to be one of the cradles of civilization.[4][5][6][7] Due to its dominant geopolitical position in the world, it has heavily influenced peoples and cultures situated as far away as Southern Europe and Eastern Europe to the west; Central Asia to the north; the Arabian Peninsula to the south; and South Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia to the east.[4][5][8] Iranian history has had a significant influence on the world through art, architecture, poetry, science and technology, medicine, philosophy, and engineering.

An eclectic cultural elasticity has been said to be one of the key defining characteristics of the Iranian identity and a clue to its historical longevity.[9] Richard N. Frye, a prominent Iranologist, stresses the high-level historical influence of the Iranian culture in his 2005 book Greater Iran: A 20th-century Odyssey:


Furthermore, Iran's culture has manifested itself in several facets throughout the history of the Iranian Plateau as well as of the South Caucasus, Central Asia, Anatolia, and Mesopotamia.

Cuisine[edit]

Iranian cuisine refers to the culinary practices of Iran. Due to the historically common usage of the term "Persia" to refer to Iran in the Western world,[52][53][3] it is alternatively known as Persian cuisine, despite Persians being only one of a multitude of Iranian ethnic groups who have contributed to Iran's culinary traditions.[a]


The cuisine of Iran has made extensive contact throughout its history with the cuisines of its neighbouring regions, including Cuisine from the Caucasus, Central Asian cuisine, Greek cuisine, Levantine cuisine, Mesopotamian cuisine, Russian cuisine and Turkish cuisine.[55][56][57][58] Aspects of Iranian cuisine have also been significantly adopted by Indian cuisine and Pakistani cuisine through various historical Persianate sultanates that flourished during Muslim rule on the Indian subcontinent, with the most notable and influential of these polities being the Mughal Empire.[59][60][61]


Typical Iranian main dishes are combinations of rice with meat, vegetables and nuts. Herbs are frequently used, along with fruits such as plums, pomegranates, quince, prunes, apricots and raisins. Characteristic Iranian spices and flavourings such as saffron, cardamom, and dried lime and other sources of sour flavoring, cinnamon, turmeric and parsley are mixed and used in various dishes.


Outside of Iran, a strong presence of Iranian cuisine can be found in cities with significant Iranian diaspora populations, namely the San Francisco Bay Area, Toronto,[62][63][64][65] Houston and especially Los Angeles and its environs.[62][63][66]

The game of 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.

Polo

The

Iranian Zoor Khaneh

(Iranian New Year) – Starts from 21 March

Nowruz

(Nature Day)

Sizdah be dar

(Water Festival)

Jashn-e-Tirgan

(Fire Festival)

Jashn-e-Sadeh

(Autumn Festival)

Jashn-e-Mehregan

(Winter Feast)

Shab-e-Yalda

Charshanbeh Suri

Iranians celebrate 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.

(10,000 BC) – Earliest known domestication of the .[88][89][90][91]

goat

(6000 BC) – The modern .[92] Some of the oldest bricks found to date are Persian, from c. 6000 BC.

brick

(5000 BC) – Invention of . Discovery made by University of Pennsylvania excavations at Hajji Firuz Tepe in northwestern Iran.[93]

wine

(5000 BC) – Invention of the , which led to the development of the guitar.[94][95]

Tar (lute)

(3000 BC) – The . The Sialk ziggurat, according to the Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran, predates that of Ur or any other of Mesopotamia's 34 ziggurats.

ziggurat

(3000 BC) – A game resembling appears in the east of Iran.[96]

backgammon

(1400 BC – 600 BC) – : where the first prophet of a monotheistic faith arose according to some scholars,[97] claiming Zoroastrianism as being "the oldest of the revealed credal religions, which has probably had more influence on mankind directly or indirectly, more than any other faith".[98][99]

Zoroastrianism

(576 BC – 529 BC) – The : The world's first charter of human rights.[100]

Cyrus Cylinder

(521 BC) – The game of .[101]

polo

(500 BC) – First , at the time of the Achaemenid, establishment of Governmental Banks to help farmers at the time of drought, floods, and other natural disasters in form of loans and forgiveness loans to restart their farms and husbandries. These Governmental Banks were effective in different forms until the end of Sassanian Empire before invasion of Arabs to Persia.

banking system

(500 BC) – The word "" has a Persian root in the old Persian language. The use of this document as a check was in use from Achaemenid time to the end of Sassanian Empire. The word of [Bonchaq, or Bonchagh] in modern Persian language is new version of old Avestan and Pahlavi language "check". In Persian, it means a document which resembles money value for gold, silver and property. By law, people were able to buy and sell these documents or exchange them.

check

(500 BC) – World's oldest .

staple

(500 BC) – The first (under the Achaemenid Empire).

taxation system

(500 BC) – "" – the first courier post.[102]

Royal Road

(500 BC) – Source for introduction of the domesticated into Europe.

chicken

(500 BC) – First cultivation of .

spinach

(400 BC) – , ancient refrigerators.

Yakhchals

(400 BC) – .[103]

Ice cream

(250 BC) – Original excavation of the , begun under Darius, completed under the Ptolemies.[104]

Ancient Suez Canal

(50 AD) – , a fruit of Chinese origin, were introduced to the west through Persia, as indicated by their Latin scientific name, Prunus persica, from which (by way of the French) we have the English word "peach".[105]

Peaches

(271 AD) – – The first hospital.[106]

Academy of Gundishapur

(700 AD) – The .

cookie

(700 AD) – The .[107]

windmill

(864 AD – 930 AD) – First systematic use of in Medicine: Rhazes.[108]

alcohol

(1000 AD) – were first cultivated in medieval Persia.[109]

Tulips

(1000 AD) – Introduction of to the west.[110]

paper

(935 AD – 1020 AD) – writes the Shahnama (Book of Kings) that resulted in the revival of Iranian culture and the expansion of the Iranian cultural sphere.

Ferdowsi

(980 AD – 1037 AD) – , a physician, writes The Canon of Medicine, one of the foundational manuals in the history of modern medicine.

Avicenna

(1048 AD – 1131 AD) – , one of the greatest polymaths of all time, presents a theory of heliocentricity to his peers. His contributions to laying the foundations of algebra are also noteworthy.

Khayyam

(1207 AD – 1273 AD) – writes poetry and in 1997, the translations were best-sellers in the United States.[111]

Rumi

and trigonometry: Iranian scientists were directly responsible for the establishment of Algebra, the advancement of Medicine and Chemistry, and the discovery of Trigonometry.[112]

Algebra

subterranean aqueducts.

Qanat

ancient air residential conditioning.

Wind catchers

From the humble brick, to the windmill, Persians have mixed creativity with art and offered the world numerous contributions.[86][87] What follows is a list of just a few examples of the cultural contributions of Greater Iran.

(ICHO)

Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization

International Rankings of Iran in Culture

(30-volume encyclopaedia of Iran's culture; edited and published by Columbia University & funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities)

Encyclopædia Iranica

Higher education in Iran

Cinema of Iran

Iranian calendar

Iranian continent

Iranian Studies

Qahr and Ashti

Media of Iran

Museums in Iran

Persian cuisine

Persian theatre

Persian names

Persian women

Persianate

Persianization

the admiration of Iranians and their culture

Persophilia

(Persian form of civility emphasizing both deference and social rank)

Taarof

Michael C. Hillman. Iranian Culture. 1990. University Press of America.  0-8191-7694-X

ISBN

Iran: At War with History, by John Limbert, pub. 1987, a book of socio-cultural customs of The Islamic Republic of Iran

George Ghevarghese Joseph.The Crest of the Peacock: The Non-European Roots of Mathematics. July 2000. Princeton U Press.

Welch, S.C. (1972). . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 9780870990281.

A king's book of kings: the Shah-nameh of Shah Tahmasp

Archived 3 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine

Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance Of Iran Official Website

Secretariat of The High Council of The Cultural Revolution

Islamic Republic of Iran Physical Education Organization

Islamic Republic of Iran Academy of The Arts

Islamic Republic of Iran International Center for Dialogue Among Civilizations

Culture of Iran – parstimes.com

Culture of Iran

Cultural Research Bureau of Iran

Archived 12 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine

Iran Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies

Iran a cultural profile

The Culture of Iran

(Persian)

Persian Language

Iran: Cultural and Historical Zones

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