After a two-week break, I would like to get back to my impressions from our trip to Hamadan a month ago.
On the morning of 16 June we visited the mausoleum of Baba Taher, the writer of mystical poems that are often set to traditional Iranian music. Earlier this year during my lessons of traditional Iranian singing, I had to learn this quatrain set to the Tusi melody of the Mahoor mode.
Del-e asheq be peyqami besazad
Khomaralood be jami besazad
Mara keyfiyat-e chasm-e to kafist
Riazatkesh be badami besazad
Again, in an awkward translation for which I take full credit:
A heart in love lives on the Beloved’s message
A drunkard lives on a cup of wine
For me, a glance from your eyes is enough
Like an ascetic who lives on an almond a day
The last line is a reference to the Beloved’s almond-shaped eyes.
Within the same grounds the mausoleum of a grandson of Imam Hossein is also located. Just like other mausoleums, the internal walls are decorated with mirrorwork, an art that was developed in Iran, as I understand, as a result of the import of mirrors from Europe, mainly Venice, at a time when mirrors were very expensive. Inevitably, some breakages took place in transit, and the ingenious Iranians devised a way of transforming the broken pieces into an art form. Small pieces of mirror cover the interior walls in symmetrical patterns: for the fist-time viewer the effect is dazzling, like a palace out of the Thousand and One Nights, as the light is reflected on thousands of tiny mirrors.
The mirror and light are potent symbols in Iranian culture, so their arrangement can also be seen as a representation of the One true God as the source of Light being reflected in the multiplicity of the physical world.
Monday, 19 July 2010
Saturday, 10 July 2010
Traditional Medicine
In the previous post I mentioned Abu Ali Sina’s system of traditional medicine, so I thought I’d post some more detail on it. The following is an extract from Chapter 7 of Among The Iranians.
Traditional medicine
Zoroastrianism, the ancient Iranian system of beliefs, established a dualism that exerted a strong influence on all aspects of Iranian life. The ongoing battle between the God of Good/Light (Ahura Mazda) and the God of Evil/Darkness (Ahriman) was seen as an ever-present threat to the overall balance of the world. As a result of this struggle in the physical world, night follows day and winter follows summer as one or the other god attains temporary victory.
A similar struggle between good and evil manifests itself in every human as illness, which is nothing more than a sign of imbalance within the body. (endnote 2). The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates (b. 490 CE) described this physical balance in more detail. Considering every human as a miniature of the cosmos, he linked the four natural elements (air, fire, earth, water) to the four humours in the human body (blood, yellow bile, black bile, phlegm) and classified each with the qualities hot/cold and dry/moist.
These elements, named humours, co-exist in a delicate balance in a healthy constitution. (endnote 3). However, this classification does not pertain only to humans but to all foodstuffs, which can come to the aid of the diseased individual by helping bring the system back into balance/health.
Every Iranian housewife knows the basics of this system and applies it in the dishes she prepares and their combinations she puts on offer for her family in order to ensure their health and well-being. Common ailments can be treated by the application of this system: for example, a tummy ache, especially in children, is usually an indication of ‘cold’ predominance in the body and is usually remedied with some crystallised sugar (nabât) in tea, both of which are ‘hot’. A sore throat may indicate a surplus of ‘heat’, so the patient should avoid the consumption of ‘hot’ foods such as pistachios and walnuts that would exacerbate the condition. I understand that this system, known as Greek Medicine is practised in India too, whereas, surprisingly, we Modern Greeks know next to nothing about it.
Traditional medicine has always been and still remains a reliable resource for the maintenance of family health, not least because it treats the patience as a whole and does not only address the symptoms of the illness.
Traditional medicine
Zoroastrianism, the ancient Iranian system of beliefs, established a dualism that exerted a strong influence on all aspects of Iranian life. The ongoing battle between the God of Good/Light (Ahura Mazda) and the God of Evil/Darkness (Ahriman) was seen as an ever-present threat to the overall balance of the world. As a result of this struggle in the physical world, night follows day and winter follows summer as one or the other god attains temporary victory.
A similar struggle between good and evil manifests itself in every human as illness, which is nothing more than a sign of imbalance within the body. (endnote 2). The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates (b. 490 CE) described this physical balance in more detail. Considering every human as a miniature of the cosmos, he linked the four natural elements (air, fire, earth, water) to the four humours in the human body (blood, yellow bile, black bile, phlegm) and classified each with the qualities hot/cold and dry/moist.
These elements, named humours, co-exist in a delicate balance in a healthy constitution. (endnote 3). However, this classification does not pertain only to humans but to all foodstuffs, which can come to the aid of the diseased individual by helping bring the system back into balance/health.
Every Iranian housewife knows the basics of this system and applies it in the dishes she prepares and their combinations she puts on offer for her family in order to ensure their health and well-being. Common ailments can be treated by the application of this system: for example, a tummy ache, especially in children, is usually an indication of ‘cold’ predominance in the body and is usually remedied with some crystallised sugar (nabât) in tea, both of which are ‘hot’. A sore throat may indicate a surplus of ‘heat’, so the patient should avoid the consumption of ‘hot’ foods such as pistachios and walnuts that would exacerbate the condition. I understand that this system, known as Greek Medicine is practised in India too, whereas, surprisingly, we Modern Greeks know next to nothing about it.
Traditional medicine has always been and still remains a reliable resource for the maintenance of family health, not least because it treats the patience as a whole and does not only address the symptoms of the illness.
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
Technological help needed
To those of my readers who are kind enough to leave comments, I would appreciate some help in the form of email to my address at the top of the page.
Question: why do your comments appear in Chinese characters? Do I do something wrong?
Answers will be most appreciated by a technologically-challenged blogger.
Many thanks
Question: why do your comments appear in Chinese characters? Do I do something wrong?
Answers will be most appreciated by a technologically-challenged blogger.
Many thanks
Abu Ali Sina
This entry continues from the previous post on our short break to the west of Iran. On the second day of our journey (15 June), we visited the grave of Ibn Sina (Abu Ali Sina or Avicenna), the 11th c. scientist, astronomer and physician.
The grave complex is adjacent to a pleasant round garden at the Bou Ali Roundabout, and includes a small museum with the works of Ibn Sina in different languages. My attention was drawn to an inscription of a poem by Ibn Sina in the book room, which runs as follows in Persian:
Az qahr-e gol-e siyah ta owj-e zohal
Kardam hame moshkelat-e alam ra hall
Birun jastam ze qeid mokr o hil
Har band goshoude shod magar band-e ajal
In a free (and rather awkward) paraphrase, this roughly means “I have been able to unlock the mysteries of nature, from the humblest plant until the heights of the planets, and I have been able to escape from the machinations of enemies and to break all fetters, except the fetters of death.”
Abu Ali Sina’s Canon of Medicine book was the main medical textbook in European universities until the 17th century. His medical outlook sees the human organism as a whole, consisting of body and soul. The body’s health depends on the balance of the four humours (earth, fire, water and air), the main elements that the physical world is also made of. Any imbalance in the four elements within the body gives rise to illness, hence many of the treatments in this system depend on various foodstuffs that re-align the body’s balance.
This is a topic I have written in some detail in Among the Iranians, but it may be worth coming back to in the next post.
The grave complex is adjacent to a pleasant round garden at the Bou Ali Roundabout, and includes a small museum with the works of Ibn Sina in different languages. My attention was drawn to an inscription of a poem by Ibn Sina in the book room, which runs as follows in Persian:
Az qahr-e gol-e siyah ta owj-e zohal
Kardam hame moshkelat-e alam ra hall
Birun jastam ze qeid mokr o hil
Har band goshoude shod magar band-e ajal
In a free (and rather awkward) paraphrase, this roughly means “I have been able to unlock the mysteries of nature, from the humblest plant until the heights of the planets, and I have been able to escape from the machinations of enemies and to break all fetters, except the fetters of death.”
Abu Ali Sina’s Canon of Medicine book was the main medical textbook in European universities until the 17th century. His medical outlook sees the human organism as a whole, consisting of body and soul. The body’s health depends on the balance of the four humours (earth, fire, water and air), the main elements that the physical world is also made of. Any imbalance in the four elements within the body gives rise to illness, hence many of the treatments in this system depend on various foodstuffs that re-align the body’s balance.
This is a topic I have written in some detail in Among the Iranians, but it may be worth coming back to in the next post.
Saturday, 26 June 2010
Achemenid Inscriptions near Hamadan
Continued from previous post…
Once we settled our things in the hotel, we went in search of sustenance in the form of steamed rice and kebab, and then drove westwards from Hamadan, passed Abbas-abad, a favourite picnic and camping spot affording panoramic views of the city, until we reached the Ganj-nameh Leisure complex.
This includes outdoor restaurants, giving off whiffs of kebab mixed with fruit-flavour tobacco from water-pipes, and a cable car, which, unfortunately, closed at 10 pm. A short uphill walk leads up to the Ganj-nameh itself, which consists of two large panels carved on the rock face and containing inscriptions in three languages (Babylonian, Elamite and Old Persian) in cuneiform script. Dating back to the Achaemenid times, the two lots of inscriptions record the victories of Darius and his son Xerxes (d. 465 BC) and their gratitude to Ahura Mazda, the God of Zoroastrianism, for the blessings he bestowed on the royal dynasty. According to the modern inscription on site, these ancient texts were deciphered by Sir Henry Rawlinson in the early 19th c. and assumed fundamental importance for our knowledge of these three ancient languages.
The contemplation of these inscriptions arouses conflicting thoughts and feelings: humans throughout history share the desire to leave something behind before the waters of oblivion close over them; an awareness of the thousands of people that have looked at these over the centuries and a strong sense of one’s own insignificance.
Just behind the rock bearing the inscriptions, a waterfall sheds its water forming a river downhill. Families were camped on the banks of the river, enjoying their picnics and the cool mountain air. Close to the spirits of their ancestors, modern Iranians refresh their spirit near nature, and preferably near running water.
Once we settled our things in the hotel, we went in search of sustenance in the form of steamed rice and kebab, and then drove westwards from Hamadan, passed Abbas-abad, a favourite picnic and camping spot affording panoramic views of the city, until we reached the Ganj-nameh Leisure complex.
This includes outdoor restaurants, giving off whiffs of kebab mixed with fruit-flavour tobacco from water-pipes, and a cable car, which, unfortunately, closed at 10 pm. A short uphill walk leads up to the Ganj-nameh itself, which consists of two large panels carved on the rock face and containing inscriptions in three languages (Babylonian, Elamite and Old Persian) in cuneiform script. Dating back to the Achaemenid times, the two lots of inscriptions record the victories of Darius and his son Xerxes (d. 465 BC) and their gratitude to Ahura Mazda, the God of Zoroastrianism, for the blessings he bestowed on the royal dynasty. According to the modern inscription on site, these ancient texts were deciphered by Sir Henry Rawlinson in the early 19th c. and assumed fundamental importance for our knowledge of these three ancient languages.
The contemplation of these inscriptions arouses conflicting thoughts and feelings: humans throughout history share the desire to leave something behind before the waters of oblivion close over them; an awareness of the thousands of people that have looked at these over the centuries and a strong sense of one’s own insignificance.
Just behind the rock bearing the inscriptions, a waterfall sheds its water forming a river downhill. Families were camped on the banks of the river, enjoying their picnics and the cool mountain air. Close to the spirits of their ancestors, modern Iranians refresh their spirit near nature, and preferably near running water.
Sunday, 20 June 2010
Trip to Hamadan
Taking advantage of the few days between the end of the children’s exams and the beginning of summer school for my daughter, we went on a mini-break westwards to Hamadan and Kermanshah.
We left on Monday 14 June at 7 am.
According to the inscription, the Ali Sadr Cave is the world’s largest underwater cave and dates back to the Second Geological Period (Jurassic, 136 – 190 million years ago). Parts of it remain unexplored and may stretch for hundreds of kilometres; the locals think that a cave near Zanjan, hundreds of kilometres to the north of Hamadan, is actually the same cave.
We arrived at the cave complex at 2.30 pm and had lunch at a traditional restaurant, sitting on a wooden platform covered in carpets. A brief walk during the hottest part of the day led to the entrance lobby to the cave. As soon as we stepped inside the specially formed corridor, the temperature dropped markedly, and during our visit it dropped as low as 16C, while outside the temperature was in the high thirties.
Visitors can proceed on foot until a certain depth, after which they need to board a boat tugged by a pedalo boat operated by two employees of the cave organisation. The passage is so tight in places that the sides of the boat scrape against the rocks. The water is Ph neutral, colourless and odourless, and has a natural taste. Because the water is crystal-clear, the underwater rocks and stalagmites are visible even to a depth of 14 meters.
Stalactite formations are stunning: white bunches hanging down from the roof as giant cauliflower; reddish and glistening patches spread along the sides in the shape of octopus tentacles and body parts of aliens (“They make me sick!”, daughter exclaimed); near the end of the tour, in a wide space named Talar-e Niayesh (Prayer Hall), an overhead stalactite forms the name of Allah in Arabic.
As we stepped out into the daylight again, the weather was slightly cooler. We drove for another hour and a half to Hamadan to look for a place to stay, but when we went to check-in, we realised that since Hossein hadn’t brought his ID booklet (shenas-nameh) to prove that we are related, we needed ID documents for all of us, which we didn’t have. The hotel receptionist directed us to a branch of the local police responsible for public places. The young officer on duty asked us a few questions and eventually issued a document allowing the hotel to give us a room.
More to follow in the next post.
We left on Monday 14 June at 7 am.
According to the inscription, the Ali Sadr Cave is the world’s largest underwater cave and dates back to the Second Geological Period (Jurassic, 136 – 190 million years ago). Parts of it remain unexplored and may stretch for hundreds of kilometres; the locals think that a cave near Zanjan, hundreds of kilometres to the north of Hamadan, is actually the same cave.
We arrived at the cave complex at 2.30 pm and had lunch at a traditional restaurant, sitting on a wooden platform covered in carpets. A brief walk during the hottest part of the day led to the entrance lobby to the cave. As soon as we stepped inside the specially formed corridor, the temperature dropped markedly, and during our visit it dropped as low as 16C, while outside the temperature was in the high thirties.
Visitors can proceed on foot until a certain depth, after which they need to board a boat tugged by a pedalo boat operated by two employees of the cave organisation. The passage is so tight in places that the sides of the boat scrape against the rocks. The water is Ph neutral, colourless and odourless, and has a natural taste. Because the water is crystal-clear, the underwater rocks and stalagmites are visible even to a depth of 14 meters.
Stalactite formations are stunning: white bunches hanging down from the roof as giant cauliflower; reddish and glistening patches spread along the sides in the shape of octopus tentacles and body parts of aliens (“They make me sick!”, daughter exclaimed); near the end of the tour, in a wide space named Talar-e Niayesh (Prayer Hall), an overhead stalactite forms the name of Allah in Arabic.
As we stepped out into the daylight again, the weather was slightly cooler. We drove for another hour and a half to Hamadan to look for a place to stay, but when we went to check-in, we realised that since Hossein hadn’t brought his ID booklet (shenas-nameh) to prove that we are related, we needed ID documents for all of us, which we didn’t have. The hotel receptionist directed us to a branch of the local police responsible for public places. The young officer on duty asked us a few questions and eventually issued a document allowing the hotel to give us a room.
More to follow in the next post.
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
Learning
“Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave,” the Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali said. So I thought I’d put this advice to practice and have started to learn some Arabic, a wish I have had for a very long time. I have found a class that started a year ago and meets once a week, but has only progressed to the beginning of the second book. If (and this is a very big IF) I can work through until the end of the first book by the end of August, I might be able to join them from the beginning of the school year at the end of September.
I should get enough time in the summer: the last session of the class I teach is on 25 June, my daughter will attend summer school between 19 June and 11 August in preparation of next year’s university admission exams, and my son will also be at summer school between 3 July and 5 August. By the looks of it, plenty of fun to be had this summer.
I should get enough time in the summer: the last session of the class I teach is on 25 June, my daughter will attend summer school between 19 June and 11 August in preparation of next year’s university admission exams, and my son will also be at summer school between 3 July and 5 August. By the looks of it, plenty of fun to be had this summer.
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