Chaharshanbeh Suri (Feast of Wednesday or Red Wednesday) is a major celebration in the Iranian solar calendar. It takes place on the last Wednesday of the Iranian calendar before the arrival of the Persian New Year, or Nowruz, which is celebrated on the first day of spring. Chaharshanbeh Suri is viewed as a festive prologue to the arrival of the vernal equinox. The highlight of the Chaharshanbeh Suri celebration begins after sunset, when men, women, and children from all walks of life jump over bundles of bushes and brushwood that have been set on fire. As they leap over the kindled bundles, the fire jumpers sing and welcome the pending arrival of the new year. After the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the new Islamic government denounced Chaharshanbeh Suri as a pagan ritual and banned fire jumping altogether, but the popular celebration refused to disappear and made an impressive comeback, with millions of fire jumpers participating every year in a national show of defiance.
Although Chaharshanbeh is the Persian word for Wednesday, there is no agreement on the exact meaning of the words suri, or sur. According to some scholars, sur means “feast.” Other scholars, however, have maintained that sur derives from the word sorkh (red) or sorkhi (redness), referring in this context to the color of fire (Kasheff and Saʿidi Sirjani: Čahāršanba-Sūrī).
The historical origins of Chaharshanbeh Suri are shrouded in mystery. Writers of the Islamic era attribute the origins of the celebration to a variety of different individuals, sources, and traditions. Fire was believed to be sacred in pre-Islamic Iran. The Zoroastrian scripture, the Avesta, declares fire to be the son and creation of the great god Ahura Mazda (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Sirozah, 1.9). The custom of jumping over the fire, however, may have developed after the introduction of Islam in the seventh century CE. The practice of setting up and maintaining fires on higher ground was already prevalent in pre-Islamic Iran. According to the scholar Abu Rayhan Biruni, the Sasanian monarch Hormozd I (r. 270/272–273 CE) ordered fires to be built along hilltops and other elevations because he considered them a good omen and believed that they purified stagnant air (Biruni: 203, 32). Biruni also mentions that the ancient Iranians frequently fumigated their houses to repel the evil eye. The idea of a festive ritual centered on fire could also have been derived from Zoroastrian celebrations, including the Sadeh, a midwinter festival that includes the preparation of a bonfire as a means of defying the winter and the evil spirit as represented by the satanic Ahriman. As with Chaharshanbeh Suri, before the beginning of Sadeh festivities, members of the family participate in collecting and gathering wood, which is organized into bundles and set on fire after sunset. As the fire is lit, Zoroastrian priests, dressed in white to symbolize purity, recite verses from the Avesta.
In modern practice, the preparation for Chaharshanbeh Suri begins a short time before the arrival of the last Wednesday of the year. Bushes and brushwood are either collected or purchased. Families who wish to jump over fire at home set up several bundles of the brushwood a short distance apart from one another in the yard. Those who prefer jumping over the fire in public or who lack sufficient space at home lay down several bundles of brushwood and/or bushes on a back street or even at times in a neighborhood intersection or gathering point. In rural areas and particularly in small villages, the ritual assumes a collective nature, with all members of the community jumping over the fire in a public and festive celebration. Shortly after the arrival of sunset the bundles are set on fire, and as the flames rise above the bundles, the members of the household or the residents of the neighborhood or village jump over the fire, singing “Sorkhi-ye Tow az Man, Zardi-ye Man az Tow” (translated as “Give me your beautiful red color and take back my sickly pallor.”) In recent years firecrackers are also used, mostly by youths, to add a new element of noise and color to the festivities. In addition to jumping over the fire and singing, many families also burn rue seeds (esfand), which is believed to counter and destroy the evil eye. At times, as the rue seeds are thrown onto the fire, the matriarch of the household recites rhyming prayers, such as “Esfand, Esfand Duneh, Esfand Sad-o Si Duneh, Betarekeh Cheshmeh Hasud-o Bakhil-o Biguneh, Hamsaye-ye Dast Rast, Hamsaye-ye Dast Chap, Hamsayeh Bala Sar, Hamsa-ye Paeen-e Pa,” which means “Rue, Rue Seeds, One Hundred Thirty Seeds, May the Evil Eyes of the Jealous Ones, the Greedy Ones, the Neighbor to the Right, the Neighbor to the Left, the Neighbor above Us, and the Neighbor below Us Be Blasted” (personal interview with author).
The last Wednesday of the year in the Iranian calender is celebrated as the Feast of Wednesday (Chaharshanbeh Suri). Bonfires are lit, and people jump over the flames. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Many families conclude the Chaharshanbeh Suri celebrations with a specially prepared sumptuous meal shared by the entire family. A popular dish is fish with green vegetables and rice, and when fish is not available, a variety of different polows, or rice dishes, are served. Other popular items on the table include nuts and dried fruits, such as hazelnuts, pistachios, almonds, dried prunes, dried apricots, and raisins. During the time between Chaharshanbeh Suri and the arrival of the spring equinox, families welcome the arrival of spring by engaging in a very thorough process of housecleaning, called by some Persian-speaking communities in Iran and Afghanistan khaneh takani (literally “shaking the house”).
See also: Cultures: Nowruz; Sadeh
Further Reading
Biruni, Abu Rayhan. Athar ul-Bakiya [Vestiges of the Past]. Translated by C. Edward Sachau as The Chronology of Ancient Nations. London: W. H. Allen, 1879.
Kasheff, Manouchehr, and Ali Akbar Saʿidi Sirjani. “Čahāršanba-Sūrī.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1990, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/caharsanba-suri.
Nafisi, Said. “Chahārshanbeh Suri.” Mehr 1(11) (1934): 840–854.
The Zend-Avesta, Part II: The Sirozahs, Yashts, and Nyayish. Translated by James Darmesteter. 1895; reprint, Delhi: Molital Banarsidass, 1965.
Cuisine. See Iranian Cuisine
Education
Our knowledge about education in ancient Iran is limited to a few references made by Greek and Roman writers. Herodotus remarked approvingly that among the Iranians, before the “age of five a boy” lived “with the women and never sees his father, the object being to spare the father distress if the child” died “in early stages of its upbringing” (Herodotus: 1.136). The education of young boys was between “the ages of five and twenty,” and they were taught “three things: … to ride, to use the bow, and to speak the truth” (Herodotus: 1.136). According to the Greek sources, the Iranians considered “telling lies more disgraceful than anything else, and, next to that, owing money” because they believed that an individual who owed money was bound also to be untruthful and tell lies (Herodotus: 1.138). Several centuries later, the Greek author Strabo wrote that the Persian nobility paid particular attention to the education of their children. Children were not brought into the presence of their parents, he wrote, until they were 4 years old. From the ages of 5 to 24, they were trained to use the bow and arrow, to hurl the javelin, to ride horses, and to always speak the truth. Boys had to undergo a rigid daily discipline, which began with teachers waking them up before dawn. Greek observers reported that Iranians believed in vigorous exercise to promote perspiration, physical conditioning, and health. Exercise and military training constituted an important component of one’s education during the Arsacid (Parthian) period.
Our knowledge about the educational system during the Sasanian period is far more extensive. Sasanian kings acted as great patrons of arts and sciences. One of the major centers of learning in Sasanian Iran was the city of Gondishapur, which emerged also as one of the most important centers for training and research in late antiquity. Located in Iran’s southwestern province of Khuzestan, Gondishapur was founded by the Persian Sasanian monarch Shapur I. During the reign of Shapur II, the city emerged as one of the most prosperous urban centers of the Sasanian Empire. Shapur built a medical center in the city, which included a major library. The Sasanian monarch Khosrow I Anushiravan significantly expand
ed and strengthened the prestigious medical school at Gondishapur. During the reign of Khosrow I, a hospital was added to the medical complex. At this hospital, Greek, Indian, and Persian physicians attended to the needs of the sick. Meanwhile, the medical school offered courses in medicine, anatomy, mathematics, geometry, astronomy, philosophy, and theology. Students and trainees were obliged to pass an examination before graduating from the school.
It was in this exciting and dynamic environment that the Persian scholar Borzuye joined government service and established a reputation for himself as an outstanding scholar and physician. As a physician, he treated his patients free of charge. It has also been written that the Sasanian monarch Khosrow I sent Borzuye, who was by then probably the most eminent physician at his court, to India to study the Indian sciences and healing techniques and recruit Indian physicians to teach at the medical school in Gondishapur. This offered a golden opportunity for Borzuye to study Indian medicine. India was viewed as a treasure house of ancient wisdom and knowledge and a destination for scholars, scientists, and writers from a variety of scientific fields.
It is not clear when Borzuye departed for India; how long he stayed in the country; which provinces, cities, and towns he visited; or when he returned to Persia. Borzuye returned from India with a large collection of scientific and literary books, which were translated into Middle Persian. Borzuye also brought back the game of chess and numerous herbal plants from his trip to India. Borzuye’s visit to India left a profound impact on him. He studied the great works of Sanskrit literature and became engrossed with Indian mystical beliefs and practices. When he returned from India to Iran, he brought back several collections of fables, including the Pañcatantra (later in Persian Kalila va Demna), which he translated from Sanskrit to Middle Persian. Kalila va Demna, which had been originally translated as Karirak ud Damanak, was a collection of animal stories that originated in India almost 2,000 years ago. The two central protagonists, Kalila and Demna, were clever and shrewd jackals who related humorous and racy stories about birds, beasts, and humans. The common theme of the fables was astute leadership, wise conduct of power, and the value of gaining genuine and faithful friendship. Neither the original Sanskrit nor Borzuye’s translation have survived, but the eighth-century Persian writer Ibn al-Moqaffa’ (721–757 CE), who was a convert from Zoroastrianism to Islam, translated the Middle Persian version of the book into Arabic. This translation, which has been praised as a masterpiece of Arabic literary prose, probably served as the basis for later Arabic and Persian translations. Today, numerous versions and translations of the stories Borzuye originally brought back from India are available in a variety of languages throughout the world.
Throughout his reign, Khosrow I exhibited a genuine interest in philosophical and religious issues. In 529 CE the Academy of Athens, “which had been the world’s greatest center for philosophical inquiry for a thousand years,” was shut down by the Byzantine emperor Justinian as part of his “imperial ban against pagan education” (Rosen: 236). Khosrow seized on this opportunity and recruited seven members of the academy’s faculty “to re-create the academy at the Sassanid capital of Ctesiphon, there to translate the works of Plato and his successors into Persian” (Rosen: 236). Though Byzantine historians such as Agathias expressed hostility and disdain for the Sasanian monarch and his philosophical sophistication, other sources praised Khosrow I for his wisdom and prudence. John of Ephesus wrote that Khosrow “was a prudent and wise man, and all his lifetime took pains to collect the religious books of all creeds, and read and studied them, that he might learn which were true and wise and which were foolish” (Rosen: 251). He also wrote that Khosrow “esteemed the Christian Bible above other books calling it true and wise above any other religion” (Rosen: 251).
Several Sasanian monarchs, including Khosrow I, have been credited for building bridges, roads, dams, and palaces. These construction projects required mathematicians, engineers, and architects. One of the most impressive accomplishments of Sasanian architecture was the magnificent royal palace at the city of Ctesiphon near Baghdad in present-day southern Iraq. The palace and its gigantic arch, known as Taq-e Kasra or the Archway of Khosrow, is a monument to the brilliance of Sasanian architects and engineers who designed one of the most impressive structures of the world during late antiquity. The archway was built with baked bricks and stands 93 feet (28.4 meters) high and 84 feet (25.5 meters) wide. Taq-e Kasra is the largest single-span vault of unreinforced brick in the world. The city of Ctesiphon was sacked by Arab Muslims, who looted and destroyed its magnificent buildings and palaces.
See also: K&Q, Sasanian: Khosrow I Anushiravan; Shapur I; Shapur II
Further Reading
Herodotus. The Histories. Translated by Aubrey De Sélincourt. London: Penguin, 2003.
Hirsch, Steven W. The Friendship of the Barbarians Xenophon and the Persian Empire. Hanover: University Press of New England, 1985.
Rosen, William. Justinian’s Flea: The First Great Plague and the End of the Roman Empire. London: Penguin, 2008.
Strabo. The Geography, Vol. 7. Translated by Horace Leonard Jones. London: William Heinemann, 1930.
Farsi. See Iranian Languages
Gardens. See Persian Gardens
Haft Sin. See Nowruz
Iranian Cuisine
Preparing, serving, and eating food was central to the social life of every urban, rural, and nomadic community in ancient Iran. Around this basic element of life revolved numerous rituals of socialization, leisure, and politics. Through their highly sophisticated dishes, the ancient Iranians introduced a new and rich culinary culture to the world.
Funeral stele depicts a Persian funeral feast, from Daskyleion in western Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), fifth century BCE. Iranian cuisine synthesized a wealth of cooking traditions. The ancestors of the Iranians who migrated from Central Asia encountered different culinary traditions and assimilated many of their features into their own cuisine. As they conquered and settled, they left a marked impact on the cuisine of the peoples and societies they conquered. Their own daily diet, in turn, was greatly influenced by the culinary traditions of the peoples they came to rule. (DeAgostini/Getty Images)
Excavations at Median sites in western Iran indicate that for the early Iranian settlers cattle was the main meat source, followed by sheep, goats, and pigs. There were more sheep than goats, and though horse and cattle breeding constituted the main form of livelihood, hunting also provided an additional source of food. As Iranian dynasties ruling vast kingdoms built cities with increasingly magnificent palaces, gardens, and marketplaces, the preparation of food matured, and cuisine began to play a central role in the daily life of the rich and powerful. By the time the Persian Achaemenid dynasty (r. 550–330 BCE) rose to power, cooking the food of the king had become one of the most important responsibilities of the palace and the imperial kitchen.
The imperial kitchen served over 15,000 guests daily. Persian kings displayed their hospitality by organizing lavish banquets where guests sampled exotic meats, fruits, and vegetables. They also ate a variety of other dishes flavored with unique spices and served from elaborately designed plates and drinking vessels that gleamed with brilliant gold and silver ornamentation. Some 1,000 animals were slaughtered every day for the king’s kitchens, including horses, camels, oxen, asses, deer, and a variety of smaller animals as well as wild and domesticated birds, such as ostriches, geese, and chickens (Athenaeus: IV.145e). Of all these only small portions were served to the guests, each of whom could carry home whatever he had left untouched at the meal. Large portions of the royal meals were distributed among the bodyguards and “light-armed troopers” responsible for protecting the king and the royal family (Athenaeus: IV.145f). Preparing and serving food required cleanliness. All those who prepared the meals of the Persian kings had to observe the strict rules of hygiene, first bathing themselves and then serving the meals “in white clothes” (Athenaeus: IV.145b).
The king normally br
eakfasted and dined alone, although at times his mother, his queen, and some of his sons joined him (Athenaeus: IV.145d). The most distinguished and honored of the king’s guests visited the palace for breakfast only and begged to be excused from other meals to host their own guests. Of those who were invited to dine with the king, some ate outdoors, while others dined inside the palace. No guest could eat in the king’s presence. The king and his guests ate their meals in two separate rooms opposite each other. The king could see his guests through a curtain, but they could not see him (Athenaeus: IV.145b). On the occasion of public holidays, all dined with the king in a great hall. The audience hall of King Xerxes I in Persepolis could host 10,000 guests. The king also gave a royal banquet on the occasion of his birthday. This was “the one occasion in the year when the king” anointed “his head” and distributed gifts among his people (Herodotus: 9.110). At the royal dinners, no one was allowed to share the table of a Persian monarch except his mother and his wedded wife (Plutarch: 2.705). The mother sat above the king, and the wedded wife was placed below the king (Plutarch: 2.705). On exceptional occasions, the king displayed his generosity and largesse by inviting his brothers to join him at the table (Plutarch: 2.705). In the Parthian (Arsacid) court banquets, the king “occupied a couch on which he reclined alone; it was separated from the other couches and somewhat higher than they; his table was set before him apart, … and was laden with native dishes” (Athenaeus: IV.153b). Throughout the dinner, the king’s concubines performed songs and played the lyre (Persian: chang), with one of them as the soloist and the others singing in chorus (Athenaeus: IV.145d). Persian monarchs had about a dozen companions with whom he drank in private. When the king’s dinner was finished, his fellow drinkers were summoned by one of the court’s attendants to join their royal master. The king reclined on a couch supported by feet of gold while his fellow drinkers gathered in front of him on the floor (Athenaeus: IV.153c). The king’s drinking companions could not drink the same wine that the king consumed. According to Athenaeus, Persian kings drank only “Chalybonian wine,” the grapes for which were grown at Damascus in present-day Syria, where Persians “had introduced the culture of the vine” (Athenaeus: I.28.d). In public, the Persian kings could only get drunk on the day they sacrificed to the god Mithra. During this great festival, dedicated to the worship of Mithra, the king drank and danced to his heart’s content (Athenaeus: X.434e). Since the palace served as a model for the entire empire, the dining practices and habits of the Persian king and his household had a profound impact on the cooking and feasting customs of the elite. Thus, at the banquets of the Persian viceroy of Babylonia 150 women played on harps and sang while he dined (Athenaeus: XII.530.d).
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