Report 3: Iran: A land steeped in history

 

FOR's Friendship Delegation to Iran: May 2006

While the women in our delegation were shopping for Islamic clothing in Tehran on Thursday, May 11, some of the men and non-shopping women walked about ten minutes to the site of the former American embassy, practically a pilgrimage sport for any visiting American.

It is still behind a high iron fence, as it was when the American government occupied it.  It is now the place that houses the Islamic Revolutionary Guard’s High School and seemed not to be busy on this particular morning.

The perimeter of the grounds is on a very busy city street and the fence is placarded with pictures of the Imam Khomeini, as well as revolutionary slogans which have a certain tiredness these 25 years later.

Passers-by seemed to be interested in our presence and picture-taking, but not excessively so, as if they had seen the same scene of American photographers many times.  In fact, the spot, just a tad away from looking neglected and ill-kept, attracted little attention otherwise.

After lunch at a hotel, we went to the National Museum for a couple of hours before taking our plane to our next destination, Shiraz.

The museum is an impressive building, built about 70 years ago by a French architect who designed it in the style of Iran’s Sassanian period (224 CE until the Arab conquest and the coming of Islam in the 7th century). 

Our guide told us that Iranian history is usually divided into three periods: pre-historic (up until the 7th century BCE); historic (until the coming of Islam in the 7th century); and the Islamic period. The first museum building houses artifacts from the pre-historic and historic periods, and one finds Qur’ans and items of importance to Iran’s Islamic history in the new building.  We saw many amazing items from the pre-historic period: a pottery cow from 1,200 BCE; a large wooden wheel from 1,250 BCE, perhaps the oldest extant wheel; and a copy of the Hammurabi Code, the original having been taken by the French and placed in the Louvre.

The historic period, beginning in the 7th century BCE, is dated from the entrance of the Aryan peoples from whom the majority of Iranians (Persians) claim to be descended.  Here we found among many other things an amazing frieze from the time of Darius the Great, who built Persepolis, and the head of a man more than 1,700 years old, which had been found in a salt mine.

In the Islamic Museum we saw beautiful, ancient Qur’ans written in Kufic script, which gradually evolved into more elaborate styles.  The beauty of Islamic calligraphy cannot be overemphasized.  It is truly a form of art at its most sophisticated.  Other items reflected the glory of Islam’s long history in Iran.

Beautiful Persepolis, and the tombs of the Persian kings

Before we could really begin to digest all that we saw, it was time to head out for the airport to take a plane to Shiraz.  We arrived in Shiraz in the evening, and headed off to the hotel.  Report #2 gives several accounts of our time in Shiraz.  On Saturday, May 13 we began our drive to Isfahan, stopping along the way to visit Persepolis and the tombs of several kings of ancient Persia. 

Our first stop on this long and very full day was at Persepolis.  Almost an hour northeast of Shiraz, on a good highway, Persepolis is located in a broad, fertile valley close up against a low mountain. 

Fellowship of Reconciliation's group photo : Persepolis, May 13, 2006

Where there is water, there is greenery, and other parts of the land are very dry.  This flat valley, however, is a vivid green through irrigation, and the flanks of the mountains are varying shades of tan, ochre, and other earth tones.  Human habitation and fields present a typical rural scene, and there is definite preference for crops instead of livestock on the part of the farmers, the exception being a few bands of nomads with herds of sheep and goats.  Not much farm machinery was evident, but not surprisingly, as this is one of the growing seasons, the time of planning being past and of harvest not yet come.

There is little need to recount here the history of Persepolis or the tombs of the Kings of ancient Persia (little need and less ability on the part of the writer of this report).  Suffice to say that said history was ably and fully related by our cheerful guide.  So I will simply record a few passing impressions.

The first thing I noticed was a couple of young, Iranian women mounting horses for a local ride, the horses to be led by young men, with lots of animated laughter.  Wearing jeans with a manteau makes mounting easier and riding astride practical.

We pulled into a deserted, large, parking lot nearby and walked throughout the site.  Clear, dry, hot – made me think a legitimate translation of the name of the place should be Anvil of the Sun.

Americans excite some interest

Our group had several interactions with Iranian sightseers, who were uniformly friendly.  Many, if not most, exchanges were simply “Hello!”  or “How are you?” in passing.  A large number spoke some English, and a few spoke quite well.  One exchange in particular consisted of a middle-aged woman saying she had a friend in Philadelphia who would like to visit Iran but had heard that visas were not to be had.  She had heard that maybe something could be done through the Pakistani embassy, but was not sure.  I showed her my visa and said we were in a group and maybe that made a difference, but that nonetheless our group had gotten visas.

Other exchanges were of the form “Where are you from?” with a register of mild surprise and approval upon hearing the answer, “United States”.  One final interaction came from a group of ten or so men doing their midday prayer, and being led by a cleric (white turban, outer robe of light with light grey lower arm trim, which matched his inner robe).  When they had finished praying, three or four of them, including the cleric, said “Hello” and “Welcome” and the like.

On Women’s clothing

The men of the delegation wrote the following comments on required clothing for women in Iran.

On our second day in Tehran, most of the women in the FOR peace delegations went to the women's clothing store to look for more suitable and comfortable clothing.

The black chador is now only a choice, not a requirement, for women in Iran. Women's manteaux come in all colors, white, pink, purple, aqua; there is embroidery, design patterns to decorate the fabric. Scarves come in many colors, with floral and geometric designs. In short, there is a lot of choice.

Few men can understand the confining feeling of having to wear clothing that is prescribed by authority. The head scarves, while becoming, can be uncomfortable, we are told. At the end of the day, a woman cannot take off the scarf until she is in her own home.

As it happened, at the last stop of the day, the same group with the woman who had asked about the visa passed us, and upon mutual recognition, both parties said “Same tour”. 

A short visit to Paradise

A few more comments on the day:  I observed a group of French (well, at least francophones) in the hotel lobby getting ready for their day around Shiraz.  I observed a German tour group visiting the tombs of the kings. We also met a young Belgian couple who were taking a year to tour, and had driven from Europe through Turkey. After  visiting Iran, they plan to go on to Turkmenistan and other Asian countries.  Fascinating.  And there was also the occasional tour bus with prominent Latin alphabet lettering on the highway.

Our final visit of the day was to the tomb of Cyrus the Great, which is a compact stone structure set in the midst of a wide open, green plain.  At one time, this was a beautiful garden called Paradise, with a city in the center.  The sun was setting as we listened to our guide tell us the history of this site, and took in the beauty of the place. 

After a bit of local ice cream, we headed out for the long drive still ahead of us. Many oldie but goodie songs on the bus later, we reached the beautiful city of Isfahan. Just before we reached our hotel, we drove through the Imam Square, and saw the mosques and palace glowing in the evening light

©2005 Fellowship of Reconciliation