درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

In the 1980s, Polish researcher Maria Składankowa promoted in her publications a theory stating that the representatives of the Sistani family described in Ferdowsī's Šāh-nāma were reflections of the rainy and sunny steppe shamans. The four main representatives of this lineage were said to alternately represent these particular shamans beginning with the primordial and rainy shaman personified by Sam and ending with the solar shaman in the form of Sohrab. Another rain shaman according to Składankowa was to be Rostam. This article aims to introduce Składankowa's theory to the international research community and to subject it to verification. The battle between Rostam and White Dīv, which was the seventh trial in Rostam's cycle of seven trials, was used for verification. This is a clash between two national heroes and the circumstances of this battle blur the boundaries between what is commonly understood as good and as evil. Thus, this is an example that perfectly demonstrates Składankowa's theory of rejecting religious notions of good and evil and focusing on the primeval connection between man and nature when it was man's greatest ally and enemy. Neither Rostam nor White Dīv, according to Składankowa's theory, are therefore completely good or completely evil, like any element of nature, which can be a life-giving or destructive force. Identified with good forces, the sun warms the earth and causes vegetation but can also cause drought and the death that follows. Identified with evil forces, rain can cause floods, but without it, vegetation will die. There is no absolute good or absolute evil in nature. Nor is there one in the battling Rostam and White Dīv. Ferdusī's description of this combat in Šāh-nāma clearly goes back to this primeval myth leaving the story universal.

Archeological survey of all counties in Mazandaran Province was carried out under the master plan of drawing an archeological map of this province. In this setting, coastal areas of the city of Nowshahr were reviewed for the first time, with a focus on the mountainous area of Kojur district which was studied in order to complete the previous research conducted there. A book entitled Archaeology and History of Nowshahr jointly authored by Seyed Mehdi Mousavi Kouhpar and Shahin Aryamanesh was published in 2021. In this book, the authors have investigated all aspects of the Parthian kingdom and goes beyond the political history of the Parthians to familiarize the readers with the archaeology, history, culture, religion, art, and society of the Parthians.

The cavalry battle scene depicted on the Himyarite bronze plaque, being possibly a part of horse harness, reveals some relation with Iranian iconography of Parthian and Sasanian times. The relation is not direct and there are numerous differences with the Iranian fighting scenes. The composition does not directly refer to any of the Parthian or Sasanian battle reliefs or toreutics and seems to follow earlier, Hellenistic traditions, enriched by the Iranian and local detail. The direct confrontation, without immediate determination of the victorious and defeated sides, was avoided in Iranian iconography which aimed in glorification of royal heroism, being always victorious and only victorious cosmic power. The differences between the equipment of the depicted personages, clashing in cavalry combat, allow to identify the scene as a local version of classical amazonomachia with some Iranian iconographic elements added. Generally, the long lances were in Parthian and Sasanian times perceived as Iranian element of warfare and included to Iranian iconography of royal power, even if the tactical idea of employment of long lances, most likely, reached Iran with the Macedonians. It is possible that the female warriors in capalin/morion types of helmets of post Hellenistic origin clash with the warriors wearing scale armour covering entire body. The possibly-female warriors are shown in garments or nude and they seem to refer to iconographies of Athena-type goddesses in oriental environments. The latter motif of naked Amazon in combat is not popular in main-stream classical art but is occasionally attested. Scale overalls may refer to Roman imagery of heavy cavalry of Sarmatian origin. The piece, together with another rock relief, prove knowledge of Iranian-type heavy cavalry among Himyarites who attempted to follow or imitate the prestige of both great empires of the time.

The relative and long-term stability brought about by the Safavid government in Iran made urbanization and its requirements to be reviewed, next to the issue of public health. Some physicians began to run new experiments and produce treatises. One of these outstanding treatises is the Risala Ateshak, written by Imad al-Din Mahmoud bin Masoud Shirazi. For the first time, by writing an independent treatise, he described the symptoms, methods of prevention, and treatment of syphilis. To him, the treatise issued before his, except that of Baha'u'l-Razi, were not discussed and were considered a phenomenon from abroad (the West). He sought to explain the manners of transmission, prevention, and treatment of this disease in different temperaments through the available methods, which were mostly based on herbal medicine. He also expressed his belief about the effectiveness of consuming Chinese wood in treating this disease. The accuracy of this treatise's contents and its writing period makes it clear that syphilis is not an imported disease contrary to the idea that existed. The reason for our ignorance of its existence was the inability to distinguish it from other diseases.