Το Μιθραίο της Δούρας Ευρωπού: όπου Αραμαίοι, Έλληνες και

Planet Earth is very beautiful, but the enemies of life and world peace continue to destroy it and spread chaos, wars and tragedies.

"Om mani padme hum" Mantras are the combination of all of the Buddha’s teachings condensed into six syllables in the form of mantra. It is very powerful that you do not need anything else. Avalokiteshvara said that merely through this mani mantra , many people will be liberated from samsara. Lama Thanka Painting School @lama_thanka

Δούρα Ευρωπός, το Τέλειο Πρότυπο Πολυπολιτισμικότητας: Αραμαίοι, Έλληνες, Πάρθες, Ρωμαίοι και Πέρσες σε Μοναδικό Θρησκευτικό Συγκρητισμό δίπλα στον Ευφράτη

Dura Europos, the Perfect Model of Multiculturalism: Aramaeans, Greeks, Parthians, Romans and Persians in Unique Religious Syncretism by the Euphrates

ΑΝΑΔΗΜΟΣΙΕΥΣΗ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΜΠΛΟΓΚ “Ρωμιοί και Ρωμανία στους Δρόμους του Μεταξιού”

Το κείμενο του κ. Νίκου Μπαϋρακτάρη είχε αρχικά δημοσιευθεί την 25η Νοεμβρίου 2019

Στο κείμενό του αυτό, ο κ. Μπαϋρακτάρης παρουσιάζει τα βασικά σημεία μιας ομιλίας μου στο Πεκίνο τον Ιανουάριο του 2019 αναφορικά με τους Αραμαίους, κυριώτερο ιστορικό έθνος των Δρόμων του Μεταξιού, τα αραμαϊκά οικονομικά και πολιτισμικά κέντρα κατά μήκος των εμπορικών δρόμων μεταξύ της Ρ'ωμης και της Κίνας, και τον ρόλο τους στην διάδοση θρησκειών από την Ανατολή στην Δύση. Το κυρίως θέμα είναι εν προκειμένω η Δούρα Ευρωπός.

-------------------

https://silkroadorientalgreeks.wordpress.com/2019/11/25/δούρα-ευρωπός-το-τέλειο-πρότυπο-πολυπ/ ============================

Ρωμιοί και Ρωμανία στους Δρόμους του Μεταξιού

Πολιτισμικές Ανταλλαγές κι Αδελφωσύνη ανάμεσα σε Ρωμιούς, Πέρσες, Τούρκους, Μογγόλους, Ινδούς και Κινέζους

Η Δούρα Ευρωπός (Δοῦρα Εὐρωπός, Dura Europos, Дура Эвропос) είναι ένας από τους σημαντικώτερους αρχαιολογικούς χώρους όλου του κόσμου. Βρίσκεται στα ανατολικά άκρα της Συρίας, ακριβώς πάνω στην αριστερή (δυτική) όχθη του Ευφράτη, λίγο πριν ο ποταμός μπει στο Ιράκ – κάτι που σημαίνει ότι κάνουμε λόγο για τον μέσο ρου του Ευφράτη. Ο αρχαιολογικός χώρος βρίσκεται κοντά στο χωριό Σαλχίγιε, όχι μακριά από την τελευταία μεγάλη πόλη της Ανατολικής Συρίας Αμπού Κεμάλ.

Όπως το όνομά της δηλώνει, η πόλη ήταν αρχικά ένα ασσυροβαβυλωνιακό κάστρο (Ντουρ) στα δυτικά άκρα της Κεντρικής Μεσοποταμίας. Δούρα είναι η εξελληνισμένη μορφή του Ντουρ. Η επιπρόσθετη ελληνική λέξη προσδιορίζει το τεράστιο οπτικό πεδίο που προσφέρει ο παρά τον Ευφράτη λόφος πάνω στον οποίο αρχικά οι Ασσυροβαβυλώνιοι είχαν ανεγείρει ένα φρούριο. Ο χώρος προσφέρει ευρύτατη δυναυτότητα εποπτείας, συνεπώς προσφερόταν για μια σημαντική οχυρωματική θέση.

Στην μακραίωνη ιστορία της η Δούρα Ευρωπός ήταν η πόλη όλων των ορίων: αρχικά ανάμεσα στους Ασσύριους και τους Βαβυλώνιους. Η πόλη είναι το νοτιοδυτικό άκρο της Ασσυρίας και το βορειοδυτικό άκρο της Βαβυλώνας κατά την 2η προχριστιανική χιλιετία. Στα τέλη αυτής της χιλιετίας και στις αρχές της επόμενης, η Ντουρ και ο τριγύρω χώρος κατακλύσθηκαν από τους Αραμαίους που διασπάρθηκαν από τα νότια άκρα της Βαβυλώνας και τις ακτές του Περσικού Κόλπου μέχρι την Δαμασκό, την Κιλικία ή ακόμη την Λυδία όπως τεκμηριώνουν δίγλωσσες λυδικές – αραμαϊκές επιγραφές που έχουν σωθεί.

Ωστόσο, σήμερα, η Δούρα Ευρωπός δεν είναι αντικείμενο έρευνας των Ασσυριολόγων. Ο χώρος, του οποίου η ακμή ανάγεται στα σελευκιδικά, αρσακιδικά, και ρωμαϊκά χρόνια, είναι αντικείμενο έρευνας πολλών και διαφορετικών επιστημόνων. Η ανεύρεση αραμαϊκών, ελληνικών, λατινικών, παρθικών και περσικών επιγραφών ελκύει το ενδιαφέρον σημιτολόγων, ελληνιστών, λατινιστών και ιρανολόγων. Η τεράστια σημασία της καραβανούπολης ως κομβικού σημείου στους Ιστορικούς Δρόμους του Μεταξιού, των Μπαχαρικών και των Λιβανωτών την καθιστά αντικείμενο έρευνας όλων των ειδικών του Ρωμαϊκού Εμπορίου με την Κίνα.

Όμως περισσότερο από τα προαναφερμένα, η ιστορική σημασία της Δούρας Ευρωπού είναι ένα κάλεσμα για τους ιστορικούς θρησκειών, τους θρησκειολόγους που ειδικεύονται

1- στον Μιθραϊσμό και ιδιαίτερα στην αποδοχή του ανάμεσα στους Αραμαίους,

2- στην διάδοση ανατολικών θρησκειών, λατρειών, μυθολογιών, θεουργιών, μυστικισμών και επιστημών στην Ρωμαϊκή Αυτοκρατορία και την Μεσόγειο,

3- στον Ιουδαϊσμό και την διάδοση της αρχαίας ιουδαϊκής θρησκείας ανάμεσα στους Αραμαίους (που χαρακτηριστικά εκπροσωπεί η γνωστή Σαμαρείτιδα των ευαγγελικών περικοπών),

4- στην διατήρηση αρχαιοελληνικών και ρωμαϊκών θρησκειών και λατρειών ανάμεσα στις ελληνικές και ρωμαϊκές κοινότητες του σελευκιδικού και ρωμαϊκού κόσμου, και

5- στην διαμόφωση συγκρητικών μορφών θρησκειών με την ανάμειξη στοιχείων πολλών, διαφορετικής προέλευσης, δογμάτων.

Οι χρόνοι της ακμής της Δούρας Ευρωπού τοποθετούνται στην περίοδο από το 303 π.Χ., όταν ο Σέλευκος Νικάτωρ ανήγειρε εκνέου την πόλη ως κεντρικό σημείο στον δρόμο που συνέδεε την Αντιόχεια με την Σελεύκεια επί του Τίγρη (νότια της σημερινής Βαγδάτης), μέχρι την ιρανική σασανιδική επίθεση και καταστροφή της πόλης το 256 μ.Χ., όταν ο Σαπούρ Α’ μετώκισε το σύνολο του πληθυσμού στα ανατολικά κι άφησε την πόλη ως ερείπια να χαθεί κάτω από την άμμο της ερήμου για σχεδόν 1700 χρόνια.

Τα πολλά ευρήματα, τα τείχη, οι πύργοι, τα τεράστια κτήρια, οι πολλοί ναοί, το Μιθραίο, η Εκκλησία, η Συναγωγή, εντυπωσιακές τοιχογραφίες, οι πολλές επιγραφές και τα λοιπά κειμενικά τεκμήρια (περγαμηνές) που ανασκάφηκαν, ανασκάπτονται και θα ανασκαφούν στην Δούρα Ευρωπό κάνουν τον τόπο αυτό ένα από τα μοναδικά στην Παγκόσμια Ιστορία δείγματα αυθεντικής πολυπολιτισμικής κοινωνίας, η οποία αναπτύχθηκε από την εθελούσια συνεργασία και συμβίωση πολλών διαφορετικών εθνών, κι όχι από τυχον παράξενη υποκίνηση, τεχνητή υποδαύλιση, και υστερόβουλη επέμβαση. Ήταν μια φυσιολογική συνέπεια των γενικωτέρων εξελίξεων στον ευρύτερο χώρο κι όχι ένα προγραμματισμένο και προσχεδιασμένο τερατούργημα.

Στην Δούρα Ευρωπό ομιλήθηκαν διάφορες αραμαϊκές γλώσσες και διάλεκτοι, καθώς υπήρχαν ντόπιοι Αραμαίοι αλλά και Παλμυρηνοί και Χατραίοι (: από την Χάτρα, άλλη αραμαϊκή καραβανούπολη – κέντρο εμπορίου Δύσης – Ανατολής, στο σημερινό βορειοδυτικό Ιράκ). Επίσης ομιλήθηκαν αρχαία ελληνικά, λατινικά, παρθικά, ιουδαϊκά, μέσα περσικά, αρχαία υεμενικά, και αραβικά, καθώς από κει περνούσε το εμπόριο από την Μεσόγειο προς το Ιράν, την Ινδία και την Κεντρική Ασία, όπως επίσης και το εμπόριο από την Υεμένη και το Κέρας της Αφρικής προς τον Καύκασο και περιοχές της Κεντρικής Ασίας.

Η Ιστορία της Δούρας Ευρωπού τεκμηριώνει κάτι το πολύ σημαντικό: δεν χρειάζεται μια πόλη για να μείνει ως εξαιρετικά σημαντική στην Ιστορία να είναι πρωτεύουσα ενός ισχυρού κράτους. Κι έτσι ήταν η ιστορία αυτού του μοναδικού τύπου που λειτούργησε σαν χωνευτήρι πίστεων, παραδόσεων, δοξασιών και μυστικισμών σε βαθμό που την αποκάλεσαν Πομπηία της Ερήμου.

Η Δούρα Ευρωπός παρέμεινε σελευκιδική από το 303 π.Χ. μέχρι το 113 π.Χ. όταν την κατέκτησαν οι Πάρθοι, οι οποίοι την εκράτησαν μέχρι το 114 μ.Χ., όταν επελαύνοντας προς τα ανατολικά την κατέλαβε ο Τραϊανός, ο μόνος Ρωμαίος αυτοκράτορας που έφθασε στον μυχό του Περσικού Κόλπου και στα δυτικά παράλια της Κασπίας. Οι Πάρθοι ανακατέλαβαν την πόλη το 117 μ.Χ. και την διατήρησαν μέχρι το 165 μ.Χ. Τότε οι Ρωμαίοι την ανέκτησαν και την διατήρησαν, ως ‘Αποικία’ (Colonia) από το 211 μ.Χ., μέχρι την σασανιδική ιρανική κατάληψη του 256 μ.Χ. και καταστροφή της πόλης.

Έτσι, η Δούρα Ευρωπός υπήρχε πάντοτε μια πόλη ανάμεσα σε δυο κόσμους: του Σελευκίδες της Συρίας και τους Αρσακίδες του Ιράν πρώτα, και τους Ρωμαίους και τους Σασανίδες του Ιράν έπειτα. Με τους Ρωμαίους και Μακεδόνες κατοίκους της, η Δούρα Ευρωπός παρέμεινε το ανατολικώτερο σημείο όπου αρχαία ελληνικά και λατινικά ομιλούντο τον 3ο αιώνα στην Συρο-Μεσοποταμία.

Για την Δούρα Ευρωπό μπορούν να γραφούν εγκυκλοπαίδειες. Είναι ο χώρος όπου σώζονται η αρχαιότερη εκκλησία, η αρχαιότερη συναγωγή και το αρχαιότερο Μιθραίο δυτικά του Ιράν.

Δείτε το βίντεο:

Дура Эвропос: Многокультурный караванный город на берегу Евфрата: арамейцы, греки, римляне и иранцы

https://ok.ru/video/1581278431853

Περισσότερα:

Первоначально на месте Д.-Е. располагалась древнеассир. крепость. В 300-280 гг. до Р. Х. Селевк I Никатор основал там колонию македон. воинов, охранявших переправы через Евфрат на пути из 2 столиц гос-ва Селевкидов – Антиохии-на-Оронте и Селевкии-на-Тигре. Приблизительно после 113 г. до Р. Х. в составе Месопотамии Д.-Е. перешел под власть Парфии, став важным форпостом в Сирии. Население города к Iв. до Р. Х. было по преимуществу арамейским. В 116 г. Д.-Е. был оккупирован войсками рим. имп. Траяна, позже возвращен имп. Адрианом парфянам, в 165 г., во время парфянского похода имп. Луция Вера, завоеван римлянами и включен в состав рим. пров. Сирия, в 211 г. получил статус колонии. С рим. завоеванием Д.-Е. стал одним из форпостов в войнах с Парфией, его гарнизон был увеличен за счет войск, базировавшихся в Сев. Европе, было начато строительство оборонительных сооружений. С падением Парфии и усилением гос-ва Сасанидов город неоднократно переходил из рук в руки. В 256 или 257 г. крепость была разрушена войсками сасанидского царя Шапура I (сохр. следы разрушений, останки воинов, погибших в подстенных подкопах). В 260-273 гг. Д.-Е. входил в состав гос-ва Пальмира, позже стал местом поселений христ. отшельников, постепенно был поглощен пустыней.

В эпоху правления Селевкидов (возможно, раньше) город был окружен зубчатой стеной со сторожевыми башнями (сохр. остатки 26), разделен улицами на квадраты по античной Гипподамовой системе (судя по следам неоконченных строительных работ, первоначальный план не был осуществлен; основной план сохр. структуру эллинистического города). От главных Пальмирских ворот (17-16 гг. до Р. Х.) начиналась широкая улица, на к-рой находилась агора; по оси этой улицы в юго-вост. части города располагалась старая цитадель, основанная греками как стратегион (резиденция стратега), на северо-востоке – новая цитадель (времени Селевкидов, IIв. до Р. Х.; перестроена и достроена в парфянский период), у сев. оконечности города, у приречной стены,- резиденция начальника рим. гарнизона (после 227).

От парфянского времени в Д.-Е. сохранились руины цитадели и дворца, остатки жилых домов, руины храмов греч., местных вост. и синкретических греко-сир. и греко-иран. божеств: Баала-Бела, Артемиды, культ к-рой слился с культом иран. Нанайи (40-33 гг. до Р. Х., перестроен при парфянах из греч. храма, служил центром офиц. культа Д.-Е. в греч., парфянский и рим. периоды), сир. богини Атаргатис (31-2 гг. до Р. Х., к востоку от храма Артемиды-Нанайи, построен по сходному плану), Зевса Кириоса (Господа), Зевса Теоса (Бога) (114 г., к северу от кардо), Зевса Мегиста (Величайшего) (169 г., на месте древнего храма 95-70 гг. до Р. Х., имеет смешанные греко-парфянские черты), т. н. храма Пальмирских богов, или храма Гадде, посвященного 2 пальмирским божествам – Баалам (до 159, между храмом Атаргатис и агорой Д.-Е.), Адониса и др. Нек-рые из храмов были расписаны, в руинах обнаружены рельефы и статуи. К рим. времени относятся укрепления в военном квартале и возведенные на месте жилого квартала парфянского времени строения, предназначенные для гарнизона, занявшие 1/4 территории города, где располагались термы и храмы. В храмах Д.-Е. обнаружено множество вотивных рельефов, стилистически близких к пальмирским, при полном их отсутствии в погребальных комплексах.

Открытые в Д.-Е. жилые дома (по типу и архитектурному декору греч. или эллинизированные, рим. или отмеченные рим. влиянием – «дворец Лисия» с портиком на стороне террасы, обращенной к Евфрату; «дворец начальника пограничной стражи» в военном квартале) и многочисленные святилища имеют месопотамский облик – комплекс помещений вокруг главного двора, окруженного стеной. За стенами Д.-Е. расположены некрополи, представляющие собой подземные захоронения с неск. погребальными башнями.

В 256 г., видимо незадолго до осады армией Сасанидов, застроенный квартал шириной ок. 12-15 м, прилежащий к стене, высота к-рой составляла 10 м, был засыпан рим. солдатами битым кирпичом, благодаря чему до наст. времени сохранились храм Пальмирских богов, митреум (храм Митры), дом рим. типа с «домовой церковью», синагога (с 245).

Остатки крепости Д.-Е. были обнаружены 30 марта 1920 г., когда при рытье траншей брит. солдаты увидели росписи храма Пальмирских богов с изображением жрецов и римского легионера, приносящих жертвы богам. Эксперт археолог Дж. Г. Брестед, 1-м ознакомившийся с городищем, предположил, что оно известно по лит. источникам как Д.-Е. В 1922-1923 гг. раскопки Д.-Е. вела франц. экспедиция под рук. Ф. Кюмона (в публикации 1926 г. он подтвердил, что обнаруженный город является Д.-Е.), в 1928-1937 гг.- франко-амер. экспедиция под рук. М. И. Ростовцева из Йельского ун-та; раскопки были остановлены в связи с началом второй мировой войны. В сер. 80-х гг. раскопки возобновлены франко-сирийской экспедицией под рук. П. Лериша.

http://www.pravenc.ru/text/180593.html

Δείτε το βίντεο:

Дура Эвропос: Самый захватывающий мультикультурный караванный город в мире: арамейцы, греки, римляне и иранцы

https://vk.com/video434648441_456240370

Περισσότερα:

Ду́ра-Е́вропос [греч. Ϫοῦρα Εὔρωπος], древний город на берегу р. Евфрат, у одной из главных дорог, связывавших Дамаск с Месопотамией; в наст. время – городище близ дер. Эс-Салихия (Вост. Сирия); музей под открытым небом. Совр. название условно и образовано из слияния арам. duru – стена, крепость (название бытовало среди местного населения) и македон. топонима Europos(офиц. название в греко-рим. документах).

Памятники материальной культуры и эпиграфики, сохранившиеся в Д.-Е., доказывают, что в парфянский период его население было сирийским, арабским и иранским. Этническая картина усложнилась при Селевкидах с поселением греков и македонян, затем – с рим. завоеванием. Различные религии были принесены в Д.-Е. греками, рим. воинами (в основном германцами из Сев. Европы), арабами из Пальмирского оазиса, степными кочевниками, парфянами; население разделялось по вероисповеданию, о чем свидетельствуют надписи: в синагоге они выполнены на арам. языке, в «церкви» – на греческом.

http://www.pravenc.ru/text/180593.html

Δείτε το βίντεο:

Dura Europos: The World’s most Fascinating Multicultural Caravan City: Aramaeans, Greeks, Romans & Iranians

https://orientalgreeks.livejournal.com/1918.html

Περισσότερα:

Dura Europos (“Fort Europos”) is a ruined Hellenistic-Roman walled city built on cliff 90 meters above the banks of the Euphrates river. It is located near the village of Salhiyé, in today’s Syria. Destroyed by war and abandoned in the 3rd century AD, it lie hidden until its rediscovery in 1920. Excavations have revealed, among other important ruins, the oldest synaogogue and oldest church ever found. Due to its remarkable preservation and has sometimes been dubbed the “Pompeii of the Syrian Desert.”

Dura Europos was founded in 303 BC by the Seleucids (Alexander the Great’s successors) on the intersection of an east-west trade route and a north-south trade route along the Euphrates. The new city, named for the birthplace of Seleucus I Nicator, controlled the river crossing on the route between Antioch on the Orontes and Seleucia on the Tigris. Dura Europos was part of a network of military colonies intended to secure Seleucid control of the Middle Euphrates.

Dura was rebuilt as a great Hellenistic city in the 2nd century BC, with a rectangular grid of streets arranged around a large central agora, was formally laid out. Its location on a major crossroads made it a very cosmopolitan city: inscriptions in many languages have been found here and the religious buildings of pagans, Jews and Christians stand side by side.

Dura Europos later became a frontier fortress of the Parthian Empire and it was captured by the Romans in 165 AD. In the early 200s AD, the famed house-church and synagogue were built at Dura Europos. There was also a Mithraeum, a Temple of Bel and a Temple of Adonis in the multi-cultural city.

Dura Europos was abandoned after a Sassanian siege in 256-257. In a last-ditch attempt to save the city, the synagogue was filled in to make a fortress, thereby ensuring its preservation. The city eventually became covered in shifting sands and disappeared from sight.

Although the existence of Dura-Europos was long known through literary sources, it was not rediscovered until British troops under Captain Murphy made the first discovery during the Arab rebellion in the aftermath of World War I. On March 30, 1920, a soldier digging a trench uncovered beautifully preserved frescoes. The American archeologist James Henry Breasted, then at Baghdad, was alerted. Major excavations were carried out in the 1920s and 1930s by French and American teams.

The first excavations of the site, undertaken by Franz Cumont and published in 1922-23, identified the site as Dura-Europos and uncovered a temple before renewed hostilities in the area closed it to archaeology. Later, renewed campaigns directed by Michael Rostovtzeff funded by Yale University continued until 1937, when funds ran out with only part of the excavations published. World War II then interfered.

Since 1986 excavations have resumed. Not the least of the finds were astonishingly well-preserved arms and armour belonging to the Roman garrison at the time of the final Sassanian siege of 256. Finds included painted wooden shields and complete horse armours, preserved by the very finality of the destruction of the city that journalists have called “the Pompeii of the desert”.

The largely mud-brick architecture of Dura Europos does not compare to Palmyra visually, but the dramatic remains of the walls and siegeworks combined with precipitous views over the green valley of the Euphrates makes for a striking sight. And arguably, Dura surpasses Palmyra in historical and religious importance.

Dura-Europos was a cosmopolitan society: over a hundred parchment and papyrus fragments and many inscriptions have been discovered at the site, which include Greek, Latin, Palmyrenean, Hebrew, Hatrian, Safaitic, and Pahlavi.

Three of the covered homes in Dura Europos had been converted for use as religious buildings. One had become a Mithraeum, dedicated to the worship of the god Mithras, who was popular with Roman soldiers. Another had undergone structural modifications to become a Jewish synagogue. The third home had been converted to a Christian church. The synagogue and church are the oldest that have been found anywhere, and are also remarkable in that they were built very close to each other at virtually the same time.

The world’s oldest preserved Jewish synagogue in Dura-Europos has been dated by an Aramaic inscription to 244. It was preserved when it was filled with earth to strengthen the city’s fortifications against a Sassanian assault in 256. It was uncovered in 1935 by Clark Hopkins, who found that it contains a forecourt and house of assembly with frescoed walls depicting people and animals, and a Torah shrine in the western wall facing Jerusalem.

The synagogue’s painted walls and roof of baked-brick tiles were transported across the desert 300 miles away to Damascus, where it became the centrepiece of the National Museum built in 1934. Yale had to settle for a copy.

Dura-Europos also boasts the oldest known Christian church. It was dismantled and re-constructed at Yale University in the early 1930s, so there isn’t much to see at Dura-Europos but basic foundations.

The church occupied a typical Roman upper-class house centered around a columned courtyard with an open room (atrium). In the center of the courtyard was a pool (impluvium). At the opposite end from the entrance was a raised area (tablinum) containing a table and used by the family as a reception area and for ceremonial functions.

Scholars speculate that the congregation gathered around the pool, which was used for baptism. In the tablinum sat the bishop, who celebrated the Eucharist (communion) at the table. This arrangement provides a basis for the liturgical arrangement of later basilica churches.

The murals of the Dura Europos chuch were painted between 232 and 256 AD and are among the earliest examples of Christian art that survives today. The mural of the Healing of the Paralytic contains the earliest image of Jesus found anywhere.

In 1933, an important fragmentary text was unearthed at Dura Europos that contained a previously unknown Greek harmony of the gospels, dated to the late 2nd century. This has been important for early Christian studies, particular those of Tatian’s Diatessaron, a more well-known gospel harmony.

Excavations have also revealed the ruins of pagan temples dedicated to Greek, Roman and Palmyrene gods, including a Temple of Bel (a Semitic god) and a Temple of Adonis (a Greek god).

Preserved in the Temple of Adonis was a 2nd-century dedicatory inscription, which is now in the Louvre Museum. Other finds from Dura can be seen at the National Museum in Damascus and elsewhere.

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/syria/dura-europos

Δείτε το βίντεο:

Δούρα Ευρωπός: Το Μέγιστο Πολυπολιτισμικό Κέντρο της Ιστορίας – Αραμαίοι, Έλληνες, Ρωμαίοι, Ιρανοί

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0CYNFhXdYE

Περισσότερα:

Η Δούρα Ευρωπός είναι αρχαία πόλη, στις όχθες του ποταμού Ευφράτη, στα σύνορα μεταξύ Μεσοποταμίας και Συρίας. Ιδρύθηκε, ως στρατιωτική αποικία, μετά το πέρας του Βαβυλωνιακού πολέμου (311-309 π.Χ.) από τον στρατηγό Νικάνορα (λογικά είναι το ίδιο πρόσωπο που ίδρυσε την Έδεσσα και την Αντιόχεια Μυγδονική) για λογαριασμό του κυρίου του Σελεύκου Α΄ Νικάτορος (358-281 π.Χ.), ενός εκ των βασιλικών φίλων του Μεγάλου Αλεξάνδρου. Η ονομασία Ευρωπός προέρχεται από την ομώνυμη πατρίδα του Σελεύκου στην Μακεδονία.

Το 253 ή 256 μ.Χ. καταστράφηκε από τους Πέρσες και σκεπάστηκε από την άμμο. Όταν, στις δεκαετίες 1920 – 1930, η αρχαιολογική σκαπάνη την επανέφερε στο φως ο Mikhail Rostovtzeff την είχε αποκαλέσει «Πομπηία της ερήμου». Η ανακάλυψή της έγινε τυχαία από το βρετανικά στρατεύματα το 1920.

https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Δούρα_Ευρωπός

Dura-Europos (Greek: Δοῦρα Εὐρωπός), also spelled Dura-Europus, was a Hellenistic, Parthian and Roman border city built on an escarpment 90 metres (300 feet) above the right bank of the Euphrates river. It is located near the village of Salhiyé, in today’s Syria. In 113 BC, Parthians conquered the city, and held it, with one brief Roman intermission (114 AD), until 165 AD. Under Parthian rule, it became an important provincial administrative center. The Romans decisively captured Dura-Europos in 165 AD and greatly enlarged it as their easternmost stronghold in Mesopotamia, until it was captured by the Sasanian Empire after a siege in 256–57 AD. Its population was deported, and after it was abandoned, it was covered by sand and mud and disappeared from sight.

Dura-Europos is extremely important for archaeological reasons. As it was abandoned after its conquest in 256–57 AD, nothing was built over it and no later building programs obscured the architectonic features of the ancient city. Its location on the edge of empires made for a co-mingling of cultural traditions, much of which was preserved under the city’s ruins. Some remarkable finds have been brought to light, including numerous temples, wall decorations, inscriptions, military equipment, tombs, and even dramatic evidence of the Sassanian siege.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dura-Europos

Ду́ра-Эвропо́с (греч. Δοῦρα Εὐρωπός) — античный город на Евфрате (вблизи современного города Сальхиях в Сирии), существовавший примерно с 300 года до н. э. до 256 года. Получил известность в связи с археологическими находками и хорошо сохранившимися древними фресками. Дура на арамейском означает «крепость».

Город был основан царём Селевком IНикатором около 300 года до н. э. среди многих других и просуществовал более 550 лет. Примерно в 100 году до н. э. перешёл под власть Парфянского царства, а с 165 года — Римской империи. В римское время Дура-Европос был крупным торговым центром, и большинство археологических находок относятся к этому периоду времени. В 256 году захвачен войсками Сасанидов и заброшен.

Селевк, диадох Александра Македонского, выбрал для поселения своих солдат заброшенную ассирийскую крепость на дороге из Дамаска в Междуречье и дал ей имя «Дура». Римляне назвали город «Дура-Европос», потому что местная аристократия состояла из потомков македонцев, то есть они подчеркнули что город управляется «европейцами» из Македонии. Крепость стояла на высоком берегу среднего Евфрата, защищённая с трёх сторон крутыми обрывами, а четвёртая сторона, противоположная от реки и примыкающая к пустыне, была обнесена длинной прямой стеной с башнями. Размеры города составляют примерно 700 на 1000 м.

Город регулярно спланирован (прямо пересекающиеся улицы) в селевкидское время, к которому относятся агора, остатки храмов, цитадель. Со временем гражданское население стало превалировать, и крепость превратилась в захолустный городок, выросший вокруг рыночной площади. Однако население можно назвать гражданским лишь условно. В военное время земледельцы вставали в строй, образуя сословие так называемых клерухов. В социальном отношении жители делились по родам, как и в Македонии. Земля клерухам давалась в пожизненную аренду за их службу или службу их детей, оставаясь царской собственностью.

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Дура-Эвропос

———————————-

Περισσότερα:

Dura Europos, ruined city on the right bank of the Euphrates between Antioch and Seleucia on the Tigris, founded in 303 B.C.E. by Nicanor, a general of Seleucus I. It flourished under Parthian rule. The site is in modern Syria, on a plateau protected on the east by a citadel built on bluffs overlooking the river, on the north and south by wadis, and on the west by a strong rampart with powerful defensive towers. Its military function of the Greek period was abandoned under the Parthians, but at that time it was the administrative and economic center of the plain extending 100 km between the confluence of the Ḵābūr and Euphrates rivers and the Abū Kamāl gorge to the south.

I. Archaeology and History

Initial archeological exploration of the city took place in 1920-22, under the direction of Franz Cumont and the sponsorship of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in Paris. From 1929 to 1937 Yale University and the Académie sponsored excavations under the initiative of M. I. Rostovtzeff, who published Dura-Europos and Its Art, a synthesis of the history of the town and of its civilization, formed from Greek, Semitic, and Iranian components. This work has served as the basis for all subsequent studies of the site. In fact, however, understanding of Dura Europos depended mainly on written materials (parchments, papyri, inscriptions, and grafitti; see ii, below), paintings, tombs, and portable objects (e.g., coins, bronzes, and lamps) from the excavations, and very little attention has been paid to the architectural remains. Although nearly a third of the town has been excavated, a large number of buildings have been published only summarily or not at all. It therefore became necessary to resume the work of publication, and for this reason the Mission Franco-Syrienne de Doura-Europos was formed in 1986 under the joint direction of the author and Assad Al-Mahmoud; the major objectives are to reexamine the archeological data, to make available the entire mass of documentation from previous excavations, as well as to save the monuments from destruction.

Dura Europos was brought into the Iranian cultural sphere after the Parthian conquest in about 113 B.C.E. (Bellinger; Welles). This domination lasted three centuries, interrupted by a Roman occupation in 115-17 C.E., during Trajan’s expedition to Ctesiphon. In 165 Dura was conquered by Avidius Cassius and became a stronghold in the Roman defensive system along the eastern frontier of the empire. Nevertheless, despite an impressive effort to reinforce its defenses, the town was unable to withstand the great offensive launched by the Sasanian Šāpūr I (240-70) in 256; it was taken after a bitter siege, and the population was deported, thus putting an end to the town’s existence.

The Parthian period

According to recent discoveries, Dura Europos, originally a fortress, was constituted as a city only in the late Hellenistic period and had been only sparsely populated throughout the Greek period. It was under the Parthians, however, that the city assumed its essential aspect, as revealed by the excavations, a configuration only partly modified by the Roman occupation, except for transformation of the northern sector into a Roman camp. Recent work by the Mission Franco-Syrienne has permitted some refinement of this picture; certain buildings that had formerly been attributed to the Parthians can now be dated to the Hellenistic period. For example, according to Armin von Gerkan, the cut-stone fortifications of Dura Europos had been built by the Parthians, fearful that the Greek wall of unbaked bricks would be insufficient against a Roman attack. Only the northern section of the original western wall survived, which he took as proof that the project had been rendered unnecessary by the peace concluded between the Parthians and Augustus in 20 B.C.E. (pp. 4-51). This conclusion was based more on probabilities extrapolated from the reports of ancient historians than on archeological discoveries and has been contradicted by the results of recent soundings and clearing of earlier trenches. It is now clear that it was the Greeks themselves who built the stone fortifications, in the second half of the 2nd century B.C.E., and that the use of mud bricks resulted from the imminent threat from the Parthians, which forced the builders to finish the wall with more easily obtained material (Leriche and Mahmoud, l990). Similarly, the reconstruction of the palace of the strategus and its extension to the north, as well as construction of the second palace in the citadel, which shows a number of similarities, had been attributed to the Parthian period, but recent excavations in the interior and at the base of the facade of the former building have revealed that it belongs to the 2nd century B.C.E., that is, the Greek period. In a recent study Susan Downey (1988) has also called into question the restoration of one palace with an ayvān, which was suggested in the Yale publications and would imply a Parthian construction.

The Parthian period thus appears to have been primarily a phase of expansion at Dura Europos, an expansion favored by abandonment of the town’s military function. All the space enclosed by the walls gradually became occupied, and the installation of new inhabitants with Semitic and Iranian names alongside descendants of the original Macedonian colonists contributed to an increase in the population (Welles et al.). In his celebrated Caravan Cities Rostovtzeff had argued that this prosperity could have resulted from the town’s position as a trading center and caravan halt, but this hypothesis has been abandoned, for nothing uncovered by the excavations has confirmed it. Instead, Dura Europos owed its development to its role as a regional capital, amply illustrated by the contents of inscriptions, parchments, and papyri.

In the Parthian period Greek institutions remained in place (Arnaud), and the property-zoning scheme established in the Hellenistic period was respected in new construction; that is, buildings were kept within the limits of pre-existing blocks 35 x 70 m laid out uniformly over the entire surface of the plateau, even to a large extent in the interior wadis. The only exceptions were the quarter of the town southeast of the citadel, which had apparently already been occupied before the division into lots, and a sector of the agora that had been invaded by domestic buildings. The ramparts were neglected: Domestic trash accumulated along the periphery, finally forming a mass so thick that it prevented access to certain towers on the western wall.

The architecture of the Parthian period was characterized by a progressive evolution of Greek concepts toward new formulas in which regional traditions, particularly those derived from Babylonia, played an increasing role. These innovations affected both religious and domestic buildings. No secular public building is known to have been built during the Parthian period, with the possible exception of a bath constructed of cut stone in the northeast sector of the town. The evolved Parthian forms generally persisted into the Roman period, except for buildings in the Roman camp in the northern third of the town, for example, the palace of the Dux Ripae and the praetorium.

The architecture of private dwellings varied in detail according to the wealth of the owner. The systematic layout of the Greek city, in which each house was supposed to cover one-eighth of a block (ca. 300 m2), was abandoned or modified through subdivision and consolidation resulting from sales or inheritance (Saliou). The smallest houses covered one quarter or even less of a Greek lot whereas other more luxurious examples covered up to half a block. But the organizing principle of the house remained fundamentally the same: The street door, often situated at a corner of the house, opened onto a corridor leading into a central courtyard, which provided access and light to the various rooms of the house. The principal room, the andrón, was usually situated on the south side, opening to the north, and was surrounded on all four walls by a masonry bench; it served as a reception room (Allara). Some houses incorporated columns, but gabled roofs disappeared in favor of terraces, rooms became irregular in shape, and several houses had second stories.

Religious architecture underwent a comparable evolution, traceable through numerous excavated buildings: the temples of Artemis Nanaïa II and Zeus Megistos II, the necropolis temple, and the temples of Artemis Azzanathkona, Zeus Kyrios, Atargatis, Bel, Aphlad, Zeus Theos, Gad, and Adonis. This architecture diverged more and more from the hypothetical Greek model, if in fact such a model had ever been introduced at Dura Europos (Downey, 1988, p. 176). All the temples of the Parthian period have the same basic plan, with variations in detail. A generally square temenos is enclosed by a blank wall; the naos stands at the back of the interior courtyard facing the entrance. Against the interior face of the enclosure wall are a series of rooms for service or secondary cults, usually built by donors. When the naos is set against the back wall of the temenos, a narrow space is left between them to provide a separation of the cella from the exterior world. The building is small, usually square in plan, and raised on a podium of two or three steps, with one or more altars in front. The interior is divided in two: the pronaos, which occupies the full width of the building and is sometimes furnished with tiers of benches on either side of the entrance, and the cella, usually flanked by two chapels or lateral sacristies. The cult image on the wall opposite the entrance, either mounted on a pedestal or painted directly on the surface. All that remains from the Greek tradition is the occasional presence of a columned facade in front of the temple or porticoes along the sides of the courtyard, as at the temple of Bel.

It is thus clear that at Dura Europos entirely original architectural formulas were perfected during the Parthian period, in both religious and domestic constructions; the Babylonian element predominated, though with a certain Greek dressing, but no unequivocal Iranian influence appears. The formula for religious buildings was followed in all temples, whatever the form of worship to which they were consecrated, Greek or Semitic.

The only Iranian cult known at Dura Europos was that of Mithra, which paradoxically had been introduced into the city by Roman troops in 168. The mithraeum, located near the western wall in the Roman camp, belongs to the type dedicated to the cult throughout the Roman world and has no features in common with the other religious buildings at Dura Europos, except that it stands on a podium. It appears to have been a single room of modest dimensions with a bench on each of the longer sides; above the central aisle there was a raised ceiling with a clerestory. At the end of the room was a niche containing two cultic bas-reliefs with an altar before them. The entire surface of the room was covered with painted decoration: scenes from the life of Mithra, representations of magi and the zodiac around the bas-reliefs in the niche, and mounted hunting scenes on the side walls.

Although Iranian influence is difficult to find in the architecture of Dura Europos, in figurative art it is much more pronounced. In fact, owing to landfill that preserved religious buildings along the western wall (see below), Dura has provided the main evidence of a decorative art that seems to have developed in Parthian domains, reflecting a synthesis of the traditions of the ancient Near East (linear drawing, two-dimensional forms, stiff poses) and the Hellenic world (the use of architectural decoration and friezes, types of dress). Furthermore, in religious settings, those most fully represented, the principle of “Parthian frontality” prevailed. This convention, according to which all figures, human or divine, face directly forward, with eyes fixed on the spectator, made its appearance at Dura very early, in the oldest painting, of the sacrifice of Conon, in the temple of Bel (probably 1st century C.E.). It persisted until the destruction of the city, as attested in the frescoes of the synagogue, dating from 245. It was equally apparent in sculpture and terra-cottas (except for a statue of Artemis with the tortoise, which comes from a Hellenistic center) and, for example, in two reliefs of the Gads of Dura and Palmyra. On the other hand, in frequent narrative scenes of combat and hunting on horseback, like those in the mithraeum, the horses and wild beasts are portrayed in a flying gallop, a characteristic that was to be developed in Sasanian art.

The siege of Dura Europos

The Sasanian siege of Dura Europos in 256 brought an end to the town’s existence and immobilized Šāpūr’s army for several months. The determined resistance put up by the inhabitants forced the assailants to adopt various siege tactics, which eventually resulted in conquest of the city; the defensive system, the mines, and the assault ramp were left in place after the deportation of the population, which permits modern investigators to gain an exact idea of the military techniques of the Sasanians and the Romans in the mid-3rd century.

It is not known where the Sasanians located their camp, but traces of their operations against the city wall still survive (du Mesnil du Buisson). To guard against the attack, which was clearly expected from the time that the Sasanian empire was established, the Romans had heightened and reinforced the external faces of the western and northern ramparts by masking them with thick layers of fill covered by a mud-brick glacis and thus burying the buildings along the inside of the wall. The Persians undermined towers 19 and 14 on the western wall in order to bring them down, but, owing to the filling and the glacis, the towers were not really destroyed. At the southeast corner of the town they built an assault ramp 40 m long and 10 m high against the wall to permit troops to enter; it consisted of a mass of fill packed between two walls of brick and paved with baked bricks, which made it possible to move a siege machine close to the wall. Two tunnels, each wide enough to permit several men to advance abreast, were dug near the body of the ramp. There is no surviving textual description of the siege of Dura Europos, but Ammianus Marcellinus’ account of the siege of Amida a century later, in which the same techniques were used, permits reconstruction of the operations at Dura; the main siege weapons were catapults, movable towers, and even elephants. Clearly the Sasanian armies had a sophisticated knowledge of siege techniques.

The discovery of the body of a Sasanian soldier in one of the trenches has also yielded precious information. He was equipped with a coat of mail, a sword ornamented with a jade disk of Central Asian type, and an iron helmet made in two halves with an iron crest running vertically down the center of the front, of clearly Mesopotamian and Iranian origin. This type of helmet served as a model for those adopted in the Roman empire in the 3rd century (James).

The chronology of the siege operations has given rise to a debate that is still far from having been resolved. The discovery of Pahlavi inscriptions on the frescoes of the synagogue does not prove that the town had first been occupied by the Sasanians during a campaign in 253, three years before the final siege. It is also improbable that a house near the triumphal arch on the main street, in which there was a fresco of Sasanian type showing a fight between cavalrymen, belongs to this putative first occupation. It seems now that this fresco, several ostraca in Pahlavi found in the palace of the Dux Ripae (Figure 30/13), and the tombs discovered in the town and along the river resulted from temporary installation of a small Persian detachment in the town after the victory of 256 (MacDonald; Leriche and Al Mahmoud, 1994).

Τις βιβλιογραφικές παραπομπές μπορείτε να βρείτε εδώ:

http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dura-europos

———————————————–

Γενικά:

http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/mithras/display.php?page=cimrm34

https://www.thebyzantinelegacy.com/dura-mithraeum

https://sergeyurich.livejournal.com/809515.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dura-Europos

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dura-Europos_synagogue

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Дура-Эвропос

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Синагога_Дура-Европос

https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Δούρα_Ευρωπός

https://artgallery.yale.edu/online-feature/dura-europos-excavating-antiquity

http://media.artgallery.yale.edu/duraeuropos/dura.html

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/syria/dura-europos

http://www.pravenc.ru/text/180593.html

https://www.livius.org/articles/place/dura-europos/

https://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/6746

http://users.stlcc.edu/mfuller/DuraMithras.html

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/religion-society-and-culture-at-duraeuropos/mithraeum-of-duraeuropos/EC5B512F8931E969F185C033CB758FA2

—————————————–

Αρχική ανάρτηση του βίντεο:

Dura Europos – The Life, Death and Resurrection of an ancient city – Syria

I traveled to Dura Europos just before the outbreak of the Syrian civil war and were one of the last to see this magnificent site before it was destroyed.

Dura Europos was a Hellenistic, Parthian and Roman border city built on an escarpment above the Euphrates river in eastern Syria.

It was conquered in 114 AD and finally captured in 165 AD by the Romans (who greatly enlarged it as their easternmost stronghold in Mesopotamia) and destroyed after a Sassanian siege in 257 AD. After it was abandoned, it was covered by sand and mud and disappeared from sight.

Abandoned after its conquest in 256–7 AD, nothing was built over it and no later building programs obscured the architectonic features of the ancient city. Its location on the edge of empires made for a co-mingling of cultural traditions, much of which was preserved under the city’s ruins.

Some remarkable finds have been brought to light, including numerous temples, wall decorations, inscriptions, military equipment, tombs, and even dramatic evidence of the Sassanian siege during the Imperial Roman period which led to the site’s abandonment.

After it has been severely looted by the Islamic State in the ongoing Syrian Civil War, it was demolished by ISIS.

---------------------

Κατεβάστε το κείμενο σε Word doc.:

https://vk.com/doc429864789_625211299

https://www.docdroid.net/kyb9h2o/doura-efropos-to-teleio-protipo-polipolitismikotitas-docx

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/muhammad-shamsaddin-megalommatis-677982143_δούρα-ευρωπός-το-τέλειο-πρότυπο-πολυπολιτισμικότητας-activity-6880844641445400576-yo16/

Cosmas Megalommatis: Anu, World Mythology-1989

Κοσμάς Μεγαλομμάτης, Άνου: Παγκόσμια Μυθολογία, Ελληνική Εκπαιδευτική Εγκυκλοπαίδεια, 1989

Кузьма Мегаломматис, Ану: мировая мифология, Греческая педагогическая энциклопедия, 1989

Kosmas Megalommatis, An: Weltmythologie, Griechische Pädagogische Enzyklopädie, 1989

Kosmas Gözübüyükoğlu, Anu: Dünya Mitolojisi, Yunan Pedagoji Ansiklopedisi, 1989

قزمان ميغالوماتيس، أنو : اساطیر جهانی، دایره المعارف آموزشی یونانی، 1989

Côme Megalommatis, An: Mythologie mondiale, Encyclopédie pédagogique grecque, 1989

1989 قزمان ميغالوماتيس، أنو: الأساطير العالمية، الموسوعة التربوية اليونانية،

Cosimo Megalommatis, An: mitologia mondiale, Enciclopedia pedagogica greca, 1989

Cosimo Megalommatis, Anu: mitología mundial, Enciclopedia pedagógica griega, 1989

Cosmas Megalommatis, Anu: World Mythology, Greek Pedagogical Encyclopedia, 1989

===============

Скачать PDF-файл: / PDF-Datei herunterladen: / Télécharger le fichier PDF : / PDF dosyasını indirin: / :PDF قم بتنزيل ملف / Download PDF file: / : یک فایل دانلود کنید / Κατεβάστε το PDF:

calameo.com

Άνου, ο κορυφαίος Θεός των Ασσυροβαβυλωνίων

Κοσμάς Μεγαλομμάτης, Άνου: Παγκόσμια Μυθολογία, Ελληνική Εκπαιδευτική Εγκυκλοπαίδεια, 1989 Кузьма Мегаломматис, Ану: мировая мифология, Греч

docdroid.net

Άνου, ο κορυφαίος Θεός των Ασσυροβαβυλωνίων.pdf

'Avoo 'Orov ro onoonoogo nou eixe oreiPopulovror<rt BrvoKioo, 6nou o€ voo€topo0 oro npooolrio rou Ao{oepoq, rivon, tNe'lpo). Me rov Xoplop6

slideshare.net

Κοσμάς Μεγαλομμάτης, Άνου: Παγκόσμια Μυθολογία - 1989

Κοσμάς Μεγαλομμάτης, Άνου: Παγκόσμια Μυθολογία - 1989 - Download as a PDF or view online for free

figshare

Κοσμάς Μεγαλομμάτης, Άνου: Παγκόσμια Μυθολογία - 1989

Κοσμάς Μεγαλομμάτης, Άνου: Παγκόσμια Μυθολογία, Ελληνική Εκπαιδευτική Εγκυκλοπαίδεια, 1989Кузьма Мегаломматис, Ану: мировая мифология, Грече

History of Achaemenid Iran 1A, Course I - Achaemenid beginnings 1A

Prof. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis

Tuesday, 27 December 2022

Outline

Introduction; Iranian Achaemenid historiography; Problems of historiography continuity; Iranian posterior historiography; foreign historiography; Western Orientalist historiography; early sources of Iranian History; Prehistory in the Iranian plateau and Mesopotamia

1- Introduction

Welcome to the 40-hour seminar on Achaemenid Iran!

It is my intention to deliver a rather unconventional academic presentation of the topic, mostly implementing a correct and impartial conceptual approach to the earliest stage of Iranian History. Every subject, in and by itself, offers to every researcher the correct means of the pertinent approach to it; due to this fact, the personal background, viewpoints and thoughts or eventually the misperceptions and the preconceived ideas of an explorer should not be allowed to affect his judgment.

If before 200 years, the early Iranologists had the possible excuse of studying a topic on the basis of external and posterior historical sources, this was simply due to the fact that the Old Achaemenid cuneiform writing had not yet been deciphered. Still, even those explorers failed to avoid a very serious mistake, namely that of taking the external and posterior historical sources at face value. We cannot afford to blindly accept a secondary historical source without first examining intentions, motives, scopes and aims of it.

As the seminar covers only the History of the Achaemenid dynasty, I don't intend to add an introductory course about the History of the Iranian Studies and the re-discovery of Iran by Western explorers of the colonial powers. However, I will provide a brief outline of the topic; this is essential because mainstream Orientalists have reached their limits and cannot provide us with a real insight, eliminating the numerous and enduring myths, fallacies, and deliberately naïve approaches to Achaemenid Iran.

In fact, most of the specialists of Ancient Iran never went beyond the limitations set by the delusional Ancient 'Greek' (in reality: Ionian and Attic) literature about the Medes and the Persians (i.e. the Iranians), because they never offered themselves the task to explain the reasons for the aberration that the Ancient Ionian and Attic authors created in their minds and wrote in their texts about Iran. This was utterly puerile and ludicrous.

And this brings us to the other major innovation that I intend to offer during this seminar, namely the proper, comprehensive contextualization of the research topic, i.e. the History of Achaemenid Iran. To give some examples in this regard, I would mention

a - the tremendous, multilayered and multifaceted impact of the Mesopotamian World, Civilization and Heritage on the formation of the Achaemenid Empire of Iran, and more specifically, the determinant role played by the Sargonid Empire of Assyria on the emergence of the first Empire on the Iranian plateau;

b - the ferocious opposition of the Mithraic Magi to the Zoroastrian Achaemenid court; 

c - the involvement of the Anatolian Magi in the misperception of Iran by the Ancient Greeks; and

d- the utilization of the Ancient Greek cities by the Anti-Iranian side of the Egyptian priesthoods, princes and administrators.  

To therefore introduce the proper contextualization, I will expand on the Neo-Assyrian Empire and the Sargonid times, not only to state the first mentions of the Medes and the Persians in History, but also to show the importance attributed by the Neo-Assyrian Emperors to the Zagros Mountains and the Iranian plateau, as well as the numerous peoples, settled or nomadic, who inhabited that region. 

There is an enormous lacuna in the Orientalist disciplines; there are no interdisciplinary studies in Assyriology and Iranology. This plays a key role in the misperception of the ancient oriental civilizations and in the mistaken evaluation (or rather under-estimation) of the momentous impact that they had on the formation of the World History. There are no isolated cultures and independent civilizations as dogmatic and ignorant Western archaeologists pretend.

Only if one studies and evaluates correctly the colossal impact of the Ancient Mesopotamian world on Iran, can one truly understand the Achaemenid Empire in its real dimensions.

2- Iranian Achaemenid historiography

A. Achaemenid imperial inscriptions produced on solemn occasions

Usually multilingual texts written by the imperial scribes of the emperors Cyrus the Great, Darius I the Great, Xerxes I, Artaxerxes I, Darius II, Artaxerxes II, and Artaxerxes III, as well as of the ancestral rulers Ariaramnes and Arsames.

Languages and writing systems:

- Old Achaemenid Iranian (cuneiform-alphabetic; the official imperial language)

- Babylonian (cuneiform-syllabic; to offer a testimony of historical continuity and legitimacy, following the Conquest of Babylon by Cyrus the Great, who presented himself as king of Babylon)

- Elamite (cuneiform-logo-syllabic; to portray the Persians in particular as the heirs of the ancient land of Anshan and Sushan that the Assyrians and the Babylonians named 'Elam' and the indigenous population called 'Haltamti' / The first Achaemenid to present himself as 'king of Anshan' is Cyrus the Great and the reference is found in his Cylinder unearthed in Babylon.)

and

- Egyptian Hieroglyphic (if the inscription or the monument was produced in Egypt, since the Achaemenids were also pharaohs of Egypt, starting with Kabujiya/Cambyses)

Imperial inscriptions are found in: Babylon (Cyrus Cylinder), Pasargad, Behistun, Hamadan, Ganj-e Nameh, Persepolis, Naqsh-e Rustam, Susa, Suez (Egypt), Gherla (Romania), Van (Turkey), and on various items

B. Persepolis Administrative Archives

This consists in an enormous documentation that has not yet been fully studied; it is not written in Old Achaemenid as one could expect but mainly in Elamite cuneiform. It consists of two groups, namely

- the Persepolis Fortification Archive, and

- the Persepolis Treasury Archive.

The Persepolis Fortification Archive was unearthed in the fortification area, i.e. the northeastern confines of the enormous platform of the Achaemenid capital Parsa (Persepolis), in the 1930s. It comprises of more than 30000 tablets (fragmentary or entire) that were written in the period 509-494 BCE (at the time of Darius I). The tablets were written in Susa and other parts of Fars and the territory of the ancient kingdom of Elam that vanished in the middle of the 7th c. (more than 130 years before these texts were written). Around 50 texts had Aramaic glosses. More than 2000 tablets have been published and translated. These texts are records of transactions, distribution of food, provisioning of workers, transportation of commodities, etc.;  few tablets were written in other languages, namely Old Iranian (1), Babylonian (1), Phrygian (1) and Greek (1).

The Persepolis Treasury Archive was found in the northeastern room of the Treasury of Xerxes. It contains more than 750 tablets and fragments (in Elamite) and more than 100 have been published. They all date back in period 492-458 BCE. These tablets are either letters or memoranda dispatched by imperial officials to the head of the Treasury; they concern the payment of workmen, the issue of silver, and other administrative procedures.  Only one tablet was written in Babylonian.

The entire documentation offers valuable information as regards the function of various imperial services, namely the couriers, the satraps, the imperial messengers, the imperial storehouse, etc. The archives shed light on the origin of the imperial administrators, as ca. 1900 personal names have been recorded: 10% were Elamites (who had apparently survived for long far from their country after the destruction of Susa by Assurbanipal (640 BCE), fewer were Babylonians, and the outright majority consisted of Iranians (Persians, Medes, Bactrians, Sakas, Arians, etc.).

C. Imperial Aramaic

The diffusion of the use of Aramaic started already in the Neo-Assyrian times and during the 7th c. BCE; the creation of the 'Royal Road', the systematization of the transportation, the improvement of communications, and the formation of the network of land-, sea- and desert routes that we now call 'Silk-, Spice- and Perfume- Road' during the Achaemenid times helped further expand the use of Aramaic. The linguistic assimilation of the Babylonians, the Jews and the Phoenicians with the Aramaeans only strengthened the diffusion of the Aramaic, which became the second international language ('lingua franca') in the History of the Mankind (after the Akkadian / Assyrian-Babylonian). Gradually, Aramaic became an official Achaemenid language after the Old Achaemenid Iranian.

Except the Aramaic texts attested in the Persepolis Administrative Archives, thousands of Aramaic texts of the Achaemenid times shed light onto the society, the economy, the administration, the military organization, the trade, the religions, the cults, the culture and the spirituality attested in various provinces of the Iranian Empire. At this point, only indicatively, I mention few significant groups of texts:

- the Elephantine papyri and ostraca (except Aramaic, they were written in Hieratic and Demotic Egyptian, Coptic, Alexandrian Koine, and Latin) – 5th and 4th c. BCE,

- the Hermopolis Aramaic papyri,                              

- the Padua Aramaic papyri, and

- the Khalili Collection of Aramaic Documents from Bactria (48 texts written on leather, papyrus, stone or clay, dating from the period 353-324 BCE, and mainly from the reign of Artaxerxes III whereas the most recent dates from the reign of Alexander the Great).

Here I have to add that the widespread use of Imperial Aramaic and its use as a second official language for Achaemenid Iran brought an end to the use of the Elamite (in the middle of the 5th c.) and, after the end of the Achaemenid dynasty and the split of the state of Alexander the Great, contributed to the formation of two writing systems, namely Parthian and Pahlavi which were in use during the Arsacid and the Sassanid times. Imperial Aramaic helped establish many other writing systems, but this goes beyond the limits of the present seminar.

3- Problems of historiography continuity

There are no historical references to the Achaemenid dynasty made at the time of the Arsacids (Ashkanian: 250 BCE-224 CE) and the Sassanids 224-651 CE); this situation is due to many factors:

- the prevalence of another Iranian nation of probably Turanian origin, namely the Parthians and the Arsacid dynasty,

- the rise of the anti-Achaemenid, anti-Zoroastrian Magi who tried to impose Mithraism throughout Iran during the Arsacid times,

- the formation of an oral epic tradition and the establishment of a legendary historiography about the pre-Arsacid past during the Sassanid times, and

- the scarcity of written sources and the terrible destructions that occurred in Iran during the Late Antiquity, the Islamic era, and the Modern times (early Islamic conquests, divisions of the Abbasid times, Mongol invasions, Safavid-Ottoman wars, Western colonial looting, etc.).

This situation raised Western academic questions of Iranian identity, continuity, and historicity. But this attempt is futile. Iranian historiography of Islamic times shows that these questions were fully misplaced.

4- Iranian posterior historiography (Iranian historiography of Islamic times)

With Tabari (839-923) and his voluminous History of Prophets and Kings we realize that there were, in spite of the destructions caused because of the Islamic conquests, historical documents on which he was based to expand about the Sassanid dynasty; actually one out of the 40 volumes of the most recent translation of Tabari to English (published by the State University of New York Press from 1985 through 2007) is dedicated to the History of Sassanid Iran (vol. 5). And the previous volume (vol. 4) covers the History of Achaemenid and Arsacid Iran, Alexander the Great, Nabonid Babylonia, Assyria and Ancient Israel and Judah.  

Other important Iranian historians of the Islamic times, like Abu'l-Fadl Bayhaqi (995-1077), Rashid al-Din Hamadani (1247-1318) who wrote the truly first World History, Alaeddin Aṭa Malik Juvaynī (1226-1283), and Sharaf ad-Din Ali Yazdi (ca. 1370-1454), did not expand much on pre-Islamic periods as the focus of their writing was on contemporaneous developments.

However, the aforementioned historians and all the authors, who are classified in this category, represent only one dimension of Iranian historiography of Islamic times. A totally different approach and literature have been illustrated by Ferdowsi's Shahnameh (Book of Kings). Abu 'l Qasem Ferdowsi (940-1025) was not the first to compose an epic in order to standardize in mythical terms and legendary concepts the pre-Islamic Iranian past; but he was the most successful and the most illustrious. That is why many other epic poets followed his example, notably the Azeri Nizami Ganjavi (1141-1209) and the Turkic Indian Amir Khusraw (1253-1325).

Within the context of this poetical historiography, historical emperors of pre-Islamic Iran appear as legendary figures only to be then viewed as materialization of divine patterns. The origin of this transcendental historiography seems to be retraced in the Sassanid times, but all the major themes are clearly of Zoroastrian identity and can therefore be attributed to the Achaemenid world perception and world conceptualization.

It is essential at this point to state that, until the imposition of modern Western colonial academic and educational standards in Iran, Ferdowsi's Shahnameh and the corpus of Iranian legendary historiography was the backbone of the Iranian cultural, intellectual and educational identity.

It is a matter of academic debate whether an original text named Khwaday-Namag, written during the Sassanid times, and now lost, is at the very origin of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh and of the Iranian legendary historiography. The 19th c. German Orientalist Theodor Nöldeke is credited with this theory that has not yet been proved.

All the same, the spiritual standards of this approach are detected in the Achaemenid times.

5- Foreign historiography

Ancient Greek (in reality, Ionian and Attic), Ancient Hebrew and Latin sources of Achaemenid History exist, but first they are external, second they appear to be posterior in their largest part, and third they often bear witness to astounding inaccuracies, fables, untrustworthy data, misplaced focus, excessive verbosity without real substance, and -above all- an enormous and irreconcilable misunderstanding of the Iranian Achaemenid reality, values, world view, mindset, and behavior.

The Ancient Hebrew sources shed light on issues that were apparently critical to the tiny and unimportant, Jewish minority of the Achaemenid Empire; however, these Biblical narratives concern facts that were absolutely insignificant to the imperial authorities of Parsa. One critical issue is concealed by modern scholars though; although all the nations of the Empire were regularly mentioned in the Achaemenid inscriptions and depicted on bas reliefs, the Jews were not. This undeniable fact irrevocably conditions the supposed 'importance' of Biblical texts like Ezra, Esther, Nehemiah, etc. All the same, these foreign historical sources are important for the Jews.

The Ionian and Attic accounts of events that were composed by the Carian renegade Herodotus, the Dorian Ctesias, and the Athenian Xenophon present an even more serious problem. They happened to be for many centuries (16th – 19th c.) the bulk of the historical documentation that Western European academics had access to as regards Achaemenid Iran. This situation produced grave biases among Western academics, because they took all these sources at face value since they had no access to original documentation. The grave trouble persisted even after the decipherment of the Old Achaemenid cuneiform writing and the archaeological excavations that brought to daylight original Iranian imperial documentation.

Only recently, at the end of the 20th c., leading Iranologists like Heleen Sancisi-Weerdenburg started criticizing the absolutely delusional History of Achaemenid Iran that modern Western scholars were producing without even understanding it by foolishly accepting Ancient Ionian myths, lies and propaganda against the Iranian Empire at face value. This grave problem had also two other parameters:

- first, there was an enormous gap of civilization and a tremendous cultural difference between the Iranian imperial world view, the spiritual valorization of the human being, and the Zoroastrian monotheism from one side and the chaotic, disorderly and profane elements of the western periphery of the Empire. The so-called Greek tribes in Western Anatolia and in the South Balkans were not only multi-divided and plunged in permanent conflict; they were also extremely verbose on common issues, they desecrated the divine world with their nonsensical myths and puerile narratives, and they defiled human spirituality with their love stories about their pseudo-gods. But, very arbitrarily and quite disastrously, the so-called Ancient Greek civilization had been erroneously taken as 'classics' by modern Europeans at a time they had no access to Ancient Oriental sources.

- second, the vertical differentiation between Imperial Iran as the blessed land of divine mission and the disunited and peripheral lands of conflict, discord and strife that were inhabited by the Greek tribes was reflected on the respective, impressively different types of historiography; to the Iranians, few words written by anonymous scribes were enough to describe the groundbreaking deeds of divinely appointed rulers. But for the Greeks, the useless rumors, the capricious hearsay, the intentional lie, the nefarious expression of their complex of inferiority, the vicious slander, and the deliberate ignominy 'had' to be recorded and written down.

The fact that Herodotus' and Xenophon's long narratives have long been taken as the basic source of information about Achaemenid Iran demonstrates how disoriented and misplaced modern Western scholarship is. But by preferring to rely mainly on the Ancient Greek lengthy and false narratives, and not on the succinct, true and chaste Old Achaemenid Iranian inscriptions, they totally misrepresent Ancient Iranian History, preposterously extrapolating later and corrupt standards to earlier and superior civilizations.

And whereas Ancient Roman authors, who wrote in Latin (Pliny the Elder, Seneca the Younger, etc.), and Jewish or Christian historians, who wrote in Alexandrine Koine, like Flavius Josephus and Eusebius of Caesarea Maritima, reproduced the style of lengthy narratives that turns History to mere gossip, the great Babylonian scholar Berossus was very reluctant to add personal comments to his original sources or to allow subjective considerations and thoughts to contaminate his text.

In any case, the vast issue of the multilayered damages caused by the untrustworthy Ancient Greek historiography to modern Western academics' perception and interpretation of Achaemenid Iran is a topic that deserves an entirely independent seminar.

--------------

To watch the video (with more than 110 pictures and maps), click the links below:

HISTORY OF ACHAEMENID IRAN - Achaemenid beginnings 1Α

By Prof. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis

OK.RU

History of Achaemenid Iran 1A, Course I, Achaemenid beginnings 1A

1- Introduction Welcome to the 40-hour seminar on Achaemenid Iran! It is my intention to deliver a rather unconventional academic presentati

BitChute

History of Achaemenid Iran 1A, Course I, Achaemenid beginnings 1A

1- Introduction Welcome to the 40-hour seminar on Achaemenid Iran! It is my intention to deliver a rather unconventional academic presentati

Rumble

History of Achaemenid Iran 1A, Course I, Achaemenid beginnings 1A

1- Introduction Welcome to the 40-hour seminar on Achaemenid Iran! It is my intention to deliver a rather unconventional academic presentati

brighteon.com

History of Achaemenid Iran 1A, Course I, Achaemenid beginnings 1A

1- Introduction Welcome to the 40-hour seminar on Achaemenid Iran! It is my intention to deliver a rather unconventional academic presentati

------------------------   

To listen to the audio, clink the links below:

HISTORY OF ACHAEMENID IRAN - Achaemenid beginnings 1 (a+b)

megalommatis.podbean.com

History of Achaemenid Iran 1A, Course I, Achaemenid beginnings 1A | The Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis’s Podcast

1- Introduction Welcome to the 40-hour seminar on Achaemenid Iran! 2- Iranian Achaemenid historiography A. Achaemenid imperial inscriptions

------------------------------ 

Download the text in PDF:

megalommatiscomments

History of Achaemenid Iran 1A, Course I, Achaemenid beginnings 1A

Prof. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis Tuesday, 27 December 2022 Outline Introduction; Iranian Achaemenid historiography; Problems of histor

academia.edu

History of Achaemenid Iran 1A, Course I - Achaemenid beginnings 1A

Prof. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis Tuesday, 27 December 2022 1- Introduction 2- Iranian Achaemenid historiography A. Achaemenid imperial

Ναξ-ε Ρουστάμ: Σταυρόσχημοι Λαξευτοί Τάφοι των Αχαιμενιδών & Ανάγλυφο του Βαλεριανού, Αιχμάλωτου Ρωμαίου Αυτοκράτορα, Γονατιστού προ του Έφιππου Σαπούρ Α’ (240-270)

Naqsh-e Rustam: Cruciform Carved Tombs of the Achaemenid Dynasty & Relief of the Roman Emperor Valerian Captive and Kneeling before Emperor Shapur I (240-270)

ΑΝΑΔΗΜΟΣΙΕΥΣΗ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΣΗΜΕΡΑ ΑΝΕΝΕΡΓΟ ΜΠΛΟΓΚ “ΟΙ ΡΩΜΙΟΙ ΤΗΣ ΑΝΑΤΟΛΗΣ”

Το κείμενο του κ. Νίκου Μπαϋρακτάρη είχε αρχικά δημοσιευθεί την 19 Σεπτεμβρίου 2019. Στο κείμενό του αυτό, ο κ. Μπαϋρακτάρης παρουσιάζει όψεις της διαχρονικής σημασίας της αχαιμενιδικής νεκρόπολης του Ναξ-ε Ρουστάμ, βασιζόμενος σε στοιχεία τα οποία παρέθεσα σε διάλεξή μου στο Καζακστάν (τον Ιανουάριο του 2019) σχετικά με την εσχατολογική σημασία ορισμένων ιερών χώρων του Ιράν.

https://greeksoftheorient.wordpress.com/2019/09/19/ναξ-ε-ρουστάμ-σταυρόσχημοι-λαξευτοί-τ/ ================

Οι Ρωμιοί της Ανατολής – Greeks of the Orient

Ρωμιοσύνη, Ρωμανία, Ανατολική Ρωμαϊκή Αυτοκρατορία

Πολύ πιο εντυπωσιακό από την κοντινή (10 χμ) Περσέπολη είναι το απόμακρο Ναξ-ε Ρουστάμ (نقش رستم / Naqsh-e Rostam / Накше-Рустам, δηλαδή ‘η Εικόνα του Ρουστάμ’, ενός Ιρανού μυθικού ήρωα), ένας κορυφαίος προϊσλαμικός ιρανικός αρχαιολογικός χώρος που τα πελώρια μνημεία του, λαξευτά στον βράχο, ανάγλυφα ή οικοδομημένα αυτοτελώς, καλύπτουν 1200 χρόνια Ιστορίας του Ιράν, από την αρχή των Αχαιμενιδών (Χαχαμανεσιάν / 550-330 π.Χ.) μέχρι το τέλος των Σασανιδών (Σασανιάν / 224-651 μ.Χ.)

Εδώ βρισκόμαστε στα ιερά και τα όσια των Αχαιμενιδών: ο επιβλητικός βράχος λαξεύτηκε επανειλημμένα για να χρησιμεύσει ως αχαιμενιδική νεκρόπολη. Είναι αλήθεια ότι οι Πάρθες, οι οποίοι αποσχίσθηκαν από την Συρία των Σελευκιδών (το μεγαλύτερο κράτος των Επιγόνων) το 250 π.Χ. κι έστησαν την μακροβιώτερη ιρανική προϊσλαμική δυναστεία (τους Αρσακίδες – Ασκανιάν: 250 π.Χ. – 224 μ.Χ.), δεν ένοιωσαν κανένα δεσμό με τον συγκεκριμένο χώρο και δεν ανήγειραν κανένα μνημείο στην περιοχή. Άλλωστε, η Περσέπολη παρέμεινε πάντοτε εγκαταλελειμένη μετά την καταστροφή της από τον Μεγάλο Αλέξανδρο.

Και το Ιστάχρ, η μεγάλη σασανιδική πρωτεύουσα που είναι επίσης κοντά, ήταν μια μικρή πόλη, η οποία απέκτησε ισχύ μόνον μετά την άνοδο των Σασανιδών. Ουσιαστικά, για να αντλήσουν πειστήρια ιρανικής αυθεντικότητας και ζωροαστρικής ορθοδοξίας, οι Σασανίδες απέδωσαν εξαιρετικές τιμές στους σημαντικούς αχαιμενιδικούς χώρους δείχνοντας έτσι ότι επρόκειτο για ένα είδος επανάκαμψης ή παλινόστησης.

Για να επισκεφθεί κάποιος το Ναξ-ε Ρουστάμ, το Ιστάχρ και την Περσέπολη σήμερα, πρέπει μάλλον να μείνει στην Σιράζ (شیراز / Shiraz / Шираз) που απέχει περίπου 40 χμ και είναι σήμερα η πέμπτη μεγαλύτερη πόλη του Ιράν και η πρωτεύουσα της επαρχίας Φαρς, δηλαδή της καθαυτό Περσίας. Αυτό είναι μια ακόμη απόδειξη του γεγονότος ότι κάνουν τρομερό λάθος όσοι Έλληνες από άγνοια αποκαλούν το Ιράν ‘Περσία’. Η Περσία είναι μόνον μια επαρχία του Ιράν κι οι Πέρσες είναι ένα μόνον από τα έθνη του Ιράν. Κι έτσι ήταν πάντα – για πάνω από 2500 χρόνια Ιστορίας του Ιράν. Η Σιράζ ήταν η πρωτεύουσα των ισλαμικών δυναστειών των Σαφαριδών και των Βουγιδών (Μπουαϊχί) που αποσπάσθηκαν από το Αβασιδικό Χαλιφάτο της Βαγδάτης στο δεύτερο μισό του 9ου χριστιανικού αιώνα.

Ναξ-ε Ρουστάμ (Νουπιστάς/Nupistaš στα Αρχαία Αχαιμενιδικά)

Οι λαξευτοί αχαιμενιδικοί τάφοι στο Ναξ-ε Ρουστάμ είναι ορατοί από χιλιόμετρα μακριά κι ένας ταξιδιώτης τους επισκέπτεται καλύτερα (με άπλετο φως και χωρίς σκιές) το μεσημέρι, καθώς οι προσόψεις των πελωρίων διαστάσεων λαξευτών τάφων στρέφονται προς τα νότια, καθώς ο τεράστιος βραχώδης λόφος έχει διάταξη από ανατολικά προς δυτικά.

Δεν κάνω μια τυπική αρχαιολογική παρουσίαση για να δώσω τις διαστάσεις με λεπτομέρειες, γι’ αυτό σημειώνω εδώ μόνον ενδεικτικά στοιχεία για τον τάφο του Δαρείου του Μεγάλου: η απόσταση του χαμηλότερου επιπέδου της πρόσοψης του τάφου από το έδαφος μπροστά σ’ αυτό (όπου στέκονται οι επισκέπτες του χώρου) είναι περίπου 15 μ.

Αυτό σημαίνει ότι όλοι οι τάφοι είναι υπερυψωμένοι κι έτσι λαξεύθηκαν και φιλοτεχνήθηκαν. Το ύψος της σταυρόσχημης πρόσοψης είναι 23 μ περίπου και η απόαταση του υψηλότερου επιπέδου της πρόσοψης του τάφου από την κορυφή του βραχώδους λόφου είναι σχεδόν 26 μ.

Η υπεράνω του κεντρικού τμήματος της σταυρόσχημης πρόσοψης πλευρά έχει ύψος περίπου 8.50 μ. Η υποκάτω του κεντρικού τμήματος της σταυρόσχημης πρόσοψης πλευρά έχει ύψος περίπου 6.80 μ. Το πλάτος των πλευρών αυτών είναι το ίδιο, περίπου 10.90 μ. Η λαξευτή αίθουσα του τάφου έχει μήκος (: βάθος μέσα στον βράχο) 18.70 μ, πλάτος 2.10 μ, και ύψος 3.70 μ. Περίπου 350 μ3 βράχου ανεσκάφησαν για να δημιουργηθεί η κοιλότητα η οποία διαμορφώθηκε ως ταφική αίθουσα, χωρισμένη σε τρία τμήματα.

Το Ναξ-ε Ρουστάμ είχε κατοικηθεί ως χώρος για τουλάχιστον μια χιλιετία πριν φθάσουν οι Πέρσες στην περιοχή αυτή του Ιράν. Οι πρώτοι κάτοικοι δεν είχαν καμμιά σχέση με Ιρανούς: ήταν Ελαμίτες.

Το Αρχαίο Ελάμ ήταν ένα αρχαίο έθνος και βασίλειο – τμήμα της Ιστορίας της Αρχαίας Μεσοποταμίας και όχι της Ιστορίας του Ιράν.

Οι Ελαμίτες ήταν τόσο αρχαίοι όσο και οι Σουμέριοι και ο πολιτισμός τους τεκμηριώνεται από τα αποκρυπτογραφημένα αρχαία ελαμικά που διακρίνονται σε δύο μεγάλες ιστορικές περιόδους και καλύπτουν την περίοδο από τα τέλη της 4ης προχριστιανικής χιλιετίας μέχρι το 640 μ.Χ., όταν ο Ασσουρμπανιπάλ της Ασσυρίας εξόντωσε το Ελάμ κι εξολόθρευσε το σύνολο του ελαμικού πληθυσμού.

Κέντρο του Ελάμ ήταν τα Σούσα στην Νότια Υπερτιγριανή, τα οποία οι Αχαιμενιδείς βρήκαν σε ερειπία, ανοικοδόμησαν και κατοίκησαν.

Ήδη στα χρόνια των Αχαιμενιδών τα ελαμικά ήταν μια νεκρή γλώσσα (αντίθετα με τα βαβυλωνιακά) την οποία έμαθαν οι Ιρανοί ιερείς και γραφείς από φιλομάθεια, χάρη στους Βαβυλώνιους δασκάλους τους.

Έτσι, πολλές αχαιμενιδικές αυτοκρατορικές επιγραφές υπήρξαν τρίγλωσσες, σε αρχαία αχαιμενιδικά περσικά (Old Achaemenid), βαβυλωνιακά και ελαμικά (Elamite) – όλα σφηνοειδή.

Στο Ναξ-ε Ρουστάμ υπάρχουν και ελαμικά ανάγλυφα ήσσονος ωστόσο σημασίας σε σχέση με τα ιρανικά μνημεία.

Σύχρονοι γλωσσολόγοι θεωρούν τους Δραβίδες που κατοικούν το Ντεκάν, δηλαδή το νότιο μισό της ψευτο-χώρας ‘Ινδία’, ως απογόνους των Αρχαίων Ελαμιτών, δεδομένου ότι υπάρχουν εμφανείς γλωσσολογικές ομοιότητες και συνάφεια ανάμεσα στα αρχαία ελαμικά και στις δραβιδικές γλώσσες.

Τέσσερις λαξευτοί τάφοι των Αχαιμενιδών βρίσκονται στο Ναξ-ε Ρουστάμ με την εξής σειρά από τα αριστερά προς τα δεξιά: ο τάφος του Δαρείου Β’ (423-404 π.Χ.), ο τάφος του Αρταξέρξη Α’ (465-424 π.Χ.), ο τάφος του Δαρείου Α’ του Μεγάλου (522-486 π.Χ.), και του Ξέρξη Α’ (486-465 π.Χ.). Ένας πέμπτος ημιτελής λαξευτός τάφος πιθανολογείται ότι ετοιμαζόταν για τον Δαρείο Γ’ (336-330 π.Χ.).

Δυο σημαντικές επιγραφές σε αρχαία αχαιμενιδικά έχουν αναγραφεί στην πρόσοψη του λαξευτού τάφου του Δαρείου Α’, η πρώτη, περισσότερου ιστορικού, αυτο-βιογραφικού χαρακτήρα, στο άνω τμήμα της πρόσοψης του τάφου (γνωστή ως DNa) και η άλλη, περισσότερο θρησκευτικού και ηθικού χαρακτήρα, στο κάτω τμήμα της πρόσοψης (γνωστή ως DNb).

Επίσης, έχουν φιλοτεχνηθεί ανάγλυφες αναπαραστάσεις στρατιωτών των εθνών που συμπεριλαμβάνονταν στην αχαιμενιδική αυτοκρατορία και φέρουν σύντομες τρίγλωσσες αναφορές που δηλώνουν την ταυτότητα του κάθε αναπαριστώμενου στρατιώτη.

Επίσης στα αχαιμενιδικά χρόνια ανάγεται ένα κυβικού σχήματος κτήριο που ονομάζεται Κααμπά-γιε Ζαρντόστ, δηλαδή το Ιερό του Ζωροάστρη, σε αντιδιαστολή με τον Κααμπά της Μέκκας. Η ονομασία αυτή έχει δοθεί στο κτήριο κατά τα πρώιμα ισλαμικά χρόνια, όταν οι κατακτημένοι από τις ισλαμικές στρατιές Ιρανοί προσπαθούσαν να διατηρήσουν την ιστορική, θρησκευτική και πολιτισμική ταυτότητά τους.

Ωστόσο, μια σασανιδικών χρόνων επιγραφή πάνω στους τοίχους του κτηρίου διασώζει την μέση περσική ονομασία: Μπουν Χανάκ, δηλ. Θεμέλιος Οίκος. Η θρησκευτική λειτουργικότητα του κτηρίου είναι εμφανής, αν και υπήρξαν σύγχρονες επιστημονικές προσπάθειες να το δουν ως χώρο της αυτοκρατορικής στέψης.

Τέσσερις συνολικά επιγραφές σασανιδικών χρόνων έχουν αναγραφεί πάνω στους εξωτερικούς τοίχους του κτηρίου αλλά η πιο σημαντική ιστορικά είναι η περίφημη Επιγραφή του Καρτίρ, κορυφαίου αρχιερέα, ιδρυτή του Μαζδεϊσμού (ως ζωροαστρικής ορθοδοξίας), θεωρητικού της αυτοκρατορικής ιδεολογίας των Σασανιδών, και αυτοκρατορικού κήρυκα του σασανιδικού οικουμενισμού.

Κααμπά-γε Ζαρντόστ – το Ιερό του Ζωροάστρη

Τα μνημεία σασανιδικών χρόνων που σώζονται στο Ναξ-ε Ρουστάμ είναι κυρίως τεραστίων διαστάσεων ανάγλυφα.

Διακρίνονται κυρίως τα εξής:

Α. Ενθρονισμός και Στέψη του Αρντασίρ Α’ (226-242), ιδρυτή της σασανιδικής δυναστείας

Β. Θρίαμβος του Σαπούρ Α’ (241-272), όπου αναπαρίστανται δύο ηττημένοι Ρωμαίοι αυτοκράτορες, ο Φίλιππος Άραψ (244-249), ο οποίος δεν είχε στρατιωτικά νικηθεί αλλά συνάψει μια ειρήνη με πολύ ταπεινωτικούς για την Ρώμη όρους, και ο Βαλεριανός (253-260), ο οποίος ηττήθηκε κι αιχμαλωτίσθηκε στην Μάχη της Έδεσσας της Οσροηνής (Ουρχόη, σήμερα Ούρφα στην νοτιοανατολική Τουρκία) το 260, είχε επακολούθως ταπεινωτική ζωή κι αργότερα οικτρό θάνατο στο Ιράν.

Γ. Ο Μπαχράμ Β’ (276-293) με τον Καρτίρ και Σασανίδες ευγενείς

Δ. Δύο ανάλυφα του Μπαχράμ Β’ έφιππου

Ε. Ενθρονισμός και Στέψη του Ναρσή (293-303)

ΣΤ. Ανάγλυφο του Χορμούζντ Β’ (303-309) έφιππου

Σχετικά με την ήττα του Βαλεριανού από το Σαπούρ Α’ και σχετικά με την παγκοσμίως κορυφαία μορφή του Καρτίρ θα επανέλθω.

Στην συνέχεια, μπορείτε να περιηγηθείτε στο Ναξ-ε Ρουστάμ χάρη σε ένα βίντεο, να διαβάσετε επιλεγμένα άρθρα, και να βρείτε συνδέσμους για περισσότερη έρευνα αναφορικά με την προαναφερμένη θεματολογία.

Ο ηττημένος Βαλεριανός γονατιστός προ του Σαπούρ Α’

Δείτε το βίντεο:

Накше-Ростам: римский император Валериан, стоящий на коленях перед Шапуром I (после поражения у Эдессы в Осрене) 260 г. н.э.

https://www.ok.ru/video/1511021677165

Περισσότερα:

Недалеко от Персеполя находится огромный каменистый холм, который в настоящее время укрывает значительную часть 1200-летнего доисламского исторического и культурного наследия Ирана. Крестообразные и высеченные глубоко в скале императорские гробницы Дария I, Ксеркса I и других ахеменидских шахов. Рядом с ними можно полюбоваться великолепными барельефами Сасанидов, на которых изображены два римских императора, униженных перед Сасанидским шахом Шапуром I. Также можно увидеть другие снимки двора Сасанидов.

00:56 гробница Ксеркса I

01:40 Расследование Нарсеха

01:50 гробница Дария I Великого

02:26 Два барельефа Баграма II верхом на лошади

02:46 Триумф Шапура I с двумя униженными римскими императорами, Филиппом Арабским и (стоящим на коленях) Валерианом

03:02 гробница Артаксеркса I

03:31 Хормузд II верхом на лошади

03:41 гробница Дария IΙ

04:26 Баграм II верхом на лошади

04:43 Кааба-Зардошт (Храм Зороастра)

05:44 Расследование Ардашира I

06:10 Баграм II с дворянами Картиром и Сасанидами

Династии Ахеменидов принадлежат четыре гробницы со скальными рельефами. Они расположены в скалах на существенной высоте над землёй. Одна из гробниц принадлежит царю Дарию I, что установлено по надписям (522—486 до н. э.). Про остальные гробницы предполагают, что в них похоронены цари Ксеркс I (486—465 до н. э.), Артаксеркс I (465—424 до н. э.), и Дарий II (423—404 до н. э.).

Пятая неоконченная гробница, по предположениям, предназначалась царю Артаксерксу III, но более вероятно — царю Дарию III (336—330 до н. э.). Гробницы были заброшены после покорения Персии Александром Македонским.

На территории некрополя расположено квадратное в сечении здание высотой двенадцать метров (большая часть из которых находится ниже современного уровня земли) с единственным внутренним помещением. Народное название этого сооружения — «Куб Заратустры» (Кааб-е Зартошт).

Из научных версий наиболее распространена версия о том, что здание служило зороастрийским святилищем огня. По другой, реже упоминаемой версии, под сооружением может находиться могила Кира Великого. Однако ни одна версия не подтверждена документально.

На «Кубе Заратустры» имеются клинописные надписи, сделанные от лица Картира (одного из первых зороастрийских священников), портрет которого можно увидеть неподалеку в археологической зоне Накше-Раджаб.

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Накше-Рустам

Δείτε το βίντεο:

Naqsh-e Rostam: Roman Emperor Valerian kneeling in front of Shapur I (after the defeat at Edessa of Osrhoene) 260 CE

https://vk.com/video434648441_456240307

Περισσότερα:

Not far from Persepolis, there is an enormous rocky hill which shelters today a significant part of 1200 years of Pre-Islamic Iranian Historical and Cultural Heritage. Cruciform and hewn deep in the rock are the imperial tombs of Darius I, Xerxes I, and other Achaemenid shahs.

Next to them, one can admire the magnificent Sassanid bas-reliefs that depict two Roman emperor humiliated in front of the Sassanid Shah Shapur I and other snapshots of the Sassanid court.

00:56 Tomb of Xerxes I

01:40 Investigation of Narseh

01:50 Tomb of Darius I the Great

02:26 Two bas reliefs of Bagram II riding his horse

02:46 Triumph of Shapur I with two humiliated Roman emperors, Philip the Arab and (kneeling) Valerian

03:02 Tomb of Artaxerxes I

03:31 Hormuzd II riding his horse

03:41 Tomb of Darius IΙ

04:26 Bagram II riding his horse

04:43 Kaaba-ye Zardosht (the Shrine of Zoroaster)

05:44 Investigation of Ardashir I

06:10 Bagram II with Kartir and Sassanid noblemen

Δείτε το βίντεο:

Ναξ-ε Ρουστάμ: Ανάγλυφο του Βαλεριανού γονατιστού προ του Σαπούρ Α’ & Σταυρόσχημοι Τάφοι Αχαιμενιδών

Περισσότερα:

Όχι μακριά από την Περσέπολη ένας τεράστιος βράχος αποτελεί σήμερα την παρακαταθήκη 1200 χρόνων προϊσλαμικής πολιτισμικής κληρονομιάς. Οι σταυρόσχημοι λαξευτοί τάφοι του Δαρείου Α’, του Ξέρξη και άλλων Αχαιμενιδών βρίσκονται δίπλα σε μεταγενέστερα σασανιδικά ανάγλυφα που απεικονίζουν την ταπείνωση δυο Ρωμαίων αυτοκρατόρων προ του Σάχη Σαπούρ Α’ και άλλα στιγμιότυπα της σασανιδικής αυλής.

00:56 Τάφος του Ξέρξη Α’

01:40 Ενθρονισμός και Στέψη του Ναρσή (293-303)

01:50 Τάφος του Δαρείου Α’

02:26 Δύο ανάλυφα του Μπαχράμ Β’ έφιππου

02:46 Θρίαμβος του Σαπούρ Α’ με δύο Ρωμαίους αυτοκράτορες, τον Φίλιππο Άραβα και τον Βαλεριανό γονατιστό

03:02 Τάφος του Αρταξέρξη Α’

03:31 Χορμούζντ Β’ έφιππος

03:41 Τάφος του Δαρείου Β’

04:26 Μπαχράμ Β’ έφιππος

04:43 Κααμπά-γιε Ζαρντόστ (το Ιερό του Ζωροάστρη)

05:44 Ενθρονισμός και Στέψη του Αρντασίρ Α’

06:10 Μπαχράμ Β’ με τον Καρτίρ και Σασανίδες ευγενείς

Naqsh-e Rostam (Persian: نقش رستم) is an ancient necropolis located about 12 km northwest of Persepolis, in Fars Province, Iran, with a group of ancient Iranian rock reliefs cut into the cliff, from both the Achaemenid and Sassanid periods. It lies a few hundred meters from Naqsh-e Rajab, with a further four Sassanid rock reliefs, three celebrating kings and one a high priest.

Naqsh-e Rostam is the necropolis of the Achaemenid dynasty (c. 550–330 BC), with four large tombs cut high into the cliff face. These have mainly architectural decoration, but the facades include large panels over the doorways, each very similar in content, with figures of the king being invested by a god, above a zone with rows of smaller figures bearing tribute, with soldiers and officials. The three classes of figures are sharply differentiated in size. The entrance to each tomb is at the center of each cross, which opens onto a small chamber, where the king lay in a sarcophagus.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naqsh-e_Rostam

The Ka’ba-ye Zartosht is 46 metres (151 ft) from the mountain, situated exactly opposite Darius II’s mausoleum. It is rectangular and has only one entrance door. The material of the structure is white limestone. It is about 12 metres (39 ft) high, or 14.12 metres (46.3 ft) if including the triple stairs, and each side of its base is about 7.30 metres (24.0 ft) long. Its entrance door leads to the chamber inside via a thirty-stair stone stairway. The stone pieces are rectangular and are simply placed on top of each other, without the use of mortar; the sizes of the stones varies from 0.48 by 2.10 by 2.90 metres (1 ft 7 in by 6 ft 11 in by 9 ft 6 in) to 0.56 by 1.08 by 1.10 metres (1 ft 10 in by 3 ft 7 in by 3 ft 7 in), and they are connected to each other by dovetail joints.

The structure was built in the Achaemenid era and there is no information of the name of the structure in that era. It was called Bon-Khanak in the Sassanian era; the local name of the structure was Kornaykhaneh or Naggarekhaneh; and the phrase Ka’ba-ye Zartosht has been used for the structure since the fourteenth century, into the contemporary era.

Various views and interpretations have been proposed about the application of the chamber, but none of them could be accepted with certainty: some consider the tower a fire temple and a fireplace, and believe that it was used for igniting and worshiping the holy fire, while another group rejects this view and considers it the mausoleum of one of the Achaemenid shahs or grandees, due to its similarity to the Tomb of Cyrus and some mausoleums of Lycia and Caria.

Some other Iranian scholars believe the stone chamber to be a structure for the safekeeping of royal documents and holy or religious books; however, the chamber of Ka’ba-ye Zartosht is too small for this purpose. Other less noticed theories, such as its being a temple for the goddess Anahita or a solar calendar, have also been mentioned. Three inscriptions have been written in the three languages Sassanian Middle Persian, Arsacid Middle Persian and Greek on the Northern, Southern and Eastern walls of the tower, in the Sassanian era.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ka%27ba-ye_Zartosht

================

Διαβάστε:

Naghshe Rustam

Eras

Naghshe Rustam complex is within a 6-kilometer distance to Persepolis and is located in Haji Abad Mountains. This complex encompasses three eras:

Elamite relics belong to 2000-600 B.C.

Achaemenid relics belong to 330-600 B.C.

Sasanian relics belong to 224-651 A.D.

Mausoleum of Achaemenid Kings

Some of the greatest kings of Achaemenid’s tombs are in Naghshe Rustam. Xerxes (Khashayar Shah) (486 to 445 B.C.), Darius I (522 to 486 B.C.), Ardashir I (465 to 424 B.C.), and Darius II (424 to 405 B.C.) tombs are located in Naghshe Rostam.

The Tombs

The width of each tomb is 19 meters and the length is about 93 meters. The tombs are about 26 meters above the ground level.

Symbolism of the outer space of the tombs

The carving of the king with an arc in the hand is visible on top of the platform. This arc is a symbol of strength. In front of the king, the carving of Ahuramazda is visible. In this carving, two places are visible in which sacred fire is burning. In the right top of the picture, the carving of the moon is visible which shows the world instability.

In the bottom of the platform, the representatives of different nations are holding the kingdom throne. There are also columns; on top of each column, you can see a two-headed cow. Some roaring lions are visible in the bottom of the motifs. The lions are decorated with some lotus. Lotus is a symbol of sincerity and being free of any sin.

Mausoleum Structures

The entrance of each mausoleum is square shaped. These doors were being locked in ancient times. Additionally, Darius Mausoleum has some cuneiform writing. In this writing, Darius is praising Ahuramazda and he mentions his victories. He also speaks of his thoughts. The corridor in Darius Mausoleum has a length of 18.72 meters and a width of 3.70 meters. In this mausoleum, there are nine stone coffins which are dug in a stone row. They belong to the Great Darius, the Queen, and other relatives. Their dimensions are 2.1*1.5*1.5. Each tomb is covered with a big stone.

Kabaye Zartosht (Cube of Zoroaster)

In front of the Naghshe Rustam, in a whole, there is a beautiful cube that they call it the Cube of Zoroaster –who is an Iranian Prophet-. This building is made of big stones. The proficiency and precision used in cuttings and carvings in the black and white stones show the capability of the architectures in Achaemenid Dynasty. On top of the cube, there is a 2.5*2.5 square meters room. There are different beliefs about this room.

Some believe that Avesta (the religious texts of Zoroastrianism) which was written on 12000 cowhides has been stored in this room. Some others believe that this room is the tomb of Bardiya the son of Cyrus who was killed by his brother Cambyses.

Some of the historians believe that the sacred fire was stored in this room. Recently it is said that this room was an observatory. During the Sasanian Empire, some of the important governmental documents were kept. A Sasanian inscription is in three languages. This inscription mainly talks about the historical events in Shapour I in Iran and Rome battles in which the Valerian (Rome Emperor) was defeated and prisoned in Bishapur.

The Excavation of Naghshe Rustam

For the first time, it was excavated by Ernst Herzfeld (German archaeologist and Iranologist) in 1923. Herzfeld excavated the last vestiges of Sasanian towers. After that, this place was analyzed several times from 1936 to 1939. Some important heritage like Persian Inscriptions and some buried stone belonging to Sassanid Era were found. In central Excavations, they reach a building. And in the western parts, the last vestiges of two buildings with muddy bricks were found.

https://apochi.com/attractions/shiraz/naghshe-rustam/

Ο ηττημένος Βαλεριανός γονατιστός προ του Σαπούρ Α’

Naqš-e Rostam

Naqš-e Rostam, a perpendicular cliff wall on the southern nose of the Ḥosayn Kuh in Fārs, about 6 km northwest of Persepolis; the site is unusually rich in Achaemenid and Sasanian monuments, built or hewn out from the rock. The Persian name “Pictures of Rostam” refers to the Sasanian reliefs on the cliff, believed to represent the deeds of Rostam.

Achaemenid Period. The most important architectural remains are the tower called Kaʿba-ye Zardošt (Kaʿba of Zoroaster, Ar. kaʿba “cube, sanctuary”) and four royal tombs with rock cut façades and sepulchral chambers.

(1) The Kaʿba-ye Zardošt is a massive, built square tower, resting on three steps (7.30 x 7.30 x14.12 m) and covered by a flat pyramidal roof (Stronach, 1967, pp. 282-84; 1978, pp. 130-36; Camb. Hist. Iran II, pp. 838-48; Schmidt, pp. 34-49). The only opening is a door. But on all four sides there is a system of blind windows in dark grey limestone, set off by the yellow color of the general structure, between the reinforced corners, and the walls are covered with staggered rectangular depressions. Both systems have no other purpose than to relieve the monotony of the structure. A frieze of dentils forms the upper cornice. A staircase of 30 steps, eight of which are preserved, led to the door (0.87 x 1.75 m) in the upper part of the north wall. Originally, the two leaves of a door opened into an almost square room (3.72 x 3.74 x 5.54 m) without any architectural decoration and no provisions for lighting (Schmidt, p. 37).

There is an analogous, though much more decayed, structure, called Zendān-e Soleymān (lit. prison of Solomon), in Pasargadae (Stronach, 1978, pp. 117-37; 1983, pp. 848-52). Its stone technique does not yet show traces of the toothed chisel (Stronach, 1978, p. 132), and the building can thus be dated to the last years of Cyrus II the Great (r. ca. 558-530 BCE), whereas due to chisel marks the Kaʿba-ye Zardošt can be dated to the early years of Darius I (r. 522-486), around 500 BCE. The Achaemenid structures do not have exact prototypes, but their plan is comparable with those of the earlier Urartian tower temples (Stronach, 1967, pp. 278-88; 1978, pp. 132-34).

On the Kaʿba-ye Zardošt, three exterior sides bear the famous inscription of Shapur I. (r. 241-72 C.E.). The Res gestae divi Saporis (ŠKZ) was added in Greek on the south wall, in Sasanian Pahlawi (Parsik) on the east, and in Parthian (Pahlawik) on the west (Back, pp. 284-371), while the north wall with the entrance has remained empty. Beneath the Parsik version on the east wall, the high priest Kirdīr had his own inscription incised (Sprengling, pp. 37-54; Chaumont, pp. 339-80; Gignoux, pp. 45-48).

Evidently, in Sasanian times the Kaʿba-ye Zardošt—like the tower at Paikuli with the inscription of Narseh (r. 293–302; cf. Humbach and Skjaervø)—served, in addition to other functions, as memorial. Perhaps the two towers in Naqš-e Rostam and Pasargadae already had a similar significance in Achaemenid times, albeit this cannot have been their main function.

In Kirdīr’s inscription the Kaʿba-ye Zardošt is called “bun-xānak.” W. B. Henning proposed the translation “foundation house,” and concluded that the tower was of central religious significance. He suggested that the empty high room was destined “for the safe keeping of the records of the church and even more for the principal copy of the Avesta” (Henning).

Though other translations of “bun-xānak” have been discussed (Gignoux, pp. 28-29 n. 61), it seems the most convincing interpretation that these two towers served as depositories. The lack of any provision for the ventilation of a fire excludes the towers’ use as fire temples (Stronach, 1978, pp. 134-35).

Their staircases were designed “for the solemn ascent and descent of persons who in some manner attended the sacred structure” (Schmidt, p. 41). They indicate that the towers did not serve as royal tombs (Stronach, Camb. Hist. Iran II, p. 849 n. 2), because those have entrance walls that are smoothed beyond their facades, down to the original ground, to make them inaccessible.

N. Frye (1974, p. 386) first expressed the opinion that “the intention was . . . to build a safety box for the paraphernalia of rule in the vicinity of Persepolis as had been done at Pasargadae,” though E. F. Schmidt (p. 44) had dismissed the interpretation of the Kaʿba-ye Zardošt as depository. But Plutarch (46-after 119 C.E.) mentions in Artoxerxes 3 that at Pasargadae one temple belonged “to a warlike goddess, whom one might conjecture to be Athena” (Sancisi-Weerdenburg, p. 148).

At this sanctuary the Achaemenid kings were crowned. During the coronation ceremony the new monarch took a very frugal meal, and was dressed in the robes which Cyrus the Elder wore before assuming kingship. H. Sancisi-Weerdenburg was the first to identify the Zendān-e Soleymān as Plutarch’s temple (Gk. hieron).

Consequently, she interpreted this building, as well as the Kaʿba-ye Zardošt, as “coronation tower.” Her view that these towers had dynastic functions, rather than a purely religious significance and definitely no funeral purposes, has become widely accepted, though her suggestion that a sacred fire was also kindled in these towers can no longer be upheld.

(2) The Royal Tombs. In the cliff wall four monumental tombs are cut out from the native rock (Schmidt, pp. 80-107). The oldest tomb (Tomb I) has inscriptions that assign it to Darius I.

The other three (Tomb II-IV) can only tentatively be attributed to Xerxes (east-northeast of Darius I), Artaxerxes I (west-southwest of the tomb of Darius I) and Darius II (westernmost).

The four monuments follow the same pattern. But it is completely different from that of the older tomb of Cyrus the Great at Pasargadae, which is a built structure consisting of a stepped platform and a tomb with a gabled roof. The model was first used for Darius I and has no exact prototypes in the Near East, Egypt or Greece, though the stone technique is Urartian in origin (Calmeyer, 1975, pp. 101-7; Gropp, pp. 115-21; Huff, 1990, pp. 90-91).

The rock tomb is characterized by the contrast between a cruciform composition in relief on the exterior wall and a very simple interior of chambers and grave cists. The center of the relief ensemble is a facade that represents the front of a palace with four engaged columns. On this architectural component rests a throne bench (Gk. klinē, OPers. gathu in inscription DNa) that is supported by 30 representatives of the empire’s peoples. The throne bench in turn serves as the platform of a religious scene with king, fire altar, and divine symbols.

The architectural register recalls the palace of the living monarch because the portico’s dimensions on the tomb of Darius I. are almost identical to those of his palace on the terrace of Persepolis (Schmidt, p. 81). A significant feature is the use of engaged columns, which appear on his tomb for the first time in rock architecture.

The so-called Median rock tombs, which are imitations of the Achaemenid monuments, do always show free standing columns (von Gall, 1966, pp. 19-43; 1973, pp. 139-154; 1988, pp. 557-82; “Dokkān”); the exception is the tomb of Qizqapan, where half columns have been placed on the rear of the antechamber (von Gall, 1988, pl. 23).

But at many tombs in the Median province, the originally freestanding columns have collapsed under the pressure of the superimposed rock. Consequently, there was not only the esthetic reason of creating the illusion that the antechamber’s front side and back wall were on the same level. More important were statical considerations. The architects and sculptors of the royal tombs used engaged columns because they could withstand the rock pressure despite their high slender shape.

In the middle register, the mighty throne bench with its 30 armed carriers does not show a realistic scene, and is not considered pictorial evidence for the supposition of real processions on the roofs of Achaemenid palaces (Schmidt, p. 80). It rather is a simile of the Achaemenid empire, the throne bench of which is supported by its peoples, dressed in their distinctive costumes and headgears (Schmidt, pp. 108-118).

On the tombs of Darius I in Naqš-e Rostam and that of Artaxerxes II (r. 404-359 BCE) in Persepolis, inscriptions describe the peoples’ order, and this order seems to correspond with the official geographical records of the empire’s extension (Calmeyer, 1982, pp. 109-123). According to P. Goukowsky (p. 223; cf. Calmeyer, 1982, p. 113 fig. 3) the empire was divided in three concentric zones: Persians, Medians and Elamites live in the inner circle.

An axis is leading from the center to the east, listing Parthians, Arians, Bactrians, Sogdians, and Chorasmians. Then the enumeration turns southeast, naming Drangians, Arachosians, Sattagydians (Thataguš), Gandharans, and Indians and reaches Central Asia, where the haoma-venerating Scythians and pointed-hat Scythians already inhabit the periphery.

On a second axis leading to the south the Babylonians, Syrians, Arabians, and Egyptians (Mudraya) are aligned, whereas on a third axis to the northwest the Armenians, Cappadocians, Lydians (Sparda), and Ionians are represented. Finally in the western periphery there live the Scythians beyond the Sea, the Thracians (Skudra), and the Petasos bearing Ionians.

The Libyans (Putaya) and the Ethiopians (Kušiya) roam the empire’s southernmost countries. Two men stand outside the throne bench, and their hands help lifting the platform which is slightly elevated above the ground.

They are a Makan (Maka, i.e., Oman and probably also the region on the Persian side of the Gulf) and a Carian (Karka). P. Calmeyer (p. 120) has convincingly argued that their exceptional corner positions reflects that these two peoples inhabit the south and the west corners of the empire, at the shore of the ōkeanos which in antiquity was believed to flow around the inhabited earth (Gk. oikoumenē).

All men (Schmidt, figs. 39-50), with the exception of the Babylonian (ibid., fig. 50 no. 16), are wearing weapons, mostly daggers and swords, and some also pairs of javelins.

Bearing arms in the presence of the monarch was a sign of honor and trust, so that the unarmed Babylonian represents an act of deliberate humiliation.

Since Xerxes (r. 486-465 BCE) probably supervised the final work on the tomb of his father Darius I (Schmidt, pp. 116-18 part. 117), this humiliation is likely to reflect to repeated rebellions of the Babylonians against him as well as against his father.

The scene in the top register has religious significance. The king is standing on a three-stepped platform, his left resting on a bow, while his slightly lifted right hand points to the winged symbol hovering above the scene. Since the late 19th, early 20th century, the winged ensign with a human figure, emerging from a circle, has been understood as a representation of Ahura Mazdā (Root, pp. 169-79), and recent attempts to interpret this symbol as the royal genius Frawahr have been rejected.

The king faces a blazing fire altar, though he stands at a considerable distance, whilst the ensign of a disc with inscribed crescent is hovering in the upper right corner. In general, scholars agree that this scene shows how the king is worshipping the holy fire. But the gesture of the king’s right hand corresponds in all details with that of the right hand of the Ahura Mazdā symbol.

The representation thus stresses the close connection between the king and Ahura Mazdā, whose will is decisive for the king’s actions. This interpretation is supported by the Achaemenid royal inscriptions, which are directly related to the reliefs.

On tomb I, Darius I wears a headdress (Gk. kidaris) with an upper rim of sculptured stepped crenellations. Reliefs on the jambs of the southern doorway in Darius’s Palace (Tilia, pp. 58-59) indicate that this was the personal crown of Darius, which was also worn by Xerxes as long as he was crown prince (von Gall, 1974, pp. 147-51).

On Tomb II, which is ascribed to Xerxes, in the king’s crown the rest of a sculptured crenellation is visible (von Gall, 1974, pl. 134 no. 2; 1975 fig. 3), suggesting that this monument was completed before he became the absolute monarch (von Gall, 1974, p. 151). The representations of this late time show a straight cylindrical crown without any decoration. All succeeding rulers of the Achaemenid dynasty adopted this shape, allowing only minor deviations (von Gall, 1974, pp. 150-60; 1975, pp. 222-24).

Another invariable detail of the royal tombs is the discoid symbol hovering in the upper right corner. The inscribed crescent indicates its Assyrian origins. While it represents the moon god Sin in Assyrian art, on the Achaemenid tombs its meaning is difficult to comprehend. Opinions differ whether the symbol has to be interpreted as lunar or solar (cf. Root, pp. 177-78), and there are no written sources to corroborate either view. E. F. Schmidt (p. 85) interpreted the sign as a symbol of Mithra.

But the Persian moon god Māh is relatively well documented in the imagery of the Achaemenid seals. In the central panel above the fire altar scene of the rock tomb of Qizqapan, this type of moon god is also represented (von Gall, 1988, pp. 571-72). These images, in connection with other, though scanty, pictorial evidence (von Gall, 1988, p. 572 n. 55), suggest that the moon played a certain role in Achaemenid concepts of death and afterlife.

On the tomb of Darius, the framework of the throne bench shows three superimposed figures on each side. On the left, two dignitaries are inscribed as the lance bearer Gobryas (Gaubaruwa) and the bearer of the royal battle-ax Aspathines (Aspačina), while the lowest man is an unnamed guard (Schmidt, pp. 86-87). On the right, three unarmed men are clad in the long Persian garment. Their gesture of raising a part their upper garment to the mouth has been interpreted as an expression of mourning, comparable to the Greek custom (Schmidt, p. 87).

More recently, scholars have suggested that this gesture captures the imperative of ’do not pollute the holy fire’ (Hinz, p. 63 n. 4; cf. Seidl, p. 168) or shows respect for the king’s majesty (Root, p. 179), but both alternatives seem less convincing. Additional figures are on the side walls of the recesses into which the tomb facade was carved. On the left, there are three superimposed panels with guards holding long lances. On the right, three mourners who need be considered either courtiers or members of the royal family (Schmidt, p. 87) stand above each other.

Two larger cuneiform inscriptions, as well as legends with the names of Darius I, of his two supreme commanders, and of the 30 bearers of the throne bench, are found in the facade of Tomb I. One is in the top register, to the left of the king (DNa), and the other (DNb) stands in the architectural register, on three of the five panels between the half columns of the portico.

Both are written in three languages, but DNa in Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian (Weissbach, pp. 86-91), and DNb in Old Persian, Elamite and Akkadian (Hinz, pp. 52-62 including R. Borger’s edition of the Akkadian version). In the Seleucid period, an Aramaic version was added to DNb below the Elamite text (Frye, 1982).

In stark contrast to the rich architectural decoration of the façade, the interior is bare of any architectural and figural elements. The general layout is also best demonstrated with the tomb of Darius I: A long vestibule is running parallel to the facade, and three doors in the back wall of this vestibule are leading to three separate barrel-vaulted tomb chambers. In each tomb chamber, a trough-like cavity was hewn into the solid rock to hold a probably wooden sarcophagus or klinē. These cists were sealed with monolithic lids after the deposition of the corpses, but nothing has remained of the original interments.

The combination of an oblique corridor and burial chambers with cists was preserved in the other three tombs, assigned to Xerxes (Tomb II), Artaxerxes (Tomb III), and Darius II (Tomb IV).

Yet they show inferior craftsmanship, because the chambers are not running axially, but obliquely to the facade. At Persepolis, the interior organization of the two tombs is also identical.

(3) Other architectural remains. In the Center Test of his 1936 and 1939 excavations, E. F. Schmidt found a building (Schmidt, pp. 10 and 64). In the West Test, he discovered remains of two mud-brick buildings, as well as evidence of an enclosure of the royal tombs (ibid., pp. 10, 54-55). In the west of the cliff, a polygonal cistern (diam. 7.20 m) hewn out from the native rock was excavated (ibid., pp. 10, 65).

The Sasanian Period. A fortified enclosure ran around the major part of the sculptured cliff, and its west and east ends were abutting with the rock. Seven semicircular towers strengthened this structure (Schmidt, pp. 55-58, figs. 2, 4; cf. Trümpelmann, p. 41, fig. 68, drawing by G. Wolff). On the slope of the Hosayn Kuh, there are two cut rock structures in the shape of a čahārṭāq. They are generally assumed to be Sasanian fire altars, but D. Huff (1998, p. 80 pl. 10a; “Fārs,” pp. 353-54 pl. 3) identifies them as astōdāns.

Τις βιβλιογραφικές παραπομπές μπορείτε να βρείτε εδώ:

http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/naqs-e-rostam

Η νίκη του Σαπούρ Α’ επί των Ρωμαίων Αυτοκρατόρων Βαλεριανού (γονατιστού) και Φίλιππου του Άραβα

Επιπλέον:

Γενικά για τα μνημεία και τις επιγραφές:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naqsh-e_Rostam

ttps://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Накше-Рустам

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_Darius_the_Great

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNa_inscription

Τα κείμενα των επιγραφών, φωτοτυπίες, μεταγραμματισμός κι αγγλική μετάφραση:

https://www.livius.org/sources/content/achaemenid-royal-inscriptions/

https://www.livius.org/sources/content/achaemenid-royal-inscriptions/dna/?

https://www.livius.org/sources/content/achaemenid-royal-inscriptions/dnb/

https://www.livius.org/sources/content/achaemenid-royal-inscriptions/dne/

https://www.livius.org/articles/place/naqs-e-rustam/

Το Ιερό του Ζωροάστρη:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ka%27ba-ye_Zartosht

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kartir

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kartir%27s_inscription_at_Naghsh-e_Rajab

Σχετικά με τον Σαπούρ Α’, τον Φίλιππο Άραβα, τον Βαλεριανό και την Μάχη της Έδεσσας της Οσροηνής (260 μ.Χ.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shapur_I

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerian_(emperor)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Edessa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_the_Arab

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameo_with_Valerian_and_Shapur_I

Η ταπείνωση και αιχμαλωσία του Ρωμαίου Αυτοκράτορα Βαλεριανού από τον Σαπούρ Α’ όπως αναπαριστάθηκε σε πίνακα του 16ου αιώνα από τον Γερμανό ζωγράφο Hans Holbein der Jüngere (Hans Holbein the Younger) – 1521. Ο καλλιτέχνης δεν είχε υπόψει του το σασανιδικό ανάγλυφο του Ναξ-ε Ρουστάμ και κανένας Ευρωπαίος ταξιδιώτης, έμπορος, διπλωμάτης ή ερευνητής δεν είχε φθάσει ακόμη εκεί αλλά οι Ευρωπαίοι διετήρησαν πολύ αρνητικές αναμνήσεις από τον Βαλεριανό, δεδομένου ότι ο Ρωμαίος αυτοκράτορας είχε κηρύξει διωγμούς κατά των Χριστιανών και Χριστιανοί συγγραφείς είχαν δικαιολογημένα χαρεί από το ελεεινό τέλος του Βαλεριανού που μάλιστα περιέγραψαν ως πολύ χειρότερο από το ιστορικά τεκμηριωμένο τέλος του.

Το περίφημο καμέο του Σαπούρ Α’ νικητή στην Έδεσσα της Οσροηνής (Ούρχα, σήμερα Ούρφα στην νοτιοανατολική Τουρκία) επί του Ρωμαίου αυτοκράτορα Βαλεριανού που αιχμαλωτίστηκε.

======================

Κατεβάστε την αναδημοσίευση σε PDF:

https://www.slideshare.net/MuhammadShamsaddinMe/240270

https://issuu.com/megalommatis/docs/_-_fdcde1b109b965

https://vk.com/doc429864789_619827582

https://www.docdroid.net/tIpNqbY/naks-e-roystam-stauroskhimoi-laksefti-tafoi-ton-akhaimenidwn-anaghlifo-toy-balerianou-aikhmalotoy-romaioy-autokratora-gonatistou-p-pdf

History, Becoming, Morality, Spiritual Potency, Knowledge, Man and the Execrable Fallacy, which is considered "History"

Contents

I. There is no 'History'! It is a Pseudo-Concept.

II. 'History' is tantamount to Becoming

III. Writing and History

IV. History, Becoming, Human Actions, and Moral

V. Historiography as Sacred and as Unholy Action

VI. Every Historical Research and Study is an Moral Quest

VII. 'History' and Oral Tradition

VIII. All Writing Systems are Consequence of the Fall of Man

IX. The Moral Dimension of Historiography: History and Myth

X. Spiritual Sciences, Ontology, Knowledge, and Gnosiology

XI. The Academic Discipline of History: Nonexistent without Moral Targets

Ιστορία, Γίγνεσθαι, Ηθική, Ψυχική Ισχύς, Γνώση, Άνθρωπος & η Άθλια Απάτη που θεωρείται «Ιστορία»  

Περιεχόμενα

Ι. Δεν υπάρχει 'Ιστορία'! Είναι μία Ψευδο-έννοια.

ΙΙ. 'Ιστορία'  είναι το Γίγνεσθαι

ΙΙΙ. Γραφή και Ιστορία

IV. Ιστορία, Γίγνεσθαι, Ανθρώπινες Πράξεις, και Ηθική

V. Ιστοριογραφία ως Ιερή και ως Ανίερη Πράξη

VI. Κάθε Ιστορική Έρευνα και Μελέτη είναι μία Ηθική Αναζήτηση

VII. 'Ιστορία' και Προφορική Παράδοση

VIII. Όλες οι Γραφές είναι Συνάρτηση της Πτώσης του Ανθρώπου   

ΙΧ. Ηθική Διάσταση της Ιστοριογραφίας: Ιστορία και Μύθος

Χ. Ψυχικές Επιστήμες, Οντολογία, Γνώση και Γνωσιολογία

ΧΙ. Επιστήμη της Ιστορίας: Ανύπαρκτη χωρίς Ηθικούς Στόχους  

=============

Τοιχογραφία από το ακριβές αντίγραφο του ταφικού θαλάμου του Τούθμωση Γ’ το οποίο φιλοτεχνήθηκε στο Μουσείο του Μπόλτον της Αγγλίας (Bolton Museum Egyptology). Όμως, το εντυπωσιακό σε υλικό επίπεδο επίτευγμα σε τίποτα δεν βοηθάει τον επισκέπτη πέραν ενός πρώτου εντυπωσιασμού. Έτσι, ο επισκέπτης ή ακόμη και ο φοιτητής ή ο μελετητής του κειμένου και των αναπαραστάσεων μένει με την εντύπωση ότι έχουμε να κάνουμε με απλές αντιγραφές από ιερά βιβλία, όπως το Αμντουάτ, και με επαναληπτικές καταγραφές κειμένων σχετικά με τις δοκιμασίες των Δώδεκα Ωρών τις οποίες θα διερχόταν η ψυχή του Τούθμωση Γ' αμέσως μετά τον αποχωρισμό της από το σώμα του. Όμως δεν είναι καθόλου έτσι! Όλα τα αναγραφόμενα κείμενα δεν είναι ακριβώς τα ίδια πουθενά. Ουσιαστικά, στην κάθε περίσταση, είναι προσαρμογές στο τι κατ'ευχήν παρακαλούσαν να συμβεί κατά τις δοκιμασίες της ψυχής ενός εκάστου μεταστάντος οι αρχιερείς, μύστες και γραφείς, οι οποίοι συνεργάζονταν κατά την προετοιμασία του τάφου (ενόσω ακόμη ζούσε ο Φαραώ). Και οι απεικονίσεις δεν παρουσιάζουν μόνον θεϊκές υποστάσεις και όντα εκ των προτέρων γνωστά αλλά συχνά πολλές πρότερον άγνωστες υποστάσεις, οι οποίες ανά τάφο (: ανά περίσταση) μπορεί να εμφανίζονται για μία μόνον φορά. Οπότε, ένα κεντρικό ερώτημα είναι:

- Ποιος έγραψε την Ιστορία της προπαρασκευής ενός εκάστου φαραωνικού τάφου και ποιος έγραψε την Ιστορία όλων των ψυχικών όντων τα οποία αναφέρθηκαν σε κείμενα πυραμίδων, ταφων και σαρκοφάγων;

Ουσιαστικά, κάθε άλλη «Ιστορία» είναι, ως βέβηλη, άχρηστη.

============

Κατεβάστε το κείμενο σε PDF:

Patreon

Ιστορία, Γίγνεσθαι, Ηθική, Ψυχική Ισχύς, Γνώση, Άνθρωπος & η Άθλια Απάτη που θεωρείται «Ιστορία» | Megalommatis

Get more from Megalommatis on Patreon

calameo.com

Ιστορία, Γίγνεσθαι, Ηθική, Ψυχική Ισχύς, Γνώση, Άνθρωπος & η Άθλια Απάτη που θεωρείται «Ιστορία»

Contents I. There is no 'History'! It is a Pseudo-Concept. II. 'History' is tantamount to Becoming III. Writing and History IV. History, Bec

figshare

Ιστορία, Γίγνεσθαι, Ηθική, Ψυχική Ισχύς, Γνώση, Άνθρωπος & η Άθλια Απάτη που θεωρείται «Ιστορία»

History, Becoming, Morality, Spiritual Potency, Knowledge, Man and the Execrable Fallacy, which is considered "History"ContentsI. There is n

A Roman shrine to the god Mithras (Mithraeum), ca. A.D. 240, from Dura-Europos (Syria).

The cult of Mithras first became evident in Rome towards the late 1st century AD. Having originated in Persia, during the next two centuries, it spread to the frontiers of the Western empire. It is referred to as a Roman “mystery” cult, for an initiation ceremony was required in joining, and the members kept the activities and liturgy of the cult strictly secret. Due to the highly secretive nature of the cult, our evidence for it is essentially entirely archaeological. Here we have a rare of example of a Mithraeum from Dura-Europos, which appears to be originally set in private house -a rare case indeed. The Yale University Art Gallery give the following description:

A shrine to the god Mithras, the Mithraeum at Dura-Europos was commissioned A.D. 168/69 by Palmyrene archers serving in the Roman army. It was renovated and enlarged in A.D. 209/11. The reconstruction on view here represents the third and final phase, dating to around A.D. 240. Unlike most Mithraea, which were underground to commemorate the god’s birth in a cave, the Dura Mithraeum was built into a private house.

The cult of Mithras attained popularity in the Roman period among soldiers and merchants. Restricted to men, it was a mystery religion thought to include initiation, ritual banquets, and the promise of salvation after death. The primary cult image was the tauroctony, or Mithras slaying the Cosmic Bull, often paired with an image of Mithras banqueting with Sol, god of the sun (as seen in the painting at left). Other common images included events from the life of Mithras and zodiac signs. While the subjects depicted in most Mithraea are similar, style and composition vary. The Dura Mithraeum contained two tauroctony reliefs, one above the other. The side walls showed Mithras as a mounted archer in a presentation that would have resonated with the Palmyrene archers who founded the shrine. (Yale)

Courtesy of & can be viewed at the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT. Via their online collections: 1935.100.

World Politics as Black & White: Iran and Israel or how people fall victims of delusions intentionally projected on them   

Мировая политика как черное и белое: Иран и Израиль, или как люди становятся жертвами намеренно проецируемых на них заблуждений

To a previous text of mine about Iran, an apparently pro-Iranian and pro-Palestinian reader reacted expressing his fervent support for Iran; however, when it comes to modern states, governments, non-governmental organizations, companies and conglomerates, as well as international bodies, any blind support is totally wrong, misleading and destructive. It actually prevents people from accurately assessing the situation in each and every point. Even worse, when the absurd consideration and the erroneous evaluation of a state is laced with an equally false demonization of the opponent, then people enter into the vast realm of the unreal, the fictional, and the delusional.

Darius I the Great (522-486 BCE) of the Achaemenid dynasty, Khosrow (Chosroes) I (531-579 CE) of the Sassanid dynasty, Adud al-Dawla (949–983) of the Buyid dynasty, and Tahmasp I (1524-1576) of the Safavid dynasty in the dates of their reigns; neither the ayatollahs nor the leader of the self-styled National Council of Iran Reza 'Pahlavi' can represent the colossal historical and cultural heritage of 3000 years of Iranian History. All the same, all the Iranians together and their military commanders in charge of the administration can certainly afford the task.

Содержание

Введение

I. Каждый сектантский подход и каждая сектантская мысль являются порочной ошибкой и нетерпимым поступком

II. Политическая ситуация и международные отношения не определяют природу режимов, правительств и государств

III. Когда дело касается мировых дел, не существует шахматной доски с «черными» и «белыми» клетками

IV. Все СМИ сообщают одну и ту же ложь, меняя только «шахматные наборы»

V. Достоинство иранцев и палестинцев является наиболее спорным вопросом

VI. Вера в обещания, данные врагами, замаскированными под друзей, может оказаться смертельной

VII. Военные и фермеры против королевской семьи и аятолл

VIII. Нет никакой разницы между Ираном и Египтом, когда дело доходит до раболепия по отношению к крупным колониальным схемам

Contents

Introduction

I. Every sectarian approach and every sectarian thought are a vicious mistake and an intolerable act.

II. Political situations and international relations do not define the nature of regimes, governments, and states.

III. When it comes to world affairs, there is no such thing as a chessboard with "black" and "white" squares.

IV. All mass media report the same lies, changing only the «chess sets».

V. The dignity of the Iranians and the Palestinians is a most controversial subject.

VI. Believing promises given by enemies disguised as friends may be lethal.

VII. Military and farmers against the royals and the ayatollahs

VIII. There is no difference between Iran and Egypt when it comes to servility toward major colonial schemes.

Introduction

When it comes to humans, human societies, and states, there is nothing as mistaken as a "black & white" contrast; the people, who intentionally adopt and propagate such an erroneous approach, stance and attitude, become inevitably integral part of the problem they intend to discuss, because they thoughtlessly victimize themselves. Quite unfortunately, all regimes, establishments and states have gone astray and all will be duly, terribly and inescapably punished; in this case, as usual, the exceptions confirm the rule. What follows is my response to the reader's comment that I republish first.  

Mauro Meneghin

Your comment against Ayatollah Khomeini appears unclear and not justified. I'm not an expert on the history by any means, but I now see that Ayatollah Khomeini is standing up with honour to defend the sovereignty and dignity of Iran and of the Palestinians. Ayatollah Khomeini is a wise man who uses reason and moderation in his decisions, and his religious approach serves well to provide moral guidance.

If you dislike him, I wonder if maybe it's due to envy because Egypt is a puppet of the US, but instead, Iran is still a sovereign country with honour.

My response

Thank you for your comment that gives me the opportunity to clarify several issues, which trouble and confuse billions of people today. I am sure that you misread and misunderstood my brief text, but this is the least.

I realize that your approach to events is essentially a Manichaean aberration, which divides everything into "good" and "evil" or "black and white"; quite unfortunately, this categorization does not exist. It is an inconsistent and absurd falsehood that has been systematically spread and dexterously imposed worldwide by all ruling elites, secret societies, governments, states, regimes, establishments, and international bodies. They all need you and me (and all the rest) to be stupid enough to believe that some "good guys" combat "the evil ones". This never happens. And anyone who adopts this false and disastrous approach is genuinely incapacitated to ever understand what happens.

An even worse version of this fallacy is the story of "peoples" fighting against "cruel elites" or "poor people" standing up against the "world Mafia of money"; for the purpose of confusing, deceiving and deluding all the people across the Earth, several subliminally strong terms are created, but they are all nonsensical, fallacious and harmful for the average people. It is essential for everyone not to be caught in the malicious process, because its end will be the destruction of the Mankind.

As a matter of fact, few people escape from this mental, intellectual, educational and academic delusion, which is certainly worse than any pandemic. This is so because by means of a technically Manichaean conceptualization, people are fooled, fail to understand what happens around them, and are therefore easily, complementarily and comprehensively controlled by all the forces, which -while fighting against one another- need exactly to spiritually, mentally and intellectually enslave and utilize the masses by reducing them to "followers", "admirers", "supporters", "adepts" or even "party members" and by canceling the enormous potentialities that the non-deceived and non-deluded people have.   

You say that Ayatollah Khomeini "is standing" and that he "is wise"! Odd! Ayatollah Khomeini died in 1989! I am afraid that you confusingly thought that I referred to Ayatollah Khamenei, who is currently the imam of Iran. You did not realize that the reference that I made in my text is about the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and not the current imam.

In addition, you speak about "defending the sovereignty" of a country, but this is totally unrelated to the theological concept that Ayatollah Khomeini developed and which I denounced, stating that the notion of "Wilayat al faqih" (conventionally translated as "Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist", in other words, the regime of the ayatollahs) is historically rejected as nonexistent throughout the History of Iran, and the History of Islamic states.

All the same, beyond this rather minor issue, in your comment, I find a most misleading approach that turns every person to a victim of one of this world's major forces and backstage societies. These historical orders have nothing to do with states and do not care at all about countries; they only use governments and international bodies, by incessantly placing their stooges in positions that enable them to duly implement the agendas of their superiors.

So, the main part of my response will revolve around the following points:

I. Every sectarian approach and every sectarian thought are a vicious mistake and an intolerable act.

When it comes to faithful people, it is even worse; any sectarian approach is a grave sin. It greatly damages the person (or government or state) that happens to be foolish enough to believe that their choice is perfect and that the opposite is evil. All people who think that what they like is "good" and what they reject is "bad" are so idiotic that they -in and by themselves- justify the agendas of secret organizations that intend to eliminate the major part of Mankind.

To make things clear, I herewith define sectarianism as an egoistic, partial, narrow-minded, deliberately subjective, and therefore always wrong adherence to a specific idea, thought, opinion, concept, notion, ideology, political ideology, conviction, philosophy, theology, cult, belief, religion or system of values; sectarianism is a very immoral attitude, behavior and model of life anytime anywhere and under any circumstances whatsoever. This is so because it always constitutes a abhorrent sin and a calamitous transgression not to consider another person's, group's, society's, people's or nation's rights, values and standpoints.

Detrimental to anyone against whom it is expressed, a sectarian predisposition automatically prompts support, at least partly, for the concept or idea that is rejected by a sectarian person. Sectarianism is disastrous to everyone who happens to be too weak and too erroneous to avoid succumbing to its attraction; this abhorrent stance discredits every sectarian thinker or activist, religious leader or statesman, rendering him untrustworthy, intransigent and fanatic.

The only possible remedy to sectarianism (within the mind of every sectarian) is a reconsideration and a systematic, forcefully implemented at the personal level, effort to evaluate the other's (any other person's, group's, society's, people's or nation's as per occasion) measures, standards, rights, needs, and values objectively, impartially and neutrally.

At the level of international relations, an abhorrent example of sectarianism (noticed during the past few days) is the attitude of Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and many other states in the region toward the Bedouin citizens of Israel. For reasons particular to them, this ethnic group decided to accept the existence of the Zionist state. All the same, many of them have been mistreated by the Israeli authorities on many occasions. Few days ago, around 50 Bedouin families in Israel were left without homes, because the respective authorities demolished their illegally built edifices.

Yet, building structures wherever they find it opportune has been very common to nomads since time immemorial all over the Earth. However, none of the supposedly "good" states, which care for "justice" and fight for the "rights" of the Palestinians, did not champion the rightful cause of the Bedouins, because they are not their "political tool". About:

Authorities level 47 illegal homes in Bedouin village, leaving hundreds homeless

timesofisrael.com

Authorities level 47 illegal homes in Bedouin village, leaving hundreds homeless

Government yet to start construction on alternative housing, and residents object to moving to new neighborhood due to threats from rival fa

This fact fully demonstrates that Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and many other states in the region are as criminal, heinous, vicious and unacceptable structures as Israel. Any person and any state that is characterized by sectarianism are totally untrustworthy and genuinely dangerous for the society or the international community (if we ever accept that such notion exists!).

II. Political situations and international relations do not define the nature of regimes, governments, and states.

There is no doubt that the Palestinian nation has been a long time victim of the cruel colonial plans, deeds and practices of England, before being targeted with genocide by the anti-Jewish, Zionist state. But by supporting the Palestinians, Iran (or any other state) does not get the nature of its regime approved; these issues are very different from, and totally unrelated to, one another.

The nature of the Islamic regime of Iran is entirely fraudulent; it is viciously anti-Iranian and even worse, it contradicts all historical standards of Islamic states that existed throughout Iran since the 7th–9th c. CE. Khomeini's absurdity of Wilayat al faqih is a preposterous, colonial novelty masterminded by the English colonials, who invited the young Ruhollah Khomeini to Iraq in the 1930s for studies and managed to aptly guide him as to how to invent a counterfeit concept that is tantamount to Sunnitization of Iran.

As a matter of fact, this deceitful theory consists in a form of political islam, which is a colonial fallacy invented by 19th c. colonial Orientalists as a tool first against the Ottoman Empire and Qajar Iran. Political islam is the worst enemy of the Islamic world, because Islam has nothing to do with the filthy world of politics, and there had never been 'politics' in any Islamic state.  

By acting as per the needs of the apostate Freemasonic lodge of England, which attempts to destroy the (also fake) state of Israel (by means of an alliance with the Jesuits, the Anti-Christian pope Francis I, and a degenerate Zionist synagogue), Iran became the tool of the most ferociously anti-Islamic forces. In any case, since Day 1, the detrimentally anti-Iranian regime of the Ayatollahs has proved to be a useful plaything for the most perverse forces of financial globalism. It must therefore be replaced as soon as possible.  

III. When it comes to world affairs, there is no such thing as a chessboard with "black" and "white" squares.

The world is not divided into "good" ones and "bad" ones; Zbigniew Brzezinski's 'The Grand Chessboard' is a fraud. It consists in a historical falsification, a political aberration, and a technically Manichaean delusion. Most of the naïve people who read it did not understand that its purpose was mainly to fool eventually all the readers by projecting onto their minds deliberately invented fallacies. No assertion made in the book is correct. The proof of what I am saying at this point has been available online for many years ever since the notorious and very much publicized meeting between the fraudulent author and the Russian intellectual Alexander Dugin took place in 2005.

"The meeting had been set with a photo-prop of a chessboard placed between Brzezinski and Dugin (to promote Brzezinski’s book). This arrangement with a chessboard prompted Dugin to ask whether Brzezinski considered Chess to be a game meant for two: “No, Zbig shot back: It is a game for one. Once a chess piece is moved; you turn the board around, and you move the other side’s chess pieces. There is ‘no other’ in this game”, Brzezinski insisted".

Strategic cultural fond, https://dzen.ru/a/YkLt_-d9BHIRxNMi

This story tells us something simple; the chessboard exists only if you are naïve enough to accept that it does. In other words, it is a nonexistent reality or, if you prefer, a delusion structured in lines that lead to destruction those who admit that they exist.

IV. All mass media report the same lies, changing only the «chess sets».

In Gaza and elsewhere, the mass media systematic falsehood makes everyone believe that "innocent people" are murdered by "cruel rulers"; this is a central part of the confusion spread in order to drive Mankind to extinction. In fact, there are cruel acts perpetrated by all, but there are no "innocent" or "good" or "enlightened" rulers in today's world. Consequently, this evaluation is extended to governments, states, and international bodies.

The same is valid for peoples, ethno religious groups, and nations indeed. Within the colonial and postcolonial context of the last five centuries, no people and no nation managed to preserve their cultural integrity and national identity; only very few subjugated nations, which are located in remote regions of Africa, Asia and Latin America that are lacking technological infrastructure, make an exception.

Before the colonization process started (in different times from continent to continent and from land to land), all different nations were in variant forms of decay; and during the colonization period, all the peoples and ethnic groups underwent a severe process of Westernization. Because of these facts, one should not exempt peoples from being held to account for their contribution to the onerous and troublesome situation in which they find themselves nowadays.

For this reason, all the news, the reports, the editorials and the fact files published here and there are practically speaking identical; what the Iranian mass media report as news on Israel is equivalent to what the Israeli mass media propagate about Iran and Hamas.

V. The dignity of the Iranians and the Palestinians is a most controversial subject.

In fact, the dignity of every nation hinges on the morality, the dexterity and the ability of their elites and rulers. Many nations have been dishonored, subsequently destroyed, and ultimately vanished because of their immoral and incompetent elites. At the very beginning of every case of decay, there is always immorality – evaluated as per the local standards and values.

When the ignorance of the elites and the rulers, their inability to cope with rivals, and their naivety turns them to mere tools in the hands of the enemies of their enemies, then you can expect the worst! This is so because only strong nations attack enemies directly; on the contrary, weak, vile and perfidious nations that cannot attack directly their enemies search always for fools able to do the job for them. In fact, the nations, which are governed by idiots believing that "the enemy of my enemy can be my friend", risk being disintegrated.

Unfortunately, Iran became -gradually and secretively- the ally of England against Israel; UK-based Muslims are in their majority fake, because they fall into the traps of the English secret services, namely the fallacy of multiculturalism, the fraud of political islam, and the false promises that the colonial statesmen, diplomats and academics often make to their forthcoming victims.

And this is exactly what happened to the Islamic Republic of Iran because the ill-fated state has become the tool of the anti-Israeli, Zionist-Jesuit establishment of the UK and the US. In fact, Iran and Israel have nothing to divide and do not need to be enemies; the silly, anti-Israeli stance of the unrepresentative, religious Iranian authorities caused only harm to their country and people. This becomes evident, if one takes into account the fact that, if tomorrow Israel collapses, Iran will gain practically speaking nothing.

The true forces that clash in the Middle East and in other parts of the world are:

a) the anti-Israeli, globalist, Zionist-Jesuit establishment represented by Vatican, the 'deep state' in the US, President Biden, many EU figureheads that are in striking contrast with earlier European statesmen, former UK premier Boris Johnson, the so-called Neo-cons, the Israeli Left, and -last but not the least- the majority of the top IT companies in the US;

and

b) the pro-Israeli, Freemasonic-Zionist establishment represented by major Oil companies worldwide, former US President Trump, the US Pentagon, few EU figureheads after the end of the tenures of Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schroeder, notably Victor Orban and Marine Le Pen, Xi Jinping's China, Naredra Modi's India, Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli non-religious Right, Elon Musk, and -last but not the least- Putin's Russia.  

There are also other major forces and influential societies that I don't mention at this point, but they either side with one of two establishments or stay neutral or inactive to some extent.

Opposite such forces, the Islamic Republic of Iran is an infinitesimal quantity. What naïve people fail to grasp is that, if Iran proved to be able to survive, this is due to the fact that the anti-Israeli, globalist, Zionist-Jesuit establishment made it known to the countries that dealt, cooperated and allied with Iran that they do not mind if they do so to some extent. Iran is a useful instrument to them. Therefore, there is no 'bravery' involved, and the Iranian rulers are typically immoral, cynical and hypocritical - just like their 'enemies'.

In addition, it would be definitely foolish and totally misleading for anyone to eventually imagine (let alone conclude) that sizeable organizations and international bodies can possibly be impenetrable and therefore utilized exclusively by one of the aforementioned two establishments; it is totally inconsiderate to believe that for instance BRICS+, as a group of states, acts as a tool for the interests of only the pro-Israeli, Freemasonic-Zionist establishment. As a matter of fact, the original concept of BRIC is known to have been credited to a major globalist thinker, Jim O'Neill who back in 2001 was chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

The bottom line is that, under current circumstances, the dignity of the Iranians and the Palestinians is none, because both nations have been fooled by their corrupt elites and leaders. It is very sad, but it is like this, and the same is valid for most of the peoples and the nations across the Earth.

VI. Believing promises given by enemies disguised as friends may be lethal.

Hamas and Gazan Palestinians are in exactly in the same position as the foolish Ukrainians who believed the mendacious discourses of Boris Johnson and every other English governmental and diplomatic filth, only to ruin their own country. Stupid Poles, silly Czechs, and the worthless Baltic elites are about to commit the same lethal error.

As a matter of fact, Iran is not a sovereign state, but a tool of UK's Foreign Office. Iran's dignity has therefore been ridiculed due to impermissible policies that Iran pursued at the international level only for the sake of the English globalist agenda. Crypto-Jesuits, like the former Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, the notorious Mohammad Javad Zarif, also known as "Boris Johnson's Filipina", infiltrated the Iranian state, killing gallant but unfortunate military and paramilitary officers, who were honest enough not to grasp the filth of Iranian politics.

Only idiots may believe that Sardar (General) Qasem Soleimani (1957-2020) was assassinated by the Americans (3 January 2020) without consent from the ruling ayatollahs whose vengeance against the abhorrent assassination was evidently too pale, too insipid, and too timid. The pathetic theologians, who are genuinely unable to run a government, may have been frightened due to false data 'leaked' to them, as per which Soleimani had been about to undertake a regime change, supplanting the worthless religious dogmatists with military pragmatists. This shows the extent of incapacity that typifies the Islamic Republic, which is a shame for Iran's three millennia long History.

Similar disaster befell on the Palestinians of Gaza. Having known that Hamas was openly and repeatedly supported by Benjamin Netanyahu, Gazans are now being punished for not reacting against the shame of their leadership. Every Palestinian knew very well that Hamas took control of Gaza only with the help of Netanyahu; it would therefore be foolish for any Palestinian to imagine that this deeply immoral act would not lead to an unsurpassed disaster. This is what truly happens now.

While two million people in Gaza lost their properties and currently live in tents, facing starvation, death, and exile, the disreputable Hamas leaders rejoice the lavish environment of their fabulous villas in Qatar. Nice resistance indeed! One should be mentally degenerate and morally dead in order not to understand that it is all an entire theater played at the detriment of all the populations of Palestine irrespective of state, religion, ethnic origin, and ancestry.

VII. Military and farmers against the royals and the ayatollahs

There is certainly a medication to the very preoccupying, current situation in Iran, but by definition it cannot be the son of the last shah of Iran. It is known to all that the family of Mohammad Reza lived in France and America, i.e. in states that were historical enemies of the Iranian Empire. By so doing, they discredited themselves to the eyes of the average Iranians.

Even worse, the infamous claimant to the throne Reza 'Pahlavi' irreparably stigmatized himself as an Iranian and Muslim renegade by shamelessly making known the following: "Just as I defend the rights of every Iranian, I am proud to stand up for the rights of the Iranian LGBTQ community". https://twitter.com/PahlaviReza/status/1723830025374351830

In fact, pretty much like the Islamic Republic of Iran has been a Western colonial forgery that tarnishes indeed 14 centuries of Islamic faith, culture and civilization in Iran, the ill-fated Pahlavi dynasty (1925-1979) was a colonial trick that besmirched 2500 years of Iranian History. The pseudo-kingdom utilized the country's pre-Islamic past in order to fool the masses and to introduce Western concepts and behaviors, instead of aptly modernizing the country and duly empowering its infrastructure while preserving the traditional culture and revivifying the historical heritage after the example of Kemal Ataturk in Turkey.

Even worse, the pseudo-religious regime put in place an alien system, the pseudo-Shia "Islamic republic", which functioned as the ultimate colonial instrument geared for the replacement of the Islamic Iranian culture with a Sunni-styled political activism.  

Because of the aforementioned situations, Iran's survival will be guaranteed only by a transient military regime that will reflect in the governance of Iran the values, the traditional culture, the historical heritage, the social order of the rural areas, and the provincial particularities or localisms. In its practices, Iran's forthcoming military establishment should combine tolerance for the Westernized Iranian Diaspora, vision for Iran's role in the world, and absence of religious ideology. After extensive consultations, numerous conferences, public debates, and active participation of people from all the walks of life, a series of referenda will help bring forth a totally new form of governance fully supported by all the people of Iran.

Meanwhile, the transient military regime of Iran will have to make it clear to every Iranian that there cannot be national sovereignty without a deeply decolonized and de-Westernized national education which must be based on truthful evaluation and accurate representation of the nation's historical past and heritage. It is degenerate, despicable and ridiculous for the anti-Iranian and pseudo-Islamic regime of the ignorant and illiterate ayatollahs to pretend that they defend the rights of the Palestinians without first protecting the majestic past of Iran from all the Western academic distortions, Orientalist denigrations, colonial historiographical clichés, constant references to fallacious sources (such as Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, etc.), and the bogus-scholarly interpretational schemes, divides, and cases of foremost anti-Iranian and anti-Oriental racism due to inferior 'Ancient Greek' authors, the likes of Aeschylus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle, and others.

Instead of mobilizing the entire world against the colonial forgeries of Hellenism, Classicism, Greco-Roman civilization, Judeo-Christian heritage, as per which the world is divided into two parts, namely "the Civilized West" and the "Barbarian Orient", the silly ayatollahs played the game of the English and the French colonials.

Without rejecting the present world order, which is based on the so-called Western European Renaissance and the ensued fallacies, the useless Islamic Republic played exactly the role ascribed to them by the Western colonizers; they became part of the problems that the Anglo-Saxon racists created in the Middle East.   

VIII. There is no difference between Iran and Egypt when it comes to servility toward major colonial schemes.

I don't understand why you mention Egypt in the last sentence of your comment. All countries in the region are subservient to their Western colonial masters; there is no difference. Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, etc. are all controlled by the colonial countries, England, France, America and their satellites. All these so-called regional powerhouses have no proper national education, no decolonized and de-Westernized universities, no true national identity, and no cultural integrity. It is therefore totally absurd to supposedly fight for independence without a strong feeling of historicity that permeates the education and the entire society.

The same is also valid for the Palestinians, who never undertook a nation building process, simply because this was not the priority of their treacherous leaders who wanted to make money with their bogus-resistance against Israel. Otherwise, all Palestinians would be proud to know that their presence in Palestine antedates that of the Ancient Hebrews and that their ancestors came from Crete, Western Anatolia, and the South Balkans during the Sea Peoples Invasions. In fact, because of the ineptitude of their leaders, Palestinians remain a populace without true national consciousness.

Iran and Egypt are exactly at the same level in this regard. Just like Tehran, Cairo has always been, under khedivial, royal, military and republican administration, a docile and servile capital filled with empty words, useless threats, angry jargons, and unrealistic purposes. Irrevocably fooled with the nothingness of Pan-Arabism and the worthlessness of political islam, the Egyptian academic, intellectual, religious, military, economic and political elites never imagined that their foremost task would be to denounce at the international level and to eliminate at the local level the colonial forgeries of Hellenism, Classicism, Greco-Roman civilization, Judeo-Christian heritage, as per which the world is divided into two parts, namely "the Civilized West" and the "Barbarian Orient",

Actually, such things would be too difficult for theologically indoctrinated morons like Khomeini and uneducated fools like Gamal Abdel Nasser to comprehend.  

As you see, you don't need to be Egyptian in order to reject the fallacious notions advanced by Ayatollah Khomeini. You need to be Iranian. 

After all, why should a historian side with one or another state, when both fail to defend their historical heritage, national dignity, and cultural integrity?

To conclude I would say that a honest historian cannot possibly allow himself to be caught up in the fight among the Jesuits, the Freemasons, and the Zionists; even more so in the under-covered conflict between the UK and Israel, and in the clashes of their respective instruments, i.e. the Islamic Republic of Iran and Hamas.

=========

Download the article in PDF:

megalommatiscomments

World Politics as Black & White: Iran and Israel or how people fall victims of delusions intentionally projected on them   

Мировая политика как черное и белое: Иран и Израиль, или как люди становятся жертвами намеренно проецируемых на них заблуждений To a previou

academia.edu

World Politics as Black & White: Iran and Israel or how people fall victims of delusions intentionally projected on them

Мировая политика как черное и белое: Иран и Израиль, или как люди становятся жертвами намеренно проецируемых на них заблуждений Содержание В

calameo.com

World Politics as Black & White: Iran and Israel or how people fall victims of delusions intentionally projected on them

Мировая политика как черное и белое: Иран и Израиль, или как люди становятся жертвами намеренно проецируемых на них заблуждений Содержание В

SlideShare

World Politics as Black & White Iran and Israel or how people fall victims of delusions intentionally projected on them

World Politics as Black & White Iran and Israel or how people fall victims of delusions intentionally projected on them - Download as a PDF

figshare

World Politics as Black & White: Iran and Israel or how people fall victims of delusions intentionally projected on them

ContentsIntroductionI. Every sectarian approach and every sectarian thought are a vicious mistake and an intolerable act.II. Political situa

Patreon

World Politics as Black & White: Iran and Israel or how people fall victims of delusions intentionally projected on them | Megalommatis

Get more from Megalommatis on Patreon