More graffiti, I presume?

I’ve already shown you some (Safavid-era) Persian and (alcoholic) Armenian graffiti at the caravanserai of Siahkuh.  So I was pleased to read about more graffiti in another caravanserai – although this time seen, and then added to, by Olearius, the very same ‘sick person with a great beard‘ I introduced you to last week. On …

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Sick persons with great beards

Many Safavid women were transported in litters – or what the Spanish Ambassador Figueroa described “more accurately as cages”. These were covered wooden boxes, just like those in the Qajar image below.  Two boxes were suspended, one on each side of the carrying animal, with the woman facing either backwards or forwards as she chose, …

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Lectures by Cyrus Alai

(Those of you looking for this week’s blog, please scroll down!) Dr. Cyrus Alai is doing a series of lectures on ‘Mapping Persia’, all based on his newly published book Special Maps of Persia (Brill, Leiden & Boston, 2010 – or from Amazon here) These include (and remember to check whether it’s in English or …

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See inside a qanat

For those of you who are claustrophobic, here is a rare chance (for the next few days ONLY: don’t delay, the BBC will take it off the internet soon) to see inside a qanat – a traditional Iranian underground irrigation canal.  Click here for the film – to see the qanat section, watch from 15 …

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How to catch an Iranian bear . . using tarof

I have already offered you handy hints in case your hunting-cheetah is indisposed; and suggested how best to address a Musulman lion if you meet it in the Bakhtiari mountains.  Now this week, how to – very politely – catch an Iranian bear. Iranian bears (whether brown or black) of course have manners and intelligence …

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Piped water in the desert, Safavid-style

Recently, I showed you some Safavid-era public fountains, in Isfahan.  But the massive infrastructure developments of the era included installation of water supplies in the most unlikely places – for example, in the desert area sandwiched between 40km of salt plains (the Darya Namak), and 30km of salt mud (click here for a photo of …

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Hunting with Cheetahs

Following on the earlier tales of Musulman and Kafir lions on Bakhtiari land, I want to share an amazing short film. Cheetah were traditionally used in the Safavid era for hunting, as you can see in this (apologies!) very poor quality image of a cheetah being carried on the back of a hunter’s horse (from …

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