Mission Accomplished

May 1, 2003

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Persianization

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Kuwait’s Arab Times had attracted my attention to Esfahan’s gorgeous Great Mosque in an article in 2003. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find so far a webpage of the article which praised the wonders of Iran’s largest mosque and one of the most significant and finest buildings of the Islamic world. I visited the site the first time at my second trip to Esfahan in late spring of 2004. I took some pictures in the vast courtyard, soaked the peaceful atmosphere there, and watched the few visitors from Iran and elsewhere. I had forgotten about the many details of the article and faintly had read some of the notes in my travel guide. My second visit in late 2007 was driven by scientific interest. I had recently posted (at Freelance ) my rather amateurish studies and thoughts about a suggested ‘conceptual breakthrough’ in Islamic architecture and art in the late 15th century, i.e., quasi-crystalline tessellations, which had led to world-wide attention due to its publication in the Science magazine...
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In order to learn more about Shi’a Islam and the piety of ordinary people it would have been most helpful to visit at least some of the plenty of Emamzadehs (holy sites) all over Iran. So, it was a most welcome opportunity and, in fact, great honor when my Kuwaiti friends invited me to accompany them on their several bus trips in Khorasan on the occasion of their 2006 pilgrimage to the Holy City of Mashhad. Achaemenid, Parthian, and Sasanian Empires each embraced half of the then known world when they climaxed. And even when Iran was under the reign of Seleucids, Arabs, Seljuks, or Mongols, the Iranians imprinted their lifestyle and culture on the non-welcome invaders, who in any sense immensely benefited. So, the austere new religion Islam, which replaced Iran’s state religion Zoroastrianism, was fundamentally reorganized, and, as I see it as an outsider, filled with life. The rapid and shocking decline of the Sasanid Empire at the end of a century-long fight with Byzantium, and the ...
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Pir Bakran

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Si-o-Seh Pol at night in Esfahan is really a beauty. But if Venus, the crescent of the moon, and mercury are illuminating the scenery, it's just amazing. You have to click on the picture and carefully examine the inflated image to see Mercury in the center of the right side in the sky. I could watch the rapidly moving innermost planet on several evenings when recently visiting Iran. One obligation of my trip was to visit again the Jewish cemetery in Esfahan's vicinity. The 2000 years old site is difficult to find. At least on my map of Iran Linjan is not explicitly mentioned. Go to the southwest, the taxi driver will most probably know. In Linjan, which is a larger town, you should ask for the Jewish cemetery. We called a local by mobile phone who immediately showed and turned out to be a Muslim (!) guide of the site. He was a friend of the Jews in the town, he told us. I remembered last year's visit . The narrow room again showed recently burnt candles. Our guide immediate...
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