Salmiya

When Cyrus the Great freed the Jews from Babylonian Captivity in 539 BCE, some of them did not return to Jeruslaem but eventually settled on the banks of the Zayandeh Rud in Central Iran, possibly founding the city of Esfahan. This is the beginning of Jewish life in Iran which thus started two-and-a-half-thousand years ago. While Cyrus is betoken as ‘the anointed’ in the Book of Isaiah, Jews seem to have lived for centuries in peace with the indigenous Persian populace . Persian religious tolerance was legendary as long as Zoroastrianism was the state religion. The alarming rhetoric in particular of the present president of Iran, who had openly questioned the Holocaust of the Jews by the Nazi’s terror regime in the early 1940s and the very right of Israel to exist, has caused considerable new concern about the safety of the Jews in the Islamic Republic. It raises again the question, what do we actually know about the relationship of Shi’a Muslims and other ‘people of the book’, o...

Masjed-e Vakil , close to one of the entrances of the bazaar-e vakil , was built in 1773 by Shiraz’ wise and modest ruler Karim Khan. Most of its decoration, though, was added in the later Qajar period. It is one of Shiraz’ gems. The colors interchange between light blue, pink, red and yellow and floral motifs predominate. The mosque expresses a serene but cheerful, almost Mediterranean, atmosphere. The stained glass windows yield incredible plays of light in the alcoves and porches surrounding the courtyard.

Kashan at the border of Iran’s Dasht-e Kavir, is a very relaxed city in Central Iran. It harbors one of Iran’s (and in fact the world’s) oldest settlements at Tappeh-ye Seyalk . There are tree alleys which invite for extended walks through the city. Fin garden is one of Irans finest parks, a real imagination of paradise (a Persian word). Main activities of business and communication are done, as usual in Iran, in the bazaar. Its beautiful domed roof is rather famous and was built in the Qajar period. Here, ancient caravanserais and mosques, old and new goods, and the famous Kashan carpets can be discovered. The old Sultan Mir Ahmed Hamam is now a relaxing tea house. Kashan’s main attractions are a number of renovated mansions from the Qajar period in the 19th century. These traditional houses are hidden behind high mud-brick walls and not visible from the streets at all. They were the home of wealthy merchants and carpet dealers. Iran seems to spend a lot of money and effort to preserv...