March 2016

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Boyce and Grenet explain the Hall, traditions for seasonal festivals and were built for the specific purpose comment: "It is possible that the of celebrating Nowruz. Although splendor of the Babylonian there may be no mention of festivities at this season led the Nowruz in recorded Achaemenid Persians to develop their own inscriptions (see picture),there is a spring festival into an established detailed account by Xenophon of a new year feast, with the name Nowruz celebration taking place in Navasarda 'New Year' (a name Persepolis and the continuity of this which, though first attested festival in the Achaemenid through Middle Persian tradition.in 539 BC the Jews came derivatives, is attributed to the under Persian rule thus exposing Achaemenian period). Since the both groups to each other's communal observations of the customs. According to ancient Iranians appear in general Encyclopædia Britannica, the story to have been a seasonal ones, and of Purim as told in the Book of related to agriculture, it is Esther is adapted from a Persian probable, that they traditionally novella about the shrewdness of held festivals in both autumn and harem queens suggesting that spring, to mark the major turning Purim may be a transformation of points of the natural year". the Persian New Year. A specific We have reasons to believe that novella is not identified and the celebration is much older than Encyclopædia Britannica itself that date and was surely notes that "no Jewish texts of this celebrated by the people and genre from the Persian period are royalty during the Achaemenid extant, so these new elements can times (555–330 BC). It was, be recognized only inferentially". therefore, a highly auspicious The Encyclopaedia of Religion and occasion for the ancient Iranian Ethics notes that the Purim holiday peoples. It has been suggested is based on a lunar calendar while that the famous Persepolis Nowruz occurs at the spring complex, or at least the palace of equinox (solar calendar). Apadana and the Hundred Columns
The two holidays are therefore celebrated on different dates but within a few weeks of each other, depending on the year. Both holidays are joyous celebrations. Given their temporal associations, it is possible that the Jews and Persians of the time may have shared or adopted similar customs for these holidays. The story of Purim as told in the Book of Esther has been dated anywhere from 625–465 BC (although the story takes place with the Jews under the rule of the Achaemenid Empire and the Jews had come under Persian rule in 539 BC), while Nowruz is thought to have first been celebrated between 555–330 BC. It remains unclear which holiday was established first. Nowruz was the holiday of Arsacid/Parthian dynastic Empires who ruled Iran (248 BC-224 CE) and the other areas ruled by the Arsacid dynasties outside Parthia (such as the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia and Iberia). There are specific references to the celebration of Nowruz during the reign of Vologases I (51–78 CE), but these include no details.Before Sassanids established their power in West Asia around 300 CE, Parthians celebrated Nowruz in Autumn and 1st of Farvardin began at the Autumn Equinox. During Parthian dynasty the Spring Festival was Mehragan, a Zoroastrian and Iranian festival celebrated in honor of Mithra. Extensive records on the celebration of Nowruz appear following the accession of Ardashir I of Persia, the founder of the Sassanid dynasty (224–651 CE). Under the Sassanid Emperors, Nowruz was celebrated as the most important day of the year. Most royal traditions of Nowruz such as royal audiences with the public, cash gifts, and the pardoning of prisoners, were established during the Sassanian era and persisted unchanged until modern times. Nowruz, along with Sadeh (celebrated in mid-winter), survived in society following the introduction of Islam in 650 CE. Other celebrations such Gahanbar and Mehragan were eventually side-lined or were only followed by the Zoroastrians, who carried them. It was adopted as the main royal holiday during the Abbasid period.
Page 1 and 2: Aziz Art March 2016 Aydin Aghdashlo
Page 4: Aydin Aghdashloo born October 30, 1
Page 8: Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino April 6
Page 11: His first documented work was the B
Page 14 and 15: Timoteo Viti (the Urbino painter),
Page 16 and 17: Nowruz
Page 18 and 19: Nowruz is believed to have been Anc
Page 22 and 23: In the book Nowruznama drink immort
Page 24: http://www.aziz-anzabi.com

March 2016

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