Iran01

http://www.iranica.com/articles/v8f6/v8f615.html ESFAND (sepand, sepanj, espanj < Proto-Ir. *svanta; Ar. háarmal, Lat. Peganum harmala; wild rue), a common weed found in Persia, Central Asia, and the adjacent areas (for the the plant's name in other Iranian languages see Flattery and Schwartz, p. 40). Esfand was well known among the ancient Indo-Iranians. Dioscorides provides in the 1st century C.E. the earliest description of the plant, calling it pêganon agrion. Later Greek authors refer to it as persaia botane (Flattery and Schwartz, pp. 35-42, 144-48). Two varieties of the plant are mentioned in the early medical texts, the white rue and the more potent black rue. The plant is considered to be hot by nature, and can be used as a diuretic, a vomitive, and an agent to facilitate menstruation in cases of amenorrhea (Ebn Rabban, pp. 415, 469; Jama@l^ Yazd^, p. 173). Although the most important use of esfand in Persia involves magical practices, its various parts were used in cures for a variety of ailments (e.g., throat diseases; Ebn Rabban, p. 466; cf. Lazard, Premiers poeàtes II, p. 190). It was considered efficacious to cold swellings, and some classical physicians such as Kend^ also used it in treating epilepsy and insanity (Jama@l^ Yazd^, p. 75; Samarqand^, p. 206). Aphrodisiacal properties have been suggested for the plant. Crushed seeds of esfand may be used in the preparation of a fertility drug for women, while smoke from its burning roots can help determine whether or not the woman is barren (H®a@seb T®abar^, p. 108; for other medical benefits of the plant see Andalos^, pp. 311-16). Folk medicine practices reflect a classical belief in the medical properties of esfand, while attributing a number of magico-medical properties to it. It is considered to be a divinely favored plant which can cure seventy-two varieties of ailments the least severe of which is leprosy (Majles^, pp. 220-21; Qom^, I, p. 245). Furthermore, the smoke from its burning seeds is believed to ward off harm from persons or places that are exposed to its smoke. Thus esfand is burned at potentially harmful moments such as during circumcision ceremonies or for the protection of the woman in childbed (ˆaku@rza@da, pp. 152, 160, 610-11). The burning of the seeds is accompanied by the recitation of a magical formula. Purely curative uses of esfand are occasionally encountered in folk medicine. For example, the smoke from burning a combination of rue seeds, a bit of Bulgarian leather, and a piece of crab shell is used as a remedy for nosebleed. Another non-magical practice involves applying a concoction of roasted esfand seeds and other materials to the head and hair of a new mother to improve both her health and the condition of her hair (ˆaku@rza@de, pp. 147, 245). The practice of burning esfand seeds to avert the evil eye is widely attested in early classical Persian literature (e.g., Lazard, Premiers poetes II, p. 12; ˆa@h-na@ma, ed. Khaleghi, I, p.337; Farrokò^, p. 106). This practice may have been influenced by the association of esfand with haoma (q.v.), the sacred beverage of Zoroastrian lore (for argument in favor of such identification see Flattery and Schwartz). The continuity of Persian tradition has brought the ancient sacred plant into Islamic sources. A Shi¿ite tradition states that there is an angel in each of the plant's leaves and seeds. Its root drives away sorrow and magic, and the devil stays a distance of seventy houses away from homes in which it is kept (ˆaku@rza@da, pp. 611, 629). Shi¿ite sources tell of the benefits of ingesting esfand or its juice. For instance, drinking a bit of esfand juice every day for forty mornings brings about wisdom in addition to fortifying the imbiber against seventy varieties of diseases (Qom^, I, p. 245). The apotropaic value of esfand is reflected in its burning against evil presence. In a curious ceremony to counteract effects of evil upon a child, which is manifested in the condition called ba±a-ye ¿awazµ^ (changeling), burning of esfand is required (ˆaku@rza@da, p. 235). In some villages of Khorasan, a new mother will be given a concoction to clear her bowels on the third day after she has given birth. Then, forty pebbles, forty balls of sheep dung, forty raw chickpeas, and forty esfand seeds are placed in a large bowl of water (ja@m-e ±ehel kel^d), dipped in the bowl forty times, and the water is ritually poured over a cloth, held above the woman's head. This ritual purges the woman from the effects of evil spirits and harmful entities (ˆaku@rza@da, p. 141). During the ceremony presenting a new child, esfand seeds are burned to avert the evil eye during the ceremony of presentation. Each of those present give a piece of thread from their clothing to be burned with the esfand seeds and other items, while a certain formula is recited (Heda@yat, pp. 43-44; for examples of the formula see also Horn, translator's note, p. 107; Flattery and Schwartz, pp. 49-50). Evidently esfand seeds were also used to produce an invisible ink. The process involved pounding the seeds before soaking them in water for two days. The juice thereafter functioned as an invisible ink when written on paper. In order to read it, the paper is brought close to a flame and the heat make the writing visible (H®a@seb Tabar^, p. 55). Bibliography: ¿Abd-al-Malek b. H®ab^b Andalos^, al-T®ebb al-nabaw^, ed. M.-¿A. Ba@r, Damascus and Beirut, 1413/1993. Abu@ Rayháa@n B^ru@n^, Sáaydana, ed. M. Sa¿^d and R. Ehása@n Ela@h^, Karachi, 1973, pp. 155-56. ¿Al^ b. Sahl Ebn Rabban T®abar^, Ferdaws al-háekma, ed. M. Z. Siddiqi, Berlin, 1928. Farrokò^ S^sta@n^, D^va@n, ed. M. Dab^rs^a@q^, 3rd ed., Tehran, 1363 ˆ./1984. D. Flattery and M. Schwartz, Hoama and Harmaline, Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London, 1989. Moháammad b. Ayyu@b H®a@seb T®abar^, Toháfat al-@g@ara@÷eb, ed. J. Mat^n^, Tehran, 1371 ˆ./1992. S®. Heda@yat, Neyrangesta@n, Tehran, 1342 ˆ./1963. Horn, Etymologie, tr. J. K¨a@leq^-MotÂlaq as Asa@s-e eæteqa@q-e fa@rs^, Tehran, 2536 (=1356) ˆ./1977. Abu@ Bakr MotÂahhar Jama@l^ Yazd^, Farrokò-na@ma, ed. È. Afæa@r, Tehran, 1346 ˆ./1967. Moháammad-Ba@qer Majles^, H®elyat al-mottaq^n, Tehran, 1371/1951. ¿Abba@s b. Moháammad-Rezµa@ Qom^, Saf^nat al-beháa@r wa mad^nat al-háekam wa'l-a@t¯a@r, 2 vols., Beirut, 1985? E. ˆaku@rza@da, ¿Aqa@yed o rosu@m-e mardom-e K¨ora@sa@n, 2nd ed., Tehran, 1362 ˆ./1983. Naj^b-al-D^n Moháammad Samarqand^, The Medical Formulary of al-Samarqand^ and the Relations of Early Arabic Simples to Those Found in the Indegenous Medicine of the Near East and India, ed. N. K¨a@led^ and M. Levey, Philadelphia, 1976. H®obayæ b. Ebra@h^m Tefl^s^, Baya@n al-sáena@¿a@t, ed. È. Afæa@r, in FIZ 5, 1336 ˆ./1957, pp. 298-447. (MAHMOUD OMIDSALAR)

sounds good, many see him as the best goal keeper in iranian League , and wish him to play for iranian national team.

Dose/did he play for Armenian national team?

Old Persian names used to end by "sh"; Kurosh ( Greeks Cyrus) Dariush ( Greeks Darius) Hakhâmanesh ( Latin Achaemenids )

Iran scrutinizing history distortion case The Iranian embassy in Baku has started scrutinizing the distortion of Azerbaijani history in some history and geography textbooks released in Iran that indicated Garabagh as Armenian territory, the Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan Afshar Suleymani said. The ambassador told a news conference on Friday that the distortion could indeed have taken place, although he has not seen the books. He added that he will receive a reply to the relevant enquiry sent to Iran shortly. http://www.azernews.net/view.php?d=6331

It dosent work! There is a Persian saying: Eat with Kurd but sleep in Armenian home I dont realy know what dose that mean! Maybe: accept Kurds help but trust fully in Armenian! What ever it is the Arab and Turk are not mentioned!

Actually only 4 muslim country leaders have laid a wreath at the genocide memorial in Yerevan: Tajikstan, Lebanon, Kyrgyzstan and recently Iran. Common among them is : Persian and Shiaism. Something bigger maybe on the way! Otherwise a Shia mullah wouldnt talk as Khatami did in Yerevan and talk to Dashnak. After all Iranians do not like ethnic conflict and Dashnaks ......... http://www.bakutoday.net/view.php?d=10370 Khatami Reaffirms Armenia's Importance To Iran By Ruzanna Stepanian 10/09/2004 08:46 Iranian President Mohammad Khatami ended on Thursday a two-day official visit to Armenia, lavishing more praise on Armenians and their long-standing contribution to the development of his country. Khatami said the Iranian and Armenian peoples remain part of the same ancient "civilization" despite their cultural and religious differences developed over the centuries. "Every Iranian seems to again find his identity by coming to Armenia," he declared in a speech at Yerevan State University (YSU). "The poetry, the art works and the sparkles of kindness of this land are all testimony to the existence of bonds between Iran and Armenia." "Since the dawn of history Armenia has had deep and strong links with Iranian culture and civilization," he went on. "Even religious and ideological differences, which usually create serious divisions in geopolitical regions, have been unable to destroy the civilizational unity of the Iranian world and the Armenian people." Khatami also paid tribute to Iran's ethnic Armenian citizens that currently number more than 100,000. "The role and participation of the Armenians and Armenia in the opening of new horizons and paths of Iran's development has been significant," he said in a speech tinged with philosophical passages about the worldwide "dialogue of civilizations" promoted by Tehran. The Iranian leader began the second day of the trip with a visit to the genocide memorial in Yerevan where he laid a wreath in memory of some 1.5 million Armenians slaughtered in Ottoman Turkey. He further underscored the Islamic Republic's strong interest in its sole Christian neighbor by receiving leaders of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), an influential nationalist party which favors close ties with Russia and Iran and a hard line on Turkey and Azerbaijan. It is represented in Armenia's government and has branches in all major Diaspora communities, including Iran. A statement by Dashnaktsutyun's office in Yerevan cited Khatami as praising the party's "pan-Armenian essence and Armenia's "important role" in the region. The Dashnaktsutyun leaders, for their part, welcomed his visit as "a new stage" in the Iranian-Armenian relationship. Khatami and his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian signed on Wednesday a framework treaty on the "principles and bases" of bilateral relations. They also formalized the release of a $30 million Iran loan to Yerevan to be used for the construction of a gas pipeline that will link the two neighboring countries. Answering questions from YSU students, Khatami was asked to comment on his recent remark that Iran recognizes Azerbaijan's territorial integrity in the Nagorno-Artsax conflict. He said Tehran respects the "sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries," but stopped short of describing Artsax as an integral part of Azerbaijan. Khatami's Thursday schedule also included a visit to an 18th century Persian mosque in Yerevan renovated by the Iranian government and a meeting with the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Garegin II. Copyright © 2004. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org

Turkey renames 'divisive' animals Even animal names can become contentious in politics Turkey has said it is changing the names of three animals found on its territory to remove references to Kurdistan or Armenia. The environment ministry says the Latin names of the red fox, the wild sheep and the roe deer will be altered. The red fox for instance, known as Vulpes Vulpes Kurdistanica, will now be known as Vulpes Vulpes. Turkey has uneasy relations with neighbouring Armenia and opposes Kurdish separatists in Turkey. The ministry said the old names were contrary to Turkish unity. "Unfortunately there are many other species in Turkey which were named this way with ill intentions. This ill intent is so obvious that even species only found in our country were given names against Turkey's unity," a ministry statement quoted by Reuters news agency said. Some Turkish officials say the names are being used to argue that Armenians or Kurds had lived in the areas where the animals were found. NAME CHANGES Red fox known as Vulpes Vulpes Kurdistanica becomes Vulpes Vulpes Wild sheep called Ovis Armeniana becomes Ovis Orientalis Anatolicus Roe deer known as Capreolus Capreolus Armenus becomes Capreolus Cuprelus Capreolus Turkey has tense ties with its eastern neighbour Armenia, which it does not officially recognise. Armenians accuse Turkey of genocide, saying 1.5 million of their people died or were deported from their homelands under Turkish Ottoman rule. Turkey denies the genocide and says the death count is inflated. For the last two decades, Turkey has also been fighting Kurdish separatists, who have sought an independent state in Turkey's south-east. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4328285.stm

http://www.mehrnews.com/fa/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=175680 http://www.mehrnews.com/mehr_media/image/2005/04/124400_orig.jpg

http://www.ilna.ir/photo/showphoto.asp?code=190343&code1=12 http://www.ilna.ir/photo/showphoto.asp?code=190340&code1=12 http://www.ilna.ir/photo/showphoto.asp?code=190336&code1=12 http://www.ilna.ir/photo/showphoto.asp?code=190099&code1=12 http://www.ilna.ir/images/84-02-04/27.jpg

http://64.40.99.49/Multimedia/pics/1384/2/photo/145.jpg http://64.40.99.49/Multimedia/pics/1384/2/photo/146.jpg more pics http://www.isna.ir/Main/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-518492 http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/story/20...aniv-demo.shtml http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-25/0504240629144001.htm http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-25/0504240656144727.htm

Dear MiG-35 I understand what you are saying, But PanTurkism rest on Islam while Shiaism try to rest on Iranism! And the point is pure Iranian nationalism reject Islam totaly. A wave of anti-Islamic movement from Iran would shake Turkey on rischter 10. And it Would isolate Arab world in the world, help Russia in thier inter-nations disturbances ...... Islam is a kind of mental disease! it is nothing you can cure by a year or two. It is nothing you can cure by having contact and exchange cultural values with outsider... Curing a muslim form Islam is a long process which takes several generations. Iran is leading on this process right now. You can not see it on surface, but it is a unrecallable ongoing process .... and Turkey is long way behind. I see a leading anti-Islamic movement from Iran as an advantage than disadvantage. Do not worry about Iranian Azarbaijan. 60 years ago when pan Turks were rulling Iranian Azarbaijan for a year by the help of Russians, they did not dare to talk about separation. Today Iran is much stronger than 60 years ago. What goes for Kurds, I am sure they are pro-Iranians if Iran is Iranian. After all, Islam is like an identity for many. As a Persian proverb goes: the house is damaged from ground and "men of knowledge" are talking to rapair the balcony. Shiaism can not hold Iran entire on long run. By other words you must destroy the house and rebuild it before it is to late.

Thank you Artsakh and Mosjan! Yes, there were several war-leader known as "sardar" or "khan" who became very famous for thier heroic acts at that time such as: Sattar khan, Bagher khan, Sardar Asad, Sardar Tonekaboni and ofcource Yephrem Khan. What makes Yephrem khan unique is his origin ( An Armenian from outside Iran ) and quick progress as chief of Police. What I understood Yephrem khans affection to Iranian constitutional movment got back to his hatred towards Russians. The Qajar and one fraction of Mullahs were pro-Russians. The Russians were rulling Iran from Shahs court! It seems to me he understood that very well. He was one of two war leader who fought the Shahs pro-Russians-troop for a second time and defeated him for good. Other thing he understood very well was to be quick in his actions. When constitutionalist decided to hang Sheykh Noori, Yephrem khan as police chief was very quick to hang him. ( Otherwise Russians were good to save the ass of those anti-constitutionalist-mullahs ) http://iichs.org/new_namayeshgah/aks%20sheikh%20fazlolah%20nori/9.jpg ps , Yephrem Khans personal notes, letter has been translated into Persian and been published! http://www.ichodoc.ir/wp/00006/00006559.htm

Why not , if you could do good for Iran Actually St Vartan has greater chance than Vagharshak or Suren ... Just convert iranians to christianity and tell them: You rejected truth, you killed St Vartanians! So iranians will beat themselves 1400 years more

Edward jan We are living in a very danger time and region. 1400 years of Islamic culture has infected Iranian minds, Today we have bigger wolfs such as England, USA, 25 years of Islamic republic has destroyed Iran, .... Nobody is our friend ( EU USA England, Russia)! And we have the enemy inside ( Islam). Our only friend are ourselves and countries around. sadly enought, in south Arabs have always seen Iranians as enemy, The rest are muslims country. All of them have a long way to go to get ride of Islam ( Turkey, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan ...). Nothing can help us , only pure nationalism can. After all you dont mind to have a Persian king ruling Armenia: King Xerxes says: A great god is Ahuramazda, who created this earth, who created yonder sky, who created man, who created happiness for man, who made Xerxes king, one king of many, one lord of many. or King Darius says: An Armenian named Dâdarši , my servant, I sent into Armenia, and I said unto him: 'Go, smite that host which is in revolt and does not acknowledge me.' King Darius says: The rebels assembled for the second time, and they advanced against Dâdarši to give him battle. King Darius says: The rebels assembled for the third time and advanced against Dâdarši to give him battle. Then Dâdarši waited for me in Armenia, until I came into Armenia.