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ART
& LITERATURE
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Arts A description and illustration of the marvelous varieties and exquisite
harmonies of Iran's artistic heritage took six enormous volumes of the
life-long work of the great American scholar Arthur Upham Pope. It certainly
induces a spirit of humility in anyone tackling the subject. However, here,
in this travel guide, we propose to do no more than give some pointers to
the main features of Persian achievement, which may be useful to the
traveler or foreign resident before he plunges into whatever branch of the
subject takes his fancy most.
Recent archaeological discoveries at Marlik and Cheragh-Ali have furnished
new knowledge in support of the fact that the genius of Iranian art evolved
as far back as 8,000 years ago. Little has been found in the way of
architecture, although when one wanders about the country it is primarily
buildings (in the field of art) that catch the eye; and it appears that the
people of these ancient times were nomadic and war-like, traveling on
horse-back. Most of the discoveries made are of objects small enough to be
carried, and there is great emphasis on weapons and horse-trappings. In
bronze, these depict animal forms of great vitality. Painted earthenware
vessels and long-spouted pots have been recovered, which are of great
esthetic beauty in their simple, graceful lines. Since very ancient times,
wide use was made of all available materials: stone, clay, wood, metals,
glass, terra-cotta, and bone.
In Islamic Iran, as in all Islamic societies, art favors the
non-representational, the derivative and the stylized rather than the
figurative, the innovative, and the true to life. Accurate representation of
the human from has never been a part of traditional Islamic art. However,
portraiture is not forbidden by Shiite Islam. Many Iranian art forms predate
the Arab invasion, but since nearly all of them reached their peak within
the Islamic era, religious influences are there to indicate the presence of
Islam. favorite motifs in Iranian art are geometrical shapes and patterns
such as lozenges, medallions and meanders; grapevines and other floral
patterns, often very complex; and highly stylized real or imaginary
creatures such as lions, elephants, peacocks, phoenixes and griffins.
1.Pre-Islamic Architecture: The only substantial remains are those of the
remarkable Elamite ziggurat at Chogha Zanbil. The earliest building material
was sun-dried mud brick. Baked brick was used for other surfaces by the 12th
century BC.
The ancient inhabitants of Persia imbued the mountains with great religious
symbolism, and structures were built in imitation of mountains, giving rise
to the characteristic pyramidal temples called ziggurat. Purely religious
Achaemenian buildings are conspicuous by their absence. However, the two
most important religious influences are Zoroastrianism before the Arab
Conquest and Islam afterwards. Most of the greatest buildings were built
with a religious purpose, and even in secular buildings religious influences
are rarely entirely absent- even Persian churches often incorporate Islamic
features.
Palaces, on the other hand, abound, and these vary considerably according to
the period. In Cyrus's time, for example, they were oblong in shape, of
exquisite proportions, and generally executed in contrasting colors as
between say wall surfaces and window emplacement. The buildings of Darius
and Xerxes were bigger and better; the result was rather heavy and
colorless, depending on elaborate carving applied to doorways, staircases
and columns. The usual plan was a large hall often with columns surrounded
by small rooms; a common feature of these were the recesses about the height
and size of windows, probably used by cupboards, which are an invariable
feature of the more modest houses of Iran today. The materials used include
unbaked brick for walls, local stone for windows, stairways, doorways and
some walls and columns, and heavy timber for columns and roofs.
Alexander the Great's conquest (about 330 BC) brought a virtual end to the
Achaemenian style in Persia. The following relatively dormant period under
the Seleucids marked the introduction of Hellenism to Persia. No great
examples remain today, although the Temple of Artemis (Anahita) at Kangavar,
with Greek capitals and built to a Greek goddess, is the best preserved.
Under the Parthians (about 250 BC to 224 AD), Hellenism and indigenous
styles merged, along with some Roman and Byzantine influences, and several
characteristically Persian features arose, including the Ivan.
In the Sassanian period (224-642 AD), buildings became larger, heavier and
more complex. Decoration became more adventurous and more use was made of
color, especially in frescoes and mosaics. The Sassanians built fire-temples
throughout their empire, and the simple plan of the earliest examples was
retained throughout the pre-Islamic era, even in the design of churches. But
the central features of Sassanian buildings- the four-Ivan plan with domed
square chamber, the squinches on which the dome rested and the large arched
doorway- are indigenous to Iran and of much significance later. The most
important pilgrimage site of the pre-Islamic Persian Empire, Takht-e
Soleiman, was established in the Sassanian era. In particular the
above-mentioned features influenced the development of a specifically
Iranian type of mosque, the so-called Madreseh mosque built on the four-Ivan
plan.
2. Islamic Period: In this period, Minarets, Shrines, Tombs, Palaces,
Caravansaries and Bridges have appeared in their original Iranian style.
Bronzes It was in Lurestan, south of Kurdestan, that the now famous Lurestan
bronzes first came to light in the late twenties and early thirties of the
20th century.
Pottery and Glass Blowing The continuing flow of Iranian artistic tradition
is nowhere better illustrated than in the field of ceramic art.
Carpets and Rugs It would indeed be hard to dispute the Iranian claim to
have produced the most elaborate, the most decorative, the most valuable,
and the most superbly assured carpets, which are considered as our cultural
exports in the world.
Literature The oldest extant Persian writing is found in Persian
inscriptions, but it is only of historical interest. The first major
literary works are the scriptures of Zoroastrianism and the Pahlavi writing
of Parthian and Sassanian Iran, when there was certainly an active literary
life.
Music Iranians are great music lovers and during the course of their twenty
five centuries of their recorded history, they have developed not only a
very distinctive music of their own but also numerous musical instruments
several of which were the first prototypes of the modern musical instruments
of today.
The first references to musicians in Iran are found in Susa, Elam, in the
27th century BC. The earliest representation of instruments is on the
Elamite relief of Kul-e Fer'awn. An engraved bronze cup from Lurestan at the
National Museum of Iran, Tehran, portrays a double nay (reed pipes), chang
(harp), and dayereh (tambourine) in a shrine or court processional, as
similarly documented in Egypt, Elam, and Babylon where music involved the
utilization of large orchestral ensembles. The Assurbanipal relief's (626
BC) in the British Museum show Susan musicians. Other relief sculpture and
paintings still extant from early periods depict instruments as they are
today, except that some, like the chang (harp) seen on the Taq-e Bostan
relief's near Kermanshah, have gone out of use.
Music continued to play an important role in the lives of the Persians
throughout their history, with its continuity well documented in the Safavid
frescoes of the Chehel Sutun in Isfahan, dated 1647 AD.
A major revival in Persian music has its inception late in the reign of
Naser-ad-Din Shah (died in 1896 AD), who commanded the establishment of the
House of Crafts, a center where all important craftsmen could be gathered
for making and marketing their instruments.
The first musical instrument that was used thousands of years ago in Iran
was the reed, a simple tube with several perforations which was played
mostly by shepherds. There were several kinds of these reeds: the Nay Labak
or the small reed which later developed into the piccolo of today; the Haft
Band reed, which was much larger and had seven perforations; and the Nay
Anban, a reed which was connected to a wind bag. This looked and sounded
much like the bagpipes of Scotland. According to Herodotus such musical
instruments were in wide use in the Achaemenian era as many as 2,500 years
ago.
There are also several other wind instruments in Iran dating back to ancient
times. One of these is the Sorna, a wood-wind instruments very much like the
oboe. An other one is the Karna, a long wooden horn which was used for
accompanying the Sorna in what was called Naqarehkhaneh music. Both of these
instruments have fallen into disuse and their place has been taken by the
modern oboe and clarinet as well as other wood-wind instruments.
The Kamancheh, an ancient Iranian musical instrument, is probably the first
ancestor of the present-day violin, the cello, the viola and the base. This
instrument, having the size of a violin is played cello-like in a vertical
position and set on the knee of the player who uses an arched bow. Another
bow-string instrument is the Ghazhak, which sound-wise resembles the
Kamancheh. The instruments, no longer in general use, can still be found in
Iranian Baluchistan. The Kamancheh is widely played in Armenia, Georgia, and
Azarbaijan republics, and called by its original Persian name. In Tajikistan
and Uzbakistan it is called Ghichak. The Kamancheh is also popular in many
Middle Eastern countries like Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq. In India and
Pakistan the instrument is called Sarengi.
In ancient times there was another string instrument in Iran, called Robab,
which was played with a bow. This instrument, too, is no longer in use in
this country. However, it is played in India, Pakistan ,Afghanistan and
Tajikistan where it is still called by its original Persian name. Generally
speaking, the violin is rapidly replacing the Kamancheh.
An ancient Iranian string instrument was the Barbat, which was very much in
vogue prior to the advent of Islam. Iranian minstrels later took the
instruments to the Arabian Peninsula and there the Arabs called it Al Ud,
giving rise to the English word lute. The lute survived in Iran until the
Safavid period, some 500 years ago, when it gradually went into oblivion.
However, several years ago efforts were made to revive public interest in
the old instrument and today there are several excellent performers in Iran.
Iran's most popular musical instrument is the Tar, which in Persian means
the string. this is a string instrument with a pear shaped body and six
strings. Then there is the Seh Tar, a three-stringed instrument of the same
general shape which is plucked by the fingers.
Another very ancient instrument is the Santoor. This is a large horizontal
sounding box over which are stretched numerous strings. It is played with
plectrum and sometimes with fingers. It is much like the zither both in
shape and in tonality.
There are several percussion instruments of Iranian origin, the biggest and
loudest of which is the Dohol, which is played with two heavy sticks. Then
there are the Dayereh, the Dayereh Zangi, and the Tonbak.
Theater and Cinema The nearest thing to the theater in Iran used to be the
religious re-enactment's of holy stories; but theater in European style was
introduced to Iran only in the second decade of the 20th century. Initial
work was concentrated in Tehran and Rasht. The quick advent of cinema and
later, television in Iran soon after the introduction of theater left little
initial opportunity for the lather's development.
The first cinema hall was constructed in Tehran in the late 1920's. However,
foreign films were the only source for cinemas, and these were shown with
sub-titles. Dubbing into the Persian began in 1948, while serious shooting
of Iranian films did not begin until 1950.
After the victory of Islamic Revolution, religious themes and
interpretations are playing a much stronger role in the gigantic onward
steps taken by the Iranian film makers.
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