S-afshar - Afshar's Itineraries

Από τον Αφρασιάμπ στον Μιρζιγιόγιεφ: το Ουζμπεκιστάν Επίκεντρο Επενδύσεων στον Νέο Δρόμο του Μεταξιού

From Afrasiab to Mirziyoyev: Uzbekistan as the Epicenter of Foreign Investment in the New Silk Road

ΑΝΑΔΗΜΟΣΙΕΥΣΗ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΣΗΜΕΡΑ ΑΝΕΝΕΡΓΟ ΜΠΛΟΓΚ “ΟΙ ΡΩΜΙΟΙ ΤΗΣ ΑΝΑΤΟΛΗΣ”

Το κείμενο του κ. Νίκου Μπαϋρακτάρη είχε αρχικά δημοσιευθεί την 16η Απριλίου 2019. Ο κ. Μπαϋρακτάρης παρουσιάζει στοιχεία, προσεγγίσεις και επισημάνσεις από τμήμα διάλεξής μου, η οποία δόθηκε στο Καζακστάν τον Ιανουάριο του 2019 σχετικά με τους αρχαίους και νέους Δρόμους του Μεταξιού, την Κεντρική Ασία, και την αξία της ως κομβικού σημείου της Παγκόσμιας Οικονομίας.

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https://greeksoftheorient.wordpress.com/2019/04/16/από-τον-αφρασιάμπ-στον-μιρζιγιόγιεφ-τ/ ===============

Οι Ρωμιοί της Ανατολής – Greeks of the Orient

Ρωμιοσύνη, Ρωμανία, Ανατολική Ρωμαϊκή Αυτοκρατορία

Ανάμεσα στις πέντε παλιές σοβιετικές κεντρασιατικές (Ουζμπεκιστάν, Καζακστάν, Τουρκμενιστάν, Κιργιζία και Τατζικιστάν), η χώρα των Ογούζων (Ογούζ και Ουζ) Τούρκων είναι αναμφίβολα η κεντρική δύναμη.

Χρειάστηκε να χρησιμοποιήσει όλη του την ευφυΐα ο ιδρυτής και πρώην πρόεδρος του Καζακστάν Νουρσουλτάν Ναζαρμπάγιεφ, ώστε να ανατραπεί αυτό το δεδομένο.

Από τον Αφρασιάμπ στον Μιρζιγιόγιεφ: το Ουζμπεκιστάν Επίκεντρο

Ο Αφρασιάμπ σε απεικόνιση χειρογράφου

Και χρειάστηκε επίσης να ακολουθήσει τον δρόμο της απομόνωσης και της υπανάπτυξης ο επί 25 χρόνια (1991 – 2016) πρώην πρόεδρος του Ουζμπεκιστάν, Ισλάμ Καρίμοφ, ώστε να μετατραπεί το Καζακστάν στην μεγαλύτερη και πιο αναπτυγμένη κεντρασιατική οικονομία. Μετά την άνοδο του πρώην πρωθυπουργού Σεφκάτ Μιρζιγιόγιεφ (Shavkat Mirziyoyev) στην προεδρία του Ουζμπεκιστάν, η Τασκένδη άρχισε την προσπάθεια να προλάβει τον βόρειο γείτονα από κάθε άποψη.

Σεφκάτ Μιρζιγιόγιεφ

Η αλήθεια είναι ότι, αν και με μικρότερη έκταση (450000 τχ αντί 2750000 τχ), το Ουζμπεκιστάν έχει διπλάσιο πληθυσμό του Καζακστάν (35 εκ. έναντι 18 εκ.). Αυτά τα δεδομένα δεν δίνουν την πλήρη εικόνα ωστόσο.

Πρέπει να προστεθεί ότι στο Ουζμπεκιστάν οι Ουζμπέκοι αποτελούν το 84% του πληθυσμού, ενώ στο Καζακστάν οι Καζάκοι δεν ξεπερνάνε το 66% του πληθυσμού της χώρας). Το Ουζμπεκιστάν έχει σχεδόν τον ίδιο πληθυσμό με το Αφγανιστάν – το κατ’ εξοχήν παράδειγμα προς αποφυγήν στην περιοχή.

Ισλάμ Καρίμοφ: 25 χρόνια απραγίας, κεντρικού ελέγχου κι απομονωτισμού

Εξάλλου, ιστορικά, στην τεράστια έκταση από την Κασπία Θάλασσα μέχρι το Ξιάν, την πιο σημαντική αυτοκρατορική πρωτεύουσα της Κίνας, ο χώρος που επέχει σήμερα το Ουζμπεκιστάν αποτελεί τον πιο κεντρικό πολιτισμικά χώρο.

Στην επικράτεια της Τασκένδης περιλαμβάνονται εκτάσεις της Βακτριανής (που αντιστοιχεί κυρίως με το βόρειο Αφγανιστάν), της Σογδιανής, των Τοχάρων (Τούρκων γνωστών ως Γιουεζί στα κινεζικά κείμενα που έστησαν την αυτοκρατορία του Κουσάν), και της Υπερωξειανής (των εκτάσεων ανατολικά του Ώξου).

Και στα ισλαμικά χρόνια καμμιά άλλη κεντρασιατική χώρα δεν ανέπτυξε παγκοσμίως κορυφαία πολιτισμικά κέντρα τόσο σημαντικά όσο η Σαμαρκάνδη, η Μπουχάρα ή η Χίβα.

Ανάμεσα στην Κασπία και την Ανατολική Σιβηρία, το μόνο πολιτισμικό αντίβαρο στο Ουζμπεκιστάν ήταν το Ανατολικό Τουρκεστάν (δηλαδή η τεράστια βορειοδυτική επαρχία Σινκιάν της σημερινής Κίνας): οι Ουϊγούροι είναι άλλωστε το πιο κοντινό φύλο στους Ουζμπέκους, όπως η πρώτη συλλαβή των δυο εθνικών ονομάτων εμφαντικά δείχνει.

Δίπλα τους οι Τουρκμένοι ή οι Κιργίζιοι ή οι Καζάκοι δείχνουν λίγο ‘χωριάτες’.

Ακόμη και σήμερα, όπου και να βρεθεί κάποιος στην Κεντρική Ασία εκτός του Ουζμπεκιστάν, στην Αλμάτυ (την παλιά πρωτεύουσα του Καζακστάν) ή στην Νουρσουλτάν (όπως πλέον λέγεται η νέα πρωτεύουσα του Καζακστάν, γνωστή μέχρι προ τινος ως Αστάνα στα ρωσσικά και Αστανά στα καζακικά), στην Ασγκαμπάτ (Τουρκμενιστάν) ή στην Μπισκέκ (Κιργιζία), στην Ντουσαμπέ (Τατζικιστάν) ή στην Καμπούλ (Αφγανιστάν), πολιτισμός σημαίνει (ανάμεσα σε πολλά άλλα) κορυφαία μαγειρική, και αναμφίβολα όλοι θα τρέξουν σε ένα ‘ουζμπεκικό εστιατόριο’.

Και με το δίκιο τους.

Αντίθετα από το Καζακστάν που απέκτησε την νέα πρωτεύουσά του στα τέλη του 20ου αιώνα, το Ουζμπεκιστάν την απέκτησε στις αρχές του αιώνα!

Η Τασκένδη έγινε το 1918 πρωτεύουσα της Αυτόνομης ΣΣΔ του Τουρκεστάν, επειδή η Σαμαρκάνδη, αν και απείρως πιο σημαντική, είχε θεωρηθεί περισσότερο ως τόπος ισλαμικών αναμνήσεων κι αντίδρασης στο τότε νεοπαγές σοβιετικό καθεστώς.

Ό,τι ήταν η Άγκυρα για την Τουρκία του Κεμάλ Ατατούρκ, ήταν η Τασκένδη για το σοβιετικό καθεστώς.

Ωστόσο, η Τοσκέντ (Ташкент / Toshkent) έχει μια μεγάλη ιστορία και ως Λίθινος Πύργος αναφέρεται από τον Πτολεμαίο Γεωγράφο ως καθοριστικό σημείο στους αρχαίους δρόμους του Μεταξιού (και ως Turris Lapidea από τους Ρωμαίους ιστορικούς και γεωγράφους).

Οι Δρόμοι του Μεταξιού ήταν ένα περίπλοκο σύστημα εναλλακτικών δρόμων διά ξηράς και δι’ ερήμου που συνέδεαν την Μεσοποταμία με την Κίνα ακόμη και σε πρώιμες εποχές, τότε που δεν είχαν αναπτυχθεί ως πολιτισμοί οι Χιττίτες, οι Χαναανίτες κι οι Μυκηναίοι της 2ης προχριστιανικής χιλιετίας ή οι Φοίνικες, οι Έλληνες, οι Ρωμαίοι, οι Πέρσες κι οι Ινδοί της 1ης προχριστιανικής χιλιετίας.

Ευρήματα κι ανασκαφές στο Τεπέ Σιάλκ του σημερινού βόρειου Ιράν δείχνουν ότι Σουμέριοι κι Ελαμίτες της 4ης προχριστιανικής χιλιετίας και των αρχών της 3ης προχριστιανικής χιλιετίας βρίσκονταν ήδη σε ανταγωνισμό για το ποιος θα ελέγξει τον διά της Κεντρικής Ασίας δρόμο προς την Κίνα.

Ο ανταγωνισμός στο ελεύθερο εμπόριο έφερε τους πολλούς εναλλακτικούς δρόμους. Σχετικά:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tepe_Sialk

Μετά τα αχαιμενιδικά χρόνια και την σύσταση από το Ιράν της πρώτης πραγματικά αχανούς αυτοκρατορίας από τα Βαλκάνια και την Ουκρανία μέχρι το Σουδάν κι από την Μεσόγειο μέχρι τα δυτικά άκρα του Ανατολικού Τουρκεστάν και την Βόρεια Ινδία, δόθηκε η δυνατότητα για ακόμη περισσότερους εναλλακτικούς δρόμους, εφόσον για πρώτη φορά αναμείχθηκαν οι χερσαίοι Δρόμοι του Μεταξιού με τους διά ξηράς, ερήμου και θαλάσσης Δρόμους των Μπαχαρικών και των Αρωμάτων (: λιβανωτών).

Όλοι οι πολιτισμοί που αναπτύχθηκαν στην Κεντρική Ασία σχετίσθηκαν με το Εμπόριο μεταξύ Δύσης και Ανατολής, και όσο οι αιώνες κι οι χιλιετίες περνούσαν, τόσο οι δρόμοι μεγάλωναν και οι απολήξεις του εμπορίου κατέληξαν να είναι τα ευρωπαϊκά και βορειο-αφρικανικά παράλια του Ατλαντικού στην μια περίπτωση και τα κινεζικά, ινδοκινεζικά κι ινδονησιακά παράλια του Ειρηνικού στην άλλη.

Σήμερα, η νέα πολιτική ηγεσία του Ουζμπεκιστάν έχει πάρει και ήδη εφαρμόζει την απόφαση εκμετάλλευσης προς όφελος της χώρας του τεράστιου κινεζικού προγράμματος Νέοι Δρόμοι του Μεταξιού (New Silk Road), γνωστού και ως The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) ή και One Belt One Road (OBOR).

Και αυτό έχει ήδη σημειωθεί από πολλούς επενδυτές σε πολλά μήκη και πλάτη της γης.

Σημειώνεται πλέον διεθνώς το Ουζμπεκιστάν ως προτιμώμενη χώρα για επενδύσεις σε πολλούς και ποικίλους τομείς.

Η επενδυτική ομάδα του σάιτ http://www.sovereignman.com μόλις σήμερα δημοσίευσε τις σχετικές δραστηριότητές της ενόψει μιας γενικώτερης στροφής των ιδρυτών και των συνεταίρων της προς την ανερχόμενη κεντρασιατική χώρα.

Δεν είναι η μόνη περίπτωση αλλά είναι ενδεικτική. Στο τέλος του κειμένου αναδημοσιεύω το σημερινό newsletter τους.

Έτσι, η εξαιρετική, φιλελεύθερη, οικονομική πολιτική του Σεφκάτ Μιρζιγιόγιεφ τον έχει μετατρέψει σε ένα νέο Αφρασιάμπ.

Αυτό το όνομα είναι το ιστορικό τουρκικό όνομα της Σαμαρκάνδης.

Αλλά είναι επίσης το όνομα του κορυφαίου Τουρανού ήρωα του ιρανικού έπους Σαχναμέ που συνέγραψε τον 10ο αιώνα ο Φερντοουσί.

Μένει να αποδειχθεί κατά πόσον θα μπορέσει ο νέος Αφρασιάμπ να φθάσει και να ξεπεράσει τον βαθμό οικονομικής ανάπτυξης και προόδου του γειτονικού Καζακστάν.

Για όσους ξέρουν την Κεντρική Ασία, όλα τα στοιχήματα είναι ανοικτά.

Τοιχογραφία από την Αφρασιάμπ στα χρόνια του Βαρχουμάν, βασιλιά της Σογδιανής γύρω στο 650 μ.Χ.

Σας προτείνω να ενημερωθείτε πριν ξαφνικά ακούσετε ότι η Τασκένδη είναι το δεύτερο κεντρασιατικό Ντουμπάι μετά την Νουρσουλτάν!

Οι εξελίξεις θα είναι τάχιστες – κάπως σαν τα κινεζικά τραίνα που θα εκμηδενίσουν την απόσταση ανάμεσα στην Κεντρική Ευρώπη και τα ασιατικά παράλια του Ειρηνικού.

Διαβάστε:

Strategic partnership between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in context of region-wide development of Central Asia

https://astanatimes.com/2019/04/strategic-partnership-between-uzbekistan-and-kazakhstan-in-context-of-region-wide-development-of-central-asia/ (του Αμπντουλαζίζ Καμίλοφ, υπουργού Εξωτερικών του Ουζμπεκιστάν / 5-4-2019)

Uzbekistan Re-Energizing as Central Asia’s Traditional Hub for the Silk Belt and Road

https://www.silkroadbriefing.com/news/2018/07/05/uzbekistan-re-energizing-central-asias-traditional-hub-silk-belt-road/

Silk Road Fund to support Uzbek oil and gas projects

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201806/09/WS5b1bd84fa31001b82571f188.html

This is the Right Time to invest in Uzbekistan

https://www.chuhai.edu.hk/sites/default/files/MrKhamraevUZAF.pdf

Uzbekistan’s investment program for 2019 includes projects $ 16.6B

https://www.azernews.az/region/143757.html

https://www.silkroadbriefing.com/news/2019/04/15/silk-road-development-weekly-april-15-2019/

Γενικώτερα:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzbekistan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shavkat_Mirziyoyev

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_Karimov

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tashkent

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazakhstan

http://www.uzbekembassy.in/presentation-of-the-project-on-the-great-silk-road-pearls-of-uzbekistan-in-almaty/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt_and_Road_Initiative

Ιστορικά:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Tower_(Ptolemy)

https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/countries-alongside-silk-road-routes/uzbekistan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tocharians

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuezhi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bactria

https://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/Religion/Fac/Adler/Asia201/links201.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sogdia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transoxiana

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samarkand

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrasiyab_(Samarkand)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrasiab

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahnameh

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdowsi

Ταξιδιωτικά:

https://caravanistan.com/transport/train/

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Astonishing opportunities in one of the oldest cities in the world

By the time Alexander the Great and his Macedonian army conquered the city of Samarkand in 329 BC, the city had already existed for centuries.

Samarkand had been a prominent, vibrant regional capital in the Persian Empire prior to the Macedonians’ arrival.

And under Alexander the city flourished even more. He declared it one of the most majestic places he had ever been, and the city served as a critical outpost for his conquests in the region.

Even after Alexander’s death and the fall of the Macedonians, Samarkand retained its influence, serving for centuries as the epicenter of the trade between Eastern Asia and Europe.

It was conquered by a succession of Turks, Persians and Mongols before falling under the serfdom of Imperial Russia, and then the Soviet Union.

And after the fall of the USSR, Samarkand became part of Uzbekistan.

Granted, a lot of people don’t have a clue where Uzbekistan is, or much less care. But I’ll tell you– the country is on the verge of some very exciting (and rapid) changes.

Ever since the fall of the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan had been ruled by a corrupt dictator who isolated the country from the rest of the world.

(I know it’s hard to imagine a former Soviet republic being ruled by a corrupt dictator… but bear with me.)

His name was Islam Karimov. And, coincidentally, he died on September 2, 2016– exactly 25 years to the day that he initially took office as the first President of Uzbekistan in 1991.

After Karimov’s death, there was some speculation that his successor (Shavkat Mirziyoyev) would engage in the same corrupt, isolationism.

That turned out to be wrong.

President Mirziyoyev surprised everyone by establishing free-market reforms, floating the currency, and opening up the country to foreign investment.

I’ve been following the changes in the country over the past few years, and what I’m seeing is quite exciting.

Uzbekistan recently issued its first local hard currency bond – and it was multiple times oversubscribed.

So last month, I sent one of my top analysts over to the capital Tashkent to have a look at how we could get in on the ground floor of this change.

And his verdict is clear: Uzbekistan is ripe with opportunities.

The export sector is booming, due primarily to rock bottom labor costs and a government willing to play ball. So there are a lot of companies that are setting up manufacturing operations in the country.

And due to how isolated Uzbekistan had been for the past 25+ years, there are a lot of new products and services available in the local market for the first time ever.

It’s a bit like Myanmar– that country was isolated for decades, and its people had never even seen Coca Cola up until a few years ago.

Uzbekistan is in a similar position (though not as extreme), so a number of foreign products are being imported into the country and selling like hotcakes.

And for investors, valuations are quite inexpensive.

My analyst toured a number of companies (including some listed on the local stock market) and was amazed to find profitable, rapidly-growing, well-managed businesses that pay STRONG dividends that are selling for between 2-3 times their net income.

That’s practically unheard of, especially in the West where companies that lose billions of dollars each year trade for record sums.

As an example– one company my analyst looked at was in agriculture production.

Investors are currently able to buy shares at less than 3x earnings. And the company just landed a new deal with a large Russian conglomerate that will 10x their revenue over the next 12-24 months.

Buying this company at three times earnings would be an obvious bargain, especially when accounting for the immediate growth trajectory.

We aren’t just looking at public stocks and private businesses by the way. Newly built commercial real estate yields over 10% net cashflow without a penny of debt financing, there’s a lot of reason to expect prices will grow steadily for years.

There are also very compelling lending opportunities in the country.

When the government floated the currency three years ago, it led to a temporary spike in inflation.

To fight it, the Central Bank raised interest rates to 16%. And that’s where interest rates still sit today. And for businesses and individuals, borrowing rates can often reach 25%!

Naturally, the cost of borrowing money at those rates can be hard to justify for any business, so most transactions are done entirely in cash, without any debt.

Generally, the banking sector is still very underdeveloped, and financing is scarce.

That leaves a huge opportunity for outsiders to provide capital for growing businesses in the country – with sufficient downside protection.

Clearly, it is a unique idea to invest in a country undergoing potentially revolutionary positive changes. But looking at the past, countries that have taken similar steps, like Georgia, the Baltic countries, or even Singapore, have come out way ahead, and greatly rewarded early movers.

I’ll be talking a lot more about Uzbekistan, and what we find there, in the weeks and months to follow.

https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/astonishing-opportunities-in-one-of-the-oldest-cities-in-the-world-24951/

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Κατεβάστε την αναδημοσίευση σε Word doc.:

https://www.slideshare.net/MuhammadShamsaddinMe/ss-250693324

https://issuu.com/megalommatis/docs/from_afrasiab_to_mirziyoyev.docx

https://vk.com/doc429864789_621500849

https://www.docdroid.net/CTdD2wM/apo-ton-afrasiamp-ston-mirzighioghief-to-oyzmpekistan-epikentro-ependyseon-ston-neo-dromo-toy-metaksiou-docx

Μίθρας, Μιθραϊσμός & Μιθραϊκά Μυστήρια: Όλα τα Αρχαία Ελληνικά και Λατινικά Κείμενα που αναφέρονται στον Μίθρα και τους Μιθραϊστές

Mithras, Mithraism & Mithraic Mysteries: All Ancient Greek and Latin Texts Relating to Mithras and the Mithraists

ΑΝΑΔΗΜΟΣΙΕΥΣΗ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΣΗΜΕΡΑ ΑΝΕΝΕΡΓΟ ΜΠΛΟΓΚ “ΟΙ ΡΩΜΙΟΙ ΤΗΣ ΑΝΑΤΟΛΗΣ”

Το κείμενο του κ. Νίκου Μπαϋρακτάρη είχε αρχικά δημοσιευθεί την 7η Μαΐου 2019.

Αναδημοσίευση από το https://www.tertullian.org/ όλων των αρχαιοελληνικών και λατινικών κειμενικών αναφορών στον Μίθρα. Οι αρχαίες ιρανικές ιστορικές πηγές των αχαιμενιδικών, αρσακιδικών και σασανιδικών και οι αναφορές των Αρχαίων Ελλήνων και Ρωμαίων στον Μίθρα μας βοηθούν τόσο στην ανασύσταση της τρομερής θρησκευτικής διαπάλης των αχαιμενιδικών χρόνων (550-330) ανάμεσα στον Ζωροαστρισμό και τον Μιθραϊσμό, όσο και στην κατανόηση της μεγάλης άγνοιας των Αρχαίων Ελλήνων και Ρωμαίων σχετικά με τις θρησκείες του Ιράν. Με άλλα λόγια, οι Αρχαίοι Έλληνες και Ρωμαίοι δεν στάθηκαν ικανοί να διακρίνουν την τρομερή αντιπαλότητα των Ζωροαστριστών και Μιθραϊστών Ιρανών με τους οποίους συνδιαλέγοντο. Έτσι, η τεράστια σύγχυση σχετικά με το αχαιμενιδικό Ιράν διατηρήθηκε επί μακρόν και επέδρασε αρνητικά στις ρωμαιοϊρανικές σχέσεις κατά τα αρσακιδικά και τα σασανιδικά χρόνια. Αυτή η σύγχυση βρήκε την συνέχειά της στα χριστιανοϊσλαμικά χρόνια, όταν οι Ρωμιοί ιστορικοί δεν μπορούσαν να εννοήσουν τις θρησκευτικές, ψυχικές-πνευματικές, μυστικιστικές και θεολογικές έριδες οι οποίες εκδηλώθηκαν εντός του ισλαμικού χαλιφάτου.

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http://greeksoftheorient.wordpress.com/2019/05/07/μίθρας-μιθραϊσμός-μιθραϊκά-μυστήρι/ ====================

Οι Ρωμιοί της Ανατολής – Greeks of the Orient

Ρωμιοσύνη, Ρωμανία, Ανατολική Ρωμαϊκή Αυτοκρατορία

Ύστερα από το μεγάλο ενδιαφέρον που προκλήθηκε σχετικά με την διάδοση του Μιθραϊσμού ανάμεσα στους Έλληνες, τους Ρωμαίους, την Ρωμαϊκή Αυτοκρατορία και ολόκληρη την Ευρώπη εξαιτίας δύο πρώτων κειμένων μου σχετικά, δημοσιεύω σήμερα ένα πλήρη κατάλογο (στα αγγλικά) όλων των αποσπασμάτων αρχαίας ελληνικής και ρωμαϊκής γραμματείας που αναφέρονται στον Μίθρα και στους Μιθραϊστές.

Η επιστημονική εργασία αυτή δεν έχει βεβαίως γίνει από μένα, ούτε κι η ηλεκτρονική παρουσίαση του θέματος είναι δική μου. Παραθέτω τον σύνδεσμο. Είμαι όμως σίγουρος ότι όσοι ενδιαφέρονται σοβαρά θα βρουν εδώ όσα τους χρειάζονται για να κάνουν μόνοι τους την δική τους έρευνα.

Αποσπάσματα από τον Ηρόδοτο και τον Ξενοφώντα μέχρι τον Θεοφάνη και τον Φώτιο, περνώντας από τους Δίωνα Χρυσόστομο, τον Λουκιανό, τον Δίωνα Κάσσιο, τον Ψευδο-Καλλισθένη, τον Γρηγόριο Ναζιανζηνό, τον Ιουλιανό Παραβάτη, τον Ιερώνυμο, τον Κοσμά Ινδικοπλεύστη, τον Κοσμά Μελωδό, και πολλούς άλλους δείχνουν σε ποιον βαθμό είχε προχωρήσει ο πολιτισμικός εκπερσισμός των Αρχαίων Ελλήνων και των Ρωμαίων. Οι φιλολογικές μαρτυρίες παρουσιάζονται καταταγμένες χρονολογικά.

Εννοείται ότι δεν περιλαμβάνονται εδώ οι επιγραφικές μαρτυρίες: οι χιλιάδες επιγραφών σε αρχαία ελληνικά και λατινικά που έχουν ανασκαφεί κι ανευρεθεί από την Κομμαγηνή και τον Πόντο μέχρι την Γερμανία και την Βρεταννία κι από την Αλγερία και την Ιβηρική μέχρι τις στέππες της Ουκρανίας.

Επίσης δεν περιλαμβάνονται εδώ κατάλογοι αναγλύφων, αγαλμάτων, μνημείων, ναών του Μίθρα (: ‘Μιθραίων’) και γενικώτερα αρχαιολογικών χώρων που έχουν εντοπισθεί δυτικά του Ιράν και μέχρι τον Ατλαντικό, ή από την Βόρεια Ευρώπη μέχρι το Σουδάν.

Τα τρία πρότερα κείμενά μου για το θέμα βρίσκονται εδώ:

Οι Ατελείωτες Επελάσεις του Μίθρα προς την Δύση κι ο Πολιτισμικός Εξιρανισμός Ελλήνων, Ρωμαίων κι Ευρωπαίων

https://greeksoftheorient.wordpress.com/2019/04/29/οι-ατελείωτες-επελάσεις-του-μίθρα-προ/

(και πλέον: https://www.academia.edu/58627059/Οι_Ατελείωτες_Επελάσεις_του_Μίθρα_προς_την_Δύση_κι_ο_Πολιτισμικός_Εξιρανισμός_Ελλήνων_Ρωμαίων_κι_Ευρωπαίων)

Ταυροθυσίες και Μιθραϊκά Μυστήρια στην Κορυφή του Ολύμπου – Η Απόλυτη Επιβολή του Περσικού Πνεύματος ανάμεσα στους Έλληνες & το Τέλος της Αρχαίας Ελλάδας

https://greeksoftheorient.wordpress.com/2019/05/06/ταυροθυσίες-και-μιθραϊκά-μυστήρια-στ/

(και πλέον: https://www.academia.edu/62212919/Ταυροθυσίες_και_Μιθραϊκά_Μυστήρια_στην_Κορυφή_του_Ολύμπου_Η_Απόλυτη_Επιβολή_του_Περσικού_Πνεύματος_ανάμεσα_στους_Έλληνες_and_το_Τέλος_της_Αρχαίας_Ελλάδας)

και

Η Απόλυτη Κυριαρχία των Μιθραϊστών Πειρατών στο Αιγαίο, την Ελλάδα και τον Θεσσαλικό Όλυμπο στον 1ο Αιώνα π.Χ. – Τι λέει ο Πλούταρχος

http://greeksoftheorient.wordpress.com/2019/05/07/η-απόλυτη-κυριαρχία-των-μιθραϊστών-πε/

(και πλέον: https://www.academia.edu/62228155/Η_Απόλυτη_Κυριαρχία_των_Μιθραϊστών_Πειρατών_στο_Αιγαίο_την_Ελλάδα_και_τον_Θεσσαλικό_Όλυμπο_στον_1ο_Αιώνα_π_Χ_Τι_λέει_ο_Πλούταρχος)

Για όσους έχουν δυσκολία στα αγγλικά, τονίζω ότι θα επανέλθω συχνά-πυκνά εστιάζοντας σε πολλά από τα παρακάτω κείμενα.

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Μίθρας, Μιθραϊσμός & Μιθραϊκά Μυστήρια: Όλα τα Αρχαία Ελληνικά

Ο Μίθρας στο Ιράν, Ανάγλυφο του Ταγ-ε Μποστάν (Taq-e_Bostan): στέψη του Αρντασίρ Β’ 379-383 μ.Χ. (αριστερά, κραδαίνοντας το μπαρσόμ)

Ο Μίθρας στο Ιεροθέσιον Κορυφής (Νέμρουτ Νταγ) και άλλα μνημεία της Κομμαγηνής

Ο Μίθρας στην Ρωμαϊκή Αυτοκρατορία και την Ευρώπη

Ο Μίθρας στην Αυτοκρατορία της Μερόης (‘Αιθιοπία’: Αρχαίο Σουδάν), Αναπαράσταση των χρόνων του βασιλέως Σορκάρορ (Shorkaror – 20-30 μ.Χ.) από το Τζέμπελ Κέιλι (Jebel Qeili), ανατολικά του Χαρτούμ

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Mithras: all the passages in Graeco-Roman literature

http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/mithras/literary_sources.htm

This page contains a list of all the passages in Greek or Latin literature that refer to “Mithra(s)”, in English translation. This includes all the material for both the ancient Persian cult of Mitra, and the Roman cult of Mithras, as it is sometimes not clear which is intended here, and the Romans themselves tended to suppose that Mithras and Mithra were the same, and used the same word for each.

I have indicated in each case, where possible, which is intended: the Persian cult by P, the Roman one by R. and those which could be either as ?.

The material here has mainly been gathered as follows:

· Use the bibliography from Manfred Clauss The Roman cult of Mithras.

· Use Geden Select passages illustrating Mithraism

· Use Cumont, Textes et Monuments 2. A number of passages which don’t mention Mithras, or else are from late saints’ lives, are omitted.

I have tried to link to complete English translations online where possible, and to indicate where the original language text can be found using {}. In some cases where more than one translation was available to me, I give both. Dates given for the works are approximate, for the convenience of the reader.

I have excluded Persian and Armenian material, which presumably would be inaccessible in the Greek and Roman world anyway. Geden translates a small selection of this.

· Herodotus (5th c. BC) P

· Ctesias (4th c. BC) P

· Xenophon (4th c. BC) P

· Duris of Samos (4th c. BC) P

· Strabo (20 BC) P

· Pliny the Elder (ca. 50 AD) P

· Quintus Curtius (40-50 AD) P

· Plutarch (c. 100 AD) P

· Dio Chrysostom (50-120 AD) P

· Statius (80 AD) R

· Justin Martyr (150 AD) R

· Lucian (120-200 AD) P

· Zenobius the Sophist (2nd century AD) ?

· Tertullian (ca. 200 AD) R

· Cassius Dio (ca. 200 AD) P

· Origen (200-254 AD) R

· Ps.Clement (200 AD) ?

· Porphyry (ca.270 AD) R

· Commodian (3rd c. AD) R

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· Arnobius the Elder (295 AD) ?

· P.Oxy.1802 (2-3rd c. AD) P

· Ps.Callisthenes (300 AD) P

· Greek Magical Papyri (3rd c. AD) ?

· Acts of Archelaus (Early 4th c. AD) R

· Firmicus Maternus (350 AD) R

· Gregory Nazianzen (370 AD) R

· Julian the Apostate (361-2 AD) R

· Himerius (ca. 362 AD) R

· Libanius (ca. 362 AD) R

· Epiphanius (late 4th c.)

· Jerome (ca. 400 AD) R

· Eunapius (late 4th c. AD) R

· Augustan History (late 4th c. AD) R

· Ambrose of Milan (late 4th c. AD) P

· Claudian (ca. 400 AD) P

· Prudentius (ca. 400 AD) ?

· Ps.-Paulinus of Nola / Carmen ad Antonium (ca. 400 AD) R

· Carmen ad Flavianum / contra Paganos (ca. 400 AD) R

· Augustine (early 5th c. AD) R

· Ambrosiaster (5th c. AD) R

· Dionysius the Areopagite (late 5th c. AD) P

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· Martianus Capella (5th c. AD) ?

· Socrates Scholasticus (early 5th c. AD) R

· Sozomen (5th c. AD) R

· Proclus (5th c. AD) P

· Hesychius (ca. 400 AD) P

· Zosimus the alchemist (300 AD) ?

· Zosimus (6th c. AD) ?

· Nonnus of Panopolis (ca. 400 AD) P

· Lactantius Placidus (5th century AD) R

· John the Lydian (6th c. AD) R

· Damascius (6th c. AD) ?

· Cosmas Indicopleustes (ca. 550 AD) P

· Maximus the Confessor (7th c. AD) P

· Nonnus the Mythographer (6th or 7th c. AD) R

· John the Lydian (6th c. AD) R

· Theophylact Simocatta (ca. 600 AD) ?

· Cosmas of Jerusalem (ca. 750 AD) R

· Theophanes (650+ AD) R

· The Suda (9-10 c. AD) R

· Photius (9 c. AD) R

· Panegyrici Latini (9th c. AD) ?

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Herodotus (5th c. B.C.) [=Mithra] {Cumont, ii, p.16-17}

Histories, book 1, ch. 131 (Geden p.24):

Others are accustomed to ascend the hill-tops and sacrifice to Zeus, the name they give to the whole expanse of the heavens. Sacrifice is offered also to the sun and moon, to the earth and fire and water and the winds. These alone are from ancient times the objects of their worship, but they have adopted also the practice of sacrifice to Urania, which they have learned from the Assyrians and Arabians. The Assyrians give to Aphrodite the name Mylitta, the Arabians Alilat and the Persians Mitra.

Cumont notes that Ambrose of Milan also calls Mithra female.

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Ctesias (after 398 B.C.) [=Mithra] {Cumont, ii, p.10}

Quoted by Athenaeus, Deipnosophists, book 10, ch.45 (2nd c.). Geden p.25:

Ktesias reports that among the Indians it was not lawful for the king to drink to excess. Among the Persians however the king was permitted to be intoxicated on the one day on which sacrifice was offered to Mithra.

Cumont adds that the passage from Athenaeus is reproduced in part by Eustathius, Commentary on the Odyssey, XVIII, 3, p.1854; and Commentary on the Iliad, p.957.

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Xenophon (ca. 397-340 B.C.) [=Mithra] {Cumont, ii, p.51}

Oeconomicus, IV. 24. Cyrus the Younger, addressing Lysander:

Do you wonder at this, Lysander? I swear to you by Mithra that whenever I am in health I never break my fast without perspiring. (Geden)

Cyropaedia, VII. 5. Spoken by Artabazus to Cyrus the Elder.

By Mithra I could not come to you yesterday without fighting my way through many foes. (Geden)

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Duris of Samos (Mid. 4th c. B.C.) [=Mithra] {Cumont, ii, p.10}

Quoted by Athenaeus, Deipnosophists, book 10, ch.45, immediately after the quote from Ctesias above. (2nd c. A.D.) Geden p.26.

In the seventh book of his Histories Duris has preserved the following account on this subject. Only at the festival celebrated by the Persians in honour of Mithra does the Persian king become drunken and dance after the Persian manner. On this day throughout Asia all abstain from the dance. For the Persians are taught both horsemanship and dancing; and they believe that the practice of these rhythmical movements strengthens and disciplines the body.

Cumont adds that the passage from Athenaeus is reproduced in part by Eustathius, Commentary on the Odyssey, XVIII, 3, p.1854; and Commentary on the Iliad, p.957.

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Strabo (20 B.C.) [=Mithra] {Cumont, ii, p.49}

Geographica, XI. 14:

The country (i.e. Armenia) is so excellently suited to the rearing of horses, being not inferior indeed to Media, that the Nisaean steeds are raised there also of the same breed that the Persian kings were wont to use. And the satrap of Armenia used to send annually to Persia twice ten thousand colts for the Mithraic festivals. (Geden)

Geographica, XV. 3:

The Persians therefore do not erect statues and altars, but sacrifice on a high place, regarding the heaven as Zeus; and they honour also the sun, whom they call Mithra, and the moon and Aphrodite and fire and earth and the winds and water. (Geden)

Cumont notes that the second passage reproduces Herodotus.

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Pliny the Elder (23-79 A.D.) [=Mithra] {Cumont, ii, p.32}

Natural History, book 37, chapter 10: (Jewels derived from the name)

Mithrax is brought from Persia and the hill-country of the Red Sea, a stone of varied colours that reflects the light of the sun. … The Assyrians prize Eumitren the jewel of Bel their most honoured deity, of a light-green colour and employed in divination. (Geden)

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Quintus Curtius (40-50 A.D.) [=Mithra] {Cumont, ii, p.10}

Geden p.27. History of Alexander, book 4, chapter. 13. The scene is before the battle of Arbela.

The king himself with his generals and Staff passed around the ranks of the armed men, praying to the sun and Mithra and the sacred eternal fire to inspire them with courage worthy of their ancient fame and the monuments of their ancestors.

Cumont adds that there is a variant here: mithrem rather than mithram.

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Plutarch (ca. 100 A.D.) [=Mithra] {Cumont, ii, p.33-36}

De Iside et Osiride, ch. 46. Theopompus lived in the 4th c. B.C.

The following is the opinion of the great majority of learned men. By some it is maintained that there are two gods, rivals as it were, authors the one of good and the other of evil. Others confine the name of god to the good power, the other they term demon, as was done by Zoroaster the Magian, who is said to have lived to old age five thousand years before the Trojan war. He calls the one Horomazes, the other Areimanius. The former he assserts is of all natural phenomena most closely akin to the light, the latter to darkness, and that Mithra holds an intermediate position. To Mithra therefore the Persians give the name of the mediator. Moreover he taught men to offer to Horomazes worthy and unblemished sacrifices, but to Areimanius imperfect and deformed. For they bruise a kind of grass called molu in a trough, and invoke Hades and Darkness; then mixing it with the blood of a slaughtered wolf they carry it to a sunless place and throw it away. For they regard some plants as the property of the good god, and some· of the evil demon; and so also such animals as dogs and birds ,and hedgehogs belong to the good deity, and the water rat to the evil. Of these last therefore it is meritorious to kill as many as possible.

They have also many stories to relate concerning the gods, for example that Horomazes was born of the purest light, Areimanius of the darkness, and these are hostile to one another. The former created six gods, the first three deities respectively of good-will, truth, and orderliness, the others of wisdom, wealth, and a good conscience. By the latter rivals as it were to these were formed of equal number. Then Horomazes extended himself to thrice his stature as far beyond the sun as the sun is beyond the earth, and adorned the heaven with stars, appointing one star, Sirius, as guardian and watcher before all. He made also other twenty-four gods and placed them in an egg, but Areimanius produced creatures of equal number and these crushed the egg . . . wherefore evil is mingled with good.

At the appointed time however Areimanius must be utterly brought to nought and destroyed by the pestilence and famine which he has himself caused, and the earth will be cleared and made free from obstruction, the habitation of a united community of men dwelling in happiness and speaking one tongue. Theopompus further reports that according to the magi for three thousand years in succession each of the gods holds sway or is in subjection, and that there will follow on these a further period of three thousand years of war and strife, in which they mutually destroy the works of one another. Finally Hades will be overthrown, and men will be blessed, and will neither need nourishment nor cast a shadow. And the deity who has accomplished these things will then take rest and solace for a period that is not long, especially for a god, and moderate for a sleeping man. To this effect then is the legendary account given by the magi.

Life of Alexander, c. 30:

If thou art not false to the interests of the Persians, but remainest loyal to me thy lord, tell me by thy regard for the great light of Mithra, and the royal right hand ….

Life of Artaxerxes Memnon, c.4:

Presenting a pomegranate of great size a certain Omisus said to him: By Mithra you may trust this man quickly to make an insignificant city great.

Vita Pompei (Life of Pompey) c.24, 5, 632CD. (This is often quoted as if it had some connection with Mithras of the legions; but surely relates to Mithridates and Persian Mithra in Asia Minor?).

There were of these corsairs above one thousand sail, and they had taken no less than four hundred cities, committing sacrilege upon the temples of the gods, and enriching themselves with the spoils of many never violated before, such as were those of Claros, Didyma, and Samothrace; and the temple of the Earth in Hermione, and that of Aesculapius in Epidaurus, those of Neptune at the Isthmus, at Taenarus, and at Calauria; those of Apollo at Actium and Leucas, and those of Juno in Samos, at Argos, and at Lacinium. They themselves offered strange sacrifices upon Mount Olympus, and performed certain secret rites or religious mysteries, among which those of Mithras have been preserved to our own time having received their previous institution from them. (Dryden)

They were accustomed to offer strange sacrifices on Olympus and to observe certain secret rites, of which that of Mithra is maintained to the present day by those by whom it was first established. (Geden)

(Ps.Plutarch) De fluviis, XXIII. 4.

Clauss says that the story is that Mithras spilled his seed onto a rock, and the stone gave birth to a son, named Diorphos, who, worsted and killed in a duel by Ares, was turned into the mountain of the same name not far from the Armenian river Araxes.

Near it also (i.e. the Araxes) is a mountain Diorphus, so called from the giant of that name, of which this story is told: Mithra being desirous of a son, and hating the female race, entered into a certain rock; and the stone becoming pregnant after the appointed time bore a child named Diorphus. The latter when he had grown to manhood challenged Ares to a contest of valour, and was slain. The purpose of the gods was then fulfilled in his transformation into the mountain which bears his name. (Geden)

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Dio Chrysostom (ca. 50-120 A.D.) [=Mithra] {Cumont, ii, p.60-64}

Oration 36. Marked as doubtful by Cumont.

In the secret mysteries the magi relate a further marvellous tradition concerning this god (Zeus) that he was the first and faultless charioteer of the unrivalled car. For they declare that the car of the sun is more recent, but on account of its prominent course in the sky is familiar to all. Whence is derived, it would seem, the common legend adopted by almost all the leading poets who have told of the risings and settings of the sun, the yoking of the steeds, and his ascent into the car. But of the mighty and perfect car of Zeus none of our writers hitherto has worthily sung, not even Homer or Hesiod, but the story is told by Zoroaster and the descendants of the magi who have learnt from him.

Of him the Persians relate that moved by love of wisdom and righteousness he separated himself from men and lived apart on a certain mountain, that fire subsequently fell from heaven and the whole mountain was kindled into flame. The king then with the most illustrious of the Persians approached wishing to offer prayer to the god. And Zoroaster came forth from the fire unharmed and gently bade them be of good courage and offer certain sacrifices, since it was the divine sanctuary to which the king had come.

Afterwards only those distinguished for love of the truth and who were worthy to approach the god were permitted to have access, and to these the Persians gave the name of magi, as being adepts in the divine service; differing therein from the Greeks who through ignorance of the name call such men wizards. And among other sacred rites they maintain for Zeus a pair of Nisaean steeds, these being the noblest and strongest that Asia yields, but one steed only for the sun. Moreover, they recount their legend not like our poets of the Muses who with all the arts of persuasion endeavour to carry conviction, but quite simply. For without doubt the control and government of the Supreme are unique, actuated always by the highest skill and strength, and that without cessation through endless ages.

The circuits then of the sun and moon are, as I said, movements of parts, and therefore readily discernible; most men however do not understand the movement and course of the whole, but the majestic order of its succession removes it above their comprehension. The further stories which they tell concerning the steeds and their management I hesitate to relate; and indeed they fail to take into account that the nature of the symbolism they employ betrays their own character. For it may be that it would be regarded as an act of folly for me to set forth a barbarian tale by the side of the fair Greek lays.

I must however make the venture. The first of the steeds is said to surpass infinitely in beauty and size and swiftness, running as it does on the outside round of the course, sacred to Zeus himself; and it is winged. The colour also of its skin is bright, of the purest sheen. And on it the sun and the moon are emblematically represented; I understand the meaning to be that these steeds have emblems moon-shaped or other; and they are seen by us indistinctly like sparks dancing in the bright blaze of a fire, each with its own proper motion. And the other stars receive their light through it and are all under its influence; and some have the same motion and are carried round with it, and others follow different courses. And the latter have each their own name among men, but the others are grouped together, assigned to certain forms and shapes.

The most handsome and variegated steed then is the favourite of Zeus himself, and on this account is lauded by them, receiving as is right the chief sacrifices and honours. The next to it in rank bears the name of Hera, being tractable and gentle, greatly inferior however in strength and swiftness. Its colour is naturally black, but that which is illuminated by the sun is always resplendent, while that which is in shadow during its circuit reveals the true character of the skin. The third is sacred to Poseidon, and is slower in movement than the second. His counterpart the poets say is found among men, meaning I suppose that which bears the name of Pegasus; a spring, according to the story, breaking forth in Corinth when the ground was opened.

The fourth is the strangest figure of all, fixed and motionless, not furnished with wings, named Hestia; but they do not hesitate to declare that this also is yoked to the car, remaining however in its place champing a bit of steel. And the others are on each side closely attached to it, the two nearest turning equally towards it, as though assailing it and resenting its control; but the leader on the outside circles constantly around it as though around a fixed centre post. For the most part therefore they live in peace and amity unhurt by one another, but eventually after a long time and many circuits the powerful breath of the leader descends from above and kindles into flame the proud spirit of the others, and most of all of the last.

His flaming mane then is set on fire, in which he took especial pride, and the whole universe. This calamity which they record they say that the Greeks attribute to Phaethon, for they refuse to blame Zeus’ driving of the car, and are unwilling to attach fault to the circuits of the sun … and again when in the course of further years the sacred colt of the Nymphs and Poseidon rouses itself to unaccustomed exertion, and incommoded with the sweat that pours from it drenches its own yokefellow, it gives rise to a destruction the contrary of the preceding, a flood of water. This then is the one catastrophe of which the Greeks have record owing to their recent origin and the shortness of their memory, and they relate that Deucalion reigned over them at that time before the universal destruction.

And in consequence of the ruin brought upon themselves men regard these rare occurrences as taking place neither in harmony with reason nor as a part of the general order, overlooking the fact that they occur in due course and in accordance with the will of the preserver and ruler of all. For it is just as when a charioteer chastises one of his steeds by checking it with the rein or touching it with the whip; the horse gives a start and is restless before settling down into its accustomed order. This earlier control then of the team they say is firm and the universe suffers no harm; but later a change takes place in the movement of the four, and their natures are mutually altered and interchanged, until they are all subdued by the higher power and a uniform character is imposed on all.

Nevertheless they do not hesitate to compare this movement to the conduct and driving of a car, for lack of a more impressive simile. As though a clever artificer should fashion horses out of wax, and should then smooth off the roughnesses of each, adding now to one and now to another, finally reducing all to one pattern, and forming his whole material into one shape. This however is not the case of a Creator fashioning and transforming from the outside the material substance of things without life, but the experience is that of the very substances themselves, as though they were contending for victory in a real and well-contested strife; and the crown of victory is awarded of right to the first and foremost in swiftness and strength and in every kind of virtue, to whom at the beginning of our discourse we gave the name of “chosen of Zeus.”.

For this one being the strongest and naturally fiery quickly consumed the others as though they had been really wax in a period not actually long, though to our limited reasoning it appears infinite; and absorbing into himself the entire substance of all is seen to be far greater and more glorious than before, having won the victory in the most formidable contest by no mortal or immortal aid, but by his own valour. Raised then proudly aloft and exulting in his victory, he takes possession of the widest possible domain, and yet such is his might and power that he craves further room for expansion. Having reached this conclusion they shrink from describing the nature of the living creature as the same; for that it is now no other than the soul of the charioteer and lord, or rather it has the same purpose and mind. (Geden)

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Statius (ca. 80 A.D.) [=Mithras] {Cumont, ii, p.46}

Thebaid, book 1, v.719-20:

(Mithras) ‘twists the unruly horns beneath the rocks of a Persian cave’ (Clauss)

717 …… seu te roseum Titana vocari Gentis Achaemeniae ritu, seu praestat Osirim Frugiferum, seu Persei sub rupibus antri Indignata sequi torquentem cornua Mithram.

Or:

Whether it please thee to bear the name of ruddy Titan after the manner of the Achaemenian race, or Osiris lord of the crops, or Mithra as beneath the rocks of the Persian cave he presses back the horns that resist his control. (Geden)

Geden suggests the horns must be those of the bull.

The scholia on Statius are attributed to a certain Lactantius Placidus.

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Justin Martyr (ca. 150 A.D.) [=Mithras] {Cumont, ii.20-21}

1st Apology, ch. 66

For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, said, “This do ye in remembrance of Me, this is My body; “and that, after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, “This is My blood; “and gave it to them alone. Which the wicked devils have imitated in the mysteries of Mithras, commanding the same thing to be done. For, that bread and a cup of water are placed with certain incantations in the mystic rites of one who is being initiated, you either know or can learn. (ANF)

Dialogue with Trypho, ch. 70

70. And when those who record the mysteries of Mithras say that he was begotten of a rock, and call the place where those who believe in him are initiated a cave, do I not perceive here that the utterance of Daniel, that a stone without hands was cut out of a great mountain, has been imitated by them, and that they have attempted likewise to imitate the whole of Isaiah’s words? For they contrived that the words of righteousness be quoted also by them. But I must repeat to you the words of Isaiah referred to, in order that from them you may know that these things are so. They are these: `Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; those that are near shall know my might.

The sinners in Zion are removed; trembling shall seize the impious. Who shall announce to you the everlasting place? The man who walks in righteousness, speaks in the right way, hates sin and unrighteousness, and keeps his hands pure from bribes, stops the ears from hearing the unjust judgment of blood closes the eyes from seeing unrighteousness: he shall dwell in the lofty cave of the strong rock. Bread shall be given to him, and his water [shall be] sure. Ye shall see the King with glory, and your eyes shall look far off. Your soul shall pursue diligently the fear of the Lord. Where is the scribe? where are the counsellors? where is he that numbers those who are nourished,-the small and great people? with whom they did not take counsel, nor knew the depth of the voices, so that they heard not.

The people who are become depreciated, and there is no understanding in him who hears.’ Now it is evident, that in this prophecy [allusion is made] to the bread which our Christ gave us to eat, in remembrance of His being made flesh for the sake of His believers, for whom also He suffered; and to the cup which He gave us to drink, in remembrance of His own blood, with giving of thanks. And this prophecy proves that we shall behold this very King with glory; and the very terms of the prophecy declare loudly, that the people foreknown to believe in Him were foreknown to pursue diligently the fear of the Lord. Moreover, these Scriptures are equally explicit in saying, that those who are reputed to know the writings of the Scriptures, and who hear the prophecies, have no understanding.

And when I hear, Trypho,” said I, “that Perseus was begotten of a virgin, I understand that the deceiving serpent counterfeited also this. (ANF)

78. … I have repeated to you,” I continued, “what Isaiah foretold about the sign which foreshadowed the cave; but for the sake of those who have come with us to-day, I shall again remind you of the passage.” Then I repeated the passage from Isaiah which I have already written, adding that, by means of those words, those who presided over the mysteries of Mithras were stirred up by the devil to say that in a place, called among them a cave, they were initiated by him. … (ANF)

Geden (p.39-40) renders these passages as:

(Apol. 1, 66) Accordingly in the mysteries of Mithra also we have heard that evil spirits practise mimicry. For at the initiatory rites bread and a cup of water are set out accompanied by certain formulae, as you know or may ascertain.

(Dial. 70) And when in the tradition of the Mithraic mysteries they relate that Mithra was born of a rock, and name the place where his followers receive initiation a cave, do I not know that they are perverting the saying of Daniel that “a stone was hewn without hands from a great mountain,” and likewise the words of Isaiah, all whose sayings also they endeavour to pervert? Noteworthy sayings too besides these they have artfully contrived to use.

(Dial. 78) According to the tradition of the Mithraic mysteries initiation takes place among them in a so-called cave, … a device of the evil one.

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Lucian (120-200 A.D.) [=?] {Cumont, ii.22}

The Gods in Council, chapter 9.

Momus. Ah; and out of consideration for him I suppose I must also abstain from any reference to the eagle, which is now a God like the rest of us, perches upon the royal sceptre, and may be expected at any moment to build his nest upon the head of Majesty?–Well, you must allow me Attis, Corybas, and 9 Sabazius: by what contrivance, now, did they get here? and that Mede there, Mithras, with the candys and tiara? why, the fellow cannot speak Greek; if you pledge him, he does not know what you mean. The consequence is, that Scythians and Goths, observing their success, snap their fingers at us, and distribute divinity and immortality right and left; that was how the slave Zamolxis’s name slipped into our register. However, let that pass. But I should just like to ask that Egyptian there–the dog-faced gentleman in the linen suit — who he is, and whether he proposes to establish his divinity by barking?

Or:

And Attis too, by heaven, and Korybas and Sabazius with what a flood have these deluged us, and your Mithra with his Assyrian cloak and crown, maintaining even their foreign tongue, so that when they give a toast no one can understand what they say. (Geden)

The Tragic Zeus, ch. 8:

There is Bendis herself and Anubis yonder and by his side Attis and Mithra and Men, all resplendent in gold, weighty and costly you may be sure.

Menippus, ch. 6:

Once as with these thoughts I was lying awake I determined to go to Babylon and there make inquiry of one of the magi, the disciples and successors of Zoroaster. I had heard that by incantations and magic rites they open the gates of Hades, and lead thither in safety whom they will, and restore him again to the upper world . . . so I arose at once, and without delay set out for Babylon.

On arrival I betook myself to a certain Chaldaean, a man skilled in the art of the diviner, grey-haired and wearing an imposing beard, whose name was Mithrobarzanes. With much trouble and importunity I won his consent, for whatever fee he liked to name, to be my guide on the way. He took me under his charge, and first for twenty-nine days from the new moon he conducted me at dawn to the Euphrates and bathed me, reciting some long invocation to the rising sun, which I did not fully understand; for like the second-rate heralds at the games he spoke in obscure and involved fashion. It was clear however that he was invoking certain deities.

Then after the invocation he spat thrice in front of me and conducted me back without looking in the face of any whom we met. For food we had acorns, and our drink was milk and honey-mead and the waters of the Choaspes, and we made our couch upon the grass in the open air. These preliminaries concluded he took me about midnight to the Tigris, cleansed and rubbed me down and purified me with resinous twigs and hyssop and many other things, reiterating at the same time the previous invocation. Then he threw spells over me and circumambulated me for my defence against the ghosts and led me back to the house, as I was, on foot; and the rest of the journey we made by boat. He himself put on some sort of a Magian robe, not unlike that of the Medes. And he further equipped me with the cap and lion’s skin and put into my hands the lyre, and bade me if I were asked my name not to answer Menippus, but to say Herakles or Odysseus or Orpheus ….

Arrived at a certain place, gloomy and desolate and overgrown with jungle, we disembarked, Mithrobarzanes leading the way, and dug a pit, and sacrificed the sheep, pouring out the blood over it. Then the Magian with lighted torch in his hand, no longer in subdued tones but exerting his voice to the utmost, invoked the whole host of demons with the Avengers and Furies, “and Hecate the queen of night and noble Persephone,” joining with them some foreign names of inordinate length. (Geden)

Cumont adds that the name of Mithras is explained in two of the scholia on Lucian. The second is similar to Hesychius. Scholia, c. 1. 1 (p.173 ed. Jacobitz), Cumont p.23. Translated by Andrew Eastbourne:

Cumont cites two scholia on Lucian which discuss Mithra(s), from the edition of Jacobitz. For a more recent edition, see Rabe, Scholia in Lucianum (1906).[1]

Scholion on Lucian, Zeus Rants / Jupiter tragoedus 8 [cf. Rabe, p. 60]

This Bendis…[2] Bendis is a Thracian goddess, and Anubis is an Egyptian [god], whom the theologoi[3] call “dog-faced.” Mithras is Persian, and Men is Phrygian. This Mithras is the same as Hephaestus, but others say [he is the same as] Helios. So then, because the barbarians would take pride[4] in wealth, they naturally also outfitted their own gods most expensively. And Attis is revered by the Phrygians…

Scholion on Lucian, The Parliament of the Gods / Deorum concilium 9 [cf. Rabe, p. 212]

Mithrês [Mithras]… Mithras is the sun [Helios], among the Persians.[5]

[1] I have noted points where Rabe’s edition differs in substance from the text printed by Cumont. Rabe’s edition is available online at http://www.archive.org/details/scholiainlucianu00rabe

[2] Lucian’s text here mentions Bendis, Anubis, Attis, Mithrês [Mithras], and Mên.

[3] The Greek term normally refers to poets who wrote about the gods, like Hesiod or Orpheus. Note that this is an emendation; the mss. read logoi (“words / discourses / accounts”), which Rabe adopts in his edition.

[4] Gk. ekômôn; lit., “wore their hair long / let their hair grow long.”

[5] Rabe’s text: “Mithras is the same as Helios, among the Persians.”

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Zenobius the Sophist (2nd century A.D.) [=?]

A Greek sophist of the reign of Hadrian. His collection of proverbs is partly extant.

Proverbia, book 5, 78 (in Corpus paroemiographorum Graecorum vol. 1, p.151). Quoted in Albert de Jong, Traditions of the Magi: Zoroastrianism in Greek and Latin literature, p.309:

Evander said that the gods who rule over everything are eight: Fire, Water, Earth, Heaven, Moon, Sun, Mithras, Night.

Not in Geden or Cumont.

Clauss p.70 n.84 also mentions literary evidence of syncretism of Mithras with the Orphic creator-god Phanes (no citation). This refers to a similar list from Iranian sources appearing in Theon of Smyrna’s Exposition of mathematical ideas useful for reading Plato, ch. 47 (from Exposition des connaissances mathematiques utiles pour la lecture de platon, J. Dupuis in 1892, p.173):

47. The number eight which is the first cube composed of unity and seven. Some say that there are eight gods who are masters of the universe, and this is also what we see in the sayings of Orpheus:

By the creators of things ever immortal, Fire and water, earth and heaven, moon, And sun, the great Phanes and the dark night.

And Evander reports that in Egypt may be found on a column an inscription of King Saturn and Queen Rhea: “The most ancient of all, King Osiris, to the immortal gods, to the spirit, to heaven and earth, to night and day, to the father of all that is and all that will be, and to Love, souvenir of the magificence of his life.” Timotheus also reports the proverb, “Eight is all, because the spheres of the world which rotate around the earth are eight.” And, as Erastothenes says,

“These eight spheres harmonise together in making their revolutions around the earth.”

The real basis for identification of Mithras and Phanes is some inscriptions.

........

Continue in the Word doc. that you can download (see below!)

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Bibliography

· Manfred CLAUSS, The Roman Cult of Mithras: The God and his Mysteries. Edinburgh University Press (2000). Tr. Richard GORDON.

· Franz CUMONT, The Mysteries of Mithra. London: Kegan Paul (1910). Tr. Thomas J. McCORMACK from the second French edition.

An Image of the Tauroctony

[Museo Nazionale, Roma. Photographed by R.Pearse, February 2004]

http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/mithras/literary_sources.htm

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https://vk.com/doc429864789_621839366

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Η Ζωή στο Λορεστάν και οι Λορί του Μέσου Ζάγρου, της Οροσειράς που χωρίζει Ιράκ και Ιράν

Life in Luristan, and the Luris of Middle Zagros, the Mountains that separate Iraq and Iran

ΑΝΑΔΗΜΟΣΙΕΥΣΗ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΣΗΜΕΡΑ ΑΝΕΝΕΡΓΟ ΜΠΛΟΓΚ “ΟΙ ΡΩΜΙΟΙ ΤΗΣ ΑΝΑΤΟΛΗΣ”

Το κείμενο του κ. Νίκου Μπαϋρακτάρη είχε αρχικά δημοσιευθεί την 26 Αυγούστου 2019.

Αναπαράγοντας στοιχεία από ομιλία μου στο Καζακστάν τον Ιανουάριο του 2019, ο κ. Μπαϋρακτάρης αποδεικνύει με το εκλαϊκευτικό κείμενό του αυτό ότι, αρκεί να παρουσιάσει αντικειμενικά και συστηματικά κάποιος τους κατά τόπους λαούς και έθνη του Ζάγρου, του Αντιταύρου, της βόρειας Μεσοποταμίας και της ανατολικής Ανατολίας (Doğu Anadolu), για να αποδείξει αυτόματα ότι δεν υπάρχουν "Κούρδοι" αλλά πολλά και μεταξύ τους πολύ διαφορετικά έθνη, τα οποία παρουσιάζονται διεθνώς ως δήθεν ένα - μόνον από τους άθλιους πολιτικούς και ακαδημαϊκούς γκάνγκστερς των αποικιοκρατικών χωρών (Γαλλία, Αγγλία, ΗΠΑ, Καναδάς, Αυστραλία, Ολλανδία, Ισραήλ) και τα κατά τόπους όργανά τους, με σκοπό την δημιουργία ενός ψευδοκράτους μέσα στο οποίο τα διαφορετικά μεταξύ τους αυτά έθνη θα σφάζονται εσαεί και μάλιστα χειρότερα από οπουδήποτε αλλού.

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https://greeksoftheorient.wordpress.com/2019/08/26/η-ζωή-στο-λορεστάν-και-οι-λορί-του-μέσου/ ============

Οι Ρωμιοί της Ανατολής – Greeks of the Orient

Ρωμιοσύνη, Ρωμανία, Ανατολική Ρωμαϊκή Αυτοκρατορία

Μια περιοχή που αξίζει να περιηγηθείτε από χωριό σε χωριό για ένα μήνα τουλάχιστον και να γνωρίσετε από κοντά τα ήθη και τα έθιμα, τις παραδόσεις και τις δοξασίες των γηγενών Λορί είναι το Λορεστάν, μια ορεινή επαρχία του δυτικού Ιράν σχεδόν πάνω στα σύνορα με το Ιράκ.

Στα λαγκάδια θα είστε στα 700-1200 μ και οι βουνοκορφές τριγύρω θα ξεπερνούν τα 2500-3500 μ.

Οι Λορί είναι ένα αρχαίο ιρανικό φύλο που διατήρησε πάντοτε την ιδιαιτερότητά του και την ταυτότητά του μέσα στο Ιράν, ζώντας κοντά στους Λακί και στους Μπαχτιαρί (ακόμη πιο νοτιοανατολικά στον Ζάγρο), στους Πέρσες (στα νότια τμήματα του ιρανικού οροπεδίου), στους Φαΐλι και στους Γκοράνι (πιο βόρεια στον Ζάγρο), στους Αζέρους (στα βόρεια-βορειοδυτικά τμήματα του ιρανικού οροπεδίου), στους Τουρκμένους και στα άλλα έθνη του Ιράν.

Η Ζωή στο Λορεστάν και οι Λορί του Μέσου Ζάγρου, της Οροσειράς

Κατοίκηση στα σημεία αυτά πάει πολύ παλιά λόγω της σχετικής εγγύτητας με την Μεσοποταμία, όπου ξεκίνησε ο ανθρώπινος πολιτισμός.

Με το που κατεβεί κάποιος από τα βουνά προς την πεδιάδα στα δυτικά βρίσκεται στην Κεντρική Μεσοποταμία. Τα χάλκινα αγάλματα του Λορεστάν (πρώτο μισό της πρώτης προχριστιανικής χιλιετίας) αποτελούν κεντρικό κεφάλαιο της Προϊστορίας της ευρύτερης περιοχής.

Οι Λορί (ή και Λουρί) είναι στην πλειοψηφία τους σιίτες μουσουλμάνοι αλλά στο Λορεστάν (ή και Λουριστάν) υπάρχουν και πιστοί άλλων θρησκειών, όπως οι Γιαρσανί (επίσης γνωστοί και ως Αχλ-ε Χακ), μια από τις πολλές θρησκείες του ευρύτερου χώρου ανάμεσα στην Ανατολική Μεσόγειο και την Κεντρική Ασία που είναι άγνωστες στον περισσότερο κόσμο.

Οι Λορί έχουν τρομερή προσήλωση στις παραδόσεις τους και ακόμη και ανάμεσα στους σιίτες Λορί κυριαρχούν προϊσλαμικές δοξασίες που δημιουργούν συχνά-πυκνά πρόβλημα στις άτεγκτες κι αλύγιστες ηγεσίες των θρησκευτικών ηγετών του Ιράν.

Δεν κάνω λόγο για την Ισλαμική Δημοκρατία που εγκαινιάστηκε το 1979 με την αποχώρηση του ψευτο-σάχη και την επιστροφή του Χομεϊνί.

Ήδη στις αρχές του 19ου αιώνα, στα χρόνια δηλαδή της τουρκμενικής δυναστείας Κατζάρ του Ιράν, οι Λορί είχαν τόσο απομακρυνθεί από την σιιτική ισλαμική ορθοδοξία που οι ιρανικές αρχές ζήτησαν από τους Οθωμανούς να στείλουν από την Κερμπαλά της Νότιας Μεσοποταμίας (καίριο σιιτικό ιερό) ένα θεολόγο για να …. κηρύξει το (σιιτικό) Ισλάμ στους Λορί!!!

Χορός ντασμάλ-μπαζί στο Μαμασανί

Η ζωή των Λορί είναι ταυτισμένη με τον ετήσιο κύκλο και συνυφασμένη με την εναλλαγή των εποχών: οι γεωργικές και κτηνοτροφικές απασχολήσεις τηρούνται κατά τον πατροπαράδοτο τρόπο και κανένας νεωτερισμός δεν μπαίνει στα χωριά των Λορί όπου ο παγερός χειμώνας σημαίνει ζωή γύρω από την εστία, αφηγήσεις παραμυθιών για τα παιδιά, και για τους μεγαλύτερους διάβασμα του Κορανίου (ή διάβασμα του Καλάμ-ε Σαραν-ντζάν / کلام سرانجام για τους Γιαρσανί).

Οι Λορί δεν έχουν καμμιά διάθεση για να αποσχισθούν ή να σχηματίσουν ένα ανεξάρτητο κράτος παρά τις επίμονες προσπάθειες της ΣΙΑ, της Μοσάντ του Ισραήλ και άλλων μυστικών υπηρεσιών να τους πείσουν ότι είναι ‘Κούρδοι’ και ότι πρέπει να έχουν ‘το δικό τους κράτος’.

Ούτε οι Λορί, ούτε οι Λακί, ούτε οι Γιαρσανί, ούτε οι Γκοράνι δέχονται το ψεύτικο παραμύθι των ‘Κούρδων’, ενός ψευτο-έθνους παρασκευασμένου από μυστικές υπηρεσίες χωρών που μισούν την ευρύτερη περιοχή και θέλουν να την βουλιάξουν σε ατελείωτους πολέμους.

Πως οι Λορί καταλαβαίνουν ότι δεν πρέπει να πιστέψουν τα λόγια των άθλιων τεράτων του Ισραήλ, των ΗΠΑ, της Αγγλίας και της Γαλλίας;

Πως οι Λορί θυμούνται ότι στα αραβικά η λέξη Ακράντ στον πληθυντικό (: ‘Κούρδοι’) δεν σημαίνει ένα συγκεκριμένο έθνος αλλά πολλά και διαφορετικά έθνη που κατοικούν στα βουνά (‘Τζεμπάλ’);

Γιατί οι Σοράνι της Σουλεϋμανίγιε (στο Ιράκ) και οι Κουρμάντζι του Ντιγιάρμπακιρ (στην Τουρκία) ξέχασαν τις αλήθειες που ξέρουν, κατανοούν και τηρούν ακόμη οι Λορί, κι έτσι οι ηγεσίες τους ξεπουλήθηκαν στους εγκληματίες σατανιστές της Δύσης;

Η απάντηση σε όλα αυτά τα ερωτήματα είναι μία και απλή. Δεν έχει να κάνει με την πολιτική, γιατί πολιτική δεν υπάρχει: είναι ένα ψέμμα που οι προπαγανδιστές του εμφανίζουν ως τάχα πραγματικό, ενώ στην πραγματικότητα αυτό που αποκαλείται ‘πολιτική’ είναι η υλοποίηση μιας πρότερον ανύπαρκτης διαστροφής που την υλοποιούν μόνον τα θύματά της, δηλαδή οι ανεγκέφαλοι που αποδέχονται το ψέμμα.

Στο Λορεστάν δεν υπάρχει καμμιά πολιτική κι οι Λορί δεν θέλουν καμμιά πολιτική.

Ποια είναι η απάντηση;

Η ζωή στο χωριό και κοντά στην φύση, χωρίς τον σύγχρονο ανθρωποκτονικό ‘τεχνολογικό πολιτισμό’ είναι υγεία για το σώμα και το μυαλό.

Οπότε, οι χωρικοί κι οι αγρότες του Λορεστάν, επειδή είναι υγιείς, αντιλαμβάνονται τι είναι αλήθεια και τι είναι ψέμμα πολύ πιο εύκολα από ένα άρρωστο, σάπιο κάτοικο μεγαλουπόλεων.

Το πιθανώτερο να σας συμβεί, αν ζείτε σε μια μεγαλούπολη, είναι να πιστέψετε τα ψέμματα που σας λένε και να δείτε τον κόσμο και την ζωή πολύ στραβά, την Ιστορία ανάποδα και με ρατσιστικούς φακούς, και την καθημερινότητα ως την ‘ζωή εν τάφω’ που ζείτε εκεί.

Τα δηλητήρια που τρώτε και πίνετε στις μεγαλουπόλεις, ο μολυσμένος αέρας που αναπνέετε, κι η αποκοπή σας από την φύση αποτελούν πιστοποιητικό αποβλάκωσης και προσαρμογής στα ψέμματα που σας λένε όλοι εκεί.

Αν θα πηγαίνατε να ζήσετε στο Λορεστάν, θα ήταν ο πιο άφθαστος Παράδεισος για σας.

Δείτε το βίντεο:

Лурестан, Луры и их традиционная музыка – Luristan, Luris and their Traditional Music

https://www.ok.ru/video/1488355527277

Лурестан, Луры, их музыка и повседневная жизнь

https://vk.com/video434648441_456240280

Luristan, Luris and their Traditional Music – Λορεστάν, οι Λορί και η Παραδοσιακή Μουσική τους

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Αρχαιότητες του πρώτου μισού της πρώτης προχριστιανικής χιλιετίας από το Λορεστάν

Οι χρυσές προσωπίδες του Σπηλαίου Καλμακαρέχ, όχι μακριά από την πόλη Πολ-ε Ντοχτάρ, στο Λορεστάν

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Διαβάστε:

Luristan

v. Religion, Rituals, and Popular Beliefs

The official religion

Since the accession of the first Safavid shah (1502), the official religion in Iran has been the Eṯnā-ʿašariya (Twelver) Shiʿism, one of the two main branches of Islam. A noteworthy point in this context is that the Lur society has been living within the framework of Islam, but under conditions and circumstances that encouraged rather than restricted a free display of popular traditions, such as the cult of local shrines, emāmzādas (descendants of the Shiʿite imams), and other sects, especially the Ahl-e Ḥaqq, as well as many aspects of supernaturalism.

In areas where people did not speak or understand Arabic, or were mostly illiterate, as among the nomads of Luristan, the declaration of faith and especially performance of different prayers, were bound to take on a much more ritualistic value. Here, the need for oral interpretation and explanation of the orthodox faith was necessary if a completely unrestricted and free display of the popular beliefs and customs were to be avoided.

Thus, at the beginning of the 19th century during the governorship of Prince Moḥammad-ʿAli Mirzā, the Lurs had gone so far astray from the orthodox path that a preacher of the higher religious classes, a mojtahed, was brought in from Karbala in order to “convert” the tribes back to Islam (cf. Rabino, p. 24; Minorsky, 1978, p. 823).

It is uncertain to what degree this attempt was successful, but it is known that there was not normally any direct, authoritative, and powerful institution which could secure and defend the official and orthodox faith and conceptions in Luristan.

Almost all the writers who have dealt with this theme, except Cecil John Edmonds (1922, p. 341), are unanimous in the view that the Lurs, although outwardly professing Islam, have had only a faint idea of the orthodox religion and to a large degree have been indifferent to the Islamic doctrines, while at the same time they have indulged in superstitious rites and have deep veneration for local pirs (spiritual masters) and prophets.

Consequently, it is difficult to describe the impact of religion on the nomadic society of Luristan, where religious notions had become an integral part of life to such an extent that life itself, especially the modus vivendi of the nomads, was one big, yearly, revolving ritual, spaced by recurring seasons, migrations, births, festivals, and deaths.

What a spectator might want to call the “religious” aspects had simply ceased to be perceived as anything separate or to hold any aspect of apartness for the nomads, a circumstance, which also means that any specific questions about “religion” are poorly understood, because religion in Luristan was an unconsciously integrated part of the cycle of life (Demant Mortensen, 2010, p. 12 ff.).

Ahl-e Ḥaqq

Although most Lurs officially adhere to Twelver Shiʿism, with a sprinkling of Sunni Muslims, some adherents of the Ahl-e Ḥaqq (People of the [absolute] Truth) sect are found among the Lur and the Kurdish populations. Ahl-e Ḥaqq are often referred to in the literature as ʿAli-Elāhi or ʿAli-Allāhi (Minorsky, 1964, p. 306) and as having their roots in the heartland of Luristan.

There has been no central, uniform organization and no canonical scripture among the Ahl-e Ḥaqq, which has been traced within numerous tribal, ethnic, religious, and social groups. The cradle of the sect is definitely the area occupied by the Gurānis, which is now divided between the Iraqi and the Iranian Kurdistan, and also including some tribes of northern Luristan, for instance, the Delfān (Minorsky, 1964, p. 314; Halm, p. 635).

Some authors refer to the Selsela and Delfān groups as originally being ʿAli-Elāhis, but also to the Sagvand and Pāpi tribes as being followers of this “secret religion” (Field, I, pp. 173-84; Minorsky, 1978, p. 823). In this context it is interesting that one of the subtribes of the Delfān confederation, the Chuwari, mentioned by Rawlinson (p. 107) as spending the winters in Holaylān and Kuhdašt and the summers in the plain of Ḵāva, is described by Freya Stark as “heretics”: “…these are Ali-Ilahis” (Stark, 1947, p. 34).

The religious literature of the sect is mainly written in Gurāni, and two important shrines of the sect, the tombs of Bābā Yādgār in Zohab and of Solṭān Esḥāq (Sahhāk, Ṣohāk) in Perdivar, are both located in Gurān territory. The central dogma of the Ahl-e Ḥaqq is the belief in seven successive manifestations or incarnations of the divinity.

These incarnations are compared to garments put on by the godhead (cf. the table in Minorsky, 1964, p. 307). The legends about Shah Ḵošin (or Bābā Ḵošin), one of the seven incarnations of the divinity (haftvāna), take place in Luristan and seem to represent an early phase in the development of the doctrine. Each manifestation is accompanied by a retinue of four helper angels. The name of one of those is Bābā Bozorg.

Another of the angels of Bābā Ḵošin is the local saint and Sufi poet of Hamadan, Bābā Ṭāher. Apart from the “Four Angels,” several other groups of saints are worshipped by Ahl-e Ḥaqq (Minorsky, 1964, pp. 306-16; Edmonds, 1969, pp. 89-101; Gabriel, pp. 125-28; Halm, pp. 635-37; see Ṣafizāda, pp. 17-18, 65-68, 74-78, 85-86, 101-15, 127-32).

The sect of the Ahl-e Ḥaqq was originally referred to by the European travelers of the 19th century and first of all by John Kinneir (p. 141). He reports with alacrity the information he has received about nocturnal festivals in the course of which “the garments of the fair sex” at a certain point are thrown into a heap and jumbled together.

This done, the lights are put out and the clothes distributed among the men present. The candles are then re-lighted. He explains that it is a rule of the society “that the lady must patiently submit to the embrace of the person who has become possessed of her dress, whether father, son, husband, or brother.”

When the lights have been put out once again, “the whole of the licentious tribe pass the remainder of the night in the indulgence of the most promiscuous lust.” Obviously, a scandalous and exiting account like this was bound to create some interest at the time. Henry Rawlinson was the first to pass on somewhat more reliable information (Rawlinson, pp. 52-95, 110), and as the regiment he commanded on the march from Zohab was in fact Gurāni, most of his men in all probability were adherents of Ahl-e Ḥaqq.

An especially noteworthy ceremony or institution is an initiation rite called sar-sepordan (the entrustment of the head; total commitment), in which the neophyte links himself to a spiritual master (pir). As a sign of this, a nutmeg is broken as a substitute for the head (Ṣafizāda, pp. 19-20).

Other sacrifices, raw and cooked, bloody and bloodless, derived from dervish practices also occur, and during these sessions burning coals are sometimes handled and stepped upon. Rites of the Ahl-e Ḥaqq also include assemblies (jam) with women participation, in which music is played and could easily account for the extraordinary interpretation brought forward by Kinneir (quoted above), and also for the nickname of “extinguishers of light” (čerāḡ söndüren) given by outsiders to the adherents of the sect (Minorsky, 1964, pp. 308-9).

The religion of the shrine

In an article concerned with the function of religion in (contemporary) Iranian society, Brian Spooner has made a useful distinction between what he calls “the religion of the mosque” and “the religion of the shrine” (Spooner, 1963, pp. 83-95). “The religion of the mosque” roughly corresponds to the official, literate religion, whereas “the religion of the shrine” is characterized by a hierarchy from the ordinary person through holy men, the imāms, and prophets, to God.

In rural districts like Luristan, where “the religion of the shrine” was practiced, a mollā (cleric) or a ṭalaba (theological student) might pay a visit during the months of special religious significance. If there was no resident mollā, there might be a dervish, a doʿānevis or Qorʾānḵˇān. There is often something mysterious about a dervish that seems to attract the attention of ordinary men, but a dervish has no specific religious function in the society.

The doʿānevis writes doʿās (invocation to God), which are a very popular commodity in rural Persia; and the Qorʾānḵvān, although often illiterate, is able to chant passages from the Qur’an at funerals; he also sometimes washes the dead (Spooner, 1963, p. 85).

Among the nomads and in the villages there are often quasi-religious persons or individuals attributed with certain religious qualities; they are either the descendants of the Prophet (sayyed) or people with the epithet Ḥāji, Karbalāʾi, or Mašhadi, signifying persons who have completed the pilgrimage to Mecca, Karbala, or Mashhad.

The presence of such persons among the tribes of Luristan is attested by the inscriptions at tombstones from cemeteries in northern Luristan (Demant Mortensen, 2010, pp. 93 ff.). The descendants of the Prophet have no special religious function, but their sheer presence is a reminder of Moḥammad, to whom they are considered to be nearer and dearer than ordinary people, and thus they are also a memento of Islam in general.

Moreover, they are believed to possess at least a minimum of baraka (blessing, divine grace), and they may be preferred by ordinary people for ceremonies intended to ward off the evil eye in which there is a widespread belief in most of the Near East (Donaldson, pp. 117 ff.; Kriss and Kriss-Heinrich, II, passim; Spooner, 1976, pp. 76-84).

It goes almost without saying that Moḥammad and his descendants are believed to be especially endowed with baraka, and they may in their turn communicate some of it to ordinary people. A special feature is that baraka does not cease to exist or to be active at the death of a person. On the contrary, to deceased persons is attributed a very powerful baraka. This may help to explain the great significance placed by the Shiʿites on the pilgrimage to tombs and emamzādas and the extraordinary measures taken to be buried near a holy tomb (Demant Mortensen, 1993, pp. 121, 125).

Shrines and emāmzādas

Until recently there were no mosques in Luristan outside the few towns (cf. the distribution map in Kleiss, opp. p. 66). On the other hand, the tombs of local pirs and saints, the emāmzādas, are frequently seen in the landscape. They are the focus of a lot of attention and also of pilgrimage. The word emāmzāda may signify an individual as well as the shrine dedicated to him, in the same way as pir or piri (elder or holy) may be used about a person or his tomb.

The actual structure of a shrine, whether of an emāmzāda or otherwise, may range in size from anything comparable to a tiny house to a larger mosque. It is often square, whitewashed, with a domed roof and with or without a courtyard and a cemetery around it. In the center of the building is the tomb or cenotaph, as the case may be, which is the focal point of attention. It represents the deceased person and is considered full of his baraka.

A number of shrines and emāmzādas are mentioned in the literature, but often just in passing (e.g., by Rawlinson; Stein; Edmonds, 1969; Minorsky, 1978; Haerinck and Overlaet; Demant Mortensen, 2010). The better known include Emāmzāda Šāhzāda Aḥmad, Emāmzāda Šāhzāda Moḥammed (or Solṭān Maḥmud), and Emāmzāda Solṭān Ebrāhim (or Bābā Bozorg), all alleged to be brothers of the eighth Imam (cf. Demant Mortensen, 2010, p. 21, n. 29; personal information from Khan ʿAbd-al-Ḥosayn Pur Abuḵadora, Hulian, 1974).

According to Rawlinson, they are all included among the Haft-tan “Seven [dervishes]” by the Ahl-e Ḥaqq, and that is why they are of great sanctity (Rawlinson, p. 95; Edmonds, 1969, p. 89; Ṣafizāda, pp. 144-45, 147-48, 203-4).

Emāmzāda Šāhzāda Aḥmad is situated in Bālā Gariva, about 60 km south of Khorramabad, midway between Khorramabad and Dezful. Referring to this shrine, Edmonds recalls that one day he had a visit by four men wearing red turbans.

A red turban is unique in Persia, at least in the western and central provinces, and is worn only by the guardians of Šāhzāda Aḥmad, the holiest shrine in Bālā Gariva (Demant Mottensen, 1993, Pl. 6.58; Izadpanāh, pp. 16-18). The red-turbaned guardians are known as the pāpi, but do not seem to be connected with the tribe of the same name (Edmonds, 1969, p. 354); however, Carl Feilberg, who has made a special study of this particular tribe, has several interesting and curious details to add (Feilberg, pp. 144-53).

For instance, he states that there are no adherents of the Ahl-e Ḥaqq among the Pāpi, “who find them very bad mannered” (Feilberg, pp. 152-53). Minorsky, on the contrary, states that the Sagvand and Pāpi tribes are the followers of this “secret religion” (Minorsky, 1978, p. 823). Feilberg also mentions the red turbans of the guardians and supplies the information that a visit to the Emāmzāda Šāhzāda Aḥmad is known to be particularly helpful to infertile women.

Not far from Emāmzāda Šāhzāda Aḥmad was another shrine, the Emāmzāda Pir Mār (Saint Snake) also of great sanctity. The saint was supposed to have been able to cure the bite of all venomous snakes, a power his descendants apparently had inherited (Rawlinson, p. 96).

The Emāmzāda Šāhzāda Moḥammad in the Holaylān valley is mentioned by Edmonds (1922, p. 451) as being a “pretentious building” with a great reputation for sanctity in the district and having a colony of sayyeds living in tents and huts around it. Various notables have contributed various parts, such as the bath and a golden ball over the dome.

Aurel Stein (p. 242) refers to it as “the conspicuous new shrine marking the supposed resting place of Imamzadeh Shah-zadeh Muhammad, a much frequented place for pilgrimage for Lurs, with a clusted of Saiyid’s dwellings” (cf. also Edelberg, p. 379; Demant Mortensen, 1993, pp. 128-29, Pls. 6.59-61).

The shrine of Solṭān Ebrāhim, worshipped throughout Luristan under the name of Bābā Bozorg, is mentioned by Rawlinson (p. 100), who says that the tomb is situated on the northeastern face of the plain of Ḵāwa. He adds that this is “the most holy spot in Luristan; for the common Lurs have no idea of religion farther than the worship of this their national saint.” Stein (p. 302) confirms the position and calls it a “much frequented place for pilgrimage” (see also Izadpanāh, pp. 310-11 and Pls. 28-29 on pp. 344-45).

The person said to be buried in an emāmzāda is often of a rather nebulous origin or descent, and quite often the same person is said to be buried, and is worshipped, in several different places.

One example of this is in Luristan near Širvān, where the tomb of ʿAbbās b. ʿAli, the half brother of the Shiʿite Imams Ḥasan and Ḥosayn, is considered to be of great sanctity and receives much attention. People from all over Luristan go here on pilgrimage, although ʿAbbās b. ʿAli also is supposed to be buried at Karbala in Iraq (Rawlinson, p. 56).

The most important point is, however, that it is advisable to visit these graves, because honoring an emāmzāda almost amounts to honoring the Imam himself, which by implication ultimately means honoring God, and this will hopefully lead to His intercession on the Day of Judgement.

In many cases the purpose of a visit to a shrine or an emāmzāda is to ask the granting of certain wishes or requests. The means of obtaining this goal are various and ingenious. Like the Kaʿba in Mecca, the tomb will often be covered by a cloth or surrounded by a latticework, which will be kissed. This is considered as a way of mollifying the emāmzāda and is not just a pious gesture.

It is important to get in contact with the baraka of the person resting there. This may be achieved by touching something in the place, by rubbing oneself with the oil that has been deposited as a gift by previous pilgrims and has now accumulated some of the baraka, or by leaving behind one’s rosary (tasbiḥ) to be charged with baraka and collected at a later time.

When visiting an emāmzāda, it is not unusual to bring along presents, for example, candles, oil, foodstuffs, or even live animals to be sacrificed on the spot. What was originally intended as a votive offering—to the holy personage supposedly interred there—at the present time more often ends up as a present for the warden of the place. In any case, it has now become more customary not to bring anything until the wish has been fulfilled.

This rather pragmatic change from “I offer Thee this, and please may I have” to “If You grant me this, I will give You that” attitude, secures a minimum of waste and disappointment on both sides (Demant Mortensen, 2010, p. 21).

In Luristan people also seek out the shrines and emāmzādas for a number of other reasons, including oath-taking in legal cases, seeking cures for ailments, both physical and mental (Fazel, p. 234), pilgrimage, and the festivities at the end of Ramazan, the ʿid al-feṭr, and the processions and performances of the passion play (taʿzia) during the first ten days of Moḥarram in commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Ḥosayn and his family at Karbala in 680 CE (cf. Chelkowsky; Demant Mortensen, 1991).

Moḥarram processions and the taʿzia

In Iran, Moḥarram processions and recitations existed side by side for about 250 years, and both became more and more complex and refined, until the middle of the 18th century, by which time they were fused (Chelkowski, pp. 4 ff.). The result was a new dramatic form called taʿzia-ḵvāni or just taʿzia, in which the siege of Karbala was still the core, but as time went by, separate plays around individual heroes were also developed.

The taʿzia thus is a compromise between the moving procession and the stationary recitation, and as such it was first staged at open squares or street intersections but soon moved into the courtyards of bazaars, caravansaries, emāmzādas, or even private houses.

Each of the first ten days of Moḥarram featured its own special event commemorating the suffering of Imam Ḥosayn and his party, culminating with the big processions of the 10th of Moḥarram, the Āšurāʾ, as a conclusion (see, e.g., Massé, pp. 122 ff., tr. pp. 117 ff.).

An Āšurāʾ procession might consist of several groups following hard on the heels of each other and all acting some part of the tragedy at Karbala. For example, riderless, saddled horses illustrate in the funeral procession the horses of the martyrs who are now dead.

In the case of only one riderless horse in the procession, it signifies Imam Ḥosayn’s horse (Ḏu’l-janāḥ). Often there will be fastened to the saddle some objects emblematical of Imam Ḥosayn (e.g., see Kippenberg, figs. 1-4). When the riderless horses are brought forward in the funeral procession, it is a sign that the illustrious owners are now dead, and a great moan from the crowd watching goes up in the air.

There may be flags carried along, with the names of Ḥosayn and other martyrs embroidered on them, and banners (ʿalam) representing in the towns different quarters or guilds, and in the country different emāmzādas. There may also be long sticks or poles (kotol) hung with pieces of cloth and surmounted by a metal hand (panja).

The open hand (which is identified by the Sunnites as the hand of Fāṭema and is used as an amulet to ward off the evil eye) bears a quite different meaning for the Shiʿites. In the Moḥarram processions, it commemorates the fact that at Karbala Ḥosayn and his companions were prevented from drawing water, and when ʿAbbās, Ḥosayn’s half brother, tried to fetch some water from the river, his hands were cut off by the enemy. ʿAbbās then tried to hold the gourd between his teeth, but it was immediately pierced by an arrow.

Everybody gets the message instantly when the water-sellers at the Moḥarram processions carry a gourd and cry: “Drink to the memory of the martyr of Karbala!” Many other incidents were commemorated in this way, and groups representing the martyrs with, for example, limbs amputated, an axe sunk into the body, arrows sticking out everywhere, all combine to create the most perfect illusion of reality.

Usually there would be a man or a boy disguised as a lion, covering the supposed body of Imam Ḥosayn in the procession or at the taʿzia, and representing the miraculous lion that is reported to have kept watch on Imam Ḥosayn’s body and protected it from further profanation after the massacre at Karbala (see below).

Around 1930 the taʿzia was banned by the government for socio-political reasons, but, a renewed interest in it was raised during the post-World War II period (Chelkowsky, pp.. 262 ff.). It lived on in distant villages and isolated areas such as Luristan, but due to the lack of written sources it is not possible to know with any certainty to what extent the Moḥarram rites were celebrated in Luristan over the last 200 years.

However, a few people who have been in Luristan for longer periods of time have left descriptions that might suggest that the tradition was kept alive all along. For instance, Arnold Wilson relates how the evenings during a stay with a local khan were spent, listening to a blind storyteller, who was an inexhaustible source of local politics and history, Lur songs, and extracts from the Šāh-nāma of Ferdowsi, holding the listeners around the fire spellbound for hours by the dramatic modulations of his voice (Wilson, pp. 63-65).

He was succeeded by a sayyed, who first conducted the assembly in prayer and then followed with “a prose narrative of the sad fate of the patron saint of Persia, the martyred Husain, which reduced many of the audience to genuine tears, though it is not yet the month (Muharram) in which his death is called to mind” (Wilson, p. 64).

Carl Feilberg (pp. 144-46) remarks that there is a queer, agitated feeling in the air during Moḥarram, which is more noticeable or conspicuous since there are not many signs of religious fanaticism, but rather a certain degree of tolerance. On the occasion of the “Ḥosayn festival, mollās bring forth banners (ʿalam) from an emāmzāda.

The people circle around the banners, the poles of which are covered in red cloth, while they sing and beat their breast three times, and take their heads in their hands repeatedly. Someone reads the story of Ḥosayn from one end to the other, if possible every hour of the day. A man with a sword is excited to the point of cutting his head. Pieces of cloth are hanging down from banners. Every time someone pays a few coins to the mollā, he receives a shred of the cloth.”

Another observation was made inside the Emāmzāda Šāhzāda Moḥammad in the Holaylān Valley in 1963 (Demant Mortensen, 2010, p. 29). People had come from far away and assembled in the courtyard of the emāmzāda, where on the 8th day of Moḥarram a taʿzia was being performed for hours on end, continuing into the night of the Āšurāʾ. Earlier a procession of flagellants went across the valley floor, from tent camp to tent camp, which at that time of the year (June) was spread over the plain.

These few examples will suffice to show how important aspects of the religion were being taught by illustration and performance among the nomadic population of Luristan. The mental images evoked at a Moḥarram procession, at a rawża-ḵvāni (mourning ritual commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Ḥosayn) or a taʿzia performance are so strong and potent that this kind of “illiterate religion,” as it might conveniently be termed, adds another dimension to the metaphor phrased by Umberto Eco that “images are the literature of the lay-men” (Eco, p. 41).

Nomadic cemeteries with pictorial stelae and tombstones

The nomadic cemeteries of Luristan are nearly all placed near shrines or along old migratory routes. Their inscribed and decorated tombstones and stelae turn them into an important source for the mapping of tribal migrations during the 19th and early 20th century and for our understanding of certain aspects of the religious beliefs and ritual actions of the nomads.

Allusions to the tombstones of Luristan and the motifs they represent include incidental observations by travelers passing through the country in the 19th and early 20th century (e.g., Rawlinson, pp. 53, 57-58; Herzfeld, p. 59; Stark, 1932, p. 504). The topic has later been dealt with by Feilberg (pp. 137-41, figs. 128-31), Wilhelm Eilers, Jørgen Meldgaard, Clare Goff, Leon Vanden Berghe (pp. 19-20 and Pl. VII, figs. 1-2), and Houchang Pourkarim (pp. 54-57, photograph on p. 25). Starting during 1974-77, an extensive, systematic study of nomadic cemeteries in northern Luristan was carried out by a member of the Danish Archaeological Expedition (Demant Mortensen, 1983, 1991, 1996, and 2010).

It seems that most of the nomadic cemeteries in northern Luristan, along with the tribes that they represent, can be traced back to the late 18th or early 19th century.

The earliest known nomadic tombstone, dated 1209/1794, is in the cemetery of Kazābād in the Holaylān valley (Demant Mortensen 2010, p. 167). In a historical context, the emergence of the tombstones coincide with the withdrawal of the viceroy governor (wāli) and his retinue from Khorramabad into Pošt-e Kuh in 1796, a move that was occasioned by the attempt of the first Qajar shah to reduce and weaken his power and authority.

By the end of the 1920s and the early 1930s, there is a dramatic decline in the number of nomadic cemeteries, a picture clearly reflecting the drastic changes forced upon the nomads of Luristan by the policy of Reżā Shah (r. 1924-41). Starting early in the 1920s, Reżā Shah and his army attempted forcibly to “civilize” (taḵta-qāpu), that is, to disarm and settle, the nomadic tribes throughout the country.

By the mid-1930s this policy had resulted in an economic, social, and cultural breakdown of the old tribal structures of Luristan and in a partial cessation of nomadic migrations and of memorial stelae and obelisks at the cemeteries. The latest known pictorial stele, dated 1354/1935, has been registered at the cemetery of Pela Kabud in the Holaylān valley (Demant Mortensen, 2010, pp. 73, 148, fig. 98).

At the cemeteries the graves were usually marked by a horizontal tombstone lying within the frame of stones marking the outline of the grave. In addition, an obelisk or a stele depicting in lively scenes animals and human beings was sometimes erected at the head of the grave (e.g., see Demant Mortensen, 1993, pp. 134, 138, Pls. 6.64, 6.66).

These extraordinary pictorial stones, unique in an Islamic context, were carved and used by the nomads. Like the horizontal tombstones, they were erected for men as well as for women, although more frequently for the men.

The flat-lying gravestones bear an inscription stating the name of the deceased, the name of his or her father, and the name of the tribe to which he or she belonged. The time of death is always mentioned by year, according to the Islamic lunar calendar, and occasionally also by month.

The rank or title of the deceased may also be recorded. In rare cases, a few lines from a poem may be incised along the edge of the tombstone, but apparently never a quotation from the Qurʾan. This would be inappropriate, since people might step on the stones, and sheep and goats and other animals crossing a cemetery might soil the tombstones.

At the base of the stone there is nearly always a field with pictorial symbols that are characteristic of men and women respectively. With unfailing certainty they will indicate whether the deceased was a woman or a man. In the case of women, the symbols will include a comb, a mirror, and a pair of scissors, a symbol designating a carpet, and in a few cases a kohl-pin.

On a man’s tombstone is most often depicted a prayer stone, a string of prayer beads, a washing-set consisting of a ewer and a bowl, and a man’s comb, characterized by its half-circular shape. It appears that the symbols characterizing a woman on the gravestone to all intents and purposes reflect her profane, daily life.

In contrast to this a man is characterized on the gravestones with symbols full of religious connotations meant to turn the thought towards his pious purity: a washing-set, a rosary, and a prayer stone. This emphasis upon the religious aspects of life depicted on the men’s tombstones in a subtle and subconscious way perhaps reflected the Lur’s conception of the role and status in real life, where the men were the external providers and protectors, while the women lived in the private sphere.

Obviously, there is a great difference but it does not follow automatically that there was an evaluation in terms of status attached to the different roles within the tribal community. Wilson (p. 156), who lived a long time among the Lurs, wrote a eulogy of the Lur women, who bear the burden of the day in most senses of the phrase, in the following words. “without a wife a man is as helpless and useless as half a pair of anything else— and [he] knows it.”

In some cases a panel with an enigmatic geometric figure may be found on the gravestones, interspaced usually between the fourth and the fifth line of the inscription. It shows a cross on a square background with a kind of step design on both sides, opening up into tiny “channels” leading out from or into the center. The simplest interpretation of this motif is that it is a purely decorative element.

There is, however, one other possibility: the central motifs are almost identical to the central motifs in the great Persian garden carpets from the 17th and 18th centuries, and to similar motifs seen in many Caucasian carpets and tribal rugs. It is a characteristic feature of these carpet designs that the design is geometrical and that there are channels leading out of, or into, the central motif, precisely as in the medial panels of the gravestones.

In the carpets these channels and pools symbolize the water channels in a garden, or by extension the Garden of Paradise (bāḡ-e behešt). The connection between real, geometrical garden plans, their reproduction in carpets, and the religious conceptions about the Garden of Paradise has often been demonstrated.

Against this background and in a religious context, at nomadic cemeteries, it has been suggested that the geometric motifs of the middle panels on the tombstones, like the central figures of the garden carpets, not only fulfill a decorative purpose, but also contain symbolic connotations, which among the nomads of Luristan would direct the mind towards the Garden of Paradise (Demant Mortensen, 1996, pp. 176-78).

The stelae, which sometimes were erected at the head of the grave, usually have pictures on both sides, showing distinctly different themes. One side, facing the grave, shows scenes from the life of the deceased. A typical motif at a woman’s stele would be a vertical loom with a half-finished carpet, surrounded by two or three women each with a weft-beater in her hand.

The men’s stelae would show a mounted horseman with a small shield over his shoulder, with a lance or gun in his hand and his sword attached to the characteristic high wooden saddle. The rider is often engaged in a hunt, accompanied by two or three tribesmen, each carrying a gun with a fixed bayonet.

The other side of the stelae shows a similar picture, but with marked differences in content. Here the representation is a reflection of rituals associated with death and burial. The horse is rider-less, and it is clearly tethered with a mallet at the head and at the hind leg. The weapons of the deceased, a gun, a sword, and a shield, are tied to the high wooden saddle. Below this scene three women are shown, their arms resting on each other’s shoulders.

The women are probably shown as participants in the funeral procession or doing čupi dance. Singing, wailing, and dancing were practiced by mourning women as part of the burial rites in Luristan throughout the 19th and most of the 20th century. An emotional incident reflecting these rituals is reported by Freya Stark, who in 1931 spent some time in the plains of Ḵāva and Delfān.

She relates how Yusof Khan, a young leader of the Nur-ʿAlis “beloved by all the northern Lurs was taken and executed in Hamadan; his followers, including my guide, lifted his body from the cemetery and brought it to Kermanshah, and then carried it with high wailing dirges four days’ journey to its burial-place at Hulailan” (Stark, 1947, pp. 27-32).

The picture of a riderless horse seems to reflect an old Iranian tradition where the horse of the deceased was brought along in the funerary procession to the cemetery, with the deceased’s turban, his sword, bow and arrows, lance, and in general anything that might serve to identify his standing and strength.

To lead a horse after the hearse or bier at a funeral seems to have been, if not a universal habit, at least a widespread custom also known from Luristan, a reflection, perhaps, of a belief in an afterlife in which the deceased will need the horse and the weapons that he used to have in his life on earth (cf., e.g., Tavernier, p. 722; Quenstedt, pp. 254-56; Demant Mortensen, 2010, pp. 84 ff.).

There is, however, another possible explanation for the riderless horse as it appears on the Luristani stelae. An underlying meaning of the motif might be that the representation of a riderless, equipped horse on the tombstone in the same way as Imam Ḥosayn’s horse is represented in the ʿĀšurāʾ processions during Moḥarram reminds the passer-by of Imam Ḥosayn’s martyrdom, and thus his attentions would automatically be focused on the Day of Judgement and on pious hopes for the afterlife (Demant Mortensen, 1991, pp. 85-86).

As a derivation of this, the intended message could also have been that the person interred in the tomb had been of a pious observation. This seems to be quite a probable explanation and association with the nomadic setting in Luristan in the 19th and early 20th century, as it is indirectly testified by the elegies sung by the wives of the Wāli Ḥosaynqoli Khan on the occasion of his death, ca. 1900 (cf. Mann, pp. 145-52).

Supernatural powers

Apart from the more or less orthodox religious notions, there seems to be a widespread belief in supernatural beings in Iran (cf. e.g., Donaldson, passim; Massé, pp. 351-68). There are, however, considerable regional variations in their occurrence, form, and attributes, and a supernatural being reported in one area may be unknown in another. As far as Luristan is concerned, the most extensive information on this topic has been provided by Amanolahi-Baharvand (pp. 142-78).

According to this source, the Baharvand, and probably a major part of the nomadic tribes of Luristan, have had a dualistic concept of the soul and body. Without the soul the body was nothing, and the soul could leave the body at will, in the form of a flying insect, like a mosquito, with the nose as a passage. It was believed that, when a person is asleep, his soul is out, and when it returns to the body, the person awakes.

It was also believed that everybody has an identical spiritual being in the sky. When someone dies, the soul enters this being or spirit, which descends from heaven into the grave. When the spirit has entered the grave, it will, together with the soul, find the way to the eternal world. On the way, there is a bridge, narrower than a hair, which has to be crossed. When the spirits reach the bridge, they will be met by the sheep that were sacrificed in this world, and these will be ready to carry them across the bridge.

The good ones will have no trouble getting across the bridge, but the bad ones will have serious problems. On the other side of the bridge is the gate to the eternal world, and after Judgement the righteous will go to Paradise, while the wicked are sent to Hell. It was, moreover, believed that the coming of the Mahdi would mean an end to both of these worlds, because it would mean the creation of a completely new universe with freedom and justice for everyone (Amanolahi-Baharvand, p. 148).

This somewhat diverging version of the official eschatology existed alongside a belief in several kinds of personified supernatural beings to which human emotions and feelings were attributed. Above all there is God (Ḵodā), followed by various religious personalities such as ʿAli, Moḥammad, the Imams and emāmzādas, and the local saints and prophets in Luristan. ʿAli is the strongest of all, almost comparable to God, and certainly greater than Moḥammad (Amanolahi-Baharvand, p. 150).

The belief in predestination stems from the concept that God determines the destiny of every human being and all other creatures of the universe, so everything that happens is the will of God. He is the absolute ruler and owner of the universe. He can make people sick, poor, rich, crippled, and blind. He is omniscient and omnipresent, and He has it in His power to destroy everything in an instant if He so wishes.

Although supernatural power or ability is attributed to God and all prophets and Islamic saints, they are in a different category from the other supernatural beings. God is held responsible for death and disease as well as for everything else.

But there is nevertheless, at the same time, a distinction made between natural and supernatural causes of such misfortunes. This seemingly contradictory, and totally irreconcilable, assertion will just have to be accepted, in the same way as those diseases and misfortunes that cannot immediately be understood are attributed to supernatural forces (cf. Amanolahi-Baharvand, pp. 150 ff.).

Dangerous supernatural beings include malakat, which is a local derivation from Arabic, meaning angels (e.g., malak al-mawt, the Angel of Death, often used in the Qurʾanic vocabulary). The Luri concept is somewhat different. It was believed that malakats have all the characteristics of human beings, except that they are invisible and also have the power to change form.

This means that they can and will turn themselves into, for example, a human being, a cat, or a piece of wood. They never die, and they may be found in many places, such as ruins, mountains, and dark corners. They were feared because it was believed that they had the power to make people ill or insane. Sometimes they fell in love with a woman and caused her to behave abnormally.

The malakat might take a person and replace him with an identical malakat. The same might happen with a corpse, so if a body remained unburied overnight, it had to be guarded every minute. If someone is behaving crazily, it is believed that she or he might be possessed by a malakat, and a mollā (cleric) may try to capture it by torturing the afflicted person and thus drive it away (Amanolahi-Baharvand, p. 154).

Other groups of dangerous supernatural beings include the ḡuls and the divs (demons). In folktales the div is described as looking more or less like a human being, only larger and with the capacity of changing its form; it sleeps most of the time, and is often found at the bottom of wells.

Among the Baharvand in Luristan, it is believed that the div no longer exists, but that it has been replaced by another type of demon, which is extremely dangerous. This is a human-like creature, which may inflict injuries and illnesses resulting in death upon a person. In these cases it is beyond the powers of a sayyed or a mollā to help.

The Tofangči (rifleman) is the name given to an invisible hunter with male characteristics. If sudden unexpected deaths take place, it is believed to have been caused by the Tofangči, and if any of the herds were struck, the nomads would immediately migrate to another campsite.

Yāl, otherwise referred to as āl (cf. Donaldson, pp. 28-31; Massé, pp. 44, 356, tr., p. 348), is a supernatural being with the attributes of a female, a kind of witch, often described as four-footed, and with a tail. She is very dangerous for women in labor and is wont to snatch away babies. In Luristan she is known to have only two legs and no tail, but she is very tall and has large teeth. If a woman is attacked by yāl, a yāl-catcher will beat her with a stick in order to tell where the yāl is, and a sheep will be killed and its liver and heart taken to her.

To counterbalance the feared influence of all the malevolent, supernatural demons there is also a belief in a few benevolent creatures. For instance every person is believed to have a baḵt (lit. fate), which is the supernatural guardian of every individual (Donaldson, pp. 175-76).

The baḵt is supposed to be identical with its owner, and it protects his land and property. If someone’s baḵt is active, everything is prosperous for the whole family, the herds increase, and so on; but a baḵt may fall asleep, in which case it takes the form of an animal. If that should happen, all sorts of misery starts, and it is almost impossible to find and wake up the baḵt. If a man is unlucky and, for instance, is losing herds or even children, he may say that his baḵt has fallen asleep.

Another well-known group is the fairies (pari), who are the most beautiful of all supernatural beings and look just like humans. They may marry among themselves and have a social organization and even a king of their own, Šāh-pario, but they may also marry human beings. If this happens, it must be kept a secret; otherwise, the pari will escape.

Many people claim to have seen the paris dancing and singing, and it is possible to capture them when they are bathing in a river, but one must be very quick, jump into the river, and insert a needle into the hair of the pari before she becomes invisible. When the needle is inserted in the hair, the pari becomes the wife of the captor and will always be near him, but at the same time invisible to others. It is possible for such couples to have children, but they are also invisible, except for the father (Amanolahi-Baharvand, pp. 158-60).

It is in the same somewhat shady and ill-defined border area between religion, superstition, and folklore that one may find some impersonal, supernatural forces at work. They might for the sake of clarity be divided into “powers” and “matters” of supernatural character. The supernatural “powers” reckoned with in Luristan include baraka, bahra, rišarr and časm-e bad (Amanolahi-Baharvand, pp. 160 ff.).

Baraka, or blessing, has already been described above, and bahra has something of the same inherited quality. A person could have the bahra, that is the property or capacity of hunting or capturing certain personified, supernatural beings, or curing disorders caused by these. In that case he will nearly always be successful in these matters. Like baraka, it is a good quality, which cannot be used against other people.

The words riḵayr and rišarr are combinations of Luri and Arabic, and they signify a good or benevolent face and an evil face, respectively. Thus it is believed that some people have a “good face” (riḵayr) and they will cause prosperity wherever they appear; on the other hand, if someone on a journey sees an “evil face” (rišarr), he will worry that the journey will be fruitless or even dangerous (Demant Mortensen, 2010, pp. 20-21, 36).

This idea seems to be closely related to the notion of the bad or evil eye, in which there is a widespread belief in most of the Near East. Three main types of evil eyes are recognized in Luristan: čašm-e šur (“envious eye,” lit: “salty eye,” normally permanent), čašme-e nāpāk (“dirty eye,” normally temporary), and čašme-e bad (“bad eye,” normally momentary).

It is a problem that a person with an evil eye may unintentionally cause danger and disaster. The number of causes and cures enumerated, and the amount of time spent in anxiety, fear, and inconvenience caused by this belief is quite striking. Supernatural power may also be obtained through certain acts either of piety or of ceremonial sacrifice of animals.

Certain sayyeds were believed to have obtained supernatural power, partly through their descent from the Prophet, and partly through their own acts. Those who had obtained this status were regarded as next to holy, and with a supernatural power to cure both physical and mental illnesses. People would make an oath by the turban of such a person, or by his copy of the Qurʾan, which was believed to be much more powerful than an ordinary copy (Demant Mortensen, 2010, pp. 36-37).

This is leading to the other category of supernatural forces, that of “matter” or “substance.”

The Qur’an itself is believed to possess enormous supernatural forces, which would keep at bay the many malevolent supernatural beings, and also illnesses.

Objects related to emāmzādas, especially pieces of cloth from banners (ʿalam), protected the bearer from snake bites, harmful supernatural beings, and other dangerous creatures, and every year during Moḥarram the guardians literally took their ʿalams to pieces and distributed them among the people, who would sew them on to their clothing.

Also some trees were regarded as sacred and invested with supernatural power, possibly a concept of pre-Islamic origin.

Often, but not always, they are found close to a shrine, such as the Emāmzāda Šāhzāda Moḥammad in the Holaylān valley (Stein, p. 242).

Hundreds and hundreds of pieces of cloth may be seen hanging on such trees “in greater profusion than leaves” as de Bode puts it (I, p. 283), each representing a vow or wish uttered.

While others might silently wish upon a falling star, these rags of cloth each denote a “visible wish” as it were (Demant Mortensen, 1993, pp. 122-23, Pls. 6.56-57).

In order to remain on friendly terms with the personified supernatural beings surrounding them, and at the same time to protect themselves from all the malevolent powers lurking everywhere, the Lurs employ a complex set of ancient local ceremonies and adapted Islamic rituals, which are almost impossible to disentangle.

Most of the nomads in Luristan would have only a superficial knowledge of Islam, and many religious acts are mixed with older traditions, the origin of which remains obscure.

Sacrifices are normally made either to Imam ʿAli or to the local shrine or emāmzāda, but not directly to God.

Sacrifices are made for different purposes; for instance, at the birth of a first child (son), or people make a vow that they will make a sacrifice if a wish be realized, or if they recover from an illness.

A special kind of animal sacrifice is performed when a person dies (ʿaqiqa). The animal has to be a sheep and more than six months old.

An Arabic formula is whispered in its ear before it is killed. Then it has to be boiled, and the bones buried unbroken. None of the immediate family of the deceased can take part in this meal, as it is believed that the deceased in the next world will be carried across the bridge by the sheep to the gates of the eternal world. In Luristan a special offering (alafa) is also made to the dead annually a few days before the New Year (Nowruz).

The offering consists of sweetmeat (ḥalwā) and bread, and during the preparation of these foodstuffs the names of those deceased in whose memory the meals are being prepared must be mentioned, and they will then receive the sacrifice (Amonolahi-Baharvand, pp. 170-76; Demant Mortensen, 2010, pp. 36-37).

Epilogue

Fredrik Barth (p. 146), following his description of some ceremonies, rituals, games, and beliefs among the Bāṣeri tribe in Fars, reaches the following conclusion about religion: “In general, I feel that the above attempt at an exhaustive description of the ceremonies and explicit practices of the Basseri reveals a ritual life of unusual poverty.”

The same verdict has been passed by almost everybody who has expressed an opinion on this matter as far as the Lurs are concerned. It is hoped, however, that the observations in the preceding pages might help to build a case for the opposite opinion. There was no ritual or religious poverty among the Lurs; on the contrary, the atmosphere was positively crowded with images of supernatural and other beings. The belief in them reflects truly religious notions, although these do not always conform to official doctrines.

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http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/luristan-04-origin-nomadism

http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bronzes-of-luristan

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http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/luristan-bronzes-ii-chronology

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Лурестан

http://etnolog.ru/people.php?id=LURY

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luristan_bronze

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorestan_Province

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lurs