Posted by Rachel | Posted in Gourmet Coffee | Posted on 27-01-2009
Tags: greek, greek traditional clothing, greek traditional costume, greek traditional dance, greek traditional food, greek traditional music, music, pies, recipes, traditional
History of Greek medicine
During the past 17 years, the primary victims of the clerical dictatorship have been the people of Iran themselves. The havoc caused by the utter incompetence of the ruling mullahs in Tehran has brought such tremendous harm to the socio-economic and international dignity of Iran that at times the people of Iran are blamed for and even equated with the short-sighted policies of their so-called leaders. The voluminous work of such well known Western scholars as Dr. Arthur Upham Pope, Dr. Edward Browne and numerous other Iranologists have objectively shed a bright light on the historical, artistic and scientific accomplishments of this benevolent nation. However, today and sadly enough, terms such as “terrorist“, “rogue” and “outlaw“, which are pertinent only to the behavior of the despotic mullahs, are inadvertently uttered to describe 67 million Iranians. To abate such grave misconceptions, in this issue, we will put our focus on a fraction of the prodigious contributions of Iran to the world civilization.
When we study the scientific and philosophic books of the Islamic period we are surprised to find that the origin of most of the science and technological developments are attributed to the Greeks. The reason for this complete surrender to the hegemony of the Greeks in the East, was that the Muslim Scientists and men of letters had not found any books pertaining to sciences in Iran and other parts of the Middle East and whatever there was, had a Greek stamp on it. Nonetheless, we have to bear in mind that, the historians of old also admitted that most of the scientific books of the East were collected in Iran and Mesopotamia by the order of Alexander, and after translation into Greek, the originals were destroyed. Also we know from history, as related by Ibn-Khaldun that when Iran was conquered by the Arabs, a large number of books and libraries were found. An Arab warrior, Sa’ad Ibn Waqas wrote to Caliph Omar about these and asked if they could be sacked and distributed among the Muslims. Omar wrote back that: “All these books should be washed in water and destroyed because if they are books teaching guidance, the Almighty has already sent us a better guidance through Koran, and if they are books leading us astray, may the Almighty save us from their evil teachings.”
It should be realized also, that ever since the conquest of Iran, Caliphs and their Arab retinues had a real fear of Iranian uprising and national resurgence and so they were very much against listening to anything of interest in the domain of science and philosophy coming from Iranians, and so the latter were always forced to present themselves and their ideas behind the screen of Greek philosophers in order to bring their own theories and views to be heard.
Periscien, who was one of the six Greek philosophers who came as refugees to Iran in 529 A.D., wrote the following revealing words in the preface of the book he especially prepared for Khosrow I, (Anushirvan): “When I present to you this philosophical book I have done nothing but to offer you a fruit that I have gleaned from your own garden. It is in the same fashion that people make a sacrifice to Gods from among their own creatures.” In fact most of the Greek authors in classical times considered themselves as heirs and successors of the Eastern sages, especially of the Iranian Prophet, Zoroaster (Zarathustra).
According to the Greek tradition, Zoroaster patronised a series of sciences in Greece, such as asrtology, botany and alchemy. The reason behind this attribution is that in pre-Islamic Iran, science grew in the shadow of the Zoroastrian fire-temples and individuals did not imprint their names upon each new discovery or invention. All these were collected and kept in the libraries attached to the fire-temples, and thus, the Greeks who received most of their information from the Magi (the priests) considered them as the works of Zoroaster himself.
The God of the Universe
The belief in one sole impersonal God who has created the world penetrated into Greece through Iran. Herodotus corroborates this when he says that: “the Persians have no images of the Gods, no temples nor altars, and consider their use a sign of folly. This comes, I think, from their not believing the Gods to have the same nature as men, as imagined by the Greeks.”
Marcus Cicero, the Roman statesman and author, tells us that: “the Greeks like us [Romans], had images and Statues for their Gods, but Iranians were against worshipping idols and for that reason when Xerxes [Khshayaarshan in Old Persian] conquered Greece, he ordered the Statues of the Gods of Greeks to be destroyed and their temples to be burned. Xerxes believed that the God of the universe has no special place of residence and one cannot imprison him in the form of an idol in one limited place.”
Judaic and Christian religions were greatly influenced by the pre-Islamic religions of Iran, such as Mithraism, Mazdaism (Zoroastrianism), and Manichaeism.
The Darius Canal
Insofar as their engineering prowess, Iranians built magnificent water ways, canals and bridges. In fact Darius ordered that the Mediterranean be connected to the Red Sea (in Herodotus’ terminology- the Arabian Gulf) by digging a canal, connecting through the Nile, the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. the Darius canal started somewhere above the Bubastis, joined the Nile river and after passing through the Wadi of Tumulat near the present Suez, joined the Red Sea, thus connecting Europe to Asia by the sea. This canal was from two points of view very important to the Iranians. First, it helped the movement of armies between the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean, to the Mediterranean fields of action and vice versa, secondly it helped to increase the commercial transactions between these areas via an inexpensive means of transport. Once it was finished, Darius ordered a special Memorial Tablet in 4 languages to be erected in commemoration of such an event. This Tablet, was discovered 130 years ago in Shaluf-al-Torabeh situated about 20 miles west of the current Suez Canal.
Colleges and Universities
The Achaemenid kings promoted the founding of various colleges throughout the width and breath of their vast Empire. One such college was the one Darius ordered Osaharis Nitti, the Egyptian, to build in Sais. On the Statue of this man, that is kept in the Vatican Museum, it is written: “By order of Darius, the Great King, I founded the faculty of Medicine in Sais and provided it with books and the young men were sent there to study medicine. Because thus was the order of the Great King of Persia who propogated the medicine in order to heal the patients.” Another very important Iranian university we know about is Gondi Shapur. This college comprised of a medical school, and a hospital dating back to Shapur I (271 A.D.). About this university, Dr. Cyril Elgood in his book:’The Medical History of Persia‘ states: “Here is found the ideal of modern medicine, study of current methods, modification through experience, and publication for the use of others.”
Truth and Justice
Justice has been the corner stone of the Iranian political philosophy. The ideal rulers of Iran were all just and right in their dealings with their subjects. The virtues of Truth and Justice were much emphasized by Darius and extolled in several of his inscriptions. They paid great importance to the efficient administration of justice. Xenophon, records what Cyrus the Great says to Cambyses and Bardia, his sons, in his death-bed about the importance of following the path of righteousness and justice: “The everlasting God above, who beholds all things, with whom is all power, who upholds the order of this universe, unmarred, unaging, unerring, unfathomable in beauty and in splendor, fear Him my sons, and never yield to sin or wickedness, in thought, in word, or in deed. And after the Almighty, I would have you revere the whole race of man, as it renews itself for ever; for God has not hidden you in the darkness and your deeds will be manifest in the eyes of all mankind, and if they be righteous and free from iniquity, they will blazen forth your power; but if you meditate evil against each other you will forfeit the confidence of every man.“
Art and Culture
In the domain of Art and Culture, Iranian contribution to classical culture of Europe and Asia is quite notable. As the late American scholar, Professor Arthur Upham Pope states: “The Iranian contributions to classical culture, though as yet imperfectly determined, were definite and fundamental.” According to Dr. P. Avery: “With the dissemination of the Mithraism in Europe, Iran achieved a remarkable hold over Western Europe…researches have still more fully to show the ascendancy of Iranian moral and spiritual ideas over the people of Europe and the Levant in the days immediately preceding the establishment of official Christianity…But Iran’s influence in Europe did not end with the termination of Roman power there. The work of modern scholars is beginning to prove that the origin of many fundamental European attitudes of mind and literary forms were in fact Iranian. The Manichean influence was of course important but other channels must also have been open. It is interesting to speculate on how much chivalry, for instance, with its institutions of courtly love, may owe its origin to Iran. Chivalry was so important in saving civilization in Europe from total Eclypse.”
In reference to the Iranians’ love for beauty, Dr. Donald Wilber in his book ‘Persian Gardens and Garden Pavilions‘ states: “Because the Persians were so fond of gardens and flowers, they took steps to recreate a floral atmosphere during inclement seasons. The manner in which artificial flowers and trees were made and used is a subject in itself…One Persian manuscript, in the India office Library at London, gives directions for making artificial flowers.”
About the Author
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