Explore Iranica

SANJANA, Darab Dastur Peshotan (b. Bombay, 18 November 1857; d. Bombay, 5 August 1931), Zoroastrian head-priest and scholar. He was the son of one of the most learned high-priests and best authorities on Pahlavi of his time, Dastur Peshotanji Behramji Sanjana (1828-98), who taught his son the Avesta and Pahlavi…

SANJAR SHAH, an archeological site in Tajikistan. In 1946 a team of Soviet orientalists surveyed the foothills of the Zarafshan (Zarafšān) mountain ridge in northern Tajikistan for archeological monuments. During their second campaign of 1947, the expedition reached the estuary of the Magiān-daryā (River of the Magi) near the settlement…

SANJAR, Aḥmad b. Malekšāh, Abu’l-Ḥāreth, Moʿezz-al-donyā-wa’l-din, Amir-al-moʾmenin, Burhān (b. Rajab 477/Nov. 1084 or Rajab 479/Oct. 1086; d. 552/1157-8), first subordinate sultan of Khorasan (r. 490-511/1097-1118) and then Great Sultan of the Great Saljuq empire (r. 511-52/1118-57). Sanjar was born, probably in 479/1086, in Sinjār, a town located in the borderland…

SAN’ATIZADEH KERMANI, Homayun (Homāyun Ṣanʿatizāda Kermāni, b. Tehran, 1925; d. Kermān, 2009), 20th century entrepreneur, man of letters, publisher, and founding manager of Moʾassasa-ye entešārāt-e Ferānklin (see Franklin Book Program), who played an instrumental role in the introduction of modern publishing industries in Iran. San‘atizadeh was born into a prominent family…

SAOŠYANT, a term in Zoroastrianism sometimes rendered as “savior” (Bartholomae). This approximation of the meaning, in eschatological contexts only, has the disadvantage of associations with Christian theology. Since the term also occurs frequently in reference to contemporary individuals, including Zoroaster, a more neutral translation such as “benefactor” (e.g., Darmesteter; Humbach…

Šāpur I i. History ii. The Great Statue iii. The Rock Reliefs   Šāpur II    

ŠĀPUR I, second Sasanian king of kings (r. 239-70) and author of several rock-reliefs and the trilingual inscription on the walls of the so-called Kaʿba-ye Zardošt [ŠKZ]. i. History The name. Three Sasanian king of kings and a number of notables of the Sasanian and later periods were called “Šāpur.”…

ŠĀPUR I  Rock Reliefs Seven rock reliefs from the time of Šāpur I are preserved, all situated in Fārs: Naqš-e Rajab I and III, Naqš-e Rostam VI, Bišāpur I to III and Dārābgerd. Apart from the two reliefs at Naqš-e Rajab, they are either focused on, or at least include,…

ŠĀPUR I The Great Statue The great statue of Šāpūr I stands in the so-called cave of Šāpur, a huge limestone cave in southern Iran (Figure 1), about 6 km from the ancient city of Bišāpur. The cave of Šāpūr contains two different sectors. Sector A encompasses the entrance area…

ŠĀPUR II (r. 309-79 CE), the longest reigning monarch of the Sasanian dynasty (224-651 CE). Legend has it that the courtiers and the clergy placed the crown on the womb of his mother when she was pregnant (Ḥamza Eṣfahāni, p. 50; Mojmal, p. 34), thus rendering him king literally from…

SĀQI-NĀMA (Book of the Cupbearer), a poetic genre in which the speaker, seeking relief from his hardships, losses, and disappointments, repeatedly summons the sāqi (Arazi; Hanaway; Soucek) or cupbearer to bring him wine and the moḡanni or singer to provide a song. The prototypical form of the genre—an independent poem…

Sāqi-nāme in Dastgāh Māhur title Sāqi-nāme in Dastgāh Māhur genre/topic Sāqi-nāme in Dastgāh Māhur language   performer Mahumd Karimi instrument   composer   author/poet Hāfez first line of poem  Biyā sāqi ān mey ke hāl āvarad recorded by   place of recording   date of recording   duration 1:09 source…

SAQQĀ-ḴĀNA HISTORY, term referring to public water dispensers. Public water dispensers were, and in some places still are, a feature of some large institutional buildings, typically mosques, shrines, and bazaars in Iran, serving travelers, workers, and passers-by (FIGURE 1; FIGURE 2). Famous saqqā-ḵānas included the one in the boqʿa-ye Šayḵ…

SAQQĀ-ḴĀNA SCHOOL OF ART Referring to a contemporary art movement in Iran, the appellation was first used in 1962 by Karim Emami (Emāmi; 1930-2005), the art critic, journalist, and lecturer in English at the Tehran College of Decorative Arts (Honarkada-e honar-hāy-e tazʾini). It was initially applied to the works of…

SAQQEZ, a semifluid resin obtained from cuts and cracks of the wild pistachio trees, Pistacia mutica Fisch and C. A. Mey, and Pistacia lentiscus L., of the Anacardiaceae family, found in its natural habitats in Iran, more abundantly in the western region (Karimi, p. 581; Van).  These small trees are called…