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SHAHRZAD (Reżā Kamāl, b. Tehran, 1277 Š./1898; d. Tehran, 1 Šahrivar 1316 Š./11 September 1937), dramatist and translator. Reza Kamal was born to Mirzā Ḥasan Monši Bāši, known as Kamāl Al-Dowla, special secretary to Mirzā Yusof Mostowfi-al-mamālek (1227 Š./1848-9 to 1303 Š./1924-5). Raised in a well-educated and cultured family from a…

SHAHSEVAN (Šāhsevan), name of a number of tribal groups in various parts of northwestern Iran, notably in the Moḡān and Ardabil districts of eastern Azerbaijan and in the Ḵaraqān and Ḵamsa districts between Zanjān and Qazvin. Most of the latter groups also originated in Moḡān (see DAŠT-e MOḠĀN), where Shahsevan…

SHAMANISM AND ITS CONNECTION TO IRAN. Archeological and ethnological sources in Iran do not lead to confirmation of the existence of shamanic practices there, whether ancient or modern. Yet some scholars have tried to find traces of them, based on certain literary data of ancient Zoroastrianism. Two sets of facts…

SHAMI STATUE, from Šāmi, Khuzestan, 1.94 m high, the only intact monumental cast bronze of the Parthian period (BCE ca. 250-226 CE) (Iran Bāstān Museum, Tehran, Museum no. 2401; Figure 1). The bronze statue depicting a male figure with a commanding presence was found by the residents of the small…

SHATT al-ARAB (ŠAṬṬ al-ʿARAB), name given to the ca. 200 km long, 400-1500 m wide (Rzóska, p. 47), combined effluent of the Euphrates and Tigris below Qurna, to which the Karun (Kārūn) contributes from Khorramshahr (Ḵorramšahr; formerly, until 1937, Moḥammara) southward. The name derives from Arabic šaṭṭ “bank, side” ,…

Shaydā – az ğam-e ‘ešq-e to title Shaydā – az ğam-e ‘ešq-e to genre/topic Tasnif in Dastgāh-e Segāh language   performer ‘Abdollāh Davāmi instrument Voice  composer   author/poet Shaydā  first line of poem  az ğam-e ‘ešq-e to, ey sanam recorded by   place of recording   date of recording  …

SHAYKHISM (ŠAYḴIYA), a school of Imamite Shi‘ism founded at the beginning of the 13th/19th century. ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION Shaykhism is a religious school of Twelver Shiʿism whose founding is attributed to Shaikh Aḥmad Aḥsāʾi (d. 1241/1826; Figure 1).  Born in the eastern Arabian peninsula, Aḥsāʾi studied in the ʿatabāt (Shiʿite…

SHEYBANI, MANUCHEHR (Manučehr Šeybāni, b. Kashan, 1924; d. Tehran, 20 Ābān 1370 Š./9 November 1991; Figure 1, Figure 2) poet, painter, filmmaker, and dramatist. LIFE Manuchehr Sheybani was the grandson of the noted poet of the Qajar era Fatḥ-Allāh Khan Šeybāni (1825-1890). He lost his father at the age of…

SHIELD in Eastern Iran In Lurestan, a round bronze shield was found, which has a skirting along the edge, an umbo in the center, and relief depictions of fantastic creatures. This shield, datable to the 10th century BCE, is one of the most ancient of the metal shields found in…

SHIR-E SHIAN (Šir-āšiān), a prehistoric site located 15 km southwest of Damghan (Dāmḡān) in northeastern Iran. The site was first discovered by Erich F. Schmidt (1897-1964) in his 1931 survey of the Damghan region, and then excavated in July of 1932. The site was again identified by Kathryn Trinkhaus in…

SHIRAZ ARTS FESTIVAL.  For eleven consecutive years, beginning in 1967, a festival of arts, known in Persian as Jašn-e honar, took place in Shiraz and the nearby remains of the ancient imperial city of Persepolis.  The Festival owed its conception to the ideas put forth by the queen of Iran,…

SHIRAZ i. HISTORY TO 1940 The city of Shiraz has been the capital of the province of Fārs since the Islamic conquest, succeeding Eṣṭaḵr of the Sasanian period and Persepolis of the Achaemenid days. Renown for its gardens, wine, and poets, it has also received at times the titles of the Seat…

SHIRVANLU, Firuz (Firuz Širvānlu, b. Mashad, September 1938; d. Tehran, January 1989), art critic, scholar, and artist, who played an instrumental role in the creation and management of several museums and cultural centers in the 1960s and 1970s. He was the son of Reżā Shirvanlu, a high-ranking military officer, and…

SHIʿITE DOCTRINE. Shiʿite doctrine is usually considered to be based on five principles. The first three, called “the principles of religion” (oṣul al-din; a somewhat ambiguous ascription which may also mean “theology”; Gimaret EI ²), are fully shared with Sunnism: belief in the unity of God (tawḥid); in the mission…