Looking to Iran of Yesteryear
to Understand the Iran of Today
Photo: Elias Pirasteh
Persepolis: Ruins of the ancient Persian capital
Slightly off the political trail but fully pertinent nonetheless amid today’s saber rattling, the August issue of National Geographic features a fascinating look at the Iranian nation — largely through the prism of its rich and storied past as (ready for this?) the world’s first real superpower.
Remarkably, the noble concept of religious diversity and tolerance apparently first took root in the land we know today as Iran, during the reign of the ancient Persian Empire’s Cyrus the Great.
“…Cyrus, reputedly a brave and humble good guy, freed the enslaved Jews of Babylon in 539 b.c., sending them back to Jerusalem to rebuild their temple with money he gave them, and established what has been called the world’s first religiously and culturally tolerant empire. Ultimately it comprised more than 23 different peoples who coexisted peacefully under a central government…”
– National Geographic
Encompassing the modern-day countries of Iran, Iraq, Israel, Pakistan, Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan and numerous other -stans, to name a few, this empire of more than 2,500 years ago in many ways seems far more advanced and civilized than the Iran we know today.
Let’s hope that the annals of history one day will regard the present Iranian theocracy as just a passing phase. Let’s also hope that if even a fraction of its former fabled military might ever is restored, it is through a tolerant, cosmopolitan civilization rather than the primitive hard-line regime now in power. Otherwise, perhaps the world is better off with the Iran of today than that of yesterday.
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