Mexico Reading: Shadows in the Desert - Ancient Persia at war

SHADOWS IN THE DESERT: Ancient Persia at war
By Dr. Kaveh Farrokh

This book is an interesting catalog of Persian military history, but it is far more than that. I have long been a fan of neglected central Asian ancient history, beginning with my boyhood fascination with Alexander the Great and the previous conflicts with the Persian Empire. However, I had become aware that there is a lot more to it than that.

A great deal more, actually.

This book charts the early beginnings of the settlement and organization of Persian society. Actually, these are the Aryans, not of Hitler’s imagination, but of historical reality. The word Iran actually comes from the origin of these Aryan peoples. They dominated the center of Asia, and spilled out through the Caucasus and into the Ukraine. The Persian title comes from the coastal province of Persis.

The book tells the story of three great empires, often quite neglected. They are largely neglected because of the Alexander effect (as if these three empires did not even exist after Alexander’s defeat of the first one) and the constant historical focus on Rome. The reality was that Rome was a constant opponent of Persia, and never really defeated it. No Persian monarch was ever marched behind an imperial Roman chariot, and no Persian capital was ever sacked by the Romans. For five centuries Rome tried to crush Persia and failed. No Persian army ever surrendered to Rome.

The three empires cover an immense period of time. The first was that of the Achaemenids, famous for producing Cyrus the Great, Darius the Great, Xerxes and the eventual fall to Alexander under the rule of Darius III. At its height it ruled from India to Greece and also ruled Egypt. After the conquest by Alexander the region was governed by his associated and they called themselves the Seleucids.

The Seleucids could not remain dominant for long and eventually the second great Persian empire, that of the Parthians, came into power. They ate away at and eventually replaced the Hellenized Seleucids. The Parthians were more than a match for the Romans, who poured military forces into the Parthian realm (stretching from Antioch to the end of the Persian Gulf) and suffered only occasional advances and many crushing defeats. During this time the city of Ctesiphon near to Babylon and current Baghdad became the capitol.

The Parthian empire was replaced by that of the Sassanians, a group that could do what Rome had failed to do, defeat the Parthians. The Sassanians continued their struggle with Rome and Byzantium, and could more than hold their own. A number of huge Roman forces were destroyed trying to conquer Sassanian Persia. Under the rule of Khosrow II the empire grew to again stretch from India to Byzantium and included Egypt. This empire, however, was clearly overstretched, and because of the eroding wars with Rome and others, had become weak. Thus, as the Arabians and their new religion of Islam were setting about on their mission to conquer the world, they were able to take advantage of the Sassanian overstretch and conquer the Sassanians.

The military technology story of these eras was mainly one of archers and heavy cavalry. The developments of archery as part of organized warfare, gave the Persians countless advantages, especially in the use of the “Parthian shot.” Even more dominant was the role of the Persian cavalry, known as the Savaran, who became steadily heavier and more armored and adopted new and innovative techniques of thrust, withdrawal and flanking maneuvers. These are all well documented in this book, complete with excellent illustrations, photos and maps.

The part of the book that made it all worth my time on the porch in Mexico was the last section, which dealt with the many contributions that these three Persian empires has made to global culture that have been largely ignored. Certainly, the above two factors (Alexander and Rome) can explain part of this, but there was been a huge realignment of western study of Persian history and influence since the change of vents in 1980 and the rise of the current Iranian state. Departments have been changed, some phased out, and new works suddenly silent about a rich history of contributions. Dr. Farrokh does an excellent job of trying to document and recover from these events without becoming unscholarly.

He documents some of the huge contributions of these three Persian empires to human culture. Many of these accomplishments were shared with the relatively uncultured Arabs who had conquered the Sassanians. Here are just a few of them.
The Persians originated jousting contests between mounted knights that became so popular in Middle Ages Europe. In fact, the idea of chivalry and even the “Round Table” of knights was originated by the Persian Pahlavi knights.
The great Greek classics had been copied and preserved by the Persians, who had a strong love of scholarship and learning. These works were shared with the Muslims who reintroduced them to Europe through Spain. We read some works of Aristotle and Plato today because of this.
Iranian architects laid out and designed the current city of Baghdad,
Persian mathematics allowed for algebra, the algorithm, the use of Hindu numerals, the zero, sine theorem, tangets and calculated the value of pi far beyond hat others had done.
The first accurate measuring ruler came from Persia 5000 years ago, as did the first pen.
Iranian chemists discovered sulfuric acid and alcohol.
The Iranians formulated a theory of the Earth rotating the Sun in the year 1000.
Iranian advances in zoology, botany, pharmacy, mineralogy and lithology paved the way for European advances in textiles, explosives and perfumes.
While a Greek named Heron had invented the windmill, it was the Iranians who redesigned and perfected it, with that form being spread to Spain and reaching England by 1137.
The Persian empire invented the hospital, and pioneered developments in medicine. Their medical techniques were judged superior to that of the Greeks and Hindus. By 1160 there were over 61 hospitals in Baghdad.
The Persians developed surgery techniques for removing kidney stones and doing abdominal surgery.
Medical textbooks written by Zacharia Razi and Abu Ali Sina became standard texts once they reached Europe, demonstrating the use of animal gut for stitching and plaster of Paris for casts.
European holy relics were for centuries only thought to be properly stored when wrapped in fabrics of Persian origin, made from Chinese silks but woven in Persia.
Many learned Sassanians fled to China following the Arab conquest. They were welcome and sponsored by the Chinese emperor and forced long-lasting communities. A distinct Sino-Persian style developed. This artistic influence quickly spread to Japan.
Inside the Chinese imperial palace at Chang’An, Iranian music was held in high esteem, persons of rank were honored by being served Persian foods and women competed with one another in wearing Persian costumes.
The Persian garden was introduced to China, copied there and then spread to Japan. The Nara court of Japan avidly copied Persian styles they learned from China.
The first Caucasian to visit Japan was probably Li Mi I, a Persian, in about 740.
Sassanian designs were very common in Japanese glass bowls, metallic ewers, the Japanese lute and brocades featuring Parthian archers.
Persian music spread to Arabia, Spain, the Caucasus and China. A Sassanian bowls shows the first ever depiction of the bagpipes so common in Scotland, Flutes, mandolins and castanets were Persian exports. Flamenco seems to be a combination of Dorian Greek and Kurdish Persian musical styles.
The Aya Sofia mosque in Istanbul has a depiction of the Byzantine empress Theodora welcoming Persian musicians. The Indian sitar has its origins in Persia. Current Arabic musical scales are taken from Persia.
The Persia “pipa” morphed into the European guitar.
The European harpsichord was combined with the Persian santur to become the piano, copying the ability to muddle the vibrating string by letting up on the keys.
Parthian traders were actively exchanging goods with southeast Asia. During the Sassanian era there was direct trade with Chinese coastal provinces. They got there centuries before the Europeans.
Persian books were translated and venerated by the Champa people of Cambodia. The Orang Bani people of southern Vietnam claim decent from the Persian ruler Koshrow I.
Most of the valorized Arabic mariners and explorers were actually Persians, because of their advanced seafaring tradition. Zanzibar and Malabar are communities that have Persian names on the coast of Africa, established by their mariners. Likewise with the name Tangiers.
The leading Arabic book on horses and equestrian arts notes in the introduction that it is copied from the original Persian text.

Many of us know that the Arab Muslims shared with Europe many pieces of literature and scientific concepts. What we may not know is that the vast majority of this was not Arab at all, but Persian. The 14th century Arab historian Kaldun, known as the “Herodotus of the Arabs,” put it this way:

It is a remarkable fact that, with few exceptions, most Muslim scholars have been non-Arabs. [In fact] all of them were of Persian descent, they invented rules of Arabic grammar, great jurists were Persians, only the Persians engaged in the tasks of preserving knowledge and writing scholarly works. Intellectual sciences were the preserve of the Persians, left alone by the Arabs, who did not cultivate them, as was the case with all the crafts.

It is possible to be suspicious of all of the claims made in this book. Even giving a decent amount of overstatement, the conclusions are impressive. The earlier part of the book is fastidiously documented, and when sources disagree they are both presented in an impartial way. I am not sure that the author would change his method so drastically from one section of historical research to the other.

The author concludes with this statement:

The Iranians have left their cultural, artistic, scientific, theological and political imprint on the great peoples of history. This legacy has yet to be fully appreciated and has been commemorated in silence.