Nowruz the Iranian New Year

Nowruz The Iranian New Year

MARCH 20, 2013

07:01 a.m. EST  06:01 a.m. CST

05:01 a.m. MST  04:01 a.m. PST Where is IRAN?

• Historically known as Persia. • Located in Southwestern Asia. • Borders, by land, the countries of Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, and Turkeministan and by water, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). • You cross the Atlantic Ocean, fly over Europe, and arrive in IRAN. • It is about 650,000 square miles (1.65 million sq km) – the same size as Alaska. • There are over 75 million diverse people living in IRAN.

Here is where Here is we are Iran

• The earliest human presence, the inventors of spears, in the Zagros Mountains of IRAN, date back to 35,000 years ago. • The earliest human settlements in IRAN are dated back to over 10,000 years ago. • IRAN has sustained a form of government and a written history for the past 5,000 years. • Under Cyrus the Great, (around 530 BCE or some 2,500 years ago), IRAN was the largest world empire stretching from India to Africa to Europe. – Today the same area is comprised of 28 countries.

• First charter of human rights • Algebra, Trigonometry, and Algorithm • First teaching hospitals in the world • First postal couriers • Games of Chess, Backgammon, and Polo and the musical instrument, the lute • First banking and taxation system • First bottles of wine, bowls of ice cream, and refrigerators were found in ancient IRAN (Persia) • Many flowers (such as tulips, roses, pussy willows, and herbal species) and fruits (such as grapes, figs, dates, pomegranates, rice and wheat) were first domesticated in IRAN © PAAIA 2013 What does IRAN look like? Spectacularly Breath-taking!

IRAN has sovereignty over the southern part of the largest enclosed body of water in the world, called the IRAN has beautiful mountains. CASPIAN SEA. The tallest is the DAMAVAND MOUNTAIN (over 5 km above sea level).

IRAN has one of the hottest and largest deserts in the world – DASHT-E-LUT.

Spring Summer

Fall Winter © PAAIA 2013 • IRAN has the only calendar that aligns with the seasons. • It is one of the only countries that has consistently used a purely solar-based calendar. • Nowruz is a major annual celebration from a group of four seasonal celebrations: • Spring: Nowruz • Summer: Tirgan • Fall: Mehregan • Winter: Yalda

Persepolis (Shiraz) Mosques (Esfahan)

Massouleh (Rasht) Bridges (Esfahan) © PAAIA 2013 IRAN was the first country to build arches in its buildings.

Tarikh Khaneh (Damghan)

Masjed-e-Shah Mosque (Isfahan)

Ivan-e Kasra (near ancient town of Ctesiphon) © PAAIA 2013 What is the official language of IRAN?

People in Iran speak Persian. It is written like this: فارسی

Let’s try some words in Persian: – Hello - SALAM or DOROUD – Are you well? – KHOOBI or CHETORI? – Thank you! – MERSI or SEPAS – What is your name? – NAMAT CHEEST? – Bye – KHODA-HAFEZ or BEDROUD

• Nowruz, literally, means the “new day” of the New Year in IRAN and many of its surrounding neighbors. • It has been celebrated for thousands of years. • Just like we begin a new year on January 1st of every year, Iranians begin the new year on the first day of spring or • THE VERNAL (SPRING) EQUINOX. • Usually this day falls on or about March 20th. • This year, vernal equinox and Nowruz happen on Wednesday, March 20th. • The celebration begins on this day and lasts for almost two weeks ending on Sizdah Bedar (April’s Fools Day).

• Nowruz is not unique to Iran. • It is also celebrated in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Iraq, Turkish Kurdistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkmenistan,Uzbekistan, Kashmir, Kyrgyzstan, Western China, and some parts of the southern Persian Gulf states. • It is also recognized as a day of celebration by the United Nations, the United States, and Canada.

• Prelude to Nowruz, Charshanbeh Souri is celebrated on the last Tuesday evening (eve of Wednesday) of the year. • Charshanbeh = Wednesday • Soor = Celebration or feast around fire • People make bonfires and jump over them, saying: “my sickly yellow paleness is yours. Your fiery red color is mine!” • It means you want the fire to take your paleness, sickness & problems and give you its redness, warmth, and energy. • Food, such as nuts and pastries (ajill) and refreshments are served.

• Families clean their homes from top to bottom, in and out. • Children and adults buy new clothes and shoes. • Families plan on visiting each other, especially paying tribute to the elders. • Families set a Nowruz Table, called Sofreh Haft-Sin.

• The family sets the table together. • The colorful table includes seven natural organic items whose names begin with the letter S (seen) in Persian. • In Persian, it’s called HAFT SEEN (Seven S’s). • Each “Seen” symbolizes a yearning (something you wish for). • There are also other items on the table that don’t begin with the letter S but have a special meaning.

Apple or SEEB Garlic or SEER (beauty or health) (medicine)

A spice called SUMAC Dried fruit of oleaster (wild olive) tree (beauty or health) or SENJED (beauty or health)

Coins or SEKKEH Holy book or book of poetry Eggs (wealth) (faith) (fertility)

Goldfish Lit candles Mirror (life within life) (enlightenment & happiness) (cleanliness & honesty) © PAAIA 2013 Iran’s national colors (patriotism) Traditional Iranian pastries (sweetness)

Rosewater or GOLAB (believed to have magical cleansing powers)

• Families gather around the Haft-Seen table and countdown to the New Year. • They hug and wish each other a good year • They recite poetry from the traditional poetry books. • They eat sweets. • They spend the day visiting family and friends, beginning with the elders who give the younger family members freshly minted currency.

• Sizdah Bedar usually occurs around April Fool’s Day! • Sizdah = 13 in Persian (considered not to be a lucky number) • Bedar = sending / giving away or going outside • On 13th day of the New Year, families go on a picnic outdoor in the orchards, hillsides, or by the lakes or rivers. They eat and drink, play games and sing songs. • Sabzeh, the green sprout from the Haft Seen table, is thrown into flowing water for continuity of good life wishes.

NOROOZETAN PEEROZ! نوروز پیروز•