EPISODE · Mar 19, 2025 · 2H 18M
S2E5 | Nowruz History: Centennial of Iran's Solar Calendar
from Scholars Unravel Middle East · host Adel Aali, History Behind News Program
This is the story of (1) the king who invented Nowruz for the Guarded Domains of Iran, (2) the calendar system that survived the demise of religions and destructions of empires, (3) the solar calendar with the most accurate calculation of spring equinox before the atomic calendar, (4) the Book of Kings that narrated the mythology of Nowruz, and (5) nostalgia for Iran's pre-Islamic Persian glory. In this interview, we discuss Nowruz and Iran's solar calendar in the context of Achaemenids, Persepolis, Egyptians, Parthians, Sasanians, Abbasids, Samanids, Seljuks, Safavids, Qajars, Pahlavis and the Islamic Republic. We also talk about the conflict between Iran's solar and lunar calendars that was finally resolved in 1925. Other calendars we discuss include the Coptic Calendar, Hijri Calendar, Yazdgerdi Calendar, Jalai Calendar and Shahanshahi calendar. 🚩About My Guest: My guest is Dr. Abbas Amanat, professor Emeritus of History at Yale University. Dr. Amanat has written extensively about early modern and modern history of Iran, the Middle East, the Muslim world and the Persianate world. In this interview, we discuss Dr. Amanat's forthcoming book: Solar Calendar and the Place of Nowruz in the Iranian Cultural Identity.You can learn more about Dr. Amanat and his extensive research and publications here: https://history.yale.edu/people/abbas-amanat. 🚩Other Related Interviews: Here is my two-part interview with Dr. Khodad Rezakhani: ►Are they Iranians or Persians? 🎧 https://bit.ly/UME-S1E11► How a palace coup effectively ended the Sasanian Persian Empire 🎧 https://bit.ly/UME-S1E12I hope you enjoy these episodes. Adel Aali Support My Program: I rely on your support to continue this program. So thank you in advance. 🎶Music attributions: 1. Opening and closing music of the program: Santur: Peyman Heydarian playing on the Santur some Iranian music. Recorded with a Sony PCM-D50 at the School of Oriental and African Studies of London on April 7th 2011. Music available on at https://freesound.org/people/xserra/sounds/125654/Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0 DEED) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This music has been cut in shorter pieces and its volume has been adjusted in different portions of our program. 2. Background music to guest introduction: The Desert | The Grand Scorehttps://www.free-stock-music.com/alexander-nakarada-the-desert.htmlThe Desert | The Grand Score by Alexander Nakarada (CreatorChords) | https://creatorchords.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified. 3. Background music to promoting History Behind News episodes: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon. Musicpromoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.
What this episode covers
This is the story of (1) the king who invented Nowruz for the Guarded Domains of Iran, (2) the calendar system that survived the demise of religions and destructions of empires, (3) the solar calendar with the most accurate calculation of spring equinox before the atomic calendar, (4) the Book of Kings that narrated the mythology of Nowruz, and (5) nostalgia for Iran's pre-Islamic Persian glory. In this interview, we discuss Nowruz and Iran's solar calendar in the context of Achaemenids, Persepolis, Egyptians, Parthians, Sasanians, Abbasids, Samanids, Seljuks, Safavids, Qajars, Pahlavis and the Islamic Republic. We also talk about the conflict between Iran's solar and lunar calendars that was finally resolved in 1925. Other calendars we discuss include the Coptic Calendar, Hijri Calendar, Yazdgerdi Calendar, Jalai Calendar and Shahanshahi calendar. 🚩About My Guest: My guest is Dr. Abbas Amanat, professor Emeritus of History at Yale University. Dr. Amanat has written extensively about early modern and modern history of Iran, the Middle East, the Muslim world and the Persianate world. In this interview, we discuss Dr. Amanat's forthcoming book: Solar Calendar and the Place of Nowruz in the Iranian Cultural Identity.You can learn more about Dr. Amanat and his extensive research and publications here: https://history.yale.edu/people/abbas-amanat. 🚩Other Related Interviews: Here is my two-part interview with Dr. Khodad Rezakhani: ►Are they Iranians or Persians? 🎧 https://bit.ly/UME-S1E11► How a palace coup effectively ended the Sasanian Persian Empire 🎧 https://bit.ly/UME-S1E12I hope you enjoy these episodes. Adel Aali Support My Program: I rely on your support to continue this program. So thank you in advance. 🎶Music attributions: 1. Opening and closing music of the program: Santur: Peyman Heydarian playing on the Santur some Iranian music. Recorded with a Sony PCM-D50 at the School of Oriental and African Studies of London on April 7th 2011. Music available on at https://freesound.org/people/xserra/sounds/125654/Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0 DEED) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This music has been cut in shorter pieces and its volume has been adjusted in different portions of our program. 2. Background music to guest introduction: The Desert | The Grand Scorehttps://www.free-stock-music.com/alexander-nakarada-the-desert.htmlThe Desert | The Grand Score by Alexander Nakarada (CreatorChords) | https://creatorchords.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified. 3. Background music to promoting History Behind News episodes: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon. Musicpromoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.
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S2E5 | Nowruz History: Centennial of Iran's Solar Calendar
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