Shah 'Abbas ( in blue hat) receives Moghul emissary
After the downfall of the Abbasid Caliphate, 1258 C.E. (courtesy of the Mongols and their siege weapons), Persia (present-day Iran) remained a fragmented region. However, in the XVI century, Shah Abbas united Persia creating the Safavid Empire- and a second golden age of culture began for Iran. The report from the BBC titled "Iranian Treasures Bound for Britain" (click to read), exposes a current negotiation between the British and Iranian government over a loan of artifacts for an exhibition to be held in England named "Shah 'Abbas: The Remaking of Iran." The interesting part of the article is the negotiation between both governments regarding the artifacts. As you know, present-day Iran is closed-country, specially for Western powers like the U.K..
I want you to reflect upon the significance of the artifacts mentioned in the negotiation, and also consider what message may the exhibition itself convey about the Safavid past in contrast with the present policy of the country. Everyone should post by C-day.
10 comments:
Direct quote form article
"Created on the orders of Cyrus the Great, the Persian king who invaded Babylon and freed the people from slavery and tyranny, the clay object is a sort of 2,500-year-old Middle East roadmap.
The tiny cuneiform lettering records, in Babylonian, how every man, woman and child would now be free to practice their culture and religion.
The declaration, made in 539 BC, allowed the Jews, who'd been enslaved by Nebuchadnezzar after the destruction of Jerusalem, to return home."
This fragment shows how Cyrus was a tolerant ruler and allowed people to practice their beliefs and gave women more rights. Because Cyrus was as tolerant as he was, he became a successful and powerful ruler. I think that the Iranians should learn from their past because they will end up like the Chinese if they continue to keep their country closed. By keeping themselves almost completely unaware of what's going on in the world, they are limiting their technological advances and other innovations.
The exhibit will most definitely remind them of their past and hopefully they will learn from it and soon enough open their country. Luckily, they have a large oil supply which will help them to stay stable, but sooner or later, they are going to need something that they don't have and will eventually open their country, once again. But the sooner the better, so that they don't end up behind and are suffering the effects for a long period of time in the future, as is China.
SOPHIE:
ARE YOU REFERING TO CHINAS CURRENT DAY STATUS OR CHINA IN THE MIG DYNASTY?
BECAUSE ACTUALLY CHINA IS DOING QUITE WELL REGARDLESS OF THEIR "CLOSED POLICY... THEY ARE MAJOR EXPORTERS AND NOW DUE TO COMMUNICATIONS THEY ARE SUPER ADVANCED WITH WAR TECHNOLOGIES... BEFORE IT WAS NECESSARY TO DO TRADE BUT NOW WITH COMMUNICATIONS I DONT BELIEVE A COUNTRY COULD FALL SO FAR BEHIND OTHER THAN ECONOMIC REASONS OR FAMINE OR SOMETHING DRASTIC....
ALSO, OIL DOESNT PROMOTE STABILITY IT ACTUALLY PROMOTES CONFLICT, THE ONLY BENEFIT IS ECONOMICAL
NEVER THE LESS
- I THINK THAT IT IS GOING TO BE INEVITABLE FOR IRAN TO BECOME OPEN TO THE OUTSIDE NATIONS. THESE ARTIFACTS PROMOTE, AS SOPHIE SAID, TO RE-OPEN THEIR NATION.
- THE ARTIFACTS ARE IMPORTANT BECAUSE THEY ARE CREATING A BOND/ TIE BETWEEN ENGLAND AND IRAN.
- IT IS PEACEFUL ( AS IN IT WILL HELP MINISCULE THE CONFLICTS)
well i think that Iran may be planning on becoming an open-country like its past empires. the exhibition might just be a little start for their plan to become an open-country. it's hard to beleive since Islam is currently so assertive, but the government could be realizing that being more tolerant and more like it's past sucessful predessesors might lead to a better status.
Like sophie and fafi had said, it relies on oil right now, and fafi said it only brings economic prosperity but it brings conflict and war. a governement nowadays, especially one like Iran wouldn't care about their dying army. "algo que chispotea las guerras son la misma economia." i'll explain, after war, all that's left, the war benefits are land, money, and expansion which leads to a better economy. that's like the "main prize" of a war. after the war is over, the economy prospers.
Iran is probably planning something, like opening their country, afterwards so it can prosper
Okay so now frustrated because my original post erased before I was able to post ! :@ but here we go again ...
The significance of the newly unearthed items is one, like mentioned in the article, of building a stronger sense of nationalism.
The exhibition itself will create a sense of cultural/historical awareness throughout the world. Especially for us of the western world, who have been taught to believe that the peoples of the Middle East are fanatic and intolerant not only in present day but throughout the course of history. Now, with the artifacts from the Safavid empire people will be edified and brought to see that this region that has been branded as a war zone was the cradle of human rights. This will create a contrast between the preconceived notions about the region in the Middle East, the present day situation in Iran and its history. As for weather it will "ring the consciousness bell" -Cheo- on the walls within the country of Iran and their policies is for time to tell.
I believe that the exhibition is of crucial importance to both Iran and UK due to the fact that it will show the world not only the rich historical past of the once great country of Iran, but it will also show the world that people can put some problems aside for the benefit of history and knowledge.
I have to agree with Fafi and with Ceci that this exhibition will create a new vision on the poeple fo the world towards the Middle East people. This will also help Iran because it will probably use this as the first push towards being open in this new technological era, one that will probaly show the world that Iran is not necesarily a bad country and that it has much to share with the world as far as culture, food and many more
I agree with fafi but not with sophie since China is doing well and they are a closed country. IMAGINE THE U.S. BUYS THE MOST ENERGY IT USES FROM CHINA SINCE THEY HAVE THE BIGGEST DAMP IN THE WHOLE WORLD WHICH GENERATES A LOT OF ENERGY FOR A VERY LOW PRICE. AS YOU CAN SEE CHINA DON’T DEPEND ONLY ON THEIR OIL SUPPLY. ALSO HOW CAN WE SAY THAT CHINA IS DOING BAD IN THEIR ECONOMY, WHEN ALMOST EVERY THING YOU USE OR SEE IN YOUR DAILY LIFE COMES FROM CHINA. I’m not telling that tolerance is bad, “for god sack” the biggest and most powerful empires in mankind’s history have been because of tolerance as Amy Chua told us in her book (look back at the Roman and Mongol Empire), I’m just telling that China is not a good example to say that not having tolerance or working a country without hegemon is something that will not work.
I think that the people in Iran want to make Iran an open country like the Safavid Empire in their history and they are using the exhibition as an excuse. This is a good thing that will be good for them since it is something different, it is very rare for a country in the Middle East to be tolerant and will make new “bondings” with other countries and can make their economy much better. Also if they make Iran an open country, conflicts will diminish between other countries and Iran will not be seen as a war zone. THIS IS WHAT THIS ARTIFACTS CAN DO TO IRAN AND HOW IMPORTANT THEY ARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Like the write of the article said, it was surprising that he wasn't miss treated as British reporter. But the fact that he was cordially invited to an event of understanding between Iran and Britian, and Iranian artifacts were allowed to go to a British musuem shows the Iranians desire to become a peaceful part of the world. And symbolically, the fact that cyruse's rights of humans rock is being sent to the mueseum shows that iran (at least trie to) advocates rights.
The fact that Iran invited the British reporter means that they want to make it public that they want peace. This is not however the first time that a few in Iran try to be different from the majority and promote peace. In 2007, in Iran was made the peace museum, to show the people the horrors of war. This was done because people where always told about the glories of war, but never its horrors. (by the way, the National Museum in Tehran is the peace museum)
I hope that more people from Iran join this peace movement because (as many of you have already mentioned) it would promote prosperity in Iran. A tolerant country can benefit by grabbing and applying the technologies of others. If Iran becomes an open country and starts to prosper, I am sure other countries in the region would want to follow and it can have a chain effect.
Everyone is giving it their all for this blog!
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