No, my friend... let us not mix up things... I like you and die defending my shia family (which includes you) but your statement is not correct in its biggest part. True that Islam brought a lot to humanity and Iran after Islam has golden age too.. but we must always be fair and see it from above. As you can see below, Iranian culture and all its components are somehow developed and got pulished both before and after Islam entering Iran. Although, I must say, Iranian overall culture improved a lot after Islam. It even improved even richer after Iran became a Shia nation.
There is a reason Obama stressed on huge/rich Iranian history and culture many times in his speeches, not saying his words are reference now, but unfortunately some of our friends here mixing up things in a way that it turns out to be a friendly fire at the end. You as an Iraqi share a big part of our Iranian history and culture. But after all I have to admit that If I ever have to choose between my culture and history or my shia family I would definitely choose Shia as this comes first at the moment for me. but when talking about culture please let's agree to disagree if after reading below info you are still on your instance.
Anyway, if you could give me your time for minutes and read below listed links I promise you will have a better understanding of Iran both pre and after Islam. We are like any other historical nations proud of our glorious past and culture and ashamed of some of the dark points in our history.
Please read below links and then if you still believe the same then God bless you brother:
Iran - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (the culture related parts)
Culture of Iran - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
if you don't have time then I listed its highlights below;
Culture[edit]
As the first sentence of
Richard Nelson Frye's
Greater Iran reads, "Iran's prize possession has been its culture."
[284]
The Sassanid era was an important and influential historical period in Iran as Iranian culture influenced Roman civilization, China and also other parts of Asia considerably,
[285] and so influenced as far as Western Europe and Africa.
[286]
This influence played a prominent role in the formation of both
Asiatic and European
medieval art.
[287] This influence carried forward to the
Islamic world. Much of what later became known as Islamic learning, such as
philology,
literature,
jurisprudence,
philosophy,
medicine,
architecture and the
sciences were based on some of the practises taken from the
Sassanid Persians.
[288][289][290]
Art[edit]
Iranian art has one of the richest
art heritages in world history and encompasses many disciplines including
architecture,
painting,
weaving,
pottery,
calligraphy,
metalworking and
stonemasonry. There is also a very vibrant
Iranian modern and contemporary art scene.
Carpet-
weaving is undoubtedly one of the most distinguished manifestations of Persian culture and art, and dates back to ancient Persia and the
Bronze Age. Iran is the world's largest producer and exporter of handmade carpets, producing three quarters of the world's total output and having a share of 30% of world's export markets.
[292][293]
Architecture[edit]
According to Persian historian and archaeologist
Arthur Pope, the supreme Iranian art, in the proper meaning of the word, has always been its architecture. The supremacy of architecture applies to both pre-and post-Islamic periods.
[294] The history of architecture of Iran goes back to the seventh millennium BC.
Iranian architecture generally displays great variety, both structural and aesthetic, developing gradually and coherently out of earlier traditions and experience. Without sudden innovations, and despite the repeated trauma of invasions and cultural shocks, it has achieved "an individuality distinct from that of other Muslim countries".
[295] Its paramount virtues are several: "a marked feeling for form and scale; structural inventiveness, especially in
vault and
dome construction; a genius for decoration with a freedom and success not rivaled in any other architecture".
[296]
Persians were among the first to use
mathematics,
geometry, and
astronomy in architecture and also have extraordinary skills in making massive domes which can be seen frequently in the structure of bazaars and mosques. This greatly inspired the architecture of Iran's neighbors as well. The main building types of classical
Iranian architecture are the mosque and the
palace. Iran ranks seventh among countries in the world with the most archeological architectural ruins and attractions from antiquity as recognized by
UNESCO.
[297] Fifteen of UNESCO's
World Heritage Sites are creations of Iranian architecture.
Persian literature is one of the world's oldest literatures. It dates back to the poetry of
Avesta, about 1000 years BC. These poems which were a part of the oral traditions of ancient Iran, were orally transferred, and later created parts of the Avesta’s book during the Sassanid era. Its sources have been within historical Persia where the Persian language has historically been the national language.
Persian literature inspired
Goethe,
Ralph Waldo Emerson, and many others, and it has been often dubbed as a most worthy language to serve as a conduit for poetry. Dialects of Persian are sporadically spoken throughout the region from China to Syria to Russia, though mainly in the
Iranian Plateau.
[298][299]
Poetry is used in many Persian classical works, whether from literature, science, or metaphysics.
Persian literature has been considered by such thinkers as Goethe as one of the four main bodies of world literature.
[300]
The Persian language has produced a number of famous poets; however, only a few poets as
Rumi and
Omar Khayyám have surfaced among western popular readership, even though the likes of
Hafez,
Saadi,
Nizami,
[301] Attar,
Sanai,
Nasir Khusraw and
Jami are considered by many Iranians to be just as influential.[
citation needed]
Philosophy[edit]
Iranian philosophy can be traced back as far as to
Old Iranian philosophical traditions and thoughts which originated in ancient
Indo-Iranian roots and were considerably influenced by
Zarathustra's teachings. According to the
Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, the chronology of the subject and science of philosophy starts with the Indo-Iranians, dating this event to 1500 BC. The Oxford dictionary also states, "Zarathushtra's philosophy entered to influence Western tradition through
Judaism, and therefore on
Middle Platonism."
Throughout
Iranian history and due to remarkable political and social changes such as
the Arab and
Mongol invasions of Persia, a wide spectrum of schools of thoughts showed a variety of views on philosophical questions extending from Old Iranian and mainly
Zoroastrianism-related traditions, to schools appearing in the late pre-Islamic era such as
Manicheism and
Mazdakism as well as various post-Islamic schools.
Iranian philosophy after the
Muslim conquest of Persia, is characterized by different interactions with the
Old Iranian philosophy, the
Greek philosophy and with the development of
Islamic philosophy. The
Illumination School and the
Transcendent Philosophy are regarded as two of the main philosophical traditions of that era in Persia.
Mythology[edit]
Persian
mythology are traditional
tales and stories of ancient origin, all involving extraordinary or supernatural beings. Drawn from the legendary past of Iran, they reflect the attitudes of the society to which they first belonged - attitudes towards the confrontation of
good and evil, the actions of the gods,
yazats (lesser gods), and the exploits of heroes and fabulous creatures.
Theater[edit]
Theater background in Persia goes back to antiquity (641–1000
BC).
The first initiation of theater and phenomena of acting in people of the land could be traced in the ceremonial theaters which were performed to glorify the heroes and humiliate the enemies, like
Soug e Sivash or
Mogh Koshi (
Megakhouni), and also dances and theater narrations, and the musical history of mythological and love stories reported by
Herodotos and
Xenophon.
There were many
dramatic performance arts popular before the advent of cinema in Persia. A few examples include
Kheyme Shab Bazi (
Puppetry),
Saye Bazi (
Shadow play),
Rouhozi (Comical acts) and
Tazieh (Martyr plays).
Rostam o Sohrab is an example of the opera performances in the modern day Iran.
Music[edit]
Iranian music, as evidenced by the archeological records of
Elam in southwestern Iran, dates back thousands of years. In ancient Iran musicians held socially respectable positions. The
Elamites and the
Achaemenids certainly made use of musicians.
The history of the
musical performance in Sassanid Iran is, however, better documented than earlier periods. This is specially more evident in the context of Zoroastrian ritual.
[303] By the time of Xusro Parviz the Sassanid royal court was the host of prominent musicians such as Ramtin,
Bamshad,
Nakisa, Azad,
Sarkash, and
Barbad.
Persian symphonic music has a long history. In fact
Opera originated from Persia, much before its emergence in Europe. Iranians traditionally performed
Tazieh, which in many respects resembles the European Opera.
[305] Iran's main orchestra include
National Orchestra,
Tehran Symphony Orchestra, and
Nations Orchestra.
Some Iranian traditional music instruments include the
Saz,
Iranian Tar,
Azerbaijani Tar,
Dotar,
Setar,
Kamanche,
Harp,
Barbat,
Santur,
Tanbur,
Qanun,
Dap,
Tompak (
Goblet drum), and
Ney.
Cinema and animation[edit]
The earliest examples of visual representations in Iranian history may be traced back to the
bas-reliefs in
Persepolis (c. 500 BC). Persepolis was the ritual center of the ancient kingdom of
Achaemenids and the figures at Persepolis remain bound by the rules of grammar and syntax of visual language.
[306] During the
Sasanian reign, Iranian visual arts reached a pinnacle. A bas-relief from this period in
Taq e Bostan depicts a complex hunting scene. Similar works from the period have been found to articulate movements and actions in a highly sophisticated manner. It is even possible to see a progenitor of the cinema close-up in one of these works of art, which shows a wounded wild pig escaping from the hunting ground.
[307]
Reproduction of world’s oldest example of animation which belongs to late half of 3rd millennium BC, found in
Burnt City, Iran.
The oldest records of animation in Iran date back to the late half of 3rd millennium BC. An earthen goblet discovered at the site of the 5,200-year-old
Burnt City in southeastern Iran, depicts what could possibly be the world’s oldest example of animation. The artifact bears five sequential images depicting a
Persian Desert Ibex jumping up to eat the leaves of a tree.
[313][314]
Even today, with 300 international awards in the past 10 years, Iranian films continue to be celebrated worldwide. The best known Persian directors are
Abbas Kiarostami,
Majid Majidi, and
Asghar Farhadi.
Cuisine[edit]
Main article:
Iranian cuisine
Cuisine in Iran is considered to be one of the most ancient forms of cuisine around the world. Bread is arguably the most important food in Iran, with a large variety of different bread, some of the most popular of which include:
nan and hamir, which are baked in large clay ovens (also called "tenurs"). In Iranian cuisine, there are many dishes that are made from dairy products. One of the most popular of which includes yoghurt ("mast")—which has a specific fermentation process that is widely put to use amongst most Iranians. In addition,
mast is used to make soup and is vital in the production of oil. In addition to these dairy products, Iranian cuisine involves a lot of dishes cooked from rice. Some popular rice dishes include boiled rice with a variety of ingredients such as meats, vegetables, and seasonings ("plov") including dishes like chelo-horesh, shish kebab with rice, chelo-kebab, rice with lamb, meatballs with rice, and kofte (plain boiled rice). In addition, Iranian cuisine is famous for its sweets. One of the most famous of which includes "baklava" with almonds, cardamom, and egg yolks. Iranian sweets typically involve the use of honey, cinnamon, lime juice, and sprouted wheat grain. One very popular dessert drink in Iran, "sherbet sharbat-portagal", is made from a mixture of orange peel and orange juice boiled in thin sugar syrup and diluted with rose water. Just like the people of many Middle Eastern countries the most preferred drink of the people of Iran is tea (without milk) or "kakhve-khana".
[11]
that's the spirit that I adore... you're a decent guy.. I like you ... although we have a lot of differences in beliefs... but I stress on our commonalities...