THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN SASANIAN IRAN
The lives of w
This is an excerpt from the paper...
The lives of women in the era of Sasanian Iran were filled with contradictions and paradoxes. As goddesses, they were worshipped and adored -û and they could bestow the power to rule upon a king, but they could not rule themselves. As real-life figures, they were depicted side-by-side with their husband/kings on coin of the realm, but they had no political power of their own. In their day-to-lives, the same sets of laws that protected them in some areas all but held them in bondage in others. WhatÆs more, those very same laws gave them limited financial control and rights of inheritance on the one hand, yet accorded them no higher legal standing than their own children and even slaves on the other. ôThe disobedience/misconduct of children is à [evaluated] in the same way as the misconduct of a wife, and vice-versa. à And the disobedience of both wife and children û a son or daughter equally û is evaluated in the legal sense like the disobedience of slavesö (Vahraman 253). And again: ôThe decision concerning a à [disobedient] slave is the same as in the case of a wife who scorns her husbandÆs bedö (Vahraman 255), which, incidentally, was among the worst possible infractions that any woman could commit.On the other hand, women had certain clear-cut protections written into the law. For example, if a man ordered his daughter to ôægo and become the stnr [guardian] of such-and-such a man,Æö the daughter was ôentitled not to become the
. . .
(Rose 36). By telling us that the scent of noble women noticeably differed from that of courtesans, we learn that ôtwo distinct ranks of women existed at courtö (Rose 36). The page perhaps surprises us by stating that the first characteristic of the so-called best woman is ôæthat woman à who in her thoughts is a friend of manÆö (Rose 37). The page then more predictably goes on to describe the best womanÆs physical attributes.
Ample evidence suggests that there were many excellent women musicians in Sasanian Iran. Works of art frequently depict Sasanian women with a variety of musical instruments, as well as women dancers in a range of poses, clothed or otherwise (Ettinghausen 31).
Ardwisur Anahid was the most revered of the ancient Persian goddesses. Indeed, she predates by many centuries the Sasanian era, originating in the age-old Parthian period which was swept aside by the Sasanians in 220 A.D. Remarkably, her popularity not only continued but grew throughout Sasanian times. In fact, she ôappears to have been revered as the patron deity of the Sasanian dynasty, and her role particularly linked to their investitureö (Rose 37). Sasanian kings were crowned at the dynastic fire temple at Estakhr that was dedicated in he
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Marriages Sasanian, Iran Zoroastrianism, Sasanian Iran, Buran Sasanian, Anahid Choksy, Ctesiphon Sasan, King Narseh, Posi Tarbo, Byzantium Rose, Kaqsh-i Rustam, sasanian iran, choksy 133, sasanian women, à scent, sasanian era, throughout sasanian, male head, cagar wife, rose 36, sasanian times, wife cagar wife, male head household,
Approximate Word count = 3350
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page)
|
Customer Service
to Over
32,000 Professionally Written Papers!!!
