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	Iranian women therefore, have respected the sanctity of women and their role in the society as evident from their role in future Iranian societies, and before coming of Islam in 7th century.		Iranian women therefore, have respected the sanctity of women and their role in the society as evident from their role in future Iranian societies, and before coming of Islam in 7th century.

	Women played an important role in everyday life in ]. High-born women even exercised an influence on affairs of state. Female members of the ] royal family possessed their own estates, and documents survive showing their active involvement in management: letters relate to the shipment of grain, wine, and animals to palaces from distant land-holdings. The only limits on the extent of the authority exercised by the King's mother, for instance were set by the monarch himself. <ref>Arthur Cotterell, ''From Aristotle to Zoroaster'', 1998, ISBN 0-684-85596-8.</ref> The ] cuneiform tablets discovered in 1930s, have revealed that women during the Achaemenid dynastic rule were employed, and rations they received are based on skill and the level of responsibility they assumed in the workplace, rather than their gender - the new mothers and pregnant women received higher rations than everone else. Many women emplyed as the head-workers and sometimes their wages were double of their male counterparts.<ref>Dandamayev M., ''Persepolis Elamite Tablets'', ); accessed ~~Jan~~ 16, ~~2007~~</ref>		Women played an important role in everyday life in ]. High-born women even exercised an influence on affairs of state. Female members of the ] royal family possessed their own estates, and documents survive showing their active involvement in management: letters relate to the shipment of grain, wine, and animals to palaces from distant land-holdings. The only limits on the extent of the authority exercised by the King's mother, for instance were set by the monarch himself. <ref>Arthur Cotterell, ''From Aristotle to Zoroaster'', 1998, ISBN 0-684-85596-8.</ref> The ] cuneiform tablets discovered in 1930s, have revealed that women during the Achaemenid dynastic rule were employed, and rations they received are based on skill and the level of responsibility they assumed in the workplace, rather than their gender - the new mothers and pregnant women received higher rations than everone else. Many women emplyed as the head-workers and sometimes their wages were double of their male counterparts.<ref>Dandamayev M., ''Persepolis Elamite Tablets'', ); accessed April 14, 2008</ref>
	Fortification texts also revealed that royal women traveled extensively visited their estates and administered their wealth individually and at times with help from their husbands. Travel rations identify their travel partners, guards servants cooks etc		Fortification texts also revealed that royal women traveled extensively visited their estates and administered their wealth individually and at times with help from their husbands. Travel rations identify their travel partners, guards servants cooks etc
	<ref>Price M., ''Women in Ancient Iran'', (); accessed Jan 16, 2007</ref>		<ref>Price M., ''Women in Ancient Iran'', (); accessed Jan 16, 2007</ref>

Revision as of 06:21, 14 April 2007

A Persian woman depicted during the Safavi period, from a wall painting in Chehel Sotoon Palace, Isfahan.

Iranian women (or Persian women) are women of or from traditional Persian or modern Iranian culture. Although Persian women (women of Persia) are often viewed as Iranian, they are not necessarily from modern-day Iran and can be from a variety of different countries. On the other hand, Iranian women are not necessarily of any specific nationality or ethnicity. The term refers to women who practice Iranian culture, speak Iranian languages and live mainly throughout the Iranian cultural continent.

History

Pre-Islamic Iran

File:Iranian Women Warriors by Shapour Suren-Pahlav.JPG

Ancient Iranian Women-Warriors (watercolour by Shapour Suren-Pahlav)

In ancient Iranian societies the role of women has been from the lady paramount of society to a mere chattel at home. Their history can be traced back to the Avestan Period (ca. 1800 BCE) of Iranian history. Women in Avesta hold an especial and even a venerated place.

- We venerate the righteous woman who is good in thoughts, words, and deeds, who is well-educated, is an authority on religious affairs, is progressively serene, and is like the women who belong to the Wise God. (Gathas - Aiwisruthrem Gah 9) - It is these people who, with their actions, promote the world though righteousness. (Visparad 3.4)

Zoroastrians considered total equality between men and women. The name of Zoroastrian god, Ahuramazad, demonstrates that equality. The name is a compound of Ahura- meaning lord (masculine) and -Mazda from Avestan stem of Mas- wisdom (feminine). Also the three Amesha Spentas (the divine attributes of God), Aramaity (Persian اسفند = serenity), Haurvatat (Persian خرداد = wholeness), and Ameretat (Persian امرداد = immortality) are of feminine.

In that unique Avestan pastoralist equestrian warrior society, women fought alongside their men; not only they were held in an equal status with men, but also periodically they actually ruled them; this so called upside-down society both fascinated and horrified the male dominated Greek culture; later, the Romans expressed the same horror, when they encountered the Sasanian female warriors. Greek writers called the fighting Iranian women they met in the steppes, the Amazons; later Greek sources placed them further east, in northeastern parts of Iran. This incredible social equality, at such an early age, is irrefutably attested, not only by a host of classical writers, but also by a wealth of archaeological evidence; in many mound- burials in the former Soviet Union, it is by no means unusual to find remains of women warriors dressed in full armour, lying on a war chariot, surrounded by their weaponry, and significantly, accompanied by a host of male subordinates specially sacrificed in their honour; nonetheless, these young Iranian warriors, as evidenced by the archaeological remains of their costumes and jewellery, do not seem to have lost their femininity; they remained "feminine as well as female" as a great contemporary German scholar puts it.

Iranian women therefore, have respected the sanctity of women and their role in the society as evident from their role in future Iranian societies, and before coming of Islam in 7th century.

Women played an important role in everyday life in Achaemenid dynasty. High-born women even exercised an influence on affairs of state. Female members of the Achaemenid royal family possessed their own estates, and documents survive showing their active involvement in management: letters relate to the shipment of grain, wine, and animals to palaces from distant land-holdings. The only limits on the extent of the authority exercised by the King's mother, for instance were set by the monarch himself. The Persepolis cuneiform tablets discovered in 1930s, have revealed that women during the Achaemenid dynastic rule were employed, and rations they received are based on skill and the level of responsibility they assumed in the workplace, rather than their gender - the new mothers and pregnant women received higher rations than everone else. Many women emplyed as the head-workers and sometimes their wages were double of their male counterparts. Fortification texts also revealed that royal women traveled extensively visited their estates and administered their wealth individually and at times with help from their husbands. Travel rations identify their travel partners, guards servants cooks etc

Some Classiests however argue that it was Cyrus the Great who twleve centuries before Islam, established the custom of covering women to protect their chastity. According to their theory, the veil passed from the Achaemenids to the Hellenistic Seleucids. They, in turn, handed it to the Byzantines, from whom the Arab conquerors inherited it, transmitting it over the vast reaches of the Arab world. Nonetheless, the ides is being disputed, since veiling has a long history in ancient Mesopotamia and Mediterranean cultures. In the first known reference to veiling, an Assyrian legal text of the 13th century BCE, it is restricted to respectable women and prohibited for the prostitutes and lower class women.

Such traditions continued into Sassanid times, however with less extent. Purandokht, who were daughter of king Khosrau II ruled Persian empire for almost two years before resigning, and women can be seen on some Sassanid reliefs as well. Also, during the Sasanian dynasty many of the Iranian soldiers captured by Romans were women which were fighting shoulder to shoulders of their countrymen.

Traditional image of a Persian woman holding a cup of wine, as depicted at Hasht-behesht palace, Isfahan, 17th century Iran.

Empress Soraya on the cover of an Italian magazine. Empress Soraya on the cover of an Italian magazine.
A Sassanid era mosaic excavated at Bishapur. Some mosaics were denuded during the Islamic period. This one is kept at The Louvre.
A Qajari Persian woman, seen here smoking the traditional Qalyan.
Iranian newspaper clip from 1968 depicting female Iranian Nuclear Engineering PhDs posing in front of Tehran's Nuclear reactor.

In Shahnameh, the greatest Persian epic-poet and Iranologist, Ferdowsi, tried to offer a picture of persian women. More than twenty women appear in Shahnameh, all of them are wise, intelligent and respectable women. Two women, Homai and Gardieh, become kings of Iran in these stories. Ferdowsi himself married an educated and kind woman.

The beauty of Persian girl and Persian mentality can be seen in numerous masterpieces of persian paintings and miniatures. Drawing a Persian girl dressed in colors with Persian wine at hand has been a classic style for portraying love. However nudity can not be seen in these works in contrast to western paintings with religious themes or ancient Greek style.

Women were an integral part of the sport in ancient Persia. Polo originated in the royal courts of ancient Persia 2,500 years ago. The queen and her ladies-in-waiting would play against the emperor and his courtiers. Indeed the main square in the historic city of Isfahan was a royal polo ground whose dimensions were copied for all other polo grounds around the world.

Gender equality has been one of the basic principles of Persian culture for centuries. Lack of gender prejudice is one of the fundamental tenets of Zoroastrianism.