Posted on 06/18/2007 12:56:35 PM PDT by freedom44
Iran (previously Aryanam), meaning "Land of the Aryans" has been the natives' name for their country since ancient times, long before Islam appeared.
Well that is something I had wondered about that you've explained. That Herodotus, he calls you something, the name sticks.
I was, which is why I did not mention fair hair.
At the time of his conquests of these areas, Alexander's armies did not have a very large Greek contingent any more - his invasion of India was undertaken with a force consisting almost entirely of Asian-born troops.
Hence the carping about how he had "gone native" with his Persian dress, Asian troops, Bactrian wife, etc.
I don't buy into the theory that Alexander's Greek troops had a significant impact on the gene pool - there were many more of Alexander's troops stationed in Egypt than there were in India and Egyptians don't look like Punjabis.
My gardener says Zorro means fox in mesican.
The Aryans that were the center of Nazi ideology were not “blond, blue-eyed” exclusively, or even primarily. You are thinking perhaps of Nordics, who were favorites; but even they had hair and eyes of various colors.
Nazi beliefs have been stereotyped by movies and other media. In the interests of historical accuracy, we should make an effort to get record straight.
The Nazi racial theorists did believe that various physical types and ethnic strains had different psychological characteristics. They lamented the scarcity of Nordics in Germany, and wished to promote and expand their numbers, a policy they call “Aufnordung.” We might roughly translate that as Nordic promotion. Nordics were thought to be adventurous, and with good leadership qualities. Official propaganda also had good things to say about other groups, which was only good politics, because many Germans are not Nordic.
Aryan is often called a linguistic term, equivalent to Indo-European. Just where the original Indo-Europeans originated is still a subject of debate. The Capsian area is favored by one theory; the Iranian Plateau by another. The Baltics is favorite, and North Germany and Poland have been suggested.
Following Alexanders demise, during the Diadoch and Roman time, the people (at least the upper class) certainly had a strong Greek influence. But anyway, todays Egyptians are to the vast majority descendants of the invading Arabs.
I don't buy into the theory that Alexander's Greek troops had a significant impact on the gene pool
I'm ambivalent on this. The Graeco-Baktrian Kingdom in the Punjab region, following Alexander, had an evidently greek culture. Artworks show European features. There had to be Greeks among them, at least at the top. Today, as you said, there are people with bright eyes, light complexion and fair hair. I won't totally rule out an influence by Greeks in the region.
However your position is being corrobated by the fact that the Mazanderani and Gilaki people (North-Iranians living at the south coast of the Caspian) who are natives and had little intercourse with other people, have lighter complexion, eyes and hair.
Prominent example of a Mazanderani is the Ali Larijani, the Iranian regime's nuke negotiator:
Thanks for that tidbit. I had no idea.
The Zoroastrians followed one of the most logical and civilized of Pre-Christian religions. They beleived life was a struggle between good and evil and held hope that the birth of Jesus would move the needle in the direction of good. This is the key reason the Persians kings were so anxious to visit the Christ child. This would be a logical step for the Modern Persians to get back to when he comes again, as he surely will.
You are correct.
The point I was trying to make was a distinction between the Nazi “Aryan” and the historical Indo-Iranian Aryans.
My wife (Persian), did exatly this, and has embraced Jesus Christ as her Lord.
Hallelujah!
“Zoroastrianism, unlike Judaism, is a dualistic system in which two powers of either equal or almost equal strength vie for mastery over the world.
Some cultural anthropologists say that the Jewish concept of the yetzrim - the good and evil impulses in each person - is a cultural borrowing from Zoroastrianism during the Babylonian captivity, since there is evidence of Zoroastrian presence in Babylon.”
From the fall of Jerusalem to about 1000 AD, the largest population of Jews lived in Babylon. They were there certainly long enough to, as you say, borrow from Zoroastrianism. Strong evidence of their “borrowing” appears in the two sides of the Kabbalistic sephiroth.
Actually the Arabs were and are a minority in all so-called Arab lands except in Arabia. The Egyptians are native (Copts). They adopted the Arab language and Islam over centuries. Syria was still a Christian majority nation until the First Crusade. In fact the crusades backfired when the Latin west went on rampages against there Christian brethern in the near east. This drove lots of Christians to embrace Islam. It has been estimated that the whole Arab empire for the first hundred years was ruled by about 1% of the population (meaning Arab Muslims).
I personally think the US could exploit some of the latent nationalism in Iran and Egypt. Most Egyptians think of themselves as Egyptians first, Arabs second. The rest of the Arab world looks at them that way also. The US should be playing up the Persian aspect of the humilating loss to the Arabs. The Persians do not like the Arabs overall.
Keep in mind I mean genetically “pure” Arabs are a minority in the so-called Arab lands. Culturally and lingulistically and religously, they are Arabs now.
Interesting.
I made some quick research and you are of course right about the Egyptian population. Didn’t know that.
I was under the impression that only the Coptic Christians were the remaining native Egyptians, while Muslim majority are of mixed Arab-Egyptian descent.
Your info is good. FYI the non-Arab or Pakistan spelling is Pahlavi not Pahlevi. Yes, nitpicking but not in a mean way.
Beg to differ on the connotation of “dark hair” etc. - while not generally blond, they acquired their dark side (so to speak) not their blue and green eyes from the Greeks whose Mediterranean darker skin and eyes “congtminated a very light skinned people with lots of blue eyes. For example the nomadic Bakhtiari tribes who avoided “pollution” have a huge number of blue eyed members.
The Zoroastrian primary triple tenet is a great way to live:
Good Thoughts (lead to ) Good Words (which combine into) Good Deeds. This is all any religion needs.
By contrast Islam is a personification of evil and Allah derives from a wooden idol in Mecca.
For a good sense of islam check out the article and link to a video on AntiMullah: NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED
http://noiri.blogspot.com/2007/06/gentle-stoning-of-islam.html
You are of course right. Actually I always write Pahlavi, but I am currently reading an old german book on Reza Shah, and they call him (germanized) "Resa Schah Pahlewi" and so the e stuck in my mind.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.