The next morning we woke up at 6:30, got into a tour bus, started to the west of Tehran, and arrived at Mehrabad Airport. In the film “Argo” CIA operative Tony Mendez and 6 American fugitives nearly escaped by Swissair from this airport. When I saw the same frontage of the terminal building as in the movie, an uneasy feeling ran through my body again.
However, entering inside, we found no Revolutionary Guards in khaki-colored uniforms with sharp eyes to hunt for fugitives like in the film. We didn’t need to receive immigration and custom clearances. Since Imam Khomeini Airport opened in 2004, most of its international flights have been transferred to the IKA. The Mehrabad is now the primary airport for domestic flights. Our destination was Kermanshah.
In the plane I happened to sit next to our tour guide Mr. Musa. I talked to him in Farsi, and he looked surprised at me. “Farsi baladid?” (Do you understand Farsi?) he asked.“Bale, Ye kami baladam.” (Yes, I understand a little.) It was true. I had learnt some expressions for daily conversation, which opened the door to Mr. Musa. He spoke fluent Japanese. We talked in Japanese. I inserted Farsi words into my speech, he was pleased with them. “No Japanese travelers have ever spoken Farsi to me.” We enjoyed some chitchat until Kermanshah fardgha in parvaz neshasta (The plane sits down at the kermanshah airport).
Kermanshah is the capital city of Kermanshah Province, 525 kilometers southwest of Tehran. The city is in the heart of the Zagros mountains some 100 kilometers from the border of Iraq. It has a population of more than 800,000. The majority of the inhabitants are Kurds or of Kurdish origin. “This province is a part of Kurdistan,” explained our tour guide. “It was the Median Empire in the ancient time. Kurds are descendants of the Medes.” The Median Empire prospered from 678 B.C., but was conquered in 550 B.C. by Cyrus the Great (600 or 576 B.C-530 B.C), who established the Achaemenid Empire.
Many empires rise and fall one after another in Iranian history. I don’t name all the names. However, I think this country has a geopolitical charm that has kept inspiring the imperial ambition of the conquerors.
In the modern time former President of Iraq Saddam Hussein was also ambitious for this country. After the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Hussein took advantage of Iran’s revolutionary chaos and invaded this country on September 22, 1980. From that day the Iran-Iraq War continued for 8 years. The United States supported Hussein, and at the same time secretly sold arms to Iran, which brought about the Iran-Contra scandal to the Reagan administration. Mr. Musa said, “Through the war millions were killed on both sides. Kermanshah was hardest hit. It has never fully recovered.”
We took a tour bus along 5 kilometers north. There was the historical park “Taq-e Bostan” where is a series of large rock relief carved in the period of the Sassanid Empire (224-651).
The Achaemenid and Sassanid Empires are recognized as the most important periods in history, for the Persian territory was remarkably expanded under the both empires. At peak size the Achaemenid encompassed 8 million square kilometers from Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Egypt, to Central Asia to India. On the other hand, the Sassanid seemed to reach 6.6 million square kilometers roughly within the frontiers achieved by the Achaemenid.
They are often compared to each other. While the Achaemenid peak leader was Cyrus the Great, the Sassanid one was King Khosrau II (570-628). A guide book says that the latter king was carved in the rock-face relief in Taq-e Bostan.
We entered the park, walked a road under the shade of plane trees and then found ourselves in front of a large blue pond reflecting craggy mountains behind it and the brilliant sky. Its source is spring water from the mountains. A quiet view stretched out before us.
 |
| A quiet spring scenery in Taq-e Bostan |
Taq-e Bostan, literally meaning the arch of paradise, was an oasis on the Silk Road in the ancient times. This place must have been a real paradise for the caravan travelers and nomadic people who had struggled through hot and dry deserts or rocky mountains. Sassanid kings had their greatness carved on the rock walls along the road in order to appeal it to the passersby.
Our tour guide introduced us to the largest relief of King Khosrau II. Looking up, we saw the investiture scene in the upper part. It depicts that he is standing with Anahita, goddess of water on his right, and Ahura Mazda, the highest deity of Zoroastrianism on his left who presents him the diadem of sovereignty of the empire. The down part relief shows the king in full armor mounting a horse. Khosrau II conquered the Roman provinces of the Middle East in wars with the Byzantine Empire. This must have been a triumphant moment in his reign.
 |
| The relief of Khosrau II |
 |
| One of the winged female figures like NIke |
I was attracted by two winged female figures at the top of the relief. Each having a garland in her right hand, they look like Nike, goddess of victory in Greek mythology. Khosrau II wanted to add the Greco-Roman elements to his relief in order to show his power reaching the Occident. But his last years were full of difficulties. He was finally assassinated by his son, and was the last great king of Persia before Arab conquered the country.
 |
| The relief of the investiture of Ardashir II |
The other reliefs in Taq-e Bostan include representations of the investitures of Ardashir II (379-383) and Shapur III (383-388) under the Sassanid Empire. We looked around the park to see them one by one. Every king has abundant curly hair, wears a big crown and elegant robes, and holds a long sword. All of the kings boasted of their power, authenticity, and glory.
When I came to myself by the side of the pond, I found a boy giving bread crumbs to ducks in water. Now there was no empire, no king, no glory. All things disappeared like a dream on a spring night.
No comments:
Post a Comment