Culture Of Persian Culture

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AN ANCIENT CULTURE
Sarah Alinejad
Intercultural Communications
March 2, 2014

INTRODUCTION
I’m always given puzzled looks when I tell another person I am Persian. Now, taking my blonde hair and green eyes into consideration, I can understand that. I get even more confused looks when I tell them that I both traits are predominantly from my dad’s side, who is 100% Persian. In order to really understand why this is, you’d have to go back and explore deep into Persia’s history and the Aryan race, and you still might not get all the answers. Now, while I’m not always looked at as being Persian, it is definitely something I take pride in, which is why I wanted to explore the culture a little more thoroughly. By exploring the different factors of the Persian culture, such as its history, values and beliefs, and common misconceptions, it will help us recognize, appreciate, and comprehend and how these people unify into a single culture.
HISTORY AND THEORETICAL INPUTS
Dating all the way back to 550 BC, Persia was once its very own empire with its own religion, government, and culture. In 663, due to political and economical benefits, Khalid ibn al-Walid, an Arabian general, conducted an invasion on Persia and the decline in original Persian culture and religion began. Efforts to fight off Arab invaders were unsuccessful, as by 651, many of the larger, more influential cities were dominated by the Arab race, religion, and culture. Now, Persians had to choose whether they would conform to Arab culture and Islamic religion, or whether they would rebel and fight to keep their inherited traditions and beliefs. Even after the initial invasion, the Persians would still revolt and attempt to win back their country b...

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...ists and it’s simply because of thoughtless reasons such as because their appearances are similar and because Persia (now Iran) is also in the Middle East.
CONCLUSION
A Persian writer, Shahrokh Meskoob once said, "Identity is a reactive matter and attention to self becomes more meaningful in relation to others." This quote illustrates how one’s identity is greatly affected by the society around them and how they communicate and connect with one another. While this can draw on aspects of everyone and anyone’s life, it can be especially applied to different cultures, and in this case, the Persian culture. Taking into consideration how far it dates back to, this is an ancient culture and it has been kept alive for so long by the people who have the desire to do such and pass on their Persian background as my dad has done for me and as I will do for my children.

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