One of my topics of study this year is the Roman/Sasanian Frontier. The Sasanians were a tribe (best word) that grabbed power from the Parthians, who had grabbed power from the Seleucids, who had grabbed power in the carve-up of Alexander the Great's short-lived Empire, and who had grabbed power from Cyrus the Great's descendents, etc. And, this semester's study topic is mostly about the attempts by the Romans to grab power in what is now Iraq/Iran - an attempt in which they were only partly successfull in increasing their penetration of Asia.
And, this morning i received a link to this little reminder (below) of nice New Year customs in modern Iran.
The human links are great. The link came from one of last years lecturers (at Sydney University) - he's Russian, so understands Iran, since Russian/Central Asian links are so strong. There are others too. One of my enduring interests in my studies is the Silk-Road Trade links. The expression Silk Road is misleading - what we call the Silk Road, was really a series of market places, where goods were bought and sold, across Asia. These trade links were already in place when the Sasanians took power in Iran. They continue until now. A few years ago I was staying in a hotel in Shanghai's Nanjing Lu (Road) and I noticed a lot of middle eastern men staying there too. I asked one who they were,and he told me they were a trade delegation form Iran, and that this was their annual visit to China to buy stuff. I can see now that this buy/sell was part of a huge Asian market place that's over 2000 years old.
So Nowruz Mubarak to all
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uHVQ3EDTkaQ