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The Beirut Shahnameh
Ferdowsi at risk in the war zone
So you think Ferdowsi wrote the Shahnameh that is on your coffee table? Well, yes and no. No one knows what happened to Ferdowsi's original manuscript. We can read the work today because copies were copied from copies by hand in the dim light of oil lamps by scribes who couldn't read each other's handwriting. Maybe some of the scribes waxed poetic and thought they could improve on Ferdowsi. A few centuries later the printing press came along and the manuscripts became books, fancy re-prints of which found their way to your coffee table. The result is as follows:
پادشاهی فریدون
فریدون چو شد بر جهان کامکار
بدو شاد شد گردش روزگار
فریدون که شد بر جهان کامکار
ندانست جز خویشتن شهریار
"A" is from my coffee table. "B" is from a 12th-13th century AD manuscript discovered just five years ago in Beirut. Actually I like "A" better, but I still wouldn't want someone swapping my baby in the hospital nursery, even if I get a better baby in the deal. To protect our heritage, we need to know which heritage is really ours. The original Ferdowsi verses can only be known after experts compare as many versions as they can get their hands on. This is why the Beirut find is so exciting. It gives us more clues to help us nail down the original Shahnameh.
This manuscript is particularly valuable because there are indications that it is closer to the original than other manuscripts that have volunteer verses. For example, in my coffee table Shahnameh there's a forward in verse that praises, Abu Bakr, Omar, and Osman. Now I thought Ferdowsi was a Shiite! Those verses don't belong; someone put them there for political, religious or monetary reasons. You see, it's not just about some scribe changing verses in a moment of inspiration; someone with an agenda deliberately tried to change our history.
Dr. Mahmood Omidsalar is one of the scholars working on the Beirut manuscript. Thanks to experts like him our literature and history stay true to the original as much as possible. When I first contacted Omidsalar about the find, I expected to discuss the air-conditioned underground vaults where such fragile cultural treasures are stored. But reality is far from what the Dan Brown book Angels and Demons had led me to believe. The Beirut library doesn't have the wealth of the Vatican library. The old Shahnameh is now kept in a cardboard box, albeit a special acid free one. But over the centuries it has suffered some minor water and insect damage. Worse yet, it is at the mercy of Hezbollah or Israel, or whoever starts the next war in Lebanon.
I asked Omidsalar if he and the other scholars involved in the project are getting help from Iran. Before we start complaining about how the Iranian government doesn't care about preserving Iran's national heritage, let me say that the level of financial support from diaspora Iranians has also been low. Part of the reason is that Omidsalar and his colleagues don't want any strings attached to the help.
In fact I touched a nerve when I asked Omidsalar how we could help. He wrote back, "I don't mind you or any other well-meaning Persian's help, and fully appreciate your offer. But I also want this understood up front that I WILL NOT ALLOW this project to be used for political purposes. This is a purely scholarly project that is focused on one and only one goal: The preservation of our literary heritage as found in Persian manuscripts… Professor Afshar [another collaborator in the project] and I are two old cranky students of texts with very short fuses, and don't want any political involvements."
There you have it! Some organizations in the diaspora opposition tend to value the Shahnameh as a political weapon with which to combat the IRI. To some of us heritage is ammunition. Whereas Omidsalar who has married his life to the Shahnameh for love is loathe to get into the political armaments business, his short fuse not withstanding.
At first my ideals seemed at odds with Omidsalar's apolitical attitude. Shouldn't we use every means available, cultural or otherwise, to advance our good causes? But on careful review, the answer is "no, there's a limit." If academic objectivity is allowed to lapse into catering to current event interests, centuries down the line our descendents may find Chicken McNuggets Ò verses in Rostam va Sohrab. This is an exaggeration, but recall the false verses praising Shiism's rival caliphs, and also that in a small way Ferdowsi himself changed his work to please the ruling order. When Soltan Mahmood came to the power, the poet modified the final verses to re-dedicate the Shanameh to the new king.
To keep history honest and to rescue a part of this truth from becoming a war casualty in the Middle East conflict, a small group of aficionados has come together and chipped in under the name of FRM (The Foundation for the Preservation, Distribution, and Critique of Rare Manuscripts). Also the Farhang Foundation and Mr. Farhad Shah-Hosseini have made sizeable contributions towards publishing the Beirut Shahnameh in photographic form. Experts in Iran have likewise been crucially helpful by volunteering a lot of their time.
As for me, I was going to buy Dan Brown's latest novel The Lost Symbol, but decided I would wait for the movie to come out. Instead I'm donating the $17.97 book price so Dr. Omidsalar and his colleagues can publish the Beirut manuscript. Here's the site where you can contribute.
the world does not revolve around you Ari
by fozolie on Mon Mar 08, 2010 05:23 AM PST
Gheirati nasho baba. You said you read it somewhere so I question the motive of those who use a single writing about Ferdosi centuries later, to insist he was Shia. Similar to the scholar you quoted, I am very wary of politicizition of icons like Ferdosi. Persumably you respect Dehkohda's work so I would refer you to his examination of all sources on this subject.
Mr. Fozolie
fozolie,
by Ari Siletz on Sun Mar 07, 2010 01:36 PM PST
1. In the first few centuries of Islam in Persia, Shiism's "rogue" ideology allied itself well with the nationalist struggle in Khorasan. The how and why is a fascinating topic in itself. But in 10th-11th century AD (Ferdowsi's time) the relationship between Shiism and Iranian nationalism was in some ways the reverse of what one may gather from current events or from the intellectual/literary discourses of Iran's 1925-1979 period. 2. As with any objective inquiry, future evidence may prove theories incomplete or wrong, but to label the theory as "pure charlatanism" is pure emotionalism.
There is no evidence of Ferdosi's religious beliefs
by fozolie on Sun Mar 07, 2010 12:18 PM PST
We know very little about the details of his life and to say he was Shia with certainty is pure charlatanism. There is so much about him written after the fact that such 'facts' are nothing but inferences and 'shi'ite'.
this project sounds
by hamsade ghadimi on Sat Mar 06, 2010 07:16 AM PST
this project sounds fascinating. i'd like to see their result. thanks for the investigative reporting ari.
by SamSamIIII on Fri Mar 05, 2010 04:22 PM PST
It is promising that we both see eye to eye on this & Appreciate your honesty & theirs too in that they are not attributing this find directly to Ferdowsi himself but another copy be it a much earlier version . Best of luck to all of them.
Path of Kiaan Resurrection of True Iran Hoisting Drafshe Kaviaan //iranianidentity.blogspot.com //www.youtube.com/user/samsamsia
Dear VP of khorasan
narafti o didi VP ham shodii ,make room Joe biden:), just kidding pal. I,m very glad that you read between the lines & are an astute reader behind many games played by agents of Ommah. What is being done believe it or not is not the work of Islam but those who use it's name for haji's welfare which in the long run does the most dis-service to the cause of Imam Ali himself.
Cheers pal!!!
Some replies
by Ari Siletz on Fri Mar 05, 2010 03:55 PM PST
Mehman, the Beirut Shahnameh is a copy. The one in Ferdowsi's own hand is still missing. The earliest copies found so far date to about 200 years after Ferdowsi finished the work). Don't know when the publication project will be completed; depends on funding.
VPK, creative idea. The Beirut Shahnameh has no pictures, however. It's value to the public is the research that would result from its becoming available to scholars, not necessarily in owning a copy.
Azadeh, you are in good company in your take on Ferdowsi's characters . In the introduction to his Shahnameh translation, Dick Davis talks a little bit about how those ethically most fitted to rule are precisely those most reluctant to rule.
by Azadeh Azad on Fri Mar 05, 2010 02:52 PM PST
Thank you, Ari, for this informative article.
I'm guessing that the "B" version of the stanza is the original one, not so much because it is older (although that counts too,) but because it corresponds to the spirit of "The Book of Kings," where kings are usually selfish and inept, while heroes (such as Rostam) are the ones who do the real deed and clean after the kings' mess.
Azadeh
Ari Jan
by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on Fri Mar 05, 2010 02:45 PM PST
So they need 8-10 K for the whole deal right? How much do they have so far. This does not sound like an insurmountable problem.
Here is my idea: Make high quality version on pdf. People will donate ~100$. Then as a gift give a donor the pdf version. Now if they were to be a non profit then they are in business. I am just being realistic. With the tax deduction it will be a slam dunk. I think we could round up 80 - 100 Iranians with 100 $ each don't you :-)
by Mehman on Fri Mar 05, 2010 02:26 PM PST
Great News! I just want to know if there is any news concerning the definite date for the manuscript found.
If I am right you said there is a claim that this is the original Shahnameh manuscript. Is that right? or this is just one of the early copied texts of the book.
Anonymous Observer
by Ari Siletz on Fri Mar 05, 2010 11:48 AM PST
Professor Moosavi (Tehran University) was doing research in a library in Beirut in 2005 when he discovered the manuscript. More details as to the discovery story will be published in the fascimilie reprodcution volume. I don't get the impression that there's a group member in Beirut right now. The study is being done using some digital images that have been taken of parts of the manuscript.
Yes, publishing high quality facsimilies of rare Persian manuscripts is the purpose of the FRM group (the link explains the process). It's why they need contributions ($8K-$10k for the Beirut Shahnameh).
To see why the FRM work is so necessary, here is a link to a description of some old Shahnameh manuscripts. Search the page for the words "intact" and "dispersed," to see how some stunningly beautiful parts of our Shahnameh heritage have been butchered.
Samer & Ari
by Anonymous Observer on Fri Mar 05, 2010 11:12 AM PST
Samer: I have many Lebanese friends, both Christian and Muslim, who always say the same thing about Beirut, and get upset when people call it a war zone. I have to tell you that I have only heard good things about Beirut and am anxious to hopefully visit it one day. That being said, I think that there are many foreign forces who try to take advantage of Lebanon's weak security forces to cause trouble in the country at large. IRI and Nasrollah in the South and Saudis and their allies in the Palestinian refugee camps. Yet, through all this meddling, Beirutis manage to show how cultured and progressive they are. Good for them.
Ari: I am a little confused. Are these researchers currently in Beirut studying the newly discovered Shahnameh?
by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on Fri Mar 05, 2010 10:26 AM PST
While the original text is invaluable it makes sense to make high quality images. It this being done?
I think they should make images of it. Then make them available as a cost. The funds thus raised would go to fund the efforts of Dr. Omidsalar. Not political; no harm done to the text. We get to preserve a valuable Shahnameh and fund good work.
If you are in touch with them please check on this. I would pay for an electronic version. I am sure others would also.
Samsam III
"So the burden of these scholars 1st and foremost is to stay independent of ideologue groupies in order to produce an impartial outcome."
That's how I see it too, and as we have seen with Dr. Omidsalar's statements above, in this regard the Shahnameh is in good hands. The group would rather risk low funding, than conduct biased research. In such situations, public support helps carry the burden of impartiality. It's only fair.
war zone?
by Samer Srouji on Fri Mar 05, 2010 09:06 AM PST
Please stop calling Beirut a war zone, for many of us, Beirut is home, a peaceful and liberal city with a vibrant cultural and night life, art and cinema, book fairs, countless authors and musicians and among the best and leading universities in the Middle East, including the American Univeristy of Beirut and St. Joseph.
It is wonderful the Shahname manuscript was found in Beirut. It just gets tiring for us Lebanese having our country slammed as a war zone by people who have never set foot there or know anything about this culturally and religiously diverse country. There has been a huge effort to rebuild our lives and our country since the end of the civil war in 1991, please stop taking us back there. Despite a few bumps along the way, we have moved on.
SamSam jan
My main concerne and I,m sure at some levels yours too is the efforts in the last few years by cultural pro regime elements to paint a exaggerated picture of Ferdowsi of that of a devout Shia rather than an Iran loving patriot. Obviuosly I have nothing against Ferdowsi being a practicing shia but I have issue with motives of those ommaties who want to dilute his patriotic msg & portray him as just another shaikh who just happened to write a few verses on kiaan & Iran.
I agree with you. I don't see any evidence that Ferdowsi was a devout Shiite. Heck he lived near enough to times of Ali to know what kind of animal Ali was. Why would an Iranian nationalist worship that Iranian hater and murderer. I think all this so called research about Ferdowsi being Shiite is BS. It is a bunch of Islamist propaganda and I do not believe it for one moment. Right Iranian nationalists really worship the guy who went around murdering Iranians for sport. I have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale.
If you go by their standards then I would be classified as a devout Muslim!! They basically put a gun or a sword to your head and say: are you a Muslim? So you either say yes or you die. No wonder many people in the past chose to lie and live. Not everyone is Babak Khorramdin.
Islam is a lie and lives on lies. Therefore anything the Islamist scholars say is suspect by definition.
by SamSamIIII on Fri Mar 05, 2010 05:52 AM PST
Thanks for the reply but Beirut issue is just a minor item.
I,ve seen time & time again that there is this push to prove that he was not a nationalist but a wise man who preached Iranians on the ills of old Iran!!.
As I said earlier, the Ommatie camp knows that Ferdowsi is the battle cry of all patriots & nationalists who dream to see true Iranian values rebuilt again & hence their efforts has been to target his image in order to dilute, distort & contort his message to neutralize this iconic kiaan loving figure.
This issue I,m sure at some point is your concerne too as an independent researcher. So the burden of these scholars 1st and foremost is to stay independent of ideologue groupies in order to produce an impartial outcome. &thats all.
Cheers & Thanks again !!!
Things get around
It does not surprise me that Shahnameh would be found in Beirut or Florance. We are not in a vacuum and things get around. People move and take their writings with them. Sometimes treasure is bought and transported. Other times they are spoils of war. Or perhaps traded. Who knows. The good thing is that they are discovered.
SamSam IIII
by Ari Siletz on Thu Mar 04, 2010 11:07 PM PST
1. Don't know what this Shahnameh is doing in Beirut. But I can help change your question into a better one. In 1977 a Shahnameh was discovered in Florence dating back to 1217 AD. So the better question is how and why did these old manuscripts travel so far? This better question avoids the red herrings of Hezbollah and Beirut that seem to have led to your under-informed conculsions.
2. The scholars working on this project all have solid international reputations. For example, here is an article in Encyclopedia Iranica by Dr. Omidsalar. And here is a link to Dr. Khaleghi Motlagh's 6 volume definitive Shahnameh--used as a standard refernce by researchers all over the world--in case you ever want to feel proud of one of your countrymen.
by SamSamIIII on Thu Mar 04, 2010 08:34 PM PST
I dont know where they are going with this but I have a hunch. I dont know much about this Beirut so called shahnaameh & even less about these folks you print their names here but one thing I Do know is that Islamic Republic sanctioned Shahnaameh prints inside "Iran" have had verses after verses consored & dishonestly distorted by regime in various chapters & formats relating to Kaveh & Zahaak, Rostam va saad(Qadesiyeh), and many more; here,
//shahnameh.recent.ir/default.aspx?item=8
& here in this chapter,
//shahnameh.recent.ir/default.aspx?item=660&page=4
They have also amazingly added few made up lines attributed to Ferdowsi in which he seemingly singles out Imam Ali & praises shia sect & velaayat ahl bait(read velaayat faghih?) which you will never find in pre-IRI prints including my 80 yr old print.
A blogger earlier asked a very good question in that what the heck shahnameh doing in Beirut & why should we look for true words of Ferdowsi not in home prints but in some lebenese house. who is autheticating this. Who are these folks & how is their relation with Lebenese hezbollah & IRI ministry of culture. Is it shahnaameh turn now to be Shiacized since its the last defence...we dont know & we need to know. Why the sudden interest all of the sudden one wonders & rightfully so. btw* Ari khan your article a while ago corrolating Kaveh & Mir Hossein Mousavi as similar characters of history was a gem.
Dear Ari & The Veiled
by Demo on Thu Mar 04, 2010 05:37 PM PST
Did not mean the bodily dead rather the affect of the unknown (what took place) on what is taking place now. Living in cave of 1000 years ago has nothing to do with the living is a skyscraper today, but what is important is their common denominator as "living." The History is by itself a "History" and there is no way it can answer my question of "Chetori" or how it really happened as there is no "live' witness to its progress. Even about today's events many witnesses/reporters/historians have their own version of the stories. Feeling regret very much about wasting of my time in high school & in college to learn about the "pack of lies" subject called "History." The only way anybody's "Nameh" can be trusted is that it starts talking itself by becoming "alive" (as in the "Night in the Museum" movie) & not being read the in a library or in a museum. "Only actions of you and me speak for themselves & they determine the turn of the today's events." That is how all the warriors/revolutonaries draw their destinies.
Very educational and interesting, thanks Ari
by Bavafa on Thu Mar 04, 2010 04:30 PM PST
I will make sure I do my share of donation and thanks for providing the link.
by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on Thu Mar 04, 2010 03:39 PM PST
I respectfully disagree. We build upon our history. If it were not for the deeds of those in the past we would be living in caves right now. We are a product of our history. Our parents; our ancestors and many others. All those make us what we are now. We learn from history we benefit or suffer from actions of those who were.
Ari:
Regarding Ferdowsi's religion. I honestly do not believe any person researcher or otherwise can tell what went on in a mind 1000 years ago. This is specially true when the research is biased by people's religion. They don't know and I don't know. I am happy to admit my ignorance. Of course people are free to publish!
Demo, reconsider your approach
Individuals die, but the nation stays very much alive. And what gives this living entity called Iran her mind and identity is her history. The "only here and now matters" philosophy you propose is harmful for Iran. Standing up to injustice is hard enough without a national Alzheimer's disease.
THE "DEAD" GAME!!!!
Yesterday and tomorrow are 2 unknown variables to our today's lives. Precious is the "present" (i.e. right @ this moment & also a "gift") & our own deeds & actions ("Mine or Your Nameh") (e.g. standing up against injustice) determines its real value & not the original "Shah-Nameh" or "Khomeini-Nameh."
Ari jaan I think 1/2 of 30yrs was spent by Ferdowsi just inking!
by Anonymouse on Thu Mar 04, 2010 10:44 AM PST
Everything is sacred.
by Ari Siletz on Thu Mar 04, 2010 10:37 AM PST
MM, Iranica is another worthy project to donate to, but that is an entirely different project, with a different focus. I doubt Iranica has the resources to administer funds for the preservation of endangered manuscripts. Good to see your strong interest in our heritage.
Anonymouse, dunno yet how it got there, or when. Dr. Omidsalar says that in the introdcution of the planned publication there will be several essays addressing what they have been able to gather from the manuscript so far. The introductory essays will also explain how the manuscript was discovered. here's a link to a brief article by Dr. Omidsalar with more info. This article has a high resolution image of a page of the Beirut Shahnameh which looks like it was written on paper(the photo on top of my article is from a different Shahnameh). Also, Professor jalal Khaleghi Motlagh (whose own edition of the Shahnameh is considered authorative by experts in the field) has published an article on the find and its significance for Shahnameh studies. This article was published in Nameh-ye Baharestan, which is the Majles Library's international journal of manuscript studies in Iran. I plan to follow up, but do let us know if you beat me to it.
Souri, glad you enjoyed the article.
VPK, I am exuberant at your donation. Many thanks. I too value Ferdowsi for his nationalism. I did specifically ask Dr. Omidsalar about the religion question. Among scholars, Professor Mahdavi-Damghani is considered to have definitively shown that Ferdowsi was a shiite.
MPD, many thanks for your ecouragement.
Redwine, thank you. Hopefully this Shahnameh will yield more IC articles.
Very good info,i need that
by Red Wine on Thu Mar 04, 2010 09:47 AM PST
Very good info,i need that to know. Thank you Ari jan .
Have you contacted Dr. Ehsan Yarshater, the head scholar ......
by MM on Thu Mar 04, 2010 07:44 AM PST
Have you contacted Dr. Ehsan Yarshater, the head scholar at Columbia University Center for Iranian Studies who is in charge of the Encyclopedia Iranica project? You cannot get any apolitical than this group of Iranian scholars. The IC folks can direct their help towards the Encyclopedia Iranica project which in turn can help in the preservation of the older Shahnameh manuscript.
For information on how to give, online or by mail, see Donations to Iranica.