Iranian dance history is characterized by many fascinating and also tragic incidents. It seems to be completely unknown to the outside world, partly because of the present political situation of the country that has toned down the interest for a profound research effort. The other reason is the current archaeological discoveries and excavations in Iran, during the past thirty years. They have made it possible to have access to material and evidence for the origin of Persian dance, ever since the appearance of the cult of Mithra about two thousand years before our calendar.
By virtue of these bases, Iran can be considered as one of the ancient world's empires, which methodically and actively was devoted to the development of the art of dance. For this ancient nation, dancing has been an important social phenomenon and a religious ritual.
It is the irony of history that ever since the revolution in 1979, this art form has been prohibited in the same country that once upon a time performed a central role for its expansion and advancement.
The several thousand years of Iranian history is characterized by great events that influenced important parts of the world and its civilization. It ranges over eras of grandeur but also over painful and absurd periods of defeat and destruction.
The following is a prelude to an exhaustive research work about the history of Persian dance, which I will become absorbed in during the coming years. I hope that it will improve in quality and content and will make a contribution to expose this national art form. The forgotten history of Persian dance is the story of a world heritage, which has to be given a new birth.
In this summary article I have chosen to spotlight seven different eras, from the prehistoric cult of Mithra until the present, which have included decisive events and episodes for developments, but also destructions of this art form. The rise of the new millennium undoubtedly implies a new productive period for Persian dance, as the Iranian society and the new generation of Iran move toward an era of enlightenment.
The Cult of Mithra and the Origine of Persian Dance
The origin and rise of Persian dance as an independent and distinctive art form is estimated to be parallel with the birth of Mithraism and its spread. This cult centrally revolves around the ancient Persia's sun and light God, Mithra, who is the main figure in this mystery religion that during the late antique era spread over the entire Roman Empire. Numerous temples and depictions of the legendary Mithra have been located and excavated in the three continents of the ancient world; Asia, Africa and Europe. The latest discovery has been done in London as late as 1954.
The most important ritual in this cult has been the worship of Mithra, as he is sacrificing a bull. This act was believed to promote the vigour of life. The consecration to this belief was accomplished among other rites through the baptism in the blood of a bull, followed by a ritual dance performed only by men. This ceremonial act is considered as the earliest known form of Iranian dance, and the origin of the magic dance of the antique civilisations. It is typical for sacred Persic (Persian) dance, so called "Danse Persique Sacrée".
The most significant bases for researching around the ancient Persian dance can be found in the Greek historian from Halikarnassos, Herodotos' superb work "Nine Books". He describes the old history of Asian empires and Persian wars until 478 BC.
In several occasions he has indicated and in detail described the cultural and social habits of Persians. He has mentioned the wide cultural exchange that Persians had with the ancient world. "From every corner of the known (antique) world, the most appreciated artists were imported to the imperial court in order to practice their artistic abilities in the presence of the majestic Emperor and his court."
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Ney, which is probably the oldest pitched instrument known to man, is an oblique rim blown reed flute with five finger holes in front and one thumb hole in the back. One of the principle instruments of Traditional Persian Music, the Ney has a range of two and a half octaves. The upper end is covered by a short brass cylinder which is anchored in the tiny space between the upper incisive of the player. Sound is produced when a stream of air is directed by the tongue toward the opening of the instrument. In this way, sound is produced behind the upper teeth, inside the mouth, which gives the Ney a distinct timbre than that of the sound produced by the lips on the outside of the mouth.
Santur is a three-octave wooden-hammered dulcimer with seventy-two strings which are arranged on adjustable tuning pegs in eighteen quadruple sets, nine (bronze) in the low register, and nine (steel) in the middle register. The Santur can be made from various kinds of wood (walnut, rosewood, betel palm, etc.) connected by sound-posts whose position play an important role in the sound quality of the instrument. Although Santur is very old, it was neither depicted in miniatures, nor presented in any other medium until the nineteenth century. The secret of making the trapezoid – shape sound box lies in the quality and age of the wood, as well as in the arrangement of the sound-posts which connect the table of the instrument to its back. Belonging to the lute family.
Tar appeared in its present form in the middle of the eighteenth century. The body is a double bowl shape carved from mulberry wood, with a thin membrane of stretched lamb-skin covering the top. The long fingerboard has twenty-six to twenty-eight adjustable gut frets, and there are three double courses of strings. Its range is about two and one-half octaves, and is played with a small brass plectrum.
Tanbur is the ancestor to most long-necked, plucked stringed instruments. Its pear shaped belly is normally carved out of one piece of mulberry wood with a long neck and fourteen gut frets. Some modern Tanburs are made of bent ribs of mulberry wood. The sound board, 3-4 millimeters thick, is also made of mulberry wood which has numerous small holes for better resonance. Tanbur has a unique playing technique by which the strings are strummed with the fingers of the right hand to produce a very full and even tremolo called shorr (literally meaning the pouring of water). This technique along with various kinds of plucking, usually with the index and pinky fingers, enables the musician to produce different effects and various rhythmic accentuations which imitates the natural sounds of their environment such as a running stream, a water fall, a bird chirping or a horses’ gallop, all translated into musical rhythms and sounds.
Tombak is a chalice-shaped drum carved from solid mulberry wood. It is covered at the wide end by a membrane of lamb or goat skin. The technique of this instrument uses both hands and consists of rolling and snapping the fingers in various ways. The rich variety of tones and textures on this instrument allows the player to punctuate and ornament the melodic phrases as well as create rhythmical patterns. ‘Tom’ and ‘bak’ are onomatopoeias for two basic strokes, one low (tom) in the center, and one high (bak) on the side of the membrane.
Setar's ancestory can be traced to the ancient Tanbur of pre-Islamic Persia. It is made from thin mulberry wood and its fingerboard has twenty-five of twenty-six adjustable gut frets. Setar is literally translated as “three strings”; however, in its present form, it has four strings and it is suspected that Setar initially had only three strings. Because of it delicacy and intimate sonority, Setar is the preferred instrument of Sufi mystics.
Daf is a type of frame drum that is depicted in many Persian miniatures and has reliefs from centuries ago. Although it appears at first sight to be a relatively simple instrument, the Daf has the potential of producing intricate rhythmic patterns and sounds. The Daf is equipped with metal rings on the inside which add a jingle effect to the sound. The frame is covered with goat-skin.
Kamancheh is the traditional classical bowed lute of Persian classical music and dates back to antiquity. It has a small, hollowed hardwood body with a thin stretched fish-skin membrane. Its neck is cylindrical, and it has four strings. Often known at the “spiked fiddle”, because of the spike protruding form it lower end, it is played vertically in the manner of the European Viol. The bowstrings are pulled by the player which accommodates subtle tone variations. It is suspected that the fourth string was added in the early twentieth century as the result of the introduction of western violin to Iran.
Barbat, also known as the UD, is a short-neck fret-less lute with five double-courses of strings tuned in fourths and traditionally played with a eagle’s quill. Barbat is the ancestor of the European lute, and functions as a bass instrument.
In Iran, calligraphers combined two existing forms, “Naskh” and 
So what happens as you type?Farsi fonts have to be “Smart Fonts”. The font has to decide which form a letter should appear in, depending on its position in the word. “Open Type” has solved this problem by providing all the different forms of the letters and all the exceptions and special connections. Here is an example of letters joining as a writer types a four-letter word.
