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Religious Appropriation of National Symbols in Iran: Searching for Cyrus the Great

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Menahem Merhavy
Menahem Merhavy*
Affiliation:
Department of Middle Eastern Studies at University of Texas at Austin
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Abstract

In this article I examine the debate over the character of Cyrus the Great in Iran during the last four decades, using it as a prism to view the struggle over the desired balance between religious and ethnic components of Iranian identity. Heated polemics over the historical figure of Cyrus and his legacy reveal undercurrents of Iranian identity dilemmas as well as different and conflicting views of Iranian identity. Beyond a mere historical or religious controversy, the debate over the “right” memory of Cyrus presents an interesting case of shifting emphasis on identity and sources of political inspiration in Iranian society from the late 1960s to the present. Moreover, putting the debate over the ancient king in perspective, there emerges a wider picture of religious adaptation and embrace of what once seemed pagan or secular.

Type
Articles
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 48 , Issue 6 , November 2015 , pp. 933 - 948
Copyright
Copyright © Association For Iranian Studies, Inc 2015

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Footnotes

Menahem Merhavy would like to thank David Stronach, Kamran S. Aghaie, Yoav Di-Capua, Afshin Marashi, Harold Liebowitz and Max Bruce for commenting on earlier drafts of this article. He would also like to thank the Leonard Davis Institute for International Relations and the Fulbright Foundation.

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