iran

the word printed on the photo appears to be 'saids' rather than 'sards' as in the heading

allan56: Thank you for your correction of the caption. It does say "saids" rather than "sards". We will change the title in the source data and reload the description.

it says "saids" at this refers to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayyid. this is the word mister in Arabic but used for another purpose in a country like Iran, those who are believed to be the descendants of Prophet Muhammed (or his children) are called Seyyed or Sayyid.

I would agree with Saeed's comments. Another common spelling is Syed. One will note of the individuals that are specifically wearing turbans (as opposed to the fez type) that some of the individuals are wearing black turbans and some are wearing white. The black turbans are a distinction among the scholars as who is a decendent of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) through his daughter Lady Fatimah Zahra (as).

From 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica: "The Modern Nestorians.—The Nestorians or East Syrians (Surayi) of Turkey and Persia now inhabit a district bounded by Lake Urmia, or Urumia, on the east, stretching westwards into Kurdistan, to Mosul on the south, and nearly as far as Van on the north . They are divided into the Persian Nestorians of the plain of Azerbaijan, and the Turkish Nestorians, inhabiting chiefly the sanjak of Hakkiari in the vilayet of Van, who are subdivided into the Rayat or subject, and the Ashiret or tribal, the latter being semi-independent in their mountain fastnesses"

Hello! Very interesting photo, but what is the evidence for it showing a Nestorian bishop with his entourage? There is a similar tableau from the 1890s in J. de Morgan et al., Mission scientifique en Perse, II, 1895: plate XI “Fête du faux emir à Saoudj-Boulagh” (undated black/white photograph by S. E. Seif-ed-Din Khân Sérdâr); available OA via HATHI hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015005789774?urlappend=%3Bseq=71 This scene shows a "mir-e nowruzi" (lit. “The prince of the New Year festivities”) with his entourage; the "mir-e nowruzi" is one of the rituals of the traditional Nowruz festival in Iran; cf. www.iranicaonline.org/articles/nowruz-index -- Dagmar Riedel

Islamic Books: The only real evidence is that the caption "Persia - Nestorian Archbishop, his secy and servants " was recorded by the Bain news agency. Not all Bain captions have proved accurate, although the great majority of people and places do seem to be identified correctly, give or take spelling mistakes. But, I find that the same picture is identified as being of Kurdish soldiers by the Brooklyn Museum. See www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/161259/Kurd... But the same caption appears to be applied to all the photos in the set, and some of them are more clearly soldiers.

The costumes are somewhat similar to that of the Nestorian priest in luna.library.wmich.edu/luna/servlet/detail/WMUwmu~85~85~4...

Thanks, swanq, for the reference in the photograph in the BMA! And yes, I agree about the "Iranian Christian" feel of the costumes, cf. exhibitions.cul.columbia.edu/exhibits/show/quran/item/6126 The area for which Morgan reported about the ritual of the "faux emir" is part of Kurdestan, and Morgan published a scholarly report about field work in Iran: www.worldcat.org/oclc/5660382 In general, this field report is considered a reliable source for Iran in the 1890s. These observations can possibly be reconciled, because Nowruz is not an Islamic, Jewish, or Christian festival: it is an Iranian festival. Moreover, Christians have been living in Iran since the 3rd century: www.iranicaonline.org/articles/christianity-viii Therefore, I am still wondering whether the scene shows a real or a mock bishop. The many men with weapons seem to me a bit too martial for a Christian dignitary, rather militia than priests. But a militia would be okay for the "faux emir" -- as described in Morgan's text. Does the Bain collection include other images of other Christian dignitaries in Iran in the midst of their entourage? If there are not any contemporary photographs of Christian bishops, how about Muslim theologians and their entourage?

See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urmia

swanq: Thanks for the information on the current name of this location in Iran. We will update the source record to reflect this name as well.