iran

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?

Ourmiah = Urmia From encyclopedia.farlex.com/Ourmiah "Capital of West Azerbaijan province, northwestern Iran, 130 km/81 mi southwest of Tabriz; population (1991) 357,400. Urmia is situated on a large, fertile plain to the west of Lake Urmia. Formerly known as Reza'iyeh, Urmia dates from the second millennium BC, and is one of the reputed birthplaces of Zoroaster. The city is home to Iran's longest established Christian community." See also en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urmia "Due to Urmia's relatively large Christian population growth by the end of the 19th century, Urmia also became the seat of the first American Christian mission in Iran in 1835. " It is near where Iraq, Turkey and Iran join. 95% of the population are Kurds or Azerbaijanis

The Shah would be the young en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Shah_Qajar who was Shah of Persia from July 16, 1909, to October 31, 1925 and the last of the Qajar dynasty. See also www.iranica.com/newsite/index.isc?Article=http://www.iran...

swanq: Thanks for the additional information! When we update the source record, we will expand the caption for this image.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la meme chose...

This photograph is part of the Indicommons.org post And that was July … across the Commons.

The lower picture was taken by William Henry Jackson (Date Created/Published: [between 1880 and 1897) and is found in Detroit Publishing Company Collection, The Library of Congress. www.loc.gov/pictures/item/det1994003394/PP/ It was most likely taken in San Luis Potosí City by Calzada de Guadalupe between Carlos 10 Gutiérrez Street and Espinosa y Cuevas where used to be the one Federal Army garrison buildings Nowadays the Internado Damián Carmona, the other building to Internado's left, it is Mexican Army Public Library (in antother copy of this same picture, on the lower borher is scratch-entitled with script characters as Noonday Bivouack Goverment Troops at Hacienda Peotillos). If Jackson is the author of this picture, most likely was between years 1891 and 1892. During the uprisings in Western Chihuahua (mostly Tomóchic) federal troops were asked by Governor Carrillo and authorized and sent by President Díaz. So the picture does not correpond to the uprising held by June 28, 1908 in Viesca, Coahuila, near Torreón where 1500 troops arrived to quell the revolutionaries (see Los Angeles Herald, june 29, 1908, page 2, "BIG ARMY IS MARCHING ON TORREON....". The Library of Congress, Historic News Papers, Chronicling America chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042462/1908-06-28/ed-... ) The Hacienda Peotillos (San Luis Potosí) main house is not alike to the building depicted. If you go to San Luis Potosí City in Google Maps and "walk" in street view by the streets before mentioned you'll see the building! Dr. Roberto Duarte Plastic Surgeon