Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Date of Graduation
12-13-2019
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Department
Independent Scholars Program
Advisor(s)
Wren R. Stevens
Abstract
This project seeks to investigate the ways in which nature shaped the culture of ancient Persia through technology, architecture, agriculture, and art. Furthermore, this project investigates how the symbols and mentalities of ancient Persia were carried forward into the early-modern period. Achaemenid Persia and Babylon are studied as societies which influenced one another and combined to create the foundation of Persian culture as it is currently understood, which then combined in later centuries with other Middle Eastern and Central Asian cultural movements to produce the Safavid and Mughal Empires. The Safavids and Mughals imitated and revived Persian culture in order to legitimize their empires, combining Persian and Islamic worldviews in the process. All of these empires are studied with the intent of uncovering how nature was viewed and understood in these societies, as well as how nature influenced religious practices and was used to legitimize political power.
Recommended Citation
Cabana, Sophia, "A Bridge Between Earth & Sky: How the Natural World Shaped the Civilizations of Ancient and Early-Modern Persia" (2019). Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019. 739.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/honors201019/739
Included in
Asian Art and Architecture Commons, Biblical Studies Commons, Classical Archaeology and Art History Commons, Cultural History Commons, Environmental Design Commons, Ethnic Studies Commons, Hindu Studies Commons, History of Religion Commons, History of Religions of Western Origin Commons, Islamic Studies Commons, Islamic World and Near East History Commons, Landscape Architecture Commons, Near Eastern Languages and Societies Commons, Other History Commons, Other Religion Commons, Political History Commons
