How the Persia started the West

Why it’s time for a new inclusive history, and the implications for magic, history of science, and politics

Part I: Persia and the Iranian peoples

The Iranian peoples, of whom the Persians are a subset, have covered a vast area of Eurasia over a vast history. Their homelands have extended as far East as China¹ and Russia on one side and into Europe on the other².

Persia can be understood as the connecting point between Europe and Asia. In the 2nd millennium BCE, the Aryan/Iranian³ people arrived at what is now Iran, which is named after them. They mixed with previous ancient cultures of the area including Elamites, Kassites, Gutians, Mannaeans, and Urartians.

These Iranian people came in from the East, probably from the steppes of Central Asia, including parts of present-day southern Russia, northern Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. This area includes the ancient cultures of Sintashta and Andronovo, who were the ancestors of both the Iranian and Indo-Aryan (Vedic) peoples.

The Persian people are the Iranian inhabitants of present day Iran and the surrounding regions. At its height in the 500’s BC the Persian empire was the largest on earth, and it inspired later empires, such as the Macedonian Empire of Alexander the Great, the Romans, the short-lived Mongol Empire (162 years), the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire. Both Alexander the Great’s empire and the Islamic empire were built upon the strong cultural base of the Persian empire.

The ancient Persian Empire included four main dynasties: Achaemenids, Selecids, Parthians, and Sasanids. The Seleucids were the Hellenistic Macedonian and Greek successors of Alexander the Great. The other three were Persian dynasties.

Cyrus the Great founded the Achaemenid Dynasty in 559 B.C., marking the start of Persian rule. It lasted until 330BCE and included the famous rulers Darius I, the Great (521-486BCE), Xerxes I (485-465BCE) and Darius the III (335-330BCE).

The Persian Achaemenid Empire was ended by Alexander the Great’s campaign which began in 334 BCE. Persia was then ruled by Darius III. Alexander achieved a series of decisive victories, most notably at the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BCE, which effectively broke Persian power and led to the flight and eventual death of Darius III.

Persia as the neighbour of Greece

Alexander was particularly impressed by Persian culture, and especially by the founding emperor, Cyrus the Great. When he visited Cyrus’ tomb and found it desecrated, he had it restored.

Highly educated in Greek literature, including by Aristotle himself, Alexander drew inspiration in governance and military tactics from the Cyropaedia (370 BCE), a biography of Cyrus by Xenophon. This is a theme throughout history as ancient Persian governmental, administrative and military tactics have remained influential to the present.

Once he ruled Persia, Alexander married three Persian women. Roxana (Roxane), the daughter of Oxyartes, a Bactrian noble, Stateira II, the eldest daughter of Darius III, the last Achaemenid king, and Parysatis II, daughter of the former Persian king Artaxerxes III.

Thus Greece, Macedon and Persia were united under Alexander’s rule and the hybrid Greek/Persian Seleucid dynasty that followed him. Alexander’s reign is variously describe as destructive period for Persian culture or as a hybridisation of Hellenic and Persian legacy. Persia has retained a cultural link to Greece (and vice versa) ever since.

Even before this Persia had an enormous influence of Greek Culture. Today the political/cultural category ‘the West’, is often defined by the influence of Greek philosophy. As we will see Persia had an influence on these founders of European intellectualism.

The first Greek Philosophers in relation to Persia

• The first Greek philosopher Thales (c. 624-548BCE): Born in Miletus, Lydia, in Asia Minor (Turkey) next to the Persian empire. Miletus came under the control of Persia soon after Thales.

• Anaximander (c. 610–546 BCE): Also born in Miletus. Miletus came under Persian control upon the death of Anaximander in 546BCE.

• Heraclitus (c. 540–480 BCE) was born in Ephesus under Persian rule.

• Anaximenes (c. 586-525 BC) born in Miletus, which was under Persian rule for the second half of his life.

• Anaxagoras (c. 500 BC – c. 428 BC) born in born in Clazomenae under the control of the Persian Empire.

• Pythagoras of Samos[a] (Ancient Greek: Πυθαγόρας; c. 570 – c. 495 BC). Born on the Greek island of Samos. Was claimed by some ancient writers to have been trained by the Persian Magi, (Zoroastrian priests).

Though the details are somewhat lost to history, the proximity of the earliest Greek Philosophers to Persia, Greek literature’s fascination with the Persians and the founding of the Achaemenid Empire which controlled Asia Minor and held temporary control of most of mainland Greece, have lead us to at least question how many of the Greek ideas may have been Persian in origin. Many Greek ideas are tantalisingly close to the teachings of Zoroastrianism which became dominant Persian religion around 550BCE, replacing polytheism.

Some compare the teachings of philosophers such as Heraclitus, and Pyrrho, with those of Taoism or Buddhism⁴. While the dates and evidence don’t confirm this, if it were true then these philosophies must have been transmitted through Persia⁵.

After Darius’s defeat and death, Alexander marched to Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenids, where he looted and burned the city, symbolically ending the dynasty’s rule and destroying much of its cultural and religious heritage. By the time of Alexander’s death in 323 BCE, he had taken control of all major Achaemenid territories, ruling over the former Persian Empire as its new monarch.

The Seleucid Empire, which Alexander started, ended in 63 BCE when it was annexed by the Roman Republic under the general Pompey.

Enlightenment values in the 6th century BCE

The Cyrus Cylinder

Several state values of the Achaemenid empire are remarkably close to ‘Western’ values developed during the Enlightenment period which started in 1715CE. These values were in place in Persia during the 6th century BCE!

• The Zoroastrian religion of Persia preaches free enquiry, free will and moral decision making.

In particular speaking and upholding the truth (asha) was held in reverence, and this trait of the Persians was remarked upon by the ancient Greeks⁶.

• Freedom to practice religion.

Cyrus allowed freedom to practice religion and even funded many non-Zoroastrian temples. The liberation of the Jews from Babylonian exile and the funding of the rebuild of their temple earned Cyrus the title of ‘Messiah’ in the Old Testament. He is the only non Jew (or Hebrew) given this title.

• Workers rights.

Including women and foreigners, workers were to be paid wages based on their skill, experience, and the type of work performed.

• A prominent role for women in society.

Women enjoyed the right to own land, freely travel, own businesses, and control their own money. While they were prohibited from ruling the country, this was a far more equal standing than woman held in the vast majority of other cultures at the time. Women also were trained in horse riding and archery.

• Though it is often said that Darius I abolished slavery, this is an overstatement. Darius did however introduce legal protections for slaves, such as making it illegal for masters to indiscriminately beat or kill slaves, and masters who mistreated slaves could be punished as if they had harmed a free person.

Persia didn’t practice or institutionalise slavery on the same level as the Greeks and other cultures of the era. However slavery did exist as a practice, especially prisoners of war⁷.

Xenophon’s Cyropaedia (370 BC), which details Cyrus’ rule and policies has been an influence not only on Alexander the Great but also on the American Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin. Cyrus’ policies can therefore be considered a predecessor to the Declaration of Independence, itself a product of the Western Enlightenment.

Thomas Jefferson owned two copies of the Cyropaedia, and recommended it to his grandson. Hes was inspired by its depiction of Cyrus as a model of enlightened, tolerant, and just rulership. Jefferson and other founders of the USA, saw Cyrus’s empire as an example of religious tolerance and governance over a diverse, multi-ethnic state, which resonated with their own libertarian vision for America.

In its history Iran has undergone many dynasties and has been conquered by other cultures Macedonians/Greeks, Mongols, Arabic Muslims, and Turks.

A remarkable quality of Persian culture has been its resilience. Not only did Persian culture adapt and remain intact under these invasions, but it also proved so influential that all the outside cultures that have ruled Iran ended up adopting the Farsi language, administrative and governmental systems, and high culture. The Persian cultural ‘immune system’ is strong.

Islamic takeover

Islam was founded by Muhammed in 610CE. Starting in Mecca, the religion spread like wild fire, quickly conquering the Arabic peninsula in Muhammed’s lifetime (he died in 632). His followers then conquered Christian Byzantine territories, the Levant, and then Iraq. Persia was targeted next. The Arab Conquest in 651 marked the end of the ancient Persian empires with the fall of the Sassanid Empire.

Just like before, the Persians ended up influencing Islam as much as Islam affected Persia. Many foundational practices such as praying five times daily came from Zoroastrianism. The translation of Persian libraries, including Greek⁸ philosophy allowed Arabic to become a language of scholars and ignited the Islamic Golden age (8th to the 13th century). More than half of the important scholars of this era were Persians, writing in either Farsi or Arabic.

The Madrasas, which are the world’s first universities from the 10th century onwards, were started in Persia. This also allowed the culture to maintain a high level of literacy, around 6%, more than other cultures of the time.

Part II: What do we mean by ‘the West’?

The earliest descriptions of the West were used to differentiate the Greeks from the Persians. Later on the term was used to differentiate Christian Europe from Islamic ruled territories, which were built upon the Persian empire.

Nowadays the term West is a mess, defined more by what it excludes than what it includes. The purpose of this section is to present this problem.

As Defined by Greece

The beginnings of ‘the West’ as a cultural concept are usually traced back to Herodotus (484 – c. 425 BC), in his work Histories. The use of the term is simply to differentiate the Greeks from the Iranian people they were at war with, the Persians, and groups such the Medes and Scythians. All of these cultures were to the East of Greek territories. The term ‘the West’ for Herodotus was simply a product of various battlefronts. Though many have tried to infer in his writings a modern conception of ‘the West’ as a pan-European cultural term, the concept didn’t yet exist.

Heradotus did mention other west-lying cultures in passing: Italy, Sicily, the Iberian peninsula, the Egyptians, the Phoenicians, and Libya (North Africa). Despite this, Heradotus only identified as a Greek.

The ‘us and them’ politics of the ancient war between the Greeks and the Persians, as written by Herodotus have somehow continued until this day.

In truth the war which had a huge effect on Greece, was a minor incursion for the huge Persian Empire, and the Greeks received much more influence from the larger Persian Empire, than they did from most other cultures. Greece at the time was more ‘Persian’ than it was ‘the West’ in any pan-European sense of the term.

As defined by Christianity

After the Romans positioned themselves as the inheritors of Greek culture and literature⁹, the next step in the story of ‘the West’ was the Christianisation of Rome.

Emperor Theodosius I (reigned 379–395 CE) was the pivotal figure who transformed the Roman Empire into a formally Christian state. With his reign Christianity became compulsory through the Edict of Thessalonica. This declared that the doctrine established at the Council of Nicaea (Nicene Christianity) was to be the sole state religion. He banned many Pagan practices and subjected non-Christian ‘heretics’ to legal penalties. He also closed many temples. This, as well as his predecessor Constantine’s Christian conversion, helped establish the more modern idea of Christianity as the religion of ‘the West’.

The idea that Rome’s Christianity was in any way exclusive is false. As well as being a religion of the Levant (the homeland of Jesus), there were Christian communities in Armenia (the first state to adopt Christianity, c. 314 CE), Persia, Ethiopia, India and the Arabian Peninsula in this period. Christianity has for most of his history been, by majority, ‘non-Western’¹⁰.

Theodosius I was the last Emperor before the schism which formed the Byzantine Empire¹¹. The Byzantines however considered themselves Romans and still call their religion ‘Catholic’ despite our referring to them as Greek Orthodox.

The Crusades

Jerusalem (2014) painted by Jason Askey

Alarmed by the rapid rise of Islam, the First Crusade (1096–1099) was initiated by Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont in 1095, resulting in the capture of Jerusalem in 1099 and the establishment of several Crusader states. The struggle to keep Jerusalem Christian continued and the last major Crusade to the Holy Land was the Ninth Crusade, led by Prince Edward of England (later Edward I), which took place from 1271 to 1272.

Positioning themselves against their Islamic enemy, the Crusades mark the first pan-European military effort¹². Due to the Islamification of the middle east, Asia and Africa, the majority of Christians were now living in Europe in this period. There were however many non-European Christian communities living in the Islamic Empire, making up about 10% of the population. Despite the European antagonism, Islamicate¹³ Christians were tolerated although they were taxed.

There were also Christians outside of both regions, particularly in Armenia and Ethiopia. The understanding that the West can be defined historically by Christianity is therefore contentious.

Renaissance empire-building

A replica of the Santa Maria

The age of European exploration, beginning with the Spanish voyages into the southern Americas from 1492, extended ‘the West’ and western Christianity into the New World. The Portuguese, Dutch, Venetians, Genoans and French and the English followed.

Despite lying south, the Americas, Australia and New Zealand are considered ‘the West’ due to colonisation by these Western powers. South American nations and South Africa are sometimes excluded. This can be due to mixed demographics, political agreements or economic ties.

Part III: Overlooked history: the Iranian peoples and the Islamicate empire

A map of modern Iranian languages

Which people are Persian, or Iranian?

The following countries speak Farsi or a dialect thereof:

• Iran (Farsi)

• Tajikistan (Tajik)

• Afganistan (Dari)

• Large Persian populations in Uzbekistan

Contemporary Iranian peoples include the following:

Persians, Lurs, Baloch, Mazanderanis, Gilaks, Tats, Talysh, Tajiks, Pashtuns, Ossetians (Caucasus descendants of the Alans), Kurds, and Pamiris.

Historical Iranian peoples include the following:

Medes, Parthians, Sasanians, Bactrians, Scythians, Cimmerians, Alans, Dahae, Khwarazmians, Sagartians, Carmanians, Mardians, and Tapurians.

The Avestans, who are the ancient ancestors of the Persians, were a sister culture to the Vedic peoples who spoke Sanskrit. These languages were, to an extent, mutually intelligible. Together these people were the Aryans, after which Iran is named. Zoroastrian, as we shall explore later is very similar to Vedic Hinduism.

Sanskrit is the descendant of most Indian languages, and therefore Persia and India have strong linguistic and cultural links.

Indo-European roots, Sanskrit and Avestan

Indo-European is a vast language family including English, almost all European languages¹⁴, most Indian and Pakistani languages, the Slavic languages, and importantly for this essay the Iranian languages including Farsi (Persian).

For the most part, this vast language family was categorised and reconstructed into Proto-Indo-European by comparing three Ancient Languages: Sanskrit, Lithuanian, and Avestan (the oldest of the Iranian languages). Sanskrit is preserved as the language of the Vedas and in Hindu rituals, Avestan as the language of Zoroastianism, and Lithuanian has simply been found to retain archaic similarities to these languages, without any particularly ancient texts.

The age of these languages is thus:

• Sanskrit: 3700-4000 years old.

• Avestan: 2900-4000 years old.

• Lithuanian: Harder to date due to lack of ancient texts, but it retains features lost to other European languages that are approx 3000 years old.

Genetic evidence and archeology have corroborated these language family findings, showing shared hereditary, cultural and linguistic heritage between Indians, Iranians and Europeans (including Slavs and eastern Europeans).

The now somewhat troubled term ‘Aryan’ is cognate to the word ‘Iranian’. Despite past uses for racialist theories, especially during the two world wars, the Iranians can claim to be the Aryan people¹⁵, as can those who descent from the Vedic culture (north Indians, Pakistanis and others).

No complete linguistic, or migratory history of Europe, or Russia, can exist without this strong link between the Europeans, Iranian peoples and the Northern Indians. European languages, now usually termed ‘Western’, came in originally from the East.

Zoroastrianism and its influence on Western religion

Zoroastrianism and Vedic Hinduism are almost mirror mages of each other. Where Hindu worship is polytheistic, Zoroastrianism worship is more monotheistic (see my article Are Monotheism and Polytheism the same thing?, for my nuanced view on this¹⁶).

Mithra

A very ancient deity in common to both Hinduism and Zoroastianism, whose name means ‘agreement or covenant’ in both Avestan and Sanskrit. He governs contracts, covenants, and oaths at a cosmic level. He maintains the cosmic order, Asha. He is all-seeing, and functions as a universal judge. Mithra serves as one of the three judges at the Chinvat Bridge, where souls are judged after death. He is considered a powerful force against Angra Mainyu (Ahriman), the satanic spirit of evil.

Mithra is not mentioned by name in the oldest Zoroastrian texts (the Gathas), but he is highly prominent in later Zoroastrian scripture. His worship predates Zoroastrianism and continued alongside it.

The figure of Mithra was later adapted into the Roman world as Mithras.

The Ahuras/Asuras and Devas

In Hinduism the Devas represent the worshipful gods similar to the Greek Olympians, and the Asuras a negative counterpart similar to the Titans. Zoroastrianism inverted this, instead worshipping the Ahuras, headed by Ahura Mazda. In Zoroastrianism the Daevas are considered malevolent deities.

Asha and Dharma

These are the cosmic qualities of truth and justice in Zoroastrianism and Hinduism respectively. In Zoroastrianism Asha is personified as Asha Vahishta, one of the seven Amesha Spentas (Holy Immortals). He is associated with the element of fire in the material world, and fire is a major symbol and feature in Zoroastrian worship.

Heaven

In Zoroastrianism the struggle between the supreme good deity Ahura Mazda, and the evil deity Angra Mainyu (also known as Ahriman), was a precursor and primary influence for the New Testament and later Christian teachings of a ‘war in Heaven’ between God and his angels, and Satan and his demons.

Islam adopted the same moral duality between Allah and Iblis (also called Shaytan). The Islamic angels are called Malaikah and demons are called Shayatin. The later are a type of Jinn¹⁷, which is a neutral spirit who can be good or evil.

In Judaism this duality is not pronounced and HaSatan is considered a prosecuting spirit, or angel who ultimately serves god.

Post-mortem reward and punishment

Zoroastrianism is generally understood to be the first religion to develop clear, structured concepts of heaven and hell. These ideas later influenced Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Zoroastrian texts describe hell (Avestan: dao'aη úha) as a deep, dark, stench-filled place of torment, where souls are punished by demons for their sins. Punishments are tailored to the nature of the sins, and hell is depicted as a terrifying, filthy, and painful realm.

Their idea of hell is not necessarily eternal however, with some versions teaching that at the end of time, a savior will come, and allow even the wicked to be redeemed and reunited with Ahura Mazda.

Zoroastrian heaven has several layers, with the highest known as the "House of Song" (Garōdmān). This is a realm of light, joy, and union with Ahura Mazda. In this it is very similar to the descriptions of the highest heaven in Judaism, Islam, Sufism, and Christianity.

When a Zoroastrian dies their soul remains near the body for three days, reflecting on their life.

On the fourth day, the soul approaches the Chinvat Bridge ("Bridge of Judgment"), where it is judged by three divine beings: Mithra, Sraosha, and Rashnu.

The soul’s deeds are weighed. If good deeds outweigh the bad, the bridge widens and the soul crosses safely to heaven. If evil prevails, the bridge narrows and the soul falls into hell.

Between the lowest heaven and the highest hell lies a purgatorial realm called Hamistakan, for souls whose good and bad deeds are balanced. Here, souls await the final judgment.

Zoroaster

Zoroastrians describe Zoroaster (also known as Zarathushtra) as the founding prophet and religious reformer of their faith. He is seen as a divinely inspired sage who received a revelation from Ahura Mazda, the supreme god, and was commissioned to preach a new message of truth, righteousness, and monotheism.

It is very hard to date when Zoroastrianism started. Later dates put it nearly contemporary with the founding of Greek Philosophy around the 7th-6th centuries BCE. Earlier datings place it around 1500BCE. The difficulty comes from the earliest religious texts which have the later dating, but which are written in a much older style of Avestan. The earlier dating would make Zoroastrianism older than Judaism.

The Islamic/Persian Renaissance

Jabir ibn Hayyan

As mentioned previously, the establishment of Arabic Islamic rule over Persia, starting in the 630’s CE brought conditions for a time of great intellectual progress. These early years are called the Rashidun Caliphate, after the ruling house. This ended the Sasanian Empire. In this period much of Persia remained Zoroastrian, with some tolerance from the ruling Muslims. Non-Muslims were treated as second class citizens and had to pay an extra tax.

In 661–750 CE the Umayyad Caliphate further consolidated Islamic rule over Persia. This era was focussed on Arab rule, which was ultimately unpopular and lead to an overthrow.

The third Caliphate, the Abbasids who ruled from Bagdad, saw the most conversions to Islam, and Persian culture was more thoroughly integrated in this era. Persian administrators, scholars, poets, alchemists, and artists now played a central role in shaping Islamic civilization. The Abbasid court modelled its administration, court ceremony, and bureaucracy on Sasanian (pre-Islamic Persian) precedents, adopting Persian titles, architecture, coinage, and court dress. Persian officials and intellectuals became indispensable to the running of the wider Islamic empire. The famous Persian administration system was key to the evolution of Islam.

This Abbasid era is often termed the ‘Islamic Golden Age’, and it was a precursor to the European Renaissance, including a continuation of Greek Philosophy of which the Persians, and now the Muslims, were as much the inheritors of as the Europeans were.

This knowledge, as well as the influence of Hindu, Buddhist, Syriac, and Chinese wisdom transformed the Arabic religion of Islam from a desert-centred culture to a cosmopolitan and bureaucratic empire.

The House of Wisdom in Baghdad (Bayt al-Hikmah), a key centre of learning, was staffed and led by many Persians. It served as a vast library, academy, and translation bureau, attracting scholars from across the Islamic world—including Muslims, Christians, Jews and others.

Algebra was developed by the Persian Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī in his landmark text, Kitab al-Jabr wa-l-Muqabala (c. 820 CE), from which the term algebra is derived. The terms algorism and algorithm are derived from the name of al-Khwarizmi, who was also responsible for introducing the Arabic numerals which were derived from the Hindu numeral system.

Arab scientist Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) developed an early scientific method in his Book of Optics (1021). Ibn al-Haytham's laid an empirical proof for the intromission theory of light (that is, that light rays entered the eyes rather than being emitted by them). His approach to experimentation, was influential to later science.

Medicine advanced particularly during the Abbasids' reign. During the 9th century, Baghdad contained over 800 doctors, and great discoveries in the understanding of anatomy and diseases were made. The famous Persian scientist Ibn Sina who became deeply respected in Europe during their Renaissance, when they translated his works, The Canon of Medicine (al-Qānūn fī al-Ṭibb) and The Book of Healing (Kitāb al-Shifāʾ).

Muslim alchemists of this era influenced later medieval European alchemists, particularly the writings attributed to Jābir ibn Hayyān (Geber). 215 works are attributed to him, some of which are probably authored by his followers. These include works on Sufism, magic, spirits, religion, astrology, astronomy, medicine, zoology, botany, and logic as well as alchemy.

Known as Geber in Europe he became a major intellectual hero, celebrated by European alchemists. It is unclear whether he was Persian, or Arab, though many presume the former due to his ties to Eastern Iran.

Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Rāzī (Rhazes) was another major Persian figure, who wrote on medicine and alchemy. He described numerous chemical processes and laboratory apparatus, and his Book of Secrets (Secretum secretorum) became a standard reference in the field.

Many others also wrote in this time and has a profound affect on European thinkers once their works were translated into Latin.

The Arabic and Persian magical corpus

As I have written, Western occultism is currently undergoing a global renaissance. Most of the pivotal texts in this movement either come from the European Renaissance (starting in Italy) or are later traditions based on the works of this era. Many older French, German and other European texts of the Renaissance period and later, are now being translated into English for the first time. There is now a sizeable 21st Century community of magicians on the internet practising magic and occultism from these Grimoires.

What is usually overlooked however is the fact that the ‘Western’ Renaissance happened because of the Earlier Islamic Golden age, centred around Persian thinkers. As a much more literate society at the time, it is currently becoming clear that the Western Occult tradition of the Renaissance is but a minor spinoff of the occult traditions of the Islamicate world. Both have common ancestry in Greco-Egyptian magic.

The contemporary work of academics involved in the translation and classification of Islamicate texts suggest that while the Western Renaissance occult corpus consists of approximately 10,000 texts, those of the Islamicate golden age range into more than 100,000¹⁸.

It is likely that as these texts become translated into English, they will transform our ideas about what Occultism represents.

More information can be found in this fantastic interview with academic Matthew Melvin-Koushki on Islam, ‘the West’, and Western Esotericism.

Part IV: How narratives can heal

Hopefully I have convinced you that ‘the West’ is a vague and troublesome category, and that it simply never could have existed, as a cultural construct, without Persia.

In our current era, as war looms between Iran, Israel, and USA and with political instabilities in the middle East nearing breaking point under many dictatorial regimes that weaponise religion towards anti-semitism, and hatred towards ‘the West’, it is extremely important that we examine our narratives. Under all of these regimes are oppressed people, many, sometimes in the majority, who don’t support their governments. In many cases these people don’t identify as ‘Arab’ or ‘Muslim’. Iranians in particular are neither Arabic by language nor by ethnicity, and the term ‘Arab’, and its unfortunate negative stereotyping is currently being used as propaganda to ‘other’ people such as the Palestinians, who descend from the very same bloodlines that tie Jews to Israel¹⁹.

Particularly important is when these narratives exclude those that with whom we share history, a language family, and bloodlines.

It is very easy to buy into ethnic and cultural terms which are used to subjugate people. Most Muslim people are not, for instance, genetically ‘arabs’, anymore than Christians have to be all related to each other, or anymore than English speakers have to be British. Persians and Iranian peoples share genetics, and a language family with Europeans. They can be seen as a sister civilisation, and perhaps this narrative could be enriching for both cultural groups.

I argue ‘The West’ as a category no longer serves us in these times. A new more inclusive category is sorely needed, one which is inclusive of of Persia, for their history has much to teach us about ourselves.

سَلَامٌ (Salam)
שלום (Shalom)
-Ari Freeman

1. The Tarim Basin. Modern Uyghurs, though they speak a Turkic languages are also thought to be the descendants the ancient Iranian Saka (Scythian) tribes

2. Between 375-406 CEThe Alans migrated in Germany and France, which were at that time Germanic lands.

3. The words Aryan and Iranian are cognate. The later use of the term Aryan by racialists in Germany during WWII is unfortunate as the real Aryans are the Iranian and Vedic peoples. Germanic people are not Aryan.

4. We know that Buddhism was taught in Persia by the 100’s BCE and was influential by 100CE. While some propose earlier dates, I remain agnostic.

5. It is recorded that Pyrrho travelled to India during the Macedonian Empire.

6. For instance Heradotus’ The Histories (Book I, section 138), he states that Persians consider lying “the most disgraceful thing in the world” and that truthfulness was taught to youth alongside skills like riding and archery. He contrasts this with what he sees as the Greek propensity to manipulate the truth.

7. Much how slavery of various forms persists today under different names.

8. The Persians had access to texts in Greek, including, Aristotle, Plato, Galen, Hippocrates, Ptolemy, and Archimedes were translated, often via Syriac intermediaries, Syriac Christian texts, Sanskrit, Coptic, Hebrew, Latin and some Chinese works. Importantly they acquired paper-making from the Chinese.

9. Before the Roman era, much of Italy was part of Greek territories, and many prominent Greek philosophers were actually from there including: Pythagoras, Parmenides, Zeno, Empedocles, Xenophanes, and Philolaus.

10. As of 2025, approximately 69% of all Christians are in the ‘Global South’ which includes most of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Whether or not Latin America is ‘the West’ is conjecture.

11. Some scholars say that the term ‘Byzantine’ shouldn’t be used, and that this Empire should instead be seen simply as the continuation of the Roman Empire.

12. Soldiers participated from France, the Holy Roman Empire (German speaking territories), England, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Scandinavia, Spain and Portugal, Hungary, and Poland.

13. The Term ‘Islamicate’ is used to include those of other religions living in Muslim-majority regions.

14. The languages of Europe which aren’t Indo-European are:
• Finno-Urgric languages: Hungarian, Estonian, Karelian and Finnish.
• Basque.
• Georgian and the Caucasian languages (three language families, Northwest, Northeast and South).
• Turkish a Turkic language.
• Maltese a descendant of Arabic.

15. Germanic people, by genetics, are much less ‘Aryan’.

16. Hinduism has a supreme Godhead in Brahman.
Zoroastrianism, rather than being purely ‘monotheistic’ has many sub-deities:
• The Amesha Spentas (Seven divine beings (including Ahura Mazda) who represent aspects of creation and virtues such as truth, good mind, and righteousness. Each Amesha Spenta has a specific role in maintaining the world and is opposed by an evil counterpart)
• The Daevas. Evil counterparts to the Amensha Spentas.
• Yazatas: A large group of lesser divine spirits or angels who serve under the Amesha Spentas. They personify natural forces (like the sun, water, fire) and abstract qualities (like victory or justice) and are invoked in prayers and rituals.
• Fravashis: Guardian spirits
• Mithra: A major divine being associated with contracts, covenants, truth, justice, and the cosmic order. He is the same as the Hindu god Mitra.
• And of course Angra Mainyu, the Zoroastrian ‘satan’.

17. Jinn cover a wide variety of spirits that are roughly equivalent to the earlier (neutral) idea of ‘daemons’ and which also includes the beings we would called fairies.

18. I’m happy to be corrected on these numbers, but they at least give a sense of scale.

19. The following cultures descend from the Canaanites: Jews and Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians, Lebanese, and Syrians (to some extent). This group also includes the ancient Phoenicians who gave the world the Alphabet, Judaism, and Christianity, have also had an enormous effect in creating ‘the West’.