Tombs of the Achaemenid kings

The unpleasant encounter with an Iranian conman didn’t dampen our stay in Shiraz. The next day saw us hiring a cab to Naqsh-e Rustam, an archaeological site located about 12 km northwest of Persepolis, in Fars province, Iran. The place was so called because of a relief of a man with an unusual cap Iranians believed to be a depiction of the mythical hero Rostam, the same Rustum, whom had been killed by his own son I think, whom I had read about during my childhood. One of the highlights there was of course the tombs of the Achaemenid kings which are carved out of the rock face. They are all at a considerable height above the ground and are known locally as the 'Persian crosses', after the shape of the facades of the tombs. The tombs had been identified by an accompanying inscription to be the tomb of Darius I (r. 522-486 BCE). The other three tombs are believed to be those of Xerxes I (r. 486-465 BCE), Artaxerxes I (r. 465-424 BCE), and Darius II (r. 423-404 BCE) respectively while a fifth unfinished one might be that of Artaxerxes III, who reigned at the longest two years or that of the last Achaemenid king, Darius III (r. 336-330 BCE).

Tombs of the Achaemenid Kings...



Ka'ba-ye Zartosht.....

The Sassanid reliefs...

Poll: Digital or Film?

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Carolyn Drake: The Lubavitch

Image Copyright © Carolyn Drake-All Rights Reserved
Carolyn Drake is a Brown University graduate who worked as a concept designer and producer of multimedia projects in New York before deciding to become a photographer. She studied at the ICP and obtained a masters in Visual Communications. She was chosen by Magenta Foundation as one of the emerging photographers in 2007. Carolyn currently lives in Istanbul. This is the second time I feature her work on TTP...the first was on her work on the Uighurs.

The Chabad-Lubavitch is one of the largest branches of Hasidic Judaism and one of the largest Jewish movements worldwide, especially in the United States, the Former Soviet Union, Europe and Israel. The word "Lubavitch" is the name of the town in Russia where the movement was based for more than a century.

The above photograph of the Lubavitcher holding the Torah appealed to me because of Carolyn's choice of a wide aperture, focusing on the book and hands and blurring the rest. The photto essay was also featured on National Geographic.

The slideshow photo essay is flash-based...just click on each photo to move to the next.

The Lubavitch

New York Times: Yom Kippur

Image Copyright © Rina Castelnuovo/New York Times-All Rights Reserved
The New York Times brings us a short slideshow of photographs by Rina Castelnuovo of the preparations for Yom Kippur in Jerusalem. It's an interesting feature which provides us with a tiny glimpse into how Orthodox Jews prepare for the Day of Atonement, considered to be one of the holiest and most solemn days of the year, and whose central theme is atonement and repentance for sins against both God and one's fellow man.

Jewish oral tradition calls for observant Jews to refrain from eating and drinking, wearing leather shoes, bathing, annointing oneself with perfumes, and marital relations for a day before Yom Kippur. Another tradition is the ritual slaughter of chickens known as kapparot, where the sins of a person are symbolically transferred to a fowl, which is swung around a person's head three times before being slaughtered. The fellow in the above photograph is swinging a hen over the heads of his sons, presumably to free them from sin.

All religions have 'unusual' traditions and rituals...the fasting, the sacrifice of animals, wearing special clothes, abstinence...are all traditions that are common to all religions.

By the way, for those of us who live in New York City...Yom Kippur means that B&H is closed.

Yom Kippur in Jerusalem

Goodbye, Amsterdam.

We left Amsterdam very early in the morning. The sky was still dark when we reached the bus terminal where we were to pick up a bus to Paris. The office had yet to open and as we waited, we sat on a concrete bench of a bus stop. It was awfully cold. I could feel the coldness seeping through my jeans to my buttock and when Aziz commented about the coldness in Malay, a lady who was waiting for a bus there started to speak to us. The lady looked like a Chinese but she spoke in the Indonesian language! I had come across Indonesians in Amsterdam before this and it appeared to me then that there were more Indonesian than Malaysian in Holland. The lady came from Java, having migrated to Holland which she said was a better place to eke out a living. Married to a fellow Indonesian, she had two children and while one had married an Indonesian, the other had a French partner. When she left, we waved goodbye to her and later, to Amsterdam too..


ByeBye, Amsterdam...






Traveling Tip: Enjoy the buildings!

Jakub Sliwa: Deshnoke (India)

Image Copyright © Jakub Sliwa-All Rights Reserved
Jakub Sliwa was born in Krakow and is a graduate of Oriental Philology studies. His principal interest is in documenting human condition, and he has traveled to the Middle and Far East in search of various documentary projects. His website lists a variety of projects including a leper colony in Puri (India), the Ganges, a spiritual center in the Ukraine, the Zabaleen (garbage collectors in Cairo), the last days of El-Qurna and the Rat Temple of Deshnoke.

The famous Karni Mata Temple in India's small northwestern city of Deshnoke (Rajasthan) is home to 20,000-odd rats considered holy by the population. These rodents are called kabbas, and pilgrims travel great distances to pay their respects. The temple was built by Maharaja Ganga Singh in the early 1900s as a tribute to the rat goddess, Karni Mata.

The legend is that Karni Mata, a mystic matriarch from the 14th century, was an incarnation of Durga, the goddess of power and victory. Among the thousands of rats in the temple, there are said to be four or five albino rats, which are considered to be especially holy. They are believed be the manifestations of Karni Mata herself and her kin. Sighting them is a special charm, and visitors put in extensive efforts to bring them forth, offering prasad, a candylike offering. I recall walking in the temple (in stockinged feet) and frankly, the sensation of rats running over one's feet is difficult to forget.

During the century of this temple's existence, there has never been an outbreak of plague or other ratborne illness among the humans who have visited. When I visited the temple, I was also told that the nearby farms and fields are free from rat infestations since they prefer to live in the temple. I suspect that Jakub spent more time that I did in this temple...his photographs attest to that.

Jakub Sliwa

Manila American Cemetery and Memorial

The grasses in Cinta Sayang suddenly reminded me of the grasses in Global City, Taguig in Metro Manila. On a prominent plateau of about 152 acres there lie a total of 17,202 graves of Americans who fought and died in World War II.The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial , visible at a distance from the east, south and west, certainly contains the largest number of graves of America's military dead. Most lost their lives in operations in New Guinea and the Philippines. The headstones are aligned in 11 plots forming a generally circular pattern, set among masses of a wide variety of tropical trees and shrubbery. It was drizzling slightly when we arrived there in a chartered taxi...


Manila American Cemetery and Memorial...







Traveling Tip: When traveling, take the opportunity to contemplate.