مطالب

Most modern scholars consider the Book of Esther to be a kind of historical novel; hence, the historicity of many of its characters and events is highly debatable. While the present study does not intend to defend the historicity of the book, it does review it again by using sources that have received less attention in this regard. That the Book of Esther has a lot of Persian realia in it is not news, but most scholars have debated its historical value by comparing the book with classical sources. However, the present article aims to show how a significant part of the historical material of the Book of Esther is in line with evidence that if not all, but most of the classical sources are unaware of, and accepting this fact means that the author of the Masoretic Esther had direct or indirect access to sources associated with the Persian state. In order to prove this issue, using the descriptive-analytical method based on library studies, the primary focus of this article has been on sources other than the Greek ones, mainly Achaemenian royal inscriptions, and economic and legal documents found in different parts of the Persian Empire.

Middle Persian Private Inscriptions in the Sasanian and Post-Sasanian Period: Funerary and Memorial Inscriptions, Cyrus Nasrollahzadeh, Tehran, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, 2019, 2 vol. (vol. 1: Text. vol. 2: Picture), 340 + 272 pp, ISBN: 978-964-426-998-1; Vol 1: 978-964-426-996-7; Vol 2: 978-964-426-997-4.

Today, spending leisure time has become part of humans' lives which can take on various forms. Spending leisure time, on the one hand, and the priority of selecting a place, on the other hand, differ from each other. The main research question is How are leisure places selected and prioritized in a case study of Tehran's District 2? To answer this question, factors affecting an individual's preference for leisure and recreational places were determined. The statistical population consisted of 384 people. Using a questionnaire, residents' views on their tendency to spend their leisure time and their preference for the use of 18 leisure places across district 2 were evaluated. The theoretical framework of the research expresses that the type and quality of leisure spaces on the one hand (recreation and place aspects) and the individual's lifestyle (individual and cultural features in the geographical and social environment) are influenced by the time factor (access and availability), On the other hand, are influential in leisure time preferences. Research results indicated that individual characteristics, gender, age, and marital status were significantly correlated to selecting the type and leisure-recreation places. Also, Friedman test results suggested that as regards spending leisure time, going to cafés and restaurants held the highest thematic preference, while going to local parks had the highest location-based preference.

Iranian architecture started to develop at the beginning of the Pahlavi era, and a historical gap happened between what was identified as traditional and contemporary architecture. Meanwhile, some efforts were made to establish a connection with the identity of Iranian architecture, which this confrontation has been extended up to now. This study aims to explain the factors affecting the continuity of architectural Identity to reconsider how the Identity of Iranian architecture started to extend and continue during the first Pahlavi era. The qualitative research method, an interpretive-historical type, was adopted for this study, and to deal with the Identity, library resources have been used to analyze the selected buildings in Tehran city as a case study by determining the relevant theoretical framework using the bibliographic research, and both field and visual interpretations. The continuity of Identity in architecture initiates through the objective encounter with the building's physical structure, through its physical characteristics and recognition. Then it will be realized by the audience's vision according to the thought processes and eventually by comprehension and cognition within the life current, events and determining its location. The Identity of Iranian architecture during the first Pahlavi era has been continued by reviving the nationalistic and ancient styles. This has influenced the idea of architecture relying on Iran's historical and cultural memory. Despite their representation in new functions, some of these identical concepts have continued.