1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910422642503321

Autore

Labbāf Khānīkī Majīd

Titolo

Cultural Dynamics of Water in Iranian Civilization / / by Majid Labbaf Khaneiki

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cham : , : Springer International Publishing : , : Imprint : Springer, , 2020

ISBN

3-030-58900-5

Edizione

[1st ed. 2020.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (X, 155 p. 32 illus., 10 illus. in color.)

Disciplina

553.70955

Soggetti

Ethnology

Water

Hydrology

Ethnology - Middle East

Culture

Anthropology

Human geography

Sociocultural Anthropology

Middle Eastern Culture

Human Geography

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di contenuto

Introduction -- Production and Water Culture -- Hydro-Political Organization -- Hydro-social cohesion -- Drought Pump -- The Water Delusion.

Sommario/riassunto

This book traces “water” back to the most primitive animistic notions that are still lingering on in the shape of such rituals as qanat marriage or rain-making. Water, in the Iranian philosophy, is used in an attempt to find an explanation for the genesis of the universe, as described in Zoroastrian Akhshij philosophy, according to which water is one of the four fundamental elements of the creation. The concept of time began to germinate in the Iranian mind, when they had to count the passage of time in order to divide their scarce water resources. Water became so omnipresent in Iranian culture that it reached even the most mysterious seclusion of the Sufi monks. In Iran’s local communities, water culture



is a thread that runs through different types of production systems. This book goes beyond indigenous water knowledge and traditional irrigation techniques, and conceptualizes water as a pivotal element of Iran’s social identity, cultural dynamics and belief systems, whereit examines the role of intermittent droughts in engendering and diffusing intangible cultural elements across the Iranian plateau. This book delves into Iran’s political organizations most of which were ensnared in a water-dependent lifecycle constituting a historical pattern described in this book as “hydraulic collapse” .