PERSIA. 



473 



to Seriphos. Here he found his mother at the altar 

 of Minerva, to which she had fled with his foster- 

 father Dictys, to escape the violence of Polydectes. 

 He transformed the latter, with all his associates, 

 into stone; and having placed Dictys upon the throne 

 of Seriphos, lie returned to Mercury the talaria, the 

 bag, and the helmet, and gave to Minerva the Gor- 

 gon's head, which she fixed in the centre of her 

 shield, or, according to some, on her breastplate. 

 Perseus then went to Argos with Danae and Andro- 

 meda, to visit his grandfather Acrisius. To avoid 

 the predictions of an oracle, Acrisius had fled to 

 Thessaly; but he could not escape his destiny; for 

 Perseus followed him there, and killed him acci- 

 dentally with the discus, of which he was the inven- 

 tor. In consequence of this event, he refused to 

 ascend the throne of Argos, which had thus fallen 

 to him, and exchanged it for Tirynthus, the king- 

 dom of Megapenthes. Here lie founded Mycenae. 

 Besides Perses, the founder of the Persinn nation, 

 Andromeda also became the mother of Alcseus, 

 Sthenelus, Eleus, Mestor, Electryon, and a daughter 

 named Gorgophone. After his death, Perseus was 

 worshipped as a hero, and placed among the stars. 

 The fable of Perseus has been, by some writers, de- 

 rived from Persia, and been interpreted as typical 

 of the introduction of agriculture from Upper Asia 

 or Persia into Greece. He is the Bersin of the 

 Shahnameh. 



PERSIA (Iran, Chahistan) ; a country of Asia, 

 between 25 and 40 N. lat., and 44 and 64 E. 

 Ion.; bounded N. by Russia, the Caspian sea, and 

 Independent Tartary, W. by Turkey, S. by the Per- 

 sian gulf, and E. by Beloochistan and Afghanistan; 

 comprising about 390,000 square miles, with a po- 

 pulation of about 6,500,000. The centre of Persia 

 is an elevated plain, containing several deserts of 

 sand. The northern provinces, in which rises the 

 chain of the Ararat, and the western parts of the 

 country, are mountainous. To the east of the Tigris, 

 and nearly parallel with it, is a granitic ridge, called 

 by the ancients Zagros; and also parallel with the 

 same is the Orontes (now Elwind), which separates 

 into two branches, one of which, to the west of the 

 Caspian sea, is connected with the Elbour, or the 

 Caspian chain, a prolongation of the Taurus. The 

 country on the Caspian is lower than the coasts on 

 the ocean, and is surrounded by a semicircular bar- 

 rier of mountains, which are a continuation of the 

 Taurus and Caucasus, and present a much steeper 

 descent towards the Caspian than on the land side. 

 In the southern part of Persia, the elevation of the 

 country is more gradual than in the north and west; 

 and along the Persian gulf, there is a narrow strip of 

 low land, which is uninhabitable in summer on ac- 

 count of the heat. As we recede from the sea, and 

 approach the mountains, the climate becomes cooler. 

 The elevated northern and western regions are tem- 

 perate, and, in winter, cold. Earthquakes are not 

 uncommon: in 1824, a shock, which continued six 

 days and six nights, destroyed the city of Shiraz 

 (50,000 inhabitants) and Kazroun; mountains disap 

 peared without leaving a trace behind. It is remark- 

 able that so extensive a country has no considerable 

 river, although it contains many high mountains. 

 There are a few small rivers that lose themselves in 

 the sand, or are consumed by canals, which serve 

 the purpose of irrigation. Persia, however, contains 

 several lakes, among which are that of Erivan and 

 Bakteghian or Salt lake. All the water is impreg- 

 nated with salt; the lakes are all saline, and wher- 

 ever water has stood in winter, the soil is found to 

 have become salt. The extensive plains are, many 

 of them, covered with water in winter, and in sum- 

 mer present a bare, hot surface, coated with saline 



matter. The mountains are naked; the hills dry 

 and barren. On account of the scarcity of water, 

 but a small portion of the plains is cultivated; ilie 

 remainder is either naked, or merely bears some 

 succulent plants, which soon wither. There are, 

 however, some fertile tracts. The country supplies 

 excellent horses and asses, dromedaries, cattle, broad- 

 tailed sheep, silk, grain, rice, pulse, melons, sesame, 

 saffron, madder, hemp, flax, tobacco, poppies, liquo- 

 rice, sugar-cane, date-palms, cassia, mastic, rich 

 wines, cotton, manna, gum tragacanth, senna, gal- 

 banum, assafoetida, rhubarb, all the fruits of the tem- 

 perate zone, and fine tropical fruits, gall-nuts, cop- 

 per, iron, lead, saltpetre, sulphur, salt, &c. 



The inhabitants are partly Tadshiks, consisting of 

 a mixed race of Parsee, Arabic, &c., origin, Parsees, 

 or fire-worshippers, and Armenians; and partly no- 

 mads, among whom the Curds are the principal 

 nation. The Tadshiks (modern Persians) are supe- 

 rior to the Ottomans in civilization, and manifest a 

 strong passion for the arts and sciences. They are 

 Mohammedans, of the sect of Ali, or Shiites. A 

 peculiar Mohammedan sect, the Sabians, worship 

 the cross, have a sort of baptism, and call them- 

 selves disciples of St John. The Ishmaelites also 

 form a distinct sect. The Parsees are Guebers, of 

 the philosophical sect of Sophis. (See Sophis.) Jews 

 and Christians are tolerated in Persia. The Persians 

 are simple in eating, and use little animal food pi- 

 lau, or rice stewed, and fruits, being their favourite 

 dishes. But they luxuriate in baths, and almost the 

 very poorest of them endeavour to possess a horse. 

 They are also splendid in their attire, lavishing on 

 their dress gold, silver, and precious stones. The 

 following cuts represent the costume of Persian fe- 

 males : 



The women of rank never 

 nppear in public without 

 long veils. The annexed 

 cut represents the cos- 

 tume of a Persian of 

 rank. 



The Persians are dis- 

 tinguished for their skill 

 in dyeing, and in silk and 

 woollen manufacturer. 

 They manufacture sha- 

 green, morocco, work in 

 gold and silver to great 

 perfection, and make ex- 

 cellent sword- blades, and 

 a great numberof articles 

 of copper- ware. In agri- 

 culture they make great 

 use of artificial irrigation- 



