Djalal Khaleghi Motlagh
Djalal Khaleghi Motlagh was born in Tehran on 11 September 1937. He attended university in Cologne, Germany, earning a doctoral degree in Near Eastern studies, ethnology, and ancient history in 1971. Now an emeritus professor of Persian language and literature at the University of Hamburg, where he has taught since 1971, Khaleghi is a leading authority on the “Shahnameh,” having prepared an eight-volume critical edition based on the Florence manuscript. His research articles on the “Shahnameh” have appeared in scholarly publications such as “Simorgh”, the Ferdowsi University School of Letters and Humanities’ quarterly magazine, “Irannameh”, “Iranshenasi”, “Kelk”, “Nameh-ye Iran-e Bastan” (Journal of Ancient Iran), and “Nameh-ye Baharestan”. Professor Khaleghi is also a contributor to “Encyclopaedia Iranica” and the “Encyclopedia of Persian Language and Literature.” Major collections of his articles include “Gol-e Ranjha-ye Kohan” (The Flower of Ancient Labors) (1983) and “Sokhanha-ye Dirineh” (Old Words) (1992), both published in Tehran, and “Notes on the Shahnameh” (4 vols., 2001-2009, 2nd ed. 2011, New York - Indiana). “Women of the Shahnameh” is an annotated English translation of Khaleghi’s 1971 doctoral dissertation.
Preface
Introduction
PART A. On the Individual Women of the Shahnameh
I. Women of the nobility
Introductory remarks
1. Faranak (Feranek)
2. Arzu, Mah Azadehkhuy, and Sahi (the daughters of Sarv of Yemen)
3. Mahafarid and her daughter
4. Rudabeh and her mother Sindokht
5. The mother of Siyavosh
6. Sudabeh
7. Tahmineh
8. Gordafrid
9. Farangis, Gharireh, and Golshahr
10. Espanu(y)
11. Manizheh
12. Katayun
13. Homay and Beh Afarid
14. Homay Chehrzad
15. Golnar
16. Gordieh Shirin, and Maryam (the wives of Khosrow Parviz)
17. Purandokht (Boran)
18. Azarmdokht
II. Common Women
Introductory remarks
1. Servants, slaves
2. Female cupbearers
3. Musicians, singers, and dancers
4. Wet nurses, foster-mothers, teachers (dayeh)
5. Typical examples of common women
PART B. The Social Status of the Women in the Shahnameh
I. A girl’s position in her parents’ home
1. Contempt for, and appreciation of, the female gender
2. Naming
3. Education
II. Wedding Ceremony
1. Marriage as a necessity and a religious act
2. Motive and purpose for marriage
3. Conditions for marriage
a. Age
b. The father’s permission and the girl’s own choice
c. Religion
d. Social status and wealth
e. Other conditions: good character, virginity, fertility, beauty
4. Wedding rituals
a. The proposal
b. The ritual act
5. The wedding ceremony
6. Divorce
III. Various Kinds of Marriage
1. Traces of matriarchy?
2. Polygamy (Polygyny, polyandry, interim marriage)
3. Class differentiation of the marriage law
4. Endogamy and exogamy, next-of-kin marriage (khvetukdas-wedding), incest
IV. The Status of the Woman within Marriage
1. Interpersonal relations and mutual obligations within the family
a. between husband and wife
b. between parents and children
2. Sexual relationship between the spouses
a. Abstinence and moderation in sexual relationships
b. Ban of sexual relationships at certain times
c. Ban of sexual relationships among certain persons
3. The woman as child bearer and puerpera (woman in childbirth)
a. How is the child conceived and who does it take after in appearance and character?
b. Abortion
c. During and after childbirth
V. Woman’s Status in Society
1. Maltreatment of women
a. Woman, the embodiment of all evil
b. Abduction of women
2. Positive treatment of women
3. Women’s occupations
a. Amount of social activities among women from the upper classes
b. Leisure activities of women from the upper classes
c. Activities of women from the lower classes in- and outside the home
4. Social expectations of women’s outward appearance
a. The Iranian ideal of beauty
b. Women’s sex-appeal
c. Cosmetics and hygiene
d. Clothing
e. Jewelry
Recent Updates by Djalal Khaleghi Motlagh
Bibliography
Index of Names and Places