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In this episode of “This Week in the Middle East,” Dr. Tamar Eilam Gindin, a Middle East scholar and Iran expert, joins the show to discuss the meaning of new years in the region’s cultures. The conversation moves from the myths of the ancient Near East, through the different calendars, to the political and social reality of present-day Iran.
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The world in danger
According to Dr. Eilam Gindin, in many ancient cultures, there was a prevalent belief that the world is in danger before the new year, and a sacrifice is required to save it. The sacrifice could be the god himself or his representative on earth, like the king. She explains that this idea is reflected in various customs, such as the high priest’s entry into the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur, fearing he might not come out alive. Another motif is a symbolic change of rule, where the king steps down from his throne and a criminal sentenced to death is crowned in his place and killed at the end of the festival, as a substitute sacrifice.
The region’s calendars
Boris Gorelik begins by reviewing the four new years in Judaism, and Dr. Eilam Gindin elaborates on the new year for kings, which falls in Nisan and corresponds to the Iranian festival of Nowruz, marking the spring equinox. She explains that the word for “month” is related to the lunar cycle in many languages, including Hebrew, Persian, and Chinese. The discussion covers the various calendars in the region: the Muslim calendar, which is purely lunar and “drifts” across the seasons; the Iranian calendar, which is a precise solar calendar that begins at the exact second of the spring equinox; and the Hebrew calendar, which combines solar and lunar cycles.
Ancient roots and modern echoes
Dr. Eilam Gindin argues that many holidays, including the Exodus from Egypt, Purim, and Christmas, are built around the motif of danger and salvation at key astronomical points like the equinoxes or the longest and shortest days of the year. She presents the story of the Book of Esther as an example, noting its surprising similarity to the story of the rise to power of King Darius I, the father of Ahasuerus. The Shia festival of Ashura, which commemorates the death of Imam Hussein at the Battle of Karbala, also falls on the tenth day of the Muslim year. According to her, the death of Hussein, a representative of God, is seen as a sacrifice that saved the Shia from annihilation.
Living by multiple calendars
The conversation turns to how people in the Middle East manage with different calendars. Dr. Eilam Gindin explains that Iranians live their lives according to the Persian calendar and often do not know the corresponding Gregorian date. She recounts how in the past, this misunderstanding caused the State of Israel to record incorrect birth dates for immigrants from Iran, which led to bureaucratic problems. In contrast, most Muslims in the region, including in Israel, conduct their daily lives according to the Gregorian calendar, with the Muslim calendar used mainly for religious purposes.
The Iranian people and the regime
In response to listeners’ questions, Dr. Eilam Gindin argues that the overwhelming majority of the Iranian people oppose the Islamic regime. As proof, she compares the millions of protesters who took to the streets in recent protests, knowing they were risking their lives, with the sparse, organized demonstrations of regime supporters, whose participants are bused in and given food. She explains the phenomenon using what she calls the Iranian “pendulum of identities”: the more the government imposes an Islamic identity, the more the people lean toward the ancient, Persian, and secular Iranian identity. She cites a 2020 survey that found that less than a third of Iranians identify as Shia, while many define themselves as having no religion or as Zoroastrians.
The future of the Islamic Republic
Dr. Eilam Gindin describes the Iranian regime as fearful and divided. She points to new laws restricting freedom of expression as evidence of the government’s fear of another wave of protests. She discusses rumors about the health of Supreme Leader Khamenei and leaks that portray his son, Mojtaba, as trying to run the country from behind the scenes. She concludes with a historical comparison: just as Khomeini organized the 1979 revolution from his exile abroad, so too the exiled crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, is now working to rally support inside and outside Iran with the aim of overthrowing the regime.
The original episode, in Hebrew: איראן בין כורש לחומייני