ABSTRACT

In his travel account of his journey to Safavid Persia in 1626, A Relation of Some Yeares Travaile, Thomas Herbert includes a summary of a heartbreaking episode from Abolqasem Ferdowsi's medieval epic poem, Shahnameh. This poetic meditation on the legends and histories of Iran was circulated orally by way of the performances of poetic orators called naqqals in the early modern period, a tradition meant to engender unity within an empire fragmented by conquest. Not only did these performances act as cultural reminders for natives but they also served as sources of entertainment for locals and travellers alike, particularly within the vibrant, metropolitan Safavid capital of Isfahan. It is likely during his visit to this capital city that Herbert would have encountered stories about the Shahnameh's most beloved, most valiant, and most famous warrior, Rostam. But of all the stories about his life— both his successes and his heartbreaks— Herbert only retells the story of his death. Mehdizadeh's essay explores the reasons for this inclusion, arguing that Herbert seeks to disempower a national symbol of resilience and strength by turning Rostam— a metonymy of Iran— into a fossil. But even as he attempts to contain this symbol of nationhood into something dead and unmoving, Herbert discovers the figure's power to move him.

Keywords: Persia, Iran, Safavid, Shah Abbas I, England, English East India Company, Shahnameh, Abolqasem Ferdowsi, Rostam, naqqal, Naqsh-e Rostam, Naqsh-e Jahan, Thomas Herbert, A Relation of Some Yeares Travaile, Achaemenid, Alexander the Great, Isfahan, Persepolis

FOLLOWING AGREAT feast hosted by the king of Kabol, the mighty warrior Rostam is invited to hunt within the ruler's expansive domains. He is unaware, however, that this invitation is part of a plot concocted by his host and his half-brother, Shaghad, to lure him into a forest prepared with freshly dug pits strategically filled with spears and pikes. With the final moments of his life upon him, Rostam enthusiastically accepts the invitation and offers a final reflection about the inevitability of death. He tells us that in death all living things are equal, as “no beast or man / Lives longer than his life's allotted span.”