How Old is Nowruz?
The figure of 3,000 years is roughly right, give or take a few centuries. The festival marks the spring equinox, the moment when the day and night are of equal length, and is celebrated by hundreds of millions of people across the Iranian cultural sphere — Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, the Kurdish regions of Iraq, Turkey, and Syria, the Turkic peoples of Central Asia, and the Iranian diaspora. The Achaemenid celebration in the sixth to fourth centuries BCE, the Parthian celebration in the third century BCE to the third century CE, the Sasanian celebration in the third to seventh centuries CE, the celebration in the Persianate Islamic dynasties of the ninth to nineteenth centuries, and the modern celebration in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and the wider Iranian cultural sphere are all part of a single, continuous tradition. The subject is part of the broader treatment in the Persian Legacy in Modern Iran cluster and the Persian Legacy and Influence pillar. The standard modern account in English is the relevant chapter of Ehsan Yarshater’s Cambridge History of Iran vol. III, with Sunil Sharma’s work on the Persianate calendar and Maria Subtelny’s Timurids in Transition (2007) on the post-Timurid celebration.
Achaemenid origins
The Achaemenid period is the historical origin of Nowruz, although the festival is almost certainly older. The Zoroastrian tradition preserved a strong memory of the spring equinox as a major religious and political occasion, and the Achaemenid kings, who were Zoroastrian in religion, celebrated the festival with great ceremony. The Zoroastrian calendar, in its various forms, treated the spring equinox as the beginning of the new year, and the Achaemenid kings, who were also the religious heads of the Zoroastrian community, presided over the ceremonies.
The specific evidence for the Achaemenid celebration is mainly indirect. The Achaemenid inscriptions, including the Behistun inscription, the Persepolis inscriptions, and the Naqsh-e Rostam inscriptions, contain references to the religious calendar of the Achaemenid kings, and several of them mention the spring equinox or the new year. The Greek historians, including Herodotus, Strabo, and Arrian, also describe the Achaemenid spring festival, and the Greek term eortesia (festival) was used to translate the Old Persian nau ruz (new day). The Greek historian Ctesias, who served as physician to the Achaemenid king Artaxerxes II, described the Achaemenid spring festival in some detail, though Ctesias is a problematic source — much of his account is apocryphal.
The Achaemenid celebration of Nowruz was a major political and religious event. The Achaemenid kings, who ruled a vast multi-ethnic empire, used the spring festival as an occasion to receive the tribute-bearing delegations from across the empire, to distribute gifts and rewards, to confirm the appointment of satraps and other officials, and to perform the major religious ceremonies of the Zoroastrian calendar. The famous Apadana reliefs at Persepolis, which depict the processions of tribute-bearing delegations from across the empire, have been interpreted by some scholars as depicting a New Year celebration, though the interpretation is contested.
The 3,000-year tradition
The Achaemenid celebration of Nowruz in the sixth to fourth centuries BCE is the earliest attested. The Parthian Empire (247 BCE – 224 CE) preserved the Achaemenid tradition, and the Parthian kings, like the Achaemenid kings, celebrated the spring equinox with elaborate ceremonies. The Parthian city of Ctesiphon, the imperial capital, was a major site of the Nowruz celebrations, and the Parthian rock reliefs, including the famous relief of Mithridates I at Bisotun (Behistun) and the relief of Gotarzes I at Sasanian-era Behistun, contain references to the Parthian spring festival.
The Sasanian Empire (224–651 CE) was a major period in the history of Nowruz. The Sasanian kings, who were the most powerful rulers in late antiquity, treated Nowruz as among the most consequential festivals of the religious and political calendar, and the Sasanian celebration of Nowruz was a major event in the international politics of the time. The Sasanian kings, like the Achaemenid kings, received tributary delegations, distributed gifts, and performed the major religious ceremonies of the Zoroastrian calendar. The Sasanian tradition of Nowruz was adopted by the Persianate Islamic dynasties and became a major element in the calendar of Iran and the wider Iranian world.
The Persianate Islamic celebration of Nowruz, beginning with the Samanid, Buyid, Ghaznavid, and Seljuk dynasties of the ninth to thirteenth centuries, was a major development in the history of the festival. The Persianate Islamic rulers, who ruled Iran, Central Asia, and parts of the Indian subcontinent, celebrated Nowruz as a major festival of the Persian cultural tradition, and the festival became an important element in the identity of the Persianate world. The Timurid, Safavid, Afsharid, Zand, and Qajar dynasties of the fifteenth to twentieth centuries all celebrated Nowruz, and the festival was a major element in the cultural identity of Iran in the pre-modern and early modern periods.
Modern celebrations
The modern celebration of Nowruz is one of the larger festivals in the world by population. In Iran, Nowruz is the national New Year and is celebrated for thirteen days, beginning on the spring equinox (March 20 or 21) and ending on the thirteenth day, called Sizdah Bedar. The Iranian Nowruz celebration includes the Haft-Sin table, a ceremonial table on which seven symbolic objects are placed, each beginning with the Persian letter sin. The standard Haft-Sin includes: sabzeh (sprouts of wheat or lentil), sib (apple), senjed (oleaster), seer (garlic), sekeh (coins), somaq (sumac), and serkeh (vinegar) — somaq and sekeh both appear in some lists as the contested seventh item, with the variation reflecting regional tradition rather than error. The Haft-Sin table also often includes a mirror, a holy book, painted eggs, and a goldfish in a bowl. The Iranian Nowruz also includes the Chaharshanbe Suri fire-jumping festival on the last Wednesday of the old year, the Sizdah Bedar outdoor picnics, the Haji Firuz street entertainer, and the Amu Nowruz figure who brings gifts to children (a modern figure associated with the Iranian national broadcasting tradition).
In Afghanistan, Nowruz is celebrated by the Persian-speaking Tajik and Hazara populations and by Pashtun and Uzbek communities. The Afghan Nowruz includes the Haft-Mewa (a dish of seven fruits), the Smanak (a sweet pudding), and the Mela-e-Gul-e-Sorkh, the Red Flower Festival of Mazar-i-Sharif, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors. In Tajikistan, Nowruz is among the most important festivals of the country and includes the Haft-Sin table, the Sizdah Bedar festival, and the wrestling and horse-racing competitions. In Azerbaijan, the Nowruz is on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (inscribed 2009; Azerbaijan is one of the co-signatories), and it includes the Kosa-Kosa and Bahram-Bahram theatrical performances, the Bashlama ritual, the lighting of bonfires, and the Sumak (sumac) ritual. In the Kurdish regions of Iraq, Turkey, and Syria, Nowruz is celebrated as Newroz and is a major festival of Kurdish national identity, including fire-jumping, hilltop gatherings, and political speeches.