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Lors

1st row: Ali-Qoli Khan Bakhtiari • Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari • Karim Khan[1] • Baba Tahir 2nd row: Shapour Bakhtiar • Yas • Ariobarzanes • Qeysar Aminpour 3nd row: Milad Meydavoudi • Rudi Bakhtiar • Rasoul Najafian • Hamid Goudarzi
Total population
7,600,000-9,673,000
Regions with significant populations
Iran 7,600,000-9,673,000 [2][3]
Languages
Luri, Bakhtiari, Persian
Religion
Shi'a Islam, Yaresan
Related ethnic groups
Persians and other Iranian people

Lurs (also Lors, Lori/Persian:لُر) are an Iranic people living mainly in south-western Iran. Their population is estimated at above four million. They occupy Lorestan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, and Kuh-Gilu-Boir Ahmed provinces.^[4]

The Lur people mostly speak Lori, a Southwestern Iranian language, closely related to Persian.^[5] "Luri and Bakhtiari are much more closely related to Persian, than Kurdish."^[5]

Ethnologists classify the Lurs as aboriginal Persians.^{[citation needed]} Their language forms a dialect of Persian and does not differ materially from Persian.^{[citation needed]}

Language[link]

Lori dialects, which are divided into two main groups:

• The dialect spoken in Lor-e-Bozorg (Greater Lor) which is closely related to Persian. This dialect is spoken by the inhabitants of Bakhtiari, Kuh-Gilu-Boir Ahmed, in the north and east of Khuzistan, in the Mamasani district of Fars, and in some areas of Bushehr province.
• The dialect spoken in Lor-e-Koochik (Lesser Lor) which is closely related to Persian, with has some similarities to Kurdish. This dialect is spoken in Luristan, several districts of Hamadan (Nahavand, Towisarkan) and by the inhabitants of south and southwest Ilam and northern part of Khuzistan province.

Iran main languages

History[link]

Lurs are a mixture of aboriginal Indo-Iranian tribes, originating from Central Asia.

"The Lurs are thought to be a division of the ancient Kurds, both tribes being considered true descendants of the Medes."^[6]

The area traditionally known as Luristan is divided into two regions. Greater Lur, and Lesser Lur.

Greater Lur includes ChaharMahal and Bakhtiari, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad and parts of western Isfahan province, Fars province Mamasani County and Rostam and northwest of Khuzestan province. This region was in Middle Ages ruled by a group known as Hazaraspids.

Lesser Lur was more or less the area today known as Lorestan province.

The Lurs were amongst the original Qizilbash who participated in the Safavid conquest of Iran and conversion of Iran to Shia Islam.

Prior to the 20th century, the majority of Lors were nomadic herders, with an urban minority residing in the city of Khorramabad. There were several attempts by the Pahlavi governments to settle the nomadic segment of the Lor population. Under Reza Shah, these campaigns tended to be unsuccessful. The last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, used less forceful methods along with economic incentives, which met with greater, though not complete, success. By the mid-1980s the vast majority of Lors had been settled in towns and villages throughout the province, or had migrated to the major urban centres.

A number of nomadic Lur tribes continue to exist in the province.

Culture[link]

Lori traditional attire.

Amongst the settled urban population the authority of tribal elders still remains a strong influence, though not as dominant as it is amongst the nomads. As in Bakhtiari and Kurdish societies, Lur women have had much greater freedoms than women in other groups in the region.^[7]

Music[link]

Among the popular musicians in Luri are Faraj Alipour, Reza Saghaei,Ali-Akbar Shekarchi, Gholam Jamshidi, Heshmat Rajabzadeh, Najafali Mirzayi, Heshmatollah Shafiian, Masoud Bakhtiari and Iradj Rahmanpour. Malek Mas'udi, Nourollah, Karamollah.

Religion[link]

The overwhelming majority of Lurs are Shia Muslims though some practice an ancient Iranian religion known as Yaresan, with roots in Zoroastrianism, Mithraism and Manicheism.

Traditionally the Lur people outwardly profess Shia Islam, but the degree of piety varies, and the religion of some seems to consist of a mixture of Ali-Illahism involving a belief in successive incarnations combined with mysterious, ancient rites. The Lur peoples are diverse and individualistic in their religious views and practices. The religious view even within a family could differ immensely.

See also[link]

• Lak people (Iran)
• Bakhtiari people
• Traditional Luri Music (Mehrdad Hedayati)
• Encyclopædia Britannica's Entry on Lurs
• "Persian-Luri" Carpet weaving style incorporating design themes of ancient Persia. [1]

References[link]

v t e Ethnic groups in Iran Major [2] Persians 61%  · Azerbaijanis 16%  · Kurds 10%  · Lors 6% Minor [3] Arabs 2%  · Balochs 2% · Turkmens 2%  · Others (Tats · Armenians · Georgians · Jews · Assyrians · Mandaeans · Kazakhs) 1%

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Map of the Nordic Bronze Age culture, c. 1200 BC

History of Scandinavia
Stone Age Bronze Age Pre-Roman Iron Age Roman Iron Age Germanic Iron Age Barbarian Invasions Viking Age Christianization Kalmar Union Great Northern War Monetary Union Defence Union Nordic Council

The Nordic Bronze Age (also Northern Bronze Age) is the name given by Oscar Montelius to a period and a Bronze Age culture in Scandinavian pre-history, c. 1700-500 BC, with sites that reached as far east as Estonia.^[1] Succeeding the Late Neolithic culture, its ethnic and linguistic affinities are unknown in the absence of written sources. It is followed by the Pre-Roman Iron Age.

General characteristics[link]

Even though Scandinavians joined the European Bronze Age cultures fairly late through trade, Scandinavian sites present rich and well-preserved objects made of wool, wood and imported Central European bronze and gold.

Many rock carvings depict ships, and the large stone burial monuments known as stone ships suggest that shipping played an important role. Thousands of rock carvings depict ships, most probably representing sewn plank built canoes for warfare, fishing and trade. These may have a history as far back as the neolithic period and continue in to the Pre-Roman Iron Age, as shown by the Hjortspring boat.^[2]

There are many mounds and rock carving sites from the period. Numerous artifacts of bronze and gold are found. No written language existed in the Nordic countries during the Bronze Age. The rock carvings have been dated through comparison with depicted artifacts, for example bronze axes and swords. (There are also numerous Nordic Stone Age rock carvings in the north of Scandinavia, mostly portraying elk.)

Sub-periodization[link]

Oscar Montelius, who coined the term used for the period, divided it into six distinct sub-periods in his piece Om tidsbestämning inom bronsåldern med särskilt avseende på Skandinavien ("On Bronze Age dating with particular focus on Scandinavia") published in 1885 which is still in wide use. His absolute chronology has held up well against radiocarbon dating, with the exception that the period's start is closer to 1700 BC than 1800 BC, as Montelius suggested. For Central Europe a different system developed by Paul Reinecke is commonly used, as each area has its own artefact types and archaeological periods.

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A broader subdivision is the "Early Bronze Age" between 1700 BC and 1100 BC and the "Late Bronze Age" 1100 BC to 550 BC. These divisions and periods are then followed by the Pre-Roman Iron Age.

Climate[link]

The Nordic Bronze Age was characterized by a warm climate that began with a climate change around 2700 BC (comparable to that of present-day central Germany and northern France). The warm climate permitted a relatively dense population and good farming, for example grapes were grown in Scandinavia at this time. However a small change in climate between 850 BC and 760 BC and a more radical one around 650 BC brought in a deteriorating, wetter and colder climate (sometimes believed to have given rise to the legend of the Fimbulwinter).

Religion[link]

Not much is known about the Nordic Bronze Age religion, since written sources are lacking. However numerous archaeological finds draw a vague picture of what the religion might have been, but only some possible sects of it and only certain possible tribes. Some of the best clues to the religion of this period come from the rock carvings scattered through Northern Europe.

A pair of twin gods are believed to have been worshipped, and is reflected in a duality in all things sacred: where sacrificial artifacts have been buried they are often found in pairs. A female or mother goddess is believed to have been widely worshipped (see Nerthus). Sacrifices (animals, weapons, jewelry and men) have been connected to water, and small lakes or ponds have often been used as holy places for sacrifice and many artifacts have been found in such locations. Hieros gamos rites may have been common. Ritual instruments such as bronze lurs have been found sacrificed and are believed to have been used in ceremonies.

Bronze Age rock carvings may contain some of the earliest depictions of well known gods from later Norse mythology. A common figure in these rock carvings is that of a male figure carrying what appears to be an axe or hammer. This may have been an early representation of Thor. Other male figures are shown holding a spear. Whether this is a representation of Odin or Týr is not known. It is possible the figure may have been a representation of Tyr, as one example of a Bronze Age rock carving appears to show a figure missing a hand. A figure holding a bow may be an early representation of Ullr. Or it is possible that these figures were not gods at all, but men brandishing the weapons of their culture.

Remnants of the Bronze Age religion and mythology are believed to exist in Germanic mythology and Norse mythology; e.g., Skinfaxi and Hrímfaxi and Nerthus, and it is believed to itself be descended from an older "Indo-European" prototype.

Gallery[link]

See also[link]

• Bronze Age Europe
• Bronze Age sword
• Egtved Girl
• The King's Grave
• Stone ships
• Tanumshede

Notes[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Dabrowski, J. (1989) Nordische Kreis un Kulturen Polnischer Gebiete. Die Bronzezeit im Ostseegebiet. Ein Rapport der Kgl. Schwedischen Akademie der Literatur Geschichte und Alter unt Altertumsforschung über das Julita-Symposium 1986. Ed Ambrosiani, B. Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien. Konferenser 22. Stockholm.
• Davidson, H. R. Ellis and Gelling, Peter: The Chariot of the Sun and other Rites and Symbols of the Northern European Bronze Age.
• K. Demakopoulou (ed.), Gods and Heroes of the European Bronze Age, published on the occasion of the exhibition "Gods and Heroes of the Bronze Age. Europe at the Time of Ulysses", from December 19, 1998, to April 5, 1999, at the National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, London (1999), ISBN 0-500-01915-0.
• Demougeot, E. La formation de l'Europe et les invasions barbares, Paris: Editions Montaigne, 1969-1974.
• Kaliff, Anders. 2001. Gothic Connections. Contacts between eastern Scandinavia and the southern Baltic coast 1000 BC – 500 AD.
• Montelius, Oscar, 1885. Om tidsbestämning inom bronsåldern med särskilt avseende på Skandinavien.
• Musset, L. Les invasions: les vagues germanique, Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1965.

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