Introduction : unburied memories

Since antiquity, remembrance of heroes and heroic acts has been part of Iranian folklore, history and landscape. Heroes seem always to be present in the battlefields, fighting the enemies of their motherland (mam-e vatan), Persia. Some of their legendary battles and heroic acts are recorded in historical literature, others are visualized in manuscripts, and a few are engraved on the rocks and mountains of this “land of lions” (sarzamin-e shiran). Contemporary commemorations of Iranian heroes form a significant aspect of the cultural heritage of Iran (tangible and intangible): war and battlefield memories, commemorations and material culture [Figure 1]. All of the information we have today on Iran, Iranians, and their roles and reactions in wars is based on what was inherited from probable witnesses and the work of historians. Historiographies, collective memories, and tangible heritage clearly demonstrate that Iranians have never accepted or appreciated the political intervention and military aggression of other nations and their policies in Iran, regardless of whether they were Arab, Mongol, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, British, American or Iraqi.