1
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University
2
PhD Candidate, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University
Abstract
History of Persian cities is an important research topic focusing on the nature of settlement in an ancient civilization. Nevertheless, such research is quite recent and is often conducted for other reasons. About half a century ago, research on this topic was based on the Marxist theory of Asian Mode of Production focusing on economic analysis. Much of recent research is still based on this approach. This reductionist method of analysis is not sufficient for thorough comprehension of the social life of the people of the past. There is rather a need for a holistic, phenomenological analysis. There is an analysis method in Structuralism called ‘historic anthropology’, which integrates research in history with mythology. This is a promising method for study of societies whose history is closely linked to mythology. This paper demonstrates that analysis of such a complex subject requires methods beyond classic approaches.
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