Paradise, a Memory of Iranvij

Paradise is a word from ancient Iran which has entered Persian language and then from Iranian languages into all other languages in the world. The concept of paradise affected Islamic thought; though its concept has been altered in this outlook, establishing paradise, which has a long history in Iran, has continued in the Islamic period and its rearrangement have appeared in the carpet art in the form of paradisiac designs and ornaments. The word “paradise” and building places with this name appeared for first time in Achaemenid era and later it was imitated by Seleucids and Roman kings. In this study, it is tried to explore why places have been built with the name of paradise in Achaemenian period. In the proposed hypothesis, paradise is the manifestation of the ancient archetype of schema, i.e. the everlasting heaven, or Iranvij, in whose construction many factors play important roles; factors such as Iran’s geography, change in economic system of newcomer Aryans to the Iranian plateau from ranching to agriculture, and the political thought developed in Mede era.