the impact of archaism discourse on iranian medical historiography from the achaemenid period

The post-constitutional period, especially in the Pahlavi period, witnessed the peak activity of several thought streams sought to create national unity and modernization in the straggling society of the Qajar period (1). Majority of such streams considered Islam and the Arab invasion among main reasons of Iran’s retrograde and destruction (2), which led to the formation of a discourse based on antiquity. This discourse became the foundation of cultural context in the Pahlavi period and most of the subsequent changes and developments occurred in this historical context, referred to as antiquity (3). The impact intensity of this discourse was such that it affected majority of Iran’s cultural and scientific heritage (4), including the field of historiography.