Quote:Just a note: western media often show this kind of pictures. People covered with blood are impressive and fascinating, and pictures like these help to sell a newspaper. But these people are not typical for Shi'a celebrations of Ashura; just like the Spanish people who are whipping themselves during the Holy Week are not representative for Christianity, these men (always men) are atypical shi'ites.

We all know that we must distrust the press; we all know that they focus on the weird, the strange, the absurd. And these photos greatly help to create the stereotypes of the Shi'ites. I am certainly not saying that Iran and Southern Iraq are perfect countries -on the contrary- but I thought that it would be prudent to mention this bias. (Rest assured, I tell my Iranian friends not to trust their newspapers.)

As to the sword, I think you are right. Here is a picture to show the difference between short, western shorts, and the longer, Persian ones. Shapur I and Valerian: [url:29q554v1]http://www.livius.org/a/1/iran/shapur_valerian.jpg[/url]