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Medicine and Health Sciences Commons

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History

Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library, The George Washington University

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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

The Sick Men Of Persia: The Importance Of Illness As A Factor In The Interpretation Of Modern Iranian Diplomatic History, Amir A. Afkhami Sep 2003

The Sick Men Of Persia: The Importance Of Illness As A Factor In The Interpretation Of Modern Iranian Diplomatic History, Amir A. Afkhami

Medicine Faculty Publications

STUDIES OF IRANIAN POLITICAL HISTORY OFTEN ASSUME THAT THE REPERCUSSIONS OF physical or mental illness on leadership are inconsequential in determining the course of history. Globally, very few scholars have attempted to systematically examine the effects of illness on leaders and Iranian historians seem to evade this topic entirely.


Disease And Water Supply: The Case Of Cholera In 19th Century Iran, Amir A. Afkhami Jan 1998

Disease And Water Supply: The Case Of Cholera In 19th Century Iran, Amir A. Afkhami

Medicine Faculty Publications

This paper explores why Iran was a particularly fertile ground for repeated visitation of cholera in the 19th century. Along with certain unique Iranian cultural and religious factors, the author demonstrates how Iranian urban ecology, particularly the qanat system, contributed to the fatal spread of the epidemic. These multi-faceted conditions, the author concludes, resulted in distinct modes of disease transmission and mortality in Iran.