interesting side note:

the decline of #vultures led to a crisis in a #religion

some of you know of the #parsis in #india, the #zoroastrians of ancient #persia

they practice sky burial. the parsis can't bury or cremate: earth fire and water are sacred. the dead must go to the air

the towers of silence is where the parsis would put their dead, and they would be mostly consumed by vultures

but suddenly all the vultures that the parsis relied on for centuries, vanished:

https://www.npr.org/2012/09/05/160401322/vanishing-vultures-a-grave-matter-for-indias-parsis

The observational version of Khayyam's calendar is known as the Solar Hijri calendar, and is today the official calendar used in Iran and Afghanistan.

Some #Zoroastrians use a variant, which also ties Nowruz to the equinox but retains their traditional month structure. This is known as the Fasli (seasonal) calendar. A few conservative Zoroastrians reject it, thinking it is too Muslim.

Yes, the same calendar that Muslims originally thought was too Zoroastrian.

13/?