This study illuminates the 2,500-year social history of sexual relations in Iran. Marriage, temporary marriage, prostitution, and homosexuality are all discussed, as well as the often unintended result of these relations--sexually transmitted diseases. A Social History of Sexual Relations in Iran uses travelers accounts, Iranian and international archival sources, as well as government data, to bring together, in detail, and within the context of Iranian culture and religion, the nature, variety, and problems of sexual relations in Iran over the ages. Finally, Willem Floor summarizes the issues that Iranian society faces today--which are not dissimilar to that of many other industrial nations--the challenge to the male claim to dominance over women; change in the age of marriage; premarital sex; rising divorce rates; rising promiscuity; prostitution; sexually transmitted diseases; homosexuality; and street children.CONTENTSPREFACECHAPTER ONEMarriage In Iran: A Family AffairImperial IranAchaemenid Period (559 330 BCE)Parthian (227 BCE 224 CE) And Sasanian Periods (226 651)Islamic Period (651 To Date)Premarital SexIslamic Rules Concerning Marriage Contract EqualityMarriage Restrictions (Family, Other Relationships, And Religion)Socio-Economic Selection CriteriaPreference For Consanguineous MarriageVirgins OnlyAgeWidows May Also ApplyBeautyHow To Select A PartnerPolygynyRoyal Prerogatives In Selecting WomenBedroom Do's And Don'tsErotic StimulantsMarital BlissAdulteryDivorceChapter TwoTemporary Marriage A Formal AffairIslamic IranWhat Is Temporary Marriage?Safavid Afsharid Zand Period (1501 1794)Qajar Period (1794-1925)Temporary Marriage And Christians And Jews (1520s 1900)Pahlavi Period (1925 1979)Islamic Republic Of Iran (1979 To Date)CHAPTER THREEProstitutionan and Extra-Marital AffairImperial IranAchaemenid ParthianSasanian Period (559 BCE 651 CE)Islamic PeriodCaliphate Until The Mongol Period (653 1258) Mongol Ilkhanid Timurid Turkman Period (1258 1500)Who Were The Prostitutes?In Which Towns Did Prostitutes Work?The Wages Of SinWas There A Red Light District?Streetwalkers And OthersWhat About Non-Moslem Males?Did Prostitutes Wear Special Dress?Prostitution: A Taxing AffairWere Prostitutes Protected?Were Dancing And Singing Girls Prostitutes?Bans On ProstitutionAfsharid Zand Period (1736 1794)Qajar Period (1794 1925)Pahlavi Period (1925 1979)Islamic Republic Of Iran (1979 To Date)Abuse