Spurious Inclusion and Unjust Exclusion

The Museum for Luminaries of Markazi Province, Iran

Abstract

In February 2009, the Museum of Markazi Province’s Luminaries officially opened in Arak, Iran, to honor prominent figures from Markazi Province. The museum, housed in a historic building, displays a number of busts, photographs, and documents related to these luminaries. However, the museum fails to effectively fulfill its intended purpose. This paper seeks to show that the main reason for this failure is unreasonable inclusion and unjust exclusion of figures. The former reason stems from a misunderstanding of Arak’s historical and historical geography, which is related to the etymology of the word ‘Arak’. The ‘unjust exclusion’ is partly due to a lack of clear definition of luminary, and partly as a reflection of the prevalent views of the regime.