Sadeh

Sadeh ( also transliterated as Sade), is an Iranian festival that dates back to the Achaemenid Empire. Sadeh is celebrated 50 days before Nowruz. Sadeh in Persian means "hundred" and refers to the one hundred days and nights remaining to the beginning of spring. Sadeh is a mid-winter festival that was celebrated with grandeur and magnificence in ancient Persia. It was a festivity to honor fire and to defeat the forces of darkness, frost, and cold.

==History== thumb|Persian miniature of "The Feast of Sada" from [[Shahname of Shah Tahmasp]] Legends have it that King Hushang, the 2nd king of the mythological Pishdadian dynasty (Pishdad means to give the Law), established the Sadeh tradition. It is said that Hushang was once climbing a mountain when he saw a snake. When he threw a stone to hit the snake, it hit another stone and since they were both flint stones, fire broke out and the snake escaped. This way he discovered how to light a fire. Hushang cheered up and praised God who revealed to him the secret of lighting a fire. Then he announced: "This is a light from God. So we must admire it."