July 2011
1 post
The Psalms in Judeo-Persian
There are a number of documents and texts in Judeo-Persian from late antiquity to the recent times. The late Amnon Netzer has given a detailed exposition of the surviving Judeo-Persian literature (“Judeo-Persian Literature,” Encyclopaedia Iranica (http://iranica.com/articles/judeo-persian-ix-judeo-persian-literature), but those working on these texts are few and surprisingly, no one in Iran! The...
April 2011
1 post
The Gathas of Zarathushtra: Gathica I
These notes of mine on the Gathas of Zarathushtra are meant for enlightening the general public and those interested in the tradition of this personage, clouded in mystery and legend. Zarathusthra is a prophet, a mystic, a priest and a poet who is at times clear and other times ambiguous in his poetic message. If one disagrees with my contention, they have to consult the five authoritative...
February 2011
1 post
The Movie Iranium & the Israeli War Propaganda
There is now a new semi-documentary, semi-science fiction propaganda film in the US, entitled Iranium (Iran + Uranium). As an Iranian-American, after watching the film, I felt angry that here we were with another Hollywood film demonizing Iranians. This of course had started with the movie Not Without My Daughter filmed in 1991 in Neve Ilan, Israel about Iran. Then there was more, more recently...
January 2011
1 post
The End of Late Antiquity & Thomas Sizgorich
My colleague Thomas Sizgorich passed away this past Thursday due to a stroke. He was one of the most interesting scholars of the field of late antiquity that I knew of. He was able to look to the Mediterranean and the Near Eastern world with the same competency and ask really interesting questions which I never thought of. We were planning to make UC Irvine one of the centers of late antique...
September 2010
2 posts
A Week with the Zoroastrian Parsis in Mumbai
I was invited to deliver the Government Research Fellowship Lectures at the K.R. Cama Oriental Institute in Mumbai, established in 1916. This was a great honor to be given the chance to give these lectures which are then to be published by the institute with the title: Iranian Kingship, Arab Conquest and Zoroastrian Apocalypse: The History of Fārs and Beyond in Late Antiquity (600-900 CE). I did...
August 2010
1 post
On the Earliest Reference to Stoning in Iran
The tragic and barbaric act of stoning has been current in some places for almost three millennium. While today, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani is in danger of being stoned in Iran, most people with a sense of dignity, humanity and a consciousness in the twenty first century reject such actions. Stoning a person to death is a vile idea no matter you are a Muslim, Jew, Christian, Bahai or any...
March 2010
1 post
دکلمه و آهنگ شب است و چهره میهن سیاهه
February 2010
0 posts
Šābuhr I's new gold coin depicting the Roman...
In 243 CE, Gordian invaded Mesopotamia to take back what had been taken by Ardaxšīr and his son after Alexander Severus’ death. Šābuhr tells us (according to ŠKZ) that he was able to kill him at Misikhe in 244 CE, close to the Euphrates river which he later called Pērōz-Šābuhr (Victorious is Šābuhr).[1] In fact it appears that Gordian had died in Zaitha in northern Mesopotamia in 244 CE at a time...
January 2010
4 posts
Dura-Europos, Middle Persian Graffiti and the...
The remains of the once vibrant city of Dura-Europos stand on the banks of the Euphrates in modern day Syria. The city was established by the Seleucids in 303 BCE and during the reign of Mithradates II the city fell into the hands of the Arsacids. Avidius Cassius captured the city and brought it into the Roman orbit, where Dura acted as a defensive frontier city. Then the Sasanians conquered the...
A Middle Persian Text on Banqueting
A Pahlavi Text on Banqueting*
The text examined here, Sūr ī Saxwan, is a banquet speech which I thought may be of interest. The text is a blessing of a banquet, and of the hosts and guests, by a eulogist. It should be noticed, however, that there is a religious / sacrificial aspect to the speech. The text is also of interest for it provides information on Sasanian court culture, including...
Borj-e Lājīm: A Post-Sasanian Tomb Tower with...
On August 2008 Iraj Afshar, Manouchehr Sotudeh, Khodadad Rezakhani and myself traveled to the provinces of Mazandaran and Khurasan in search of medieval towers. The function of towers in Iran varies, depending on their location and the region and time period. Some may be landmarks so that travelers find their way and others are simply tombs of a notables and local rulers. For the province of...
December 2009
6 posts
Sasanian Frescos
An important book by the late Masoud Azarnoush entitled: The Sasanian Manor House at Hajiabad, Iran, Monografie di Mesopotamia - 3, Esaurito, 1994, seems to have largely gone unnoticed. This is mainly due to the fact that the book was published in Italy and it has not gotten very good circulation. Azarnoush discovered the manor house at Hajiabad in the late 1970s and continued the excavations...
Ancient Iran from the Air
Irans Erbe in Flugbildern von Georg Gerster, eds. David Stronach & Ali Mousavi, Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz am Rhein, 2009.
This fabulously produced book is a significant work for those interested in Iranian archaeology, urban history and pictographic journey covering ancient and medieval sites. The book’s showcase is the pictures taken by Georg Gerster between 1976 and 1978 which are...
Great Commander and Court Counsellor of the...
The most recent booklet by Rike Gyselen, the master of Middle Persian epigraphy is entitled: Great-Commander (wuzurg-framadār) and Court Counselor (dar-andarzbed) in the Sasanian Empire (224-651): The Sigillogrpahic Evidence, Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente, Roma, 2008.
In this study Gyselen previews some of the dignitaries and their seals, specifically the wuzurg-framadār and the...
Auctioning Iranian Artifacts →
November 2009
7 posts
Sasanika: Studying Sasanian History
One of the most neglected periods in Near Eastern History has been the Sasanian period (224-651 CE). Scholars in the West look at the Near East in a curious manner. They begin with the Ancient Mesopotamian civilization and then the period of Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic period. Then there is a blank till the coming of Islam in the Seventh Century CE. The most common reason given by...
Alan Kaye: A Remembrance in Persian
یادی از استاد و همکارم
آلن کی
1944-2007
در روز 31 ماه می امسال یکی از استادان و همکار و دوستانم دکتر آلن کی در سن 63 سالگی درگذشت. او در سال 1944 در شهر لس آنجلس بدنیا آمد و لیسانس خود را از دانشگاه کالیفرنیا در لس آنجلس و فوق لیسانس و دکترای خود را از دانشگاه کالیفرنیا در برکلی در زبانهای سامی در سال 1971 دریافت کرد. از همان سال آغاز به تدریس در دانشگاه ایالتی کالیفرنیا در فولرتن کرد و کلاسهای...
Cambyses' army NOT found
Cambyses’ army NOT found?
I have been following the news about the recent finds in Egypt and the so called “lost Persian army.” I had my doubts from the beginning, but now it is becoming exceedingly clear that the Castiglioni brothers have hyped up their discovery. Let me give you some reasons why the story is doubtful:
1. Herodotus reports that the Persian king, Cambyses, sent 50,000...
Cambyses' army found?
I have been following the news about the recent finds in Egypt and the so called “lost Persian army.” I had my doubts from the beginning, but now it is becoming exceedingly clear that the Castiglioni brothers have hyped up their discovery. Let me give you some reasons why the story is doubtful:
1. Herodotus reports that the Persian king, Cambyses, sent 50,000 soldiers to the Oasis of...
Cambyses' army NOT found
The recent news about the discovery of Cambyses’ army is NOT really accurate
The New Middle East
Imagine a Middle East where there is no war and Jews, Arabs, Turks, Iranians live with each other ! This is possible if the new generation of people in the Middle East come together.
