The Evolution of the Ancient Iranian Army (original) (raw)
2024, Brill’s Companion to War in the Ancient Iranian Empires
It is rather difficult to outline the development of Iranian fighting forces from the earliest literary and archaeological evidence to the coming of the Muslims on the Iranian plateau. However, we can attempt to contextualise specific periods where developments and changes took place, from the first millennium BCE to the seventh century CE. One can point to several specific phases in the development of the Iranian army in ancient times, with new tactics and new forces. The first phase of what can be termed a distinctive Iranian military force, and its specific technology and weapons, can be identified with the Indo-European Iranians.1 The Sintashta Culture is usually associated with the first signs of Iranian presence on the Russian steppes. What is striking is the importance of two-wheeled chariots, which were most probably used for movement and combat in this Indo-Iranian culture.2 There are large numbers of such chariots which were buried in this region, providing some of the earliest clues on the use of chariots in the third millennium BCE.3 Indo-Iranian poetics also provide us with some of the most complete descriptions of chariots, their parts, and their use in terms of racecourse competition and winning,4 as metaphorically used in the oldest stratum of Iranian poetic tradition in Yasna 30.10,5 where men achieve glory and imperishable fame.6 The chariot also appears metaphorically when the movement of the sun is likened to the ritual chariot race.7 In the Avestan hymn to Mithra (X.76), the chariot (raθa-) and charioteer (raθi-) are well attested, as in the reference to 'good horses and a good chariot-driver' .8 The term for 'warrior' in Indo-Iranian is derived from raθaēštā, which means 'one who stands on the chariot' .
Related papers
The book The Military History of the Third Century Iran is the result of several years of collaboration between the authors who undertake daily research on the history of pre-Islamic Iran. The present work is primarily addressed to students of history who acquire their first experiences in exploring the history of the Near East. We hope that it will help readers with a fascinating topic and will encourage them to continue their studies on ancient military. We would like to express our gratitude to everyone whose work helped to bring this volume to press, above all our sincere thank to Vesta SARKHOSH CURTIS (the British Museum, London, United Kingdom), Vladimir DMITRIEV (Pskov State University, Russia), Kaveh FARROKH (Langara College, Vancouver, Canada), Gholamreza KARAMIAN (Tehran Azad University, Iran), Meysam LABBAF-KHANIKI (University of Tehran, Iran), Ehsan SHAVAREBI (University of Vienna, Austria) and Patryk SKUPNIEWICZ (Siedlce University, Poland).
Ancient Iran - An Introductory Bibliography
The history of Ancient Iran is a vast and important subject, spanning a huge chronological and geographical range, with an equally large number of published works available. The following annotated bibliography is to aid the student or fellow instructors in researching and learning about some, or all of the periods within Ancient Iranian history. It does not claim to be a comprehensive bibliography of Ancient Iran. Instead, it aims to provide an introduction to some of the general and advanced works on Ancient Iran; to major reference works; specialised textbooks and monographs on specific dynasties; and volumes specifically focused on the military history of Ancient Iran, which are available to those interested in further research.
This document is currently being converted. Please check back in a few minutes.