T. Daryaee and R. Rollinger, Iran and Its Histories: Problems and Challenges, in: T. Daryaee and R. Rollinger (eds.), Iran and Its Histories. From the Beginnings to the Achaemenid Empire (Classica et Orientalia 29), Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2021, 1-17. (original) (raw)

This volume brings together the contributions of the first and second Payravi conferences on Ancient Iranian History, held at the University of California Irvine (Dr. Samuel M. Jordan Center for Iranian Studies), and organized by the editors of this volume. The first conference took place on March 23 rd , 2018, with the title The Iranian Plateau and its Histories. From the Beginnings to the 1 st Millennium BCE. The second was held on March 11 th-12 th , 2019, entitled The Persian-Achaemenid Empire as a 'World-System': New Approaches and Contexts. In the meantime, the third conference, Iran and the Transformation of Ancient Near Eastern History: The Seleucids (ca. 312-150 BCE), was held on February 24 th-25 th , 2020, while the fourth one dealing with the Arsacids had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We very much hope that it will be possible to convene again in the first or second half of 2022. The idea of the Payravi conferences was born thanks to a generous donation by the Payravi family in memory of the late Ali-Asghar Payravi who had been an avid reader and enthusiast of the world of ancient Iranian. The aim of the conferences and the subsequent proceedings was to present a learned and critical inquiry into the history of the Iranian Plateau from its pre-dynastic period in the 2 nd millennium BCE up to the end of the Sasanian Empire in the 7 th century CE. This undertaking was to be implemented through five conferences and the publication of the respective proceedings, both organised by Touraj Daryaee and Robert Rollinger. We wish to thank the Payravi family for their support in bringing together an international group of scholars from different parts of the world to present, discuss and publish papers about the ancient Iranian World. Our sincere thanks go to a group of people without whom the implementation of the undertaking and its success would not have been possible. First, to Mrs. Parichehr Farhad (Payravi), who accepted our proposal and, along with her sister, Mrs. Parvaneh Payrovi, generously supported our idea. We also wish to thank Mr. Saeid Jalalipour, the Program Manager at the Center for Persian Studies at UC Irvine, for his logistical organization of the first three conferences.