Sasanian History Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Along the lines of a reappraisal of the so-called Byzantine “Dark Ages,” this contribution addresses the question of the re-emergence of classical culture in Byzantium in the 9th century and how Syriac sources can throw some light on the... more

Along the lines of a reappraisal of the so-called Byzantine “Dark Ages,” this contribution addresses
the question of the re-emergence of classical culture in Byzantium in the 9th century and how Syriac
sources can throw some light on the continuation and yet transformation of late antique teaching
and scholasticism. The continuous work by Syriac scholars on Greek scientific and philosophical
texts in the 7th–10th centuries shows the availability of Greek manuscripts in the East, even beyond
the Roman-Sasanian border. Syriac literature can help understand the transformation of Hellenism
and the constitution of a cultural koine in other languages than Greek. A Christian as well as more
specifically Syrian Hellenism blended the cultural idioms of Greek and “oriental” culture. Not only
did Greek culture survive, but it spread in the Arabic polity and ultimately re-emerged in Byzantium
from the shelves of the Byzantine libraries. Oblivion of classical “pagan” literature was parallel to the
transmission of a new canonised knowledge in Syriac and then Arabic but was ultimately reversed:
not so much thanks to the “return” of Greek manuscripts and texts from the East however as from a
competition over the appropriation of ancient Greek culture beyond Christianity.

This article analyzes the techniques by which the kings of the early Sasanian dynasty engaged the past and shaped the experience of future generations. I concentrate on the innovations and legacy of the first two kings of kings of the... more

This article analyzes the techniques by which the kings of the early Sasanian dynasty engaged the past and shaped the experience of future generations. I concentrate on the innovations and legacy of the first two kings of kings of the dynasty, Ardashir I (r. 224–239/40 C.E.) and his son Shapur I (239/40–270/2 C.E.). These sovereigns fashioned a new and politically useful vision of the past to establish their dynasty's primacy in Persia and the wider Iranian world, eclipsing their Seleucid, Fratarakid, and Arsacid predecessors. I identify and examine the artistic, architectural, and ritual means by which the early Sasanians conformed the built and natural environment of their homeland to their grand new vision of the past. I argue that the Achaemenid patrimony of the province of Pars played an important role in these efforts, serving as inspirations and anchors for the Sasanians' new creations.

The Sasanian era was clearly a vitally important phase in the history of Zoroastrianism. As a state religion, and one of the pillars of Sasanian ideology, Zoroastrianism was able to develop practically without restraints, and it was in... more

The Sasanian era was clearly a vitally important phase in the history of Zoroastrianism. As a state religion, and one of the pillars of Sasanian ideology, Zoroastrianism was able to develop practically without restraints, and it was in this period that the Zoroastrian tradition assumed or developed some of the features that later came to seem characteristic of Zoroastrianism generally. It has been said with some justice that this was the period in which a Zoroastrian 'church' came into being-an ecclesiastical organisation based upon a coherent, hierarchical system of priests and firetemples which covered much of the Sasanian Empire. However, our knowledge of this important stage in the history of Zoroastrianism is based on a limited range of sources, most of whose data need to be evaluated critically before they can be used as evidence, and is both incomplete and imprecise.

The replacement of the Sassanians was a turning point in the imperial geostrategic policies. Thus, the change in the Romans' viewpoint of the Eastern superpower soon manifested itself in the very first works of contemporary historiography... more

The replacement of the Sassanians was a turning point in the imperial geostrategic policies. Thus, the change in the Romans' viewpoint of the Eastern superpower soon manifested itself in the very first works of contemporary historiography with Ardashir I. Roman writers sought to bridge the gap between the Sassanians and the memory of the Achaemenians. The purpose of this study is to understand the Roman mentality and the function of the propagandistic apparatus of this empire, including their new perception and depiction of third-century Iran, and to answer the question of what was the Roman reactions. Based on this research, it seems that the Roman strategy in the third century C.E. was to magnify its military successes against the Persians and even to present false reports and distort the reality. During this period, they developed political topoi to represent the events on their eastern fronts, which continued into the later centuries.
جابجاییِ اشکانیان با ساسانیان چرخشی بزرگ در سیاست‌های ژئواستراتژیک شاهنشاهی ایران بود. به این ترتیب، تغییر نگاهِ رومیان نسبت به ابرقدرتِ شرقی خیلی زود در همان نخستین آثار تاریخ‌نگارانۀ معاصر با اردشیر بابکان خود را نمایان کرد و نگارندگان رومی تلاش کردند میانِ ساسانیان و خاطرۀ هخامنشیان پل بزنند. هدف از این پژوهش شناختِ ذهنیتِ روم و کارکردِ دستگاهِ تبلیغاتیِ این امپراتوری شاملِ برداشت (Perception) و انگاشتِ (Depiction) تازه‌بنیادِ آنان از ایرانِ سدۀ سوم و پاسخ به این پرسش است که روم، افزون بر این درک و فهم از شرایط جدید، چه واکنشی متناسب با آن ارائه کرد. بر پایۀ این پژوهش، به نظر می‌رسد راهبردِ روم در سدۀ سخت و دشوار سوم میلادی بزرگنمایی در کامیابی‌های نظامی‌اش در برابر ساسانیان و حتی ارائۀ گزارش‌های رسمیِ ساختگی و وارونه جلوه ‌دادن واقعیت بود. آنان در این دوره به یک کلیشه سیاسی-رسانه‌ای برای بازنماییِ رخدادهای جبهه‌های شرقیِ خود دست پیدا کردند که در سده‌های سپسین ادامه یافت.

This article investigates the relationship between historical/religious memory and the perception of power in the early Sasanian period, and analyses how dynastic reflexes are formulated by religion/tradition in the new system within the... more

This article investigates the relationship between historical/religious memory and the perception of power in the early Sasanian period, and analyses how dynastic reflexes are formulated by religion/tradition in the new system within the context of Ardashir, Kerdir and Mani. It asserts that we can discover the relationship between the Sasanian elites and religion if we understand the factors that mobilised and remodelled their historical memories. Based on these factors, it proposes that the natural relationship established by the Sasanian dynasty during the state-building phase was fuelled by historical/traditional factors rather than by conscious political factors. Thus, the inherent links between the representatives of power and the religious tradition in the reign of Ardashir, founder of the Sasanian state, have been consciously politicised since the reign of Shapur I.

This chapter examines discourses on polygyny among East Syrian Christians in late antique and early Islamic Iraq and Iran. Through such discourses, articulated principally in legal texts but also in chronicles and biographical... more

This chapter examines discourses on polygyny among East Syrian Christians in late antique and early Islamic Iraq and Iran. Through such discourses, articulated principally in legal texts but also in chronicles and biographical dictionaries, ecclesiastical elites sought to assert religious distinctiveness in the regulation of particular marital practices while lay parties variously accepted and contested the ecclesiastical vision. The chapter outlines the various forms of polygynous household organization that were customary in certain sections of Near Eastern societies, especially elite ones, and contends that many lay Christians engaged in them just as their non-Christian neighbors did. From an early date, however, East Syrian bishops set a standard defining polygyny as outside the bounds of the practices that denoted membership in their vision of Christian community. Furthermore, the ecclesiastical hierarchy’s increased efforts to formalize a comprehensive communal legal tradition after the Muslim conquests resulted in new strategies to combat lay polygyny; chiefly, the bishops sought to regulate the inheritance practices of Christians so as to exclude the progeny of polygynous unions. In articulating this new Christian inheritance law, East Syrian ecclesiastics promoted a notion of the Christian household radically different from household patterns at elite levels of Islamic society, where polygyny and concubinage were standard techniques for the perpetuation of lineages.

Geography, history, and the material culture provide the three bases for definition and determination of a cultural landscape. The region of Maymand in northwestern of Kerman province as the interacting-ground of the three aforementioned... more

Geography, history, and the material culture provide the three bases for definition and determination of a cultural landscape. The region of Maymand in northwestern of Kerman province as the interacting-ground of the three aforementioned factors is considered as a cultural landscape. The geographic diversity, historical events and 2500-years-old cultural vestiges have prepared the necessities for the formation of a dynamic cultural landscape. The archaeological survey findings show the process of change and evolution in lifestyles of the people who have been living in the Maymand region from ancient times to modern era. This process has been affected by geographic conditions on the one hand and has influenced the region’s history on the other hand. In addition to the complicated and multilinear historical processes having determined the characteristics of the Maymand’s landscape, the village of Maymand has played the focal role in the changing and evolution of the region. Identifying the factors which were acting in the evolution of the cultural landscape of Maymand, would help us to find the true way to indicate and solve the current problems.

Caracalla. A Military Biography is now available as a hardcover, Kindle and e-book an from the website of its publisher Pen & Sword Publishing and from most of the major booksellers. It is not only the first published biography in... more

Caracalla. A Military Biography is now available as a hardcover, Kindle and e-book an from the website of its publisher Pen & Sword Publishing and from most of the major booksellers. It is not only the first published biography in English of this remarkable individual, but also the first that reassess the evidence from the point of view of military history.

The Iranian Expanse explores how kings in the ancient Iranian world utilized the built and natural environment—everything from royal cities and paradise gardens, to hunting enclosures and fire temples—to form and contest Iranian cultural... more

The Iranian Expanse explores how kings in the ancient Iranian world utilized the built and natural environment—everything from royal cities and paradise gardens, to hunting enclosures and fire temples—to form and contest Iranian cultural memory, royal identity, and sacred cosmologies over a thousand years of history. Although scholars have often noted startling continuities between the traditions of the Achaemenids and the art and architecture of medieval or Early Modern Islam, the tumultuous millennium between Alexander and Islam has routinely been downplayed or omitted. The Iranian Expanse delves into this fascinating period, examining royal culture and identity as something built and shaped by strategic changes to architectonic and urban spaces and the landscape of Western Asia. Canepa shows how the Seleucids, Arsacids, and Sasanians played a transformative role in developing a new Iranian royal culture that deeply influenced not only early Islam, but also the wider Persianate world of the Il-Khans, Safavids, Timurids, and Mughals.

این شماره به یاد گراردو نیولی، ایران‌شناس فقید ایتالیایی منتشر شده‌است و محتوای آن شامل مقالات زیر است: ۱. عوامل تکامل صنعت ابریشم ایران؛ از کالای خام صادراتی تا بافته‌های فاخر یا برند «ابریشم شاهی» در عصر شاه عباس اول صفوی/ فاطمه... more

This course presents a broad survey of historical forces at work over the past 6,000 years, examining the manners in which human societies have organized themselves along categories of race, ethnicity, class, and gender to meet the... more

This course presents a broad survey of historical forces at work over the past 6,000 years, examining the manners in which human societies have organized themselves along categories of race, ethnicity, class, and gender to meet the challenges of the increasing human population and its demands on natural resources: thus, it examines continuity and change in societies over time, in different places, and among various peoples.

Within this close textual analysis of the Babylonian Talmud, the book explores rabbinic discussions of sex in light of cultural assumptions and dispositions that pervaded the cultures of late antiquity and particularly the Iranian world.... more

Within this close textual analysis of the Babylonian Talmud, the book explores rabbinic discussions of sex in light of cultural assumptions and dispositions that pervaded the cultures of late antiquity and particularly the Iranian world. By negotiating the Iranian context of the rabbinic discussion alongside the Christian backdrop, this volume presents a balanced and nuanced portrayal of the rabbinic discourse on sexuality and situates rabbinic discussions of sex more broadly at the crossroads of late antique cultures. The study is divided into two thematic sections: the first centers on the broader aspects of rabbinic discourse on sexuality while the second hones in on rabbinic discussions of sexual prohibitions and the classification of permissible and prohibited partnerships, with particular attention to rabbinic discussions of incest.

The death of the Persian dynast Rostam b. Farrokh-Hormozd at the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah during the Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran received much attention in both the Islamic conquest literature and the Persian epic tradition canonized in... more

The death of the Persian dynast Rostam b. Farrokh-Hormozd at the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah during the Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran received much attention in both the Islamic conquest literature and the Persian epic tradition canonized in the Shāh-nāmeh. A careful examination of the narratives of early Islamic history teaches us much about the mindset of those living in the first centuries following the momentous events of the seventh century. By removing the layers of literary embellishment and moralistic exegesis, we can understand better the impact of the death of this Sāsānian dynast. In addition, by comparing the narrative traditions, we can uncover valuable testimony regarding the early development of what might later be described as an Islamic Iranian identity.

Just about 75 kilometers to the south of Mashhad, lying in the east of Robat-e-sefid village, on the Asadabad village road, which is part of Torbat-e-Heydarieh township, and on the mountain of Bazeh hoor, is located an exciting stone... more

Just about 75 kilometers to the south of Mashhad, lying in the east of Robat-e-sefid village, on the Asadabad village road, which is part of Torbat-e-Heydarieh township, and on the mountain of Bazeh hoor, is located an exciting stone structure. This structure is one of the rare structures that are known to be called "Parthian Chartaghi" or Parthian Tetrapylon (squared-base structures). Though some of the researchers such as Andre Goddard have expressed doubts regarding the claim that it is a fire temple, most of them have accepted it as a temple and seemingly they have been negligent regarding its contextual belongings. It seems that the monument has been the central nucleus of a larger building. This article, drawing on the architectural plan of the structure and its belongings, the survey of its potteries and also the classification of different kinds of Chartagi structures in different regions used as temples in different periods, tries to classify these structures and consequently to spot the right status and position of the Bazeh Hoor monument. The findings of the investigations would suggest that Bazeh Hoor monument is a temple dating back to mid Sassanid dynasty and one can analyze and study Bazeh Hoor structure from the perspective of the religious developments in the structure of the temples in this period.

Abstract This article examines the longstanding rivalry of Rome and Parthia, which began as an unintended consequence of Crassus’ decisive defeat at Carrhae in 53 BCE. It synthesizes the accounts and opinions of numerous Graeco-Roman... more

Abstract
This article examines the longstanding rivalry of Rome and Parthia, which began as an unintended consequence of Crassus’ decisive defeat at Carrhae in 53 BCE. It synthesizes the accounts and opinions of numerous Graeco-Roman writers from the Augustan Age to late antiquity in order to help illustrate the new and interconnected post-Carrhae world and its legacy. The rivalry of the Romans and Parthians became a primary focus of their foreign policies and drastically expanded their perceptions of the world in which they interacted. Even after the fall of the Parthians to the rebellious Sassanid Persians in the 220s CE, the Romans continued to find their three-century-long rivalry with the Parthians of interest and relevant to the changing world of late antiquity.

In the first millennia BCE and CE, successive empires sought to incorporate the archipelago of territories in and around the Hindu Kush and to install their structures of rule. The Achaemenians, Seleucids, and Sasanians endeavored -- and... more

In the first millennia BCE and CE, successive empires sought to incorporate the archipelago of territories in and around the Hindu Kush and to install their structures of rule. The Achaemenians, Seleucids, and Sasanians endeavored -- and sometimes pretended -- to rule regions of Afghanistan from their courts located in the Near Eastern core, upward of 2500 km distant. The Kushans, for their part, made Bactra and Begram the bases of an empire that extended far beyond into India and Central Asia. Apart from distance, these empires confronted a political geography in the Hindu Kush that was -- like the Caucasus -- uniquely unfavorable to imperial governance, as well as populations with disparate cultures, social structures, and political traditions. Afghanistan thus provides a test of the capacities of ancient imperial regimes to overcome distance, verticality, and difference to integrate territories into their trans-regional and trans-cultural orders. As even a passing familiarity with the history of the region suggests, efforts at empire failed at least as often as they succeeded in a geographical and cultural landscape highly conducive what James Scott calls the “art[s] of not being governed.” The conference aims to focus on the limits of empire in Afghanistan, as a means of better comprehending the workings of the regimes that laid claim to its territories and the responses of its populations.
The conference convenes archaeologists, art historians, historians, philologists, and numismatists to debate current research in the context of ongoing theoretical debates concerning the formation, endurance, and limits of imperial systems within a highland political ecology.

In der vorliegenden Master-Arbeit wird sich der Verfasser mit der Institution der Feuerstiftung, respektive frommen Stiftung, im sasanidisch-zoroastrischen Iran vor der islamischen Eroberung auseinandersetzen. Im Zentrum wird dabei die... more

In der vorliegenden Master-Arbeit wird sich der Verfasser mit der Institution der Feuerstiftung, respektive frommen Stiftung, im sasanidisch-zoroastrischen Iran vor der islamischen Eroberung auseinandersetzen.
Im Zentrum wird dabei die Einbettung der frommen Stiftungen in die Gesellschaft des antiken Iran mit seiner ausgeprägten Rechtsordnung und ihre religiöse Dimension in Bezug auf den Zoroastrismus des alten Irans stehen.