Bibliographia Iranica

A predominantly bibliographic blog for Iranian Studies

Month: May 2016

  • Darius III: The Last Great King

    Safaee, Yazdan. 2016. Darius III: The Last Great King. Tehran: Hamisheh.

    In comparison to his Macedonian antagonist, Darius III has attracted less attention. The present work is an analysis of the events leading to his reign.The author also deals with problems Darius was facing before Alexander’s attacks, and then the battles between the two armies which led to the end of the Empire.

    Table of contents

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  • Folly and Violence in the Court of Alexander the Great and his Successors?

    Howe, Time & Sabine Müller (eds.). 2016. Folly and Violence in the Court of Alexander the Great and his Successors?. Bochum & Freiburg: Projekt verlag.

    The ancient Greco-Roman sources on the history of Alexander III and the Successors contain numerous epi­sodes on diverse forms of Macedonian violence. Viewed from a mocking, moralistic perspective, the Macedonians served as a distorted mirror in which Greeks and Romans asserted their identities. The theme of Macedonian violence was also present in Greek comedy. This volume explores four case studies aiming at the deconstruction of these Greco-Roman topoi. The articles examine images of the Macedonians, Alexander, and Demetrius Poliorcetes analyzing the dimensions and expressions of Greco-Roman bias and its socio-political background.

    Table of contents

    • Time Howe & Sabine Müller: “Introduction: Does the cliché suffice?”
    • Sulochana Asirvatham: “Youthful Folly and Intergenerational Violence in Greco-Roman Narratives on Alexander the Great”
    • Matti Borchert: “Between Debauchery and Ludicrousness – Alexander the Great and the Golden Plane Tree”
    • Sabine Müller: “Make It Big: The ‘New Decadence’ of the Macedonians under Alexander in Greco-Roman Narratives“
    • Frances Pownall: “Folly and Violence in Athens Under the Successors”
    • The Editors and Contributors

     

  • An unusual Khotanese terracotta head from the Sherabad oasis

    Stančo, Ladislav. 2015. An unusual Khotanese terracotta head from the Sherabad oasis. Studia Hercynia XIX(1). 218–226.

    This paper deals with a newly found terracotta head from the Sherabad District, southern Uzbekistan. Its probable origin in the eastern Turkestan region of Khotan as well as its iconographic peculiarities and their interpretation is discussed.

  • Sources of the Indo-Iranian Liturgies

    To the sources of the Indo-Iranian Liturgies

    June 9th and 10th 2016, University of Liege

    International conference to be held at the department of “Langues et religions du monde indo-iranien ancien” at the University of Liege. This conference is organized by Philippe Swennen, Céline Redard and Hamid Moein and will take place on June 9th and 10th.

    Programme:

    • J. Kellens: “Ahu, mainiiu, ratu“
    • A. Cantera: “The threefold structure of the Long Liturgy and its daily times of celebration”
    • J. Jurewicz: “Fire and the immortal self. The meaning of Vedic sacrifice”
    • N. Nishimura: “On the first mantra section of the Yajurveda-Saṁhitā”
    • Ph. Swennen: “Lecture de l’ājyaśastra“
    • K. Amano: “What is ‘knowledge’ justifying a ritual action? Uses of yá evám véda / yá ev vidván in the Maitrāyaṇī Samhitā”
    • C. Redard: “Les  āfrīnagāns”
    • A. Panaino: “Mysteries and dangers of the Mazdean Nocturnal Liturgy”
    • A. Hintze: “Rejected Ritual Practices”
    • M. Hale: “Interpreting the Indo-Iranian Tradition of the Gathas: the evidence of the Pahlavi and Sanskrit translations”
    • E. Doyama: “Reflections on YH 40,1 from the Perspective of Indo-Iranian Culture”
    • H. Moein: “Ritual Instructions in the Rivayats”
    • M.Á. Andrés-Toledo: “The Vedic and the Avestan Investitures with the Sacred Girdle”
    • G. König: “daēnā, xratu and the mystical view. Some considerations to Alberto Cantera’s essay ‘Talking with god’”
    • J. Ferrer: “La récitation de l’alphabet avestique dans les rituels : innovation ou archaïsme?”
    • J. Houben: “The Indo-Iranian tradition and ancient Indian ritual and conceptual innovations”
    • T. Goto: “Bergung des gesunkenen Sonnenlichts im Rigveda und Avesta”
    • É. Pirart: “L’idée d’hospitalité dans le sacrifice indo-iranien”