Bibliographia Iranica

A predominantly bibliographic blog for Iranian Studies

Author: Arash Zeini

  • Iran and the Caucasus

    Iran and the Caucasus

    Volume 29, issue 2, of Iran and the Caucasus has now been published. While all articles relate to the focus of BiblioIranica, two stand particularly out:

    This article is open access.

    Ever since its preliminary publication, Xerxes’ “Daiva” inscription (XPh) has been seen as an important and unique witness to early Achaemenid Mazdean orthopraxy and cultic propaganda. It is an essential document that captures a major reform in Achaemenid-Zoroastrian cult patterns and its relationship to cognate cults. This royal inscription describes a liturgical reform or, at least, the enforcement of such a reform, targeting and condemning the cult of the daivā—a designation describing competing deities. The key to decoding this reform hinges upon an obscure expression that appears thrice in the document—normalized as a-r-t-a-c-a : b-r-z-m-n-i-y—the meaning of which is yet to be fully understood. In this article, I revisit and analyze the various approaches previously taken to interpreting this remarkable syntagm and provide a methodological approach and a broader and more comprehensive translation which is presented in a more holistic comparative context—including onomastic, epigraphic and archeological data.

    Abstract

    There is no unified Yezidi source that would give a complete understanding of sins and retribution in this tradition. The article is an attempt to identify a number of sins and the expected retributions for them, based on the analysis of the text A’lī Šērē Xwadē Āxiratēdā—“ ‘Ali, the Lion of God in the Hereafter”. The text, which can be attributed to the apologetic genre, tells about ‘Ali’s journey to the afterlife and the opportunity he was given to see the punishments of sinners, in order to pass on this information to people in the “world of light”, i.e. the material world.

    Abstract
  • Across the deserts of Iran

    Across the deserts of Iran

    Céline Redard, Université de Strasbourg, has established a new series entitled Publications d’Etudes indo-iraniennes. The first book in the series has already been published and two more volumes are announced. This promises to be an exciting series. The books of the series will be open access.

    Redard, Georges. 2025. A travers les déserts de l’Iran. Rapport d’expédition 1951 – 1952 (Publications d’Etudes Indo-Iraniennes 1). Edidetd by Céline Redard. Strasbourg: Université de Strasbourg.

    Le présent ouvrage contient le récit de voyage rédigé par Georges Redard (1922-2005) lors de sa première mission en Iran, de fin 1951 à début 1952, en compagnie de Murray Barr et Richard Nelson Frye. Le lecteur les suivra ainsi à travers les déserts de l’Iran pendant 49 jours, et prendra connaissance de leurs rencontres et de leurs découvertes, mais aussi de leurs ennuis mécaniques ou techniques. Autant d’anecdotes qui lui permettront de s’immerger dans une autre époque, une autre culture et d’entreprendre un voyage scientifique à leurs côtés.

    Résumé

    Georges Redard (1922-2005) était un linguiste suisse, qui s’est notamment intéressé aux langues iraniennes anciennes ainsi que modernes. Il fut professeur à l’Université de Neuchâtel sur la chaire de Grammaire comparée, puis à l’Université de Berne sur la chaire de linguistique indo-européenne.

  • Recent publications by Maria Carmela Benvenuto

    Recent publications by Maria Carmela Benvenuto

    We would like to bring a number of recent publications by Maria Carmela Benvenuto and her collaborators to the attention of our readers. Her publications are listed on her departmental page, but also on her academia account.

  • What is Zoroastrianism?

    What is Zoroastrianism?

    In a series of workshops, Dr Mehrbod Khanizadeh (SOAS, University of London) will explore the history of Zoroastrianism from its roots in the second millennium BCE through to the present day. He will discuss religious, historical as well as social aspects of the religion’s development.

    Dr. Mehrbod Khanizadeh currently teaches courses on Avestan, Middle Persian (Pahlavi), and Zoroastrianism at SOAS, University of London. He specialises in Zoroastrianism and ancient Iranian languages.  His recent peer-reviewed publications include an article on the genealogy of the Iranian bilingual Avestan Pahlavi Yasna manuscripts, published in the Bulletin of SOAS in 2021, and a study of the etymology of the Avestan personal name pourušaspa- published in the journal of Iran and the Caucasus in 2024. His edition of the Avestan text of chapters 9-11 of the Yasna will be published as a monograph in 2025.

    Six sessions from 25 May to 30 November 2025.

    For more information and to register, see the document below:

    WorkshopFlyerDownload
  • Representation of Aphrodite and Eros

    Representation of Aphrodite and Eros

    Moradi, Yousef & Almut Hintze. 2025. Representation of Aphrodite and Eros on Sasanian clay bullae: Evidence from the fire temple of Ādur Gušnasp at Takht-e Solaymān. Iranian Studies 1–31.

    This article examines five Sasanian bullae from the fire temple of Ādur Gušnasp with seal impressions depicting Aphrodite and Eros, and Aphrodite Anadyomene. It is argued that the original seal with Aphrodite and Eros likely dates from the late 1st century BCE to the early 1st century CE, reused between the 5th–7th centuries CE, while the Aphrodite Anadyomene seal is from the 2nd or 3rd century CE. Contextualizing these findings within Graeco-Roman and Iranian cultures, this article explores reinterpretations of Graeco-Roman iconography for both Zoroastrian and non-Zoroastrian audiences, as well as highlights that bullae with concave impressions of cylindrically curved objects on the reverse had once been attached to vessels, not just documents. Additionally, this article also discusses other sealings on the new bullae, some with Middle Persian inscriptions, identifying a mgw (priest) and an astrologer, providing the first attestation of the word axtar (constellation) on a Sasanian seal.

    Abstract
  • The Frontier Pushes Back

    The Frontier Pushes Back

    Garosi, Eugenio. 2025. The frontier pushes back: From local languages to imperial substrate(s) in scribal practices in 8th-century Central Asia. Iranian Studies FirstView. 1–15.

    This article draws on documentary texts from multilingual archives of early Islamic Central Asia to illustrate connections between the Arabic and Middle Iranian scribal world. Here, I contend that some lesser-known evidence from Sogdia contributes new elements to current debates on the contact between Arabic and Middle Iranian scribal traditions and provides a measure of “intensity” of Arab rule in the region more generally. In particular, ostraca from various Transoxanian administrative centers provide documentary confirmation that a class of biliterate Arabic-Sogdian scribes was active in the local bureaucracy as early as the mid-8th century. When viewed in dialogue with archives from coeval Iran and Iraq, the Transoxanian evidence helps lead to a more nuanced understanding of the so-called “Pahlavi diplomatic substrate” model.

    Abstract
  • New Readings in Seven Middle Persian Documents

    New Readings in Seven Middle Persian Documents

    Asefi, Nima. 2025. New readings in seven Middle Persian documents from the archive of Hastijan with an edition of Berk. 19. Berkeley Working Papers in Middle Iranian Philology 3(5). 1-19.

    This article proposes new readings and interpretations for parts of seven Middle Persian documents first published by Dieter Weber, namely: Berk. 80, Berk. 95, Berk. 43B, Tehran B, LA1, Berk. 149, and Berlin 28. It also provides the editio princeps of Berk. 19.

    Abstract
  • Zoroastrian Conversations S02 E01

    Zoroastrian Conversations S02 E01

    Prof. Yuhan S.–D. Vevaina will open the first episode of the second season of ‘Zoroastrian Conversations’ with Prof. Almut Hintze, Zartoshty Brothers Professor of Zoroastrianism at SOAS, University of London, Co-Chair of the SOAS Shapoorji Pallonji Institute, and Fellow of the British Academy.

    Date:
    Saturday, 26 April 2025
    Time:
    9 AM Pacific | 12 Noon Eastern | 5 PM London | 9:30 PM Mumbai

    Zoom meeting ID: 863 7776 2243 Passcode: FEZANA.

    Zoom and other information: https://fezana.org/conversations/

  • Between the Tigris and Zagros

    Between the Tigris and Zagros

    Peyronel, Luca. 2025. Entre le Tigre et le Zagros. Les recherches archéologiques de la mission italienne de l’Université de Milan dans la plaine d’Erbil (Kurdistan irakien). ArchéOrient – Le Blog.

    About ArchéOrient – Le Blog

    ArchéOrient-Le Blog is run by members of the « Archéorient » research centre of the University of Lyon 2 (CNRS/University Lyon 2), based at the Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée (Lyon, France). The blog aims to promote exchanges and to give greater visibility to new scientific information in the field of archaeology and history of societies and environments during the Holocene in the Mediterranean, the Near and Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia, and more recently, the Horn of Africa and West Africa. This Blog is open to all representatives of the international scientific community and welcomes contributions in French and English.

  • Summer School of Oriental Languages

    Summer School of Oriental Languages

    The Summer School in Oriental Languages is a unique opportunity to study languages and scripts that are often described as rare, even though they are spoken or have been spoken by millions of speakers, in the form of major and minor courses. This summer school offers top-level teaching and the most recent research findings in Oriental languages and literature, with ECTS credits awarded upon validation.

    From the website

    The Summer School of Oriental Languages is organised by the University of Lausanne and will be held at the Venice International University (Italy), from 10–19 July 2025.

    For more information about the programme, registration, and ECTS requirements visit the website. The deadline for registration is 30 May 2025.