Bibliographia Iranica

A predominantly bibliographic blog for Iranian Studies

Author: Arash Zeini

  • Kleines Gatha-Lesebuch

    Kleines Gatha-Lesebuch

    Hoffmann, Karl. 2025. Kleines Gatha-Lesebuch: Aus dem Nachlass herausgegeben von Bernhard Forssman, unter Mitwirkung von Jürgen Habisreitinger. Mit einem Beitrag von Almut Hintze. (Ed.) Bernhard Forssman. Heidelberg: Heidelberg Asian Studies Publishing.

    This book is open access and can be downloaded here.

    Dieses Buch enthält Stücke aus den “Gathas”: poetischen Texten, als deren Verfasser Zarathustra angesehen wird, der Stifter der Parsen-Religion. Die Sprache dieser Dichtungen ist eine frühe Stufe des Avestischen, einer Schwestersprache des Altpersischen im alten Iran. Die sprachliche und inhaltliche Deutung der Gathas stößt auf zahlreiche Schwierigkeiten. Der bedeutende Avesta-Forscher Prof. Karl Hoffmann (1915 – 1996) legte sich für seinen Unterricht eine Sammlung von verhältnismäßig einfachen Textstücken mit eigenen Übersetzungen an. Diese Sammlung wird nunmehr aus seinem Nachlass herausgegeben, erweitert um verschiedene Beigaben, u.a. um einen Beitrag von Prof. Almut Hintze (London) über die Gathas und um ein vollständiges Vokabular.

  • Persian Language Summer School

    Persian Language Summer School

    ASPIRANTUM’s 2026 Persian Language Summer School offers 6–10 weeks (120–200 hours) of intensive Modern Persian instruction in Yerevan, beginning on June 21, June 28, or July 5, 2026. Classes at beginner, elementary, and intermediate levels focus on all key skills – reading, writing, speaking, listening, grammar, and vocabulary – with small groups ensuring meaningful progress.

    Participants also take part in guided cultural excursions to Garni & Geghard, Aragats & Amberd Fortress, Ejmiatsin, Khor Virap & Noravank, Lake Sevan, along with culinary evenings, museum visits, and other cultural events.

  • Achaemenid royal women in Egypt

    Achaemenid royal women in Egypt

    Kaczanowicz, Marta. 2025. Invisible figures: Achaemenid royal women in Egypt. Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia. Brill 5(2). 1–19.

    This contribution aims to reexamine the frequently stated assertion that Achaemenid royal women were not involved in Egypt and its affairs during the periods of Persian rule on the Nile. The evidence is considered against the Persian concept of queenship rather than focusing solely on the Egyptian perspective on the role of royal women within the ideology of power. It is proposed that, instead of reflecting a lack of interest by the Achaemenids in cultivating Egyptian traditions in this regard, the existing corpus of sources, small though it may be, is a result of a combination of selective preservation of evidence and contemporary perceptions of the position and prerogatives of the royal women in the Persian court.

    Abstract
  • Memory, politics, and religion in the reign of Xusrō II

    Memory, politics, and religion in the reign of Xusrō II

    Baca-Winters, Keenan. 2025. A most vicious game: Memory, politics, and religion in the reign of Xusrō II. Hunara: Journal of Ancient Iranian Arts and History 3(2). 25–53.

    This paper examines the complex relationship between Xusrō II and the Christians of Ērānšahr (the Sāsānian Kingdom). By the time he assumed power, Ērānšahr had a significant population of Christians who belonged to distinct churches. Despite Xusrō II’s efforts to position himself as a patron of Christianity and his engagement with its practices, he faced hostility from certain Christian writers. This tension stemmed from the inherent challenges of balancing the interests and doctrinal differences of various Christian sects within the kingdom. The Church of the East in particular perceived Xusrō II’s decisions, while often pragmatic, as threats to its power and influence. The historical memory of past persecutions and the martyrdom tradition within Ērānšahr further fueled negative portrayals of Xusrō II in Christian texts. Ultimately, the interplay of religious rivalries, political maneuvering, and the weight of historical memory shaped the complicated and often contentious relationship between Xusrō II and the Christians he ruled.

    Abstract
  • Scent, Colour and Glitter in the Ancient World

    Scent, Colour and Glitter in the Ancient World

    Soudavar Farmanfarmaian, Fatema. 2025. Scent, colour and glitter in the ancient world: A comparative history of aromatics, cosmetics and adornment, from the Mediterranean to the China Seas. London: I.B. Tauris.

    Aromatics, cosmetics and personal adornment have had a major role in the evolution of human society, particularly in the cradles of civilization between the Nile and the Indus.

    Far from being concerned with the frivolities of vain pursuits, their study touches on religion, cosmology, rituals and magic, life and the afterlife, sexuality and procreation, artistic expression, technology, craftsmanship, aesthetics, administrative structures, long­-distance trade and cross-cultural exchanges – in sum, all the essentials that underpin human civilization.

    This richly illustrated book provides a history of luxury items from the Neolithic period to late Antiquity. Egyptian and Mesopotamian cosmetics are discussed first, along with the vast region between the Nile and the Indus, with the Iranian plateau at its core. Through the latter, the book ventures westwards to the Greco-Roman world and eastwards to the Indian subcontinent and China. The differing focus of each chapter gives a fuller picture of the global role of aromatics, cosmetics and jewellery within a broader civilizational framework that includes archaeological discoveries that have come to light in the last six decades.

    Description
  • Le livre de Yōišta Friiāna

    Le livre de Yōišta Friiāna

    Pirart, Éric. 2025. Le livre de Yōišta Friiāna. Introduction, édition, traduction et commentaire (Publications d’Études Indo-Iraniennes 5). Strasbourg: Université de Strasbourg.

    Yōišta Friiāna est un héros mythologique présent dans toutes les strates de la littérature zoroastrienne ancienne et médiévale, l’archaïque Uštauuaitī Gāθā, deux Yašt de l’Avesta récent, le Dēnkard et d’autres livres pehlevis. Sa confrontation avec un démon, contée dans le petit livre pehlevi qui porte son nom, rappelle fortement le mythe grec d’Œdipe et de la Sphinx.

    Résumé
  • The lives and legacies of Bōrān and Āzarmīgduxt

    The lives and legacies of Bōrān and Āzarmīgduxt

    Baca-Winters, Keenan. 2025. To walk in royal ways: The lives and legacies of Bōrān and Āzarmīgduxt. Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia. Brill 5(2). 1–33.

    Amid the political turmoil and external threats that marked the final years of Ērānšahr, also known as the Sāsānian Empire, two sisters, Bōrān and Āzarmīgduxt, ascended the throne. While previous scholars have briefly touched upon these women, this paper examines the entire zeitgeist of their reigns, shedding light on their personalities, decisions, and the challenges they faced in a politically crumbling empire. By analyzing their responses to the broader political landscape of an Ērānšahr beset by civil war, a recent defeat by the Romans in the war of the seventh century CE, and the Islamic invasion, this paper reveals the complexities of Bōrān and Āzarmīgduxt’s leadership and their unwavering determination to navigate the tumultuous currents of their time. Through an exploration of primary sources, this paper offers a richer, more personal understanding of Bōrān and Āzarmīgduxt and their resilience in the fall of an empire established by their forefathers.

    Abstract

  • On the Teispid-Achaemenid Dynastic Divide

    Zarghamee, Reza. 2025. A contribution to the discourse regarding a Teispid-Achaemenid dynastic divide. The Ancient History Bulletin 39(3/4). 86–124.

    Editorial remark: Unfortunately, we are unable link to the individual articles, published by the bulletin. which seems to be due to the green open access policy the journal follows.

    This paper evaluates the recent scholarly trend of characterizing Cyrus II and Darius I as belonging to two distinct dynasties: the former being a Teispid and the latter an Achaemenid. In the process, it seeks to address important methodological questions pertaining to the use of primary source material, such as the Cyrus Cylinder, Bisutun Inscription, and Herodotus. The ideologically charged Bisutun Inscription is of particular relevance, and comparative data is marshaled to show that, despite the obvious advantages to Darius of linking himself to Cyrus, neither the text itself nor the alleged circumstances of Darius’ accession compel a conclusion that he lied on the point of his claimed dynastic connection to Cyrus. In addressing the inconsistencies and difficulties in the arguments for a dynastic divide, the paper also addresses related theories that portray Cyrus II as an Elamite (as opposed to a Persian or Iranian) ruler or, alternatively, as a Persian or Iranian ruler with strong Elamite affinities. As part of its overall argumentation, the paper evaluates overlooked aspects of the terminology used in the Cyrus Cylinder, the limitations of David Stronach’s foundational arguments for Darius’ single authorship of the Pasargadae inscriptions, and onomastic evidence regarding members of the Achaemenid family mentioned by Herodotus. Without denying the hazards of accepting the Bisutun narrative uncritically or that much about the early history of the Persians (including the subject of this article) cannot be proved, this paper strives to show that the two-dynasty theory seems less likely when one takes a holistic view of the evidence and, as such, should not constitute the presumptive model for characterizing the history of the first Persian Empire.

    Abstract
  • Sasanian Law in its Social Context

    Sasanian Law in its Social Context

    Macuch, Maria. 2025. Sasanian law in its social context (Iranica 34). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.

    Sasanian law has remained largely an unknown entity outside the specific field of Iranian Studies due to the immense difficulties involved in understanding the relevant legal sources. Sasanian Law in its Social Context by Maria Macuch is the first attempt to reconstruct the legal system of Sasanian Iran (224–651 CE), systematically and in detail, covering all areas of law as far as they can be reconstructed on the basis of the available material.
    Macuch focuses mainly on Middle Persian sources and original documents in the Pahlavi cursive script, but also makes extensive use of other significant legal texts mentioning Sasanian law, including the Babylonian Talmud, Syriac, Arabic and New Persian sources. Besides describing the basic institutions in all legal fields, the work aims to understand fundamental legal concepts reconstructed from the dispersed, often fragmentary and enigmatic material, and to explain the main functions of the vast network of intertwined legal constructions in the field of family and property law. It is argued that this specific complex of characteristic institutions, unique to the Sasanian legal system, only makes sense within the framework of a strictly hierarchical social system that granted considerable privileges to its aristocratic and religious elite. The significant impact of Sasanian law on other legal systems is discussed throughout the work and specifically in the last chapter. Numerous Middle Persian texts with new editions and translations by the author are assembled in the appendices. Pahlavian legal terms and phrases are clarified in the glossary.

  • Indo-Iranian Journal 68, 3

    Indo-Iranian Journal 68, 3

    Indo-Iranian Journal volume 68, issue 3 (November 2025) has been published (as always h/t @yaleclassicslib.bsky.social‬). Sims-Williams has an open access article on Bactrian:

    Sims-Williams, Nicholas. 2025. Bactrian in two scripts: Greek and Kushan. Indo-Iranian Journal. Brill 68(3). 185–214.