Bibliographia Iranica

A predominantly bibliographic blog for Iranian Studies

Author: Arash Zeini

  • From Oxus to Euphrates

    Daryaee, Touraj & Khodadad Rezakhani. 2016. From Oxus to Euphrates: The world of late antique Iran (Ancient Iran Series 1). H & S Media.

    For a long time, Sasanian studies were mainly cultivated by linguists and historians of religion, and the only standard work on the history of the Sasanian Empire was Arthur Christensen’s L’Iran sous les Sassanides (Copenhagen 1936; second revised and expanded edition 1944). Only in recent years, Christensen’s authority was challenged: Several new syntheses eventually allowed Late antique scholars to better understand the history and the structure of the great rival of the Roman Empire. However, we still lacked a handy, student-friendly introduction to Sasanians studies. Now, Daryaee and Rezakhani provide us with this very welcome booklet, which I highly recommend to students, to an educated audience, but also to Classical scholars (it’s never too late). Giusta Traina, Sorbonne University

  • An historiographical Study of Sasanian Iran

    Jackson Bonner, Michael Richard. 2016. Al-Dinawari’s Kitab al-Akhbar al-Tiwal. An historiographical Study of Sasanian Iran (Res Orientales 23). Peeters Publishers.

    This book is a study of the pre-Islamic passages of Abu Hanifa Ahmad ibn Dawud ibn Wanand Dinawari’s Kitab al-Akhbar al-Tiwal. It is intended for scholars of Late Antiquity. Special emphasis is placed on Dinawari’s exposition of the rule of the Sasanian dynasty and questions relating to the mysterious Khudaynama tradition which are intimately connected with it. Beginning with a discussion of Dinawari and his work, the book moves into a discussion of indigenous Iranian historiography. Speculation on the sources of Kitab al-Akhbar al-Tiwal follows, and the historiographical investigation of the most substantial portion of Kitab al-Akhbar al-Tiwal‘s notices on the Sasanian dynasty comes next. The findings of the book are set out in a narrative of Sasanian history at the end.
    This book was written with one main question in mind: what does Dinawari’s Kitab al-Akhbar al-Tiwal have to say about pre-Islamic Iranian history? A host of other questions arose immediately: who was Dinawari; when did he live; what did he do; how was his work perceived by others; where did Dinawari get his information and how did he present it; is Dinawari’s information reliable?

    About the Author: Michael Bonner was an undergraduate classicist who took an MPhil and DPhil in Sasanian history at the University of Oxford. He is a former policy adviser within the Canadian government, and now works as a communications consultant in Toronto.‎ He also teaches Latin and English part-time at the Ontario Academy of Technology. His personal website is www.mrjb.ca.

  • A new beginning!

    I am delighted to announce that Bibliographia Iranica will soon resume its activities.  We are now proudly sponsored by Bytemark, which means that we will also be able to tweak our server for further experiments. I am personally very excited about this and would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Bytemark for their support and generosity.

    I would also like to thank my friends Sajad, Shervin and Yazdan for their patience, ideas and support. One cannot wish for better collaborators and friends.

    As the renewal of Bibliographia Iranica coincides with the Iranian new year, we would also like to wish all our readers and those who celebrate Norouz a healthy and happy new year.

    دوستان و همراهان گرامی، بیبلیوگرفیا ایرانیکا کار خود را به زودی از سر خواهد گرفت. خوشحالیم که این فعالیت دوباره با آغاز بهار و نوروز مصادف شده و فرا رسیدن این روز نو را به همه دوستان و همراهان خود صمیمانه شادباش میگوییم.
    از دوستان و همکاران خوبم سجاد، شروین و یزدان برای صبر و کمکشون سپاسگزارم. امیدوارم که بتونم مهر و دوستی این عزیزان و خوانندگان گرامی بیبلیو ایرانیکا رو روزی جبران کنم. این همه دوستی مایه افتخار و دلگرمیست.

    Arash Zeini

  • The End

    BiblioIranica ends here. It may be back sometime soon in a new format, but that is not guaranteed. I apologise in advance, if the website goes off-line. I am grateful to my friends Shervin, Yazdan and Sajad for their help and contributions. Thank you very much to everyone else for your support and interest.
     
    Arash

  • Syriac Historiography

    Image from http://www.syri.ac/chronicles

    Wood, Philip. Forthcoming. Syriac historiography VI: Historiography in the Syriac-speaking world, 300–1000. In D. King (ed.), Routledge Companion to the Syriac World. Routledge.

    Survey of historical writing by and about Syriac-speaking peoples. It aims to lay equal stress on West Syrian and East Syrian contributions. And it emphasises the fact that both groups wrote as subjects of larger imperial systems (Roman, Persian, Arab), of which they were just a part.

    This is a draft article posted with the author's permission.

  • Calendars in Antiquity and the Middle Ages

    ERC Project ‘Calendars in Antiquity and the Middle Ages’, Workshop 7

    Al-Biruni and his world

    15 February 2016

    Calendars in Antiquity and the Middle Ages’

    Source: ERC Project ‘Calendars in Antiquity and the Middle Ages’, Workshop 7

    Abu Rayhan al-Biruni, who flourished at the end of the 10th and the beginning of the 11th century CE, was a famous Central Asian astronomer, mathematician and polymath. His book known in English as “The Chronology of Ancient Nations” is probably the most important book ever on the history of calendars and technical and historical chronology. In our workshop we will be examining different aspects of this work, and also of his great astronomical compendium “al-Qanun al-Mas’udi”.

    (more…)

  • Networks: Connecting the Middle East through Time, Space and Cyberspace

    Image: josullivan.59 via Flickr | ‘World Airline Routes’

    BRISMES Annual Conference 2016 Networks: Connecting the Middle East through Time, Space and Cyberspace

    BRISMES Annual Conference 2016 will take place at the University of Wales Trinity St David, Lampeter Campus, on 13 – 15 July.

    The Middle East and North Africa as a region is intimately connected both regionally and to the wider world. This is true historically, where the region has long acted as a crossroads of trade, culture and ideas, as well as in more contemporary contexts – when Arab protest movements inspired similar actions around the world, and migration within and from the region is having a global impact. It is no coincidence that the Middle East is at the forefront of innovative developments in social media and other networks of communication.

    Papers and panels on historical or contemporary issues are welcome as part of sub-themes such as this one:
•Networks within religion: religious communities (ancient and modern), interfaith connections, religious authority and evolving theological interpretations.

  • Turks and Iranians: Interactions in Language and History

    Csató, Éva, Lars Johanson, András Róna-Tas & Bo Utas (eds.). 2016. Turks and Iranians: Interactions in language and history (Turcologica 105). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.

    The contributions by an international group of leading scholars discuss the historical and cultural relations of old and modern Turkic and Iranian languages. A main topic is how contacts of spoken and written languages from pre-Islamic times until various periods of the Islamic era have influenced the emergence and development of Iranian and Turkic varieties. The purpose is to contribute to a better understanding of the interrelations between cultural-historical contacts and linguistic processes, and to stress the necessity of cooperation between experts of Turkic and Iranian studies.

    -See the Table of the Contents here

  • New issue of the Silk Road

    The latest issue of The Silk Road features a number of articles relevant to Iranian Studies. The full journal and individual articles can be accessed online:

    The Silk Road, vol. 13, 2015.

  • Happy Holidays

    We wish all our readers happy holidays and a blessed festive season!

    May you be happy, no matter what, where and how you celebrate!