Bibliographia Iranica

A predominantly bibliographic blog for Iranian Studies

Author: Yazdan Safaee

  • The ‘Two Eyes’ Rivalry of Byzantium and Sasanian Persia

    The ‘Two Eyes’ Rivalry of Byzantium and Sasanian Persia

    Blachford, Kevin. 2024. World order in Late Antiquity: The ‘two eyes’ rivalry of Byzantium and Sasanian Persia. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    The East Romans of Byzantium and the Sasanian Persians competed as geopolitical rivals for over four centuries between 224 and 628 ad. Through a series of intractable conflicts, these two great empires would develop a dual hierarchy that sought to divide the known world between them. Despite competing claims to universal rule, mutual spheres of interest arose as both empires sought to create rules, norms, and standard practices of diplomatic behaviour to regulate their inter-imperial rivalry. Defined by contemporaries as the ‘Two Eyes’ of the Earth, this suzerain order aimed to hierarchically organize those considered ‘barbarians’. This period of late antiquity is rarely considered within the discipline of international relations. Through an English School approach, this work examines the diverse suzerain order of late antiquity as ‘barbarous’ nomadic tribes challenged the hierarchical ambitions of two rival empires who both claimed a unique role in the maintenance of world order.

  • Sasanian Coin Legends

    Sasanian Coin Legends

    Matloubkari, Esmaeil. 2024. Sasanian Coin Legends: A Linguistic Approach to Historical Analysis. Tehran: Negah-e Moaser.

    Epigraphic sources and historical texts indicate that the political ideology of the Sasanians underwent significant transformations over time. If we consider Sasanian coins as the most important—and sometimes the only—expressions of Sasanian kingship ideology, then the linguistic study of coin legends becomes a key method for understanding the socio-political significance of these titles.

    The titles inscribed on Sasanian coins during the 3rd and 4th centuries AD appear to have been rooted in native traditions, either imitated and reconstructed by the Sasanians or influenced by external traditions transmitted through the Parthians, Hellenistic states, and Kushans. The formalization of Zoroastrianism as the state religion in the 4th century AD led to Middle Persian becoming the sole official language, resulting in the gradual removal of non-native titles from Sasanian coinage. Nevertheless, such titles continued to exist in a localized form within the political sphere and the propaganda of the Sasanian government.
    Lexical analysis suggests that most of the titles and honorifics found on Sasanian coins originated from religious contexts, often adapted—with modifications—from Old or Middle Iranian texts. From the 5th to the 7th century, these titles increasingly reflected Zoroastrian religious traditions while also showing traces of the ancient Iranian bureaucratic system. The titulature found on Sasanian coins and inscriptions was a crucial instrument for legitimizing Sasanian kingship, and changes in these titles provide valuable insights into the evolution of political thought during the Sasanian era.
    Given the scarcity of contemporary Sasanian texts, coin legends remain among the few available sources that reference the “King of Kings,” the court, and the state. By examining the etymology of these terms in Old and Middle Iranian texts, historians can gain a deeper understanding of their meanings, thereby shedding light on the socio-political structures of the Sasanian period.

  • Medieval Georgian Manuscripts of Shahnameh Translations

    Giunashvili, Helen. 2025. Medieval Georgian Manuscripts of Shahnameh Translations with Miniatures at the National Centre of Manuscripts of Georgia (“Rostomiani”). Digitalorientalist.

    The Georgian manuscript tradition and book art have a 16-century-long history. Their origin (the most ancient Georgian handwritten monuments are dated from V-VI cc AD) and subsequent transformation relate to many aspects of the development of civic life in Georgia: religion and political orientation, social relations, educational trends, development of artistic thought, and material culture.  

    Abu’l-Qāsem Ferdowsi’s (940-1020) monumental poem “Shahnameh” was well-known for Georgian intellectuals of the time the poem was created. Presumably, it was translated into Georgian rather early (probably at the 12th century), but this translation has not reached us. Only the 15th-18th century Georgian versions of the ‘Shahnameh’, both written in prose and poetry, are recognized today.

  • Kushano-Sasanian copper coins

    Schindel, Nikolaus. 2025. Schatzfunde kushano-sasanidischer Kupfermünzen und ihr Beitrag zur Kenntnis von Prägesystem und Geldumlauf im kushano-sasanidischen Herrschaftsbereich. In Kooperation mit Shakir Pidaev. Wien: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften.

    Der vorliegende Band dokumentiert acht Schatzfunde spätkushanischer und kushano-sasanidischer Kupfermünzen aus unterschiedlichen Quellen. Neben der Vorstellung des Materials werden unterschiedliche Themen wie Prägeherren, Münzstätten, Metrologie und Beizeichen im Detail besprochen. Vor allem aber wird zum ersten Mal seit Robert Göbls Studien aus den Jahren 1984 und 1993 der Versuch unternommen, auf der Grundlage einer umfassenden Rekonstruktion des Prägesystems die kushano-sasanidischen AE-Münzen in den historischen Kontext der spätantiken Geschichte Ostirans einzuordnen, wobei auch die immer noch umstrittene Frage nach der Datierung des Jahres Eins des Kushankönigs Kanishka I. behandelt wird. Dies ist der zweite Band der Reihe „Fundmünzen aus Usbekistan“.

  • The Tomb of Two Priestesses?

    Wicks, Yasmina & Gian Pietro Basello. 2024. The tomb of two priestesses? The late Neo-Elamite Jubaji Tomb in a religious-royal context. Asia Anteriore Antica. Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Cultures 6: 107-143.

    This article revisits one of the most significant archaeological discoveries in southwest Iran in recent decades, a rich early-mid 6th century BCE tomb of two women, unearthed near the village of Jubaji on the Ramhormoz plain in 2007. Based on the sumptuous grave assemblages and the inclusion of a gold ceremonial ‘ring’ inscribed with the name of a late Neo-Elamite king, Šutur-Nahunte son of Intata, the tomb’s excavator, Arman Shishegar, reasonably interpreted the women – one aged under 17 years, the other 30-35 years – as princesses. Here it is argued that the women may have been important figures in a religious institution based on a combination of the context of the tomb, which seems to have been in an association with a monumental structure, and certain elements of the assemblages. While none of the individual items is significant in isolation, when put together they are highly suggestive of a cultic environment. These include several semiprecious stone beads, including two inscribed eye-stones, that were already very ancient when deposited, special ritual paraphernalia, the bronze coffins that held the women’s remains, the inscribed gold ‘ring’ naming Šutur-Nahunte son of Intata, and an inscribed gold object (perhaps a bracelet) of a cult officiant. This is not to say that the roles of princess and priestess were by any means mutually exclusive, but it is the religious aspect that has yet to be investigated. A reassessment here of the significance of the inscribed objects from the Jubaji tomb in a religious context is taken as an occasion to publish new transliterations, translations, and analyses of the inscriptions by Gian Pietro Basello.

  • Old Avestan Dictionary

    Old Avestan Dictionary

    Uesugi, Heindio & Adam Alvah Catt (eds.). 2024. Old Avestan dictionary (Asian and African Lexicon, 67). Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa.

    In case the above link does not work, use this link.

    The Old Avestan Dictionary (OAD) is an attempt at a lexicographic synthesis of Old Avestan studies since the Altiranisches Wörterbuch (1904) by Christian Bartholomae (1855-1925) with a particular focus on aiding the elucidation of the Gāthās based on the line of analysis laid down by Helmut Humbach (1921-2017). The dictionary is accompanied by a new annotated translation of the Gāthās to further facilitate the general reader in discerning the sense behind the respective terms and passages when reading, reciting, or studying the original Avestan texts.

    The book is freely available for download as an open-access resource.

    Contents

    Part I: Dictionary
    Acknowledgements
    Preface
    Symbols and Abbreviations
    Introduction to Part I
    References
    Dictionary

    Part II: Text and Translation
    Symbols and Abbreviations
    Introduction to Part II
    Yasna 27.13-15: Three Sacred Formulas
    Yasna 28-34: Ahunauuaitī Gāϑā
    Yasna 43-46: Uštauuaitī Gāϑā
    Yasna 47-50: Spəṇtā.mainiiū Gāϑā
    Yasna 51: Vohu.xšaϑrā Gāϑā/HāitiGāϑā/Hāiti
    Yasna 54.1: Ā Airiiə̄mā Išiiō

  • Five earthenware Mandaic incantation bowls

    Šafiʿī, Ibrāhīm. 2025. Five earthenware Mandaic incantation bowls in Ābgīne Museum, Tehrān. Journal of Semitic Studies 70 (1): 1-30.

    ĀM. 1 from three perspectives; Photo by ĀM

    This article presents the editio princeps of the Mandaic texts of five incantation bowls housed in Ābgīne Museum, Tehrān (627–S, 626–S, 110–S, 109–S and 108–S). Presumably dated to the 6th-7th centuries, the texts include protective formulae and name of the clients for whom they were written. The texts of 627–S and 626–S are written in a spiral manner, 110–S and 109–S are written in four segments and 108–S, which includes some of the earliest attested evidence of šapta ḏ-pišra ḏ-ainia, with the text arranged as a spoke, like sunrays.

  • Sur les traces de l’empire des Grands Rois

    Briant, Pierre. 2025. Sur les traces de l’empire des Grands Rois: Enquête historiographique (1931-2023). Paris: Les Belles Lettres.

    Plus étendu que ne le fut jamais l’Empire romain, l’Empire achéménide, né vers le milieu du vie siècle puis renversé par Alexandre et ses armées entre 334 et 323, a réuni pendant plus de deux siècles des peuples et des pays d’une immense variété linguistique et culturelle entre l’Indus et la Méditerranée orientale, et de l’Asie centrale à la première cataracte du Nil. Témoignant de la première et seule période où l’ensemble des peuples et pays de la région ont été réunis dans une construction impériale intégrée, son histoire représente une référence unique pour tous ceux qui s’interrogent sur la cohabitation d’ethnies et de populations différentes à l’intérieur de l’espace moyen-oriental dans sa plus grande extension.

    Pourtant, son étude a pendant longtemps été négligée, tenue en lisière de l’histoire de la Grèce, de l’Égypte et de la Mésopotamie. Monumental et passionnant, ce livre raconte comment l’histoire de l’Empire perse-achéménide s’est peu à peu érigée en champ autonome, recouvrant un espace-temps immense, de l’Indus aux Balkans, sur plus de deux siècles. S’attachant à reconstituer les étapes et le rythme de cette exceptionnelle renaissance historiographique, l’auteur montre comment les différentes spécialités ont appris à travailler ensemble, non simplement pour reconstituer l’histoire de telle ou telle partie de l’Empire (Asie mineure, Égypte, Palestine, Babylonie, Perse, Iran etc.), mais aussi pour écrire une vraie histoire impériale, à laquelle chacune des spécialités apportent sa contribution spécifique. Fondée sur un savoir et une documentation colossales mais aussi sur de nombreux témoignages, cette somme amenée à faire date touche aussi par la profondeur humaine qu’elle donne à cette aventure collective.

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  • Beiträge zur Iranistik und zum iranischen Manichäismus

    Santos, Diego M. & Marcos Albino. 2024. Beiträge zur Iranistik und zum iranischen Manichäismus I (PHILOLOGIA – Sprachwissenschaftliche Forschungsergebnisse, 276). Hamburg: Dr. Kovač.

    Dieser voraussichtlich erste Band eines gemeinsamen, den iranischen Sprachen und dem iranischen Manichäismus gewidmeten Werkes enthält drei Kapitel, von denen jeder eine selbstständige Untersuchung darstellt.

    In “Manichäisch Parthisch zād-murd ‘geboren werden (und) sterben’” wird versucht nachzuweisen, dass zād-murd ein kopulatives Kompositum aus zwei kurzen Infinitiven und eine Lehnprägung nach Gandhari *jadimarana– (~ buddh. Sanskrit jātimaraṇa-) ‘Geburt und Tod; Saṃsāra’ ist.

    In “Parthisch zan(a)g ‘Art, Gattung’” wird vorgeschlagen, dass zan(a)g eine dekompositionelle Bildung vom Kompositum wispzan(a)g ‘aller Arten’ ist.

    In “Mittelpersisch wāz ud wāg ‘Sprache und Rede’” wird die Phrase wāz ud āwāg, welche in zwei Fragmenten des Šābuhragān bezeugt ist, als Übersetzung einer Phrase in Genesis 11.1 erklärt. Dazu wird eine etymologische Erklärung von āwāg entworfen.

    Alle drei Kapitel enthalten darüber hinaus Beobachtungen zu mehreren mitteliranischen Texten und Wörtern.

    To see ToC, select pages, and index click here.

  • Histoires perses

    Lenfant, Dominique. 2025. Dinon de Colophon, Héraclide de Kymè : Histoire perses (Fragments édités, traduits et commentés par Dominique Lenfant, nouvelle édition revue et augmentée). Paris, Les Belles Lettres.

    Dès le lendemain des guerres médiques, des Grecs d’Asie Mineure composèrent des Persica. Loin de se limiter aux conflits gréco-perses, ces Histoires perses étaient consacrées au passé et aux coutumes de l’empire perse. Chaque génération ambitionna ensuite de renouveler le genre. Un demi-siècle après Ctésias, Dinon de Colophon et Héraclide de Kymè poursuivent ainsi la tradition. Tout en cultivant les anecdotes piquantes et les histoires d’intrigues, ils décrivent l’univers du Grand Roi – de ses prérogatives et du luxe qui l’entoure aux subtiles hiérarchies qui organisent sa cour. Sans se contenter des habituels clichés sur les « barbares » ou les vaincus des guerres médiques, ils dévoilent un pan méconnu de la vision grecque des Perses.

    Leur témoignage est cependant biaisé tant par leur point de vue grec et leurs objectifs littéraires que par la transmission fragmentaire de leurs textes. Il requiert de ce fait une approche spécifique. Le présent ouvrage donne ici, dans une nouvelle édition revue et augmentée, avec le texte et la traduction de leurs fragments, un commentaire qui prend en compte leur mode de transmission et qui les confronte à l’ensemble des sources, grecques et non grecques, textuelles et iconographiques. Il permet d’apprécier les apports de ces sources à l’histoire de l’empire perse et propose un aperçu général du genre des Persica, livrant de précieux aperçus sur les rapports de la culture grecque avec le monde perse.