Bibliographia Iranica

A predominantly bibliographic blog for Iranian Studies

Category: Articles

  • Bulletin of the Asia Institute

    Bulletin of the Asia Institute

    The Bulletin of the Asia Institute is under new editorial management at the Yarshater Center for the Study of Iranian Literary Traditions, UCLA. Volume 32, the newest issue, is available in open access from its new home:

    The Yarshater Center for the Study of Iranian Literary Traditions at UCLA is privileged to continue the publication of the Bulletin of the Asia Institute beginning with Volume 32, newly available as of Summer 2026.

    About

    Previous issues of this reputable journal, going back to volume 21 (2012), are available here.

  • Fake Prostration in Late Antique Literature and the Ambiguities of Domination

    Nabel, Jake. 2026. Fake Prostration in Late Antique Literature and the Ambiguities of Domination. Studies in Late Antiquity 10 (3). 265-293.

    Ancient Greek literature transmits two episodes in which a petitioner before a king performs a fake act of prostration. The deceiver creates the appearance of a submissive bow, but he actually executes a dierent gesture unrelated to court protocol—or so he tells himself. A parallel tradition in late antique Jewish literature deploys the same motif: A persecutorial ruler urges a Jewish martyr to perform a fake bow in order to create the illusion of idol worship. Jointly considering these three cases for the first time, this article interprets the collective fake bowing tradition as a late antique meditation on the the atrics of royal power and their ability to coopt resistance. This reading is guided by Lisa Wedeen’s Ambiguities of Domination, which advances a theory of how autocratic regimes employ public ceremonies as instruments of social control. Wedeen argues that author itarians stage spectacles that are widely regarded as preposterous nonsense by their producers and consumers, but that nevertheless prove eective disciplinary mechanisms by inculcating habits of submission. It is of no avail to privately dissent from the mean ing of such ceremonials, as their power comes from the choreography of compliance, not the manufacture of belief. Applied to the fake prostration scenes of late antique literature, Wedeen’s theory enjoins a critical view of the fake bow as a form of resistance to impe rial domination.



  • Governance in Bactrian Documents

    Governance in Bactrian Documents

    Huseini, Said Reza. 2026. Local government reflected in Bactrian documents. Afghanistan 9(1). 85–103.

    Drawing on an analysis of Bactrian documents produced between the early fourth and the late eighth century, the article shows that local government was the foundation of political structure in Bactria. By focusing on three areas of Guzgan, Rob and Kadagstan, the article demonstrates that these areas had their own rulers who managed them through local administration staffed by local people, who handled social, economic, political and military issues. The authority of these rulers was limited to their areas, and none of them could interfere in other areas. Local government was the most effective way to manage Bactria’s diverse geography and its multicultural populations. It persisted even after Bactria became part of the Persian, Huns, Turks, and Arab Muslim empires’ political systems. It was a model of governance well adapted region’s diverse population and proved far more stable and long-lived than the unitary governments of modern Afghanistan that provoked regional opposition and regularly collapsed.

    Abstract

  • Technological Traditions in Late Antiquity Dashtestan Ceramics

    Naderi, Sona and Zohreh Zehbari. 2026. Technological traditions in Late Antiquity Dashtestan ceramics: A multiscale analytical approach. Primitive Tider (Special Issue 2026: Espens Festskrift): 147-162.

    This paper presents a multiscale analysis of ceramic technology from the Dashtestan region of southern Iran, focusing on the Late Antique period (approximately 3rd–9th centuries CE). Rather than treating pottery types as fixed cultural markers, the study investigates the organization, transmission, and evolution of ceramic production practices across the period and the regional landscape. The analysis begins by defining technological traits using a standardized set of macroscopic characteristics of pottery sherds. These variables act as proxies for underlying technological choices and ceramic recipes. By combining multivariate similarity analysis (Gower Distance), lowdimensional visualization (UMAP), and community detection (Leiden Clustering), the research identifies nine discrete technological groups of production practices operating within the larger ceramic landscape in the region. Chronological and locational overlays reveal temporal drift and spatial participation within these traditions. This suggests that technological changes were gradual and embedded in regional interaction networks, rather than occurring through breaks or isolated workshop traditions. The results suggest a regionally connected ceramic production system, in which recipes and techniques were shared across many sites.

  • Two articles by Mohamad Bayani

    Two articles by Mohamad Bayani

    Bayani, Mohamad. 2025. Creating is cutting: A conceptual metaphor in Avestan and Pahlavi texts. Bulletin of SOAS 88(2). 243–265.

    This paper investigates the development of the creation theme in Zoroastrian sources through the lens of the conceptual metaphor “creation is cutting”. It analyses three terms: Avestan taš– and ϑβǝrǝs-, and Middle Persian brēhēnīdan. Each term is examined in non-metaphorical, non-creational metaphorical, and creational metaphorical contexts. This analysis, coupled with a comparison of their semantic nuances and metaphorical mappings, suggests a creation myth with two phases: in the first phase, Ahura Mazda alone hews the undifferentiated forms of both the spiritual and material creation from an imaginary primary material, followed by the sculpting of the spiritual creation, resulting in adding details to the form. Subsequently, Ahura Mazda, in collaboration with the Beneficial Immortals/high-ranked divinities, imparts specific bodily and facial details to the material creation, enabling procreation. The Pahlavi sources elaborate on this theme, portraying Ahura Mazda as the sole agent in the initial hewing, while high-ranking divinities mitigate the harm inflicted by Ahriman on the created prototypes, facilitating their procreation throughout the world.

    Abstract

    Bayani, Mohamad. 2026. The concept of the creational body in Iranian mythology: transformation and theological reinterpretations in Zoroastrian texts. Bulletin of SOAS, FirstView.1–10.

    This article explores the evolution of the “creational body” motif in Iranian mythology, focusing on its transformation within Zoroastrian theological contexts. Drawing on Indo-European and Indo-Iranian cosmogonic narratives, the article examines two primary representations: Gayōmard, the human prototype, and āsrō-kirb, an enigmatic body described as the “form of fire”. While the original Indo-Iranian myths often portray the creation of the cosmos through the sacrificial dismemberment of a primordial being, Zoroastrian texts adapt this narrative to align with their dualistic theology. The dismemberment of Gayōmard is attributed to Ahriman and his demonic forces, dissociating Ohrmazd and the Beneficent Immortals from acts of violence. By contrast, āsrō-kirb’s narrative presents an abstract, faceless body dismembered by Ohrmazd, whose act is sanitized of its grotesque sacrificial elements. Through textual analysis of Pahlavi sources, this article investigates the theological motivations behind these alterations, highlighting how Zoroastrian priests sought to reconcile inherited cosmogonic myths with their ethical and doctrinal imperatives. The findings reveal a dual adjustment: the reinterpretation of Gayōmard’s narrative to condemn Ahriman, and the abstraction of āsrō-kirb to obscure its violent origins, while maintaining its creational function. These adaptations underscore the dynamic interplay between inherited mythology and evolving theological frameworks in the Zoroastrian tradition.

    Abstract

  • Insights into the First Kushan Ruler’s Enigmatic Tetradrachms

    Taasob, Razieh. 2026. Reassessing the lifespan of the Heraios coinage: Insights into the first Kushan ruler’s enigmatic tetradrachms. In: Merle Eisenberg, Lee Mordechai & David Yoon (eds.), Coins and money in the Middle Ages. Studies in honor of Alan Stahl (Numismatic Studies 50), 123-141. New York: The American Numismatic Society.

    The attribution and chronology of Heraios coinage, often linked to the early Kushan ruler Kujula Kadphises, have long been points of scholarly debate. Initial studies concentrated on deciphering inscriptions, while later research, particularly Cribb’s 1993 study, argued for a connection between these coins and Kujula Kadphises during the first century AD. However, unresolved issues, including die variations and issuing sequences, have kept the topic open for scholarly discussion. In this paper, I examine in particular the lifespan of Heraios tetradrachms by analyzing die features, such as royal portraits, facial details, reverse motifs, and the degradation of inscriptions, to proposes a lifespan of approximately thirty years for the Heraios coinage, aligning with the early phase of Kushan period. Using a methodology based on detailed typological, denominational, and metallurgical studies, I compare the Heraios series to the Hermaios posthumous coinage, employing a model similar to Bopearachchi’s for understanding the degeneration process over time. This approach aims to provide new insights into the development of the coinage system in the north of the Hindu Kush during the early Kushan period, revealing how local Yuezhi rulers contributed to its development.

  • Greek Persians, Persian Greeks, or: When a king dreams

    Ruffing, Kai. 2026. Griechische Perser, Persische Griechen, oder: Wenn ein König träumt. In: R. Breitwieser, A. Hofeneder, R. Matuszewski (eds.), Im Garten der Klio. Festschrift für Monika Frass (Philippika 193), 240-255. Wiesbaden :Harrassowitz.

  • Another Look at the Word-Final Syllable in Old Persian

    Another Look at the Word-Final Syllable in Old Persian

    Repanšek, Luka. 2026. Another look at the word-final syllable in Old Persian. Indo-Iranian Journal 69: 257-287.

    The article offers a long-overdue reconciliatory reassessment of the much-discussed Old Persian cuneiform sequences ⟨‑Ca-a⟩, ⟨‑Ca/i-i-ya⟩, and ⟨‑Ca/u-u-va⟩ in word-final position, and of their phonetic and phonographic interpretation. It argues that the view according to which ⟨‑Ca-a⟩ cannot represent final vowel lengthening rests on assumptions that cannot be independently substantiated from the orthographic evidence. Accordingly, ⟨‑Ca-a⟩ is best interpreted as reflecting final /ā/, the graphic marking of which may either continue the cuneiform principle of plene spelling or represent the use of a mater lectionis ⟨a⟩ modelled on the Aramaic practice of specifically marking final long (accented) a-vowels. The ⟨y⟩ and ⟨v⟩ in word-final sequences ‑iy and ‑uv, representing the two Old Persian high vowels, are argued to be more plausibly interpreted as matres lectionis than as phonetic representations of off-glides, although the difficulties inherent in this interpretation are also critically examined. At the same time, the systematic use of ⟨u-va⟩ to spell word-initial long /ū/ suggests that these spellings, like ⟨‑Ca-a⟩, are compatible with—and indeed point toward—general final vowel lengthening in Old Persian. The spelling of inherited diphthongs as ⟨‑Ca‑i-ya⟩ and ⟨‑Ca-u-va⟩, on the other hand, is interpreted as purely graphematic in motivation. In the excursus, the position is defended that forms such as akunavaša and abaraha ultimately demonstrate that the non-representation of word-final *h, *n and *d reflects their complete loss by the Old Persian period.


  • Psalm 45 and the Achaemenid View of the Ideal King

    Amar, Itzhak. 2026. Psalm 45 and the Achaemenid view of the ideal king. Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society 38: 1-18.

  • Sasanian Silver Coins from Atbatan Necropolis Near Demirchi (Shamakhi District, Azerbaijan)

    Huseynov, Rustam N. & Akif A. Guliyev. 2026. Sasanian silver coins from Atbatan necropolis Near Demirchi (Shamakhi district, Azerbaijan). Azerbaijan Journal of Archaeology and Anthropology 2 (1): 99-105.

    This article presents a small group of Sasanian silver drachms discovered during archaeological excavations at Atbatan necropolis near the village of Demirchi in the Shamakhi region of Azerbaijan. The coins were recovered from burial contexts in association with human skeletal remains and accompanying grave goods, providing important archaeological evidence for the circulation of late Sasanian silver coinage in the Shirvan area. The study focuses on the typological and chronological attribution of the coins based on iconography, mint signatures, regnal dates, and Pahlavi legends preserved on the specimens. The Demirchi finds contribute to the growing corpus of Sasanian numismatic material discovered in Azerbaijan and provide new data on Sasanian influence, trade networks, and population contacts in the Shirvan region during Late Antiquity – Early Middle Ages.