Bibliographia Iranica

A predominantly bibliographic blog for Iranian Studies

Category: Books

  • Sasanians and the Silk Road

    Sasanians and the Silk Road

    Pashootanizadeh, Azadeh. 2026. The Sasanian Silk Road: Socioeconomic structures of the Zoroastrian silk trade. TEXTILE. 1–14.

    This study examines the cultural economy of silk during the Sasanian period and its influence on the cultural landscape of fire temples. The prosperity of the Silk Road expanded professions and social groups associated with the silk trade, allowing the Sasanian period to be divided into two phases. In the first phase, three fire temples—Adur Gushnasp, Adur Farnbag, and Adur Burzen-Mihr—were constructed for distinct social classes at key locations along the Silk Road, forming the vertices of a triangle in central Iran with the Neyasar Fire Temple at its center. In the second phase, whose beginning is uncertain, the Neyasar Fire Temple was designated for a newly emerged intermediary administrative class responsible for managing financial records and taxes related to the silk trade. The construction of caravanserais and government forts around Neyasar reflects the diverse social and economic activities associated with silk commerce. Based on fieldwork, document analysis, archaeological evidence, and specialized silk-related terminology, this study analyzes the relationship between fire temples, social strata, and the cultural economy of silk. The findings suggest that fire temples functioned not only as religious centers but also as key nodes within the socio-economic networks of the Sasanian Silk Road.

    Abstract
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  • Christians in Middle Eastern History

    Christians in Middle Eastern History

    Ghobrial, John-Paul, Michael Reynolds, Christian C. Sahner & Jack Tannous (eds.). 2026. Christians in Middle Eastern history: Strangers no more (Edinburgh Studies in Middle Eastern Christianity). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

    The dazzling array of languages and religions in the Middle East, from Late Antiquity to the present, has long made the region a source of fascination. But the specific features of pluralism in the Middle East have also made writing its history a difficult enterprise, as scholarly specialisation has often meant that this or that religious group becomes invisible. The challenges of the Middle East’s particular pluralism, however, also represent an opportunity for creative reflection and innovation in historical research.
    This volume takes as its starting-point the fact that, for much of the past 1,500 years, the population of the Middle East has been significantly Christian. It offers a series of case studies by leading scholars that offer different answers to the question of what histories of the region might look like if this demographic situation were taken seriously. Critiquing dominant narratives that conflate the history of the Middle East and the history of Islam, they show how integrating Christian actors, experiences and sources can enrich our understanding of the region.

  • Language and script in Achaemenid and Hellenistic Central Asia

    Language and script in Achaemenid and Hellenistic Central Asia

    Mairs, Rachel. 2026. Language and script in Achaemenid and Hellenistic Central Asia (Elements in Writing in the Ancient World). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    This Element examines – for the first time in a single volume – the written evidence from the ‘Far East’ of the Hellenistic world (Bactria, Sogdiana, Arachosia, Gandhara). It examines how successive invaders of this region, from Persia, Greece and India, left their linguistic and textual mark. It reviews the surviving Hellenistic-period written material from archaeological sites in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan in Aramaic, Greek and Prakrit.

    Summary
  • Research in Iranian Studies

    Research in Iranian Studies

    Ehrenberg, Erica (ed.). 2025. The American Institute of Iranian Studies: Half a century of foundational research. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.

    The American Institute of Iranian Studies is devoted to fostering research in the field of Iranian studies and promoting scholarly exchange between the United States and Iran. This collection of essays addresses the history and development of Iranian studies in the United States and the pivotal role of the Institute in furthering research in the field.

    The purview of the Institute is vast, covering Iranology—the study of Iranian peoples and cultures both within and across regions of Central and South Asia and the Middle East, where various forms of the Persian language are spoken. In keeping with the Institute’s dedication to facilitating research in Iran, the chapters in this volume represent fields of inquiry that have benefited from direct access to materials in the country. The essays describe the founding and work of the Institute, the emergence of Iranian studies in American universities, the Encyclopaedia Iranica, early archaeological research in Iran by the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago, the birth and development of American museum collections of art from Iran, and case histories of areas of Iranian Studies that have been the traditional focus of Institute-sponsored research, including art history, history, philology, religion, and sociology.

    The contributors to this volume are Ahmad Ashraf, Shiva Balaghi, Medhi Bozorgmehr, Elton L. Daniel, Erica Ehrenberg, Carl W. Ernst, Stephen C. Fairbanks, Prudence O. Harper, Linda Komaroff, Judith A. Lerner, Franklin D. Lewis, Beatrice Forbes Manz, Alessandro Pezzati, Holly Pittman, D. T. Potts, Richard L. Spees, Mathew W. Stolper, Keyvan Tabari, and Christopher Thortnon.

    Description
  • Diodoros of Sicily: Bibliotheke Historike

    Diodoros of Sicily: Bibliotheke Historike

    Harding, Phillip (ed.). 2026. Diodoros of Sicily: Bibliotheke Historike: Translation, with introduction and notes. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Diodoros of Sicily (c.90–c.30 BC) spent thirty years producing an encyclopedic compendium of world history from its mythical beginnings to his own day. His is the only surviving, connected account of Greek affairs from 480/79 to 302/1. The books translated in this volume offer the best account of the career of Philip II of Macedon, his conquest of Greece and his assassination, as well as the earliest extant history of the career of Alexander the Great. Book 16 is also the main source for the Persian re-conquest of Egypt by Artaxerxes III (Okhos), the seizure of Delphi by the Phokians in the Third Sacred War, and Athens’ defeat by a coalition of her allies in the Social War. The translation is supported by extensive notes, and the Introduction examines Diodoros’ moral and educational purpose in writing, the plan of his work, his sources, and his qualities as a historian.

  • Coinages in the Achaemenid Empire

    Coinages in the Achaemenid Empire

    Rutter, Keith. 2026. Coinages in the Achaemenid Empire. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

    Brings together the evidence for coin production and use over the whole Achaemenid Empire

    • Demonstrates how the actual production of coins was a phenomenon mostly confined to the western satrapies of the empire
    • Unlike other studies of ancient coinage which focus on its spread westward into Greek lands after its invention in Asia Minor, this book looks east, to communities and kingdoms where the dominant culture was often not Greek
    • Treats coins as part of the wider context of exchange and resource allocation in the empire

    The Achaemenid Empire was huge and the material available for studying it is disparate. The coinages produced in the empire offer distinctive perspectives and provide insights into crucial questions about how the empire was organised and administered. The numismatic evidence is particularly important due to its first hand, contemporary nature: it speaks to us directly, not through the prism of later accounts.

    Keith Rutter, an international specialist in numismatics, provides us with the first comprehensive account of the great variety of coinages produced in the Achaemenid Empire. He shows us how the iconography found on coins poses new questions on artistic influences, details of administration and religious beliefs. This highly illustrated book is the starting point for anyone who wants to understand the topic.

  • Aramaic Literature

    Aramaic Literature

    Holm, Tawny L. 2026. Aramaic literature from Egypt and the Levant (Writings from the Ancient World 30). Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature.

    In this volume, Tawny L. Holm provides bilingual editions of the majority of Aramaic literary compositions written between the fifth century BCE and first century CE. Each text is presented in transliteration and accompanied by an introduction, notes, and an English translation. The section on Egypt includes, among others, the fascinating anthology found on Papyrus Amherst 63, an Aramaic text written in the Demotic Egyptian script, as well as the Story and Proverbs of Ahiqar. The Levant section includes a selection of texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls, such as Tales from the Persian Court. These compositions cover a broad array of themes, from insights into the human condition to unique portraits of kings, heroes, and deities. The book also addresses matters of history, language, genres, poetics, and scribalism, and it offers a comprehensive collection of primary sources for use in ancient Near Eastern studies courses as well as biblical studies.

  • The Pearlsong

    The Pearlsong

    Bremer-McCollum, Adam. 2025. The Pearlsong (Texts & Translations of Transcendence and Transformation). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    The Pearlsong is an ancient poem that recounts the story of a Parthian prince sent by his parents on a mission to Egypt to retrieve a pearl from the clutches of a giant serpent. Along the way, the prince falls asleep and forgets his identity and mission. A letter from his parents awakens him, gives him a spell to put the serpent to sleep so he can retrieve the pearl, and then guides him home. The poem was originally composed in Syriac, translated into Greek, and later paraphrased in Greek again in a homily. These three texts are all published here with a parallel English translation on facing pages, accompanied by an introduction, commentary, and Syriac and Greek glossaries.

    Summary

    The book is available open-access.

  • The Parthians at War

    The Parthians at War

    Overtoom, Nikolaus Leo. 2025. The Parthians at war: Combat, logistics, reputation, and the first war with Rome. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

    Nikolaus Leo Overtoom provides a comprehensive study to evaluate and understand the military capabilities and accomplishments of the greatest enemy of the Seleucids and Romans, the Parthians.

    Overtoom draws on a wide variety of sources to reassess the militarism of the Parthians and origins and events of their first war with Rome. This book emphasizes source criticism of Greco-Roman writers to challenge traditional Rome-centric understandings of the Parthians and their military success by considering, as much as possible, the Parthians and their agency on their own terms. Through his study, the author characterizes the Parthians as capable, aggressive, and successful actors on the world stage and the role of the Romans (particularly that of the villainized Crassus) in the early stages of Parthia and Rome’s rivalry is reconsidered drastically. The Parthians at War assesses broader issues of militarism and logistics, state decision-making, royal identity and ideology, imperial rivalry, propaganda, and state security concerns. Overtoom concludes that the innovations of the Parthian military were exceptional and that the realities of the origins and legacy of the first war between Parthia and Rome are significantly different from the traditional narrative.


  • Ancient Persian

    Ancient Persian

    van Bladel, Kevin. 2026. Ancient Persian: A linguistic history. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    When ancient Persian conquerors created a vast empire from the Mediterranean to the Indus, encompassing many peoples speaking many different languages, they triggered demographic changes that caused their own language to be transformed. Persian grammar has ever since borne testimony to the social history of the ancient Persian Empire. This study of the early evolution of the Persian language bridges ancient history and new linguistics. Written for historians, philologists, linguists, and classical scholars, as well as those interested specifically in Persian and Iranian studies, it explains the correlation between the character of a language’s grammar and the history of its speakers. It paves the way for new investigations into linguistic history, a field complimentary with but distinct from historical linguistics. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

    Description