A predominantly bibliographic blog for Iranian Studies
Tuesdays of Weeks 2–9 of Trinity Term 2014 at 5pm
Ioannou Centre for Classical & Byzantine Studies, 66 St Giles’
The lectures are convened by Professor Touraj Daryaee and Professor Edmund Herzig and organised by the Oxford Centre for Late Antiquity (OCLA). The full programme is here.
A Workshop in the School of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh
Monday 26 May 2014, 10 am to 5 pm
Sydney Smith Lecture Theatre, Doorway 1, Old Medical School
Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones will talk about The rhetoric of empire in ancient Iran: ‘Better together’.
3. The return of the Avesta
It has been argued that the adoption of the Zoroastrian religious world view by the Sasanians was instrumental in maintaining the nobility’s loyalty to the goals of the empire. Most arguments in favour of this view, however, derive from examinations of source material dating from the early Islamic era. This lecture will revisit the pertinent arguments and further discuss previously unexplored textual material.
Speaker: Arash Zeini
Where: University of St Andrews, School of Classics, Swallowgate, S11.
When: 14 May 2014, 17:30
The Sasanian Empire as a garden: The limits of Iranshahr
Speaker: Touraj Daryaee (University of California, Irvine)
Where: The British Institute of Persian Studies, London
When: 22 May 2014
Poster at the BIPS.
2. The Sasanian Empire and religious authority: The case of Zoroastrianism
As one of the major political and economic powers in the region, the Sasanian Empire (224–651 CE) elevated Zoroastrianism to the dominant religious and cultural force within its polity, bringing to the foreground the question of the interaction between religion and sovereignty in the Sasanian era. By providing an historical overview this lecture highlights the dynamics between political and religious authority during the Sasanian era.
Speaker: Arash Zeini
Where: University of St Andrews, School of Classics, Swallowgate, S11.
When: 07 May 2014, 17:30
Xerxes’ cabinet of curiosities: Exotic animals and royal authority in Achaemenid Iran
Speaker: Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (University of Edinburgh)
Where: The British Institute of Persian Studies, London
When: 18 June 2014
Poster at the BIPS.
The second international Summer School on Communication in the Achaemenid Empire: Achaemenid Elamite, Bisotun and the Persepolis Archive will be taking place at the Center for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia on 12–21 May 2014.
1. 4 days on Bisotun (1 day repetition of grammar, 3 days reading)
2. 4 days Persepolis Fortification Archive and Achaemenid culture
Every day 15–18 by Wouter Henkelman
3. 3 days Old Persian Inscription of Bisotun
13–15 by M. Jaafari-Dehaghi
Application deadline is May 5, 2014. For more Information please contact: Dr Jaafari-Dehaghi.
1. Mythical kings, empire and multiculturalism: The case of the Achaemenids
The Achaemenids (550–330 BCE) ruled over a vast and multicultural empire, encompassing numerous indigenous and conquered traditions. How did these various groups co-exist in the administration of the empire and influence Achaemenid ideals of kingship? This lecture will explore relevant Zoroastrian topoi and examine their afterlife in the Achaemenid era.
Speaker: Arash Zeini
Where: University of St Andrews, School of Classics, Swallowgate, S11.
When: 30 April 2014, 17:30.
Procopius’ Persian Tales: entertainment, history or morality fable?
Geoffrey Greatrex (Ottawa) will consider the opening chapters of the Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea’s Persian Wars, in which he introduces his theme, the wars fought between the Romans and Sasanian Persians in the sixth century A.D. He recounts a series of intriguing stories about the Persian court and Persian history in the fifth and early sixth centuries. The puzzle remains as to how seriously these tales should be taken…
Date & time: 25 April 2014; 17:30
Location: AIIT, Cambridge
The Sasanian empire as a garden: The walls and rivers of the Sasanian Empire
This lecture by Touraj Daryaee (UCI) looks at the physical and ideological boundaries which the Sasanians created for the idea of Iranshahr. In this late antique construct, inside the empire, protected by walls and rivers was imagined as a garden where order and beauty was in existence. Outside of the walls and the rivers it was seen as place of wilderness and disorder. This binary division was at the centre of Sasanian ideology which projected peace and power inside, while danger for its people lay outside of its boundaries.
Speaker: Touraj Daryaee (UCI)
Where: AIIT, Cambridge
When: 23 May 2014, 17:30.