The 2nd Berkeley Workshop on Middle Persian Documents and Sealings
This is the second workshop in a series that began in Spring 2023 with the idea of bringing together scholars around the world who were actively working on, or interested in working on Middle Persian documents and sealings. The workshop is organised by Adam Benkato (UC Berkeley) and Arash Zeini (University of Oxford).
To attend the workshop, which takes place on Zoom, register here. The programme is below.
This lecture offers an exploration of the complex history of the Zoroastrian community in Ahvaz, a city in the province of Khuzestan in Iran. Because of economic hardship and agricultural decline in Yazd, Zoroastrians started migrating there in the early 20th century. Earlier censuses from the 19th century, such as those by Hataria in 1854 and Houtum-Schindler in 1882, record no Zoroastrian presence in Ahvaz. The earliest mention of Zoroastrians in the city appears in the 1963 census, which was prepared for the National Zoroastrian Congress held in Kerman that same year. The Zoroastrian community in Ahvaz has so far found little, if any scholarly attention due to the dearth of documentation. However, as a result of new archival evidence from the Pouladi Collection, unearthed by the speakers in 2016, new data has emerged that throws light on the reasons for the migration from Yazd to Ahvaz. The new documents provide evidence that Zoroastrian settlements were established in the 1920s along the Karun River through the agricultural enterprise, the Mazdyasnān Company. This lecture examines how the Zoroastrian community of Ahvaz flourished in their new home, contributing to the prosperity of the region, but later, despite its successes, gradually declined. This development raises critical questions regarding the preservation of minority heritage in Iran.
‘A Spark of the Glimmer of the Original Light’: A Workshop on the Dēnkard as Literature, Theology, and Scholasticism 17-18 Oct, Wolfson College University of Oxford
Professor Samra Azarnouche (L’École Pratique des Hautes Études – Paris Sciences & Lettres) and Yuhan Sohrab-Dinshaw Vevaina will be co-convening a workshop on the Dēnkard. Co-sponsored by EPHE, Paris and AMES, University of Oxford, this two-day Workshop on literature, theology, and scholasticism of the Zoroastrian community in the 9th century CE, is to be held on Thursday and Friday, 17–18 October 2024 in the Buttery at Wolfson College.
The Dēnkard, the towering achievement of Zoroastrian scholasticism in Late Antiquity and compiled in the 9th century CE, serves as a comprehensive compendium of Zoroastrian beliefs, practices, and doctrines. In its nine books, the Dēnkard, at 169,000 words, covers a staggering range of topics, including cosmology, ethics, rituals, jurisprudence, and the history of Zoroastrianism and its textual transmission. The work addresses various theological questions, offering explanations for the nature of good and evil, the existence of the spiritual world, and the role of humanity in the cosmic struggle between Ohrmazd, the god of light and order, and Ahrimen, the principle of darkness and chaos. Through its challenging rhetorical structures and hermeneutical interpretations, the Dēnkard provides unique insight into the dualistic Zoroastrian world-view and its influence on ancient and medieval Iranian society. As a crucial source of Zoroastrian thought and tradition, the Dēnkard not only informs contemporary practitioners but also scholars and researchers interested in the history of religion, Iranian studies, and comparative theology. Its significance lies in its preservation of Zoroastrian theology and its role in shaping the religious and cultural landscape of the pre-Islamic Iranian world.
The Workshop will be conducted based on pre-circulated papers which will explore the nature and character of a particular book of the Dēnkard, structural and intertextual connections between different books, and the broader questions of transmission and historical context. The workshop will feature a variety of distinguished scholars from the UK, continental Europe, and North America working on Zoroastrianism in Late Antiquity and the early Islamic period.
Prof. Yuhan Vevaina will be hosting the 3rd ‘Zoroastrian Conversations’ with Dr. Céline Redard, Lecturer for the Institute of History of Religions at the University of Strasbourg, France.
Saturday, 07 October 2023; 12 Noon Eastern time; 9 AM Pacific time; and 5pm UK time.
