Categories
Books

The ancient world in an age of globalization

This is an important publication and the ancient Iranian world is represented through contributions by Panaino, Sadovski and Gariboldi.

Geller, Markham (ed.). 2014. Melammu: The ancient world in an age of globalization (Proceedings 7). Edition Open Access.

The present Melammu volume extends from Greece to India, with articles on Phrygia and Armenia, also viewing texts from ancient Israel, Egypt, and Mesopotamia. The globalization described in this volume extends over language barriers and literatures, showing how texts as well as goods can travel between societies and regions. This collection of papers offer new insights and perspectives into connections between the Mediterranean World, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Persia and India.

The book is available for download.

Categories
Books

Cosmopolitanism in the Tang dynasty

Since most of this week’s posts relate to Eastern Iranian regions, I thought I would also post this announcement for a forthcoming publication by Valenstein, who has previously published Cultural Convergence in the Northern Qi Period: A flamboyant Chinese ceramic container. The forthcoming volume was already announced in 2012, but publication seems to now be imminent:

Valenstein, Suzanne. 2014. Cosmopolitanism in the Tang dynasty: A Chinese ceramic figure of a Sogdian wine-merchant. Los Angeles: Bridge21 Publications. Distributed by Transaction Publishers in Piscataway, NJ.

Categories
Events

Infrastructure and distribution in ancient economies

International Congress

Infrastructure and Distribution
in Ancient Economies

The Flow of Money, Goods and Services

Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna
28–31 October 2014

Section 3 is dedicate to ‘Ancient Iranian Economies’. For the list of participants, programme and abstracts, see the conference website.

Categories
Books

The Hellenistic settlements in the east

Cohen, Getzel. 2013. The Hellenistic settlements in the east from Armenia and Mesopotamia to Bactria and India.

Through the conquests of Alexander the Great, his successors and others, Greek and Macedonian culture spread deep into Asia, with colonists settling as far away as Bactria and India. In this book, Cohen provides historical narratives, detailed references, citations, and commentaries on all the Graeco-Macedonian settlements founded (or refounded) in the East.

For more information, see here.

Categories
Books

The Hellenistic Far East

Mairs, Rachel. 2014. The Hellenistic Far East: Archaeology, language, and identity in Greek Central Asia. California: University of California Press.

Significant and original, The Hellenistic Far East will highlight Bactrian studies as an important part of our understanding of the ancient world.

For more information, see here.

Categories
Journal

Getting to know Sogdian

When I started this bibliographic blog my main goal was to keep things simple, hoping that a modest and well-defined goal would allow me to update the site on a regular basis. I am very excited that with the help of my SOAS colleague and friend, Adam Benkato, we now take a first step towards hosting original content. Adam has written a very useful introduction to Sogdian, of which I post the first part today. The goal of this and hopefully forthcoming introductions is to offer brief and somewhat informal overviews. We hope that scholars from neighbouring disciplines and non-specialists will find them useful.

Read the first part of the introduction here.

Categories
Books

Ancient settlement systems and cultures in the Ram Hormuz plain

Alizadeh, Abbas. 2014. Ancient settlement systems and cultures in the Ram Hormuz plain, Southwestern Iran: Excavations at Tall-e Geser and regional survey of the Ram Hormuz area (Oriental Institute Publications 140). Chicago: The Oriental Institute. With contributions by Loghman Ahmadzadeh and Mehdi Omidfar, and appendices by John R. Alden, Leah Minc, Jacques Connan, John Zumberge and Kendra Imbus.

For more information see the AWOL announcement. Download the book here.

Categories
Reviews

Review: Medieval Christian and Manichaean remains

Dickens, Mark. 2014. Review of Samuel Lieu, Lance Eccles, Majella Franzmann, Iain Gardner & Ken Parry (eds.): Medieval Christian and Manichaean remains from Quanzhou (Zayton) (Corpus Fontium Manichaeorum, Series Archaeologica et Iconographica 2). Turnhout: Brepols. 395–429.

Read the review here.

Categories
Books

The Jews of Iran

Houman Sarshar (ed.). 2014. The Jews of Iran: The history, religion and culture of a community in the Islamic world. London: I.B.Tauris

Living continuously in Iran for over 2700 years, Jews have played an integral role in the history of the country. Frequently understood as a passive minority group, and often marginalized by the Zoroastrian and succeeding Muslim hegemony, the Jews of Iran are instead portrayed in this book as having had an active role in the development of Iranian history, society, and culture. Examining ancient texts, objects, and art from a wide range of times and places throughout Iranian history, as well as the medieval trade routes along which these would have travelled, The Jews of Iran offers in-depth analysis of the material and visual culture of this community.

To find out more, see here.

Categories
Articles

Una pagina da un libro sogdiano manicheo

Morano, Enrico. 2013. Una pagina da un libro sogdiano manicheo di storielle, parabole e aforismi. In Mario Capaldo, Patrizia Lendinara & Mario Negri (eds.), ΦΙΛΟΙΝ: Scritti in onore di Mario Enrietti e Renato Gendre, 327–334. Alessandria: Edizioni dell’Orso.

Read the article here.