Bibliographia Iranica

A predominantly bibliographic blog for Iranian Studies

Tag: History

  • 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
  • Women of the Empire

    Women of the Empire

    Safaee, Yazdan. 2026. Women of the empire: Life and labor in the Achaemenid Persepolis Archives (Ancient Iran Series 20). Leiden: Brill.

    This book offers a comprehensive examination of the status and roles of women within the socio-economic framework of the Achaemenid Empire. Drawing primarily on the Persepolis Fortification and Treasury Archives, it foregrounds the documentary evidence as a lens through which the lives, labor, and agency of women—both within royal institutions and beyond—can be critically assessed. Women of the Empire explores a range of thematic issues across its chapters, highlighting the diverse contexts in which women appear in administrative records and reconstructing their participation in the imperial economy.

    Congratulations to our colleague Yazdan on this outstanding achievement.
  • Memory, politics, and religion in the reign of Xusrō II

    Memory, politics, and religion in the reign of Xusrō II

    Baca-Winters, Keenan. 2025. A most vicious game: Memory, politics, and religion in the reign of Xusrō II. Hunara: Journal of Ancient Iranian Arts and History 3(2). 25–53.

    This paper examines the complex relationship between Xusrō II and the Christians of Ērānšahr (the Sāsānian Kingdom). By the time he assumed power, Ērānšahr had a significant population of Christians who belonged to distinct churches. Despite Xusrō II’s efforts to position himself as a patron of Christianity and his engagement with its practices, he faced hostility from certain Christian writers. This tension stemmed from the inherent challenges of balancing the interests and doctrinal differences of various Christian sects within the kingdom. The Church of the East in particular perceived Xusrō II’s decisions, while often pragmatic, as threats to its power and influence. The historical memory of past persecutions and the martyrdom tradition within Ērānšahr further fueled negative portrayals of Xusrō II in Christian texts. Ultimately, the interplay of religious rivalries, political maneuvering, and the weight of historical memory shaped the complicated and often contentious relationship between Xusrō II and the Christians he ruled.

    Abstract
  • The lives and legacies of Bōrān and Āzarmīgduxt

    The lives and legacies of Bōrān and Āzarmīgduxt

    Baca-Winters, Keenan. 2025. To walk in royal ways: The lives and legacies of Bōrān and Āzarmīgduxt. Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia. Brill 5(2). 1–33.

    Amid the political turmoil and external threats that marked the final years of Ērānšahr, also known as the Sāsānian Empire, two sisters, Bōrān and Āzarmīgduxt, ascended the throne. While previous scholars have briefly touched upon these women, this paper examines the entire zeitgeist of their reigns, shedding light on their personalities, decisions, and the challenges they faced in a politically crumbling empire. By analyzing their responses to the broader political landscape of an Ērānšahr beset by civil war, a recent defeat by the Romans in the war of the seventh century CE, and the Islamic invasion, this paper reveals the complexities of Bōrān and Āzarmīgduxt’s leadership and their unwavering determination to navigate the tumultuous currents of their time. Through an exploration of primary sources, this paper offers a richer, more personal understanding of Bōrān and Āzarmīgduxt and their resilience in the fall of an empire established by their forefathers.

    Abstract

  • On the Teispid-Achaemenid Dynastic Divide

    Zarghamee, Reza. 2025. A contribution to the discourse regarding a Teispid-Achaemenid dynastic divide. The Ancient History Bulletin 39(3/4). 86–124.

    Editorial remark: Unfortunately, we are unable link to the individual articles, published by the bulletin. which seems to be due to the green open access policy the journal follows.

    This paper evaluates the recent scholarly trend of characterizing Cyrus II and Darius I as belonging to two distinct dynasties: the former being a Teispid and the latter an Achaemenid. In the process, it seeks to address important methodological questions pertaining to the use of primary source material, such as the Cyrus Cylinder, Bisutun Inscription, and Herodotus. The ideologically charged Bisutun Inscription is of particular relevance, and comparative data is marshaled to show that, despite the obvious advantages to Darius of linking himself to Cyrus, neither the text itself nor the alleged circumstances of Darius’ accession compel a conclusion that he lied on the point of his claimed dynastic connection to Cyrus. In addressing the inconsistencies and difficulties in the arguments for a dynastic divide, the paper also addresses related theories that portray Cyrus II as an Elamite (as opposed to a Persian or Iranian) ruler or, alternatively, as a Persian or Iranian ruler with strong Elamite affinities. As part of its overall argumentation, the paper evaluates overlooked aspects of the terminology used in the Cyrus Cylinder, the limitations of David Stronach’s foundational arguments for Darius’ single authorship of the Pasargadae inscriptions, and onomastic evidence regarding members of the Achaemenid family mentioned by Herodotus. Without denying the hazards of accepting the Bisutun narrative uncritically or that much about the early history of the Persians (including the subject of this article) cannot be proved, this paper strives to show that the two-dynasty theory seems less likely when one takes a holistic view of the evidence and, as such, should not constitute the presumptive model for characterizing the history of the first Persian Empire.

    Abstract
  • Festschrift in Honor of Elton L. Daniel

    Festschrift in Honor of Elton L. Daniel

    Ashtiany, Mohsen, Marisa McCrone & Mahnaz Moazami (eds.). 2025. Studies in Iranian history and culture: In honor of Elton L. Daniel (Iran Studies 27). Leiden: Brill.

    This Festschrift volume presents eleven essays on Iran in honor of Professor Elton L. Daniel, an eminent scholar of Iranian studies and former Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopaedia Iranica, on the occasion of his 75th birthday. The diversity and wide range of topics and eras critically explored in this volume highlight the remarkable breadth of the honoree’s scholarship and research interests on the history and culture of Iran.

    From the summary with minor modifications.

  • WZO’s Annual Seminar 2025

    Three lectures as part of the World Zoroastrian Organisation’s annual seminar.

    • Alexandra Buhler: Relations between Zoroastrians in India & Iran during the late Qajar period
    • Khodadad Rezakhani: The Heart of the Empire: Ctesiphon & DilĒrānšahr in the Sasanian World
    • Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis: Royal Splendour: the art of the Sasanian kings
    WZO Seminar 2025Download
  • Greek Citizenship under Arsacid Rule

    Greek Citizenship under Arsacid Rule

    Nabel, Jake. 2025. The verb empoliteuō and Greek citizenship under Arsacid rule. Classical Journal 120(3). 249–276.

    The primary translation for the ancient Greek verb ἐμπολιτεύω in several dictionaries is “to be a citizen, have civil rights.” That definition is untenable. The connotations of ἐμπολιτεύω for citizen status are usually indeterminate, but where they are clear, the verb has the opposite meaning and refers to non-citizens rather than citizens. This sense is crucial to the study of Greek citizenship in the Arsacid empire, because ἐμπολιτεύω appears twice in a key passage from Josephus on Greco-Babylonian relations in the poleis of Arsacid Mesopotamia. The verb’s dictionary definition has led some historians to the conclusion that non-Greeks were citizens of these poleis. Along with local evidence in Akkadian, a review of ἐμπολιτεύω‘s appearances in literature and epigraphy suggests the opposite.

    Abstract
  • The Great King’s Word under AhuraMazdā’s Protection

    The Great King’s Word under AhuraMazdā’s Protection

    Aliyari Babolghani, Salman. 2024. The Great King’s word under AhuraMazdā’s protection: Trilingual Achaemenid royal inscriptions of Susa I (Dariosh Studies III/1) (Ancient Iranian Series 17). Leiden: Brill.
    This volume presents part of the author’s research on the Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions recovered in the ruins of the Achaemenid palaces in Susa, conducted within the framework of the DARIOSH-Louvre Project. It offers a new study of several fragmentary inscriptions in Old Persian, Achaemenid Elamite, and Achaemenid Babylonian, currently designated as DSe, DSt, DSb, DSl, DSa, DSk, DSi, DSp, D²Sb, DSj, A²Se, DSs, ‘Inc. Sb’, and others. The book provides a new edition of each inscription based on both published and unpublished fragments. Additionally, it introduces some new lexicons and cuneiform signs in the Old Persian language and script.

    Table of Contents (PDF)

    Part 1: Some Fragments of a Foundation Stone Table Inscription

    1 AhuraMazdā Protected the Great King’s “Written Word” 

    Fresh Old Persian Lexicon in Newly Discovered Fragments of DSe 

    Part 2: Terracotta Brick Inscriptions

    2 “AhuraMazdā Belongs to Me” 

    Inscriptions DSa, DSb, DSk, DSl, and DSae 

    Part 3: Some Threshold Inscriptions

    3 “I Did All Superior” 

    4 A Marvelous Palace Built by a Righteous King 

    DSj Inscription 

    Appendix 1: Persian Translations of the Inscriptions

    Appendix 2: Revised List of Old Persian Logograms 

  • Middle Persian Documents

    Benfey, Thomas. 2025. Middle Persian documents and the making of the Islamic fiscal system: Problems and prospects. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 87(3). 395–420.

    This article charts a new course for the study of the Middle Persian documents from early Islamic Iran, which takes their early Islamic context into account more fully than has hitherto been done. This approach and its potential fruits for the study of early Islamic history are illustrated through an in-depth treatment of four seventh-century documents from the Qom region (previously edited and discussed by Dieter Weber), each of which contains a fiscal term that is apparently otherwise unattested in the documentary corpus. I show that the existing interpretations of these documents anachronistically project the fiscal terminology and structures of a later time into early Islamic Iran, and that these documents, considered in aggregate, suggest a certain course of development for the Islamic fiscal system in the post-Sasanian territories in the decades following the initial conquests: from broad and relatively unspecific impositions to more targeted exactions, based on increasingly detailed assessments.

    Abstract