The article introduces unique Persian manuscripts in the collection of the IOM, RAS specially devoted to Zoroastrian matters. In short Zoroastrian scriptures composed in New Persian during the 12th–17th centuries, were not literal translations from the Pahlavi, but free interpretations of the old sources, adapted to the changing circumstances of life.
Many Avestan texts are considered to have a great protective capacity against the daēuuas, especially the names of the Amәѕa Spәta, their Yašts and the Staota Yesniia (above all the Ahuna Vairiia). They are combined in different forms to provide bāǰ „prayers that accompany the ritual action“ and keep the daēuuas away from the ritual. Most ritual actions are accompanied by three bāǰ: one opening, one closing and one accompanying bāǰ. The use of such bāǰ is especially frequent in the purification rituals. V10 and 11 are examined under this perspective and it is concluded that V10 presents probably the alternative accompanying bāǰ for a baršnum-ceremony and V11 for a purification ritual for different elements.
DABIR: Digital Archive of Brief notes & Iran Review, 2015, Vol 1, No. 1.
The first issue of the Digital Archive of Brief notes & Iran Review (DABIR) has been published and is available from the official website of DABIR.
The Digital Archive of Brief notes & Iran Review (DABIR) is an open access, peer-reviewed online open access journal published by the Dr. Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture at the University of California, Irvine. DABIR aims to quickly and efficiently publish brief notes and reviews relating to the pre-modern world in contact with Iran and Persianate cultures. The journal accepts submissions on art history, archaeology, history, linguistics, literature, manuscript studies, numismatics, philology and religion, from Jaxartes to the Mediterranean and from the Sumerian period through to the Safavid era (3500 BCE-1500 CE). Work dealing with later periods can be considered on request.
Table of Contents: Articles
Saber Amiri Pariyan: “A re-examination of two terms in the Elamite version of the Behistun inscription”
Touraj Daryaee: “Alexander and the Arsacids in the manuscript MU29”
Shervin Farridnejad: “Take care of the xrafstars! A note on Nēr. 7.5″
Leonardo Gregoratti: “The kings of Parthia and Persia: Some considerations on the ‘Iranic’ identity in the Parthian Empire”
Götz König: “Brief comments on the so-called Xorde Avesta (1)”
Ali Mousavi: “Some thoughts on the rock-reliefs of ancient Iran”
Khodadad Rezakhani: “A note on the Alkhan coin type 39 and its legend”
Shai Secunda: “Relieving monthly sexual needs: On Pahlavi daštān-māh wizārdan“
Arash Zeini: “Preliminary observations on word order correspondence in the Zand”
Reviews
Sajad Amiri Bavandpoor: “Review of Smith, Kyle. 2014. The Martyrdom and History of Blessed Simeon bar Sabba’e”
Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones: “Review of Mayor, Adrienne. 2014. The Amazons. Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World”
Yazdan Safaee: “Llewellyn-Jones, Lloyd & James Robson. 2010. CTESIAS’ History of Persia: Tales of the Orient”
Special Issue
Bruce Lincoln “Of dirt, diet, and religious others”
DABIR
Editor-in-Chief: Touraj Daryaee (University of California, Irvine)
Editors: Parsa Daneshmand (Oxford University) and Arash Zeini (University of St Andrews)
Book Review Editor: Shervin Farridnejad (Freie Universität Berlin)
Mazdapour, Katayoun et al. 2015. The Religions of Ancient Iran. Tehran: SAMT Publication.
This book is an introduction to Ancient Iranian Religions. Each chapter of this book deals with one of the major religions or trends in the history of ancient Iranian religions or those religions which were influenced by ancient Iranian beliefs and views.
Table of Contents:
Zaraθuštra (Zoroaster) and the Zoroastrianism
Mithraism
Mani and Manichaeism
Zurvanism
Mazdakism
Mazdāpur, katāyun va digarān. 1394š/2015. adyān-o maẕāheb dar īrān-e bāstān. tehrān: entešārāt-e samt.
In original:
مزداپور، کتایون و دیگران. ۱۳۹۴. ادیان و مذاهب در ایران باستان. تهران: سمت
This comprehensive two-volume set is a collection of the wide range of articles and short writings written by Antonio Panaino during last decades. The articles are already appeared in academic journals and collected volumes, often not easily accessible to a wider audience. These studies are all dedicated to the different areas of research developed by the author, in particular on the history of ancient Iranian as well as Zoroastrian astral mythology, astronomy and astrology, from the earliest period of Indo-Iranian and Iranian history through the late antiquity up to the High Middle Ages as well as early Islamic era.
About the Author:
AntonioPanainoisprofessor of ancient Iranian philologyandhitory of religionat the University ofBologna.
Antonio Panaino: “Mimesis und Liturgie im mazdayasnischen Ritual: Die Amtseinsetzung der sieben Unterpriester und die symbolische Götter-Verkörperung”
Donnerstag, 16. Juli 2015, Freie Universität Berlin, Institute for Iranian Studies.
This lecture proceeds within the framework of the Corpus Avesticum Meeting in Berlin, which was held in 22–23 May 2015 at the Freie Universität Berlin. The lecture will be followed on Friday 17th July 2015 with an internal meeting of the members of the Corpus Avesticum settled in Berlin.
This volume amis to present a culture-historical introduction to Zoroastrianism. The author dicussesthe emergence, the development, the declineandthe current statusof this religion. It alsodeals with theneo–Zoroastrian movement(s), thatis formedin response to theIslamizationof Iran, and according to the author, assessedthe chances of arevival ofZoroastrianismin the future. The book is divided into ten chapters. The first three chapters deal more with historical aspects of the faith, among others, the history of the Persian empire and the life of Zaraθuštra. In the fourth and fifth chapters, the contents and principles of religion are explained. The sixth section is dealing with the siruation of Zoroastrianism under the Sassanian. The chapters seven and eight deal with the Zoroastrian scriptures, literature and cults. The ninth chapter deals with the decline of religion and the final chapter dicusses the phenomenon of neo-Zoroastrianism.
About the Author:
Bijan Gheiby was born in Teheran in 1954. He studied media in Tehran and in Long Beach as well as Iranian Studies in Hamburg and Göttingen, where he received his doctorate. He is an independent researcher of Zoroastrianism and ancient Iranian Studies.
The volume edited by M.D. Chiara and E.G. Raffaelli brings together forty-two articles by Philippe Gignoux on Zoroastrianism and Christianity in Sasanian Iran. The collection represents the Gignoux’s most important contributions on those subject, written over a period of more than 40 years.
The papers are divided in three cathegories: 1. Epigraphy, Onomastics Toponymy, 2. Comparative history of Zoroastrianism and 3. Syriac Christianity, each include articles with different subjects.
This volume is a valuable collection of articles for the scholars of Zoroastrianism and Chistianity in Sasanian Era.
Iranian demons belong to the generic category of daēuua– (dēv in Pahlavi). Yet it is paradoxical that this word is inherited to the same Sanskrit word (devá-), which originally means “god”, attested in the Latin word deus. How did it happen? Are we witnessing the birth of an evil world? Was the prophet Zarathushtra, supposed to be the founder of the Zoroastrian doctrine, who redefined the semantic content of the word daēuua-? Is this semantic evolution an distinctive feature of the ancient Iranian religion? Is it a moral or a political definition of evil? What is its genealogy? What is the role of the evil in religious Zoroastrian ceremonies? The atricles of this volume, dedicated to Jean Kellens’ 65th birthday try to answer all these questions.
About the Editor:
Philippe Swennen teaches at the University of Liège, where he holds the chair for “Languages and religions of the ancient Indo-Iranian world.”
Kolesnikov, Aly Ivanovich. 2015. The Zoroastrian Manuscript in the Collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, RAS (Short Reference and Structure). Written Monuments of the Orient 1(1). 38–47.
Cantera, Alberto. 2015. 
Panaino, Antonio. 2014. 
Gheiby, Bijan. 2014. 
Gignoux, Philippe. 2014. 
Swennen, Philippe (ed.). 2015.