The Oxford Handbook Of Iranian History

Touraj, Daryaee

Oxford University Press

In a Middle Persian text known as “Khusro and the Page,” one of the most famous kings of the ancient Iranian world, Khusro I Anusheruwan, is called haft kišwar xawadāy “the King of the Seven Climes.” This title harkens back to at least the Achaemenid period when it was in fact used, and even further back to a Zoroastrian/Avestan world view. From the earliest Iranian hymns, those of the Gāthās of Zarathushtra, through the Younger Avesta and later Pahlavi writings, it is known that the ancient Iranians divided the world into seven climes or regions. Indeed, at some point there was even an aspiration that this world should be ruled by a single king. Consequently, the title of the King of the Seven Climes, used by Khusro I in the sixth century CE, suggests the most ambitious imperial vision that one would find in the literary tradition of the ancient Iranian world. Taking this as a point of departure, the present book aims to be a survey of the dynasties and rulers who thought of going beyond their own surroundings to forge larger polities within the Iranian realm.
Thus far, in similar discussions of ancient Iranian history, it has been the convention to set the beginnings of a specifically Iranian world at the rise of Cyrus the Great and the establishment of the Achaemenid Empire. But in fact, this notion is only a recent paradigm, which became popular in Iran in the late 1960s owing to traditions of Classical and European historiography. At the same time, there are other narratives that can be given for the history of the Iranian World, including those that take us to 5000 BCE to sites such as Sialk, near Kashan, or other similar archaeological localities. As attractive as an archaeologically based narrative of local powers can be, however, the aim of the present work is to focus on political entities who aimed at the control of a larger domain beyond their own local contexts. As a result, this book starts its narrative with Elam, the influential civilization and kingdom that existed long before the Achaemenids came to power. Elam boasted a writing system and a complex culture and political organization contemporaneous with that of Mesopotamia, and was made up of cities such as Susa and Anshan. As Kamyar Abdi shows in his chapter, the Iranian civilization owes much to the Elamites and their worldview and conception of rulership. Thus, we do not start the present narrative with 550 BCE and Cyrus, but with 3000 BCE, in the proto-Elamite Period, when signs of a long lasting civilization on the Iranian Plateau first appeared.

King of the Seven Climes A History of the Ancient Iranian World (3000 BCE - 651 CE)

History

Ancient Civilizations

BRILL

The Iranian speaking people inhabited a large area which included a large swath of the Silk Road. Bactrians, Khwarzaminans, Sakas, Sogdians, Parthians and Persians were among the most important of these Iranians who traded and transported goods from China and India to the Eastern Mediterranean. They were also responsible for the spread of such religions as Zoroastrianism, Nestorian Christianity, Buddhism, Manichaeism and Islam throughout Asia. This book provides an overview of the Iranians and their contribution to the development of a vibrant trade and religious life in the first millennium BCE and the First Millennium CE.

Iranians on the Silk Road

Khodadad, Rezakhani

Matteo Compareti

Afshar Publishing

On the Explanation of Chess and Backgammon "W&#x12B;z&#x101;ri&scaron;n &#x12B; &#x10C;atrang ud Nihi&scaron;n N&#x113;w-Ardax&scaron;&#x12B;r" is a Middle Persian text concerned with the earliest story of the invention and rules of the games of chess and backgammon in the sixth century CE, during the rule of the great Sasanian king of kings, Khusro I (531-579 CE). These games along with polo and the hunt were part of princely or courtly education in ancient Iran which continued till the modern times. From Sasanian Iran these games made their way to Spain via the Muslims in the medieval period, and chess and backgammon have now become popular around the world.

On the Explanation of Chess and Backgammon (Persian Text Series of Late Antiquity, 1)

Cyrus is among the most impressive characters in the ancient world. From the Old Testament to Xenophon's Cyropaedia, ancient texts have made him to an example of tolerance and just kingship. Hailing from a small principality in southwest Iran, he rapidly rose to power, creating a world empire. The five articles included here, along with the English and Persian translation of his cylinder, provide a scholarly and readable exposition of one of the great figures of antiquity. Cyrus the Great's political career, monuments, religious practices and literary remains are all discussed in this concise and informative book.

Cyrus the Great: An Ancient Iranian King

Pierre Briant

Irving Finkel

Ali Mousavi

Shahrokh Razmjou

Matthew W. Stolper

David Stronach

Middle East

World History: A Concise Thematic Analysis, Volume One

Steven Wallech

Craig Hendricks

Anne Lynne Negus

Peter Wan

Gordon Morris Bakken

Wiley/Blackwell

World History: A Concise Thematic Analysis, Volume 2

"For a long time, Sasanian studies were mainly cultivated by linguists and historians of religion, and the only standard work on the history of the Sasanian Empire was Arthur Christensen's L'Iran sous les Sassanides(Copenhagen 1936; second revised and expanded edition 1944). Only in recent years, Christensen's authority was challenged: Several new syntheses eventually allowed Late antique scholars to better understand the history and the structure of the great rival of the Roman Empire. However, we still lacked a handy, student-friendly introduction to Sasanians studies. Now, Daryaee and Rezakhani provide us with this very welcome booklet, which I highly recommend to students, to an educated audience, but also to Classical scholars (it's never too late)." - Giusto Traina, Paris-Sorbonne UniversityThis volume was previously published by the Jordan Center for Persian Studies, University of California - Irvine.

From Oxus to Euphrates The World of Late Antique Iran (Ancient Iran, 1)

The present volume is dedicated to Michael L. Bates, Curator Emeritus of Islamic Coins at the American Numismatic Society. For more than forty years, Michael has been a major figure in the field of Islamic numismatics through his writing, teaching, and being a resource for scholars, students and collectors. The list of contributors to this volume and the range of their contributions are testament to Michael's continued and vital influence on numismatic and historical studies.

Dinars and Dirhams Festschrift in Honor of Michael L. Bates (Ancient Iran, 11)

Asia

تاریخ ایران پژوهش دانشگاه آکسفورد ویراسته تورج دریایی

OXFORD

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