Mission Statement

One of the most remarkable empires of the first millennium CE was that of the Sasanian Persian Empire. Emanating from southern Iran 's Persis region in the third century AD, the Sasanian domain eventually encompassed not only modern day Iran and Iraq, but also the greater part of Central Asia and the Near East, including at times, the regions corresponding to present-day Israel, Turkey, and Egypt.

This geographically diverse empire brought together a striking array ethnicities and religious practices. Arameans, Arabs, Armenians, Persians, Romans, Goths as well as a host of other peoples all lived and labored under Sasanian rule. It is the aim of the Sasanika: Late Antique Near East Project to bring to light the importance of the Sasanian civilization in the context of late antique and world history.

Sasanika Aims

1. Integration of the Sasanian Empire into the field of late antiquity, as well as the field of world history
2. The creation of a web-site dedicated to Sasanian ciilization: www.humanities.uci.edu/sasanika
3. The establishment of panels on Sasanians studies, dedicated to a specific theme in Sasanian studies
4. Publication of Sasanian material culture
5. Re-dsicovery and re-attribution of many artifacts that are Sasanian in origin

Sasanika Articles:

In the past academic year several important articles have been published on the Sasanika website.

We would like to thank our editor Ms. Delnaz Marvasti for her diligence and making the publication of these articles on Sasanika possible.