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On February 15, 2011, Dr. Rika Gyselen of Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), the foremost Sasanian sigilographer in the world gave the third Late Antique Iran Round-table Lectures at the University of California, Irvine. The title of her lecture was: “The Coins of 3rd Century Iran: Numismatics and the Formation of Historical Criteria,” where she analyzed the coinage of early Sasanian rulers and the information they provide for Sasanian history. The subsequent paper from this talk is now available online as E-Sasanika 15: http://www.humanities.uci.edu/sasanika/pdf/e-sasanika%2015-Gyselen-v2.pdf and will soon be published in printed form. The students from the History of Ancient Iran course, as well as the faculty from the departments of Classics, History and Art History were present and participated in the discussions. The talk was followed by a dinner in honor of Dr. Gyselen, which included guests such as Dr. Elizabeth Carter (UCLA) and Dr. Hanns-Peter Schmidt (UCLA, emeritus).
Dr. Gyselen, answering questions at after her lecture at UC Irvine
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On June 4, 2011, Dr. Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis of the British Museum gave three lectures as part of the newly established Farhang Foundation Lectures in Iranian Studies at UC Irvine. These talks were related to the Sasanian and the ancient Iranian world. The lectures were: 1) The Parthian Empire and the Iranian Revival; 2) Kingship and Religion: The Coins of Sasanian Iran; and 3) Fascination with the Past: The Legacy of Ancient Persia. Dr. Sarkhosh discussed the importance of coinage for understanding political and religious history of the early Sasanian period. She also gave a lecture on the interest in ancient and Sasanian Iran from the 17th century onwards and the fascination with the ancient past by Europeans, American and Iranians. The talks were followed by a dinner reception in honor of Dr. Sarkhosh Curtis. Her lecture on Kingship and Religion is available online at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEdarkwafLY.
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New Sasanika Publications: Persian Text Series of Late Antiquity
With the support of the Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute a new series of Persian Texts of Late Antiquity was inaugurated. The first volume was the publication of the Pahlavi text on the history of the games of chess and backgammon at the court of the Sasanian king of kings, Khusro Anushirvān.
Recent Books on the Sasanians & Related Topics
Y. Stoyanov, Defenders and Enemies of the True Cross: the Sasanian Conquest of Jerusalem in 614 and Byzantine Ideology of Anti-Persian Warfare, Vienna: OeAW, 2011.
This book discusses the effect of the Sasanian conquest of Jerusalem in 614 CE and the anti-Persian propaganda which was used by the Byzantine court on their attempts at the reconquest of the Near East from the Sasanians.
M.R. Jackson Bonner, Three Neglected Sources of Sasanian History in the Reign of Khusraw Anushirvan, Studia Iranica. Cahier 46, Paris, 2011.
This book is a source criticism of Dīnawarī, the Shāhnāmeh and the Sīrat Ānusharwān for the study of Sasanian history.
J. Howard-Johnston, Witnesses to A World Crisis. Historians and Histories of the Middle East in the Seventh Century, Oxford, 2010.
This massive tomb is an important discussion and criticism of sources for the history of the seventh century.
G. Fisher, Between Empires: Arabs, Romans, and Sasanians in Late Antiquity, Oxford, 2011.
This book discusses the role of the Ghassānid and Nasrids on the borders of the two great Roman and Sasanian Empires.
A.Sh. Shahbazi, Tārīkh-e Sāsānīān. Tarjome-ye bakhsh-e Sāsānīān az ketāb-e tārīkh-e Tabarī va moghāyese-ye ān bā tārīkh-e Bal’amī, Tehran, 1389.
This book is a new translation of Tabarī and a comparison with Bal’amī, with 1323 historical notes on Sasanian history.
N. al-Ka’bī, Jadalīya al-dowlah wa-al din fi fikr al-sharghiya al-ghadīm. Iran al-asr al-Sasanī anamuzaja, Al-Kamel Verlage, 2010.
This book is an Arabic language study of the idea and relations between religion and the state in the Sasanian period by an Iraqi scholar.
Sources for the History of Ssanian and Post-Ssanian Iran, ed. R. Gyselen, Res Orientalis XIX, Paris, 2010.
This is a collection of articles dealing with Syriac, Arabic and other sources for the study of Sasanian and early Islamic history.
K. Mosig-Walburg, Römer und Perser vom 3. Jahrhundert bis zum Jahr 363 n. Chr., Computus Druck Satz & Verlag, 2009.
This book is about the Sasanian and Roman relations in the third century and fourth centuries CE.
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Three new e-Sasanika articles were uploaded to the Sasanika website. These include:
Jany Janos, “Sasanian Law” E-Sasanika 14, 2010 http://www.humanities.uci.edu/sasanika/pdf/e-sasanika%2014-Janos.pdf, a survey of Sasanian legal system.
Rika Gyselen, “The Coins of 3rd Century Sasanian Iran and the Formation of Historical Criteria,” E-Sasanika 15, 2011 http://www.humanities.uci.edu/sasanika/pdf/e-sasanika%2015-Gyselen-v2.pdf, the publication of her lecture at UC Irvine
Morvarid Mazhari Motlagh, “Sasanian Valuts,” E-Sasanika 16, 2011, http://www.humanities.uci.edu/sasanika/pdf/e-sasanika%2016-Mazhari-Motlagh.pdf on the construction of vaults and their designs in the Sasanian period.
New: E-Sasanika Archaeological Reports:
We now have a new section dealing with reports on excavations in Iran concerned with Sasanian sites. The first Sasanika Archaeology report (2011) is by Dr. Ali-Reza Askari Chaverdi entitled: “Archaeological Excavations in the So-Called “Palace of Sāsān,” at Sarvestān, Fars,” http://www.humanities.uci.edu/sasanika/pdf/Sasanika%20Archeology%201.pdf, which deals with the recent works on and around the Sarvestan palace.
The second Sasanika Archaeology report is by Dr. H. Tofighian, and F. Khademi Nadooshan and S. Hossein Mousavi of Tarbiat Modaress University who have reported on their work on the Persian Gulf in the Sasanian period and the available archaeological data http://www.humanities.uci.edu/sasanika/pdf/sas-arch2.pdf.
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Iraj Afshar, a leading figure in Iranian Studies passed away on March 8, 2011. His contribution to the filed of Sasanian Studies included his edition of several major historical geographies, comprising Istakhrī’s Masalik va Mamlik, Tehran, 1969, a volume on the language of ancient Azarbijan and the publication of medieval Arabic and Persian manuscripts. One of his last articles was entitled: “Haft-khān-e resīdan be Iran-e bāstān,” published in Bukhara, vol. 70, pp. 299-310, which was on the contribution of Iranians to the study of ancient Iran. Afshar was also the editor of several major journals and publication series, including Āyandeh, Farhang-e Irān Zamīn and the series entitled Nāmvāreh Dr. Mahmoud Afshar, published under the auspices of the Dr. Mahmoud Afshar Foundation. All of these publications dealt with important issues on the Sasanian world which has gone unnoticed among the European scholars. He was also a consulting editor to the Encyclopaedia Iranica. His constant help and support to students and colleagues will be sorely missed.
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Khodadad Rezakhani: Sasanians & World History
Touraj Daryaee: Sasanian Iran: The Other Great Empire of Late Antiquity
Dr. Sarkhosh’s Lecture at UC Irvine Humanities Gateway building
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