Bibliographia Iranica

A predominantly bibliographic blog for Iranian Studies

  • Land Tenure and Fiscal Practices in the Aramaic Corpus of Idumea

    Shahryari, Mitchka L.M.J. 2026. Land Tenure and Fiscal Practices in the Aramaic Corpus of Idumea: Bow-Fields and Horse Estates. BASOR 395: 179-194.

    The Idumean corpus of Aramaic ostraca sheds light on the structured administrative and fiscal system in the region. This publication raised the possibility of the presence of the terms qaštu (“bow-fields”) and, albeit conjecturally, “horse-estates,” which would offer the first concrete evidence of these land-management practices within the fiscal framework of the Idumean region. These findings resonate with other key terms already mentioned by scholars, such as iškaru and references to tax collectors, which underscore the Persian institutional system of taxation, labor organization, workforce allocation, and resource management. The fiscal vocabulary and classifications of landholding revealed in these texts display parallels with Babylonian, Persepolitan, and Egyptian models, while simultaneously reflecting local adaptations. The ostraca thus demonstrate that Idumea was an integrated part of a hybrid imperial structure that linked local agricultural communities to the broader Persian administration.

  • Two priest-brothers

    Two priest-brothers

    Colditz, Iris. 2026. Two priest-brothers: Theological argumentation, linguistic expressions and style in the second Epistle of Manuščihr. Bulletin of SOAS, FirstView. 1–14.

    The Middle Persian Nāmagīhā ī Manuščihr “Epistles of Manuščihr”, the Zoroastrian high priest of Pārs and Kermān, written in 881 ce, are an important testimony of an inner-Zoroastrian dispute on orthopraxy in early Islamic Iran. They reflect Manuščihr’s efforts to preserve the extensive purification ritual Baršnūm against being substituted with a simplified ritual by his brother, the teacher-priest (Hērbed) Zādspram. Manuščihr wrote three letters to make his position clear. His second letter, addressed to Zādspram, is interesting not only for its theological debate but also for the personal relationship it reveals between two priest-brothers. Manuščihr argues on an elaborate scholarly level by quoting from the religious authoritative texts, and expresses his brotherly love and responsibility for leading his younger brother back to the correct path. This article focuses on his theological argumentation but also on the debate, how the family ties may have affected it and how he used linguistic expressions and style in this context.

    Abstract
  • The Parthians at War

    The Parthians at War

    Overtoom, Nikolaus Leo. 2025. The Parthians at War: Combat, Logistics, Reputation, and the First War with Rome. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

    Nikolaus Leo Overtoom provides a comprehensive study to evaluate and understand the military capabilities and accomplishments of the greatest enemy of the Seleucids and Romans, the Parthians.

    Overtoom draws on a wide variety of sources to reassess the militarism of the Parthians and origins and events of their first war with Rome. This book emphasizes source criticism of Greco-Roman writers to challenge traditional Rome-centric understandings of the Parthians and their military success by considering, as much as possible, the Parthians and their agency on their own terms. Through his study, the author characterizes the Parthians as capable, aggressive, and successful actors on the world stage and the role of the Romans (particularly that of the villainized Crassus) in the early stages of Parthia and Rome’s rivalry is reconsidered drastically. The Parthians at War assesses broader issues of militarism and logistics, state decision-making, royal identity and ideology, imperial rivalry, propaganda, and state security concerns. Overtoom concludes that the innovations of the Parthian military were exceptional and that the realities of the origins and legacy of the first war between Parthia and Rome are significantly different from the traditional narrative.


  • 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
  • The Zoroastrian World

    The Zoroastrian World

    Rose, Jenny, Albert De Jong & Sarah Stewart (eds.). 2026. The Zoroastrian World. New York: Routledge.

    Although Zoroastrians in the contemporary world are numerically few – estimated recently at less than 150,000 across the globe – their ancient Iranian ancestors ruled vast areas of the Near East for over a millennium. From the mid‑sixth century BCE to the mid‑seventh century CE, the historical contribution of the ‘Mazda-worshipping’ religion to the intellectual, cultural, and political development of the region was momentous. The migration of some Zoroastrians to north-western India also had a significant social and economic impact on early modern and modern India. From the mid-seventeenth century until the present, Zoroastrianism has also played an important role in European discourse.

    Written by a distinguished team of international contributors, including many Zoroastrians, The Zoroastrian World presents a global guide to Zoroastrianism from the earliest period to the modern day, offering original perspectives through substantial thematic contributions on the lived experience of Zoroastrian communities across the world. This volume is organised into five distinct sections:

    • Imagining Zoroastrianism
    • The Developing Zoroastrian World
    • Living Realities: Zoroastrian Narrative and Symbol in the Modern World
    • Contemporary Challenges in the Zoroastrian World
    • Creative Contributions from the Zoroastrian World

    The Zoroastrian World provides an authoritative and accessible source of information on topics relating to the Zoroastrian religion, with a particular focus on interdisciplinary connections. The volume is essential reading for students engaged in studies of Religion, Philosophy and Ethics; Ancient and Modern Iran; the Near and Middle East; Central Asia; South Asian Religions; and Cultural History. The Zoroastrian World is intended for all curious readers, who seek to know more about this ancient, enduring religion.

    The editors are excited to showcase the original artwork ‘The Garden of the Universe’ by Hormazd Narielwalla as the cover of this book.

    The Open Access version of this book is available at PDF.

    Table of Contents

    Introduction

    Jenny Rose, Albert de Jong, and Sarah Stewart

    Part 1.  Imagining Zoroastrianism

    1. How Zoroastrianism imagined itself

    Albert de Jong

    2. Recasting Zoroastrian dualism within the Greek philosophical imagination

    Maria Cristina Mennuti

    3. Imagining Zoroastrianism in the light of the Maga Brahmanas and the Kambojas

    Antonio Panaino

    4. Zoroastrianism in the Chinese imagination

    Jeffrey Kotyk

    5. Zoroastrianism/Persian religion in the Hebrew Bible

    Jason M. Silverman

    6. Zoroastrianism in the Babylonian Talmud

    Geoffrey Herman

    7. Manichaean, Christian, and Mandaean Views of Zoroastrianism

    Jason D. BeDuhn and Paul C. Dilley

    8. Zoroastrianism in early Arabic sources

    Kayla Dang

    9. The European ‘rediscovery’ of the Ancient Persians and their worldview

    Olivia Ramble

    10. The history of the study of Zoroastrianism

    Albert de Jong

    11. Zoroastrianism and Freemasonry in colonial-era India and Britain: imagining Zoroastrianism and re-imagining Freemasonry

    Simon Deschamps

    12. A ‘Persian history’? Achaemenid history and Zoroastrian reception in Gore Vidal’s Creation

    Charlotte Howley

    13. The fascination of the flame: Zoroastrianism and tourism

    Jenny Rose and Sarah Stewart

    Part 2. The Developing Zoroastrian World

    HISTORY

    14. Imagining Ahura Mazda: the earliest form of Zoroastrianism

    Almut Hintze

    15. Persian religion in the Achaemenid Empire

    Amirardalan Emami

    16. Zoroastrianism in the religious context of the Arsacid Empire

    Lucinda Dirven

    17. Zoroastrianism in the Sasanian Empire

    Albert de Jong

    18. Zoroastrianism in Iran from the Arab conquests to the mid-nineteenth century

    Kiyan Foroutan

    19. Zoroastrianism in India: from the migrations of the Parsis to the late eighteenth century

    Shervin Farridnejad

    SOURCES

    20. The developing Zoroastrian world and orality

    Philip G. Kreyenbroek

    21. The oldest sources for Zoroastrianism: Avestan and Old Persian

    Amir Ahmadi

    22. “A jewel of wisdom literature in the Pahlavi tradition of Zoroastrianism” 

    Alan Williams

    23. The meaning of Persian Zoroastrian literature

    Albert de Jong

    24. A historical overview of Parsi writing in Gujarati

    Meher Mistry

    25. Zoroastrian literature in English from the nineteenth to early twentieth centuries

    Jenny Rose

    MATERIAL EVIDENCE

    26. Central Asian expressions of Zoroastrianism

    Michael Shenkar

    27. Central Asian Zoroastrianism: can a case be made for Sogdiana?

    Pavel Lurje and Kersi B. Shroff

    28. Zoroastrianism in Anatolia and the Caucasus

    Matthew P. Canepa

    29. The ‘fire-worshippers’ of Georgia

    Sarah Stewart

    Part 3. Living Realities: Zoroastrian Narrative and Symbol in the Modern World

    30. The role of Parsi Zoroastrians in the evolution of British colonial India

    Omar Ralph

    31. Zoroastrian politics in the era of the Constitutional Revolution in Iran (1905-1911)

    Janet Kestenberg Amighi

    19. Reconciling Persianate and Western forms of knowledge: esotericism as Zoroastrian hermeneutics in colonial India

    Mariano Errichiello

    20. Calling on divine help: Parsi religious expressions in Mumbai, Navsari, and Surat

    Khojeste P. Mistree

    ZOROASTRIAN COMMUNITIES IN DIASPORA

    34. Zoroastrian communities outside India and Iran

    Rashna Writer

    35. A personal account of migrating to North America

    Tanya Hoshi

    36. Teach your children well: Zoroastrian religious education

    Jenny Rose and Sarah Stewart

    DIGITAL APPROACHES TO ZOROASTRIANISM

    37. The use of digital resources in studying the Zoroastrian religion

    Edward N. Surman

    38. Digital projects in Zoroastrianism

    Céline Redard

    39. The impact of the digital world on internal Zoroastrian discourse

    Nazneen Engineer

    Part 4. Contemporary Challenges in the Zoroastrian World

    INTERNAL CHALLENGES

    40. Demographic issues and identity in twenty-first-century India: Jiyo Parsi

    Shernaz Cama

    41. The reverberations of the dokhmenashini debate in Mumbai and Zoroastrian death rituals practiced in India

    Dorothea Lüddeckens and Ramiyar Karanjia

    PERSPECTIVES ON THE ZOROASTRIAN PRIESTHOOD

    42. Perspectives on the Parsi priesthood in India

    Kerman Daruwalla

    43. Perspectives on the Zoroastrian priesthood in Iran

    Mobed Ramin Shahzadi and Mobedyar Parva Namiranian

    44. Perspectives on the Parsi priesthood from the UK: an interview with Ervad Yazad T. Bhadha

    Sarah Stewart

    45. Perspectives on the Parsi priesthood from the United States: an interview with Zerkxis Bhandara

    Sarah Stewart

    46. Who speaks for Zoroastrianism today?

    Ruzbeh Hodiwala

    THE CHANGING ROLES OF MEN AND WOMEN

    47. The changing roles of men and women within the Iranian Zoroastrian community

    Shahin Bekhradnia

    48. The changing roles of Parsi men and women in India

    Nazneen Engineer

    49. Care for the Zoroastrian elderly in India

    Dinshaw K. Tamboly

    50. A caring model for the elderly in the UK

    Zubin Sethna and Rozy Contractor

    EXTERNAL CHALLENGES

    51. Zoroastrianism and human rights

    Niaz Kasravi

    52. Zoroastrianism and the environment: reviving the forests of Doongerwadi in Mumbai, India

    Rashneh N. Pardiwala

    53. Zoroastrian approaches to business ethics and sustainable development in contemporary times

    Edul Daver

    Part 5. Creative Contributions from the Zoroastrian World

    54. ‘First Darling of the Morning’: an interview with Parsi novelist, Thrity Umrigar

    Jenny Rose

    55. A larger laughter: the unique legacy of Parsi theatre

    Meher Marfatia

    56. The house of song

    Raiomond Mirza

    57. Devotional poetry and songs of the Zoroastrians of Iran

    Farzaneh Goshtasb

    58. “I yam what I yam”: a conversation with screenwriter, director and photographer, Sooni Taraporevala

    Jenny Rose

    59. The Garden of the Universe: an interview with artist Hormazd Narielwalla

    Sarah Stewart

    60. Identity and silk: the emergence and re-emergence of Sino-Parsi trade textiles

    Firoza Punthakey Mistree

    61. “You have to crack a few eggs to make a Parsi omelette”: an interview with chef and culinary author, Farokh Talati

    Jenny Rose

    62. Memories of growing up in Iran, Persian food, Zoroastrian festivals, and life as an author and cookery writer: an interview with Shirin Simmons

    Sarah Stewart

    63. How Parsis helped make India a cricketing nation

    Mihir Bose

  • 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.

  • Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia (vol. 31)

    The volume 31 of the journal Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia contains several contributions that engage directly with an Iranian context.

  • Ancient Jewish Memories of Achaemenid Persia

    Joachimsen, Kristin & Jason S. Mokhtarian (eds.). 2025. Ancient Jewish Memories of Achaemenid Persia (The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 25).

    Several contributions in the special issue of The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, titled Ancient Jewish Memories of Achaemenid Persia, engage directly with the Persian context. The volume is available in open access.

  • Semographische Aspekte in der altpersischen Keilschrift

    Wiechmann, Yannick A. 2025. Semographische Aspekte in der altpersischen Keilschrift: Lokale Schreibtraditionen und sakrale Sinnstiftung? Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 116: 217-241.

    This paper deals with aspects of semography in the Old Persian script. The so-called ideograms or logograms were quite neglected in former studies on Old Persian. From a graphematic perspective, this study opts to call these signs semograms for a broader view beyond mere logography. Further, it is asked whether we can observe dia-chronic or diatopic developments in the usage of these signs. While most semograms were probably developed in the time of Darius I, most of them went out of use after his reign, but were reactivated beginning with Darius II with a peak in the time of Artaxerxes II. Although semograms are totally absent in Old Persian inscriptions in some places)Bīsutūn, Elvend and Naqš-i Rostam), the sign for “King” was used in many places. The other signs, though, are rather limited to Susa and Hagmatāna. Finally, it is asked why semograms do exist at all. While it seems not convincing to explain their existence with the economy of writing, they fit quite well in the royal ideology and may provide sacrality. In the context of the old, traditional and sacral writing systems of the Achaemenid Empire)especially Mesopotamian cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs), they provided an important feature to the Old Persian script which it originally lacked and which could become quite obvious when trilingual and quadrilingual inscriptions were designed.

  • WAY metaphors as CONDUCT OF LIFE in Selected Iranian Languages

    Neda Mohtashami, Yusef Saadat & Kianoosh Rezania. 2025. Eschatologia Iranica III: WAY metaphors as CONDUCT OF LIFE in Selected Iranian Languages: A CMT-based Case Study. Metaphor Papers 19.

    This article explores the metaphorical usage of way-nouns in selected Iranian languages, emphasizing their role in conceptualizing conduct of life and shaping normative ideals through the lens of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT). By examining linguistic and cultural elements across Avestan, Old and Middle Persian sources, the study traces the evolution of terms denoting physical routes, which have been abstracted to symbolize moral and spiritual guidance. Central to this analysis is the conceptual metaphor conduct of life is motion on/to a way, which frames ethical and ritual life as a journey along a purposeful route. This metaphor underscores the normative dimensions of human conduct, portraying adherence to divine directives and alignment with Order/Truth (Aṣ̌a) as fundamental components of an ideal moral and/or ritual trajectory.