Bibliographia Iranica

A predominantly bibliographic blog for Iranian Studies

  • The Final Frontier

    The Final Frontier

    Rezania, Kianoosh, Neda Mohtashami & Yusef Saadat (eds.). 2026. The final frontier: Unveiling the ancient Iranian language of eschatology (Dynamics in the History of Religions 18). Leiden: Brill.

    The Final Frontier examines the language employed in Zoroastrian and Manichaean textual, ritual, and iconographic traditions to articulate eschatological notions. Bringing together twelve original contributions by leading scholars, the volume investigates how Iranian religious sources conceptualize death, the afterlife, and communication with the transcendent world, while also engaging in comparative dialogue with Christian traditions. A central focus of the volume is metaphorical language. By combining Conceptual Metaphor Theory with close philological analysis of Avestan and Middle Persian sources, the studies investigate how metaphors structured around notions such as journey, chariot race, kingship, light, darkness, fragrance, royal architecture, and spatial ascent function as primary cognitive frameworks through which the ineffable is rendered conceptually accessible. The integration of cognitive approaches, historical linguistics and the study of Iranian religions offers a new perspective on the analysis of the language of eschatology and the conceptual foundations of religious thought.

    Abstract
  • The Zoroastrians in British Columbia

    The Zoroastrians in British Columbia

    Mehri, Rastin. 2026. The Zoroastrians in British Columbia. Vancouver: UBC Press.

    The Zoroastrians in British Columbia begins with a consideration of the formation of the Zoroastrian Society of British Columbia in 1968 within the context of provincial and national immigration policies. It then moves to examine various controversial attempts in the 1980s to found the first Zoroastrian house of worship in Vancouver. Rastin Mehri explores the ways in which members of this community defined themselves ethnically and spiritually before settling in the province, and how they have done so since, revealing the demands of navigating the incongruities between Parsi/Zartoshty discourses of exclusion and the Canadian conception of multiculturalism.

    This unique study convincingly demonstrates that twenty-first-century experiences of exclusion and racialization have had a transformative impact on traditional patterns of belief and behaviour, including religious worship, personal relationships, and identity within the Zoroastrian community, particularly among its youth.

  • Persia and Byzantium: Interactions Across the Centuries

    Michele Bernardini and Alessandro Taddei have edited Persia and Byzantium: Interactions Across the Centuries, published as a special issue of Eurasian Studies. The issue includes the following articles:

    • Introduction
      Michele Bernardini and Alessandro Taddei
    • Dynamic Middle Grounds: Byzantium and the Muslim East in Comparative Perspective
      Rustam Shukurov
    • The Role of Rome in Zoroastrian Apocalyptic Literature
      Domenico Agostini
    • An Empire in Peril: The Political Crisis of Sasanian Persia (573) reconsidered
      Martin Hurbanič
    • “Thus Spake the Fire”: The Persistent Roots of a Zoroastrian Motif Between Socrates Scholasticus and Niẓām al-Mulk
      Alberto Bernard and Stefano Pellò
    • Conversion et attentes eschatologiques à l’époque de Timur : Jean de Sultaniyya et les Arméniens
      Irene Bueno
  • Giovanni di Epifania, ›Storie‹

    Giovanni di Epifania, ›Storie‹

    Bernard, Alberto. 2026. Giovanni di Epifania, ›Storie‹. Introduzione, testo critico, traduzione e commento. Brill: De Gruyter.

    John of Epiphania, secretary to Gregory, Patriarch of Antioch, witnessed the end of the 572-591 Roman-Persian war, with the flight of the Sasanian King of Kings Khusro II in Syria and his subsequent restoration to the throne by Emperor Maurice. His Histories, later used by Theophylact Simocatta, have been lost. Only the first pages survive, preserved in a Vatican manuscript (Vat. gr. 1065).

    This volume offers the first comprehensive study on John. Based on careful re-examination of the manuscript tradition, it presents a critical text that improves on C. B. Hase’s (1812). John’s chronology, biography, and ties with Gregory, are reassessed. Situating the Histories within the “classicizing” tradition, the study analyzes its method, perspective, and style, and traces its reception through the works of Evagrius, Theophylact, and Anna Comnena. Alongside exegetical and linguistic annotations, the commentary integrates evidence from a wide range of sources, offering critical insights into the diplomacy, prosopography, and military history of the war under Justin II and Tiberius.

  • Witches and demons

    Witches and demons

    XII conférence biennale d’études iraniennes Ehsan et Latifeh Yarshater

    Witches and demons, kings and prophets: The Shahnama and its afterlife in the Persian manuscript tradition

    2, 6, 10, 13 and 16 November 2026; 5–7 pm
    Auditorium Dumézil Inalco
    With Prof. Gabrielle van den Berg, Université de Leyde

    One of the major so-called secondary or later epics, composed as a sequel to the ‘unfinished’ life of Suhrāb, so tragically cut short by his own father Rustam, is the story of Barzū or Burzū. Particularly from the 15th century onwards, stories about this formidable grandson of Rustam frequently appear as interpolations in Shāhnāma manuscripts. Barzū also features prominently in the oral traditions associated with the Shāhnāma, and these oral traditions found their way ‘back’ into the manuscript tradition in the form of tumārs or ‘scrolls’, representing the stories that were orally delivered and performed, and also in a few manuscripts, such as, for example, the voluminous manuscripts BnF Supplément persan 499 and 499a of the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. In this lecture, we will look specifically at one particular part of the Barzū cycle: the story of the witch Sūsan as featured in BnF Supplément persan 497, in relation to the wider topic of witchcraft and sorcery in the Shāhnāma.

    Yarshater conferences 2026 Titles-abstractsDownload

  • The Achaemenid Persian Empire and its Western Borderlands

    Achaemenid Workshop 4 in Innsbruck

    The Achaemenid Persian Empire and its Western Borderlands: A Change of Paradigm

    Departing from the emphasis on rivalry that dominated scholarly discussions of Aegean–Achaemenid-Persian relations for a long time, this workshop seeks to offer vistas onto the varied testimony (written, archaeological, numismatic) that is presently available for the study of the multifaceted encounters between the Aegean and Achaemenid-Persian worlds and to new approaches to its interpretation. The conference will highlight the importance of these encounters as a mirror to broader patterns of political, social, economic, and cultural phenomena promoted in the eastern Mediterranean region (and beyond) under Achaemenid-Persian imperial expansion and rule.

    Organized by Robert Rollinger , Julian Degen and Erich Kistler (Innsbruck) in cooperation with Bernhard Palme and Florian Schwarz (Vienna)

    To see the program, click here.

  • Zoroastrianism and philosophy

    Zoroastrianism and philosophy

    In episode 500d of History of Philosophy without any Gaps, Peter Adamson interviews Ted Good about philosophy in Zoroastrianism.

    In the fourth of five episodes to celebrate reaching the episode 500 mark by looking at things he skipped in earlier series, Peter talks to Ted Good about philosophy and the Persian religion of Zoroastrianism.

  • Alexander in the shadow of Darius

    Alexander in the shadow of Darius

    Briant, Pierre. 2026. Alexandre dans l’ombre de Darius. Paris: Les Belles Lettres.

    La conquête de l’Empire perse achéménide par Alexandre le Grand est le sujet de nombreuses publications mettant presque invariablement au centre la figure du roi macédonien. Cet ouvrage démontre que, loin d’être une aventure personnelle uniquement dictée par la recherche de la gloire et la prise de risques inconsidérés, l’entreprise macédonienne était fondée sur une connaissance approfondie de l’administration territoriale achéménide. Ces conclusions sont le fruit d’une relecture attentive des narrations hellénistico-romaines, menée en lien étroit avec l’exploitation de l’importante documentation proprement achéménide qui a été publiée au cours du dernier quart de siècle.

    Après avoir exposé les limites de l’historiographie actuelle, l’auteur montre que, loin d’être menacés au cœur de leur pouvoir par des populations de « brigands » et de « pirates », les Grands rois maintenaient leur emprise sur les voies de communication. Il montre également qu’Alexandre ne fut victorieux qu’en raison de l’utilisation qu’il sut faire de l’organisation logistique sophistiquée achéménide, faite de greniers et de magasins disposés régulièrement, qui lui offrirent l’accès à des réserves de nourriture et d’autres produits, y compris sur les confins nord-orientaux de l’Empire.

    La lecture de ce livre fait apparaître avec évidence qu’une histoire globale des conquêtes macédoniennes ne saurait être écrite sans intégrer pleinement le monde de Darius.

  • Iranica Antiqua (vol. 60)

    Iranica Antiqua (vol. 60)

    Volume 60 (2025) of Iranica Antiqua has been published.

    • SHARIFI, Mahnaz, GERAVAND, Afrasaib: Petrographic and XFR Analysis of the Third Millennium BC (Early Bronze Age/Hasanlu VII) Pottery from Tepe Barveh, Northwest Iran
    • CAVIGNEAUX, Antoine, MALAYERI, Mehrnoush: Sb 11232 et les énigmes des lentilles de Suse
    • ARYĀMANESH, Shahin: The Horse among Indo-Iranians
    • MASOUMIAN, Mohammad, AMELIRAD, Shelir, ABDIYANI, Asrin, BROWN, Michael, KREPPNER, Florian Janoscha, SEIF PANAHI, Mojgan, MOHAMMADKHANI, Kourosh: Zardouyan. An Iron Age Jar Burial Cemetery in Mariwan, Iranian Kurdistan
    • DAN, Roberto, TRÉMOUILLE, Marie-Claude, BONFANTI, Annarita Stefania: A Reassessment of Selected Urartian Cuneiform Inscriptions on Stone from the Lake Orumiyeh Basin, Iran
    • YERANYAN, Nzhdeh, SARATIKYAN, Ani: Anthropomorphic Stelae from the Tavush Region and Examples of Private and State Musealisation
    • GHAZANFARI, Kolsoum, BABADI, Amin: The Role of the Arsacids in China’s Perception of Rome
    • MORADZADEH, Kazem, ZOHOURIYAN, Maryam, KOOHESTANI, Hoosein, MEHRIZI, Maryam Mortazavi, FARJAMI, Mohammad: A Study of the Composition and Provenance of the Pottery from Tepeh Gebri Mud B in South Khorasan Province – Iran
    • SANGARI, Esmaeil, TAVAKOLIAN, Mohammad, MOGHADDAS, Amirhossein: A Survey on the Flower Species Depicted on the Reliefs of Tang-i Qandil and Barm-i Dilak 1
    • XIAOXUE, Sun, AHMAD ZAKARIA, Ros Mahwati: On the Possibility of the Terengganu Stone Inscriptions Being Influenced by the Sogdian Language
  • Bulletin of the Asia Institute

    Bulletin of the Asia Institute

    The Bulletin of the Asia Institute is under new editorial management at the Yarshater Center for the Study of Iranian Literary Traditions, UCLA. Volume 32, the newest issue, is available in open access from its new home:

    The Yarshater Center for the Study of Iranian Literary Traditions at UCLA is privileged to continue the publication of the Bulletin of the Asia Institute beginning with Volume 32, newly available as of Summer 2026.

    About

    Previous issues of this reputable journal, going back to volume 21 (2012), are available here.