Bibliographia Iranica

A predominantly bibliographic blog for Iranian Studies

  • 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.

  • Ancient Iran in the ISAC Museum

    Ancient Iran in the ISAC Museum

    Alizadeh, Abbas. 2026. Ancient Iran in the ISAC Museum: From Prehistory to the Achaemenid Period (ISACMP 3). Chigago: University of Chigago Press.

    Discover the splendor of ancient Iran through a stunning selection of artifacts from the Robert and Deborah Aliber Persian Gallery at the University of Chicago’s Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures (ISAC) Museum. Featuring a wide array of objects—from finely worked metal and ceramics to monumental stone carvings—this volume reveals the artistic achievements and cultural depth of a region that flourished for millennia. Most of the objects were excavated between 1931 and 1972 during ISAC’s expeditions, which investigated sites ranging from the prehistoric settlements of Chogha Mish, Tall-e Bakun A and B, and Tall-e Geser to Surkh Dum-i-Luri in Luristan and the imperial center of Persepolis. Together, they form the largest and most comprehensive collection of ancient Iranian material in the United States. At once visually striking and academically rigorous, this volume highlights the richness of ancient Iran’s many traditions and the enduring impact of its artistic and cultural achievements.

  • Indo-Aryans in the Bronze Age

    Indo-Aryans in the Bronze Age

    Grigoriev, Stanislav. 2026. Indo-Aryans in the Bronze Age. Bicester: Archaeopress.

    This book challenges the steppe-origin theory of Indo-Aryans, arguing their homeland was in NW Iran. Using linguistic, genetic, and archaeological data, it traces migrations from Iran to Central Asia, India, and beyond during the 3rd millennium BC, shaping Indo-Aryan dialects.

    This volume is devoted to the origins and early history of the Indo-Aryans. According to the generally accepted theory, they originated in the Eurasian steppe, from where they subsequently migrated to the Indian subcontinent and the Iranian plateau. However, evidence to support these developments is lacking. The author has collected linguistic, palaeogenetic and archaeological data to reconstruct the processes that occurred in the Eneolithic and Bronze Age over large areas of Eurasia, demonstrating that the ancestral homeland of the Indo-Iranians was in Northwestern Iran. From there some migrated to Southeastern Iran, which led to the emergence of Indo-Aryan dialects around the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. From the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, the migration of Indo-Aryan tribes to the north-east of Iran and Central Asia began, which later culminated with migration to India, as well as to the Near East, Eastern Europe, the Southern Urals and, occasionally, to Southern Siberia.

  • The Birth of Persian Art (c. 550–486 BC)

    The Birth of Persian Art (c. 550–486 BC)

    Álvarez-Mon, Javier. 2026. The birth of Persian art (c. 550–486 BC). London: Routledge.

    The Birth of Persian Art (c. 550–486 BC) offers a bold reappraisal of one of the most formative periods in ancient art history, revealing how artistic innovation helped forge one of antiquity’s most influential empires.

    This volume shows how Persian art evolved from local traditions into a sophisticated imperial visual language, highlighting the revolutionary developments at Pasargadae, the influence of broader cultural landscapes, and the impact of Elamite heritage. Richly illustrated, it foregrounds the often-overlooked value of the artistic record as a historical source, providing insights into the role of visual culture not merely as a reflection of imperial ideology but as an active medium through which cultural integration, negotiation, and innovation took place. From Persian mountain valleys to remote Egyptian desert oases, and to Greek-culture infused western Anatolian cities, The Birth of Persian Art (c. 550–486 BC) revolutionizes perceptions and understandings of Persian art and the Persian people like never before, offering a fresh lens through which to view the formative period of the Persian empire.

    Written for scholars and students of ancient art history, archaeology, and Near Eastern studies, it will also appeal to museum curators and art historians focusing on ancient Iran, Mesopotamia, and the broader Mediterranean.

  • A bitter Norouz!

    A bitter Norouz!

    Today we celebrate renewal. We welcome a new season, we hope for joy, we reaffirm friendships, we eat together, we celebrate love and life. This year, as we face war and destruction, we also reflect on the bombs that fall, the bullets that fly, and the lives that are senselessly lost. We hear the last sighs of our loved ones and feel the wounds they leave behind in our hearts. This is a bitter Norouz, but Norouz nonetheless.

    Continue reading this post on Arash’s personal blog: This is a bitter Norouz!