Volume nine (2018) of Anabasis. Studia Classica et Orientalia, edited by Marek Jan Olbrycht, is out now. Several papers and reviews of the issue relate to ancient Iran:
Table of Contents:
ISSUE 1: MACEDONES, PERSIA ET ULTIMA ORIENTIS
Author: Yazdan Safaee
Achenbach, Reinhard (ed.). 2019. Persische Reichspolitik und lokale Heiligtümer. Beiträge einer Tagung des Exzellenzclusters «Religion und Politik in Vormoderne und Moderne» vom 24.–26. Februar 2016 in Münster. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.
Der Sammelband präsentiert die Beiträge der internationalen Tagung des Exzellenzclusters „Religion und Politik in Vormoderne und Moderne“ 2016 in Münster zur Religionspolitik der Achaimeniden und der Rolle ihrer Lokalheiligtümer. In welchem Maße dienten die Lokalreligionen zur Stabilisierung der politischen Verhältnisse bzw. trugen sie zur Destabilisierung bei? In welcher Weise unterstützten die Heiligtümer eine Wahrung lokaler Identität und wie weit waren sie aufgrund ökonomischer und äußerer Machtverhältnisse auf das Wohlwollen der Perser angewiesen? Welchen Einfluss hatten die Eidesrituale der Symmachien auf die Stellung der Heiligtümer der gewährleistenden Gottheiten? Wie wirkte sich die wachsende Kenntnis über die Vielfalt der Religionen
im Perserreich auf die Politik aus und wie reagierten unterschiedliche Ethnien hierauf? Wie kann man Konvergenzen und Divergenzen kultureller Entwicklungen und weltanschaulicher
Vorstellungen in der Achaimenidenzeit besser erfassen und beschreiben?
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Persian Royal–Judaean Elite Engagements
Silverman, Jason. 2019. Persian Royal–Judaean Elite Engagements in the Early Teispid and Achaemenid Empire: The King’s Acolytes (The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies). T&T Clark.
Jason Silverman presents a timely and necessary study, advancing the understanding of Achaemenid ideology and Persian Period Judaism. While the Achaemenid Persian Empire (c. 550–330 BCE) dwarfed all previous empires of the Ancient Near East in both size and longevity, the royal system that forged and preserved this civilisation remains only rudimentarily understood, as is the imperial and religious legacy bequeathed to future generations. In response to this deficit, Silverman provides a critically sophisticated and interdisciplinary model for comparative studies.
While the Achaemenids rebuilt the Jerusalem temple, Judaean literature of the period reflects tensions over its Persian re-establishment, demonstrating colliding religious perspectives. Although both First Zechariah (1–8) and Second Isaiah (40–55) are controversial, the greater imperial context is rarely dealt with in depth; both books deal directly with the temple’s legitimacy, and this ties them intimately to kings’ engagements with cults. Silverman explores how the Achaemenid kings portrayed their rule to subject minorities, the ways in which minority elites reshaped this ideology, and how long this impact lasted, as revealed through the Judaean reactions to the restoration of the Jerusalem temple.
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Archaeology of Empire in Achaemenid Egypt
Colburn, Henry P. 2019. Archaeology of Empire in Achaemenid Egypt. Edinburgh University Press.
Previous studies have characterised Achaemenid rule of Egypt either as ephemeral and weak or oppressive and harsh. These characterisations, however, are based on the perceived lack of evidence for this period, filtered through ancient and modern preconceptions about the Persians.
Henry Colburn challenges these views by assembling and analyzing the archaeological remains from this period, including temples, tombs, irrigation works, statues, stelae, sealings, drinking vessels and coins. By looking at the decisions made about material culture – by Egyptians, Persians and others – it becomes possible to see both how the Persians integrated Egypt into their empire and the full range of experiences people had as a result.
Degen, Julian. 2019. Alexander III, Darius I and the Spear-Derived Land (Diode 17, 17, 2). Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History 6(1): 53–95.
This article aims to shed new light on Diodorus’ episode about Alexander’s crossing of the Hellespont by bringing ancient Near Eastern evidence into discussion. I assume that Diodorus’ “report” is a nesting of three different narrative-elements woven to a composition which provides a purposeful view ex post facto on the event in 334 BCE. By showing that Alexander adapted Achaemenid strategies to legitimize his power over the new won empire as well his awareness of older Mesopotamian geographical ideas, this article argues that the Argead ruler exposed himself with predominant concepts of ancient Near Eastern kingship. The argumentation underlines for the most part that Diod. 17, 17, 2 is an intentional episode containing Greek-Macedonian propaganda and Persian elements. Especially the famous scene of Alexander hurling a spear in the coast of Asia Minor and the belief that the Persian empire is a gift of the gods root in Teispid and Achaemenid royal ideology. However, Diodorus’ portrayal of Alexander as the first of the Macedons who landed on the coast is an element of his propaganda used during the early phase of his conquest. Finally, this article aims to bring new insights into the discussion about Alexander being the “last Achaemenid”.
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The Archaeology of Afghanistan
Allchin, Raymond, Warwick Ball & Norman Hammond (eds.). 2019. The archaeology of Afghanistan from earliest times to the Timurid period. Edinburgh University Press.
Afghanistan is at the cultural crossroads of Asia, where the great civilisations of Mesopotamia and Iran, South Asia and Central Asia overlapped and sometimes conflicted. Its landscape embraces environments from the high mountains of the Hindu Kush to the Oxus basin and the great deserts of Sistan; trade routes from China to the Mediterranean, and from Central Asia to the Arabian Sea cross the country. It has seen the development of early agriculture, the spread of Bronze Age civilisation of Central Asia, the conquests of the Persians and of Alexander of Macedon, the spread of Buddhism and then Islam, and the empires of the Kushans, Ghaznavids, Ghurids and Timurids centred there, with ramifications across southern Asia. All of which has resulted in some of the most important, diverse and spectacular historical remains in Asia.
First published in 1978, this was the first book in English to provide a complete survey of the immensely rich archaeological remains of Afghanistan. The contributors, all acknowledged scholars in their field, have worked in the country, on projects ranging from prehistoric surveys to the study of Islamic architecture. It has now been thoroughly revised and brought up to date to incorporate the latest discoveries and research.
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VOL. 20 of Parthica
Volume 20 of the journal “Parthica” (2018) contains several contributions of relevance to Iranian Studies.
Table of contents:
Delshad, Soheil. 2019. DPg: Ahuramazdā and the creation of water, with a new text edition. Iranian Studies 52(3-4). 575-588.
Among the Achaemenid inscriptions, DPg has been the topic of several studies since the very beginning of cuneiform studies. The photographs prepared by the DARIOSH (Digital Achaemenid Royal Inscription Open Schema Hypertext) project at L’Orientale University of Naples shed light on some ambiguities of this specific inscription and led to the proposal of a new text edition of DPg. The purpose of this article is to follow the whole history of studies on DPg until today and then propose a new reading of the inscription and a discussion of related issues, including its unique creation formula and orthography.
King, Rhyne. 2019. Taxing Achaemenid Arachosia: Evidence from Persepolis. Journal of Near Eastern Studies 78(2): 185-199.
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Iran 57(2)
Volume 57, issue 2 of Iran, Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies:
Table of Contents:
- Obituary
Leonard Lewisohn
- Article
- The Settlement Patterns in Roshtkhar Plain, Northeastern of Iran (authors: Mohammad Hossein Rezaei, Javad Zanganeh Ebrahimi & Hassan Basafa)
- The Role of Cultural Factors in Locating of Archaeological Sites: the Settlement Patterns of Prehistoric Sites in Jājarm, Khorasan, Iran (authors: Mohsen Dana & Ali Hozhabri)
- Jubaji, a Neo-Elamite (Phase IIIB, 585–539 BC) Tomb in Ramhurmuz, Khuzestan (authors: Roonak Ahmadinia & Arman Shishegar)
- A Decorated Bronze Belt from Gargul, Iran (authors: Megan Cifarelli, Kazem Mollazadeh & Ali Binandeh)
- Mid-Parthian Pottery from Building V at Shahr-i Qumis (authors: Ruth Stronach, David Stronach, Alan Farahani & Alison Parsons)
- A New Hypothesis: The Behistun Inscription as Imperial Calendar (author: Paul J. Kosmin)
- Early Nizari Ismailism: A Critical Edition and Annotated Translation of Khwajah Qasim Tushtari’s Recognizing God (aurhor: Shafique N. Virani)