The volume Mannea and Beyond: A Study of Iron Age and Later Pottery from Zanjan in the National Museum of Iran presents a systematic analysis of a ceramic assemblage from Zanjan, stored in Iran’s National Museum. Due to the lack of archaeological context—these artefacts were retrieved through illegal excavations—the study focuses on typology, preservation, and precise comparisons with neighbouring sites. The assemblage is heterogeneous, largely from the Iron Age with some medieval pieces, with several items linked to the Mannaean culture, enriching our understanding of this relatively obscure cultural horizon. The excellent preservation suggests that the materials may originate from a necropolis with unknown position.
This work deals with the manuscript fragments of Maniʼs Living Gospel and the EwangeliōnīgHymns of his followers in the eastern Manichaean churches. The author identifies new fragments and improves the previous reconstructions. In this context, he analyzes all the Manichaean and non-Manichaean documents. This book is designed to enlarge our understanding of the Turfan texts by presenting new texts and interpretations.
Summary
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Aim, Plan, and Strategy 1.2 Material and Content of the Living Gospel and Ewangelyōnīg Hymns 1.3 Outline of This Study 1.4 History of Prior Research
A crucial task of archaeological research today is to comprehend and critically interpret the rich legacy data from early excavations of ancient Near Eastern settlement sites. Yasmina Wicks targets the problematic and rarely consulted early 20th century records of excavations by French delegations at the UNESCO World Heritage-listed site of Susa in today’s southwest Iran. By scrutinizing published and unpublished documentation, she generates a new dataset of over 250 never-before-studied clay coffin burials to reveal a mortuary practice that began to flourish in the city at around 2000 BCE. These coffins were not used as upright-set containers but were instead overturned to provide a covering for the body, a distinctive method attested also at contemporary settlements in neighboring southern Mesopotamia.
The study begins with a discussion of the possibilities and constraints of using the legacy data, and then proceeds to an analysis of the typology, chronology, site distribution, and frequency of the coffins. Next it examines their rich and varied grave good assemblages, and the mortuary rites and demographic profile associated with their use. Finally, it reflects on the broader significance of the overturned clay coffin practice, concluding that it can be seen as a key signature of Susa’s bicultural society, offering a new perspective on Elamite and Mesopotamian cultural connectivity when the city left the political embrace of Mesopotamia’s Ur III dynasts at the end of the Early Bronze Age and became the lowland seat of the Elamite rulers from the Zagros Mountains. The mortuary behavior associated with the coffins, initially characterized by an unprecedented consumption of wealth, emerges as a response to new socio-political and socio-economic conditions both locally and across the Near East in the pivotal early years of the Middle Bronze Age.
This book examines the Zoroastrian community in the late Qajar and early Pahlavi period beyond the borders of Iran to trace this Parsi-Persian relationship. A major theme is the increase in philanthropy directed to the Zoroastrians of Iran by the Parsis and the involvement of the British in encouraging Parsi feelings of patriotism towards Iran. The book shows that not only were Parsis affected by events taking place in Iran, they also contributed to the broader change in attitudes towards Zoroastrians in that country.
Description
Buhler’s book will be launched at an event in SOAS. For more information, see this link.
The King’s Road offers a new interpretation of the history of the Silk Road, emphasizing its importance as a diplomatic route, rather than a commercial one. Tracing the arduous journeys of diplomatic envoys, Xin Wen presents a rich social history of long-distance travel that played out in deserts, post stations, palaces, and polo fields. The book tells the story of the everyday lives of diplomatic travelers on the Silk Road—what they ate and drank, the gifts they carried, and the animals that accompanied them—and how they navigated a complex web of geographic, cultural, and linguistic boundaries. It also describes the risks and dangers envoys faced along the way—from financial catastrophe to robbery and murder.
The Darb Zubaydah (DZ) is a Hajj pilgrimage road stretching from Kufa in Iraq to Mecca in Saudi Arabia (Al-Rashid Reference Al-Rashid1977; Peterson Reference Petersen1994). As part of the ‘Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa’ project (EAMENA), a remote sensing survey of the Iraqi section of this tentative World Heritage Site was carried out. Two previously unlocated DZ waystations, al-Qadisiyyah and al-’Udhayb, were identified during this survey (Figure 1). These historic sites are best known from texts describing one of the most famous battles of the early Islamic conquests.
The Bundahišn was a sort of final clearinghouse for Iranian religion and cosmogony, completed shortly before the Arabian conquest of Iran and the extinguishing of most forms of Indo-Iranian religion from the world (the Parsees being the sole relicts of that faith now). It has been mined extensively by scholars – especially Georges Dumézil – for the many traces of the Indo-European past it contains. With his encyclopedic knowledge of IE linguistics and Sanskrit and classical literature, Professor Malandra has accompanied his translation with notes which not only illuminate the more confusing elements of the text, but also ground it in the world of Indo-European and Indo-Aryan literature. Readers will surely appreciate the author’s clear and engaging writing as he guides them through this intriguing text. Table of Contents
Preface
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
Translation of The Bundahišn, chapters I-XXXVI with extensive notes
Appendix A – Translation of the Wizīdagīhā ī Zādspram text with notes;
Date: 26 November 2024 Time: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm Venue: SOAS, Phillips Building Room: Djam Lecture Theatre Event type: Film screening followed by Q&A with the director & reception
“Derbent: What Persia Left Behind” is a comprehensive documentary that explores the unique history and archaeology of this UNESCO World Heritage Site. The documentary features exclusive footage shot in Derbent just before the Russo-Ukrainian war, along with interviews with renowned scholars who illuminate the rich yet often overlooked history of the fortifications. Funded by the Persian Heritage Foundation and the Soudavar Memorial Foundation, the film also highlights the critical condition of the Middle Persian (Pahlavi) inscriptions found in the region, the northernmost of their kind in the world. (More Information: Derbent Online.)
The table of contents of the latest issue (62/2) of the journal Iran:
Abbas Moghaddam & Elnaz Rashidian: Visiting Tol-e Tahmachi, a Fifth Millennium BCE Settlement in the Persian Gulf Littoral, Southwest Iran
Sheler Amelirad & Behroz Khanmohamadi: Typological Study of Metal Pins in Northwestern Iran Based on the Bayazid Abad (Bayazi Awa) Archaeological Assemblage
Mostafa Dehpahlavan & Zahra Alinezhad: The Cylinder Seals of Qareh Tepe in Sagzabad, Iron Age II and III
Mohsen Javeri & Majid MontazerZohouri: Vigol and Harāskān Fire Temple: Archaeological Evidence About the Veneration of Fire in the Center of the Iranian Plateau During the Sasanian Period
Shahram Jalilian & Touraj Daryaee: The Image of the Sasanian King in the Perso-Arabic Historical Tradition
Esmaeil Sangari, Zohreh Noori, Amirhossein Moghaddas, Aliakbar Abbasi & Reza Dehghani: The Iconography of Dancers and Their Garments on Sasanid Silver Vessels (Case Study: Four Silver Vessels with Different Features)
Michael Shenkar: The So-Called “Fravašis” and the “Heaven and Hell” Paintings, and the Cult of Nana in Panjikent
Moujan Matin: A Medieval Stonepaste Ceramic Production Site in Moshkin Tepe, Iran: Ceramics, Wasters, and Manufacturing Equipment
Philip Henning Grobien: The Origins and Intentions of the Anglo-Persian Agreement 1919: A Reassessment
