The Sasanian Era
eBook - ePub

The Sasanian Era

  1. 192 pages
  2. English
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eBook - ePub

The Sasanian Era

About this book

This latest volume in "The Idea of Iran" series concentrates on the Sasanian period. Seizing power from the previous dynasty - the Parthians - the Sasanians ruled Iran and most of the ancient Near East from 224 until 642 CE. They are particularly fascinating because of their adherence to Zoroastrianism, an ancient dualistic Iranian religion named after the prophet Zarathustra (or, in Greek, Zoroaster). The Sasanians expressed the divine aspect of their rule in a variety of forms, such as on coins, rock reliefs and silver plates, and architecture and the arts flourished under their aegis. Sasanian military success brought them into conflict with Rome, and later Byzantium. Their empire eventually collapsed under the force of the Arab army in AD 642, when Zoroastrianism was replaced with Islam.Engaging with all the major aspects of Sasanian culture, twelve eminent scholars address subjects which include: early Sasanian art and iconography; early Sasanian coinage; religion and identity in the Sasanian empire; later Sasanian orality and literacy; and state and society in late antique Iran.
The volume in question arguably comprises the most complete and comprehensive treatment of the Sasanian civilization yet to be published in English.

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Yes, you can access The Sasanian Era by Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, Sarah Stewart, Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis,Sarah Stewart in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Middle Eastern History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher
I.B. Tauris
Year
2010
Print ISBN
9781845116903
eBook ISBN
9780857733092
Edition
1
Topic
History
Subtopic
Middle Eastern History
Index
History

Notes

How Pious Was Shapur I?
1. Ferdowsi 2003: 1179.
2. History III: 61–80.
3. Ibid.
4. For the text, translation and commentary see Gignoux 1968: 387–417.
5. cygwn krtyr hnglpy; cygwn krtyr, SM 36, 38 et passim. See Gignoux 1968: 407–408.
6. Ibid.
7. See Gignoux 1984a and 1984b.
8. Nyberg 1938.
9. Herodotus, History I: 107–108.
10. Thus, according to the Letter of Tansar, Ardashir I was “more richly endowed with virtues than the ancients and his custom [was] better than the customs of old.” (Boyce 1968: 36).
11. Boyce 1968: 36–37.
12. Ibid.
13. Boyce 1979: 113.
14. On the term hērbed see Chaumont 1960; Kreyenbroek 1987a; 1987b.
15. The meaning of dstkrt seems clear from the context. Old Persian dastakarta meant “handmade, handywork”, see Kent 1953: 190. The Greek equivalent ktisma (Back 1978: 210) means “creature”.
16. See e.g. Shapur’s inscription at the Ka‘be-i Zartošt (ŠKZ); Back 1978: 284–371.
17. KKZ 2–3. The inscriptions are discussed in detail by Back (1978: 390–391).
18. The term “Bahram fire” may perhaps refer to fire-temples intended for the community as a whole, rather than private fires. More research is needed, however, to establish the precise meaning of the term in early Sasanian times.
19. Back (1978: 430) translates Phl. wizār as “canon”, but the widely accepted interpretation of the word as “explanation” (McKenzie 1971: 92) seems to make good sense here.
20. Communal ceremonies that were celebrated at certain points in the religious year, see Modi 1922: 419–428.
21. KKZ 11–14; Back 1978: 418–431.
22. So Boyce 1984: 112.
23. KKZ 8–10; Back 1978: 408–417.
24. “And there was much studying of the religion in many ways” (KKZ 15).
25. See StĂśllner and Mir Eskanderi 2003.
26. Thus the offerings of food to the waters are referred to in Nērangestān 48–49 (Kotwal and Kreyenbroek 2003: 218–29).
Early Sasanian Coinage
1. For a detailed survey of Ardashir’s coinage see Alram and Gyselen 2003 (= SNS I).
2. SNS I: type I/1 (mint A).
3. For the meaning of the term bay see O. SkjÌrvø in Alram, Blet-Lemarquand and SkjÌrvø 2007: Appendix 3.
4. SNS I: type IIa/2 (mint B).
5. SNS I: type II/3.
6. SNS I: types IIa–d/3a (mint B).
7. SNS I: types IIe–d/3a (mint C).
8. SNS I: type III/3.
9. For a detailed discussion of the title see O. SkjÌrvø in Alram, Blet-Lemarquand and SkjÌrvø 2007: Appendix 3.
10. SNS I: types IV–VII/3.
11. Alram 2007.
12. For Shapur I see the detailed study of R. Gyselen in Alram and Gyselen 2003 (= SNS I), as well as Alram, Blet-Lemarqand and SkjÌrvø 2007.
13. SNS I, types II/1–2.
14. On the interpretation of this see SNS I: 36 with references to further literature; cf. also the issues which bear the name of Shapur on both sides of the reverse.
15. On the coin inscriptions of Shapur cf. also Skjærvø’s remarks in SNS I: 57–69.
16. SNS I: type I/1a. For the frawahr symbol see O. SkjÌrvø in Alram, Blet-Lemarquand and SkjÌrvø 2007: Appendix 1.
17. Cf.also Gyselen 2004: nos 77–78, where the frawahr symbol can be clearly made out on the khola.
18. Cf. also Schindel 2006 and the somewhat divergent view by Gariboldi 2005.
19. SNS I: nos 129–142 (Types IIc/1b; Style P, Groups c/1and c/2).
20. SNS I: 81–87 and 269 with Fig. 58.
21. SNS I: 85–87 with Table 8.
22. Göbl 1971: 25; cf. also Gyselen’s remarks in SNS I: 268–271.
23. This coin is published in Alram, Blet-Lemarquand and SkjÌrvø 2007.
24. For the reading and a detailed philological analysis of the inscriptions see O. Skjaervo in Alram, Blet-Lemarquand and SkjÌrvø 2007.
25. Göbl 1974. Last confirmed by Meyer 1990; cf. also von Gall 1990: 99–104.
26. Cf. my brief description in Seipel 1996: p. 399, 78.
27. SNS I: pl. 35, A51 and Gyselen 2004: no. AV8.
28. On this see Loginov and Nikitin 1993.
29. The typological classification of the coins from Ohrmazd I to Ohrmazd II is based on Alram and Gyselen (forthcoming); see also Gyselen 2004.
30. See Nikitin 1999.
31. See Herrmann 1998 and Herrmann 2000.
32. Gyselen 2004: no. 146 (SNS II: type I/1).
33. Gyselen 2004: no. 151 (SNS II: type II/2).
34. Choksy 1989. See also Curtis 2007a.
35. See Gyselen 2004: 56 and no. 158.
36. See SNS II = Alram and Gyselen (forthcoming).
37. See GĂśbl 1959 as well as GĂśbl 1971 for a typological overview.
38. See DeShazo 1993.
39. For Shapur II cf. Schindel 2004, 227 (= SNS III).
Formation and Ideology of the Sasanian State in the Context of Archaeological Evidence
1. Göbl 1971: Alram 1999: 67–76; Curtis 2007b: 7–20.
2. Tabari 1879: XIV–XVI Introduction by Nöldeke; Gutschmid 1880: 721–749; Christensen 1944: 59–83; Widengren 1971: 711–784.
3. Tabari 1879: 1–4; for the English translation see Widengren 1971: 732–734 and 760–767.
4. Karnamak 1879: 36–38; for the English translation see Widengren 1971: 776–778; Tha´alibi 1900: 473–4...

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Dedication page
  3. Title page
  4. Copyright page
  5. Contents
  6. List of Figures
  7. Acknowledgements
  8. Introduction
  9. How Pious Was Shapur I?
  10. Early Sasanian Coinage
  11. Formation and Ideology of the Sasanian State in the Context of Archaeological Evidence
  12. Kingship in Early Sasanian Iran
  13. Image and Identity: Art of the Early Sasanian Dynasty
  14. The Sasanians in the East
  15. Religion in the late Sasanian Period: Eran, Aneran, and other Religious Designations
  16. State and Society in Late Antique Iran
  17. Prices and Drachms in the Late Sasanian Period
  18. Late Sasanian Society between Orality and Literacy
  19. List of Abbreviations
  20. Bibliography
  21. Notes