Touraj Daryaee
Biographic Data
| ID | 1443906 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Touraj Daryaee |
| GIVEN NAMES | Touraj |
| FAMILY NAME | Daryaee |
| SIGNATURE | DARYAEE T |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of California, Irvine |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 47 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 119 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 45 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1995 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2023 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Sasanian Persia
The Sasanians were the last of the ancient Persian dynasties, and the preeminent practitioners of the Zoroastrian religion. From its foundation by Ardashir I in 224 CE the Sasanian Empire was the dominant force in the region for several centuries until its last king, Yasdegerd III, was defeated by the Muslim Arabs in the 7th century. In this clear and comprehensive new book, Touraj Daryaee provides an unrivalled account of Sasanian Persia. Using …
Mazdak and Late Antique ‘Socialism’
During the reign of Kawād I ( AD 498–531), king of Ērānšahr (Realm of the Iranians), a Zoroastrian priest by the name of Mazdak, son of Bāmdād, appears in some sources whose rulings about property and ownership have been deemed proto-socialist. According to sources in Middle Persian of the late Sasanian Empire ( AD 224–651), Mazdak promoted the sharing of women and property.
The Cambridge History of Socialism
This volume describes the various movements and thinkers who wanted social change without state intervention. It covers cases in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. The first part discusses early egalitarian experiments and ideologies in Asia, Europe and the Islamic world, and then moves to early socialist thinkers in Britain, France, and Germany. The second part deals with the rise of the two main currents in socialist movements after 1848: a…
In Search of Lost Time
Introduction. “Eine Sasanidische Zeitschrift”
The Bones of Khosrow
This essay discusses the importance of Ctesiphon in the historical and literary tradition of Sasanian and Post-Sasanian Iran. It is proposed that there was a significant buildup of the Ctesiphon’s defenses in the third century that it made its conquest by the Roman Empire impossible and its gave it an aura of impregnability. By the last Sasanian period the city was not only inhabited by Iranian speaking people and a capital, but it also became pa…
The Image of the Sasanian King in the Perso-Arabic Historical Tradition
Throughout the Sasanian history the masses as well as the dignitaries, the magi and noble families strongly believed that the king possesses certain qualities that are not to be found in other individuals. The king was, therefore, always from the Sasanian lineage and first-born princes were given preference over others. It was believed that the king must possess beauty, merit, and extraordinary bodily strength, and that he must be committed to th…
Ardashīr the Argbed
Cet article traite du début de la carrière d’Ardashīr Ier, le fondateur de la dynastie sassanide (224-240). L’auteur considère qu’Ardashīr a amorcé son ascension vers le pouvoir, non pas en tant que militaire, mais plutôt comme fonctionnaire des impôts de la ville de Dārābgerd. Son accès aux mines d’argent et de cuivre des environs lui aurait permis de financer sa conquête de la Perside (Fārs), puis de parvenir à poser les bases d’un empire écono…
Armenia and Iran
This paper discusses the idea of Armenian and Iranian identity in 3rd century CE. It is proposed that the bordering region of the Armeno-Iranian world, such as that of the Siwnik‘ and its house saw matters very differently from that of the Armenian kingdom. The Sasanians in return had a vastly different view of Armenia and Georgia as political entities, and used their differences to the benefit of their empire
The Sasanian Empire
Männerbund Aspects of Old Persian Anušiya
Fromzoroastrian to Islamic Iran
This essay discusses several Iranian copper coinswith Christian symbols and slogans in the context of the transition period from Sasanian to Islamic Iran in the 7thcentury CE. It is suggested that these coins demonstrate the power of the local Christian community in the province of Pārs and their ability to mint these coins whichwere circulated in the local economy. It appears that the Christians were able to mint coins, either with the invasion …
Sasanian Iran in the Context of Late Antiquity
The Iranian Männerbund Revisited
This article discusses some of the Iranian evidence in relation to the idea of Indo-European Männerbund , which first was brought forth by Stig Wikander. There have been objections to Wikander’s work due to the fact that he wrote it during the rise of Fascism and the War. It is suggested that, indeed, there is more than the meager Old and Middle Iranian evidence that points out to the existence of the male unions in the Iranian world. The article…
India and Iran in the Long Durée
A Note on the ‘Great King of Armenia’
The White Elephant
King of the Seven Climes
In a Middle Persian text known as Khusro and the Page, one of the most famous kings of the ancient Iranian world, Khusro I Anusheruwan, is called haft kiswar xawadāy ("the King of the Seven Climes"). This title harkens back to at least the Achaemenid period when it was in fact used, and even further back to a Zoroastrian/Avestan world view. From the earliest Iranian hymns, those of the Gāthās of Zarathushtra, through the Younger Avesta and later …
The Parthian and Early Sasanian Empires
Refashioning the Zoroastrian Past
Iraj Afshar
Persianate Contribution to the Study of Antiquity
This essay discusses the contribution of the Iranians to the understanding of their own past and how the Qajars attempted to place themselves within the ancient history of their realm. The first Iranian archaeological excavations and study of monuments and history are analysed and it is concluded that the choice of the Arsacid empire as an ancestor of the Qajars was part of their efforts to become nativised and connected with Iran's distant past
Michael Morony, An Academic Biography
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The Limits of Sasanian History
This essay discusses the position of Sasanian Studies from its inception in the late nineteenth century, to its reinvigoration at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The work also discusses the development of the field of Sasanian history and civilization vis-à-vis the three fields of Iranian, Islamic and Late Antique Studies. It is posited that Sasanians have benefited from cross-disciplinary and new historical frameworks that go beyond t…
From Oxus to Euphrates
For a long time, Sasanian studies were mainly cultivated by linguists and historians of religion, and the only standard work on the history of the Sasanian Empire was Arthur Christensen's L'Iran sous les Sassanides (Copenhagen 1936; second revised and expanded edition 1944). Only in recent years, Christensen's authority was challenged: Several new syntheses eventually allowed Late antique scholars to better understand the history and the structur…
Sasanian Persia
The Sasanians were the last of the ancient Persian dynasties, and the preeminent practitioners of the Zoroastrian religion. From its foundation by Ardashir I in 224 CE the Sasanian Empire was the dominant force in the region for several centuries until its last king, Yasdegerd III, was defeated by the Muslim Arabs in the 7th century. In this clear and comprehensive new book, Touraj Daryaee provides an unrivalled account of Sasanian Persia. Using …
The Construction of the Past in Late Antique Persia
L’expansion de l’empire sassanide est souvent vue comme une renaissance de l’empire achemenide. Neanmoins, les inscriptions sassanides ne se placent pas dans le lignage achemenides, ce qui a conduit a penser que ceux-ci avaient ete oublies. L’A. revient sur cette position : plusieurs indices montrent que les Sassanides connaissaient le passe achemenide, mais, placant leur legitimite dans une historiographie religieuse avestique, ils ont prefere s…
The Oxford Handbook of Iranian History
Contributors Maps Introduction, Touraj Daryaee 1. From Paleolithic Times to the Rise of the Achaemenid Empire, Kamyar Abdi 2. The Elamites, Daniel Potts 3. Avestan Culture, Prods Oktor Skjaervo 4. The Achaemenid Empire, Alireza Shapour Shahbazi 5. Iran at the time of Alexander the Great and the Seleucids, Evangelos Venetis 6. The Arsacids, Edward Dabrowa 7. The Sasanians, Touraj Daryaee 8. Iran in the Early Islamic History, Michael G. Morony 9. M…
The Fall of the Sasanian Empire to the Arab Muslims
The Fall of the Sasanian Empire to the Arab Muslims: From Two Centuries of Silence to Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: the Partho-Sasanian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran" published on 01 Jan 2010 by Brill
National History or Keyanid History
The Omission of the Achaemenids from Indigenous Accounts of Iranian history has puzzled many and led to the assumption that the Sasanids were unaware of the Achaemenids and did not have any historical memory of them; that, if anything, the Sasanids were heirs to the Parthians. The argument put forth is that, with some exceptions, sources from the Islamic period do not really show that the Sasanids knew about the Achaemenids. Indeed, it is correct…
The Study of Ancient Iran in the Twentieth Century
The following article discusses the development of ancient Iranian studies, namely the important philological, archaeological, religious, and historical discoveries in the twentieth century and how they have changed our views of ancient Iran and its impact on modern Iranian identity. The essay also previews the use and abuse of ancient Iranian studies by the state and their focus on the newly discovered Achaemenid Empire at the cost of Arsacid an…
Bazaars, Merchants, and Trade in Late Antique Iran
This essay discusses the formation of an economy in late antiquity with the coming of the Sassanian Empire in 224 CE. Local, imperial, regional, and international trade and the role of the state and traders and their relation with one another are previewed. Based on surviving evidence, one can see that a vibrant bazaar economy had developed in cities, protected by the imperial government and at times through the resettlement of populations from o…
Food, Purity and Pollution
This article discusses the use of food as a mode of differentiation and identification according to Zoroastrian Middle Persian and Persian texts of the late antique period. In these texts, the list of foods consumed by Arabs and Indians are juxtaposed with that of the Iranian diet, and each group is given anthropological treatment. The article contends that the Zoroastrian dietary law, based on the Middle Persian texts, provides a mode of purity …
Mind, Body, and the Cosmos
Board games were played in many parts of the ancient world and so it is very difficult to attribute the origin of any board game to a particular region or culture. Board games have been found in ancient Mesopotamia, the oldest from the city of Ur, but one must also mention the game of Senet in ancient Egypt. Often board games were placed in the tombs of the pharaohs and sometimes the dead are shown playing with the gods, for example one scene sho…
The Iranian Männerbund Revisited
This article discusses some of the Iranian evidence in relation to the idea of Indo-European Männerbund , which first was brought forth by Stig Wikander. There have been objections to Wikander’s work due to the fact that he wrote it during the rise of Fascism and the War. It is suggested that, indeed, there is more than the meager Old and Middle Iranian evidence that points out to the existence of the male unions in the Iranian world. The article…
From Oxus to Euphrates
For a long time, Sasanian studies were mainly cultivated by linguists and historians of religion, and the only standard work on the history of the Sasanian Empire was Arthur Christensen's L'Iran sous les Sassanides (Copenhagen 1936; second revised and expanded edition 1944). Only in recent years, Christensen's authority was challenged: Several new syntheses eventually allowed Late antique scholars to better understand the history and the structur…
Apocalypse Now
King of the Seven Climes
In a Middle Persian text known as Khusro and the Page, one of the most famous kings of the ancient Iranian world, Khusro I Anusheruwan, is called haft kiswar xawadāy ("the King of the Seven Climes"). This title harkens back to at least the Achaemenid period when it was in fact used, and even further back to a Zoroastrian/Avestan world view. From the earliest Iranian hymns, those of the Gāthās of Zarathushtra, through the Younger Avesta and later …
On the Explanation of Chess and Backgammon
On the Explanation of Chess and Backgammon is a Middle Persian text concerned with the earliest story of the invention and rules of the games of chess and backgammon in the sixth century CE, during the rule of the great Sasanian king of kings, Khusro I (531-579 CE). These games along with polo and the hunt were part of princely or courtly education in ancient Iran which continued till the modern times. From Sasanian Iran these games made their wa…
Marriage, Property and Conversion among the Zoroastrians
This essay discusses the impact of xwēdōdah or consanguine marriages, sanctioned by the Zoroastrian tradition on the population during a time of religious dialogue, and proselytizing in Ērānšahr (600-800 CE). I believe that advocacy for such a type of marriage was intensified in particular periods in Iranian history, namely the third century, when the Manichaeans challenged Zoroastrianism; and more importantly in the 6th century when Christianity…
The Effect of the Arab Muslim Conquest on the Administrative Division of Sasanian Persis / Fars
(2003). The Effect of the Arab Muslim Conquest on the Administrative Division of Sasanian Persis/Fars. Iran: Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 193-204
National History or Keyanid History
The Omission of the Achaemenids from Indigenous Accounts of Iranian history has puzzled many and led to the assumption that the Sasanids were unaware of the Achaemenids and did not have any historical memory of them; that, if anything, the Sasanids were heirs to the Parthians. The argument put forth is that, with some exceptions, sources from the Islamic period do not really show that the Sasanids knew about the Achaemenids. Indeed, it is correct…
Sasanian Persia (ca. 224–651 C.E.)
The Study of Sasanian History and Society has Received a Good share of attention in the past century. Hundreds of articles and several important books and monographs have contributed to our knowledge of the period. The most important monograph on the history of Iran from the third to the seventh century is that of Arthur Christensen. The book was written in the first half of the twentieth century, and although we have come to understand its short…
Apocalypse Now
Shamanistic Elements in Zoroastrianism
The parameters of the Shamanistic tradition has been fully outlined in the work of Eliade, where the Zoroastrian traditions has been given its due attention. One should begin by stating that the word Shaman itself appears to be connected with the Zoroastrian tradition, where its origin is assigned to eastern Iran/Central Asia
M. Kheirabadi. Iranian Cities, Formation and Development
Mind, Body, and the Cosmos
Board games were played in many parts of the ancient world and so it is very difficult to attribute the origin of any board game to a particular region or culture. Board games have been found in ancient Mesopotamia, the oldest from the city of Ur, but one must also mention the game of Senet in ancient Egypt. Often board games were placed in the tombs of the pharaohs and sometimes the dead are shown playing with the gods, for example one scene sho…
The Effect of the Arab Muslim Conquest on the Administrative Division of Sasanian Persis / Fars
(2003). The Effect of the Arab Muslim Conquest on the Administrative Division of Sasanian Persis/Fars. Iran: Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 193-204
Mohammad Ja'far Mahjoub. 'Obayd Zākānī
Ethnic and Territorial Boundaries in Late Antique and Early Medieval Persia (Third to Tenth Century)
This collection addresses an audience of early medievalists with an interest in material culture and its use in building ethnic boundaries. The traditional concept of frontier is a subject of current debate by historians and archaeologists alike, but sometimes without reference to each other. For instance, the social and cultural construction of (political) frontiers remains outside the current focus of post-processualist archaeology, despite the…
A Note on the Great Seal of Pērōz and Middle Persian nycny
The Construction of the Past in Late Antique Persia
L’expansion de l’empire sassanide est souvent vue comme une renaissance de l’empire achemenide. Neanmoins, les inscriptions sassanides ne se placent pas dans le lignage achemenides, ce qui a conduit a penser que ceux-ci avaient ete oublies. L’A. revient sur cette position : plusieurs indices montrent que les Sassanides connaissaient le passe achemenide, mais, placant leur legitimite dans une historiographie religieuse avestique, ils ont prefere s…
The Persian Gulf in Late Antiquity
The evidence of the history of the Persian Gulf in the pre-Islamic period is steadily growing. This is important because in comparison with the Mediterranean1 and the Black Sea,2 information on the Gulf is rather meager.3 This chapter does not attempt to provide a complete history of events, but rather focuses on the region's slow cyclical rhythms with a four-hundred-year perspective. The Parthian Empire (247 b.c.e.–224 c.e.), which ruled the Nea…
The Study of Ancient Iran in the Twentieth Century
The following article discusses the development of ancient Iranian studies, namely the important philological, archaeological, religious, and historical discoveries in the twentieth century and how they have changed our views of ancient Iran and its impact on modern Iranian identity. The essay also previews the use and abuse of ancient Iranian studies by the state and their focus on the newly discovered Achaemenid Empire at the cost of Arsacid an…
Bazaars, Merchants, and Trade in Late Antique Iran
This essay discusses the formation of an economy in late antiquity with the coming of the Sassanian Empire in 224 CE. Local, imperial, regional, and international trade and the role of the state and traders and their relation with one another are previewed. Based on surviving evidence, one can see that a vibrant bazaar economy had developed in cities, protected by the imperial government and at times through the resettlement of populations from o…
The Fall of the Sasanian Empire to the Arab Muslims
The Fall of the Sasanian Empire to the Arab Muslims: From Two Centuries of Silence to Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: the Partho-Sasanian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran" published on 01 Jan 2010 by Brill
The Sasanian Empire(224–651 ce)
The Arsacid dynasty found itself, at once, confronting the Romans, and experiencing internal dynastic quarrels. This era concluded with the defeat of the reigning monarch Ardawan IV at the hands of the rebel Ardashir and the latter's conquest of Persis/Fars. The Sasanian campaign ensued on a religious note: Ardashir's father Pabag, also a priest of the fire temple of the Zoroastrian goddess Anahid, rode on the religious factor to dethrone the exi…
Food, Purity and Pollution
This article discusses the use of food as a mode of differentiation and identification according to Zoroastrian Middle Persian and Persian texts of the late antique period. In these texts, the list of foods consumed by Arabs and Indians are juxtaposed with that of the Iranian diet, and each group is given anthropological treatment. The article contends that the Zoroastrian dietary law, based on the Middle Persian texts, provides a mode of purity …
The Oxford Handbook of Iranian History
Contributors Maps Introduction, Touraj Daryaee 1. From Paleolithic Times to the Rise of the Achaemenid Empire, Kamyar Abdi 2. The Elamites, Daniel Potts 3. Avestan Culture, Prods Oktor Skjaervo 4. The Achaemenid Empire, Alireza Shapour Shahbazi 5. Iran at the time of Alexander the Great and the Seleucids, Evangelos Venetis 6. The Arsacids, Edward Dabrowa 7. The Sasanians, Touraj Daryaee 8. Iran in the Early Islamic History, Michael G. Morony 9. M…
Marriage, Property and Conversion among the Zoroastrians
This essay discusses the impact of xwēdōdah or consanguine marriages, sanctioned by the Zoroastrian tradition on the population during a time of religious dialogue, and proselytizing in Ērānšahr (600-800 CE). I believe that advocacy for such a type of marriage was intensified in particular periods in Iranian history, namely the third century, when the Manichaeans challenged Zoroastrianism; and more importantly in the 6th century when Christianity…
Western and Central Eurasia
This chapter explores the effects of empire-building on both local economies and global connectivity, and the impact imperial expansion may have had on what one might call economic growth and complexity. It deals with agriculture and its development under imperial conditions. The chapter considers the impact of governance structures and taxation on ancient economies. By financing flood control and irrigation, and maintaining the bureaucracy to im…
The Cambridge World History
From 1200 BCE to 900 CE, the world witnessed the rise of powerful new states and empires, as well as networks of cross-cultural exchange and conquest. Considering the formation and expansion of these large-scale entities, this fourth volume of The Cambridge World History outlines key economic, political, social, cultural, and intellectual developments that occurred across the globe in this period. Leading scholars examine critical transformations…
The Parthian and Early Sasanian Empires
Refashioning the Zoroastrian Past
Iraj Afshar
Persianate Contribution to the Study of Antiquity
This essay discusses the contribution of the Iranians to the understanding of their own past and how the Qajars attempted to place themselves within the ancient history of their realm. The first Iranian archaeological excavations and study of monuments and history are analysed and it is concluded that the choice of the Arsacid empire as an ancestor of the Qajars was part of their efforts to become nativised and connected with Iran's distant past
History (44 works) · Eurasian Exchange Networks (38 works) · Ancient history (34 works) · Byzantine Studies and History (27 works) · History (25 works) · Ancient Near East History (22 works) · Archaeology (21 works) · Art (19 works) · Philosophy (19 works) · Islam (15 works)