Reviews

Religions of the Silk Road: Overland Trade and Cultural Exchange from Antiquity to the Fifteenth Century , Richard C. Foltz, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999. 186 pp., ISBN 0–312–21408–1.

Greek Thought, Arabic Culture: The Graeco‐Arabic Translation Movement in Baghdad and Early ^cAbbasid Society (2nd‐4th/8th‐10th centuries) , by Dimitri Gutas, London and New York: Routledge, 1998.

A Short History of the Isma^cilis. Traditions of a Muslim community , Farhad Daftary, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1998, viii + 248 pp. (Islamic Surveys).

Napoleon and Persia: Franco‐Persian Relations under the First Empire , Iradj Amini, Washington, D.C.: Mage Publishers, 1999, 228 pp.

Napoléon et la Perse: Les relations franco‐persanes sous le Premier Empire , Iradj Amini, Paris: Fondation Napoléon, 1995, 254 pp.

A Literary History of Persia , Edward G. Browne, 4 volumes, reprinted Iran‐books / Ibex Publishers, Bethesda 1997.

The Divan‐i Hafiz , H. Wilberforce‐Clarke, reprinted Iranbooks/Ibex Publishers, Bethesda, 1998.

Modern Persian Prose Literature , Hassan Kamshad, reprinted Iranbooks/Ibex Publishers, Bethesda, 1996.

Borrowed Ware: Medieval Persian Epigrams ,Dick Davis, trans., Washington, D.C.: Mage, 1997, 203 pp.

Asemun Rismun , Iraj Pezeshkzad, Bethesda, Maryland: Iranbooks,1997, x +300 pp., includes biographical reference and index, ISBN 0–936347–79–1.

La belle rivale de Farah et les jeux du destin , Anna‐Lisa Vafa, Paris: Les Editions la Bruyère, 1998, 103 pp.

The Arrest of Hoveyda: Stories of the Iranian Revolution , Saïdeh Pakravan, Costa Mesa, California: Blind Owl Press (an imprint of Mazda Publishers), 1998, 134 pp.

A World Between: Poems, Short Stories, and Essays by Iranian Americans , edited by Persis M. Karim and Mohammad Mehdi Khorrami, New York: George Braziller, 1999, xxvii + 254 pp.

The Sands of Oxus: Boyhood Reminiscences of Sadriddin Aini , trans., with an introduction, by John R. Perry and Rachel Lehr, Costa Mesa: Mazda Publishers, 1998, 275 pp., illus., maps, ISBN 1–56859–078–4.

Tajikistan:The Trials of Independence , eds. Mohammad‐Reza Djalili, Frédéric Grare, and Shirin Akiner, Richmond (UK): Curzon Press, 1998.

Central Asia meets the Middle East , David Menashri, ed., London & Portland, OR.: Frank Cass & Co Ltd., 1998, ISBN 0–7146–4600–8 (cloth), 9–7146–4129–4 (paper), xiii + 240 pp., map, index.

Arab‐Iranian Relations , Khair El‐Din Haseeb (ed.), Beirut/London: Centre for Arab Unity Studies/Brítish Academic Press, 1998, 564 pp., $59.50 (hardcover).

The Armenians of Iran: The Paradoxical Role of a Minority in a Dominant Culture , ed. Cosroe Chaqueri, Cambridge: Harvard Center for Middle Eastern Studies, 1998, 408 pp., photographs.

Women and the Political Process in Twentieth‐Century Iran , Parvin Paidar, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995, xvi+401 pp.

Secularization of Iran: A Doomed Failure? The New Middle Class and the Making of Modern Iran , Azadeh Kian‐Thiébault, Paris, France: Diffusion Peet‐ers, Travaux et mémoires de l'Institut d'études iraniennes, numéro 3, 1998, 296 pps.

An Islamic Utopian: a political biography of Ali Shari^cati , Ali Rahnema. London and New York: I.B. Tauris (St. Martin's Press), 1998. xiii, 418 pp., bibliography, index, ISBN 1–86064–118–0.

Persian Painting ,Sheila R. Canby, New York: Thames and Hudson, 1993, 128 pp., 43 color and 44 black‐and‐white illustrations, map, bibliography, index, ISBN 0–500–27730–3.

Early Persian tilework: the medieval flowering of kashi , Douglas Pickett, Madison, Teaneck, and London: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press and Associated University Presses, 1997, 211 pp.

The Persian Garden: Echoes of Paradise , Mehdi Khansari, M. Reza Moghtader, and Minouch Yavari, Washington, D.C.: Mage Publishers, 1998, 169 pp.     

Empowering the Local Saharawi People: Training for Rock Art Documentation in Western Sahara (DARSSO Project)

The former Spanish Sahara is the last remaining colony in Africa. Most of the local people have been living in refugee camps in Algeria for the last 40 years and this situation has largely conditioned the archaeological research in the territory for a long time. In spite of the Saharawi Ministry of Culture in exile occasionally collaborating with European academic institutions for the study of its huge archaeological heritage, the training of local archaeologists or initiatives exclusively aimed at targeting the self-management of the Saharawi Archaeology are rarely carried out. This could be due to the difficulties in getting funds for long-term projects in this area, among other factors. However, today’s technological revolution has come to the desert including mobile telephones, televisions, computers and even an incipient Internet connection. At the same time, current digital technology has encouraged the development of new methods of documenting rock paintings, which might be appropriate and more accessible for the Saharawi technicians. This paper discusses the successful and failed aspects, as well as future perspectives, of a training course in rock art documentation intended for empowering local archaeologists who are living in very unfavourable circumstances.     

Development and Decline of the Bampur Valley,Based on the New Archaeological Evidence from Prehistoric Period

This paper consists of some of the findings of the authors during their research at prehistoric sites of Bampur and its surrounding areas in August 2011. These areas, which have been introduced as Bampur-related sites, comprise an area about of 5–10 kilometers and belong to the Bronze Age. The paper introduces, categorizes and analyzes the archaeological findings in relation to the Bampur collection. The archaeological findings show that: (1) unlike the previous belief, there existed a peak settlement dated back to the Chah Husseini period which was prior to Bampur I; (2) in fact, Bampur II–IV had larger populations due to growth of trade and commerce and their relations with Yahya and Mesopotamia; (3) the later periods of the Bampur collection show a decreasing number of sites at Bampur VI.     

Iranian Journalism and the Law in the Twentieth Century

Although the first Persian language newspaper was published in Iran 170 years ago, Iranian journalism is a twentieth century creation, indeed a product of the 1906 Constitutional Revolution. The press played a significant part in the revolution, especially by promoting the demand for the rule of laws enacted by parliament, rather than decrees issued by the king or the religious leaders. Once a constitution had been declared, many journalists felt relieved of all restrictions and engaged in bitter, personal attacks on their opponents, including the monarch and his family. Many papers also opposed a press law that was passed soon after the revolution, arguing that it was meant to suppress their newly-gained freedom. Five more press laws have been passed in Iran since then, but the debate over press freedom and the rule of law in the country does not appear to be anywhere near resolution.