The Limits of Sasanian History: Between Iranian,Islamic and Late Antique Studies

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 the traditional field of Iranian Studies, which was never as interested in the history of the period.     

Reviews

My Uncle Napoleon, Iraj Pezeshkzad, trans. Dick Davis, Washington, D.C.: Mage Publishers, 1996, 512 pp., $29.95.

Les textes vieil‐avestiques, vol. I: Introduction, text et traduction, Jean Kellens and Eric Pirart, Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 1988, 195 pp.

Reading Nasta^cliq: Persian and Urdu Hands from 1500 to the Present, William L. Hanaway and Brian Spooner, Costa Mesa, Calif.: Mazda Publishers, 1995, 278 pp.

Az Nima ta Ruzagar‐e Ma: Tarikh‐e Adab‐e Farsi‐ye Mo^caser (From Nima to Our Time: History of Contemporary Persian Letters), Yahya Arianpur, Tehran: Zavvar, 1374 (1995), 638 pp. + 48 pp. of photographs, title‐page reprints, etc.

The Green Sea of Heaven: Fifty Ghazals from the Diwan of Hafiz, trans. Elizabeth T. Gray, Jr., with an Introduction by Daryush Shayegan, Ashland, Ore.: White Cloud Press, 1995, x + 170 pp.

The Hafez Poems of Gertrude Bell, with the original Persian on the facing page, Bethesda, Md.: Iranbooks, 1995, 176 pp.

Iran und Turfan: Beiträge Berliner Wissenschaftler, Werner Sunder‐mann zum 60. Geburtstaggewidmet, ed. Christiane Reck and Peter Zieme, Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz, 1995, viii + 296 pp., photographs.

The History of al‐Tabari, vol. XXXIII: Storm and Stress Along the Northern Frontiers of the ^cAbbasid Caliphate, trans. and annot. C. E. Bosworth, Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies and Bibliotheca Persica, State University of New York Press, 1991.

Tales of Two Cities, Abbas Milani, Washington, D.C.: Mage, 1996, 263 pp., $24.95.

Avicenna and I: The Journey of Spirits, Manouchehr Parvin, Costa Mesa, Calif.: Mazda Publishers, 1996, 284 pp., $26.95 (cloth).

In A Voice of Their Own: A Collection of Stories by Iranian Women Written since the Revolution of 1979, trans. Franklin Lewis and Farzin Yazdanfar, Costa Mesa, Calif.: Mazda Publishers, 1996, 153 pp.     

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 and Sasanian dynasties.     

Reviews

Selected Onomastic Writings, Rüdiger Schmitt, edited by Winfried Breidbach and Philip Huyse, New York: Bibliotheca Persica Press, 2000, ISBN: 0–933273–42–8, 303pp., $48.00 (Mostly in German).

Hamid al‐Din al‐Kirmani: Isma'ili Thought in the Age of al‐Hakim, Paul E. Walker, London: I.B Tauris and the Institute of Ismaili Studies, 1999, ISBN 1 85043 321 3, xiv + 168pp., £25.00.

Intellectual Traditions in Islam, ed. Farhad Daftary, London and New York: I. B. Tauris in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2000, ISBN 1–86064–435‐X, xvii + 252 pp.

The Persian Presence in the Islamic World, ed. Richard G. Hovannisian and George Sabagh, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998, ISBN: 0–521–59185–6 (hb), 267 pp.

La Science dans le monde Iranien à I'époque islamique, Études réunies et présentées par ? Vesel, H. Beikbaghban et B. Thierry de Crussol des Epesse, Teheran: Institut Français de Recherche en Iran, Bibliothèque Iranienne 50, 1998, xxiv + 430pp, including general index, list of illustrations, and Persian table of contents.

Geschichte der Stadt Qom im Mittelalter (650–1350): politische und wirtschaftliche Aspekte, Andreas Drechsler, Berlin: Klaus Schwarz Verlag, 1999, Islamkundliche Untersuchungen, Bd. 224, ISSN: 0939–1940, ISBN 3–87997–276–1, 377 pp.

Al‐Khayyam Mathématicien, R. Rashed et B. Vahabzadeh, Paris: Librairie Scientifique et Technique, Albert Blanchard, 1999, ISBN 2–85367–210–7, x + 429 pp., incl. Arabic text, French translation, commentaries, appendices, indices, and glossary.

Omar Khayyam the Mathematician, R. Rashed & B. Vahabzadeh, New York: Bibliotheca Persica Press, 2000, Persian Heritage Series, No. 40, ISBN 0–933273–46–0, x + 268, including English translation, appendices, indices.

Historical Writing During the Reign of Shah ^cAbbas: Ideology, Imitation and Legitimacy in Safavid Chronicles, Sholeh A. Quinn, Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2000, ISBN 0–87480–643–7, (hardcover) 197 pp., 4 tables, 2 appendices, index, $32.50.

The Chronicle of Abraham of Crete, Abraham of Crete, annotated and trans. by George Bournoutian, Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Publishers, 1998, vi + 202 pp., including maps, glossary, bibliography, and index, cloth $26.95.

History of the Wars (1721–1738), Abraham of Erevan, annotated and trans, by George Bournoutian, Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Publishers, 1999, viii+112 pp., including maps, bibliography, and index, paperback $19.95.

Education, Religion, and the Discourse of Cultural Reform in Qajar Iran, Monica M. Ringer, Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Publishers, Inc., 2001, ISBN: 1–56859–131–4 (pb), 310 pp.

Die globale kapitalistische Expansion und Iran. Eine Studie der Iranischen Politischen Ökonomie (1500–1980), Mehdi Parvizi Amineh, Münster, Hamburg, and London: Lit Verlag, 1999, ISBN 3–8258–4440–0 (hb), DM 89.80, ISBN 3–8258–4439–0, (pb), DM 48.80, 684 pp., appendices, bibliography, index.

The CIA Documents & the Overthrow of Dr. Musaddiq of Iran, ed. Gholam‐reza Vatandoust, Tehran: RASA Publications, 2000.

Khomeini: Life of the Ayatollah, Baqer Moin, London: Tauris Publishers, 1999, New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000, ISBN: 0–312–26490–9, 352 pp., $27.95

Women, Work, & Islamism: Ideology & Resistance in Iran, Maryam Poya, London & New York: Zed Books, 1999, ISBN: 1–85649‐ 681–3.

Islam and Gender: The Religious Debate in Contemporary Iran, Ziba Mir‐Hosseini, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999, Princeton Studies in Muslim Politics, ISBN 0–691–01004–8, xxiv + 305 pp., cloth, $55.00, paper, $18.95.

Religious Minorities in Iran, Eliz Sanasarian, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000, xviii + 229 pp., tables, photographs, $59.95 (cloth).

Fathers and Sons: Stories from the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi, [Abolqasem] Firdawsi, translated from the Persian by Dick Davis, Washington, DC: Mage Publishers, 2000, 310 pp.

Literarische Verwendung persischer Termini und Redewendungen im Werke Sadeq Hedayats: ein Kompendium, Fakhrezzaman Schirazi‐Mahmoudian, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, Iranica, Bd. 4,1999, 981 pp., DM 176.

Histoire du cinema Iranien. 1900–1999, Mamad Haghighat and Frédéric Sabouraud, Paris: Cinéma du Réel, Bibliotheque Publique d'Information et Centre Georges Pompidou, 1999, ISBN: 2–84246–041–3, 247 pp

A Study of European, Persian and Arabic Loans in Standard Sorani, Jafar Hasanpoor, Uppsala: Uppsala University, 1999, Reports on Asian and African Studies (RAAS), 1, ISBN 91–506–1353–7, ISSN 1404–0743, 176 pp.

Amoo Norooz and Other Persian Stories, ed. Ahmad K. Jabbari, Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 2000, ISBN: 1–56859–065–2, (hardcover), 108 pp., illustrations.