Traditions of the Magi

Traditions of the Magi PDF Author: Albert F. de Jong
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004301461
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 510

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Book Description
This is the first full treatment of the Greek and Latin references to Zoroastrianism since the pioneering works of Benveniste, Bidez & Cumont, and Clemen. It focuses on the possibilities offered by the classical reports on Zoroastrianism to reconstruct the history of that faith. The book is divided into three sections. The first section deals with introductory problems concerning ancient religious ethnography and current views of the history of Zoroastrianism. The second section consists of commentaries on five selected passages. The third section offers a thematical overview of the materials and their relevance for the history of Iranian religions. Apart from offering introductions to a wide range of debates and topics in Classics and Iranian studies, the book aims to illustrate the diversity of beliefs and practices in ancient Zoroastrianism.

Traditions of the Magi

Traditions of the Magi PDF Author: Albert F. de Jong
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004301461
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 510

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Book Description
This is the first full treatment of the Greek and Latin references to Zoroastrianism since the pioneering works of Benveniste, Bidez & Cumont, and Clemen. It focuses on the possibilities offered by the classical reports on Zoroastrianism to reconstruct the history of that faith. The book is divided into three sections. The first section deals with introductory problems concerning ancient religious ethnography and current views of the history of Zoroastrianism. The second section consists of commentaries on five selected passages. The third section offers a thematical overview of the materials and their relevance for the history of Iranian religions. Apart from offering introductions to a wide range of debates and topics in Classics and Iranian studies, the book aims to illustrate the diversity of beliefs and practices in ancient Zoroastrianism.

Religion, Culture, and Politics in Pre-Islamic Iran

Religion, Culture, and Politics in Pre-Islamic Iran PDF Author: Bruce Lincoln
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004460292
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 433

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Book Description
In Religion, Culture, and Politics in Pre-Islamic Iran, Bruce Lincoln offers a vast overview on different aspects of the Indo-Iranian, Zoroastrian and Pre-Islamic mythologies, religions and cultural issues.

Time and Chronology in Creation Narratives

Time and Chronology in Creation Narratives PDF Author: Silvie Kilgallon
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1040099459
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 182

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Book Description
This book explores the ways in which the origins of time, of the gods, and processes associated with time were conceptualised in antiquity, examining a variety of ancient sources from across the ancient world and addressing issues surrounding the sources themselves. Time is a key framework through which we understand the world around us. Shared structures to measure the passage of time reveal certain cultural and societal values, while time’s less concrete forms are evident across art and literature. This volume examines how the tangible and intangible, direct and complex representations of time are used in ancient sources. The chapters in this book are written by scholars whose work focuses on India, Assyria, Greece, and Rome. Their analyses explore poetic and mythological narratives, philosophical discourse, and representations of the divine, allowing us to see how ideas about time and chronology reveal various cultural understandings of our world. Accessibly written, this volume enables scholars from a variety of disciplines to engage effectively with each chapter. Time and Chronology in Creation Narratives offers a fascinating interdisciplinary collection suitable for scholars working in ancient literature, philosophy, and religion across Classics, Ancient History, Indology, and Near Eastern Studies.

From Cyrus to Alexander

From Cyrus to Alexander PDF Author: Pierre Briant
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 1575065746
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1217

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Book Description
Around 550 B.C.E. the Persian people—who were previously practically unknown in the annals of history—emerged from their base in southern Iran (Fars) and engaged in a monumental adventure that, under the leadership of Cyrus the Great and his successors, culminated in the creation of an immense Empire that stretched from central Asia to Upper Egypt, from the Indus to the Danube. The Persian (or Achaemenid, named for its reigning dynasty) Empire assimilated an astonishing diversity of lands, peoples, languages, and cultures. This conquest of Near Eastern lands completely altered the history of the world: for the first time, a monolithic State as vast as the future Roman Empire arose, expanded, and matured in the course of more than two centuries (530–330) and endured until the death of Alexander the Great (323), who from a geopolitical perspective was “the last of the Achaemenids.” Even today, the remains of the Empire-the terraces, palaces, reliefs, paintings, and enameled bricks of Pasargadae, Persepolis, and Susa; the impressive royal tombs of Naqsh-i Rustam; the monumental statue of Darius the Great-serve to remind visitors of the power and unprecedented luxury of the Great Kings and their loyal courtiers (the “Faithful Ones”). Though long eclipsed and overshadowed by the towering prestige of the “ancient Orient” and “eternal Greece,” Achaemenid history has emerged into fresh light during the last two decades. Freed from the tattered rags of “Oriental decadence” and “Asiatic stagnation,” research has also benefited from a continually growing number of discoveries that have provided important new evidence-including texts, as well as archaeological, numismatic, and iconographic artifacts. The evidence that this book assembles is voluminous and diverse: the citations of ancient documents and of the archaeological evidence permit the reader to follow the author in his role as a historian who, across space and time, attempts to understand how such an Empire emerged, developed, and faded. Though firmly grounded in the evidence, the author’s discussions do not avoid persistent questions and regularly engages divergent interpretations and alternative hypotheses. This book is without precedent or equivalent, and also offers an exhaustive bibliography and thorough indexes. The French publication of this magisterial work in 1996 was acclaimed in newspapers and literary journals. Now Histoire de l’Empire Perse: De Cyrus a Alexandre is translated in its entirety in a revised edition, with the author himself reviewing the translation, correcting the original edition, and adding new documentation. Pierre Briant, Chaire Histoire et civilisation du monde achémenide et de l’empire d’Alexandre, Collège de France, is a specialist in the history of the Near East during the era of the Persian Empire and the conquests of Alexander. He is the author of numerous books. Peter T. Daniels, the translator, is an independent scholar, editor, and translator who studied at Cornell University and the University of Chicago. He lives and works in New York City.

The Letter and the Spirit

The Letter and the Spirit PDF Author: Robert M. Grant
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1556359586
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 173

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Book Description
Many aspects of the thought of the Fathers are strange to us, and as a result we tend to value their writings for their spiritual rather than their intellectual content. In particular, we find it difficult to follow them in their use of allegorical methods of biblical interpretation. Dr. Grant is concerned with understanding these methods, with special reference to those employed by Origen. For this purpose, he first traces the development of Greek theories of the interpretation of poetry and then examines the treatment of the Old Testament found in Hellenistic and other Jewish writers and in the New Testament. This is followed by an account of Patristic methods of exegesis, culminating in what he describes as the climax of allegorization in the writings of Clement of Alexandria and, even more significantly, of Origen. In conclusion, Dr. Grant suggests some parallels between these ancient methods of interpretation and certain modern developments. The result is a fascinating study of the exegesis of sacred writings, ranging from Xenophanes to Bultmann and from Pythagoras to Dibelius. Though it is not specifically a theological treatise, the book is dealing all the time with a basically theological question, the meaning of inspiration, and Dr. Grant's erudition over a wide field of scholarship will throw new light on his subject and will help toward a truer evaluation of the work of the Fathers.

Persian Responses

Persian Responses PDF Author: Christopher Tuplin
Publisher: Classical Press of Wales
ISBN: 1910589462
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 397

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Book Description
A generation ago the Achaemenid Empire was a minor sideshow within long-established disciplines. For Greek historians the Persians were the defeated national enemy, a catalyst of change in the aftermath of the fall of Athens or the victim of Alexander. For Egyptologists and Assyriologists they belonged to an era that received scant attention compared with the glory days of the New Kingdom or the Neo-Assyrian Empire. For most archaeologists they were elusive in a material record that lacked a distinctively Achaemenid imprint. Things have changed now. The empire is an object of study in its own right, and a community of Achaemenid specialists has emerged to carry that study forward. Such communities are, however, apt to talk among themselves and the present volume aims to give a professional but non-specialist audience some taste of the variety of subject-matter and discourse that typifies Achaemenid studies. The broad theme of political and cultural interaction - reflecting the empire's diversity and the nature of our sources for its history - is illustrated in fourteen chapters that move from issues in Greek historiography through a series of regional studies (Egypt, Anatolia, Babylonia and Persia) to Zarathushtra, Alexander the Great and the early modern reception of Persepolis.

Annali

Annali PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Asia
Languages : en
Pages : 550

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Book Description


The Idea of Iran

The Idea of Iran PDF Author: Gherardo Gnoli
Publisher: ISIAO
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description


Zoroaster in History

Zoroaster in History PDF Author: Gherardo Gnoli
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description


Encyclopaedia Iranica

Encyclopaedia Iranica PDF Author: Ehsan Yarshater
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Iran
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description