Intangible Spirits and Graven Images: The Iconography of Deities in the Pre-Islamic Iranian World

Intangible Spirits and Graven Images: The Iconography of Deities in the Pre-Islamic Iranian World PDF Author: Michael Shenkar
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004281495
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 414

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Book Description
Winner of the the Roman and Tania Ghirshman Prize 2015 by the French Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. This prize was established in 1973 by the donation made by Roman Ghirshman, one of the prominent French archaeologists of Pre-Islamic Iran. It is awarded annually for a publication in the field of Pre-Islamic Iranian Studies. In Intangible Spirits and Graven Images, Michael Shenkar investigates the perception of ancient Iranian deities and their representation in the Iranian cults. This ground-breaking study traces the evolution of the images of these deities, analyses the origin of their iconography, and evaluates their significance. Shenkar also explores the perception of anthropomorphism and aniconism in ancient Iranian religious imagery, with reference to the material evidence and the written sources, and reassesses the value of the Avestan and Middle Persian texts that are traditionally employed to illuminate Iranian religious imagery. In doing so, this book provides important new insights into the religion and culture of ancient Iran prior to the Islamic conquest.

Intangible Spirits and Graven Images: The Iconography of Deities in the Pre-Islamic Iranian World

Intangible Spirits and Graven Images: The Iconography of Deities in the Pre-Islamic Iranian World PDF Author: Michael Shenkar
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004281495
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 414

Get Book Here

Book Description
Winner of the the Roman and Tania Ghirshman Prize 2015 by the French Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. This prize was established in 1973 by the donation made by Roman Ghirshman, one of the prominent French archaeologists of Pre-Islamic Iran. It is awarded annually for a publication in the field of Pre-Islamic Iranian Studies. In Intangible Spirits and Graven Images, Michael Shenkar investigates the perception of ancient Iranian deities and their representation in the Iranian cults. This ground-breaking study traces the evolution of the images of these deities, analyses the origin of their iconography, and evaluates their significance. Shenkar also explores the perception of anthropomorphism and aniconism in ancient Iranian religious imagery, with reference to the material evidence and the written sources, and reassesses the value of the Avestan and Middle Persian texts that are traditionally employed to illuminate Iranian religious imagery. In doing so, this book provides important new insights into the religion and culture of ancient Iran prior to the Islamic conquest.

The Iranian Expanse

The Iranian Expanse PDF Author: Matthew P. Canepa
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520964365
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 512

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Book Description
The Iranian Expanse explores how kings in Persia and the ancient Iranian world utilized the built and natural environment to form and contest Iranian cultural memory, royal identity, and sacred cosmologies. Investigating over a thousand years of history, from the Achaemenid period to the arrival of Islam, The Iranian Expanse argues that Iranian identities were built and shaped not by royal discourse alone, but by strategic changes to Western Asia’s cities, sanctuaries, palaces, and landscapes. The Iranian Expanse critically examines the construction of a new Iranian royal identity and empire, which subsumed and subordinated all previous traditions, including those of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Anatolia. It then delves into the startling innovations that emerged after Alexander under the Seleucids, Arsacids, Kushans, Sasanians, and the Perso-Macedonian dynasties of Anatolia and the Caucasus, a previously understudied and misunderstood period. Matthew P. Canepa elucidates the many ruptures and renovations that produced a new royal culture that deeply influenced not only early Islam, but also the wider Persianate world of the Il-Khans, Safavids, Timurids, Ottomans, and Mughals.

IRANIAN COMPLEXITIES: A STUDY IN ACHAEMENID, AVESTAN, AND SASANIAN CONTROVERSIES

IRANIAN COMPLEXITIES: A STUDY IN ACHAEMENID, AVESTAN, AND SASANIAN CONTROVERSIES PDF Author: Abolala Soudavar
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1387826085
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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Book Description
The monotheistic ideology that Darius imposed on the nascent Achaemenid state resulted in a religious revolution with far reaching effects, as it reverberated on two different levels. At the top level, the imposition of an omnipotent abstract god, Ahura Mazda, created a sharp reaction that led to the general massacre of the opposition termed as Magophonia by Herodotus. Several centuries of doctrinal development led to Zoroastrianism, a religion marked by the art of compromise and virulent rhetoric. While the Zoroastrian influence on Abrahamic religions has mainly been investigated in respect to borrowed concepts such as Paradise or Day of Judgment, its influence on the art of compromise and rhetoric has been neglected. So has been the influence of its underground opposition, organized as brotherhood. The underground opposition affected early Christianity, while the Iranian clergy influenced the Judaic priesthood. Together, they ended up affecting Islam

Sasanian Persia

Sasanian Persia PDF Author: Touraj Daryaee
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0755618432
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 267

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Book Description
Of profound importance in late antiquity, the Sasanian Empire is virtually unknown today, except as a counterpoint to the Roman Empire. In this highly readable history, Touraj Daryaee fills a significant gap in our knowledge of world history. He examines the Sasanians' complex and colourful narrative and demonstrates their unique significance, not only for development of Iranian civilization but also for Roman and Islamic history. The Sasanians were the last of the ancient Persian dynasties and are best known as the pre-eminent practitioners of the Zoroastrian religion. Founded by Ardashir l in 224 CE, the Sasanian Empire was the dominant force in the Middle East for several centuries until its last king, Yazdgerd lll, was defeated by the Muslim Arabs in the seventh century. In this concise yet comprehensive book, Touraj Daryaee provides an unrivalled account of Sasanian Persia. Drawing on extensive new sources, he paints a vivid portrait of Sasanian life and unravels the divergent strands that contributed to the making of this great empire. This new edition includes updated economic and political histories as well as several inscriptions that have been found in recent years.

Archaeology of Iran in the Historical Period

Archaeology of Iran in the Historical Period PDF Author: Kamal-Aldin Niknami
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 303041776X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 379

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Book Description
This collection of twenty-eight essays presents an up-to-date survey of pre-Islamic Iran, from the earliest dynasty of Illam to the end of Sasanian empire, encompassing a rich diversity of peoples and cultures. Historically, Iran served as a bridge between the earlier Near Eastern cultures and the later classical world of the Mediterranean, and had a profound influence on political, military, economic, and cultural aspects of the ancient world. Written by international scholars and drawing mainly on the field of practical archaeology, which traditionally has shared little in the way of theories and methods, the book provides crucial pieces to the puzzle of the national identity of Iranian cultures from a historical perspective. Revealing the wealth and splendor of ancient Iranian society – its rich archaeological data and sophisticated artistic craftsmanship – most of which has never before been presented outside of Iran, this beautifully illustrated book presents a range of studies addressing specific aspects of Iranian archaeology to show why the artistic masterpieces of ancient Iranians rank among the finest ever produced. Together, the authors analyze how archaeology can inform us about our cultural past, and what remains to still be discovered in this important region.

ARAM 26 Black & White Paperback

ARAM 26 Black & White Paperback PDF Author: ARAM SOCIETY
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 132671743X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 446

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Book Description
This volume comprises the proceedings of the 2014 Conferences on Zoroastrianism in the Levant and the Amorites, held at Oxford, Oriental Institute.

Armenia between Byzantium and the Orient

Armenia between Byzantium and the Orient PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004397744
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 736

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Book Description
This volume commemorating the late Armenian scholar Karen Yuzbashyan comprises studies of mediaeval Armenian culture, including the reception of biblical and parabiblical texts, theological literature, liturgy, hagiography, manuscript studies, Church history and secular history, and Christian art and material culture. Special attention is paid to early Christian and late Jewish texts and traditions preserved in documents written in Armenian. Several contributions focus on the interactions of Armenia with other cultures both within and outside the Byzantine Commonwealth: Greek, Georgian, Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopic, and Iranian. Select contributions may serve as initial reference works for their respective topics (the catalogue of Armenian khachkars in the diaspora and the list of Armenian Catholicoi in Tzovk’).

Babylonian Jews and Sasanian Imperialism in Late Antiquity

Babylonian Jews and Sasanian Imperialism in Late Antiquity PDF Author: Simcha Gross
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 100928052X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 359

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Book Description
Offers a radically new account of Babylonian Jewish and rabbinic engagement and negotiation with Sasanian rule.

Figurines

Figurines PDF Author: Jaś Elsner
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192605283
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
Figurines are objects of handling. As touchable objects, they engage the viewer in different ways from flat art, whether relief sculpture or painting. Unlike the voyeuristic relationship of viewing a neatly framed pictorial narrative as if from the outside, the viewer as handler is always potentially and without protection within the narrative of figurines. As such, they have potential for a potent, even animated, agency in relation to those who use them. This volume concerns figurines as archaeologically-attested materials from literate cultures with surviving documents that have no direct links of contiguity, appropriation, or influence in relation to each other. It is an attempt to put the category of the figurine on the table as a key conceptual and material problematic in the art history of antiquity. It does so through comparative juxtaposition of close-focused chapters drawn from deep art-historical engagement with specific ancient cultures - Chinese, pre-Columbian Mesoamerican, and Greco-Roman. It encourages comparative conversation across the disciplines that constitute the art history of the ancient world through finding categories and models of discourse that may offer fertile ground for comparison and antithesis. It extends the rich and astute literature on prehistoric figurines into understanding the figurine in historical contexts, where literary texts and documents, inscriptions, or surviving terminologies can be adduced alongside material culture. At stake are issues of figuration and anthropomorphism, miniaturization and portability, one-off production and replication, and substitution and scale at the interface of archaeology and art history.

The History and Culture of Iran and Central Asia

The History and Culture of Iran and Central Asia PDF Author: D. G. Tor
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Pess
ISBN: 0268202087
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 398

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Book Description
This volume examines the major cultural, religious, political, and urban changes that took place in the Iranian world of Inner and Central Asia in the transition from the pre-Islamic to the Islamic periods. One of the major civilizations of the first millennium was that of the Iranian linguistic and cultural world, which stretched from today’s Iraq to what is now the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China. No other region of the world underwent such radical transformation, which fundamentally altered the course of world history, as this area did during the centuries of transition from the pre-Islamic to the Islamic period. This transformation included the religious victory of Islam over Buddhism, Nestorian Christianity, and the other religions of the area; the military and political wresting of Inner Asia from the Chinese to the Islamic sphere of primary cultural influence; and the shifting of Central Asia from a culturally and demographically Iranian civilization to a Turkic one. This book contains essays by many of the preeminent scholars working in the fields of archeology, history, linguistics, and literature of both the pre-Islamic and the Islamic-era Iranian world, shedding light on some of the most significant aspects of the major changes that this important portion of the Asian continent underwent during this tumultuous era in its history. This collection of cutting-edge research will be read by scholars of Middle Eastern, Central Asian, Iranian, and Islamic studies and archaeology. Contributors: D. G. Tor, Frantz Grenet, Nicholas Sims-Williams, Etsuko Kageyama, Yutaka Yoshida, Michael Shenkar, Minoru Inaba, Rocco Rante, Arezou Azad, Sören Stark, Louise Marlow, Gabrielle van den Berg, and Dilnoza Duturaeva.