DOCSLIB.ORG

Bahrām Čūbīn in Early Arabic and Persian Historiography – Why So Many Stories?

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Bahrām Čūbīn in Early Arabic and Persian Historiography – Why So Many Stories? Faculty of Arts University of Helsinki Bahrām Čūbīn in Early Arabic and Persian Historiography – Why so many stories? Joonas Maristo Doctoral dissertation, to be presented for public discussion with the permission of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Helsinki in, Auditorium P673, Porthania, on the 20th of May, 2020 at 12 o’clock. Bahrām Čūbīn in Early Arabic and Persian Historiography – Why so many stories? Joonas Maristo University of Helsinki Faculty of Arts Doctoral Programme in History and Cultural Heritage Supervisors: Professor Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila (University of Edinburgh) Docent Dr. Ilkka Lindstedt (University of Helsinki) Pre-examiners: Professor Sarah Bowen Savant (Aga Khan University) Professor A.C.S. Peacock (University of St Andrews) Opponent: Professor Sarah Bowen Savant (Aga Khan University) Custos Professor Hannu Juusola (University of Helsinki) The Faculty of Arts uses the Urkund system (plagiarism recognition) to examine all doctoral dissertations. ISBN 978-951-51-6052-2 (nid.) ISBN 978-951-51-6053-9 (PDF) Printed in Finland by Unigrafia Helsinki 2020 Abstract This doctoral dissertation discusses the transmission and evolution of Bahrām Čūbīn stories in early Arabic and Persian historiography in fourteen source texts. Bahrām Čūbīn (d. 591) was a historical figure and general in the Sasanian army during the reigns of Hurmuzd IV (r. 579–590) and Khusraw II (r. 591–628). The original stories were written in Middle Persian probably at the end of the 6th century or at the beginning of the 7th century and then translated into Arabic in the 8th century. Both the Pahlavi versions and early Arabic translations are irretrievably lost. The extant versions are based on the Arabic translations. The corpus includes fourteen Arabic and Persian texts: Ibn Qutayba’s (d. 889) Kitāb al-Maʿārif, al-Dīnawarī’s (d. ca. 903) Kitāb al-Akhbār al-Ṭiwāl, Al-Yaʿqūbī’s (d. ca. 905), Taʾrīkh, al-Ṭabarī’s (d. 923) Taʾrīkh al-Rusul wa-l-Mulūk, al-Masʿūdī’s Murūj al-Dhahab wa-Maʿādin al-Jawhar (written in 956), Balʿamī’s Tārīkhnāma-yi Ṭabarī (written after 963), Al-Maqdisī’s Kitāb al-Badʾ wa-l-Taʾrīkh (written 966), anonymous Nihāyat al-Arab fī Akhbār al-Furs wa-l-ʿArab (ca. 1000–1050), Firdawsī’s (d. 1020) Šāhnāma, al-Ṯaʿālibī’s (d. 1038) Ghurar Akhbār Mulūk al-Furs wa-Siyari-him, Gardīzī’s Zayn al-Akhbār (written before 1052), Ibn al-Balkhī’s Fārsnāma (written after 1126), anonymous Mujmal al-Tawārīkh wa-l-Qiṣaṣ (written after 1126), and Ibn al-Aṯīr’s Kitāb al-Kāmil fī al-Taʾrīkh (written before 1233). These are the oldest extant Arabic and Persian texts including versions of the story of Bahrām Čūbīn. The findings of this dissertation include mapping the connections within the corpus, presenting textual evidence about the transmission, establishing probable lines of transmission and excluding others, and providing reasons for the diversity within the corpus. The study aims to answer the following questions: How are the texts linked together? What sources did the fourteen Arabic and Persian texts use? How were the stories of Bahrām Čūbīn transmitted? What can explain the diversity of the versions? Why did the Bahrām Čūbīn story continue to appeal to the writers? What characteristics did the stories of Bahrām Čūbīn have in the beginning? I argue that the extant versions must be based on multiple early Arabic adaptations which are based on multiple Pahlavi originals. The findings of this study deepen our understanding of the transmission of the Persian cultural and literary heritage, of which Bahrām Čūbīn stories form a part, in early Islamic historiography and bring forth many new connections and details within the corpus. The study provides lines of inquiry and material for further studies. i Tiivistelmä Tämä väitöskirja käsittelee Bahrām Čūbīn -tarinoiden välittymistä ja kehittymistä varhaisessa arabian- ja persiankielisessä historiankirjoituksessa neljässätoista kirjallisessa lähteessä. Bahrām Čūbīn (k. 591) oli historiallinen henkilö, joka toimi sotapäällikkönä sasanidi-Persiassa (226–651 jaa.) Hormizd IV:n (579–590) ja Khosrau II:n (591–628) hallintokausilla. Tarinat kirjoitettiin todennäköisesti pian Bahrām Čūbīnin kuoleman jälkeen 500-luvun lopulla tai 600-luvun alussa pahlaviksi ja käännettiin myöhemmin 700-luvulla arabiaksi. Vaikka alkuperäiset pahlaviversiot ja varhaiset arabialaiset käännökset ovat lopullisesti kadonneet, jäljellä olevat arabian- ja persiankieliset tekstit perustuvat ensimmäisiin arabialaisiin käännöksiin. Korpus käsittää neljätoista arabian- ja persiankielistä tekstiä: Ibn Qutayban (d. 889) Kitāb al- Maʿārif, al-Dīnawarīn (k. n. 903) Kitāb al-Akhbār al-Ṭiwāl, Al-Yaʿqūbīn (k. n. 905), Taʾrīkh, al-Ṭabarīn (k. 923) Taʾrīkh al-Rusul wa-l-Mulūk, al-Masʿūdīn Murūj al-Dhahab wa-Maʿādin al-Jawhar (kirjoitettu 956), Balʿamīn Tārīkhnāma-yi Ṭ abarī (kirjoitettu vuoden 963 jälkeen), al-Maqdisīn Kitāb al-Badʾ wa- l-Taʾrīkh (kirjoitettu 966), anonyymi Nihāyat al-Arab fī Akhbār al-Furs wa-l-ʿArab (kirjoitettu n. 1000– 1050), Firdawsīn (k. 1020) Šāhnāma, al-Ṯaʿālibīn (k. 1038) Ghurar Akhbār Mulūk al-Furs wa-Siyari- him, Gardīzīn Zayn al-Akhbār (kirjoitettu ennen vuotta 1052), Ibn al-Balkhīn Fārsnāma (kirjoitettu vuoden 1126 jälkeen), anonyymi Mujmal al-Tawārīkh wa-l-Qiṣaṣ (kirjoitettu vuoden 1126 jälkeen), and Ibn al-Aṯīrin Kitāb al-Kāmil fī al-Taʾrīkh (kirjoitettu ennen vuotta 1233). Tekstit ovat varhaisimmat säilyneet arabian- ja persiankieliset tekstit, jotka pitävät sisällään Bahrām Čūbīn- tarinan versioita. Väitöskirjan tutkimustulokset auttavat ymmärtämään, miten korpuksen tekstit liittyvät toisiinsa ja miten tarinat ovat välittyneet. Tutkimus pyrkii vastaamaan seuraaviin kysymyksiin: Miten tekstit liittyvät toisiinsa? Mihin lähteisiin neljätoista tekstiä perustuvat? Miten Bahrām Čūbīn -tarinat ovat välittyneet? Mikä selittää versioiden moninaisuutta? Mikä teki Bahrām Čūbīn -tarinoista kiinnostavia satoja vuosia henkilön kuoleman jälkeen? Mitä sisällöllisiä elementtejä tarinan ensimmäiset versiot sisälsivät? Väitän, että säilyneet tekstit pohjautuvat moniin arabiankielisiin versioihin, jotka puolestaan perustuvat moniin eri pahlavinkielisiin alkuperäisteksteihin. Löydökset syventävät tietämystämme persialaisen kulttuurihistorian ja kirjallisuuden välittymisestä varhaiseen islamilaiseen historiankirjoitukseen. Tutkimus tarjoaa uusia lähestymistapoja ja materiaalia tulevalle tutkimukselle. ii Contents Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................ 2 Transliteration ...................................................................................................................................... 5 Abbreviations ....................................................................................................................................... 6 Part I – Context and sources ................................................................................................................ 7 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 8 1.1. The historical Bahrām Čūbīn ......................................................................................................... 8 1.2. Middle Persian literature and its transmission to the Islamic period ........................................ 11 1.2.1. Translators and translations from Middle Persian to Arabic ............................................... 12 1.2.2. How mediaeval translators (authors) worked ..................................................................... 15 1.2.3. Khwadāynāmag .................................................................................................................... 16 1.2.4. Orality-literacy continuum ................................................................................................... 16 1.3. Arabic and Persian Historiography ............................................................................................. 18 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 18 1.3.1. Arabic historiography ........................................................................................................... 19 1.3.2. Persian historiography ......................................................................................................... 21 1.3.3. Historical thinking and schemes of mediaeval Arabic and Persian historiography ............. 22 1.3.4. Bahrām Čūbīn in scholarship ............................................................................................... 24 1.4. Iranian national history and the Persian context ....................................................................... 26 1.4.1. Šuʿūbīs and šuʿūbiyya ‘movement’....................................................................................... 26 1.4.2. Iranian origins of the authors .............................................................................................. 28 1.4.3. Dynastic policies and pre-Islamic Iranian history ................................................................ 28 1.4.4. Genealogies and Persians as part of Islamic history ............................................................ 30 1.5. General presentation of the corpus ............................................................................................ 32 1.6. Individual texts of the corpus ....................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Monthly Letter August 15 1936
    2)*<¿<yt*d' Mi' cS)a¿u¿Ua£ &%¿éaSopÁ¿ea¿ &xaéébnt4' — ¿ r 9?l«K¿r 9 . August IS, 1936. ZOROASTER Dear Friend:- Zarathustrism, or Zoroastrianism as it is more be properly ordered because the Zend language is commonly called, was the ancient faith of the utterly extinct and the old records have found no Irano-Aryan peoples who at some remote period perpetuators in the modern world. migrated from India and civilized Persia, Media Greeks writers derive the term Zoroaster from a and other parts of ancient Chaldea. According to combination of syllables so that the word can have the earliest tradition the Magian Rites of the Per­ one of several meanings. First, a worshipper of the sians were established by the fire-prophet Zarathus­ stars. Second, the image of secret things. Third, a tra, but no reliable information is available as to the fashioner of images from hidden fire. Or most exact time of his life and ministry. He is variously probably, fourth, the son of the stars. placed from the first to the tenth millenium before The oldest of the Iranian books, called the Sesatir, Christ. This uncertainty results in part at least contains a collection of teachings and revelations from the destruction of the libraries of the Magian from fourteen of the ancient prophets of Iran, and philosophers by the armies of Alexander the Great. in this list Zoroaster stands thirteenth. It is not Zarathustra, in Greek Zoroaster, is a generic improbable that at some~prehistoric time a great name bestowed upon several initiated and divinely sage, an initiate of the original Mysteries of the illumined law-givers and religious reformers among Aryan Hindus, established the line of priest-prophets the Chaldeans.
    [Show full text]
  • A Comparative Analysis of Educational Teaching in Shahnameh and Iliad Elhamshahverdi and Dr.Masoodsepahvandi Abstract
    Date:12/1/18 A Comparative Analysis of Educational Teaching in Shahnameh and Iliad Elhamshahverdi and dr.Masoodsepahvandi Abstract Ferdowsi's Shahnameh and Homer's Iliad are among the first literary masterpieces of Iran and Greece. These teachings include the educational teachings of Zal and Roudabeh, and Paris and Helen. This paper presents a comparative look at the immortal effect of this Iranian poet with Homer's poem-- the Greek blind poet. In this comparison, using a content analysis method, the effects of the educational teachings of these two stories are extracted and expressed, The results of this study show that the human and universal educational teachings of Shahnameh are far more than that of Homer's Iliad. Keywords: teachings, education,analysis,Shahname,Iliad. Introduction The literature of every nation is a mirror of the entirety of thought, culture and customs of that nation, which can be expressed in elegance and artistic delicacy in many different ways. Shahnameh and Iliad both represent the literature of the two peoples of Iran and Greece, which contain moral values for the happiness of the individual and society. "The most obvious points of Shahnameh are its advice and many examples and moral commands. To do this, Ferdowsi has taken every opportunity and has made every event an excuse. Even kings and warriors are used for this purpose. "Comparative literature is also an important foundation for the exodus of indigenous literature from isolation, and it will be a part of the entire literary heritage of the world, exposed to thoughts and ideas, and is also capable of helping to identify contemplation legacies in the understanding and friendship of the various nations."(Ghanimi, 44: 1994) Epic literature includes poems that have a spiritual aspect, not an individual one.
    [Show full text]
  • The Last Empire of Iran by Michael R.J
    The Last Empire of Iran By Michael R.J. Bonner In 330 BCE, Alexander the Great destroyed the Persian imperial capital at Persepolis. This was the end of the world’s first great international empire. The ancient imperial traditions of the Near East had culminated in the rule of the Persian king Cyrus the Great. He and his successors united nearly all the civilised people of western Eurasia into a single state stretching, at its height, from Egypt to India. This state perished in the flames of Persepolis, but the dream of world empire never died. The Macedonian conquerors were gradually overthrown and replaced by a loose assemblage of Iranian kingdoms. The so-called Parthian Empire was a decentralised and disorderly state, but it bound together much of the sedentary Near East for about 500 years. When this empire fell in its turn, Iran got a new leader and new empire with a vengeance. The third and last pre-Islamic Iranian empire was ruled by the Sasanian dynasty from the 220s to 651 CE. Map of the Sasanian Empire. Silver coin of Ardashir I, struck at the Hamadan mint. (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Silver_coin_of_Ardashir_I,_struck_at_the_Hamadan _mint.jpg) The Last Empire of Iran. This period was arguably the heyday of ancient Iran – a time when Iranian military power nearly conquered the eastern Roman Empire, and when Persian culture reached its apogee before the coming of Islam. The founder of the Sasamian dynasty was Ardashir I who claimed descent from a mysterious ancestor called Sasan. Ardashir was the governor of Fars, a province in southern Iran, in the twilight days of the Parthian Empire.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 EBRU TURAN Fordham University-Rose Hill 441 E
    Turan EBRU TURAN Fordham University-Rose Hill 441 E. Fordham Road, Dealy 620 Bronx NY, 10458 [email protected] (718-817-4528) EDUCATION University of Chicago, Ph.D., Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, March 2007 Bogazici University, B.A., Business Administration, 1997 Bogazici University, B.A., Economics, 1997 EMPLOYMENT Fordham University, History Department, Assistant Professor, Fall 2006-Present Courses Thought: Introduction to Middle East History, History of the Ottoman Empire (1300-1923), Religion and Politics in Islamic History University of Chicago, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Graduate Lecturer, 2003-2005 Courses Thought: Ottoman Turkish I, II, III; History of the Ottoman Empire (1300-1700); Islamic Political Thought (700-1550) GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS Visiting Research Fellow, Institute for Historical Studies, University of Texas-Austin, 2008-2009 Grant to attend the Folger Institute's Faculty Weekend Seminar,"Constantinople/Istanbul: Destination, Way-Station, City of Renegades," September 2007 Dissertation Write-Up Grant, Division of Humanities, Franke Institute for the Humanities, University of Chicago, 2005-2006 Grant to participate in Mellon Summer Institute in Italian Paleography Program, Newberry Library, Summer 2005 Turkish Studies Grant, University of Chicago, Summer 2004 Overseas Dissertation Research Fellowship, Division of Humanities, University of Chicago, 2003 American Research Institute in Turkey Dissertation Grant, 2002-2003 Turkish Studies Grant, University of Chicago, Summer 2002 Doctoral Fellow in Sawyer Seminar on Islam 1300-1600, Franke Institute for Humanities, University of Chicago, 2001-2002 Tuition and Stipend, Division of Humanities, University of Chicago, 1997-2001 PUBLICATIONS Articles: “Voice of Opposition in the Reign of Sultan Suleyman: The Case of Ibrahim Pasha (1523-1536),” in Studies on Istanbul and Beyond: The Freely Papers, Volume I, ed.
    [Show full text]
  • Iconological Study of “Rustam in Struggle with Div-E Sepid” in Tilework of Karim Khan-E Zand Citadel Portal in Shiraz Based on Erwin Panofsky Method Ali Asadpour*1
    Bagh-e Nazar, 17(86), 33-46 /Aug. 2020 DOI: 10.22034/bagh.2019.185313.4105 Persian translation of this paper entitled: مطالعۀ شمایل شناسانۀ نبرد »رستم و دیو سپید« در کاشی نگارۀ سردر ارگ کریمخان شیراز به روش »اروین پانوفسکی« is also published in this issue of journal. Iconological Study of “Rustam in Struggle with Div-e Sepid” in Tilework of Karim Khan-e Zand Citadel Portal in Shiraz Based on Erwin Panofsky Method Ali Asadpour*1 1. Assistant Professor, Interior Architecture Department, Shiraz University of Arts, Shiraz, Iran. Received: 11/05/2019 ; revised: 14/10/2019 ; accepted: 19/10/2019 ; available online: 22/07/2020 Abstract Problem Statement: The “Rustam and Div-e Sepid (White Demon)” tilework painting on the Karim Khan citadel (Arg) is one of the Qajarian’s interventions into this Zandian’s building. In addition to its artistic features, this work has a special social and governmental significance. However, it has received less attention from researchers. A new interpretation of it could provide a deeper understanding of the developments of the Zandian’s complex at Qajar era. The research is based on the hypotheses that this tilework in spite of its artistic role -in keeping with the Iranian tradition of illustrating the struggle of Rustam and Div-e Sepid in the art- also has non-artistic (political and governmental) functions. Research objective: The aim of the research is to recognize the content and conceptual aspects of this neglected tilework in its historical and social context and to identify its political and governmental functions in the Karim Khan citadel (Arg).
    [Show full text]
  • ARMAN ARIAN Biography
    Table of Contents Biography 2 Resume 17 Activities 17 Awards 17 Articles and Notes 18 Bibliography 18 Translated Works 20 Conferences and Lectures 20 Workshops 20 Judgments 21 Articles, Dissertations, Reviews and Notes about the Works 21 Overview of Works 25 Review of Important Works 29 Persians and I: Mystery of the Bird Mountain 29 Ashvazdangheh Trilogy 31 Patesh Khoargar Trilogy 33 Contact 36 ARMAN ARIAN Biography All the books that I am publishing in a year are just one-third of the books I write. Perhaps the oldest book I have written is a two-volume book that I have started writing at the age 16; books about myself, my past, memories and everything that I read it heard every day. The first volume, Arman Arian in his Words is about the books I have read and movies I have seen. This is a book that will be published after my death and if anyone reads and becomes interested in my books, could better understand my works. The second book, Old Man with Socks, is finished, it is a collection of my memories that am going to recount parts of it for you. My family has an old interest in history, my grandfather’s grandfather, “Mir Mohammad Sadegh Marvazi, was a historian of the Qajar court (one of the kingdoms of Iran over a hundred years ago), he was exiled to Tbilisi at the end of his life and is buried there. He wrote two histories, a formal court history, and another more real and but informal history, which later is published by his grandson, my uncle.
    [Show full text]
  • Zarathushtra
    366 THE OPEN COURT. in the restoration of a single roadway in Pekin, he would have earned for himself the respect and gratitude of all. His mistakes, however, were due to his past edu- cation. Nevertheless, his influence over the literati in China and elsewhere could not be disputed, and for such practical measures as above indicated we must look to some other Peter the Great or perhaps Napoleon. ZARATHUSHTRA. Professor A. V Williams Jackson, the Zend-Avesta Scholar of Columbia Uni- ity, New York, published in the January number of the Cosmopolitan an in- teresting illustrated article on Zarathushtra or Zoroaster, the prophet of Iran, born about 660 B. C. The canonical gospels tells us of the three Magi who came from the East to worship Christ and an apocryphal gospel adds the statement that they MISCELLANEOUS. 367 Takht-i Bostan Sculpture. The figure supposed to be Zarathushtra is the third figure in the row. It stands on a plant-like pedestal and the head is surrounded by a halo of rays, 368 THE OPEN COURT. came in compliance with a prophecy of Zoroaster. We quote the following passage which is a condensed statement of Zoroaster's life : "Tradition says that Zoroaster retired from the world when he came of age and that he lived for some years upon a remote mountain in the silence of the forest Idealised Portrait from a Sculpture Supposed to Represent ZarathushTra. (From Karaka's History of the Parsees.) or taking shelter in a lonely cave. It was the solemn stillness of such surroundings that lifted him into direct communion with God.
    [Show full text]
  • The Depiction of the Arsacid Dynasty in Medieval Armenian Historiography 207
    Azat Bozoyan The Depiction of the ArsacidDynasty in Medieval Armenian Historiography Introduction The Arsacid, or Parthian, dynasty was foundedinthe 250s bce,detaching large ter- ritories from the Seleucid Kingdom which had been formed after the conquests of Alexander the Great.This dynasty ruled Persia for about half amillennium, until 226 ce,when Ardashir the Sasanian removed them from power.Under the Arsacid dynasty,Persia became Rome’smain rival in the East.Arsacid kingsset up theirrel- ativesinpositions of power in neighbouringstates, thus making them allies. After the fall of the Artaxiad dynasty in Armenia in 66 ce,Vologases IofParthia, in agree- ment with the RomanEmpire and the Armenian royal court,proclaimed his brother Tiridates king of Armenia. His dynasty ruled Armenia until 428 ce.Armenian histor- iographical sources, beginning in the fifth century,always reserved aspecial place for that dynasty. MovsēsXorenacʽi(Moses of Xoren), the ‘Father of Armenian historiography,’ at- tributed the origin of the Arsacids to the Artaxiad kingswho had ruled Armenia be- forehand. EarlyArmenian historiographic sources provide us with anumber of tes- timoniesregarding various representativesofthe Arsacid dynasty and their role in the spread of Christianity in Armenia. In Armenian, as well as in some Syriac histor- ical works,the origin of the Arsacids is related to King AbgarVof Edessa, known as the first king to officiallyadopt Christianity.Armenian and Byzantine historiograph- ical sources associate the adoption of Christianity as the state religion in Armenia with the Arsacid King Tiridates III. Gregory the Illuminator,who playedamajor role in the adoption of Christianity as Armenia’sstate religion and who even became widelyknown as the founder of the Armenian Church, belongstoanother branch of the samefamily.
    [Show full text]
  • Persian Royal Ancestry
    GRANHOLM GENEALOGY PERSIAN ROYAL ANCESTRY Achaemenid Dynasty from Greek mythical Perses, (705-550 BC) یشنماخه یهاشنهاش (Achaemenid Empire, (550-329 BC نايناساس (Sassanid Empire (224-c. 670 INTRODUCTION Persia, of which a large part was called Iran since 1935, has a well recorded history of our early royal ancestry. Two eras covered are here in two parts; the Achaemenid and Sassanian Empires, the first and last of the Pre-Islamic Persian dynasties. This ancestry begins with a connection of the Persian kings to the Greek mythology according to Plato. I have included these kind of connections between myth and history, the reader may decide if and where such a connection really takes place. Plato 428/427 BC – 348/347 BC), was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. King or Shah Cyrus the Great established the first dynasty of Persia about 550 BC. A special list, “Byzantine Emperors” is inserted (at page 27) after the first part showing the lineage from early Egyptian rulers to Cyrus the Great and to the last king of that dynasty, Artaxerxes II, whose daughter Rodogune became a Queen of Armenia. Their descendants tie into our lineage listed in my books about our lineage from our Byzantine, Russia and Poland. The second begins with King Ardashir I, the 59th great grandfather, reigned during 226-241 and ens with the last one, King Yazdagird III, the 43rd great grandfather, reigned during 632 – 651. He married Maria, a Byzantine Princess, which ties into our Byzantine Ancestry.
    [Show full text]
  • Christian Historical Imagination in Late Antique Iraq
    OXFORD EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES General Editors Gillian Clark Andrew Louth THE OXFORD EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES series includes scholarly volumes on the thought and history of the early Christian centuries. Covering a wide range of Greek, Latin, and Oriental sources, the books are of interest to theologians, ancient historians, and specialists in the classical and Jewish worlds. Titles in the series include: Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and the Transformation of Divine Simplicity Andrew Radde-Gallwitz (2009) The Asceticism of Isaac of Nineveh Patrik Hagman (2010) Palladius of Helenopolis The Origenist Advocate Demetrios S. Katos (2011) Origen and Scripture The Contours of the Exegetical Life Peter Martens (2012) Activity and Participation in Late Antique and Early Christian Thought Torstein Theodor Tollefsen (2012) Irenaeus of Lyons and the Theology of the Holy Spirit Anthony Briggman (2012) Apophasis and Pseudonymity in Dionysius the Areopagite “No Longer I” Charles M. Stang (2012) Memory in Augustine’s Theological Anthropology Paige E. Hochschild (2012) Orosius and the Rhetoric of History Peter Van Nuffelen (2012) Drama of the Divine Economy Creator and Creation in Early Christian Theology and Piety Paul M. Blowers (2012) Embodiment and Virtue in Gregory of Nyssa Hans Boersma (2013) The Chronicle of Seert Christian Historical Imagination in Late Antique Iraq PHILIP WOOD 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries # Philip Wood 2013 The moral rights of the author have been asserted First Edition published in 2013 Impression: 1 All rights reserved.
    [Show full text]
  • FEZANA Journal Do Not Necessarily Reflect the Feroza Fitch of Views of FEZANA Or Members of This Publication's Editorial Board
    FEZANA FEZANA JOURNAL ZEMESTAN 1379 AY 3748 ZRE VOL. 24, NO. 4 WINTER/DECEMBER 2010 G WINTER/DECEMBER 2010 JOURJO N AL Dae – Behman – Spendarmad 1379 AY (Fasli) G Amordad – Shehrever – Meher 1380 AY (Shenshai) G Shehrever – Meher – Avan 1380 AY (Kadimi) CELEBRATING 1000 YEARS Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh: The Soul of Iran HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011 Also Inside: Earliest surviving manuscripts Sorabji Pochkhanawala: India’s greatest banker Obama questioned by Zoroastrian students U.S. Presidential Executive Mission PUBLICATION OF THE FEDERATION OF ZOROASTRIAN ASSOCIATIONS OF NORTH AMERICA PUBLICATION OF THE FEDERATION OF ZOROASTRIAN ASSOCIATIONS OF NORTH AMERICA Vol 24 No 4 Winter / December 2010 Zemestan 1379 AY 3748 ZRE President Bomi V Patel www.fezana.org Editor in Chief: Dolly Dastoor 2 Editorial [email protected] Technical Assistant: Coomi Gazdar Dolly Dastoor Assistant to Editor: Dinyar Patel Consultant Editor: Lylah M. Alphonse, [email protected] 6 Financial Report Graphic & Layout: Shahrokh Khanizadeh, www.khanizadeh.info Cover design: Feroza Fitch, 8 FEZANA UPDATE-World Youth Congress [email protected] Publications Chair: Behram Pastakia Columnists: Hoshang Shroff: [email protected] Shazneen Rabadi Gandhi : [email protected] 12 SHAHNAMEH-the Soul of Iran Yezdi Godiwalla: [email protected] Behram Panthaki::[email protected] Behram Pastakia: [email protected] Mahrukh Motafram: [email protected] 50 IN THE NEWS Copy editors: R Mehta, V Canteenwalla Subscription Managers: Arnavaz Sethna: [email protected];
    [Show full text]
  • Rostam As a Pre-Historic Iranian Hero Or the Shi'itic Missionary?
    When Literature and Religion Intertwine: Rostam as a Pre-Historic Iranian Hero or the Shi’itic Missionary? Farzad Ghaemi Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Letters and Humanities, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Azadi Square, Mashhad, Khorasan Province 9177948883, Iran Email: [email protected] Azra Ghandeharion* (Corresponding Author) Department of English Studies, Faculty of Letters and Humanities, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Azadi Square, Mashhad, Khorasan Province 9177948883, Iran Email: [email protected] Abstract This article aims to show how Rostam, the legendary hero of Iranian mythology, have witnessed ideological alterations in the formation of Persian epic, Shahnameh. Among different oral and written Shahnamehs, this paper focuses on Asadi Shahnameh written during the 14th or 15th century. Though he is a pre- Islamic hero, Rostam and his tasks are changed to fit the ideological purposes of the poet’s time and place. A century later, under the influence of the state religion of Safavid Dynasty (1501–1736), Iranian pre-Islamic values underwent the process of Shi’itization. Scarcity of literature regarding the interpretation of Asadi Shahnameh and the unique position of this text in the realm of Persian epic are the reasons for our choice of scrutiny. In Asadi Shahnameh Rostam is both a national hero and a Shi’ite missionary. By meticulous textual and historical analysis, this article shows how Asadi unites seemingly rival subjects like Islam with Zoroastrianism, philosophy with religion, and heroism with mysticism. It is concluded that Asadi’s Rostam is the Shi’ite-Mystic version of Iranians’ popular hero who helps the cause of Shi’itic messianism and performs missionary tasks in both philosophic and practical levels.
    [Show full text]