Iranian Religions and the Alexander Romance The Alexander Romance attributed to Pseudo-Callisthenes is the encomiastic biography of Alexander the Great, who is depicted as the champion of Greek culture and…
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Reevaluating Divine Imagery in Late Antique Iranian Metalwork Most late antique Iranian silver vessels are decorated with either royal imagery or stereotyped ornamental and figural imagery related to wine drinking…
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Religion of Parthian Iran: A Matter of Complexity – New Evidence from Ancient Elymais Literary, epigraphic, and archaeological evidence all demonstrate that the religions of Arsacid Iran is a matter…
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Laodike III and Seleucid Royal Cult In 193 BCE, the Seleucid king Antiochus III, perhaps in anticipation of his upcoming campaign in the Greek west, established a new royal cult…
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The Marriage of Antiochos and Nanaia: Empire and Religion in Hellenistic Iran Starting with the example of Antiochos IV Epiphanes’ (intended) sacred marriage with the goddess Nanaia in Elam (2…
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The Politics of Religion under the Ptolemies: Egyptian Statues, Achaemenid Persia, and the Seleucids The stealing of religious statues from a defeated enemy was a common practice among Near Eastern…
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The Limits of Tolerance: Jews, Christians, Buddhists, and Others in the Sasanian Empire There are many reports on periodic persecution of religious groups from the 3rd century CE, until the…
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The Deportation of Gods – Between Persian Policy and Ptolemaic Ideology In early Hellenistic Egypt, a set of Ptolemaic inscriptions reported on an intriguing phenomenon, namely, Ptolemaic kings bringing back…
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The Magus in Hell This paper looks at Lucian’s satirical dialogue, Menippus, which prominently features a man called Mithrobarzanes, ‘one of the Magi, Zoroaster’s disciples and successors.’ With the help…
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Into the Ashes: Punishment at the Achaemenid Court In Ctesias’ Persika, written in the early 4th century BCE, a number of elite Persians are sent to their deaths as a…
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