Jake Nabel (Getty Research Institute) Over the course of the Julio-Claudian period in Rome (c.30 BCE-68 CE), several Arsacid princes from the ruling family of the Parthian empire were sent to live in the court of the Roman emperor. Ancient Greco-Roman sources describe these figures as “hostages,” and modern scholars have largely followed suit. While...
Michael Shenkar (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) The study of the Iranian religious iconography has been traditionally bound to the Zoroastrian texts. Deities, animals and symbols have all been usually interpreted based on the descriptions found in the Avesta and in the Middle Persian literature. However, to treat these problematic texts as a source of Iranian...
Terra-cotta warriors, bronze chariots and horses are among the iconic artifacts associated with China's first imperial dynasty, the Qin (221 206 BCE). Chinese archaeologist Duan Qinbo shares new evidence that suggests the material culture and social governance of the Qin may not be solely indigenous Chinese, but may also have come to China along Central...
Margaret C. Miller (University of Sydney) Against a background of war and power politics, social exchange also took place between ancient Athens and the Persian Empire founded by Cyrus. Whether as (unintentional) arbiter of high fashion, benchmark of elegant behaviour, or model for imperial protocol, Persia impacted Athenian life on many levels. Sometimes adoptions were...
Persianism in Commagene: The Mnemohistory of the Achaemenid Empire in Hellenistic Eurasia Miguel John Versluys (University of Leiden / Getty Villa Scholar) The socio-political and cultural memory of the Achaemenid (Persian) Empire played a very important role already in Antiquity. Miguel John Versluys has proposed to call this phenomenon, that is, the impact of Achaemenid Persia on the antique...
Please join the Pourdavoud Center for the first talk of our 2018-2019 Lecture Series, featuring the research of Dr. Mark Garrison of Trinity University. Deities and Ritual at Persepolis: The Evidence from the Persepolis Fortification and Treasury Archives The texts and seals preserved as impressions from two large archives of administrative tablets at Persepolis reveal...
Please join the Pourdavoud Center for the Study of the Iranian World for the continuation of the 2018-2019 Lecture Series. This first talk of Winter Quarter 2019 will feature the research of Dr. Matthew Canepa, Professor of Art History and Archaeology at the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Canepa is also a 2018-2019 Getty Scholar....
Contextualizing the Achaemenid-Persian Empire: What Does Empire Mean in the 1st Millennium BCE? Looking at historical handbooks of the Ancient Near East, there appears to be a general agreement on structuring the outline of political history of the first millennium BCE. The epoch is conceptualized as a succession of three clearly defined empires. The first,...
The Pourdavoud Center for the Study of the Iranian World announces the lecture of Dr. Margaret Root as part of the 2018-2019 Lecture Series. Dr. Root is Professor and Curator Emerita of Near Eastern and Classical Art and Archaeology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and a 2018-2019 Getty Scholar. Kingship for a New...
Dr. Stefan Hauser will present his research as part of the Pourdavoud Center 2018-2019 Lecture Series. Dr. Hauser is Professor of Archaeology and Ancient Mediterranean Culture at the Universität Konstanz, Germany. He is also a Getty Scholar for the 2018-2019 academic year. Charax Spasinou Research on the Capital of Mesene and the Arsacid Center of...
