How Did the Ancient Iranians Coordinate Space? On the Old Iranian Absolute Frame of Reference For verbal expression and nonverbal cognitive processing of spatial relations between two objects, the speakers of a language use different frames of reference. (Psycho)linguistics classifies these into three main groups: intrinsic, relative, and absolute. This lecture aims to identify the...
The 2022 Biennial Ehsan Yarshater Lecture Series Featuring Professor Robert Rollinger (University of Innsbruck) The Achaemenid Persian World Empire The series of lectures offers a novel and fresh perspective on one of the largest and most successful empires in world history, namely, the Achaemenid Persian World Empire (sixth to fourth century BCE), the central...
The 2022 Biennial Ehsan Yarshater Lecture Series Featuring Professor Robert Rollinger (University of Innsbruck) The Achaemenid Persian World Empire The series of lectures offers a novel and fresh perspective on one of the largest and most successful empires in world history, namely, the Achaemenid Persian World Empire (sixth to fourth century BCE), the central power...
The 2022 Biennial Ehsan Yarshater Lecture Series Featuring Professor Robert Rollinger (University of Innsbruck) The Achaemenid Persian World Empire The series of lectures offers a novel and fresh perspective on one of the largest and most successful empires in world history, namely, the Achaemenid Persian World Empire (sixth to fourth century BCE), the central power...
The 2022 Biennial Ehsan Yarshater Lecture Series Featuring Professor Robert Rollinger (University of Innsbruck) The Achaemenid Persian World Empire The series of lectures offers a novel and fresh perspective on one of the largest and most successful empires in world history, namely, the Achaemenid Persian World Empire (sixth to fourth century BCE), the central power...
An International Symposium Convened by M. Rahim Shayegan (University of California, Los Angeles) and Jeffrey Spier (J. Paul Getty Museum) May 19–20, 2022 | 314 Royce Hall Morning Refreshments: 8:00 am Symposium Begins: 9:00 am The Pourdavoud Center for the Study of the Iranian World and the J. Paul Getty Museum are convening for a...
Pourdavoud Center Fall 2022 Welcome Reception Friday, October 7, 2022 4:00 – 6:00 pm Royce Hall 306 Registration Required The Pourdavoud Center for the Study of the Iranian World invites you to join us for a fall reception. In the company of our supporters, colleagues, academic affiliates, students, and esteemed guests, we shall be...
The Birth of the Abestāg from the Spirit of Philology Scholars have often discussed Zoroastrianism as an ancient Iranian religion that reaches back thousands of years into the middle of the second millennium BCE. For a long time, the idea of monolithic continuity has dominated the scholarly discourse in the study of this religion. While...
Dislodging Disciplinary Silos at Dura-Europos Founded by the Seleucids, successively occupied by the Arsacids (Parthians) and Romans, and spectacularly conquered in a Sasanian siege, the borderland town of Dura-Europos (Syria) was home throughout its history to a fascinatingly diverse population. Since its initial excavation, the site has become justly famous thanks to unique circumstances of...
Symbols of Royal Authority? Early Sasanian Cityscapes in Southwestern Iran The early Sasanian royal city foundations of Gūr and Bīšāpūr and their respective surrounding areas were actively shaped by the new ruling dynasty with the goal of making an imprint of identity on the landscape and – especially in the initial phase – decisively...
