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...
The Pourdavoud Center for the Study of the Iranian World and the Getty Research Institute are co-organizing a one-day symposium to be held on April 25, 2018 at the Pourdavoud Center, UCLA. Presenters will include invited speakers and the current Getty Villa Scholars, whose projects focus on the encounters of ancient Iran with the classical...
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...
The Pourdavoud Center sponsors a workshop on “Ancient Iran and the Heritage of Ancient Near East” as part of the Rencontre Assyriologique and the Melammu Symposia in Innsbruck, Austria from July 16 to July 20. Among the participants are: Maria Macuch (Univerisity of Toronto); Dan Beckman (Princeton University); Rolf Strootman (University of Utrecht); Jake Nabel (Getty Villa);...
Please join us for a fall reception at Royce Hall to celebrate the continued success of the Pourdavoud Center for the Study of the Iranian World, the latest addition to the research centers in the Humanities Division. In the company of faculty, our staff, academic affiliates, colleagues, students, and esteemed guests, we shall explore the...
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 in celebrating the life and scholarly contributions of Professor Eshan Yarshater (1920-2018), the Hagop Kevorkian Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at Columbia University. Professor Yarshater’s prolific career has had a global impact. At UCLA, he is remembered with the endowed Yarshater Biennial Lecture Series, and at Columbia University, his memory...
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,...
