Arash Zeini

Author: Arash Zeini

  • Berkeley Working Papers in Middle Iranian Philology

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    Arash Zeini
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    Adam Benkato and I have finally launched our journal, Berkeley Working Papers in Middle Iranian Philology, where we intend to publish short and longer articles or research reports on the philology and epigraphy of the Middle Iranian languages (Middle Persian, Parthian, Bactrian, Sogdian, Chorasmian, Khotanese). We start the Working Papers with issue 0, Towards a…

  • Mastodon

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    Arash Zeini
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    I am about to finally close my Twitter account. Maybe I use this moment to be off social media entirely, but if not, I will continue over at Mastodon.

  • The birth of the abestāg

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    Arash Zeini
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    I am delighted to be giving a lecture as part of the Pourdavoud Center Lecture Series on 11 January 2023. I will talk about the role of the Sasanians and philology in the creation and transmission of the abestāg, which is my preferred term for the collection of the texts we have come to know…

  • Book Award

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    Arash Zeini
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    I am delighted and honoured to be the recipient of the inaugural AIS Book Prize for Ancient Iranian Studies for my book, Zoroastrian Scholasticism in Late Antiquity: The Pahlavi version of the Yasna Haptaŋhāiti. The prize was announced at the 13th Biennial Iranian Studies Conference, which took place in Salamanca, Spain. As I have said…

  • Were Sogdians Iranian?

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    Arash Zeini
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    This question is being discussed on Twitter, and I was tagged to respond. I honestly don’t know how to do it in a meaningful way on Twitter, as embedded responses are often lost and not seen. I stay away from sub-tweets and believe this topic is too hot to be touched on Twitter anyway :)…

  • Not on Twitter

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    Arash Zeini
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    I have been thinking about leaving Twitter for a while now. Not for one, but for many reasons which are not important. I joined Twitter in 2013 and a couple of years later deleted my Facebook account. I have never regretted that decision and feel the time has come to make a soft exit on…

  • Zoroastrian Scholasticism

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    Arash Zeini
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    The paperback of my book is here! You can order a copy from the Edinburgh University Press. I am grateful to the series editor, Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, for giving this book a home and to the editors at the EUP for guiding me through the publication process. I list the reviews of my book here, and…

  • Voice, privilege and writing

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    Arash Zeini
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    The debate about privilege and representing others in writing fascinates me. Who gets to be whose voice? How do you represent others and what role do publishers play in these debates? Does art need to node to the vagaries of social media? Can art provoke? If so, what are the limits, who defines them and…

  • Roma in the Medieval Islamic World

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    Arash Zeini
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    Today we had Kristina Richardson, @krisrich, speak to us at the @invisible_east. She delivered a fascinating lecture based on her recent book, which has opened my eyes to a large set of theoretical questions to be asked in the study of ancient and late antique history of any geography.

  • The birth of the abestāg

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    Arash Zeini
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    My part in the WZO’s annual seminar this coming Sunday along with my @invisible_east colleagues, @ArezouAzad, Hugh Kennedy and Tommy Benfey: The birth of the abestāg from the spirit of philology سخنرانی من در سمینار سالانه «سازمان جهانی زرتشتیان» یکشنبه این هفته به همراه همکارانم در گروه پژوهشی «شرق مکنون».

  • TEI Template

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    Arash Zeini
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    <news>A first and hopefully usable draft of my #TEI template is finally ready! I have created this template for our @invisible_east corpus that will host a range of documents in Middle Persian, Bactrian, Sogdian, Khotanese, Arabic and New Persian.</news> اولین پیش‌نویس الگو TEI که برای اسناد فارسی میانه، بلخی، سغدی، ختنی، فارس و عربی نوشتم،…

  • The Dead Don’t Die

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    Arash Zeini
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    I’ve been thinking about writing a blog on Zoroastrianism in popular culture, keeping my eyes open for connections. But these days, as I follow the news, I feel I can constantly quote Jarmusch’s entire ‘The Dead Don’t Die’. Here is one dialogue from a scene when the characters try to make sense of the events…

  • New review

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    Arash Zeini
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    The Abstracta Iranica website has published a new review of my book. This one is by Benedikt Peschl:Peschl, Benedikt. 2021. Arash Zeini. Zoroastrian scholasticism in Late Antiquity. The Pahlavi version of the Yasna Haptaŋhāiti. Abstracta Iranica 42-43 (5).The paperback will be out in May 2022. Part II contains the newly established text of the Pahlavi…

  • Über das Schreiben

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    Arash Zeini
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    Ich schreibe über alles gleich gern. Mich reizt nicht das Suchen eines bestimmten Stoffes, sondern das Aussuchen feiner, schöner Worte. Ich kann aus einer Idee zehn, ja hundert Ideen bilden, aber mir fällt keine Grundidee ein. Was weiß ich, ich schreibe, weil ich es hübsche finde, so die Zeilen mit zierlichen Buchstaben auszufüllen. Das “Was”…

  • ‘Death in the East’

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    Arash Zeini
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    I’ve never understood what drives the powerful to oppress the weak, or what need the many have to harass those different from them. Sam Wyndham in ‘Death in the East’