Tag: Zoroastrianism
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Zoroastrianism in India
Parsi Mumbai: The legacy of Zoroastrianism in India’s urban babric, published by the Ajam Media Collective, is a nicely written piece on Parsis in India, documented with many photos. Although Cafe Mondegar is not mentioned, the publication of the article coincides with the news that Mondegar might face eviction.
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Ohrmazd’s better judgement
Agostini, Domenico, Eva Kiesele & Shai Secunda. 2014. Ohrmazd’s better judgement (meh-dādestānīh). A Middle Persian legal and theological discourse. Studia Iranica 43(2). 177–202. This article presents a transcription, translation, commentary, and discussion of a ritual and theological passage taken from the long-neglected Middle Persian work, the Zand ī fragard ī Jud-dēw-dād. The selection is notable…
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The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Zoroastrianism
The long awaited Wiley-Blackwell companion to Zoroastrianism, edited by M. Stausberg and Y. Vevaina, is finally out. I have not seen the volume, but those who have, praise it highly, expecting it to have an impact on the ailing field of Iranian and Zoroastrian Studies!!! Stausberg, Michael & Yuhan Sohrab-Dinshaw Vevaina (eds.). 2015. The Wiley-Blackwell…
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Vers une édition de la liturgie longue zoroastrienne
Cantera, Alberto. 2014. Vers une édition de la liturgie longue zoroastrienne: Pensées et travaux préliminaires (Cahiers de Studia Iranica 51). Peeters Publishers. The long liturgy is the most important ceremony in Zoroastrian priestly tradition. Most extant Avestan texts have been composed for their performance within this liturgy. It is highly likely that it acquired its…
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Eschatological seers
Agostini, Domenico. 2014. Eschatological seers and otherworldly travellers in Zoroastrianism. Journal Asiatique 302(1). 47–73.
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Religious transformation between East and West
Herman, Geoffrey. 2014. Religious transformation between East and West: Hanukkah in the Babylonian Talmud and Zoroastrianism. In Wick, Peter & Volker Rabens (eds.), Religions and trade: Religious formation, transformation and cross-cultural exchange between East and West, 261–281. Leiden: Brill. When religious traditions travel they tend to adapt to their new surroundings. Like new products seeking…
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Repetitions of the Ahuna Vairiia
Cantera, Alberto. 2014. Repetitions of the Ahuna Vairiia and animal sacrifice in the Zoroastrian long liturgy. Estudios Iranios y Turanios 1. 25–29. The Ahuna Vairiia prayer is never repeated three times in extant Avestan texts and also the Pahlavi literature excludes this number of repetitions. This is because three repetitions of the Ahuna Vairiia is…
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Zoroastrianism in Iranian history
This chapter by Michael Stausberg was published in 2012, but I post it here due to its relevance and the recent availability of a PDF: Stausberg, Michael. 2012. From power to powerlessness: Zoroastrianism in Iranian history. In Anh Nga Longva & Anne Sofie Roald (eds.), Religious minorities in the Middle East: Domination, self-empowerment, accommodation, 171–193.…
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Interview: ایران شناسی یک پدیده جهانی است
«ایران شناسی یک پدیده جهانی است» An interview in Persian with the Swedish scholar Ashk Dahlén on Iranian Studies. Read the interview at AVA Diplomatic.
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The image of cosmos reflected in the body
Delaini, Paolo. 2014. The image of cosmos reflected in the body. The theory of microcosm-macrocosm and its spread in Sasanian Iran. In Antonio Panaino (ed.), Studies on astronomy and its history offered to Salvo De Meis (Indo-Iranica et Orientali 13). Milan: Memesis. Read the article here.
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Wrestling with the Demons
Moazami, Mahnaz. 2014. Wrestling with the Demons of the Pahlavi Widēwdād. Transcription, Translation, and Commentary (Iran Studies 9). Leiden/Boston: Brill. The Pahlavi Widēwdād (Vidēvdād), The Law (Serving to Keep) Demons Away, a fifth-century Middle Persian commentary on the Avestan Vidēvdād, describes rules and regulations that serve to prevent pollution caused by dead matter, menstrual discharges,…
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Approaches to the study of ‘time’
Although not newly published, I mention this article by Stausberg as it relates to Rezania’s work on the concept of time in Zoroastrianism. Stausberg, Michael. 2004. Approaches to the study of ‘time’ in the history of religions. Temenos 39/40. 247–268. Rezania, Kianoosh. 2010. Die zoroastrische Zeitvorstellung. Eine Untersuchung über Zeit- und Ewigkeitskonzepte und die Frage…
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Building a new vision of the past in the Sasanian Empire
Canepa, Matthew. 2013. Building a new vision of the past in the Sasanian Empire: The sanctuaries of Kayānsīh and the great fires of Iran. Journal of Persianate Studies 6. 64–90. This article analyzes how Zoroastrian holy sites as celebrated in the Avesta or elaborated in later, related traditions, emerged as important architectural and ritual centers…
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Der Zoroastrismus als iranische Religion
Stausberg, Michael. 2011. Der Zoroastrismus als iranische Religion und die Semantik von ‚Iran’ in der zoroastrischen Religionsgeschichte. Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte 63(4). 331–331. Read the article here or here. Zoroastrianism, one of the three recognized religious minorities in the Islamic Republic, can claim a specific linkage with Iran since the Avestan Vendidād and its…
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Public lecture III
3. The return of the Avesta It has been argued that the adoption of the Zoroastrian religious world view by the Sasanians was instrumental in maintaining the nobility’s loyalty to the goals of the empire. Most arguments in favour of this view, however, derive from examinations of source material dating from the early Islamic era.…