75955 - Religious History of Iran

Learning outcomes

Cultural history of ancient and late antique Iran (philology, linguistic, literature, history, religion, institutions) chiefly before the rise of Islam, whether the early Islamic period is taken into account as well. Presentations of texts and commentaries (Iranian texts and inscriptions, Classical sources, Islamic sources). The course shows a survey of Iranian and Central Asian cultural history by the means of their literary heritage. The final outcome is a better understanding of a geo-political and cultural zone, in its past and present, giving to student a knowledge of its cultural processes and developments, and providing a dialogue between East and West to avoid the risk of prejudices.

Course contents

Funeral Practices, Death and Immortality in Ancient Iran

The course of 60 hours is dedicated to problems of cultural and religious history of antique and late-antique Iran. The basic bibliography and the documents of teaching (uploaded on VIRTUALE web space) will be examined during the lessons.

According to the title, the course will be dealing with funerary ideologies and rituals, with death conceptions and immortality, with the importance of the soul and otherworldly experiences.

The course is structured according to a chronological way (following the below quoted manual of Wiesehofer):

1) From the Achaemenids to the Parthians. Approaches to the history of Zoroastrianism: texts, mythologies and rituals. Time and homeland of Zarathustra's predication. Aspects of Mazdeism in the Achaemenid, Seleucid and Parthian periods. Mithra and the Mysteries of Mithra. The role of the Magi. Teaching materials on VIRTUALE: from 1 to 6.

2) The Sasanian period. Zoroastrianism as state religion, the confessional pluralism and other religions. Mani and Mazdak. Cohabitations, competitions and dissents between nationalistic and universalistic trends. Contacts between Byzance and Persia. Struggles and riots of socio-economic and religious origin within the VIth century. Anti-arab rebellions and political messianism of the khurramiya movements in Islamic period. Teaching materials on VIRTUALE: from 7 to 13.

Readings/Bibliography

First part, basic bibliography (to complete with the pdf marked with "I")

J. Wiesehoefer, La Persia antica, Il Mulino, Bologna 2000.

G. Gnoli, "Le religioni dell'Iran antico e Zoroastro"; "La religione zoroastriana", in G. Filoramo (a cura di), Storia delle religioni, vol. I, Laterza, Roma-Bari 1994 [downloading from the teaching web-site].

Didactic tools. Further readings concerning specific topic, examined during the lessons, can be downloaded fro the site (teaching materials). The file GUIDA helps the student to organize the different teaching materials.

Students who have attended at least 25 of the 30 lessons are considered to be attending. Students who are absent for more than 5 lessons cannot be considered attending and will have to prepare the non-attending programme described below.

The students unable to attend the course have to read the basic bibliography and further readings to be arranged with the teacher. They have to read the file GUIDA uploaded on "Materiali didattici" (on VIRTUALE) and amid 13 blocks of reading to choose one sample at their please.

Students who are affected by learning disability (DSA) and in need of special strategies to compensate it, are kindly requested to contact the Teacher, in order to be referred to the colleagues in charge and get proper advice and instructions. The preparatory material "PirasRitiFunebri" is recommended.

Further bibliography (WITHOUT OBLIGATION in the case of any sostitution the student wishes to do)

First Part

R.G. Kent, Old Persian. Grammar, Texts, Lexicon, New Haven 1953.

P.O. Skjaervo, "Avestan Quotations in Old Persian? Literary Sources of the Old Persian Inscriptions", in S. Shaked-A. Netzer (eds.), Irano-Judaica IV, Jerusalem 1999, pp. 1-64.

P. Lecoq, Les inscriptions de la Perse achéménide, Paris 1997.

G. Pugliese Carratelli, Gli editti di Ashoka, Milano 2003.

N. Sims-Williams e J. Cribb, A New Bactrian Inscription of Kanishka the Great, Kamakura (Silk Road Art and Studies IV) 1995-1996.

R.N. Frye, The History of Ancient Iran, Muenchen 1984.

R.N. Frye, The Heritage of Persia, Costa Mesa California 1993.

P. Briant, Histoire de l'empire perse, Fayard 1998.

D. Asheri, Tra Ellenismo e Iranismo, Bologna 1983.

W. Will, Le guerre persiane, Bologna 2012.

A. Panaino, "Greci e Iranici: confronto e conflitti, in S. Settis (a cura di), I Greci. Storia, cultura, arte, società , Torino 2001, pp. 79-136.

A. Panaino, Zoroastrismo. Storia, temi, attualità, Brescia 2016.

A. Piras, "I Magi persiani", in I Tre Saggi e la Stella. Mito e realtà dei Re Magi, Rimini 1999, pp. 7-30.

M. Boyce, A History of Zoroastrianism II: under the Achaemenians, Leiden-Koeln 1982.

M. Boyce, F. Grenet, A History of Zoroastrianism III: under the Macedonian and Roman Rule, London-New York 1991.

N. Sins-Williams, "Le lingue iraniche", in A.Giacalone Ramat e P.Ramat (a cura di), Le lingue indoeuropee, Il Mulino, Bologna 1993.

R. Cantarella, "La Persia nella letteratura greca"; e E. Paratore, "La Persia nella letteratura latina" in La Persia e il mondo-greco-romano, Atti dei convegni della Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Roma 1966.

Further bibliography (WITHOUT OBLIGATIONS, only in the case the student wishes to change any title).

Second Part

P. Crone, The Nativist Prophets of Early Islamic Iran. Rural Revolt and Local Zoroastrianism, Cambridge 2014.

R.C. Zaehner, Il libro del consiglio di Zarathustra e altri testi, Roma 1976.

A. Bausani, Persia religiosa: da Zaratustra a Baha'u'llah, Cosenza 1998.

A. Bausani, Testi religiosi zoroastriani, Milano 1957.

C.G. Cereti, La letteratura pahlavi, Milano 2001.

W.B. Henning, Il medioiranico, a cura di E. Filippone, Istituto Universitario Orientale, Napoli 1996.

G. Gnoli, The Idea of Iran. En Essay on its Origin, Rome 1989.

A. Panaino, La Novella degli Scacchi e della Tavola Reale, Milano 1999.

P. Huyse, Die dreisprachige Inschrift Shabuhrs I. an der Ka'ba-i Zardusht (ShKZ), vol. I-II, London 1999.

H. Humbach-P. O. Skjaervo, The Sassanian Inscription of Paikuli, vol. I-III, Wiesbaden 1978-1983.

P. Gignoux, Les quatre inscriptions du mage Kirdir, Paris 1991.

G. Pugliese Carratelli, "La Persia dei Sasanidi nella storiografia romana da Ammiano a Procopio"; A. Pertusi, "La Persia nelle fonti bizantine del secolo VII", in La Persia nel Medioevo, Atti dei convegni, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Roma 1971.

H.-J. Polotsky, Il Manicheismo. Gnosi di salvezza tra Egitto e Cina, Rimini 1996.

G.Gnoli, con l'assistenza di A. Piras, (a cura di), Il Manicheismovol. I. Mani e il Manicheismo, Milano 2003; vol. II. Il mito e la dottrina: i testi manichei copti e la polemica antimanichea, Milano 2006; vol. III. Il mito e la dottrina: testi manichei dell'Asia Centrale e della Cina, Milano 2008.

Teaching methods

frontal lessons, presentation and discussion of the bibliography and of the didactic materials, also including power-points and projections of images

Students who are affected by learning disability (DSA) and in need of special strategies to compensate it, are kindly requested to contact the Teacher, in order to be referred to the colleagues in charge and get proper advice and instructions

Assessment methods

The evaluation of learning will take place through individual interviews.

No distinction will be made between attending and non-attending students as regards the assessment policy.

The student will have to prove that he/she has the basic notions of Ancient Iranian civilisation. On the basis of the lessons attended, the student must be able to contextualise the documentary sources submitted. The test will also involve a precise questioning of all the texts indicated in the bibliographic programme.

Excellent evaluation. If the student demonstrates knowledge of the subject, an excellent capacity for exposition and logical connections between different historical-archaeological problems, he/she will obtain the maximum mark (30). If the presentation is excellent, honours will be added (cum laude).

Good or fair evaluation. Students with basic knowledge who are able to contextualise the materials examined, even if the language used is not always appropriate to the subject, will pass the examination. The awarding of a mark more or less close to 29 will depend on the critical capacity, the methodological autonomy demonstrated during the interview and the fluency of the discourse that the student will be able to organise in response to the questions.


Sufficient evaluation. Students whose basic knowledge is not homogeneous and who have little mastery of exposition, but who are able to answer correctly, showing that they have done at least some preparatory work on their notes and/or texts, will be awarded a mark between 18 and 25.


Negative evaluation. Students with a lack of preparation, no ability to analyse the discipline and who have not memorised the bibliography will not pass the exams.

 

Teaching tools

Bibliography and teaching documents to be downloaded from the teaching site (every student must download and carefully reading the pdf GUIDA). The file Guida enables to organize the reading of the didactic tools (especially for non-attending students).

Links to further information

http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/

Office hours

See the website of Andrea Piras