75730 - Religious History of the Iranian World (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

After completing the course students obtain a thorough knowledge of the fundamental socioanthropological and historical-religious issues related to ancient and late ancient Iran and its areas of influence and the theoretical-methodological tools to deal with them. They can evaluate religious phenomena and dynamics in local and global socio-cultural contexts and critically identify the sociocultural matrix of religious traditions, as well as connections, developments, persistences and transformations of religious phenomena. They pay attention to the socio-political implications of interaction between groups in complex societies related to the religious history of the Iranian world. Apply the methodologies of investigation to deal with the analysis of issues related to contexts characterised by cultural, linguistic and religious pluralism. They are able to communicate effectively the learned contents in oral and/or written form, also with reference to the relevant bibliography, documenting in an accurate and complete way the information on which they base their conclusions and giving an account of methods and tools. They know how to communicate, edit and publish research results including digital data.

Course contents

The classes offer an introduction to religious history of Pre-Islamic Iran with a special focus on its linguistic and literary expressions, in oral or written form (manuscripts, sacred books, epigraphies, coins, etc.). Particular care will be put on the Mazdean, Manichaean and Christian traditions in Iran with close attention for the textual sources in Avestan, Middle-Persian, Ancient Persian and Sogdian. A seminar will be ddicatec to teh history of teh mnanipulation of the ethnic designation of the Aryans for racial and political reasons in European and Western history.

More in detail, the class will analyse the history of Zoroastrianism from its most archaic phases (with the oral redaction of the "Songs" attributed to Zoroaster himself) to modern Parsism and Iranian Zoroastrianism. The Iranian pantheon will be presented in the comparative framework of the Indo-Iranian mythological world,  but the cult of the gods will be studied in its close relation with the liturgic dimension, with special care for the role of the sacrifice and of the fire. The theological meaning of the limited and infinite Time will be an important subject of the course.The Cosmic Year and the doctrine of the end of time with the general apokatastasis will be an imporant matter of discussion. The problem of the Universal salvation, which appears in Later Zoroastrianism, will finally offer the opportunity for an analysis of the individual and general afterlife. The class willl propose also continuous comparisons with other religious traditions, which were significnt in ancient Iran, such as Manichaeism and Dyophisite Christianity 

Readings/Bibliography

Introduction to Iranian religions and languages:

I.M. Oranskij, Le lingue Iraniche, ed. it. a cura di A.V. Rossi, Napoli 1973.

N. Sims-Williams, "Le lingue iraniche", in Le lingue indeuropee, a cura di A. Giacalone Ramat e P. Ramat, Bologna 1993, pp. 151-179.

J. Wiesehofer, La Persia antica, Bologna 2003.

A. Panaino, "Zoroastrismo e religioni dell'Iran preislamico", in Dizionario del sapere storico-religioso del Novecento, a cura di A. Melloni, Bologna 2010, pp. 1752-1792.

Emmerick, Ronald E. and Macuch, Maria, (eds.), The Literature of Pre-Islamic Iran. Companion Volume I to A History of Persian Literature. London: Taurus.

 A. Panaino, Zoroastrismo. Storia, temi, attualità. (Scienza e Storia delle Religioni). Morcelliana, Brescia, 2016.

All the students must possess a basic knowledge of the literary and political history of Pre-Islamic Iran. For this reason they can select one text of literary/linguistics history, and another one dedicate to the political history of Iran (the book by Wieseh¨fer is recommanded). Then, they will study the two proposed works by Panaino dedicated to teh history of Zoroastrianism.

Students unable to attend the classes must choose two additional studies concerning the religious and political history of ancient Iran on subjects of their main interest. The choice of these texts has to be previously established with the teacher of the class.

All Students can choose optional bibliography during lessons in agreement with the professor of the class.

Teaching methods

Frontal lessons using textual material for students; discussions about the items also with the presence of other colleagues.

Assessment methods

The examination consists in a discussion of the main items presented during the lessons: political and religious history of Ancient Iran. The acquisition of a solid vision of the subjects presented in the class and the knowledge of the related arguments with a precision in the terminology and an ability in the critical reference to the different aspects of the discipline, will be recognized with the highest votes, as excellence. A mnenomic knowledge with a correct language but not always consistent and critically argumented will be considered as worth of a discrete valutation.
Weak points in the preparation with an unfitting language, mistakes in the chronological determinations of the problems, incompetence in the bibliography, and uncritical references, will be considered as insufficient.
It is fundamental that the student pays attention to the technical terminology, the correct spelling of the Iranian terms, and that, in particular in the framework of the reconstruction of difficult historical and religious problems connected with linguistic details, he/she is in condition of describing  the pertinent phenomena in a formal way that have been treated in the class and referred to in the bibliographical meterial offered to the students.

N.B. Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending.

The present class (6CFU) is part of the Integrated Course named “Iranistics". If a student has chosen to pass the full integrated program (12CFU), the final evaluation will be the result of the arithmetic average obtained in the two modules (“Storia religiosa del mondo iranico" [Religious History of Pre-Islamic Iran] and “Civiltà letteraria dell’Iran preislamico" [Literary Civilisation of the Pre-Islamic Iranian World]).

Teaching tools

Manuals, videos, manuscripts in facsimile, epigraphic sources, coins, etc. Lessons will be held in the class or via remote teaching means according to the general conditions and in agreement with the laws and regulations fixed by the University.

Office hours

See the website of Antonio Clemente Domenico Panaino