13753 - History of Religions (1)

Learning outcomes

The course aims to offer students with a wide knowledge of the Iranian cultural history with special regard for its linguistic and philological complexity and with a strong focus on its religious history. Every year at least one Iranian language will be investigated with close regard for some religious and political or historical problems connected to the Iranian sources.

Course contents

The course aims to offer students with a wide knowledge of the Iranian cultural history with special regard for its linguistic and philological complexity and with a strong focus on its religious history. The course will be divided in two parts: one will offer an introduction to the Iranian linguistic area with basic details about ancient and middle Iranian languages and a special focus on one of them (This year the Later Avestan language will be the main subject of the course; the second chapter of the Widewdad will be the text of philological investigation.) The second part will be dedicated to the myth of Yima in Iran.

Readings/Bibliography

Introduction to Iranian linguistics
R. Schmitt (hrsg. von), Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum, Wiesbaden (L. Reichert) 1989.
I.M. Oranskij, Le Lingue Iraniche. Ed. it. a cura di A.V. Rossi, Napoli (I.U.O.) 1973.
N. Sims-Williams, Le lingue iraniche, in Le lingue indeuropee, a cura di A. Giacalone Ramat e P. Ramat, Bologna (Il Mulino) 1993, pp. 151-179.

Avestan Grammar and Alphabet:
J. Kellens, Avestique, in Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum, pp. 32-55.
K. Hoffmann, Avestan Language, pp. 62, Enciclopædia Iranica, vol. III, fasc. I, ed. by E. Yarshater, London - New York (Routledge and Kegan Paul) 1989.
K. Hoffmann - B. Forssman, Avestische Laut- und Flexionslehre, Innsbruck (Institut für Sprachwissenschaft der Universität Innsbruck) 1996.
A.V.W. Jackson, An Avesta Grammar, Stuttgart (W. Kolhammer) 1892 (repr. New York 1975).
H. Reichelt, Awestisches Elementarbuch, Heidelberg (C. Winter) 1909 (repr. Heidelberg. 1978).
Letteratura
K.F. Geldner, Avesta Literature, pp. 25-82, in Avesta, Pahlavi and Ancient Persian Studies in honour of the Late Shams-Ul-Ulama Dastur P. B. Sanjana, Strassburg - Leipzig (K.J. Trübner - O. Harrassowitz) 1904.
J. Kellens, Avesta, pp. 35-44, Enciclopædia Iranica, III, 1.

Tests and lexica:
Ch. Bartholomae, Altiranisches Wörterbuch. Strassburg (K.J. Trübner ) 1904.
K.F. Geldner, Avesta the Sacred Books of the Parsis. vol. II, Stuttgart (W. Kolhammer) 1891 (repr. Delhi - Ahmedabad 1982).

Teaching methods

Front lessons with the help of textual materials at disposal of the students; frequent discussions about the items discussed also with the presence of other colleagues specialist in some related fields; direct engagement of the students with questions, relations and communications.

Assessment methods

The oral examination will test the student's critical knowledge concerning both the general subjects of the course and the special problems discussed in the framework of the seminar. For this reason, it is necessarythe direct knowledge of the Avestan text read in the classes and of the main problems discussed during the historico-religious analysis of the myth of Yima.

Teaching tools

Books, manuscripts, xeroxes, geographical maps, audiovisula means, web data etc.

Office hours

See the website of Antonio Clemente Domenico Panaino