32548 - Philology and Religious History of Iran II

Learning outcomes

Cultural history of ancient and late antique Iran (philology, linguistic, literature, history, religion, institutions) before the rise of Islam. 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

The Great king Xerxes, Leonidas and the 300. The image of the Persia according to the Classical sources: power, richness, wisdom and mistery.

The course (60 hours) is divided in two parts and deals with religious history and texts of pre-Islamic Iran, and the dynasties of the Achaemenids, the Parthians and the Sasanians. A particular glance is addressed to Central Asia (Bactria, Sogdiana).

First part: 30 hours. The coming of the Iranians into the Plateau, the rise of the Persian power, the struggle with Greece. The Classical sources (Herodot, Xenophon, Plutarchus, Strabo), between reality, ideology and appreciation of the Persian values, of the Magi's priesthood and their esoterical wisdom: Zarathustra, the cult, the journey of the soul in Afterlife. Implementation I. The King of kings' messages and his orders: letters of exhortation and command within the correspondence of the Achaemenid king.

Second part: 30 hours. The Parthians and the rise of the Sasanians. Epic traditions, mythologies, religions of Sasanian Iran. The Iranian kingship and other kingships (Rome, Byzance, Central Asia). The Zoroastrian religion and other competitive religions: Manichaeism, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism. Implementation 2. Letters of rescue from the King of kings: epic, religions, yearning of salvation and communication in the Hymn of the Pearl.

Target of the course:

First Part: for students interested in Oriental subjects (Near East, Middle East, Mesopotamia, Egypt), in Greek history and Greek Literature.

Second Part: for students interested in Roman history, Byzantine history and literature, cultures of Late Antiquity, Islamic world, History of Christianity.

Readings/Bibliography

First part: basic bibliography (see further didactic tools on-web)

J. Wiesehoefer, La Persia antica, Il Mulino, Bologna 2000, pp. 7-82.

A.Piras, "Medi e Persiani: dall'Iran al Mare Egeo", in M. Giangiulio (a cura di), Storia d'Europa e del Mediterraneo: il mondo antico II, vol. III, Salerno, Roma 2007, pp. 305-333 [downloading from teaching site]

G. Gnoli, "Le religioni dell'Iran antico e Zoroastro", in G. Filoramo (a cura di), Storia delle religioni, vol. I, Laterza, Bari 1999, pp. 455-498. [downloading from teaching site]

Further bibliography (if the student is interested in any particular topic)

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.

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. 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

 

Second part: basic bibliography (see further didactic tools on web)

J. Wiesehoefer, La Persia antica, Il Mulino, Bologna 2022, pp. 83-121.

G. Gnoli, "La religione zoroastriana", in G. Filoramo (a cura di), Storia delle religioni vol. I, Laterza, Bari 1999, pp. 455-498.

G. Gnoli. "L'Iran tardoantico e la regalità sassanide", in Mediterraneo Antico I, 1, 1998, pp. 115-139.

 

further bibliography (if the student is interested in any particular topic)

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 Manicheismo vol. 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

two hours lessons three times a week; presentation and discussion of the bibliography and class partecipation in reading the didactic tools

Assessment methods

The exam is an oral test of the student's ability in learning and discussing the different topics of the subject, pointing to underscore the cultural continuity and mutation within the different historical contexts (Antiquity, Late Antiquity, high Middle Age)

Teaching tools

Bibliography and teaching documents to be downloaded from the teaching site

Office hours

See the website of Andrea Piras