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May 2022
The World of Ancient Iran and the West
An International Symposium Convened by M. Rahim Shayegan (University of California, Los Angeles) and Jeffrey Spier (J. Paul Getty Museum) May 19–20, 2022 | 314 Royce Hall Morning Refreshments: 8:00 am Symposium Begins: 9:00 am The Pourdavoud Center for the Study of the Iranian World and the J. Paul Getty Museum are convening for a third year an international symposium on the exchanges between ancient Iran and the Classical world. This year’s symposium, held at UCLA over two days (May…
Read More about The World of Ancient Iran and the WestApril 2022
Biennial Ehsan Yarshater Lecture Series – Empire and Borderlands at Interplay: A Structural Approach (First Millennium BCE – First Millennium CE)
The 2022 Biennial Ehsan Yarshater Lecture Series Featuring Professor Robert Rollinger (University of Innsbruck) The Achaemenid Persian World Empire The series of lectures offers a novel and fresh perspective on one of the largest and most successful empires in world history, namely, the Achaemenid Persian World Empire (sixth to fourth century BCE), the central power of a (proto-)globalized world, and the driving force behind many cultural developments, whose manifold repercussions we may observe from Gibraltar to the Taklamakan Desert, from…
Read More about Biennial Ehsan Yarshater Lecture Series – Empire and Borderlands at Interplay: A Structural Approach (First Millennium BCE – First Millennium CE)Biennial Ehsan Yarshater Lecture Series – Space and Universality: The Long Life of the Achaemenid Mental Map in Antiquity and Beyond (Sixth Century BCE – Sixth Century CE)
The 2022 Biennial Ehsan Yarshater Lecture Series Featuring Professor Robert Rollinger (University of Innsbruck) The Achaemenid Persian World Empire The series of lectures offers a novel and fresh perspective on one of the largest and most successful empires in world history, namely, the Achaemenid Persian World Empire (sixth to fourth century BCE), the central power of a (proto-)globalized world, and the driving force behind many cultural developments, whose manifold repercussions we may observe from Gibraltar to the Taklamakan Desert, from…
Read More about Biennial Ehsan Yarshater Lecture Series – Space and Universality: The Long Life of the Achaemenid Mental Map in Antiquity and Beyond (Sixth Century BCE – Sixth Century CE)Biennial Ehsan Yarshater Lecture Series – Whither the Achaemenid Empire? Towards a New Connected History of Afro-Eurasia in Antiquity
The 2022 Biennial Ehsan Yarshater Lecture Series Featuring Professor Robert Rollinger (University of Innsbruck) The Achaemenid Persian World Empire The series of lectures offers a novel and fresh perspective on one of the largest and most successful empires in world history, namely, the Achaemenid Persian World Empire (sixth to fourth century BCE), the central power of a (proto-)globalized world, and the driving force behind many cultural developments, whose manifold repercussions we may observe from Gibraltar to the Taklamakan Desert, from…
Read More about Biennial Ehsan Yarshater Lecture Series – Whither the Achaemenid Empire? Towards a New Connected History of Afro-Eurasia in AntiquityBiennial Ehsan Yarshater Lecture Series – An Afro-Eurasian “Hyperpower” and Its Ancient Near Eastern Roots (First Millennium BCE)
The 2022 Biennial Ehsan Yarshater Lecture Series Featuring Professor Robert Rollinger (University of Innsbruck) The Achaemenid Persian World Empire The series of lectures offers a novel and fresh perspective on one of the largest and most successful empires in world history, namely, the Achaemenid Persian World Empire (sixth to fourth century BCE), the central power of a (proto-)globalized world, and the driving force behind many cultural developments, whose manifold repercussions we may observe from Gibraltar to the Taklamakan Desert,…
Read More about Biennial Ehsan Yarshater Lecture Series – An Afro-Eurasian “Hyperpower” and Its Ancient Near Eastern Roots (First Millennium BCE)March 2022
The World of Ancient Iran and the West
An International Symposium Convened by M. Rahim Shayegan (University of California, Los Angeles) and Jeffrey Spier (J. Paul Getty Museum) May 19–20, 2022 | 314 Royce Hall Morning Refreshments: 8:00 am Panels Begin: 9:00 am The Pourdavoud Center for the Study of the Iranian World and the Getty are convening for a third year an international symposium on the exchanges between ancient Iran and the Classical world. This year’s symposium, held at UCLA over two days (May 19 and 20,…
Read More about The World of Ancient Iran and the WestFebruary 2022
Pourdavoud Center Lecture Series: Kianoosh Rezania
How Did the Ancient Iranians Coordinate Space? On the Old Iranian Absolute Frame of Reference For verbal expression and nonverbal cognitive processing of spatial relations between two objects, the speakers of a language use different frames of reference. (Psycho)linguistics classifies these into three main groups: intrinsic, relative, and absolute. This lecture aims to identify the old Iranian absolute frame of reference. After a short explanation of different frames of reference, the presentation will examine four sorts of evidence to this…
Read More about Pourdavoud Center Lecture Series: Kianoosh RezaniaPourdavoud Center Lecture Series: Céline Redard
Current Trends in Avestan Studies This lecture discusses the major progress made in our understanding of the Avestan corpus/texts in the last years. Based on her recent publication co-written with Jean Kellens, L’introduction à l’Avesta, Céline Redard introduces the new vision of the Avesta, leading to the new editions currently undertaken. The important ritual aspect will also be underlined, with some concrete examples taken from her books The Srōš Drōn – Yasna 3 to 8, and The Gujarati Ritual Directions…
Read More about Pourdavoud Center Lecture Series: Céline RedardJanuary 2022
Pourdavoud Center Lecture Series: Eberhard Sauer
From the Gorgan Wall to the Alan Gates/Dariali: The Northern Defenses of the Sasanian Empire A lecture by Eberhard W. Sauer Based on collaborative research with Jebrael Nokandeh, Hamid Omrani Rekavandi, Lana Chologauri and Davit Naskidashvili It was only in December 2005 that radiocarbon samples established beyond doubt a Sasanian-era construction date for the Gorgan Wall, the longest fort-lined barrier of the late antique world. Until then, majority opinion had favored a date half a millennium before. Over the…
Read More about Pourdavoud Center Lecture Series: Eberhard SauerPourdavoud Center Lecture Series: John W.I. Lee
Greek ‘Concubines’ and Achaemenid Dynastic Politics The civil war of 401 BC between Cyrus the Younger and his older brother King Artaxerxes II (r. 405/4-359/8 BC) is well known to Achaemenid historians, thanks especially to the famous account of Xenophon’s Anabasis. While the military aspects of this conflict have been much studied, this lecture focuses on the two Ionian Greek women who accompanied Cyrus on his campaign. Xenophon describes them as “concubines,” but setting these two women into the broader contexts of Achaemenid court culture and of intermarriage between…
Read More about Pourdavoud Center Lecture Series: John W.I. Lee