Pourdavoud Institute
Co-Sponsorship: Global Antiquity (Re)envisioning Ancient Worlds
Royce 306A Forum for Exchanges on Ancient Studies at UCLA December 5–6, 2023 | Royce Hall 306 Global Antiquity is convening a workshop titled (Re)envisioning Ancient Worlds. This event, held at UCLA over two days, December 5–6, 2023, will include invited speakers from the University of California and the greater Los Angeles area whose research focuses on...
Pourdavoud Lecture Series: Neville McFerrin
Royce 306An Entangled Empire: Dress, Reciprocal Construction, and the Experience of Kingship at Persepolis In reliefs across Persepolis, the Achaemenid administrative center, depictions of mediated bodies offer insight into an imperial ideology that generates inclusion through categorical and material slippages. The crown of the king parallels the crenellations of the architecture that surround him even as...
Pourdavoud Lecture Series: Elspeth Dusinberre
Royce 306The Collapse of Empire: Gordion’s Transition from the Achaemenid to the Hellenistic World This talk will highlight the huge changes that characterized Gordion’s transition from the Achaemenid to the Hellenistic periods. Gordion, ancient capital of Phrygia, was a large and thriving city of secondary importance during the period of the Achaemenid Persian empire (ca 550–333...
Pourdavoud Lecture Series: Christian Sahner
314 Royce HallHow Zoroastrians Argued with Muslims in the Early Islamic Period This lecture will explore the early conflict between Zoroastrians and Muslims by examining the most important polemical treatise in the Zoroastrian tradition, the Škand Gumānīg-Wizār (“The Doubt-Dispelling Disquisition”), written by the ninth/tenth century theologian and philosopher Mardānfarrox son of Ohrmazddād. A sophisticated work of rationalist theology,...
Pourdavoud Lecture Series: Hilmar Klinkott
Royce 306Consolidation of Law, Legal Order, and the Question of Constitutionalizing Processes in the Achaemenid Empire The Old Persian inscriptions of Darius I deal with a range of legal, particularly constitutional questions. The famous grave inscription from Naqsh-i Rustam (DNb) constitutes the conceptional center of a thematical text corpus, exemplified in specific details and different legal...
CANCELLED: Pourdavoud Lecture Series: Robert Rollinger
Royce 306Due to recent events on campus resulting in the cancellations of classes at UCLA today, Professor Robert Rollinger's lecture has been canceled. We apologize for any inconvienence and thank you for your understanding. We look forward to hosting you at one of our upcoming events soon. The “Persian Wars”: An Alternative Perspective? The “Persian Wars”...
CANCELLED: Pourdavoud Lecture Series: Wu Xin
Royce 306It is with sincere regret that we have decided to cancel the upcoming lecture by Professor Wu Xin. Our campus, like many others across the country, is experiencing turbulent times with ongoing protests. We will reschedule this event at a later date when we will be able to welcome safely to campus our friends and...