No description available.

During the 1980s, it was frequently claimed that spatial patterns of archaeological and contemporary settlements were closely related to the social nature of the societies which had created and modelled them (Hietala 1984; Hillier & Hanson 1984). Despite a decade of alternative claims, such theories are still widely accepted although in many cases the emphasis has shifted from economic factors to symbolic or social ones. The presence of a class-based social system is one of the major characteristics of Iranian society during the Sasanian era (224-651 CE). This social system was based upon the official religion of Sasanians - Zoroastrianism - and had a major impact on most aspects of Iranian society during this period. The far-reaching impact of this social system on architectural space and urban infrastructure is clearly representative of a class-based society. The collapse of the Sasanian world, accelerated by Arab invasions (641 CE), severely reduced the dominance of Zoroastrianism within Iran, heralding a fundamental change in the social life of its people. These changes, accompanied by the acceptance of a new religion, have been the focus of several researchers over the last decades (Kennedy 2001). In contrast to Sasanian society, Early Islamic social structure was characterised as one of equality and its urban forms as ones with little differentiation as typified by Medina (Zarrinkub 1993). The aim of this dissertation is to test the above assumptions and models with reference to a single urban site - the city of Barn. Selected due to its Pre-Islamic and Islamic occupations, its excellent state of preservation allows a full testing of the above assumptions through archaeological analysis. The results of this research indicate a continuation of patterns of Sasanian space and society into the Islamic period. In addition, the space and society of Bam, documented in this research, provides an important step towards a further understanding of the social and spatial organisation of Sasanian and Early-Islamic cities, as well as providing a foundation for additional research in this field.

L’étude de la représentation des femmes sur les objets d’art de l’Iran Sassanide (224-651 EC) a signifié à la fois un défi considérable mais a suscité en même temps beaucoup de plaisir et de curiosité. Au cours des quatre siècles sassanides, on constate une augmentation des représentations féminines sur les vaisselles en argent notamment à la fin de cette période. De plus, cette iconographie a évolué de façon beaucoup plus significative que sur toute autre source artistique à cette époque telle que les bas-reliefs, les sceaux et cachets, les monnaies, les mosaïques, les stucs et les figurines.Le volume I (texte, illustrations) étudie sur trois chapitres les représentations des femmes sur les argenteries puis compare leur iconographie avec celle des autres objets d’arts. Le volume II est constitué du catalogue reprenant les documents des représentations féminines sur l’argenterie Sassanide du IIIe siècle au VIIe siècle (61 objets en argent). Une annexe comporte les explications supplémentaires, les tableaux et les figures pour soutenir les chapitres de Volume I. / The study of women representations on works of art from Sasanid Iran (224-651 CE) has not only meant a tremendous challenge subject but also a source of pleasure and curiosity. During the four Sassanid centuries, the female representations on silver vessels have increased especially at the end of this period. The relevant iconography on vessels have significantly changed more than on any other artistic sources of this period such as the rock reliefs, seals, coins, mosaics, stucco and figurines.Volume I (text, illustrations) in three chapters, studies women representations on silver vessels and addresses the comparison of its iconography with other works of art of this period.Volume II is the catalog of iconographic documents on women representations on Sassanid silver vessels from the 3rd to the 7th century (61 silver objects).An appendix contains additional explanations, tables and figures to support the chapters of Volume I.

La présente thèse étudie à la fois les réalités de la présence chrétienne en Mésopotamie ainsi que l’image que les chrétiens se sont données d’eux-mêmes. Installé sur les rives du Tigre et de l’Euphrate, le christianisme de l’empire perse s’est diffusé à l’ombre d’un pouvoir non chrétien, comme dans l’empire romain. Toutefois les destinées des deux christianismes, celui d’Occident et celui d’Orient, se sont séparées lorsque l’empire romain est devenu chrétien. Les chrétiens de la Mésopotamie sassanide ont dû alors osciller entre l’hostilité franche du pouvoir et les périodes de tolérance jusqu’à la chute de la dynastie au milieu du VIIe siècle. Le christianisme mésopotamien fut caractérisé par une forme de diversité à la fois linguistique et religieuse, marqué par la porosité avec les autres groupes, contre laquelle les autorités religieuses n’ont cessé de délimiter des frontières claires. Il s’est progressivement étendu à l’ensemble des couches de la société sassanide, jusqu’aux élites dirigeantes, et jusqu’aux campagnes. Alors, une production littéraire et historiographique d’ampleur a contribué à la formation d’un portrait cohérent et linéaire dans la documentation syro-orientale dominante, issue de l’Église de l’Est. Ailleurs, des mémoires divergentes des chrétiens de Perse nous sont parvenues. / This dissertation looks at both the realities of the Christian presence in Mesopotamia and how the Christians constructed their own image. Established on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Christianity during the Persian Empire it developed under a shadowy non-Christian power, as with the case with the Roman Empire. However, the fate of Western and Eastern Christianities diverged when the Roman Empire became Christian. In Sasanian Mesopotamia, the treatment of Christians wavered between direct hostility from Zoroastrian power and periods of tolerance, until the fall of the dynasty in the middle of the 7th century. A form of linguistic and religious diversity characterized Mesopotamian Christianity. The lines between Christians and the other communities were narrow, which caused religious authorities to draw clear boundaries between Christians and non-Christians. Christianity expanded into the whole Sasanian society, including the peasantry and ruling elites. Therefore, after the 5th century, there was a large proliferation of East-Syrian literature and historiography, which had a key role in the development of the dominant Christian image within the Church of Persia. However, other literary traditions passed down different views of the Christians of Sasanian Mesopotamia.

During the 1980s, it was frequently claimed that spatial patterns of archaeological and contemporary settlements were closely related to the social nature of the societies which had created and modelled them (Hietala 1984; Hillier & Hanson 1984). Despite a decade of alternative claims, such theories are still widely accepted although in many cases the emphasis has shifted from economic factors to symbolic or social ones. The presence of a class-based social system is one of the major characteristics of Iranian society during the Sasanian era (224-651 CE). This social system was based upon the official religion of Sasanians - Zoroastrianism - and had a major impact on most aspects of Iranian society during this period. The far-reaching impact of this social system on architectural space and urban infrastructure is clearly representative of a class-based society. The collapse of the Sasanian world, accelerated by Arab invasions (641 CE), severely reduced the dominance of Zoroastrianism within Iran, heralding a fundamental change in the social life of its people. These changes, accompanied by the acceptance of a new religion, have been the focus of several researchers over the last decades (Kennedy 2001). In contrast to Sasanian society, Early Islamic social structure was characterised as one of equality and its urban forms as ones with little differentiation as typified by Medina (Zarrinkub 1993). The aim of this dissertation is to test the above assumptions and models with reference to a single urban site - the city of Barn. Selected due to its Pre-Islamic and Islamic occupations, its excellent state of preservation allows a full testing of the above assumptions through archaeological analysis. The results of this research indicate a continuation of patterns of Sasanian space and society into the Islamic period. In addition, the space and society of Bam, documented in this research, provides an important step towards a further understanding of the social and spatial organisation of Sasanian and Early-Islamic cities, as well as providing a foundation for additional research in this field. / Ministry of Science, Research and Technology of Iran

This thesis is a study of the pre-Islamic passages of Abū Ḥanīfa Aḥmad ibn Dāwūd ibn Wanand Dīnawarī's Kitāb al-Aḫbār al-Ṭiwāl. This is to say that it stops at the beginning of the Arab conquest of Iran. It is intended for scholars of Late Antiquity. Special emphasis is placed on Dīnawarī's exposition of the rule of the Sasanian dynasty and questions relating to the mysterious Ḫudāynāma tradition which are intimately connected with it. Beginning with a discussion of Dīnawarī and his work, the thesis moves into a discussion of indigenous Iranian historiography. Speculation on the sources of Kitāb al-Aḫbār al-Ṭiwāl follows, and the historiographical investigation of the most substantial portion of Kitāb al-Aḫbār al-Ṭiwāl's notices on the Sasanian dynasty comes next. The conclusion summarises the findings of the thesis. The final section (an appendix) is a translation of the relevant part of Kitāb al-Aḫbār al-Ṭiwāl running from the beginning of that text to the reign of Šīrūya. This thesis was written with one main question in mind: what does Dīnawarī's Kitāb al-Aḫbār al-Ṭiwāl have to say about pre-Islamic Iranian history? A host of other questions arose immediately: who was Dīnawarī; when did he live; what did he do; how was his work perceived by others; where did Dīnawarī get his information and how did he present it; is Dīnawarī's information reliable? These questions are addressed one by one in my thesis.

This thesis aims to consider the competing visions of Sasanian Iran advanced by Arthur Christensen in ‘L'Iran sous les Sassanides' (1944) and Parvaneh Pourshariati in ‘Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire' (2008), discuss the relevant evidence in relation to their arguments, and to suggest our own theory of how the Sasanian Empire operated. Christensen argued for the strength of the Sasanian monarchy and the subservience of the aristocracy to the kings, whilst Pourshariati's thesis stressed Sasanian royal weakness and the relative power of the aristocracy. These theses are incompatible, offering fundamentally different conceptions of the natures of the Sasanian monarchy and aristocracy, and how they interacted with each other. Firstly, this thesis critiques the models established by Christensen and Pourshariati, especially their failure to acknowledge evidence at variance with their thesis, and their lack of discussion concerning how the aristocracy perceived their relationship with the monarchy. We then turn to our own discussion of the evidence relating to the Sasanian monarchy and royal power, and the cultural outlook of the aristocracy, with reference to the above theories, so as to understand how strong the Sasanian monarchy was, the nature of royal power, and how the aristocracy perceived their relationship with the crown. We argue for a conception of Sasanian Iran somewhere between the theories of Christensen and Pourshariati. There is very little evidence that the Sasanian kings ruled through a state enjoying significant institutional power; indeed Sasanian power seems very limited in the periphery of the Empire. However, the inherent respect for the monarchy held by the aristocracy, and the ties of mutual dependence which existed between kings and aristocrats, allowed for Sasanian rule to in general be highly effective.

No description available.

L’étude de la place et du statut des femmes dans l’Iran sassanide est fondée sur des données textuelles (cinq livres en pehlevie) et sur des matériaux archéologiques et iconographiques. L’objectif est la confrontation entre les deux séries de sources.Le volume I (texte, illustrations) en trois chapitres étudie les représentations des femmes puis traite du statut des femmes d’après les textes. Le troisième chapitre est la confrontation des deux séries de données. Le deuxième volume est le catalogue donnant d’une part la transcription et la traduction de textes d’époque sassanide et post-sassanide décrivant la situation des femmes dans la société, accompagnées de commentaires ; d’autre part des documents iconographiques: personnages féminins sur les bas-reliefs, sceaux et cachets, argenterie, mosaïques, monnaies, tissus, stucs, figurines et quelques autres objets.Au cours des quatre siècles sassanides, on constate une évolution relativement positive du statut de la femme d’après les textes, et en parallèle une augmentation des représentations féminines sur des documents officiels comme les sceaux, les meilleurs indicateurs de la place et du rôle des femmes dans la société de l’Iran sassanide. / The study of the role and status of women in Sasanian Iran is based on the textual sources (five books in Pahlavi) and series of archaeological and iconographic objects. This dissertation aims at confronting these two series of data.Volume I (text and illustrations) including three chapters is a study of women representation on the iconographic objects and then deals with their status in the texts. In the third chapter these two categories will be confronted. Volume II contains the catalogues: on the one hand the transcription and translation of the texts surviving from Sasanian and Post-Sasanian periods, which describe women’s status in the society, enriched with some commentaries; on the other hand the catalogue of iconographic evidence depicting women, including rock-reliefs, seals and bullae, silverware, mosaics, coins, fabrics, stuccoes, figurines, textiles, and the other varied kinds of objects. Our investigations suggest a rather positive evolution of the women’s status during the four-century period of the Sasanian empire, according to the available texts. At the same time, one observes an increasing number of female representations on such official documents as the seals, which are the most precise evidence on the social situation and place of women in Sasanian Iran.

Depuis la révolution iranienne de 1979, la diplomatie du régime en place semble marquer une rupture avec un anti-occidentalisme affiché –l’affrontement sous forme de guerre asymétrique avec les USA-, un antisionisme déclaré-les déclarations du Président Ahmadinejad- et le réveil de la vieille rivalité arabo-musulmane –Guerre Iran/Irak et perturbations par des fidèles iraniens du pèlerinage de la Mecque. Des moyens conventionnels et non conventionnel sont employés, du terrorisme avec de nombreux attentats, au pan chiisme avec l’utilisation à des fins politiques de communautés chiites dans les pays du Golfe, en passant par le chantage de la fermeture du détroit d’Ormuz où transitent près de 40 % du pétrole de la planète. Pourtant, cette attitude, si ambiguë et si violente par certains égards, semble n’est que le reflet de la continuité diplomatique, au regard de l’histoire de cette antique civilisation. La peur de l’éclatement interne, comme d’ailleurs celle des pays limitrophes, ont poussé ce pays depuis des millénaires à adopter une diplomatie de l’équilibre, dans une sorte de diplomatie des 4 points cardinaux. De plus, la Perse puis l’Iran a toujours possédé un désir hégémonique régional au niveau du Golfe persique, désir qui s’est traduit par de nombreuses guerres avec ses voisins, notamment avec l’ex Mésopotamie- L’Irak. Cela s’est traduit par la recherche d’une armée puissante, le nucléaire n’étant qu’un moyen pour affirmer sa grandeur ou diplomatie de la synthèse. Les négociations actuelles placent la République islamique d’Iran au centre du grand jeu asiatique où s’affrontent deux supers puissance en devenir, l’Inde et la Chine. Offrir la possibilité à l’Iran d’être reconnu comme un acteur civil du nucléaire la positionne comme une référence vis-à-vis des pays arabes : l’Iran devient , de facto , hégémonique Les ruptures ne sont en fait que des continuités liées aux valeurs perses, fondées sur l’indépendance, le désir de briller et de dominer. L’histoire, la religion, et l’Iranité sont la source de ces valeurs identitaires, terreau et fondement de la diplomatie de la République islamique d’Iran / Since the Iranian revolution of 1979, the diplomacy of the regime seems to mark a break with an anti-Westernism -l'affrontement displayed in the form of asymmetric war with the USA-a-Zionism declared presidential statements and waking Ahmadinejad- the old Arab-Muslim rivalry -Guerre Iran / Iraq and disturbances by Iranian faithful pilgrimage to Mecca. Conventional and non-conventional means are employed, with many terrorist attacks in Shia pan with the use for political purposes Shiite communities in the Gulf, through blackmail closing the Strait of Hormuz where handling approximately 40% of the oil on the planet. Yet this attitude, so ambiguous and so violent in some ways seem is but a reflection of the diplomatic continuity, in terms of the history of this ancient civilization. Fear of the internal breakdown, as also that of neighboring countries has driven this country for thousands of years to adopt a diplomacy of balance, in a kind of diplomacy 4 cardinal points. Furthermore, Persia and Iran has always had a regional hegemonic desire in the Persian Gulf, a desire that has led many wars with its neighbors, including the former Mésopotamie- Iraq. This was reflected by the search of a powerful army, nuclear being a means to assert its size or diplomacy synthesis. The current negotiations put the Islamic Republic of Iran at the center of the great Asian game where two great power clash in the making, India and China. Provide an opportunity for Iran to be recognized as a civil nuclear player in the position as vis-à-vis the reference of Arab countries: Iran becomes de facto hegemonic Ruptures are in fact only continuities related to Persian values, based on independence, the desire to shine and dominate. The history, religion, and Iranianness are the source of these identity values, soil and foundation of the diplomacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran