Yesterday, I chanced upon the English translation of Stefan Zweig’s memoirs, The World of Yesterday. Looking through the book, I found Shakespeare’s brilliant words in the epigraph: »Let’s withdraw, and meet the time as it seeks us.« Anyone familiar with Stefan Zweig’s decision to end his life together with his wife will read »let’s withdraw« with a sense of foreboding. However, the German original, at least in the recent printed editions that I know, quote this line from act 4, scene 3 of Cymbeline differently: »Begegnen wir der Zeit, wie sie uns sucht.« What a difference »let’s withdraw« makes here.
Category: Blog
Rise of the Sasanian Empire
I don’t know The Collector, having only recently been alerted to it by Google, but their article entitled Rise of the Sasanian Empire: The Persians (205-310 CE) looks interesting. I have not had a chance to read the article in detail, but it looks generally good and offers photos to illustrate the art and archaeology of the empire.
The site brings you ‘Daily Articles on Ancient History, Philosophy, Art & Artists by Leading Authors. Trusted by Scholars, Classrooms & Enthusiasts’. They have articles on the Achaemenid kings, Cyrus The Great, the Parthians , Zoroastrianism and even on The “Communists” of Ancient Iran: Mazdak and the Khurramites.
A Lost Parsi Fire Temple
A short report with some photos in India Times on The Lost Parsi Fire Temple Of Kolkata’s Ezra Street.
The Parsi community’s connection with Kolkata dates back to more than 240 years. Relying on the written records, in 1767, Dadabhai Behramji became the first Parsi who settled in Kolkata. He was friends with John Cartier, who was appointed as the Governor of Bengal back then.
From the articleInterreligious Dialogue in Medieval Bamiyan
This blog first appeared on the website of the Invisible East Programme.
Historical documents, as opposed to narrative and religious primary source material, are an invaluable resource for the historical study of daily life and ordinary people. Micro-historical research, thus moves away from panoptic imperial historiography and often focuses on the history of smaller states, economies and even private lives. In general, and if enough documentary material exists, the micro-histories offer a more singular but perhaps more precise view. Documentary materials abound in some cultures and languages allowing in-depth examinations of various kinds, whereas in some other regions they can be a rarity. Ginzburg (2013), for instance, drew in his classic micro-historical study of the miller Menocchio’s cosmogony on the protocols of the inquisition trials in the sixteenth century Italy1. Ginzburg’s study provides rare insights into the beliefs and the intellectual life of ordinary people. Rose (2021), in another widely recognised examination of ordinary life, queries a vast array of documentary material to understand and approach the intellectual life of the British working classes of the early twentieth century2. Despite the differences in academic discipline—one is a historical study while the other is sociological— both authors draw on material other than narrative, religious or royal sources3. Unfortunately, not every discipline can rely on documentary material that sheds light on to daily life.
(more…)Bahari Research Fellow
As of today, I continue my work at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford, as a senior ‘Bahari Research Fellow’. I resume work on my usual research topics: Zoroastrianism in late antiquity and epistolary traditions within the Iranian world. I’m grateful to Yuhan Vevaina for the friendship, opportunity & the exceptionally fruitful collaboration.
Were Sogdians Iranian?
This question is being discussed on Twitter, and I was tagged to respond. I honestly don’t know how to do it in a meaningful way on Twitter, as embedded responses are often lost and not seen. I stay away from sub-tweets and believe this topic is too hot to be touched on Twitter anyway :) Below is my simple view:
(more…)Not on Twitter
I have been thinking about leaving Twitter for a while now. Not for one, but for many reasons which are not important. I joined Twitter in 2013 and a couple of years later deleted my Facebook account. I have never regretted that decision and feel the time has come to make a soft exit on Twitter. My Twitter app has been under focus mode and timer restrictions, so called digital well-being, for a long time, so that I could reduce my interaction with the platform. I will not delete my account, but have now logged out of the app. I will continue to share the BiblioIranica posts on my profile and might share any post that I write here on my Twitter. But I will not engage with the timeline and will not read direct messages.
If you like to get in touch, please do so on e-mail. I love to hear from you, but social media are not really for me.
Zoroastrian Scholasticism
The paperback of my book is here! You can order a copy from the Edinburgh University Press. I am grateful to the series editor, Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, for giving this book a home and to the editors at the EUP for guiding me through the publication process.
I list the reviews of my book here, and wrote for the EUP a blog about the content of the book and my approach which you can read here.
Now, I get ready for my next book.
Voice, privilege and writing
The debate about privilege and representing others in writing fascinates me. Who gets to be whose voice? How do you represent others and what role do publishers play in these debates? Does art need to node to the vagaries of social media? Can art provoke? If so, what are the limits, who defines them and what constitutes privilege and/or racism, othering etc? Following up on the Clanchy controversy, the Guardian has a nuanced piece discussing some of these questions.
The idea that writers who tackle difficult subjects cannot necessarily rely on their publishers’ backing in a storm clearly alarms some. One literary agent was approached recently by a white writer, asking if it was still acceptable to write a mixed-race character. “I said, ‘Yes, you’re a novelist – of course you can, but what you do have to prove is that you’ve done proper research, that you’re not just objectifying that character,’” she says. “That’s what fiction is for. It’s to do with looking through other people’s eyes.” But in nonfiction, she concedes, a more permanent shift may be under way. “Maybe we’ve too easily thought that we can tell anybody’s story without any deep understanding.”
The GuardianTEI Template
<news>A first and hopefully usable draft of my #TEI template is finally ready! I have created this template for our @invisible_east corpus that will host a range of documents in Middle Persian, Bactrian, Sogdian, Khotanese, Arabic and New Persian.</news>
اولین پیشنویس الگو TEI که برای اسناد فارسی میانه، بلخی، سغدی، ختنی، فارس و عربی نوشتم، آماده شده. ببینیم کی سیستم دیجیتال رو میتونم راهاندازی کنم.
The Dead Don’t Die
I’ve been thinking about writing a blog on Zoroastrianism in popular culture, keeping my eyes open for connections. But these days, as I follow the news, I feel I can constantly quote Jarmusch’s entire ‘The Dead Don’t Die’. Here is one dialogue from a scene when the characters try to make sense of the events and the impending apocalypse:
– It’s strange!
‘The Dead Don’t Die’ by Jim Jarmusch
– What can I say? The world is kinda strange lately.
– Yeah, it sure is. You ask me, this whole thing is gonna end badly.New review
The Abstracta Iranica website has published a new review of my book. This one is by Benedikt Peschl:
Peschl, Benedikt. 2021. Arash Zeini. Zoroastrian scholasticism in Late Antiquity. The Pahlavi version of the Yasna Haptaŋhāiti. Abstracta Iranica 42-43 (5).
The paperback will be out in May 2022.Part II contains the newly established text of the Pahlavi YH (in transcription) together with an English translation. The text-critical edition (in transliteration) and apparatus are included in an appendix. This edition of the Pahlavi YH must be considered the new reference point for any future work involving the text.
From the review, par. 4Since the discussions refer to a wide range of related passages in the wider realm of Pahlavi literature, the book will be essential to consult not only for those working on other parts of the Zand, but also those engaged with Pahlavi literature in general.
From the review, par. 5Über das Schreiben
Ich schreibe über alles gleich gern. Mich reizt nicht das Suchen eines bestimmten Stoffes, sondern das Aussuchen feiner, schöner Worte. Ich kann aus einer Idee zehn, ja hundert Ideen bilden, aber mir fällt keine Grundidee ein. Was weiß ich, ich schreibe, weil ich es hübsche finde, so die Zeilen mit zierlichen Buchstaben auszufüllen. Das “Was” ist mir vollständig gleichgültig.
Robert Walser | Fritz Kochers Aufsätze‘Death in the East’
I’ve never understood what drives the powerful to oppress the weak, or what need the many have to harass those different from them.
Sam Wyndham in ‘Death in the East’“They Helped Build Modern India but Are Shrinking as a People”
The New York Times has an article on Parsis’ involvement in building modern India and their dwindling numbers. Access it here.
Parsis have supported many of the country’s institutions and nurtured business and the arts. But their numbers have dwindled at an alarming pace.
From the porch of his century-old home, Khurshed Dastoor has a front-row seat to a tragedy that he fears may be too late to reverse: the slow extinction of a people who helped build modern India.
