Auch Gedanken fallen manchmal unreif vom Baum.
Ludwig Wittgenstein
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
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
Über 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”
‘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
The Roar of silence
On 26 September, I presented François de Blois the Festschrift that Adam Benkato and I edited: Benkato, Adam & Arash Zeini (eds.). 2021. The roar of silence: A Festschrift in honour of François de Blois. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 31(3). The presentation took place at the Ancient India & Iran Trust in Cambridge a