Auch Gedanken fallen manchmal unreif vom Baum.
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Professionals of Writing in Late Antiquity
I had the pleasure of giving the closing remarks at the workshop Professionals of Writing in Late Antiquity, convened by Olivia Ramble, Yuhan S-D Vevaina, and Alessia Zubani on 13 June 2025 in Oxford. By way of summary, I share my remarks here. They have been edited for clarity, though, admittedly, they lack the charm […]
The Scallop
‘The Scallop’ is a sculpture installed on the beach at Aldeburgh, in Suffolk. It is by the local artist Maggi Hambling and dedicated to Benjamin Britten. Onto it, are cut the words: ‘I hear those voices that will not be drowned’. When you read the words, you see behind each character the endless sky. Cut […]
“Zoroastrianism, Esotericism and Race”
On 31 May, a workshop took place at SOAS on Zoroastrianism, Esotericism and Race. Convened by Mariano Errichiello (SOAS) and Afshin Marashi (Oklahoma), this closed-door workshop aimed to explore ideas around esotericism in modernity, which remains an understudied topic within Zoroastrianism. Six papers, arranged across three panels, addressed themes spanning the 19th to the 21st […]
Groups in the Abbasid Caliphate
I will be presenting a paper, provisionally entitled Negotiating Zoroastrian Communal Identity in the Early Islamic Era, at the final workshop of the Abbasid Identities research project: Religious, Ethnic and Professional Groups in the Abbasid Caliphate, 750-1000. The ways that ethno-religious minorities relate to majorities is a salient feature of twenty-first century politics. However, the […]
The Covenant that Binds
I have two articles in the newly published Festschrift for Dieter Weber, a volume I edited with Maria Macuch. In the first article, I investigate the collocation bun ud bar, known primarily from Zoroastrian legal texts, and show how the Zand’s insertion of it in Pahlavi Yasna 37.1 (Yasna Haptaŋhāiti) ultimately connects to the idea […]
Deciphering the Illegible
Deciphering the Illegible, a Festschrift in honour of Dieter Weber, has now been published, celebrating his profound and life-long contributions to the study of Middle Persian documents. Macuch, Maria & Arash Zeini (eds.). 2024. Deciphering the illegible: Festschrift in honour of Dieter Weber (Iranica 33). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. On Monday, 21 October 2024, Maria and […]