Studia Iranica, vol. 28 (1999)

Vol. 28/1 (2008)

ARTICLES
• D. HUFF, “Das ’medische’ Grabrelief von Deh Now”

Summary
Arguments are put forward for a post-Achaemenian date of the so-called Median rock tombs. The group of 4 tombs of Deh Now (Issakvand, Surkhadeh) is suggested to have been the burial places of a local dynasty and to belong to the later phase of the period of “median” rock tombs, the tomb with reliefs being the latest of the group. The original relief showed a single worshipper in a pseudo-Achaemenid costume ; a 1st century BC till mid-1st century AD date is suggested. Later on, a small scene of adoration was added, with a fire altar between a man and an incense burner. A diffuse object on the latter is identified as representation of a cloud of incense. A late Parthian or Sasanian date is suggested for the additional relief.
Keywords : Bisutun ; Deh Now, Issakvand ; Gaumata ; Median rock tombs ; fire altar ; incense burner, thymiaterion ; Persian costume.

• C. LO MUZIO, “The Dioscur at Dilberjin (Northern Afghanistan) : Reviewing their Chronology and Significance”

Summary
The present article deals with a wall painting representing the Dioscuri, which was found in the main temple of Dilberjin (Southern Bactria). On the grounds of a comparison with the Graeco-Roman iconographic repertory of the Divine Twins (a particular attention being paid to compositional schemata) there are reasons to reject the chronology (the 2nd century BC) proposed by I.T. Kruglikova, the 2nd (or 3rd) century AD seeming a more reasonable date for its execution. As to the function of the Twins, they are hardly to be thought of as the main object of the cult, whereas a number of clues suggest that they might have figured as assistants or guardians of a major, possibly female, deity. This is a pattern widespread in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire (the “Dioscuri with a Goddess”), but rooted in the local religious background as well (the Indo-Iranian Twins often associated with a female deity). A painting representing the Brahmanic couple Siva-Pârvatî, found in the same temple but pertaining to a later phase, is also taken into consideration as a further possible clue to a female cult.
Keywords : Bactria ; Dilberjin ; painting ; Dioscuri ; Artemis ; Indo-Iranian Twins ; Nanâ ; Siva-Pârvatî.

• F. GRENET et O. BOPEARACHCHI, “Une nouvelle monnaie en or d’Abdagases I”

Summary
Following the publication by the same authors of a first gold coin of the Indo-Parthian king Abdagases II (St.Ir. 25, 1996, pp. 219-231), this article presents a new specimen, found near Qandahar in Afghanistan. It too includes a legend in Parthian, but more complete, with on the obverse the filiation of the king “son of king Sanabares”. The iconography, which associates the theme of the glorious hunt on the obverse with that of the sacrificial (?) horse on the reverse, is also discussed.
Keywords : numismatics ; Indo-Parthians ; Abdagases II ; Sistan.

• Ph. GIGNOUX, “Sur quelques relations entre chrétiens et mazdéens d’après des sources syriaques”

Summary
From some Syriac sources published in 1897 by J.-B. Chabot, the author has extracted passages which show what kind of relations existed between Nestorian Christians and Mazdeans, concerning the funerary customs, imprisonment and justice, conversion to another faith, or the Mazdean liturgical recitation. What is perhaps the most interesting is the discovery of a Syriac word designating the kelek, a kind of raft used from remote ages for navigation on the Tigris, which is well attested in Syriac under the form qarqûrâ.

• W. FLOOR, “Le Kârun et l’irrigation de la plaine d’Ahvâz”

Summary
The idea to irrigate the Ahvâz plains was launched in 1875, and several proposals for concessions were submitted. However, none of these concessions were executed. In 1902, Mozaffar al-Din Shâh employed a Dutch engineer to study the Ahvâz irrigation potential. In 1905, the Shah approved the project proposed to him by the Dutch team. Due to the lack of funds of the Persian government and to the opposition of the British government the project was abandoned. London did not want a non-British presence in Khuzestan, which it wanted to reserve for British interests. For the same reason, the British opposed a similar plan proposed by a Russian subject and proposed, together with Sheikh Khaz’al its own alternative plan. With the expiration of the Dutch concession in 1911, the plan for the irrigation of the Ahvâz plains came to an end. In 1927, the irrigation plans for Ahvâz were revived by the Dutch consul at Ahvâz. A former member of the 1905 Dutch team was employed to update the old plan. The proposal was to start with a small irrigation project to get experience before realizing the large dam project. In this way it was also more likely that the Persian government could co-finance the project. However, in 1934 the Persian government decided that it had no money to invest in large irrigation projects. The irrigation dam of Ahvâz was finally realized in the 1960s.
Keywords : concessions ; irrigation ; Khuzestan ; Netherlands ; Great-Britain ; Sheikh Khaz’al ; European powers ; Qajar.

• C. JAHANI, “Persian Influence on Some Verbal Constructions in Iranian Baloch”

Summary
The Balochi spoken in Iran is to a considerable degree influenced by Persian, the official language and the language of education. In the present article, such influence on some verbal constructions in various dialects of Iranian Balochi is investigated by means of a questionnaire. A number of Iranian Baloch living in Sweden, Norway, and England have acted as informants in the investigation.
Keywords : linguistics ; dialectology ; Iranian Balochi ; Persian influence ; verbal constructions.

Vol. 28/2 (2008)

ARTICLES
• R. SCHMITT, “Frustula Susiana”

Summary
In this paper there are discussed several textual problems of Old Persian inscriptions from Susa. For DSa 5 the proposal is made to restore a-[n-i-y-h-y-a : vi-i-s]-h-y-a and to read / taya aniyahyâ frasham Jadaytî / “what may appear excellent to anyone else”. In line 50 of fragment No. 10 of the inscription DSf recording the building of the Palace -u-[t]- is to be read, which in view of the extent of the lines and its position is interpreted as part of /utâ/. Fragment No. 13 of the same inscription exhibits oin line 41 a longer text, which becomes complete only as [a-b-r-i-y :t-y :i-d-a : a-k]-r-i-y and is differing from both DSf and its parallel DSz. Thus it must have been part of another version of the Old Persian text of the Foundation Charter, which should be labelled “DSac”.
Keywords : Achaemenid epigraphy ; Old Persian inscriptions from Susa ; inscriptions of Darius I ; texts DSa and DSf (Palace Foundation Charter).

• N.A. CANTERA GLERA, “Die Stellung der Sprache der Pahlavi-Übersetzung des Avesta”

Summary
The Pahlavi translation of the Avesta waas probably written at some uncertain time before its definitive redaction in the 6th century. If this were true, the Pahlavi translation would be the oldest work of the Pahlavi literature. In this paper the author tries to check if this fact is reflected in the language of the translation. He arrives to the conclusion that the language of this translation represents a stage which is to be compared with that of the Manichaean and Inscriptional Middle Persian and of the Pahlavi Psalter. This stage is also older than the Book Pahlavi, and the author names it “Old Pahlavi”. Its main characteristics are : 1. The conservation of almost all persons of the subjunctive, whereas in Book Pahlavi only the 3rd sg. and pl. remain ; 2. The preservation of the distinction between the direct case and the oblique case of the 1st p. sg.-pronoun, the nouns of relationship and in the plural of all nouns.
Keywords : Pahlavi ; Middle Iranian Manichaean ; Inscriptional Middle Iranian ; Pahlavi translation of the Avesta ; linguistics ; Iranian morphology ; comparative grammar of Iranian languages.

• S. ADHAMI, “Some Remarks on ‘Ulama-ye Islam. I. A Zoroastrian Polemic”

Summary
The two Zoroastrian polemical treatises, ’Ulamâ-ye Islâm I-II, have hitherto been studied only because of the presence of Zurvanite passages. However, the two treatises contain much information on other religions which has been neglected by previous scholars. In this essay, a number of examples are produced and it is hoped that a new edition of the two texts, accompanied by translation, will soon be presented.
Keywords : ’Ulamâ-ye Islâm ; Zoroastrianism ; polemic ; 13th c. AD ; Allûph ; hypostasis ; Qurân ; divine attributes ; innate wisdom ; acquired wisdom.

• Ph. GIGNOUX, “Quelle connaissance eut de l’Iran Movsès Xorenac‘ ?”

Summary
The History of the Armenians by Moses of Khoren is based on several fables and oral tradition, but also on previous histories (Buzandaran, Agathange, Lazarus of Parp). The author extracted from this History the principal data concerning Sasanian Iran : the titles and functions of the Court dignitaries and the Mazdean funerary practices. Besides, the Semiramis legend of which Moses of Khoren was particularly fond, has been recently reconstructed by W. Nagel, though without convincing arguments.
Keywords : Moses of Khoren ; Armenian historiography ; Sasanian Iran ; Mazdaism ; court dignitaries.

• B. BABAJANOV, “Datation de la mosquée Vâlida-ye ‘Abd al-‘Azîz Xân à Boukhara”

Summary
The construction of the Vâlida-ye ’Abd al-’Azîz Xân mosque in Bukhara has been erroneously attributed by various authors to the Jânid khan ’Abd al-’Azîz II (1645-1680) or to the Sheybânid ’Abdallâh II (1583-1598). The study of the inscriptions on the monument and of the vaqf documents enable the author of the present article to identify the patron as ’Abd al-’Azîz Xân b. ’Ubaydallâh Xân the Sheybânid, and thus to date the construction of the mosque to the years 1540-1550.
Keywords : Central Asia ; Bukhara ; Vâlida-ye ’Abd al-’Azîz Xân mosque ; ’Abd al-’Azîz Xân b. ’Ubaydallâh Xân ; Sheybânids ; inscriptions.

• S. SCHMIDTKE, “The Doctrine of the Transmigration of Soul according to Shihb al-Din al-Suhrawardi (killed 587/1191) and his Followers”

Summary
This paper investigates the attitudes of the Illuminationists towards metempsychosis. It considers Shihâb al-Dîn al-Suhrawardî’s (executed 587/1191) treatment of issue in his Hikmat al-ishrâq, Muhammad b. Mahmûd al-Shahrazûrî’s (d. after 688/1288) notion of metempsychosis in his Shajara al-ilâhiyya and Ibn Abî Jumhûr al-Ahsâ’î’s (d. after 906/1501) concept of transmigration in his Kitâb al-Mujlî. Whereas the aforementioned thinkers adhered to the temporal origin of the soul, other Illuminationists, namely the Jewish philosopher Sa’d al-Dîn Mansûr b. Kammûna (d. 1284) and the Imamite Qutb al-Dîn al-Shîrâzî (d. 710/1311 or 716/1316) believed in the pre-eternity of the soul. Their notion of metempsychosis therefore necessarily differs from the concept of Suhrawardî, Shahrazûrî and Ibn Abî Jumhûr.
Keywords : metempsychosis ; transmigration of the soul ; Illuminationists / Ishrâqîs ; reincarnation.

• A. SOUDAVAR, “The Concepts of “al-Aqdamo aa” and “Yaqin-e sâbeq”, and the Problem of Semi-fakes”

Summary
Scholars have sometimes rejected their own well founded theories when confronted with a document whose dating negated their arguments. This essay attempts to demonstrate how the generally accepted dating and attributions of authorship for ancient documents can be misguiding. At the core of the problem reside the “semi-fakes” : documents that were produced close to the time of the originals they purport to represent, but forgeries nonetheless. An assorted array of examples is cited in order to illustrate the depth of the problem. Sadly, all of the bear the authentication stamp of modern scholarship.
Keywords : fake ; semi-fake ; Nasihat al-Moluk ; Tamerlane ; Charles VI ; Hall-e Moshkelât ; Akhlâq-e Mohseni ; Yazdân-Senâkht.

• L. PAUL, “Neuere Tendenzen in der Entwicklung des Persischen am Beispiel des Teheraner Freitagspredigten”

Summary
On the textual basis of the Tehran Friday Sermon prayers held between 1979 and 1984, the author investigates various tendencies in the current development of modern Persian, particularly in the areas of lexicology and word formation, and the relation between written and spoken Persian. The author emphasises upon the continuous character of language change, and also upon the continuity of “Persianising” tendencies, in 20th century Persian. Keywords : Friday Sermon prayer ; contemporary Persian ; written vs. spoken language ; expression of politeness ; word formation.

• J. KELLENS, “Hypallages de la diction”

• J. DUCHESNE-GUILLEMIN, “Sur deux noms persans d’instruments de musique”