Table of Contents

  • HEPHTHALITES

    A. D. H. Bivar

    (Arabic Hayṭāl, pl. Hayāṭela), a people who formed apparently the second wave of “Hunnish” tribal invaders to impinge on the Iranian and Indian worlds from the mid-fourth century CE.

  • HERACLEIDES OF CYME

    J. Wiesehöfer

    (fl. ca. 350 BCE), Greek author of a “Persian History” (Persika) in five books, which survives only in a few fragments.

  • HERACLEITUS OF EPHESUS

    J. Wiesehöfer

    (fl. ca. 500 BCE), Greek philosopher traditionally credited as the first to have written on the magi.

  • HERACLES

    Albert de Jong

    Heracles entered many other religions of the ancient world. He was adopted into the Roman pantheon in an early stage of its development and was identified—both as a “translation” and in the development of cultic practices—with the Phoenician god Melqart and the Babylonian god Nergal, as well as with Zoroastrian Verethraghna.

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  • HERACLIUS

    cross-reference

    See ḴOSROW II

  • HERAT

    Multiple Authors

    ancient city and province in northwestern Afghanistan. OVERVIEW of the entry: i. Geography. ii. History, Pre-Islamic Period. iii. History, Medieval Period. iv. Topography and urbanism. v. Local histories. vi. The Herat question. vii. The Herat frontier, 19th and 20th centuries.

  • HERAT i. GEOGRAPHY

    Arash Khazeni and EIr

    The province of Herat constitutes roughly the northern one-third of the western lowlands of Afghanistan, bordering on Persia and comprising the eastern extensions of the province of Khorasan.

  • HERAT ii. HISTORY, PRE-ISLAMIC PERIOD

    W. J. Vogelsang

    The present town of Herat dates back to ancient times, but its exact age remains unknown. In Achaemenid times (ca. 550-330 BCE), the surrounding district was known as Haraiva.

  • HERAT iii. HISTORY, MEDIEVAL PERIOD

    Maria Szuppe

    When the Arab armies appeared in Khorasan in the 650s, Herat was counted among the twelve capital towns of the Sasanian empire.

  • HERAT iv. TOPOGRAPHY AND URBANISM

    Maria Szuppe

    In the medieval period, Herat, together with Nišāpur, Marv, and Balḵ, was one of the four main urban centers of the eastern Iranian world. In contrast to some other ancient towns, Herat has existed on the same location since its foundation.

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