Table of Contents

• WOMEN ii. In the Avesta

  Leon Goldman

  The egalitarian ideals of Zoroastrianism—in particular, the recognition of women as “men’s partners in the common struggle against evil” have long served to protect the dignified status of women within the Mazdayasnian community.

• WOMEN iii. In Shiʿism

  Moojan Momen

  In theory, Shiʿism has a more favorable attitude towards women than Sunni Islam. These favorable differences are largely annulled, however, by some specific Shiʿite practices as well as the social realities of women’s lives in Shiʿite communities. 

• WOMEN iv. in the works of the Bab and in the Babi Movement

  Moojan Momen

  The Bab elevated the status of women in his writings and confirmed this in his actions. The Babi community reflected this change in the actions of the Babi women.

• WOOL

  Willem Floor

  (Pers. pašm), the oldest fiber to have been used for the making of textiles in Persia. Archeological finds have shown that sheep wool and goat hair were already woven around 6500 BCE, although some doubt this data. Spinning whorls and warp weights dating from 5000 BCE have also been found.

• W~ CAPTIONS OF ILLUSTRATIONS

  Cross-Reference

  list of all the figure and plate images in the W entries