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ERGATIVE CONSTRUCTION The most generally accepted definition of an ergative construction begins with the notion that languages utilize three primitive syntactic relations, referred to as S, A, and O: S: subject of an intransitive clause (e.g. “I” in “I have arrived”) A: subject of a transitive clause (e.g. “you” in…

ĒRĪČ MOUNTAIN, mentioned in a chapter of the Bundahišn devoted to mountains (TD2, p. 76, l. 15; p. 78, ll. 11-12). The passage includes references to Hamadān and Ḵᵛārazm, and says that Ērič az kōf Apursēn rust ēstēd “has grown from Mount Hapōrsēn” (Bundahišn, tr. Anklesaria, p. 95, chap. 9.15)….

EROTIC LITERATURE, expressed in Persian by the neologism adabīyāt-e erotīk, is not a clearly defined genre since the concept of what is “erotic” varies considerably from time to time and place to place. In general, it may be regarded as encompassing a variety of works in prose and poetry dealing…

ERŠĀD, title of two Persian newspapers and a magazine. 1. A Persian supplement (Waraqa-ye fārsī) to the Turkish newspaper Eršād (Baku). It was also sold separately. Thirteen issues of the Persian supplement were published between 16 Ḏu’l-qaʿda 1323 and 27 Ṣafar 1324/12 January and 22 April 1906. The publication carried…

ERŠĀD al-NESWĀN, the first women’s periodical in Afghanistan, published weekly in Kabul from 27 Ḥūt 1299 to 19 Ṯawr 1300 (16 March-9 June 1921). The editor was Asmār Sommayya, the Syrian wife of Maḥmūd Ṭarzˊī, the famous Afghan politician, poet, and journalist. Since Somayya did not know Persian, another woman…

ERŠĀDal-ZERĀʿA, a Persian agricultural manual completed in Herat in 921/1515 by Qāsem b. Yūsof Abūnaṣrī, who was previously identified in the scholarly literature simply as Fāżel Heravī (e.g., Petrushevskiĭ, p. 26; Tumanovich, p. 40). It has been called the most important medieval Persian agronomic work discovered so far, and the…

ERUANDAŠAT (Eruand-a-šat, “Joy of Ervand”), a city in Armenia located on a rocky hill at the juncture of the Akhurean and Araxes (q.v.; Aras) rivers. Founded by King Eruand (Orontes) of the Eruanduni (Orontid) Dynasty ca. 200 B.C.E. (Moses of Khorene, 2.39; tr. Thomson, pp. 181-82), Eruandašat remained the capital…

ERZİ, ADNAN SADIK (b. Hasan Halik, 2 February 1923; d. Istanbul, 5 June 1990), Turkish historian who carried out major research on Persian manuscripts, historical texts, and enšāʾ literature (FIGURE 1). He was born in the village of Hasan Halik, near the town of Fatih in Istanbul. His real name was…

EŠĀRĀT WA’L-TANBĪHĀT, AL-, a late work of Avicenna (q.v.; Ebn Sīnā, d. 428/1037), written sometime between 421/1030 and 425/1034, which sums up his thought in a language that is often deeply personal and expressive. A relatively short book, it is a philosophical and literary classic that exerted immense influence on…

ESCHATOLOGY, the branch of theology concerned with final things, i.e., the advent of the savior to defeat evil and the end of the world.i. In Zoroastrianism and Zoroastrian Influence.ii. Manichean Eschatology.iii. Imami shi’ism.iv. In Babism and Bahaism.

ESCHATOLOGY i. In Zoroastrianism and Zoroastrian Influence General Observations. Faith in the events beyond life on this earth is attested in the Zoroastrian scriptures from the very first, from the Gāθās. This faith developed and became central to later Zoroastrianism so that it colors almost all aspects of the religious…

ESCHATOLOGY ii. Manichean Eschatology Manichean eschatology, teachings about final things, provided information on what happened during and after the death of a single human being and also on what would happen before and at the end of this world. These two aspects were, however, less discernible than in other religions…