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WĀṢEFI, ZAYN-AL-DIN MAḤMUD (زین الدین محمود واصفی, b. Herat, 890/1485; d. between 1551 and 1566), Persian memoirist, historian, and poet. Wāṣefi was born into an urban middle-class family, all of whose members were, by his own account, well educated.  His father was probably a high state functionary, who seems to…

WAṢF, a literary term meaning “description;” but it can carry several other connotations, including “quality,” “attribute,” “characterization,” “distinguishing mark,” and “adjective,” (Sumi, 2004, p. 5), which are also relevant to the analysis of descriptive poetry in Persian. One has to bear in mind that in a specific context, the poet…

WAṬWĀṬ, RAŠID-AL-DIN Moḥammad b. Moḥammad ʿAbd-al-Jalil al-ʿOmari, commonly known as Rašid(-e) Waṭwāṭ (d. 578/1182), bilingual poet, philologist, and prose writer in Persian and Arabic, as well as a high-ranking official of the Khwarazmian court in the 12th century. There is considerable data on his biography, with the Dictionary of Learned…

WEBLOGS, or ‘blog’s, websites consisting of regularly updated entries or “posts” that normally appear in reverse chronological order, with the newest entries on top. Most blogs are maintained by a single individual, called a “blogger,” but there are also “group blogs,” as well as blogs administered by corporations, political parties,…

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES i. PRE-ISLAMIC PERIOD Units of weight. The standard unit of weight in the ancient Middle East was the shekel (šiqlu), best known from that of the Babylonian standard. It was enforced throughout the Achaemenid Empire by Darius I the Great (r. 522-486) around 515 BCE. In this…

WELLHAUSEN, JULIUS (b. Hameln, Germany, 17 May 1844; d. Göttingen, 17 January 1918, Figure 1), scholar of Biblical studies, who primarily gained renown as an Old Testament scholar and Semitist. Following in the footsteps of his father August Wellhausen, who was a Lutheran pastor (d. 1861), he studied Protestant theology…

WERTIME, THEODORE (b. Chambersburg, Pa., 31 August 1919; d. Chambersburg, 8 April1982), diplomat and scholar, expert on the history of technology in the ancient Middle East. Upon graduating from Haverford College (Pennsylvania) in 1939, Wertime earned M.A. degree in history from the American University in Washington, D.C. and did additional…

WESTERGAARD, NIELS LUDVIG, Danish orientalist scholar with special interest in Indology (b. Copenhagen, 27 October 1815; d. Copenhagen, 9 September 1878; Figure 1). Westergaard, the son of a master carpenter, started in 1833 studying Old Nordic and Sanskrit languages at Copenhagen University.  His interest in these languages had been aroused…

WIDENGREN, GEO (b. 24 April 1907; d. 28 January 1996; Figure 1), historian of religions, with particular emphasis on the ancient Near East and Iran. Geo Widengren was born in Stockholm, Sweden, where he spent his childhood and youth. After he fulfilled his military service (1925-27), he entered the Military…

WIKANDER, Oscar Stig (b. 27 August 1908, Norttälje, Sweden; d. 20 December 1983, Uppsala, Sweden; FIGURE 1), Iranist, comparatist, and historian of religions. i. Biography. ii. Account of his Works. i. BIOGRAPHY Wikander was born in a small town in Central Sweden, as the son of a pharmacist. He graduated…