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ARSEN, KOCOYTỊ (BIBOYỊ FỊRT) (Russian: Arsen Kotsoev), Ossetic author, b. 16 (3, Old Style) January 1872, d. 4 February 1944. He was from a village in north Ossetia. After finishing his studies at the teachers’ college of Ärịdon (Ardon), he was for some years (1897-1904) a school teacher at various places…

ARSES, Greek rendering of an Old Persian name, used as a hypocoristic. The Iranian form is attested in Av. Aršan- (etymologically related to Greek arsēn “male, manly”), and in Old Persian compounds (Aršaka, Aršāma, Xšayaaršan; see Kent, Old Persian, p. 171; M. Mayrhofer, ed., Iranisches Personennamenbuch I/1, Vienna, 1977, p….

ARSITES, Greek rendering of an Old Persian name *Arsita (Babylonian Ar-ri-šit-tu), possibly a diminutive in -ita of *Aršan- “man, hero” (Justi, Namenbuch, p. 31; W. Eilers, Iranische Beamtennamen in der keilschriftlichen Überlieferung, Leipzig, 1940, p. 65 n. 3; W. Hinz, Altiranisches Sprachgut der Nebenüberlieferungen, Wiesbaden, 1975, pp. 206f. with further…

ARSLĀNŠĀH b. Masʿud (III) b. EbrĀhĪm, Abu’l-Molūk Solṭān-al-Dawla, Ghaznavid sultan (r. 509-11/1116-18). The alternative form of his name, Malek Arslān or Arsalān, is the more common one. When Malek Arslān’s father, Masʿūd III, died in 508/1115, his second son Ażod-al-dawla Šīrzād succeeded briefly as sultan in Ḡazna. He reigned just…

ART IN IRAN, History of i. Neolithic to Median, seventh millennium to seventh century B.C. ii. Median art and architecture iii. Achaemenian art and architecture iv. Parthian v. Sasanian vi. Pre-Islamic eastern Iran and Central Asia vii. Islamic, pre-Safavid viii. Islamic, Central Asia ix. Safavid to Qajar x.1 Art and Architecture of the Qajar Period x.2 Qajar Painting xi. Post-Qajar (painting)…

ART IN IRAN i. NEOLITHIC TO MEDIAN Geography as a determinant for the development of art. Topographically Iran is a varied country and its art is regionally diversified. This variation in the artistic products from different areas of the country sets off the art of Iran as a whole from…

ART IN IRAN, History of ii. Median Art and Architecture Median art and architecture. The Median period is one of the least well defined periods of Iranian Archeology. To speak of Median Art means, first of all, mentioning the huge gaps in our knowledge of Median history. We know that…

ART IN IRAN, History of iii. Achaemenid Art and Architecture The time of Cyrus the Great. The genealogy of the Achaemenid family which has been accepted by most scholars follows Cyrus’ cylinder inscription from Babylon, combined with Darius’ rock inscription from Bīsotūn; a “Kuraš, king of Parsumaš,” mentioned by Assurbanipal,…

ART IN IRAN, History of iv. Parthian Art The monuments generally included in discussions of Parthian art come from the periphery of the Parthian world—Syria, Mesopotamia, the edges of the Iranian plateau—for the art of the Parthian capitals at Hecatompylos (Šahr e Qūmes), Hamadān, and Ctesiphon is almost totally lost….

ART IN IRAN, History of v. Sasanian The art of the ancient Near East during the four centuries of Sasanian rule is richly documented. There are major remains of many different types: monumental rock reliefs, silver vessels, stucco architectural decoration, and seals. Objects in other media are less numerous but…