ARSACIDS v. The “Arsacid” era As an indication of their imperial aspirations, the Parthians established their own dynastic era, beginning…

Bahrām VI Čōbīn, chief commander under the Sasanian Hormozd IV and king of Iran in 590-91, was a son of…

ASB i. In Pre-Islamic Iran From the dawn of history the Iranians have celebrated the horse in their art and…

ARTACHAIĒS, Greek rendering of an Old Iranian name *Ṛtaxaya (Elamite Ir-da-(ak-)ka-(a-)ya, Aramaic ʾrtḥy), containing Old Persian arta “truth” and perhaps…

ARTYPHIOS, or ARTYBIOS, Greek rendering of an Old Persian name *Ardifiya (or *Ardufiya; Elamite Ir-tap/tup-pi-ya); the variants Gk. Arziphos and…

ARYANDES, Achaemenid satrap of Egypt. The name is of uncertain etymology (R. Schmitt, “Medisches und persisches Sprachgut bei Herodot,” ZDMG…

ASPAČANĀ (Elamite Ašbazana, Babylonian Aspašini, Greek Aspathines; possibly already in Nuzi (Aššuzzana), a senior official under Darius the Great and…

ASPASTES, Greek form of an Old Persian name *Aspasta-, also attested in Elamite as Áš-ba-iš-da. The etymology of the name…

ARSACIDS vi. Arsacid chronology in traditional history The Parthian rule lasted 474 years, longer than any dynastic period in Iranian…

ASTŌDĀN, “bone-receptacle, ossuary” (Persian sotōdān), from ast- “oss, bone” and -dāna “container, receptacle.” The term has an important place in…

BĀB-E HOMĀYŪN (august [royal] gate), name of a gate and its connecting street in the Qajar citadel (Arg) of Tehran…

ARMY i. Pre-Islamic Iran Introduction. Source materials for a study of pre-Islamic Iranian military concerns fall into four categories: textual…

ARSACIDS i. Origins (اشکانیان) Our sources on the ancestry of the eponymous founder of the dynasty, Arsaces, vary irreconcilably. He…

Bahrām I, the fourth Sasanian king and son of Šāpūr I (FIGURE 1), succeeded Hormozd (Ohrmezd) I and ruled from…

Bahrām II Bahrām II, the fifth Sasanian king, succeeded his father Bahrām I in September, 274 (cf. W. B. Henning,…

HANG-EAFRĀSIĀB, the name of the cave in which Afrāsiāb (q.v.), the fugitive king of Turān, spent his last days. According…

HISTORIOGRAPHY ii. PRE-ISLAMIC PERIOD The idea of history as a science seeking the truth by investigating man’s action in a…

AMORGES, Greek form of the name of several notable Iranians of the Achaemenid period. This, and the Lycian Humrkhkha (variant…

APAMĀ, name of several noble women of the Achaemenid and Hellenistic periods, probably related to the Av. apama- “the latest,”…

ARDAŠĪR II, Sasanian king of kings, A.D. 379-83. When his father, Hormozd II, died in 309, leading nobles and priests…

ARDAŠĪR III, Sasanian king (r. September, 628-29 April, 629). His father Šērōyē (Kawād II) murdered most of the Sasanian princes…

ARDAŠĪR SAKĀNŠĀH, a vassal king of the first Sasanian king of kings, Ardašīr I. The trilingual inscription of Šāpūr on…

ARIABIGNES, an Achaemenid prince. His name derives from Old Ir. arya- + bigna, probably signifying “Gift of the Aryans […

ARIAEUS, Latinized form (from Greek Ariaîos) of an Old Persian name compounded of arya- “Iranian” with a suffix -ai- (cf….

ARIARAMNEIA, a city in Cappadocia mentioned in an inscription in Greek and Aramaic as the residence of a military leader…

ARIOBARZANES, Greek form of an Old Iranian proper name *Ārya-bṛzāna-, perhaps signifying “exalting the Aryans;” the Old Persian form is…

ARIYĀRAMNA (Elamite Har-ri-ya-ra-um-na, Akkadian Ar-ḭa-ra-am-na-ʾ, Greek Ariaramnēs), Old Persian proper name; the derivation from *Aryārāman-, from aryā “Arians” and rāman-…

ARNAVĀZ, New Persian form of the name of one of the mythical king Jamšēd’s sisters. The Avestan name Arənauuāčī (AirWb.,…

ARSITES, Greek rendering of an Old Persian name *Arsita (Babylonian Ar-ri-šit-tu), possibly a diminutive in -ita of *Aršan- “man, hero”…

AMAZONS, designation of a fabulous race of female warriors in Greek beliefs, writings, and art, fancifully explained as a-mazos (breastless…

FERDOWSI, ABU’L-QĀSEM iii. MAUSOLEUM The Ferdowsī mausoleum (Ārāmgāh-e Ferdowsī), a monumental tomb in Ṭūs, Khorasan, was built between 1928 and…

FERDOWSI, ABU’L-QĀSEM IV. MILLENARY CELEBRATION (JAŠN-E HAZĀRA) By the early 20th century, European studies (particularly by Mohl and Nöldeke) about…

ŠĀPUR I, second Sasanian king of kings (r. 239-70) and author of several rock-reliefs and the trilingual inscription on the…

CLOTHING ii. In the Median and Achaemenid periods Information on the dress worn by the peoples of the Median and…

SHAPUR I, second Sasanian king of kings (r. 239-70) and author of several rock-reliefs and the trilingual inscription on the…

GOŠTĀSP, Kayanian king of Iranian traditional history and patron of Zoroaster. The name and problems of identification. The name is…

CROWN iv. Of Persian rulers from the Arab conquerors Despite the collapse of the Persian empire in 30/651 and the…

NOWRUZ ii. IN THE ISLAMIC PERIOD Introduction. The Islamic conquest altered many Iranian traditions specifically associated with national ideology, imperial…

DERAFŠ (“banner, standard, flag, emblem”; Av. drafša-, Mid. Pers. drafš, equivalent to OInd. drapsá-; see Horn, Etymologie, no. 553; AirWb.,…

DEPORTATIONS, forced transfers of population from one region to another. Deportations should be distinguished from other, somewhat similar sanctions that…

ḎĀT-AL-SALĀSEL (lit., “provided with chains”), place near Obolla in southern Iraq where in 633 C.E., according to Sayf b. ʿOmar,…

DARIUS iii. DARIUS I THE GREAT Darius I the Great was the third Achaemenid king of kings (r. 29 September…

DANCE (raqṣ). The term dance has been defined as a “transient mode of expression, performed by the human body moving…

CUNAXA, the Greek form (attested only in Plutarch, Artoxerxes 8) of the name (< Aram. keništa “syna­gogue”; Barnett, p. 16)...

CROWN PRINCE, the officially recognized heir apparent to the throne. The position of crown prince was attested in the Median…

CROESUS, last king of Lydia (r. ca. 560-546 b.c.e.) and brother-in-law of Astyages. When the Achaemenid Cyrus the Great (559-29…

CORONATION (Pers. tāj-goḏārī) in ancient Iran, the ceremonial act of investing a ruler with a crown, is mainly known from…

CHARAX, town in the Seleucid and Parthian province of Rhagiana, the area around modern Ray. To judge from its Greek…

CARRHAE (Ḥarrān), town in Mesopotamia, where in May 53 b.c. a decisive battle was fought between the Parthians commanded by…

CAPITAL CITIES i. In Pre-Islamic times. ii. In Islamic times.   i. In Pre-Islamic Times Iranians most probably first coalesced…

CAMBADENE, Latin form of Old Persian Kamba(n)da (spelled ka-ba-da; Elamite ka-um-pan-tas; Babylonian URUka-am-pa-da-ʾ; Aramaic ḥnbn), the name of a region…

BYZANTINE-IRANIAN RELATIONS. I. Before the Islamic conquest. Introduction. From the middle of the 1st century b.c. the Middle East was…

BESṬĀM O BENDŌY, maternal uncles of Ḵosrow II Parvēz and leading statesmen and soldiers under Hormozd IV and Ḵosrow Parvēz….

CYRUS i. Cyrus I The evidence on the early Achaemenid king Cyrus I is as follows. Herodotus (1.111) attested that…

JUNGE, PETER JULIUS, German ancient historian and Iranologist (b. 30 August 1913 in Bonn, killed 1943 in the Battle of…

IRAJ, the youngest son of Ferēdun and the eponymous hero of the Iranians in their traditional history. A cluster of…

Persian has two terms for hunting, naḵjīr and šekār, both of which have spread beyond Iranian languages. The first originated…

HŌŠANG (Av. Haošyaŋha, Ar. Ušanj/Ušhanj), called Pēšdād (< Av. Para’δāta), an early hero-king, father of the Iranians and founder of...

HORMOZDGĀN (also Hormozgān, Arabicized Hormozjān), BATTLE OF, the engagement which brought the Sasanians to power. It was fought between Ardašir…

HORMOZD KUŠĀNŠĀH, Sasanian prince governor of Kušān. There may have been two rulers of this name, but the emphasis here…

HORMOZD V, Sasanian great king (r. 630-32 C.E.). In the turbulent years following the murder of Ḵosrow II Parvēz (628),…

HORMOZD II, Sasanian great king (r. 303-09 C.E.). In his Middle Persian inscription at Ṭāq-e Bostān, Šāpur II (r. 309-79)…

HORMOZD III, Sasanian great king (r. 457-59 C.E.). He was the eldest son and heir of Yazdegerd II (Łazar, tr.,…

HORMOZD IV, Sasanian great king (r. 579-90 C.E.). He succeeded Ḵosrow I Anōširavān just as the latter was negotiating a…

HORMOZD (Ormisdas), a brother of the Sasanian great king Šāpur II (r. 307-79 C.E.), who participated in the emperor Julian’s…

HORMOZĀN, one of the last military leaders of Sasanian Persia. The correct form of his name is *Hormazdān, attested as…

HŌMĀN, son of Vēsa, and one of the most celebrated heroes of Turān. His name, spelt Ḵomān in Ṭabari (I,…

HOJIR, Iranian hero who guarded the Dež-e Sapid “White Fort” on the border of Iran and Turān. He was a…

HĀRUT and MĀRUT, two fallen angels who taught mankind magic in Babylon. They are mentioned once in the Qurʾān (2:96…

HAREM i. IN ANCIENT IRAN There is no evidence for the practice among the early Iranians of taking large numbers…

HAFTVĀD (Haftwād), the hero of a legend associated with the rise of the Sasanian Ardašir I (r. 224-39). The Šāh-nāma…

HAFT SIN, denoting ‘seven items beginning with the letter sin (S)’, is one of the components of the rituals of…

HAFT KEŠVAR (seven regions), the usual geographical division of the world in Iranian tradition. Ancient Iranians, who may have believed…

HAFT (seven), the heptad and its cultural significance in Persian history. The number has been explained as the symbolic expression…

GONDĒŠĀPUR i.The city. ii. History and medical school. i. THE CITY In the Sasanian epoch, Gondēšāpur was one of the…

GŌDARZ, name of various Iranian historical figures; an Iranian epic hero in wars against the “Turanians” in northeastern Iran; and…

FLAGS i. OF PERSIA “National flags” symbolizing political entities began to evolve from religious or military applications of dynastic “emblems”…

SHIRAZ i. HISTORY TO 1940 The city of Shiraz has been the capital of the province of Fārs since the…

SASANIAN DYNASTY, the last Persian lineage of rulers to achieve hegemony over much of Western Asia before Islam, ruled 224…

CALMEYER, Peter, German archaeologist and Iranologist (b. 5 September 1930 in Halle, d. 22 November 1995 in Berlin). His father,…

PERSEPOLIS (called Taḵt-e Jamšid “Jamšid’s Throne” in Persian), the ruined monuments of the acropolis of the city of Pārsa, the…

YAZDEGERD I, Sasanian king of kings (r. 399-420) called “the Sinner.” The name “Yazdegerd” was borne by three Sasanian kings…

ZĀL (also called Dastān, Zar, and Zāl-e Zar), legendary prince of Sistān, father of Rostam, and a leading figure in…

RUDĀBA, princess of Kabul, wife of Zāl, and mother of Rostam. Her story (Šāh-nāma, ed. Khaleghi, I, pp. 186-270) is…