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The Idea The Idea of Iran Vol. 4 The Idea of Iran Vol. 4
Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis is Curator of Islamic and Iranian Coins
at the British Museum and President of the British Institute of of Iran The R ise of
Persian Studies. Vol. 4
Isl a m
Her previous publications include Persian Myths and Persian
T
Love Poetry (British Museum Press), The Art and Archaeology
of Ancient Persia (I.B.Tauris), Persian Love Poetry and, with h
Elizabeth Errington, From Persepolis to the Punjab (British Edited by Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis
e
Museum Press). and Sarah Stewart
R
Sarah Stewart is Deputy Director of the London Middle East
Institute at SOAS and teaches Zoroastrianism in the i The latest volume in the successful series The Idea of Iran
Department of Religions at SOAS. Her current research is on s addresses the impact made by Islam during and after the Arab
the oral history of Zoroastrians in Iran.
e conquest of Iran in the middle of the seventh century. Following
the collapse of the Sasanian Empire, Zoroastrianism was
o
Contributions: supplanted, over the next two centuries, by the new faith, Islam.
f Yet how and why, once Iran had embraced the new religion, did
Re-emergence of Iranian Identity after Conversion to Islam it manage to retain its Persian language and distinctive Iranian
– Ehsan Yarshater, Columbia University I identity once Muslim governance took hold? This conundrum,
s
alongside other important questions, is addressed by the book,
Survival of Iranianness l
which includes seven distinguished contributions from leading
– Hugh N. Kennedy, School of Oriental and African Studies,
a
London scholars. Discussing a large variety of subjects which covers the
m whole spectrum of life in early Islamic Iran, the volume offers
The Persistent Older Heritage in the Medieval Iranian Lands one of the most ambitious perspectives on Persian religion,
– C. Edmund Bosworth, University of Exeter society and culture to be published to date. It will be consulted
C by all students of Iranian history, and will be regarded as
Economy and Society in Early Islamic Iran: A Moment
M in World History essential reading for scholars of Islam, the Middle East and
medieval religion alike.
Y – Richard W. Bulliet, Columbia University
CM Oranges, Quiddities and Algorisms Opening the volume with a masterly survey, Ehsan Yarshater
MY – Lutz Richter-Bernburg, University of Tübingen explores the profound changes to culture and society in
an Iran ruled by the Arabs; and addresses the intriguing
CY The Cross and the Lotus: The Armenian Miscellany Patmut‘iwn
question of why, despite these changes, the country retained
płnjē k‘ałak‘i (’History of the City of Brass’) on the Periphery of
CMY a distinctively Persian identity following conversion to Islam.
the Iranian oikoumene
K – James R. Russell, Harvard University Hugh N. Kennedy elaborates on the reasons for the survival
of this identity, and compares Iran to Syria and Egypt, where
What Happened to the Sasanian Hunt in Islamic Art? – in stark contrast – pre-Islamic culture was marginalised
– Robert Hillenbrand, University of Edinburgh and the pre-Islamic languages disappeared from common
use. C. Edmund Bosworth discusses the wider survival
and persistence of pre-Islamic traditions in Iran, despite a
aE discouraging tradition amongst Muslim rigorists that ‘Islam
nd
d Sarah Sited by Ve T h e R i s e o f catRhanircndehc eteah-lraesdn ti dhnW-eca.r p-eBhaauassllitfnl’ .ic geAe tusn ssrtbheuaosrsinweiinsss ga fh otsoiloolwoncw i,aa tinlh nadagn t w tdtho heeoyc kAoI rrpnaalonba m cbceeoic cni ncaq hmtuhaeenes gtthe, es , most
tewsta important and dynamic region of the Islamic caliphate. Turning
a S I s l a m to science and learning, Lutz Richter-Bernburg examines
rtar the many ways in which the Iranian people contributed to
k
h vibrant developments in medicine, mathematics, astronomy
o
s and philosophy during the period. James R. Russell offers
h
C an analysis of the medieval Armenian collection of didactic
u tales and precepts, Tale of the City of Brass, which includes
r
t
www.ibtauris.com is fascinating Persian and Islamic materials that reflect the wider
Front jacket image: storytelling conventions of central Asia. Finally, using the
Arab-Sasanian silver coin with the portrait of the Sasanian king Khusrau II, but with in association with Edited by Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis example of the royal hunter – a familiar theme of Iranian court
Arabic inscription bismillah on the margin. British Museum collection © Trustees of
the British Museum. art – as a test case, Robert Hillenbrand shows how Islamic
and Sarah Stewart
artists grappled with, copied, misunderstood and popularised
Back jacket image:
Arab-Sasanian silver coin showing a Zoroastrian fire altar and attendants. British the rich Sasanian culture which they inherited.
Museum collection © Trustees of the British Museum.
Cover design: Chris Bromley
The Rise of Islam
This Volume is dedicated to
Peter Avery
The Rise of Islam
The Idea of Iran
Volume IV
Edited By
Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis
and
Sarah Stewart
in association with The London Middle East Institute at SOAS
and
The British Museum
Supported by the Soudavar Memorial Foundation
Published in 2009 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd
6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU
175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010
www.ibtauris.com
Distributed in the United States and Canada Exclusively
by Palgrave Macmillan
175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010
Copyright © London Middle East Institute, 2009
The right of Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis & Sarah Stewart to be identified as
editors of this work has been asserted by the editors in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any
part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission
of the publisher.
ISBN 978 1 84511 691 0
ePDF ISBN 978 0 85772 406 9
The Idea of Iran Vol. 4
A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress
Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: available
Typeset by P. Fozooni
Contents
Introduction 1
Re-emergence of Iranian Identity after Conversion to Islam 5
Ehsan Yarshater
Survival of Iranianness 13
Hugh Kennedy
The Persistent Older Heritage in the Medieval Iranian Lands 30
C. Edmund Bosworth
Economy and Society in Early Islamic Iran: A Moment in World History 44
Richard W. Bulliet
Oranges, Quiddities and Algorisms 61
Lutz Richter-Bernburg
The Cross and the Lotus: The Armenian miscellany Patmut‘iwn p(cid:2)nj(cid:3) 71
k‘a(cid:2)ak‘i (‘History of the City of Brass’) On the Periphery of the
Iranian Oikoumene
James R. Russell
What Happened to the Sasanian Hunt in Islamic Art? 84
Robert Hillenbrand
List of Abbreviations 103
Bibliography 105
List of Figures
Panjikant frescoes, Sogd, c. 8th century; Muraqqa‘, Iran and Central Asia, 73
c. late 14th century; Church of the Holy Cross, south elevation, A(cid:2)t‘amar,
Vaspurakan, Armenia, 920 CE.
Panjikant frescoes, Sogd, c. 8th century; Muraqqa‘, Iran and Central Asia, 74
c. late 14th century; Church of the Holy Cross, south elevation, A(cid:2)t‘amar,
Vaspurakan, Armenia, 920 CE.
Panjikant frescoes, Sogd, c. 8th century; Muraqqa‘, Iran and Central Asia, 76
c. late 14th century; Church of the Holy Cross, south elevation, A(cid:2)t‘amar,
Vaspurakan, Armenia, 920 CE.
Patmut'iwn p(cid:2)nj(cid:3) k'a(cid:2)ak'i, Constantinople, 1803, frontispiece showing the 78
travellers entering the City of Brass.
Patmut‘iwn p(cid:2)nj(cid:3) k‘a(cid:2)ak‘i, Constantinople, 1803; Parable of the Phantom 79
City, Mogaoku, Dunhuang.
Taq-i Bustan: hunting scene (after Ghirshman 1962: pl. 236). 86
Silk from Sant’ Ambrogio, Milan (after Vollbach 1969: pl. 46). 87
Reconstruction of the Milan silk (after Ierusalimskaja and Borkopp 1996: 88
pl. on page 13).
Coptic decorative roundel with two horsemen, 6th century CE (after 89
Vollbach 1969: pl. 34).
Medallion with an emperor on a lion-hunt, perhaps 8th century CE, Mozac 90
(after Vollbach 1969: pl. 55).
Silk medallion with two horsemen, Maastricht (after Vollbach 1969: pl. 91
47).
So-called Yazdigird silk, Berlin (after von Falke 1913: pl. 105). 92
Bahram Gur silk (after Bréhier 1936: pl. LXXXVI). 93
Japanese silk of Sasanian inspiration (after Ghirshman 1962: pl. 445). 95
Japanese silk of Sasanian inspiration (after Ghirshman 1962: pl. 444). 96
Japanese silk of Sasanian inspiration (after Hayashi 1975: pl. 82). 97
Acknowledgements
The editors are grateful to the Trustees of the Soudavar Memorial Foundation
for sponsoring the symposia and making the publication of the proceedings
possible. In particular, we are indebted to Mrs Fatema Soudavar-Farmanfarmaian
for her help, advice and involvement in the planning of each symposium.
This volume would not have been possible without the input and expertise of
Dr. Parvis Fozooni, who once again has formatted and typeset this volume with
his usual dedication and eye for detail. We are also grateful to Burzine Waghmar
for copyediting the papers.
We would like to thank Iradj Bagherzade, Alex Wright and staff at I.B.Tauris
for their help in producing the publication.
Finally, our thanks go to the authors who submitted their papers, thereby
making it possible to publish this series in record time.
