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The Idea of Iran #1

Birth of the Persian Empire

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This book explores the formation of the first Persian Empire under the Achaemenid Persians. It brings together a multi-disciplinary view of ancient Iran in the first millennium BC and concentrates on the art, archaeology, history and religion of a vast geographical area far beyond the present borders of modern Iran in the period beginning just before the formation of the Persian empire in the middle of the 6th century up to its collapse following conquest by Alexander the Great in the late 4th century BC. Eminent scholars offer a critical approach to some of the traditional interpretations and guide the reader towards a better understanding of the formation of the Persian empire. This is the first volume in the four-volume Idea of Iran series.
 
Charting over 1000 years of history, The Idea of Iran series offers a significant new appraisal of one the most fascinating, but also (at least in the West) relatively little known, of the great civilizations of antiquity. Comprising four substantial volumes, which have emerged from a series of seminars held under the joint auspices of the London Middle East Institute and the British Museum, and supported by the Soudavar Memorial Foundation, the series explores the empires which have shaped the culture of Iran. Beginning with the Achaemenid dynasty of Cyrus the Great, which founded Persian imperial rule in the middle of the sixth century BCE, the series goes on to examine, amongst other key topics, the society, religion, and government of ancient Iran under the Parthians, Sasanians and the Arab rulers of the early Islamic period. The Idea of Iran will be mandatory reading for all serious scholars and students of ancient and early medieval Iranian history.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

BBC Russian
BBC Russian

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Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis

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Profile Image for Mia.
63 reviews21 followers
November 15, 2023
مجموعه مقاله‌های این کتاب شامل؛ کورش کبیر و پادشاهی اَنشان، رویکرد یک باستان شناس به جغرافیای اوستایی، هخامنشیان و اوستا، دَهِشِ مُغان، تاریخچه‌ی ایده‌ی ایران و ایران عصر آهن و گذار به دوره‌ی هخامنشی هست.

این کتاب توضیح میده که چطور در قرن ۶ پ.م سلسله کوروش کبیر که اولین امپراتوری ایران بود، شکل گرفته!
به اینکه هخامنشیان زرشتشی بودن یا نه اشاره کرده!
از ایلامی‌ها، پادشاهی آشوری‌ها و پارس‌ها گفته.
این مقالات با استفاده از باستان‌شناسی به شرح تاریخ، جامعه، حکومت، هنر، معماری، مذهب و ابزار مردم آن زمان پرداخته.
و در ادامه به حکومت ایرانیان در دوره اشکانیان پرداخته.
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از این کتاب توقع بیشتری داشتم، فکر میکردم بیشتر از آدم‌هایی صحبت کنه در ایران فرمانروایی میکردن! ولی بیشتر به باستان‌شناشی و سنگنبشه‌ها پرداخته شد!
با ترجمه مشکلی نداشتم!
نوشتن ازش خیلی برام سخت بود به خاطر همین سمتش نمیرفتم. چون اولین کتاب تاریخی باستانی بود که میخوندم، به همین دلیل کپشن کاملی نتونستم بنویسم!
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قسمتی از کتاب:
پاداش‌ها
آن‌که درست رفتار می‌کند، یعنی پاس‌دار قانون و آیین مقرر اهوره‌مزداست، در زندگی این‌جهانی و آن‌جهانی پاداش خواهد گرفت. هدف انسان آن است که چنان عمل کند که شادی (شیاتَه) را در زندگی سبب شود (که همان است که اهوره‌مزدا برایش در نظر دارد) و چون مُرد با سامان یگانه (اَرتاوَن) شود:
داریوش در یهیستون: آن‌که بر اهوره‌مزدا نثار می‌کند، در زندگی و در مرک موهبت خواهد یافت.

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امتیاز من از پنج: ۲.۵
امتیاز Goodreads از پنج: ۴.۱۷

مشخصات کتاب من: #پیدایش_امپراتوری_ایران
نویسنده: #وستا_سرخوش_کرتیس و #سارا_استوارت
مترجم: #کاظم_فیروزمند
ناشر: #مرکز
چاپ اول ویرایش دوم، ۱۴۰۰
۲۳۲ صفحه
December 9, 2017
THE BRITH OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE
By Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, and Sarah Stewart
There has always been that one Empire that just refuses to die. For thousands of years the Persian Empire was just that. They kept thriving until one day the ruled the entire Ancient world. This book is an array of essays that explain how the Persian Empire was forged. In order to do this, the book uses maps, art work, and other data to support its claim. It starts off by making the claim that the start of the Persian Empire was forged by Cyrus the Great and his relationship with Anshan. He claims that Cyrus the Great is the fore-father of modern Persia. The book starts off with the history of Iran itself.
The birth of the Persian Empire starts with a brief explanation of the topic, and then goes on to talk about the history that would make up the new empire that was being built. It gives a look into the early life of the Persian King. However, in the first part of the chapter it talks about the different ethnic groups in the Assyrian and Persian Kingdoms. It talks about how in the Bronze, Chalcolithic, and Neolithic ages; archaeological records show that ceramics, architecture, seals, metals, and other things can be used to show the regionalism in that area. However, you should never use these things to determine if there were different ethnic groups. The writer says that the diversity of materials accoutrements could be used as a genuine reflection of cultural diversity. He said that it could also be reflected in the toponymy of Bronze and Iron Ages in Iran.
He also talked about the records that appeared from the Assyrians campaigns in Zagros and Khuzestan. He wrote about the diverse names, one being Elamites. The book talks about the records that show that the Elamites were one of the most important indigenous groups. It shows that they have over 2,000 years’ worth of conflict with the Mesopotamian military. It shows that artifacts from the Elamites were found in many different places in Persia/Iran. There is a map in this chapter that shows the distance of the places where Elamite artifacts were found; one of these places was Susa. Another way the author conveys that the Elamites were important is through Persian art. Nobleman from the Persian Empire took on some of their traditions such as their duck bow and wearing the “Elamite Dagger.” This page shows a relief picture of a nobleman wearing the “Elamite Dagger.”
The writers than go on to talk about the person who is responsible for the creation of the Persian Empire, Cyrus the Great. In order for the writer to get a better idea of what Cyrus was actually like, he had to look at the Babylonian sources because they are more closely dated to the time period of when Cyrus lived. The authors go on to talk about Cyrus’s lineage and who he descended from, the great kings of Anshan.
The second chapter talks about the debate of scholars and archaeologist alike about the map of the Persian Empire before it was an empire. It also conveyed to the reader that some archaeologist believed that the Pahlavi traditions had been severed or eliminated because of extreme isolation. They looked at the toponyms to see if history correlated or disproved these theories. This chapter also deals with the countries that bored the Susan Empire. There is a list of these countries called the “Younger Avesta.” It also showed that there were many different maps from each country that showed different bordered line.
This book basically tells the reader how the Persian Empire was built. It gives strong details on matters that are relevant to the claim of the book which is to inform the reader of the birth or making of the Persian Kingdom. I think that each essay or article in this book was well written and very insightful. This book is especially good for a reader who has very little information about Persian and Iranian history. This is a good book for students because it is easy to read and comprehend. I learned a lot about a person, Cyrus the Great, that I did not know before.
49 reviews1 follower
March 31, 2023
تاریخ وشورم رو خیلی دوست دارم و همیشه دنبال مقالات تازه برای بیشتر شناختنشم. هخامنشیان شاید سلسله مورد علاقم نباشه اما کار مورد علاقمو کردن. جاودانه موندن با یک نام بزرگ
لینک در طاقچه:
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Profile Image for Yi Lun.
42 reviews3 followers
July 15, 2015
A good collection of essays on the Pre-Sasanian Persians. As someone with no knowledge of the Persians before reading this book, I have come away knowing a fair deal of the main Persian Kings, the main Persian Eras, Zoroastrianism and the people whom interacted with the Persians: the Elamites, Medes, Assyrians, Sogdians etc. However, my book also has a lot of highlighted notes in it from where I had to use wikipedia to gain more information on the subject in order to stop myself from getting lost. As the book is compiled of academic essays, I would say this book is a bit advanced for the general reader who has no knowledge of the Persian Empire and I would not recommend it as an introduction to the Persians unless you are prepared to undergo some research however I believe it would be of great interest and value to people with existing knowledge of the Persian Empire, Zoroastrianism or even Assyriology.
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