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5.0 out of 5 stars
A collection of 91 articles on Armenian and Iranian Studies., October 29, 2006
This review is from: Armenian and Iranian Studies (Harvard Armenian Texts and Studies) (Hardcover)
The Dolores Zohrab Liebman Foundation, the Clark Fund of Harvard University and the Armenian General Benevolent Union are to be congratulated on their endeavour to honour a rare and erudite scholar, James Robert Russell (Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA)by funding a venture to publish a book titled "Armenian and Iranian Studies" which is a collection of 91 articles published by Professor James R. Russell in disparate journals and volumes since 1980. Few scholars in the prime of their career are honoured with a compilation of their past publications, and this voluminous tome (xxix, 1462 pages) brings together publications from rare and not easily accessible/available journals and festschrifts and conference proceedings. Also the field of Armenian and Iranian studies and especially Armeno-Iranica studies have attracted few scholars and so this collection of articles has an even greater academic value, making it almost one of a kind tome.
Professor Russells' areas of academic interests have, and continue to be Armenica, concentrating on the sources and religious materials of heroic epics and folk-lore-material ancillary to the "official" Christian clerical culture, and in the Iranian area his work encompasses studies in Irano-Judaica and the religious culture of the 'Parsi Zoroastrians' of India. The majority of articles in this compilation deal with Armeno-Iranica. They continue and serve to supplement studies, he had previously published in his magnum opus "Zoroastrians in Armenia" (Harvard Iranian Series, Cambridge, MA, 1987) where he emphasizes that the pre-Christian religion of the majority of the Armenians, was (despite special local features), the Zarathushtrian faith of the Parthian Arsacids.
Zarathushtrians and Parsis the world over, may find at a minimum of 52 articles of religious and cultural values of importance to them in this compilation. I urge them to read them with undivided attention. They are unique and thought provoking, even if one does not agree with Prof. Russell all the time.
I wish Prof. Russell a long and productive career in Armeno-Iraniaca at Harvard University as I read year after year his scholarly publications in various Armenian jounals, notably Revue des Etudes Armeniennes.
A book every Zarathushtrian oragnization, society, library and academics must have on their shelves.
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