Sahrestaniha I Eransahr: A Middle Persian Text on Late Antique Geography, Epic, and History : With English and Persian Translations and Commentary (Bibliotheca Iranica: Intellectual Traditions Series) [Paperback]

Touraj Daryaee (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Persian (translation)

Product Details

• Paperback: 90 pages
• Publisher: Mazda Pub (April 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568591438
• ISBN-13: 978-1568591438
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #990,228 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Touraj Daryaee was born in Tehran, Iran in 1967. His elementary and secondary schooling was in Tehran, Iran and Athens, Greece. Daryaee took his Ph.D. in History at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1999. He specializes in the history and culture of Ancient Persia.

His most recent articles include: "History, Epic, and Numismatics: On the Title of Yazdgerd I (Rāmšahr)," Journal of the American Numismatic Society, vol. 14, 2002(2003), pp. 89-95; "Gayōmard: King of Clay or Mountain? The epithet of the First Man in the Zoroastrian Tradition," Paitimāna, Essays in Iranian, Indo-European, and Indian Studies in Honor of Hanns-Peter Schmidt, Mazda Press, 2003, pp. 339-349; "Sight, Semen, and the Brain: Ancient Persian Notions of Physiology in Old and Middle Iranian Texts," The Journal of Indo-European Studies, vol. 30, nos. 1&2, 2002, pp. 1-26; "The Changing 'image of the World': Geography and Imperial Propaganda in Ancient Persia," Electrum, Studies in Ancient History, vol. 6, 2002, pp. 99-109.

His books include Šahrestānīhā ī Ērānšahr, A Middle Persian Text on Late Antique Geography, Epic, and History, Mazda Publishers, Costa Mesa, 2002; History & Culture of the Sasanians, Qoqnoos Press, Tehran, 2003; and Mēnōg ī Xrad: The Spirit of Wisdom, Essays in Memory of Ahmad Tafazzoli, Mazda Publishers, Costa Mesa, 2003. He is also the editor of the Nāme-ye Irān-e Bāstān, The International Journal of Ancient Iranian Studies.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Middle Persian (Pahlavi) Text on Iranian Antiquity., October 18, 2004

By 

Noshir M. Khambatta (DURHAM, NC, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sahrestaniha I Eransahr: A Middle Persian Text on Late Antique Geography, Epic, and History : With English and Persian Translations and Commentary (Bibliotheca Iranica: Intellectual Traditions Series) (Paperback)

In 90 printed pages of a monograph titled "Sahrestaniha i Eransahr", Dr. Touraj Daryaee has provided an ideal model worthy of emulation, by all future authors of works on Iranology and linguistic studies. His style of presentation outlined in the table of contents is worth following by scholars engaged in as near a complete elucidation of a difficult linguistic or historical text. He begins with Acknowledgement, followed by a brief Introduction, followed by a Romanized Transcript of the text, followed by an English translation, then a Persian translation, then followed by Commentary, followed by the Middle Persian text in the original Pahlavi characters, then followed by a Map, then a Glossary explaining all the words of the text, ending with an exhaustive Bibliography of works referenced in the text.

The Sahrestaniha-i Eranshahr is probably the only surving Middle Persian (Pahlavi or Pehlevi) text on geography written in the late Sassanian period of Iranian history and finally redacted in the eight century CE. In general the text lists the various towns and cities of the then Iran and Asia, and the various rulers and kings responsible for their construction and establishment, many historical and some mythical. It sheds brief insights into the ancient Persian geographical world view defining the concept of Eranshahr. What is most unique about this text is that it provides some unusual pieces of information and names of the Peshdadian and Kayanian dynasties of pre-Achaemenid Iran, not generally found in other Middle Persian texts. Every Zarathushtrian, Parsee, and those interested in Ancient Persian lore will benefit from giving this little monograph their undivided attention. Congratulations to Mazda Publishers for an excellent printing of this rare and unusual piece of ancient Iranian history.