Intangible spirits and graven images : the iconography of deities in the pre-Islamic Iranian world /
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Winner of the the Roman and Tania Ghirshman Prize 2015 by the French Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. This prize was established in 1973 by the donation made by Roman Ghirshman, one of the prominent French archaeologists of Pre-Islamic Iran. It is awarded annually for a publication in the field of Pre-Islamic Iranian Studies. In Intangible Spirits and Graven Images , Michael Shenkar investigates the perception of ancient Iranian deities and their representation in the Iranian cults. This ground-breaking study traces the evolution of the images of these deities, analyses the origin of their iconography, and evaluates their significance. Shenkar also explores the perception of anthropomorphism and aniconism in ancient Iranian religious imagery, with reference to the material evidence and the written sources, and reassesses the value of the Avestan and Middle Persian texts that are traditionally employed to illuminate Iranian religious imagery. In doing so, this book provides important new insights into the religion and culture of ancient Iran prior to the Islamic conquest.
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Revision of the author's thesis--Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2013. :
1 online resource (xxii, 392 pages) : illustrations (some color) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004281493 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Tombes d'époque parthe : chantiers de la ville des artisans /
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Among the hundred or so tombs of post-Alexander date excavated by Roman Ghirshman between 1947 and 1952 on the mound of the "Ville des Artisans" at Susa, six are remarkable for their construction and burial contents. Shortly before his death in 1979, Ghirshman, director of the French "Mission de Suse" from 1946 until 1968, had started to write up his final report. Based on his notes, the authors have engaged to publish these tombs, together with the original plans, drawings and photographs of the burial goods. The grave contents consisted mainly of pottery, but also included glass vessels, figurines, metal objects and other small finds. The study of the material from these large vaulted subterranean structures indicates that they were most likely intended as family tombs, thus remaining in use for several decades and should be dated in the first or second century AD. Similar tombs are known at other sites in the region of Susa, and even in Mesopotamia, e.g. at Seleucia on the Tigris. A synthesis of the evolution in tomb architecture and typology, as well as the burial practices, for the whole site of Susa between the Seleucid and early Sasanian periods (third century BC to third century AD), is also presented, based on the short reports and unpublished excavation notes of Ghirshman, in addition to unpublished reports by his predecessors at the site.
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1 online resource (91 pages, 35 pages of plates) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 87-91). :
9789004229365 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.