درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

The consequences of climate change could be so severe and extensive that the issue has prompted human societies to change their subsistence system and adopt strategies to deal with those challenges. In the past, droughts and the reduction in water resources caused serious problems for human societies and made it difficult for water-dependent communities to continue living in a specific region and area. In order to get out of the crisis, many communities either migrated to favorable areas or attacked other communities. In the second millennium BC, Central and West Asia witnessed large-scale human migrations and violent invasions, which apparently overlapped with climatic stresses. The extensive migration of Aryan tribes and predatory invasions of the Sea Peoples in Egypt, Levant, Anatolia, and Greece during the second half of the second millennium BC coincided with the 3.2 ka BP mega drought event. This research, with an environmental archeology approach, actually tries to warn about the unfortunate consequences of global warming, i.e. climate migrations and social tensions. Here, the reason for population displacements and attacks on civilizations in the second millennium BC has been investigated from the climatic perspective. The Paleoclimate research indicates frequent climatic events in the early Late Holocene in Central and West Asia, which probably triggered many socio-political events.

The subject of incestuous marriage has been one of the most controversial issues and debates in Iranian history. Not many historians have paid attention to this matter and it seems that even studying this topic is taboo, especially among Iranian scholars. On the other hand, the problem has gotten more complicated since the Islamic revolution, as some zealous islamists use this to humiliate the pre-Islamic history of Iran. Subsequently, Iranian nationalists and patriots have denied the existence of any incest in ancient Persia. In such a political environment, very few Iranian scholars have come up with valuable historical research, free of any prejudices. Yet their research is still scant compared to their Western colleagues. That is why Paul John Frandsen’s Incestuous and Close-Kin Marriage in Ancient Egypt and Persia should be taken seriously, as it evaluates many previous opinions about incest in ancient Iran with a critical approach, highlights their flaws, adopts a new method, and proposes new hypotheses.  As the name of the book suggests, this work is about ancient Persia (Iran) and Egypt and explains that no direct link can be seen between incestuous marriage in these two ancient civilizations. This review concerns the part of the book dealing with Persia.

Adrienne Mayor’s The Poison King is a fascinating biography of Mithradates Eupator Dionysus, one of the most controversial monarchs of ancient history who has been especially neglected by scholars of Iranian history. This biography, like any other about ancient heroes, is full of tales, legends, stories, and historical narratives and its crafty author knows how to distinguish between fact and fiction. The book contains 15 chapters, in which, other than  the first, the remaining chapters are arranged based on Mithradates’ life, from his birth to his death.

For years, various researchers, including theologians, cultural anthropologists, linguists, and archaeologists, have been studying the Zoroastrian religion. These studies provide valuable insights into this religion and those who believe in it. However, there are still researchers who are trying to shed light on the sometimes-unclear aspects of this religion. In the past, researchers focused solely on historical and religious texts to express their views on this subject. Today, archaeological excavations and previous researches assist in shedding new light on this religion. One of the most important books in this regard that uses historical and religious texts and archaeological findings is Zoroastrianism: An Introduction by Jenny Rose. This book was published in 2011 by I. B. Tauris Publisher. 

The period of Darius I Achaemenid and his son Xerxes, owning to the construction of Persepolis, is one of the most important periods of cultural exchange in the ancient world. Achaemenid satrapies operated in a regular and coordinated network from the Nile to the Indus Valley and from Oxus to the Mediterranean. At the same time, this network became efficient through the construction of ancient roads, and the roads management system defined the function of this network in the direction of control and monitoring accompanied by the regular management system on each plain. It is very important to identify the route of the royal road in the Achaemenid period from Persepolis to Susa and Sardis in Asia Minor. The author has identified an ancient site in the archaeological survey in the southwest of Iran where there are signs of Carian stonemasons in a stone torus. The identification of newly discovered evidence for the first time from this site is important and effective in understanding the relations of Persepolis with the Anatolia region and the presence of Asia Minor masons in the construction of the royal road in ancient Persia.