Archaeology
Hassan Basafa; Mohammadsadegh Davari
Abstract
The book Myths of Ancient Bactria and Margiana on its Seals and Amulets is basically a catalog of seals and amulets of BMAC culture, which was obtained during illegal excavations and was auctioned in the antique market of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. All of these works have been documented by the author ...
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The book Myths of Ancient Bactria and Margiana on its Seals and Amulets is basically a catalog of seals and amulets of BMAC culture, which was obtained during illegal excavations and was auctioned in the antique market of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. All of these works have been documented by the author of the book, Sarianidi, one of the leading Russian archaeologists, and presented in English, along with a long article. The above work is one of the first publications of BMAC and since it was published in 1989, its study approach has been related to that time and also limited to the results and study hypotheses of the time of its compilation. Many of his hypotheses, especially about the origins of the people of this culture, and many others, need to be fundamentally reconsidered in light of recent research and findings. Since the above book is related to myths, in the present study, an attempt is made to critique and study it with an iconic approach and to explain and complete its study principles. The results indicate many strengths in terms of logical order of content, innovation and use of up-to-date sources compared to the time of compilation, as well as weaknesses in the archaeological foundations of Iran and in addition, strong weaknesses in specialized translation and editing.
Archaeology
Hasan Basafa; Mohammad Sadeghdavari
Volume 17, Issue 4 , September 2017, , Pages 19-31
Abstract
The book "Archeology of Ancient Iranian societies in the Third Millennium B.C” is one of the specialized books about the third millennium archeology of the Iranian plateau with a special look into the southeastern region of Iran. This book is written by "Enrico Ascalone", translated by "Seyed Mansour ...
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The book "Archeology of Ancient Iranian societies in the Third Millennium B.C” is one of the specialized books about the third millennium archeology of the Iranian plateau with a special look into the southeastern region of Iran. This book is written by "Enrico Ascalone", translated by "Seyed Mansour Seyed Sajadi" and published by the Organization for Researching and Composing University Textbooks in the Humanities with the aim of being lectured as the main or supplementary source for the course-"Iranian Archaeology at the Beginning of Urbanization". What is mentioned in the introduction of the book by the author is the identification of the cultural poles of Iran's plateau during the third millennium B.C, the degree of repulsion and attraction between those poles, and then the study of the special fields of trade. In this regard, the analysis of the business systems with Susa centrality-as an Elamite unit-was his aim. The present paper tries to study and analyze the book in terms of its form and content-especially formal comprehensiveness, logical order and principles-according to the author's approach, which is of analytical approaches to urban archeology and finally its strengths and weaknesses are explained. The results indicate many merits in terms of content and respect for the authoring principles of an impartial work. On the other hand, the book has weaknesses in translation, editing and matching of specialized terminology, the use of archaeological resources, and archaeological fundamentals of the peripheral regions of Iranian Plateau.
