Research
Archaeology
Shahin Aryamanesh; Reza Mehrafarin
Abstract
For many years, scholars such as theologists, linguists, and archaeologists have been studying Zoroastrian religion from the beginning. These studies provide us with valuable knowledge of this religion and its believers. However, there are still scholars who are trying to clarify the occasional, not ...
Read More
For many years, scholars such as theologists, linguists, and archaeologists have been studying Zoroastrian religion from the beginning. These studies provide us with valuable knowledge of this religion and its believers. However, there are still scholars who are trying to clarify the occasional, not very clear, cornerstones of this religion in different periods. Scholars spoke only on the basis of historical texts as well as the Zoroastrian religious texts not so long ago, so archaeological excavations and research have now come to help the scholars to shed light on this religion over time. One of the most important books in this regard that uses historical and religious texts and archaeological findings is Zoroastrianism: An Introduction written by Jenny Rose. This book was published in 2011 and reprinted in 2012 and 2014 by I.B.Tauris Publisher. Jenny Rose is a researcher of religion, and her research profile is indicative of her extensive research in Iranian religion, and this work is a proof of many years of her work on religion. As the name of the book indicates, it an introduction to Zoroastrianism, so it not comprehensive, and some criticisms were leveled against it.
Research
Archaeology
Behrouz Afkhami
Abstract
Today in the world, Museums have external and internal roles in development. Museums are considered as effective institutions for international collaboration and cooperation, and they play an important role within a country in the development of education, creative skills, and cultural self-confidence. ...
Read More
Today in the world, Museums have external and internal roles in development. Museums are considered as effective institutions for international collaboration and cooperation, and they play an important role within a country in the development of education, creative skills, and cultural self-confidence. Global experiences show that museums have been effective instruments in promoting cultural knowledge in community, based on cultural heritage. They have been effective in cultural entrepreneurship as well. Museum studies and museum curatorship knowledge are considered as the basic and specialized education in the teaching of cultural heritage. Despite the importance of the museum and the great potential of the museum in Iran, this country is faced with poor professional, conceptual, and operational framework of the museum knowledge. Publication of the book entitled "Museum Studies” has partly filled this gap and created an opportunity for those interested in this field of study. Although the book has scientifical and content-based criticisms,it is regarded as one of the pioneers in the field of museum studies, so it is worthwhile and valuable. In this paper, the present book is mainly reviewed and criticized, along with some an. The authors of the book can apply the suggestions if they find them useful.
Research
Archaeology
Abed Taghavi
Abstract
Many studies have been undertaken with respect to the architecture of Islamic mosques in Iran. In most of these studies, mosques have been investigated monographically, so researchers have paid close attention to the physical structure, historical changes, and ornaments. In this book, Barbara Finster ...
Read More
Many studies have been undertaken with respect to the architecture of Islamic mosques in Iran. In most of these studies, mosques have been investigated monographically, so researchers have paid close attention to the physical structure, historical changes, and ornaments. In this book, Barbara Finster has taken into account such a repetitive format. Besides, this book has thoroughly focused on the evolution of early Islamic mosques in Iran. The present review has taken both form and content into account for further evaluation. This book can be regarded as one of the analytic and interpretive books which can open new horizons to Islamic architecture in the early Islamic centuries based on the writer’s postulations. Although this outstanding work has some merits, it is not without demerits particularly with respect to its translation. The selection of inappropriate equivalents for the technical words and some content inaccuracies are some of the major pitfalls of the book.
Research
Archaeology
Javad HoseinzadehSadati
Abstract
Acceleration of technological and scientific discoveries in recent decades led to the ramification of different branches of academic fields, which per se led to the flourishing of publication with the topics dedicated to the basics and introduction of these new fields. “An Introduction to Genetic ...
Read More
Acceleration of technological and scientific discoveries in recent decades led to the ramification of different branches of academic fields, which per se led to the flourishing of publication with the topics dedicated to the basics and introduction of these new fields. “An Introduction to Genetic Archaeology”, by Kamaledin Niknami and Maryam Ramezani falls into this kind of publication, which was published by SAMT in 10 chapters and 424 pages. The book enjoys a good quality print and while some grammatical and misspellings can be seen in few pages, it generally satisfies the reader’s taste. However, the content of the book is not as good as its configuration. Some fluctuation is evident in its narration and its language; the length of the chapters is not balanced, and it does not follow an explicit order from the beginning to the end. Furthermore, the book does not appreciate and respect copy-write rule, and it contains many cases of plagiarisms which are described in the paper in details. With respect to the copy- write and other laws considering this issue in the country, the paper suggests that the book be gathered from the market, and after correcting these pitfalls, it can be redistributed to the book market.
Research
Archaeology
Sorour Khorashadi
Abstract
For many years, Iranian and non-Iranian archaeologists have conducted archaeological research in the peripheral territories of the Persian Gulf as well as its depths, and they have gained valuable achievements. These achievements are mostly in the form of papers, most of which are in English. There are ...
Read More
For many years, Iranian and non-Iranian archaeologists have conducted archaeological research in the peripheral territories of the Persian Gulf as well as its depths, and they have gained valuable achievements. These achievements are mostly in the form of papers, most of which are in English. There are several books on this area, which are published in English. Although some books have also been written by Iranian and non-Iranian scholars, the lack of a comprehensive monograph on the Persian Gulf from the archaeological point of view has been very tangible and obvious. Recently, a Persian book titled, Archaeology of the Persian Gulf in the Parthian and Sassanid Eras, has been published in Persian, encompassing surveys, excavations, and studies conducted by archaeologists in the northern and southern parts of the Persian Gulf in two broad periods of Iranian history, i.e. the Parthian and Sasanian eras. Therefore, the importance of the subject and national sensitivity of the Persian Gulf region justifies the need to evaluate and review the afore-said volume. A critical look at this valuable work reveals some shortcomings in literary editing, coherence, and logical intra-chapter and inter-chapter order of the material, long titles of some chapters, lack of congruency and concordance between the titles and the content in some chapters, an imbalance in dealing with the background of north and south coastal studies in the Persian Gulf in terms of the sequence of chronology, and the existence of few deficiencies in referencing and indexing.
Research
Archaeology
Kourosh Roustaei
Abstract
The book under review is the first volume of the two-volume book of Illustrated Dictionary of Prehistoric Archaeology (English-Persian). The first volume is basically a dictionary, with a brief explanation for a number of entries. The book is analyzed in various aspects including page layout, writing ...
Read More
The book under review is the first volume of the two-volume book of Illustrated Dictionary of Prehistoric Archaeology (English-Persian). The first volume is basically a dictionary, with a brief explanation for a number of entries. The book is analyzed in various aspects including page layout, writing style, and in particular content. This paper discusses numerous examples that the term "pre-history" for the book is merely an irrelevant title. Also, the "illustrated" aspect of the book, also included in the title, has been seriously debated; a significant number of the book's illustrations are completely useless and have merely increased the volume of the book. Apart from these, the important issue is the errors found in the proposed equivalents, which are not by mistake, but insightful. Another flaw in the book is the unknown and unfamiliar equivalents for the Persian-speaking (archaeologist) reader, which is indicated by numerous examples. Generally, among similar books published earlier in the field of archeology, this book is one of the lowest in quality, where the reflection and precision were apparently neglected when developing the book.
Research
Archaeology
Mohammad Ghamari-Fatideh
Abstract
Central Asia is one of the regions that had interactions with the Iranian plateau during the time, but, unfortunately it is missed in the Iranian archaeological studies. Although this region is attended by some of Iranian archaeologists working in eastern Iran, other archaeologists generally do not have ...
Read More
Central Asia is one of the regions that had interactions with the Iranian plateau during the time, but, unfortunately it is missed in the Iranian archaeological studies. Although this region is attended by some of Iranian archaeologists working in eastern Iran, other archaeologists generally do not have any information about it. Archaeological students do not know something about central Asia, too because they have no lessons about the Central Asia in their courses. However, that is impossible to ignore the interaction between ancient Iran and Central Asia cultures. The Kohl’s book, Central Asia Paleolithic Beginnings to the Iron Age, is one of the best books on this topic, so reading it is so important for the Iranian archaeologists. Kohl has been working in this region for a long time, and he wrote this book thoroughly and comprehensively. . This book is written and fine-tuned in English; of course, in some casesnot referring to some articles, especially in the Iranian arena, can be considered as the flaws in the English text of the book. Unfortunately, the Persian translation of this book is not attractive because the translated text has many mistakes. Inappropriate typing, not regarding the principles of Persian writing and spelling mistakes, wrong translation, and disregarding some keywords, are the main mistakes in the translation of this book.
Research
Archaeology
javad neyestani; Mohsen saadati
Abstract
The ancient city of Rayy is a symbol of the social and cultural life of Iran prior to the arrival of the Mongols. The economic, cultural, and social flourishing of this city during the Islamic era led the city to be mentioned under different names, including the Bride of Cities, Om-al-Belad, and Sheykh ...
Read More
The ancient city of Rayy is a symbol of the social and cultural life of Iran prior to the arrival of the Mongols. The economic, cultural, and social flourishing of this city during the Islamic era led the city to be mentioned under different names, including the Bride of Cities, Om-al-Belad, and Sheykh Al-Belad in some historical sources. “The Book of Rayy: From Its Origins to the Mongol Invasion an Archaeological and Historiographical Study” is about the latest archaeological studies and the urbanization history of the ancient city of Rayy. The book which is written by Roco Rante with cooperation of Ghadir Afrund, was published by Brill Holand Publications in 2014. This book, which combines archaeological data resulted from two seasons of archaeological excavations in 2006 and 2007 in Rashkan Castle of Rayy with historical texts, provides the readers with valuable information on archeology, history, and urbanization of Rayy in ancient times. However, like any other scientific work, the book has some shortcomings which will be discussed in the present article.
Research
Archaeology
Hamed Vahdati Nasab
Abstract
The book of the Sapiens: a Brief History of Humankind is one of the studies categorized under the title of macro history in the world. The book is written by Yuval Noah Harari, one of the graduates of Jared Diamond's thinking school. Throughout the four major chapters of the book, with the titles Cognitive ...
Read More
The book of the Sapiens: a Brief History of Humankind is one of the studies categorized under the title of macro history in the world. The book is written by Yuval Noah Harari, one of the graduates of Jared Diamond's thinking school. Throughout the four major chapters of the book, with the titles Cognitive Revolution, Agricultural Revolution, Human Unity, and Scientific Revolution, the author has attempted to narrate the ups and downs of the story of human evolution since about 100,000 years ago to the modern age. Although the author, translator and editors all have a charming, engaging content, some content flaws have led to some criticism of the author's scholarly approach. Perhaps the most important criticism of the book is the over-simplification and little obsession with presenting models and dates. The author does not explain in any part of the book why he placed the origin of the cognitive revolution 70000 ago and not 50000 as the researchers’ literature. He also leaves the reader somewhat confused about the main character of the book (sapien). Whether the author's intention is homo sapiens or homo sapiens sapiens will never be determined.
Research
Archaeology
Mahsa Veisi
Abstract
The Achaemenid period is one of the most important historical periods in Iran. During this period, Cyrus the Great and his successors created the largest centralized state of that era, which despite its great cultural and ethnic diversity, was managed with a very advanced administrative system. ...
Read More
The Achaemenid period is one of the most important historical periods in Iran. During this period, Cyrus the Great and his successors created the largest centralized state of that era, which despite its great cultural and ethnic diversity, was managed with a very advanced administrative system. Achaemenian commanded their vast territory within their empire centers in Pasargadae, Susa, and Persepolis. With the policy of the tolerance, they were able to unite all these areas together and by allowing the subsidiary nations to preserve their artistic and native culture, Achaemenian imported their own art and culture to these areas, too. This empire was a successful model of a multinational government which included Mesopotamia, Egypt, Caucasus, Asia Minor, and Central Asia and the administrative and artistic structure of the Achaemenian in each of these areas can be explored separately. The book of Mesopotamia and Iran in the Persian Period (Proceeding of a Seminar in memory of Vladimir G. Lukonin) was published in 1997. The translation of this book to Farsi was published by the Organization for Researching and Composing University Textbooks in the Humanities (SAMT) in 1389. Although this book includes valuable information about the Achaemenid period in general, as any other scientific work, there are some shortcomings in this book that are considered in this article. In a general conclusion, the main drawback of this book is the lack of coherence and the lack of relevance of the content of some parts of the book with its title.
