Table of Contents

  • AČAṘEAN, HRAČʾEAY YAKOBI

    J. R. Russell

    Armenian linguist, born 8 March 1876 (O. S.; 20 March N. S.) at Constantinople. 

  • ACƎKZĪ

    C. M. Kieffer

    (ACAKZĪ, or AČƎKZĪ, AČAKẒĪ), a tribal grouping of Paṧtūn clans in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

  • ACHAEMENES

    M. A. Dandamayev

    (Greek Achaiménēs), Old Persian proper name Haxāmaniš, traditionally derived from haxā- “friend” and manah “thinking power.”

  • ACHAEMENID DYNASTY

    R. Schmitt

    Two principles of their election, dynastic and divine right, belong to contrasting areas and periods—respectively, to prehistoric nomad tribes of Indo-European origin and to the highly civilized Mesopotamian peoples. 

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  • ACHAEMENID GLAZED BRICK DECORATION

    Oscar White Muscarella

    architectural elements at Achaemenid capital cities that reflected the king's power and authority through depictions of historical, religious, political, military, and social realities and protocols.

  • ACHAEMENID RELIGION

    M. Boyce

    Greek writings establish with all reasonable clarity that the later Achaemenids were Zoroastrians; but the religion of the early kings has been much debated.

  • ACHAEMENID ROYAL COMMUNICATION

    Bruno Jacobs

    the spreading of every kind of information and decision-making needed for governmental control. Under this topic can be subsumed the royal agenda, political objectives, ideological and legitimizing strategies, and orders and messages to subordinates and the general population.

  • ACHAEMENID SATRAPIES

    Bruno Jacobs

    the administrative units of the Achaemenid empire.

  • ACHAEMENID TAXATION

    M. A. Dandamayev

     a most important component of the Achaemenid state administration.

  • ACHAEMENID VISUAL REPRESENTATIONS OF ROYAL FIGURES

    Erica Ehrenberg

    Visual representations of Achaemenid kings, while indebted to established Mesopotamian iconographic conventions, betray distinct understandings of sovereignty.

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  • ACHMA

    R. E. Emmerick

    (a Turkish word meaning “opening”), a town in the Domoko (Dumaqu) oasis near Khotan, so named with reference to the local springs.

  • ĀÇINA

    M. A. Dandamayev

    son of Upadarma, a rebel against Darius I.

  • ĀÇIYĀDIYA

    R. Schmitt

    (a-ç-i-y-a-di-i-y-), name of the ninth month (November-December) of the Old Persian calendar.

  • ACKERMAN, PHYLLIS

    Cornelia Montgomery

    (b. Oakland, California, 1893; d. Shiraz, 25 January 1977), author, editor, teacher and translator in the fields of Persian textiles, European tapestries, Chinese bronzes, iconography, and symbolism.

  • ACTA ARCHELAI

    Cross-Reference

    See ARCHELAUS.

  • ACTS OF ĀDUR-HORMIZD AND OF ANĀHĪD

    J. P. Asmussen

    Syriac martyrological texts.  Their events are set in the year 446 A.D., during the reign of Yazdegerd II; and they were apparently recorded not long afterward. They offer more detailed data on Zoroastrianism and Zurvanism, even though in a somewhat corrupted form, than is commonly found in the records of the Christian martyrs of the Sasanian empire. 

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  • ACTS OF THE PERSIAN MARTYRS

    A. Vööbus

    a collection of the acts of martyrdom under Šāpūr II (309-79 CE). The author states that the text is not a free composition for glorification of the martyrs, but rather rests on information he gathered from those close to the actual happenings—even eyewitnesses. 

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  • ĀDĀ

    J. Duchesne-Guillemin

    “requital” in Avestan.

  • ADAB

    Multiple Authors

    Term applied to a genre of literature as well as to refined and well-mannered conduct; in Persian it is often synonymous with farhang.

  • ADAB i. Adab in Iran

    Dj. Khaleghi-Motlagh

    Apart from a genre of literature (see section ii), adab in Persian means education, culture, good behavior, politeness, proper demeanor; thus it is closely linked with the concept of ethics.