Table of Contents

  • ISRAEL ii. JEWISH PERSIAN COMMUNITY

    David Yeroushalmi

    Jews of Persian origin and their descendants who live in the State of Israel and constitute an integral and active part of its general population.

  • ISRAEL iii. IRANIAN STUDIES

    Shaul Shaked

    A department of Iranian Studies was only formally established in Israel in 1970, but scholars working in Israel have been interested in aspects of Iranian history and culture since long before that date.

  • ISRAEL iv. PERSIAN ART COLLECTIONS

    RACHEL MILSTEIN

    Iron Age II-III is represented by a few clay rhytons, including one with human face and hands; anthropomorphic and zoomorphic vessels; tiny animals made of baked clay and frit; a metal figurative comb; an Elamite figure of a goddess; a finial of a standard portraying two lions from Luristan; and various kinds of daily objects.

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  • ISRĀʾILIYĀT

    Cross-Reference

    See QEṢAṢ AL-ANBIĀʾ.

  • ITALY

    Multiple Authors

    : relations with Iran. Overview of the entry. i. Introduction. ii. Diplomatic and commercial relations. iii. Cultural relations. iv. Travel accounts. v. Iranian Studies, pre-Islamic. vi. Excavations in Iran. vii. Iranian Studies, Islamic period. viii. Persian manuscripts. ix. Persian art collections. x. Lirica Persica. xi. Translations of Persian works into Italian. xii. Translations of Italian works into Persian. xiii. Iranians in Italy. xiv. Current centers of Iranian Studies in Italy. xv. IsMEO

  • Italy i. INTRODUCTION

    Carlo G. Cereti

    Direct relations between the Italian peninsula and the Iranian plateau date at least from the Parthian period,  when the border between the Arsacids and the Roman Empire was set on the Euphrates.

  • Italy ii. DIPLOMATIC AND COMMERCIAL RELATIONS

    Mario Casari

    A privileged relationship between Iran and Italy dates back to the age of the ancient Roman and Persian empires. Despite their ever-changing internal affairs, the two political centers of Europe and Asia, throughout the entire ancient time, experienced long lasting contacts.

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  • Italy iii. CULTURAL RELATIONS

    Mario Casari

    during the Middle Ages, when Italy and Persia were not clearly definable cultural entities, the translated works of significant Persian literature had a great influence on Italian and European culture.

  • Italy iv. TRAVEL ACCOUNTS

    Michele Bernardini, Anna Vanzan

    Italian travel accounts represent a major source for the history of Iran, especially that of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

  • Italy v. IRANIAN STUDIES, PRE-ISLAMIC PERIOD

    Carlo G. Cereti

    Although Italian contacts with Iran date from ancient times, scientific interest in pre-Islamic Iran cannot be traced earlier than the second half of the eighteenth century.

  • Italy vi. ITALIAN EXCAVATIONS IN IRAN

    Pierfrancesco Callieri, Bruno Genito

    From the early 20th century on, Italians participated in the scholarly investigation of ancient Iran, but direct involvement in field archeology dates from relatively recent times.

  • Italy vii. IRANIAN STUDIES, ISLAMIC PERIOD

    Mario Casari

    The earliest known references to Persia by Italian writers are gleaned from numerous notes in the oldest medieval travel accounts, dating from the 13th century onwards.

  • Italy viii. PERSIAN MANUSCRIPTS

    Paola Orsatti

    Italy houses 439 Persian manuscripts in two public archives and thirty public libraries located in fifteen different cities.

  • Italy ix. PERSIAN ART COLLECTIONS

    M. V. Fontana

    ix. PERSIAN ART COLLECTIONS Since the Middle Ages, Italians have been some of the greatest collectors of Islamic art in Europe. The Islamic market that Italy drew on was very large, and some of the most opulent works were imported from Persia.

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  • Italy x. LIRICA PERSICA

    Daniela Meneghini

    a project set up in 1989 by the School of Persian Literary Studies at Venice University to create a database for Persian lyric verse.

  • Italy xi. TRANSLATIONS OF PERSIAN WORKS INTO ITALIAN

    Mario Casari

    The period of Italian translations of Persian literary works from the Islamic era began, and not by accident, in the post-Risorgimento (Italian unification) age (1880s) with epic poetry. 

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  • Italy xii. TRANSLATIONS OF ITALIAN WORKS INTO PERSIAN

    MARIO CASARI

    Two texts by Italian authors appear to be the first known translations of European literary works into Persian carried out in the modern age.

  • Italy xiii. IRANIANS IN ITALY

    Mario Casari

    The presence of Persians in Italy has always been fragmentary and discontinuous, which never led to any extended, cohesive social groups of permanent residents.

  • Italy xiv. CURRENT CENTERS OF IRANIAN STUDIES IN ITALY

    Carlo G. Cereti

    Studies on subjects related to the Iranian cultural world can boast an ancient tradition in Italy, but not as an independent field of study at academic level. Things have considerably changed in recent times.

  • Italy xv. IsMEO

    Antonio Panaino

    acronym for the Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente (‘Italian Institute for Middle and Far East’), founded in 1933.