The Idea of Iran: From Eurasian Steppe to Persian Empire

The Elamites and their Contribution to the Creation of Iran

Professor Dan Potts, Chair, Department of Archaeology, University of Sydney

When scholars talk about the origins of the ‘idea of Iran’, they normally commence with the ideologically charged statements made in the Achaemenid and Sasanian sources showing a self-conscious awareness of Iranian ethnic identity and geo-political cohesion. Such an approach is entirely understandable, yet it fails to acknowledge the non-Iranian inhabitants of the landmass we now call Iran, the most well-known of which were certainly the Elamites. As Cyrus the Great and his immediate predecessors lived in what could be termed a late Elamite (Neo-Elamite) cultural and political milieu in the region of Anshan (highland Fars), and were certainly aware of Elam’s political, artistic and administrative ‘culture’, there are good grounds for beginning an inquiry into the ‘idea of Iran’ not with the Persians but with the Elamites. This lecture will explore some of the consequences of such an approach.

New Research on the Avestan Geography

Professor Frantz Grenet, Professor of Religions of the Ancient Iranian World at the École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Paris

The list of “Aryan countries” in the first chapter of the Vendidad has been the subject of countless discussions in the past. It now seems possible to propose a re-examination, in the light of new information which was not available to our predecessors, for example, a better knowledge of the historical geography of Afghanistan in later periods, and a more systematic comparison with geographical data contained in the Rigveda (an avenue explored recently by Professor Witzel). The preliminary conclusions proposed in this lecture result in a compact picture of countries all situated in or near present Afghanistan and Northwest Pakistan, with four sequences of countries all starting from the Pamirian region. Iran in its present borders is not included in the list, which ignores the Achaemenid and even the Median empire.

The Iron Age in Western Iran

Dr John Curtis, Keeper, Department of the Ancient Near East, The British Museum

Iron Age II and Iron Age III are periods preceding and leading up to the Achaemenid period and the foundation of the Achaemenid empire by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. The Iron Age II period at the beginning of the first millennium BC is known from a number of archaeological sites. The most important of these is Hasanlu, southwest of Lake Urmia, where columned buildings, the forerunners of the later Achaemenid apadanas, were found. Typical of the pottery of this period are bridge-spouted vessels of the Late Western Grey Ware type, as well as an attractive kind of painted red on cream pottery, principally known from a cemetery at Tepe Sialk, Kashan. In the Iron Age III period the focus of attention is on the Median heartland, an area bounded by Hamadan, Malayer and Kangavar. The following Achaemenid period will be discussed within the framework of Persepolis and the Oxus Treasure.

Iran and the Iranians in the Context of the Late Achaemenid Period

Professor Pierre Briant, Chair of History and Civilization of the Achaemenid World and of the Empire of Alexander, Collège de France

Since truly Achaemenid sources are very rare under the last kings of the dynasty, it becomes difficult to discuss about the idea of Iran at the end of the period. Nevertheless, a close investigation of some episodes during Alexander’s conquest of Iran and in the period of his first successors may throw some light, thanks to the testimony of a few passages in Classical authors.

The Contribution of the Magi

Dr Albert de Jong, Faculty of Theology, Leiden University

The religious history of the Achaemenian Empire is a very complicated subject. The question is not really whether or not the Persians in that period were Zoroastrians, but what we mean when we say they were or were not. In order to elaborate this question, this lecture will focus on the ‘specialists’ in this particular field: the Magi (priests).

On the Origins and Development of the Idea of Iran

Professor Shapour Shahbazi, Professor of History, Eastern Oregon University

In recent decades the hypothesis is that the idea of Iran as a political entity originated only with the Sasanians has been propagated as a historical fact, received enthusiastically even by a number of outstanding scholars of Iranian fields. A careful examination of the data used to construct this hypothesis reveals that ‘The Empire of Iranians’ had been a solidly conceptualised entity already in the ‘Avestan Period’, but that since the Achaemenid ‘World Empire’ contained more non-Iranians than it did Iranians, it did not – could not – call itself the ‘Empire of Iran’ just as the British Empire could not use the old designation ‘England’ nor the Soviet Union ‘Russia’. Furthermore, pre-Sasanian Armenian and Greek sources indicate that the concept of Iran as a political entity and nation was not unknown in the ancient world. Therefore, what the Sasanians did was to revive an old designation, not to ‘invent’ the idea of Iran.