Part two of the Proceedings of the Third European Conference of Iranian Studies contains 34 papers in English, French and German, arranged thematically in five sections. The first, Linguistic studies, ranges from the New Persian names in the Shahnama to the use of the particle in modern Tajik. Nine papers grouped under the heading Literary studies deal not only with classical Persian poetry, but also with modern prose literature and the oral traditions of the Bakhtiyari and of Baluchistan and Badakhshan. A similar chronological and topical spread is found in the section on Religion and religious literature, with investigations of mediaeval and modern biographical works, a study of documents connected with the Passion of Husayn, and papers on sufi literature. The section on history covers a range of topics from the Mongol period to the 1950s and events in Central Asia and Afghanistan as well as Iran. Finally, four attractively illustrated articles on Ottoman and Persian miniatures, painting in Central Asia, Kubachi-ware and the decorations on the Haydariyya mosque in Qazvin round off a varied and stumulating set of contributions, which highlight the richness and diversity of Persian culture in the mediaeval and modern period. The volume also testifies to the vigour of Persian studies in Europe, which the Societas Iranologica Europaea has assisted to promote through its four-yearly conferences. There is something in this volume to attract all students of Persian civilisation.

Ancient and Middle Iranian Studies" edited by Maria Macuch, Dieter Weber, and Desmond Durkin-Meisterernst is the first part of the "Proceedings of the 6th European Conference of Iranian Studies" organized by the Societas Iranologica Europaea held in Vienna on the 18th-22nd of September 2007. It includes twenty-two papers on Ancient and Middle Iranian topics presented at the Conference, covering different linguistic areas such as Avestan, Old and Middle Persian, Sogdian and Bactrian. Within the linguistic context, the articles deal with archeological and historical aspects of south-western and north-eastern Iran, religious and legal topics as well as anthroponymic evidence from various periods.

The 3rd European Conference of Iranian Studies, at which more than 130 papers were presented, was held in Cambridge in 1995. A selection of the best contributions will be published in two volumes, of which the second will be concerned with Iranian culture in the Islamic period. This first volume, which is illustrated with 17 plates, contains 18 important and thought-provoking papers - 15 in English and 3 in French - on Old and Middle Iranian. The papers, grouped thematically under the headings "Religions and Culture of ancient Iran" and "Texts and languages", cover a diversity of themes relating to Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism and Mithraism; Sasanian history, glyptic and numismatics; and Iranian philology, linguistics, and dialectology.

The Bundahisn, meaning primal or foundational creation, is the central Zoroastrian account of creation, cosmology, and eschatology. Compiled sometime in the ninth century CE, it is one of the most important surviving testaments to Zoroastrian literature in the Middle Persian language and to pre-Islamic Iranian culture. Despite having been composed some two millennia after the Prophet Zoroaster's revelation, it is nonetheless a concise compendium of ancient Zoroastrian knowledge that draws on and reshapes earlier layers of the tradition. Well known in the field of Iranian Studies as an essential primary source for scholars of ancient Iran's history, religions, literatures, and languages, the Bundahisn is also a great work of literature in and of itself, ranking alongside the creation myths of other ancient traditions. The book's thirty-six diverse chapters, which touch on astronomy, eschatology, zoology, medicine, and more, are composed in a variety of styles, registers, and genres, from spare lists and concise commentaries to philosophical discourses and poetic eschatological visions. This new translation, the first in English in nearly a century, highlights the aesthetic quality, literary style, and complexity and raises the profile of pre-Islamic Zoroastrian literature.

Cosmopolitanism and Empire traces the development of cosmopolitan cultural techniques through which ancient empires managed difference in order to establish regimes of domination. Its case studies of Near Eastern and Mediterranean empires combine to demonstrate the centrality of cosmopolitanism to the establishment and endurance of trans-cultural political orders.

I.B.Tauris in association with the Iran Heritage Foundation Iran's rich cultural heritage has been shaped over many centuries by its rich and eventful history. This impressive book, which assembles contributions by some of the world's most eminent historians, art historians and other scholars of the Iranian world, explores the history of the country through the prism of Persian literature, art and culture. The result is a seminal work which illuminates important, yet largely neglected, aspects of Medieval and Early Modern Iran and the Middle East. Its scope, from the era of Ferdowsi, Iran's national epic poet and the author of the Shahnameh to the period of the Mongols, Timurids, Safavids, Zands and Qajars, examines the interaction between mythology, history, historiography, poetry, painting and craftwork in the long narrative of the Persianate experience. As such, Ferdowsi, the Mongols and the History of Iran is essential reading and a reference point for students and scholars of Iranian history, Persian literature and the arts of the Islamic World.