Touraj Daryaee

Bio: Touraj Daryaee is an academic researcher from University of California, Irvine. The author has contributed to research in topics: Empire & Zoroastrianism. The author has an hindex of 10, co-authored 32 publications receiving 555 citations. Previous affiliations of Touraj Daryaee include California State University, Fullerton.

The Persian Gulf in Late Antiquity

Abstract: The following article discusses the importance of the province of Fars/Persis as an important province and the Persian Gulf as an important entrepot. The essay seeks to demonstrate that because of the Perso-Byzantine rivalry the amount of trade on the silk roads was reduced and consequently the amount of sea trade via the Persian Gulf was increased by the fifth and sixth centuries C.E. The campaign for controlling trade in silk and spices was taken to the seas, and Persian colonies were established as far away as Sri Lanka. Administrative seals and Sasanian silver coins also indicated a lively exchange of commodities and the presence of Persians in East Asia.

Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire

Abstract: The Sasanians were the last of the ancient Persian dynasties, and the preeminent practitioners of the Zoroastrian religion. From its foundation by Ardashir I in 224 CE the Sasanian Empire was the dominant force in the region for several centuries until its last king, Yasdegerd III, was defeated by the Muslim Arabs in the 7th century. In this clear and comprehensive new book, Touraj Daryaee provides an unrivalled account of Sasanian Persia. Using new sources, he paints a vivid portrait of the empire's often neglected social history and examines the development of its political and administrative institutions. The author also explores, for the first time in an integrated book on the Sasanians, their descendants' attempts for more than a century after their defeat to establish a second state. "Sasanian Persia" is a unique examination of a period of history that still has great significance for a full understanding of modern Iran.

The Construction of the Past in Late Antique Persia

Abstract: L’expansion de l’empire sassanide est souvent vue comme une renaissance de l’empire achemenide. Neanmoins, les inscriptions sassanides ne se placent pas dans le lignage achemenides, ce qui a conduit a penser que ceux-ci avaient ete oublies. L’A. revient sur cette position : plusieurs indices montrent que les Sassanides connaissaient le passe achemenide, mais, placant leur legitimite dans une historiographie religieuse avestique, ils ont prefere se situer dans le lignage de la dynastie Kayānide.

The Persian Gulf in Late Antiquity: The Sasanian Era (200–700 c.e.)

Abstract: The evidence of the history of the Persian Gulf in the pre-Islamic period is steadily growing. This is important because in comparison with the Mediterranean1 and the Black Sea,2 information on the Gulf is rather meager.3 This chapter does not attempt to provide a complete history of events, but rather focuses on the region’s slow cyclical rhythms with a four-hundred-year perspective. The Parthian Empire (247 b.c.e.–224 c.e.), which ruled the Near East in antiquity, had benefited from the Silk Road trade, which was not only land-based but also a sea trading route. The Parthians ruled in what may be called a feudal system, in which the local kingdoms along the Persian Gulf, in both the northern and southern region, were semi-independent. We know, for example, of a king or local ruler named Sanatruq who ruled over Bahrain.4 His name suggests that the ruler was Parthian, so we may surmise that he was installed by the Parthian king of kings. We also come across the title of Arabczrch. The Arabarch was a high official in the Parthian period who appears to have patrolled the desert area where the Arabs lived.5 Thus, the Parthians were certainly aware of the importance of their southern provinces and concerned with their control.

Europe and the People without History

Abstract: The intention of this work is to show that European expansion not only transformed the historical trajectory of non-European societies but also reconstituted the historical accounts of these societies before European intervention. It asserts that anthropology must pay more attention to history.

Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World

Abstract: The first book of its kind, this richly informative and comprehensive guide to the world of late antiquity offers the latest scholarship to the researcher along with great reading pleasure to the browser. In eleven comprehensive essays and in over 500 encyclopedic entries, an international cast of experts provides essential information and fresh perspectives on the history and culture of an era marked by the rise of two world religions, unprecedented political upheavals that remade the map of the known world, and the creation of art of enduring glory. By extending the commonly accepted chronological and territorial boundaries of the period--to encompass Roman, Byzantine, Sassanian, and early Islamic cultures, from the middle of the third century to the end of the eighth--this guide makes new connections and permits revealing comparisons. Consult the article on \"Angels\" and discover their meaning in Islamic as well as classical and Judeo-Christian traditions. Refer to \"Children,\" \"Concubinage,\" and \"Divorce\" for a fascinating interweaving of information on the family. Read the essay on \"Barbarians and Ethnicity\" and see how a topic as current as the construction of identity played out in earlier times, from the Greeks and Romans to the Turks, Huns, and Saxons. Turn to \"Empire Building\" to learn how the empire of Constantine was supported by architecture and ceremony. Or follow your own path through the broad range of entries on politics, manufacturing and commerce, the arts, philosophy, religion, geography, ethnicity, and domestic life. Each entry introduces readers to another facet of the postclassical world: historic figures and places, institutions, burial customs, food, money, public life, and amusements. A splendid selection of illustrations enhances the portrait. The intriguing era of late antiquity emerges completely and clearly, viewed in a new light, in a guide that will be relished by scholars and general readers alike.

The Worlds of the Indian Ocean: A Global History

Abstract: Europe's place in history is re-assessed in this first comprehensive history of the ancient world, centering on the Indian Ocean and its role in pre-modern globalization. Philippe Beaujard presents an ambitious and comprehensive global history of the Indian Ocean world, from the earliest state formations to 1500 CE. Supported by a wealth of empirical data, full color maps, plates, and figures, he shows how Asia and Africa dominated the economic and cultural landscape and the flow of ideas in the pre-modern world. This led to a trans-regional division of labor and an Afro-Eurasian world economy. Beaujard questions the origins of capitalism and hints at how this world-system may evolve in the future. The result is a reorienting of world history, taking the Indian Ocean, rather than Europe, as the point of departure. Volume II provides in-depth coverage of the period from the seventh century CE to the fifteenth century CE.

The 4.2 ka BP Event in the Mediterranean region: an overview

Abstract: . The Mediterranean region and the Levant have returned some of the clearest evidence of a climatically dry period occurring around 4200 years ago. However, some regional evidence is controversial and contradictory, and issues remain regarding timing, progression, and regional articulation of this event. In this paper, we review the evidence from selected proxies (sea-surface temperature, precipitation, and temperature reconstructed from pollen, δ18O on speleothems, and δ18O on lacustrine carbonate) over the Mediterranean Basin to infer possible regional climate patterns during the interval between 4.3 and 3.8 ka. The values and limitations of these proxies are discussed, and their potential for furnishing information on seasonality is also explored. Despite the chronological uncertainties, which are the main limitations for disentangling details of the climatic conditions, the data suggest that winter over the Mediterranean involved drier conditions, in addition to already dry summers. However, some exceptions to this prevail – where wetter conditions seem to have persisted – suggesting regional heterogeneity in climate patterns. Temperature data, even if sparse, also suggest a cooling anomaly, even if this is not uniform. The most common paradigm to interpret the precipitation regime in the Mediterranean – a North Atlantic Oscillation-like pattern – is not completely satisfactory to interpret the selected data.