Iranian Studies: Iran in Antiquity and Late Antiquity

The aim of the MA Iranian Studies is to make the students familiar with various aspects of Iranian languages, cultures, history, and religions from antiquity to the late antique era. In this respect, the Iranian cultural domain extends over a large part of Western Asia; it far exceeds the current political borders and includes the modern states of Iran, Afghanistan, the western regions of Pakistan, the “republics” of the old Soviet central Asia, and areas within the Caucuses. Other peripheral areas came under strong Iranian influence at other times. The Median, Persian, and Parthian dynasties extended their empires westward into the ancient Near East, the eastern Mediterranean world, and Egypt as well as northward into Azerbaijan and Armenia. The core of the programme consists of an intensive philological training in old, middle, and modern Iranian languages. The MA Iranian Studies offers Avestan and Middle Persian as part of the compulsory modules of Old and Middle Iranian Philology. These can also be complemented by languages such as Old Persian, Sogdian, Parthian, and Bactrian, which form part of the Iran and Turan elective module. Students who have not previously studied Persian will have the opportunity to study it as part of the programme. Those who know Persian can opt to study Kurdish (in its different varieties) or other modern Iranian languages (Modern Iranian Languages). We supplement the language training with the teaching of Iranian and Indo-Iranian linguistics in the Introduction to Iranian Linguistics elective module. The Iranian Religions in History compulsory module examines the formation and development of Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism, two religions that are commonly associated with pre-Islamic Iran. Zoroastrianism is a research focus for many faculty members at the Institute of Iranian Studies. Within the Iranian History in its Sources mandatory module, students explore aspects of Iranian history by engaging Iranian sources pertaining to an era or topic. This module offers students the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of Old and Middle Iranian languages by reading original material from the antique and late antique eras. Participants of the module will work with epigraphic and numismatic materials as well as copies of manuscripts of ritual and religious texts. Within the MA Iranian Studies programme, the students will have the opportunity to obtain 20 credits from other departments. For instance, the Institute of Islamic Studies provides an excellent opportunity to study Islam and its development in Iran more closely. PDF Download