Sims-Williams, Nicholas. Bactrian Personal Names. Wien: Verl. d. Österr. Akad. d. Wiss, 2010 (Iranisches Personennamenbuch 2: Mitteliranische Personennamen fasc. 7) isbn: 978-3-7001-6841-6 Bactrian was the principal language of administration in what is now Afghanistan from the time of the Kushan empire (1st to 3rd centuries C.E.) until the early Islamic period. The surviving Bactrian inscriptions and documents, coins and countermarks, seals and sealings attest a large number of personal names, whose various linguistic origins—Persian, Sogdian, Indian, Hunnic, Turkish, and of course native Bactrian—mirror the variety of peoples and religions which …
Frantz Grenet (Paris) on the Qarakhanids – Friday 10th December
The Trust is hosting this coming Friday’s lecture (10th December), by Professor Frantz Grenet (Paris – excavator of Afrasiab) at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. The event starts at 5pm. There will be a reception to follow. The talk is entitled: The rediscovery of the court culture of the Qarakhanids (11th-early 13th centuries): recent results of the French-Uzbek Archaeological Mission at Afrasiab (Samarkand) The Qarakhanids, the first Muslim Turkish dynasty, who ruled Transoxiana or part of it from 999 to 1212 AD, have not, until now, enjoyed …
Exhibition at Fitzwilliam Museum: Epic of the Persian Kings: The Art of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh
This exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge runs until Sun 9 January 2011. For those who are not able to visit in person, a virtual exhibition can be seen at http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/gallery/shahnameh/index.html. Divided into 5 sections examining different aspects of the Shahnameh, it includes images and detailed descriptions of 72 of the 104 exhibits. Events connected with the exhibition include: The Shahnameh and Persian Poetry With Professor Richard Davis, Ohio State University 8 December 2010 17:00 to 18:00. Admission Free. NB at the Faculty of Classics, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 9DA …
Lasting Impressions: Seals from the Islamic World
A travelling photographic exhibition from the British Library and the British Museum (Supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund) at the Ancient India & Iran Trust, 10.30am-3pm Monday-Friday, 24 November-8 December 2010 Curators: Annabel Gallop, British Library & Venetia Porter, British Museum Seals have functioned as symbols of authority from the earliest days of Islam. According to tradition, in 628 the Prophet Muhammad had a seal ring made of silver, carved with the words Muhammad Rasul Allah, ‘Muhammad is the Messenger of God’. Ever since, the inscription has been the main …
New Publication: ‘Bactrian Personal Names’
The Austrian Academy of Sciences has just published part 2, fascicle 7 of the Iranisches Personennamenbuch: Bactrian personal names, by Nicholas Sims-Williams. For more information see our ‘Book news‘ section.