Religious themes and texts of pre-islamic Iran and Central Asia

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Professor Gherardo Gnoli, a prominent scholar in Iranian studies, specializes in the religious history of Iran and Central Asia. His academic career has focused on the religious and secular history of the Iranian world within the context of Late Antiquity. He has extensively researched Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, the origins of the concept of Iran, and the interplay between the throne and the Zoroastrian church in pre-Islamic Iran. This volume includes a complete bibliography of his works up to 2001 and features forty-one papers (23 in English, 8 in French, 7 in German, and 3 in Italian) contributed by colleagues, friends, and former students in honor of his 65th birthday. The contributions reflect his research interests, exploring themes related to Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Christianity, Buddhism, and the diverse religious history of pre-Islamic Iran, primarily from historical and philological perspectives. Topics range from the societal impacts of Zoroastrianism to the influence of religious beliefs on Iranian languages, religious iconography, and the history of Avestan studies. The volume also includes previously unpublished or untranslated religious texts, re-editions, and new translations, covering Old and Middle Iranian languages as well as New Persian and other New Iranian languages.