Early Iranian Studies at Oxford

The University of Oxford has held a leading role in the study of the ancient Iranian world—both in the United Kingdom and globally since 1886. This tradition began with the appointment of Lawrence Heyworth Mills, who translated portions of the Avesta and published the Bodleian Library’s important Avestan Yasna manuscript J2, as ‘Extraordinary Professor of Zend’ (Avestan) in 1898. His pioneering work helped lay the groundwork which has led Early Iranian Studies to have become a core component of Oxford’s academic life. Over the following decades, seminal figures such as Robert Charles Zaehner and Elizabeth Tucker continued to shape the field and grow it in new directions.

A new chapter began in 2017 with the appointment of Professor Yuhan Sohrab-Dinshaw Vevaina to the Bahari Associate Professorship in Sasanian Studies—the first time a Parsi Zoroastrian has held a permanent teaching and research position in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (AMES) at Oxford.

Today, Prof. Vevaina is joined by an active cohort of scholars who are reshaping the study of the early Iranian world. These include:

Their research currently spans Zoroastrian theology and scriptural interpretation, Middle Persian economic texts, epistolary traditions in early Islamic times, Sasanian inscriptions, and the transmission of scientific knowledge and mechanics—shedding light on the religion, culture, economy, and intellectual life of early Iran and its legacies.

 

Teaching and Scholarly Collaborations

Early Iranian Studies at Oxford serves students from undergraduate to doctoral levels. The curriculum encompasses:

  • Languages and Philology: Avestan (Old and Young); Old Persian cuneiform; and Middle Persian texts and inscriptions
  • Textual and Religious Studies: The Avestan mytho-ritual corpus, Zoroastrian Middle Persian literature and theology, and Sasanian inscriptions and epigraphy
  • History: Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BC); Sasanian Empire (224–651 AD); the history of Zoroastrianism; themes in Iranian history focusing on the idea of ‘Iran’, the history of Persian, and notions of Iranian kingship

Early Iranian Studies is a Subsidiary Option for undergraduates pursuing a broad range of degrees in AMES alongside joint degrees including:

  • BA in Arabic
  • BA in Assyriology
  • BA in Classics and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
  • BA in Egyptology
  • BA in Persian
  • BA in Sanskrit
  • BA in Turkish

Prof. Vevaina also accepts postgraduate applications for both the MSt and the DPhil in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and teaches for the multi-faculty MSt and MPhil in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies (LABS).

In addition, postgraduate teaching, supervisions, and seminar convening are carried out in collaboration with colleagues in cognate fields and centres such as the Oxford Centre for Late Antiquity (OCLA) and the Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research (OCBR).

Prof. Vevaina and his team work closely with:

  • Persian Studies: Prof. Edmund Herzig and Prof. Dominic Brookshaw
  • Sanskrit and Indo-Iranian Linguistics: Prof. John Lowe
  • Classics: Prof. Peter Thonemann, Prof. Nino Luraghi, and Prof. Peter Stewart
  • Early Islamic History: Prof. Christian Sahner and Prof. Fanny Bessard
  • Jewish Studies: Prof. Meron-Martin Piotrkowski
  • Syriac and Aramaic: Prof. David Taylor
  • Assyriology: Prof. Jacob Dahl
  • Byzantine Studies: Prof. Peter Frankopan and Prof. Phil Booth
A Growing Community

Oxford’s Early Iranian Studies programme also welcomes:

  • Visiting graduate students
  • Postdoctoral researchers
  • Visiting Fellows in related fields

These appointments are supported by institutions such as the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), the Newton International Fellowship, the Bahari Fund, the Oxford Nizami Ganjavi Centre, and the Ancient World Research Cluster (AWRC) at Wolfson College, where Prof. Vevaina is a Governing Body Fellow.

Lectures, Seminars, and Workshops

Oxford is home to several flagship lecture and seminar series that showcase the Early Iranian world:

  • Bahari Lecture Series on Sasanian Studies
  • After Rome and Further East Seminar
  • Late Antique and Byzantine Studies Seminar
  • Ratanbai Katrak Lecturership in Zoroastrianism – the oldest lecture series on Zoroastrianism in the world, established in 1923

Recent workshops, seminars, and conferences include:

Ratanbai Katrak Lectures (AMES and Wolfson College):

  • Alberto Cantera (Berlin): ‘“With which Yasna shall I worship you” (kana θβąm yasna yazāne)? Zoroastrian Rituals in the Antique and Late Antique Iranian World’ (six lectures, Spring and Autumn 2023)
  • Michael Stausberg (Bergen): ‘Questioning Zoroastrianism / Zoroastrianism Questioned’ (six lectures, Spring 2027)

Bahari Workshops (AMES and Wolfson College):

  • ‘First Bahari Workshop for Early Career Scholars: Professionals of Writing in Late Antiquity’ (Spring 2025)
  • ‘Scholars, Artisans, and Charlatans: Mechanical Devices in the Hellenistic to Islamicate World’ (Spring 2025)
  • ‘“A Spark of the Glimmer of the Original Light”: A Workshop on the Dēnkard’ (Autumn 2024)

Bahari Seminars (AMES and Wolfson College):

  • ‘The Crucible of Empire: The Sasanian Empire and its Religious Minorities’ (Autumn 2018)
  • ‘The Iranian World from the Sasanians to Islam’ (Spring 2018)

After Rome and Further East Seminar (AMES with History and Theology):

  • After Rome and Further East Seminar (Spring 2021–)

Late Antique and Byzantine Studies Seminar (AMES with History and Classics):

  • ‘Byzantium in Dialogue with China, the Iranian and Arab Worlds’ (Winter 2024)
Suppport Us

Oxford’s long-standing commitment to the study of the early Iranian world continues to flourish. But to sustain and expand this momentum—supporting fellowships, research projects, student scholarships, and events—we rely on the generosity of donors and partners who share our vision for advancing the understanding of this rich and complex history.

If you would like to contribute to the future of Early Iranian Studies at Oxford, please consider getting in touch.

To learn more about our scholars:

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Avestan Manuscript J2

Bodleian Library, University of Oxford

Ahunauuaitī Gāθā, Yasna 30.9

“So may we be those who shall make this earth perfect”

Recent Publications
  • Y. S.-D. Vevaina, Topographies of Rhetoric and Moral Reasoning in Sasanian and Post-Sasanian Zoroastrianism (Turnhout: Bibliothèque de l’École des Hautes Études – Brepols) [in preparation].
  • Y. S.-D. Vevaina and A. Zeini, Zoroastrianism and Religious Dispute at the Margins of the Caliphate: The Epistles of Manuščihr (Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Press) [in preparation].
  • A. Zeini and M. Macuch (eds.). Deciphering the illegible: Festschrift in honour of Dieter Weber (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2024).
  • A. Zeini, Towards a manifesto for Middle Iranian philology. Berkeley Working Papers in Middle Iranian Philology 0 (2023): 1–12 [open access].
  • O. Ramble, Historiography and Palaeography of Sasanian Middle Persian Inscriptions [in preparation].
  • A. Zubani, Engineering Empire: Technology and Power in the Late Antique and Medieval Middle East [in preparation].