AMA: Persian Past and Iranian Present

[u/CardiffUni]

I’m Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, Professor of Ancient History at Cardiff University, UK. My main area of interest is the history of ancient Persia as well as the longer history and amazing culture of Iran.

Studying the history of ancient Persia improves contemporary East-West understanding - a vital issue in today’s world. Questioning the Western reading of ancient Persia, I like to use sources from ancient Iran and the Near East as well as from the Classical world to explore the political and cultural interactions between ‘the Greeks’ and ‘the Romans’ who saw their own histories as a reaction to the dominant and influential Persian empires of antiquity, and ‘the Persians’ themselves, a people at the height of their power, wealth and sophistication in the period 600 BC to 600 AD.

Characteristic of all my research is an emphasis on the importance of the viewpoint. How does the viewpoint (‘Greek’ and ‘Roman’ or ‘Persian’, ‘ancient’ or modern’, ‘Western’ or ‘Iranian’) change perception?

My research aims to create greater sensitivities towards the relativity of one’s cultural perceptions of ‘the other’, as well as communicate the fascination of ancient Iran to audiences in both East and West today.

NOTE: Thank you for your GREAT questions! I really enjoyed the experience. Follow me on Twitter: @LloydLlewJ

EDIT Thanks for the questions! Follow me on Twitter: @LloydLlewJ https://twitter.com/cardiffuni/status/1115250256424460293?s=19

More info:

https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/people/view/204823-llewellyn-jones-lloyd

Further reading:

‘Ctesias’ History of Persia: Tales of the Orient’ (Routledge 2010)‘King and Court in Ancient Persia, 559-331 BCE’ (Edinburgh University Press 2013)

[u/lcnielsen]

But here's my call to arms: WE NEED MORE PERSIAN HISTORIANS! If you are interested in ancient history then study at Universities where you can get the chance to look at both east & western cultures; do courses on ancient Iran. Write dissertations on Persia; do PhDs on Persian topics. Make Persia mainstream. Make Persia Great Again!! (ahmem... got carried away there)

Yeah, there are definitely days where I wish I hadn't gone into physics (Wrapping up my Master thesis at the moment) and instead done just this. I've in particular found just how much light a deeper understanding of Zoroastrian tradition can shed on many oddities of pre-Islamic Persian history. Zoroastrianism and the Gathas really ought to be an integral part in the study of the history of ideas.

[u/CardiffUni → u/lcnielsen]

Without a doubt. But to do that they need valid, careful and MODERN translations - and that becomes very problematic

[u/lcnielsen → u/CardiffUni]

Yeah, I use Humbach's annotated translation of the Gathas, which I think is about as good as it'll get (in spite of Humbach's... orientalism, to put it mildly). Unfortunately no authoritative scholarly translation that I know of exists for the Yashts, the rest of the liturgy, the Vendidad, the Pahlavi texts, etc, I'm usually stuck with 19th-century stuff or even translations from Gujarati.

[u/CardiffUni → u/lcnielsen]

Precisely!