The Sasanian World through Georgian Eyes

Caucasia and the Iranian Commonwealth in Late Antique Georgian Literature

Nonfiction, History, Middle East, Ancient History
Cover of the book The Sasanian World through Georgian Eyes by Stephen H. Rapp Jr, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Stephen H. Rapp Jr ISBN: 9781317016717
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: May 15, 2017
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Stephen H. Rapp Jr
ISBN: 9781317016717
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: May 15, 2017
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

Georgian literary sources for Late Antiquity are commonly held to be later productions devoid of historical value. As a result, scholarship outside the Republic of Georgia has privileged Graeco-Roman and even Armenian narratives. However, when investigated within the dual contexts of a regional literary canon and the active participation of Caucasia’s diverse peoples in the Iranian Commonwealth, early Georgian texts emerge as a rich repository of late antique attitudes and outlooks. Georgian hagiographical and historiographical compositions open a unique window onto a northern part of the Sasanian world that, while sharing striking affinities with the Iranian heartland, was home to vibrant, cosmopolitan cultures that developed along their own trajectories. In these sources, precise and accurate information about the core of the Sasanian Empire-and before it, Parthia and Achaemenid Persia-is sparse; yet the thorough structuring of wider Caucasian society along Iranian and especially hybrid Iranic lines is altogether evident. Scrutiny of these texts reveals, inter alia, that the Old Georgian language is saturated with words drawn from Parthian and Middle Persian, a trait shared with Classical Armenian; that Caucasian society, like its Iranian counterpart, was dominated by powerful aristocratic houses, many of whose origins can be traced to Iran itself; and that the conception of kingship in the eastern Georgian realm of K’art’li (Iberia), even centuries after the royal family’s Christianisation in the 320s and 330s, was closely aligned with Arsacid and especially Sasanian models. There is also a literary dimension to the Irano-Caucasian nexus, aspects of which this volume exposes for the first time. The oldest surviving specimens of Georgian historiography exhibit intriguing parallels to the lost Sasanian Xwadāy-nāmag, The Book of Kings, one of the precursors to FerdowsÄ«’s Shāhnāma. As tangible products of the dense cross-cultural web drawing the re

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Georgian literary sources for Late Antiquity are commonly held to be later productions devoid of historical value. As a result, scholarship outside the Republic of Georgia has privileged Graeco-Roman and even Armenian narratives. However, when investigated within the dual contexts of a regional literary canon and the active participation of Caucasia’s diverse peoples in the Iranian Commonwealth, early Georgian texts emerge as a rich repository of late antique attitudes and outlooks. Georgian hagiographical and historiographical compositions open a unique window onto a northern part of the Sasanian world that, while sharing striking affinities with the Iranian heartland, was home to vibrant, cosmopolitan cultures that developed along their own trajectories. In these sources, precise and accurate information about the core of the Sasanian Empire-and before it, Parthia and Achaemenid Persia-is sparse; yet the thorough structuring of wider Caucasian society along Iranian and especially hybrid Iranic lines is altogether evident. Scrutiny of these texts reveals, inter alia, that the Old Georgian language is saturated with words drawn from Parthian and Middle Persian, a trait shared with Classical Armenian; that Caucasian society, like its Iranian counterpart, was dominated by powerful aristocratic houses, many of whose origins can be traced to Iran itself; and that the conception of kingship in the eastern Georgian realm of K’art’li (Iberia), even centuries after the royal family’s Christianisation in the 320s and 330s, was closely aligned with Arsacid and especially Sasanian models. There is also a literary dimension to the Irano-Caucasian nexus, aspects of which this volume exposes for the first time. The oldest surviving specimens of Georgian historiography exhibit intriguing parallels to the lost Sasanian Xwadāy-nāmag, The Book of Kings, one of the precursors to FerdowsÄ«’s Shāhnāma. As tangible products of the dense cross-cultural web drawing the re

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book 2000 Tips for Trainers and Staff Developers by Stephen H. Rapp Jr
Cover of the book We Are But Women by Stephen H. Rapp Jr
Cover of the book The Indian Army, 1939-47 by Stephen H. Rapp Jr
Cover of the book Speedlights & Speedlites by Stephen H. Rapp Jr
Cover of the book Corporate Innovation (RLE Marketing) by Stephen H. Rapp Jr
Cover of the book Global Issues in Contemporary Hispanic Women's Writing by Stephen H. Rapp Jr
Cover of the book The Classical Monologue (M) by Stephen H. Rapp Jr
Cover of the book Nuclear Weapons and International Security by Stephen H. Rapp Jr
Cover of the book 1979 by Stephen H. Rapp Jr
Cover of the book Isolationist States in an Interdependent World by Stephen H. Rapp Jr
Cover of the book Masculinity and Marian Efficacy in Shakespeare's England by Stephen H. Rapp Jr
Cover of the book Human Rights and Democracy in EU Foreign Policy by Stephen H. Rapp Jr
Cover of the book The Politics of Unsustainability by Stephen H. Rapp Jr
Cover of the book Philosophical Issues In Education by Stephen H. Rapp Jr
Cover of the book The Future of Political Community by Stephen H. Rapp Jr
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy