Antonietta Catanzariti and Touraj Daryaee (editors), 2026, The Sasanians in Context: Art, History, and Archaeology, Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press, Washington, D.C.
The Sasanian Empire in Context: Art, History, and Archaeology, edited by Antonietta Catanzariti and Touraj Daryaee, was published by the Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press in June 2026. This volume comprises a collection of innovative research on the Sasanian Empire and its cultural heritage.
The book features thirteen research papers and is the proceeding of a scholarly symposium of the same title convened in November 2022 at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, D.C. During the symposium, a group of Sasanian studies scholars presented their latest findings regarding the history, art, and archaeology of the empire.
Between the third and seventh centuries CE, the Sasanian Empire became one of the most dominant powers in the ancient world, extending geographically from West to Central Asia, and was the last major power in the region before the Arab conquest in the seventh century. By examining various aspects of Sasanian material culture, from impressive rock reliefs to elaborately designed metal vessels and finely carved seals, the papers in this volume provide a comprehensive picture of the historical and artistic achievements of this period.
In addition to focusing on Sasanian history and art, the research published in this book also explores the empire’s legacy beyond its core regions, examining different dimensions of its cultural, artistic, and political impacts. The editors believe that the research presented in this collection underscores how the field has evolved and reveals new areas for future research.
Among the scholars who contributed to this volume are Antonietta Catanzariti, Anca Dan, Touraj Daryaee, Shervin Farridnejad, Mariachiara Gasparini, Frantz Grenet, Prudence O. Harper, Almut Hintze, Ani Honarchian, Judith A. Lerner, Hamidreza Mazaheri, Negin Miri, Yousef Moradi, Kianoosh Motaghedi, Cyrus Nasrollahzadeh, Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, Mehrnoush Soroush, and Giusto Traina, alongside several other prominent specialists in ancient Iranian studies.
This work is published open access, and interested readers can access and read it free of charge.
The table of contents of this book is as follows:
-The Sasanians: Answers and Questions from the Last Half Century )Prudence O. Harper(
-The Power of the Royal Image and Sasanian Iconography )Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis(
-The Sasanian Bullae Collection in the Reza Abbasi Museum, Tehran )Negin Miri, Cyrus Nasrollahzadeh, and Hamidreza Mazaheri(
-A Flaming Bust on a New Clay Bulla from Takht-e Solaymān: An Epigraphic and Iconographic Analysis )Yousef Moradi and Almut Hintze(
-Theologia Symbolica: Dream, Allegory, and Imagining the Afterlife in Sasanian Art and Ideology (Shervin Farridnejad)
-A Fragrance for Every Woman, Man, and Child: The Smell of the Sasanian Empire (Touraj Daryaee)
-A Remote Sensing Perspective on the Sasanian Hydraulic Projects:Reexamining the Irrigation Discourse (Mehrnoush Soroush)
-There Is Blood on the Zarbāft Silk: To Belong to Erānshahr according to Syriac and Armenian Sources (Ani Honarchian)
-More than Connected Histories: Sasanian Erānshahr, Rome, and Armenia, (Giusto Traina)
-Central Asian Silverware in Sasanian Times: The Freer “Bactrian” Bowl and the Myth of Bellerophon, Grandfather of Sarpedon (Anca Dan and Frantz Grenet)
-Through the Turanian Lands: Post-Sasanian Tang Aesthetics of Early Tibetan Material Culture (Mariachiara Gasparini)
-Transitions in the Visual Culture of Iranshahr: Some Features of “Post-Sasanian” Metalwork, with a Postscript on the Griffin Plate in Berlin (Judith A. Lerner)
-Reviving the Concept of the Sasanian Kingdom in Qajar Rock Reliefs (Kianoosh Motaghedi)
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